Travels With Leo

Coda: Some Random Observations

2010-03-16T01:27:34Z

These are just some quite literally random observations - thing that we noted during or after our trip that we felt were worthy of a remark or two.

]]> It's easy to go on trips like this, particularly to foreign countries, and expect massive differences. Yet one of our biggest take-aways wasn't how different we are, but just the opposite - how much is the same. Yes, I realize we didn't venture out of English speaking western civilization, but different countries in different hemisphere that take 14 hours of jet flight to get to would seem to imply more differences than there actually seemed to be.

On TV the politicians were politicians, on the roads traffic was traffic, (and bad drivers bad drivers), stores were stores, worries were worries.

People were people.

I don't know, maybe it's a frivolous observation, but I came away feeling closer to the people of Australia and New Zealand, not further away. The similarities far outweighed any differences.

Not that there weren't differences :-).

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Listening to music, be it in cars, buses, hotel rooms, whatever - we felt like we'd traveled back to the 1980's. Or 70's. Or even 60's. I'm not sure I heard any current popular music. Not sure why.
Speaking of which, aside from a few TV series imported from the US that were one year behind (last year's "House" was premiering as "new episodes"), which I can understand for distribution reasons, a lot of the TV we stumbled into were reruns of U.S. TV shows from the 80's. Or the 70's. Or even 60's. It was kinda weird, especially for two countries that are the settings and production locations for so many TV shows and movies world wide.
I hope the average Aussie or Kiwi has more TV choices than their hotels. Yes, we're used to a couple hundred channels here at home, but 3? or 8? Filled with those decades old reruns ... or cricket?
Cabbies were friendly! Talkative! Helpful! And they spoke English! U.S. cab drivers could learn a lot.
In Australia the Two Dollar coin is smaller than the One Dollar coin. In New Zealand, it's the (more sensible) reverse. Neither have paper money less than 5 dollars.
It's called tomato sauce, not ketchup. It's spicier and not as sweet as our version. And I suspect it's there just for the Americans.
Sydney residents call themselves Sydney-siders.
One of the funniest signs we saw in New Zealand: "This product was tested on Australians!"
Many people think Australia is dry, but it's only western and central Australia that is so arid. Eastern Australia has tropical and temperate rainforests and an abundance of rivers and lakes.
Vegemite is yucky. (We actually learned this before we left.) And yet it's available at breakfast in Australia. I can't for the life of me understand why.
Scones are much beloved by both Aussies and Kiwis. I just wish more had been available that didn't have some kind of fruit in them.
The Bio-Security folks at the Queenstown airport were very friendly. For some reason, they wanted to clean the bottoms of our shoes for us, so we let them. After all, it's not every day someone offers to scrub the sheep poo off your shoes for you. (New Zealand is serious about keeping out foreign seeds, parasites, bacteria and other things people might inadvertently bring in on their shoes.)
Both Aussies and Kiwis should learn to use sunblock. I've never seen so many tans and burns in my life.
I don't understand the fascination with meat pies. They were everywhere. I guess I prefer my pies to be sweet, not savory.
We were both surprised at the number of chocolate shops, especially in Australia.
What is it that makes Aussies and Kiwis so friendly? Is it something in the air? The water? Whatever it is, the U.S. could use a good dose of it, and also a dose of the national pride we saw in both countries.
Something neither country has to thank us for: the McDonalds, KFCs, Subways, Burger King equivalents and other fast food outlets we saw. We apologize for exporting them to both Australia and N.Z..
We were surprised at the number of Aussies and Kiwis we met who had traveled to Europe and/or the U.S.. I'm sure far more of them have traveled than of us, so to speak.

Part 7: Auckland, Volcanos and The Marriage Survives!

2010-03-11T18:32:08Z

Reminder:
More pictures at
LeosPictures.com

We finally arrived in Auckland in the late afternoon. Our hotel was lovely, if a bit unexpected. The Langham Hotel is veddy, veddy much in the old British style, stately and serene with butlers galore to take care of you. We heard that this is where former president Clinton stays when he visits Auckland, ostensibly for the fly-fishing. Our tour guide claimed it was because the red-light district is just a couple blocks away, and therefore most convenient for "Billy-boy".

]]> What can I say? Our last, and best, tour guide was an older fellow by the name of Don, who had humor and irreverence in abundance, and an apparent liking for whiskey (he called it "bloody lovely"). Our only full day in Auckland, he ushered us onto his bus and showed us his beautiful city.

First off, we drove over the Harbour Bridge, which he claims all the locals call "the Nippon Clip-on" because of the way lanes were added to the original structure. Two young Japanese fellows figured out a way to just clip new lanes onto the original lanes, saving years in construction time, hassle and cost.

From there we drove around the waterfront a bit, then up to Mt. Eden, an dormant volcano that hosts a park. The weather was clear enough so we could see far past the city of Auckland in every direction. I wish we could have walked down into the crater, but that was not allowed.

Did you know that Auckland is built on about 60 dormant (not extinct) volcanoes? Whose bright idea was that??

Because Auckland is in the Ring of Fire, with many small earthquakes and always the potential if not the likelihood of really big ones, there are no high rise buildings in the city. Nor underground tunnels. Are you listening, Seattle?? Maybe you could learn something from Auckland.

Tour Guide Don, who could be heard muttering "Ballocks" occasionally when faced with a less than intelligent driver, next dropped us off at Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World. We rode in a little tram through the penguin exhibit, where there was not enough penguin time and too much lame display time. Then we were pushed and shoved along with half a million schoolkids, past the rest of the exhibits. All in all, it was underwhelming, and we wouldn't recommend it nor go back there ourselves.

After lunch, it was time for a quick visit to the Auckland Zoo, which we enjoyed very much. It's quite a lovely zoo, ranked around 6th in the world, I believe. We especially enjoyed the program on NZ wildlife and for the first time, saw a kiwi bird actually feeding and then running around a bit.

We were surprised at how the kiwi is actually constructed, with relatively long, skinny legs, a rather round, fluffy, ungainly body and then a longish bill. Watching the bird eat was entertaining-the bird picked up the corn kernel, then kind of tossed it backward towards her mouth. Watching her run was even funnier-it was a very goofy, herky jerky affair. We were totally charmed by that little bird and found ourselves hoping that current conservation efforts would help keep kiwis around for many generations to come.

After the zoo, it was back to the waterfront for our first ever sailboat ride. I was a bit nervous about this, because a) I don't know how to swim; b) I've always been prone to motion sickness and the water was looking a little rough; and c)at least one of the sailors looked kind of young.

As it turned out, I had nothing to worry about, even when the boat was in full sail and we were tipped quite a bit to one side or the other. It was very enjoyable, with the breeze hitting our faces. The captain was quite confidence-inspiring, and funny to boot. The water never got very rough, and it was a great way to see more of the harbour and all the boats residing therein.

Alas, by the time we returned to the waterfront, it was starting to rain. We bade boat and crew a sad goodbye, and walked north on Queen Street to the Sky Tower in the rain. It was a warm rain, after all, and nothing we couldn't handle.

At Sky Tower, we had a tasty buffet dinner, then went up the Tower to the observation deck. Unfortunately, due to the clouds, we weren't able to see 60+ miles all the way around Auckland, but it was still worthwhile. The Sky Tower was built to withstand an earthquake registering 8 on the Richter scale, but it's still not where I'd want to be during one. It's the tallest tower in the southern hemisphere.

Because of Auckland's temperate climate and abundant water supplies, there is never a shortage of locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables. I find myself envious.

Of course there was much of Auckland and the northern island we simply did not have time to see, and we may return there someday. We'd like to see some of the islands and more of beautiful Auckland itself.

On the afternoon of Feb. 10th, after a very tedious, lengthy, frustrating (and lacking common sense) security screening, we once again boarded a plane and began our lengthy journey home.

Will we return to Australia and New Zealand? Probably, although I can't say when for sure. The trip was absolutely, positively worthwhile and eye-opening in many ways. We saw many beautiful places and met many wonderful people from all over the world. We came home feeling lucky to live in the beautiful place that we do, and blessed for being able to take the trip of a lifetime.

If that weren't enough, after 3 weeks of almost constant togetherness, we still liked each other. That's quite an accomplishment, after 30 years of marriage.

Final Entry: Some Random Observations

Part 6: Rotorua (where the wind can break freely) ... and Worms that Glow

2010-03-04T00:29:56Z

We happily bade Christchurch farewell and flew off to Rotorua. Rotorua is a special place. Not only is it scenic, but it's also quite aromatic, and not in a good way. Rotorua and its environs are the home to a lot of volcanic activity, which produces a lot of not-so-lovely sulfuric odor. Hard-boiled eggs, anyone?

]]> We first got a whiff of the sulfur in the plane on the way to Rotorua. It wasn't horribly strong, just very noticeable. Occasionally through our whole stay there, we'd get hit with a really strong wave of stink. Overall though it was tolerable and didn't stop us from enjoying the scenery.

We stayed at the Duxton Hotel on Okawa Bay, Lake Rotoiti. The lake itself was quite lovely. The hotel, not so much. We were rather shocked and dismayed to discover our room had no air conditioning, despite the heat and humidity. Eke. Without a free-standing fan, it would have been intolerable. The room itself was tiny. When we went outside to explore, we had to watch every step we took. The lake is home to many Canadian Geese, and they had left many smelly, large deposits all over the grounds. That was the last time we went exploring there. Apparently the hotel management has never heard of using dogs to chase away geese, like so many golf courses have here. It was just gross.

The two meals we had at the hotel were lackluster, and the wait staff slow and indifferent. Altogether it was the worst hotel experience we had and the only one that was more negative than positive. Adding to the whole experience was the fact that the hotel was about 15-20 minutes away from downtown Rotorua, we had no car, and there was no inexpensive shuttle service into town. Cab fare for 2 people was about $45, shuttle fare for 2 was about $40. Each way. Yikes! We felt like we were being held hostage by the hotel. It's not a place we'd recommend to anybody.

On the positive side, we had a very good local guide who took us to see the Lady Knox Geyser at the Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. The geyser erupts predictably every morning after receiving a dose of surfactant, and puts on a show for up to about an hour. We also saw the hot, bubbling mud pools, craters, and terrace formations. If you're interested in geothermal activity, Rotorua and the surrounding area is a great place to go.

The next day we spent hanging around downtown Rotorua. We had lunch on the shore of beautiful Lake Rotorua and walked til we wanted to drop before heading back to the hotel.

Our last destination before heading home was Auckland, the largest city of New Zealand.

We reached Auckland via a long, but very pretty drive from Rotorua. Once again we drove over rolling hills, through many miles of farmland. Instead of seeing gazillions of sheep, we saw gazillions of cattle. Dairy farming is a big industry on the northern island. There were many small, scenic rural communities, such as Cambridge. Eventually we stopped for a break nearby one of the power stations on the Waikato River. Lake Karapiro, a water reservoir on the river, is a world-class venue for rowers, and will host the 2010 World Rowing Championships. I can see why; it's an incredibly beautiful place.

Still on our way to Auckland, we took a detour to the Waitomo Glowworm Caves. Formed of limestone, the caves are home to the arachocampa luminosa glowworms, unique to New Zealand. The caves themselves are fascinating even without the glowworms. Seeing the tiny beads of light created by the glowworms was like looking at small white Christmas lights.

The cave tour lasted about 45 minutes. It didn't seem like very long considering how far we had driven to get there. Had the visitor center been open (it is being rebuilt after a fire), the whole experience would have been more worthwhile, but we're not sorry we went.

After lunch we hit the road again, heading north through communities such as Hamilton, Huntly and Mercer before finally reaching Auckland. Our butts were pretty petrified by then and we were happy to reach our hotel.

Next: Auckland, Volcanos and The Marriage Survives!

Part 5: Queenstown to Christchurch ... and onward to Rohan

2010-02-25T23:54:45Z

Our last full day in Queenstown was spent wandering around the city one last time. We went down to the beach and saw a lot of eye candy, which we both appreciated. Hey, just 'cause we've been married 30 years doesn't mean we can't enjoy looking! And then I saw something that made my eyes hurt. Let's just say, the dude should not have been wearing a Speedo.

]]> For our 30th anniversary dinner, we took a very steep gondola ride up to the Skyline Restaurant on top of Bob's Peak, high above Queenstown. The view of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu and surrounding mountains was beautiful. We saw numerous paragliders take off and float above the city, and some very brave teens take flying leaps off the bungy platform. Somehow it was appropriate that we should also see some sheep on the hillside below the gondola's cables.

We had a very nice dinner, then rode the gondola back down the mountain, well content with the day.

On Feb. third we said farewell to Queenstown and flew to Christchurch, the biggest city of New Zealand's southern island.

Christchurch is a very English-looking town, with some lovely old architecture. The Avon River runs through it, and if you're inclined you can take a punt ride down the river. The world's third largest in-city park is along the river. We never made it to the Botanical Gardens, but they are a draw for many people.

Having liked every city we'd visited so far, we were quite surprised not to be thrilled with Christchurch. It just seemed more crowded and dirty, and less friendly. We couldn't find a decent restaurant within walking distance of our hotel that would serve us a fresh fruit salad, for example. Many of the shops and a couple of the smaller shopping centers closed by 6pm. Fortunately, we had a guided tour planned for one of our days there.

The next morning we got our tired butts out of bed and down to the hotel lobby for our tour. We boarded a 4WD bus and headed across the scenic Canterbury Plains to Mt. Torlesse Station, a 10,000 acre working sheep and cattle farm in the foothills of the Southern Alps. We spent quite awhile bumping around the farm, gazing over the rolling hills and river valley. It was a beautiful place, very different from what we're used to, but reminiscent of parts of eastern Washington.

Next we headed out on a jetboat up the Waimakariri River Gorge. For about 45 minutes we traveled the river, and it was incredibly beautiful ride. We saw canyons and gorges, rock and forest. At times it seemed we were almost flying over the water. Our guide threw in a few 360 degree spins, just for fun, and we were all quite awake by the time we got back to our bus. It was really funny-one of the oldest folks on the trip said to our bus driver, "Next time tell him to go faster!" We could only agree. If we'd known how much fun the jetboat ride was going to be, we would have done it in Queenstown too!

After a tasty lunch (good thing it was after the jetboat ride!) we resumed our journey through the high country, stopping briefly at Pearson Lake and passing by one of the filming locations for The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Eventually we reached Arthur's Pass, where we boarded the famous TranzAlpine train for the return trip to Christchurch. It is recognized as one of the most scenic train rides in the world, and it was worth every minute. We passed above the river we'd jetboated over, from the Alps back down to the Canterbury Plains, and through small pastoral communities. The tour definitely made up for the lack of appeal Christchurch itself had for us. Halfway through the day, liking the tour we were on so much, we actually booked ourselves for a tour the next day with the same company.

We just couldn't go to New Zealand and not do one Lord of the Rings tour. It would be sacrilegious. We headed out via another 4WD bus, and this time we weren't the youngest people on it, yay! Not unexpectedly, there was a pair of young uber-geeks on board as well as several other young people.

South over the Plains we headed, stopping briefly in Methven to pick up another tour member. We stopped briefly to see the Rakaia River, one of New Zealand's many braided rivers. As all the rest had been, it was clear, blue and beautiful. To our surprise and delight, when we stopped for morning tea at a little cafe seemingly out in the middle of nowhere, we came across the only corgi we saw on the whole trip. I don't remember his name, but he was a charmer and made me miss my own dogs that much more.

On we traveled after tea, winding our way through the foothills and river valleys. We passed Lake Clearwater, and yes, it was. After much twisting and turning, the dirt road eventually came to Mt. Potts Station, location of a large cattle ranch, and home to "Edoras", city of Rohan, in the LOTR trilogy.

We were surprised that "Edoras" had been built on private property, and that even now the owners allow not only tour groups, but private individuals, access. After bumping over and through several small streams and past grazing cattle, we were able to drive to the foot of Mt. Sunday, and walked a trail up it to the top, where "Edoras" had been built.

On screen, Edoras looks as if it sits on top of a huge mountain, but in truth Mt. Sunday is actually quite modest, sort of a mountainous speed bump in the middle of some plains, with larger mountains in the distance.

Of course, nothing of Edoras remains now. After filming was completed, Mt. Sunday was restored to its original condition, down to the level of individual plants being put back where they were before filming.

As it turns out, we were very lucky. Our bus driver and tour guide was a sound mixer for all three LOTR movies and often works on Peter Jackson's films. In fact, he and his fellow sound mixers won an Oscar for the third movie. We were told many stories of the making of the movies that other folks just don't get to hear.

Why was he driving a tour bus, you ask?? As he explained it, jobs in sound mixing are usually feast or famine, and he always has a mortgage to pay. He does a LOTR tour every couple of weeks to help make ends meet. That Oscar he won is cool, he said, but it came with no monetary reward.

But, I digress. It was very, very cool to stand on the top of Mt. Sunday and picture how it looked as Edoras. It was very cool to look out over the same landscapes as Eowyn had. It was funny to see the two uber-geeks play with the props brought along for photo-taking. It was especially funny to think about the movie while we were avoiding the cow pies littering the ground. Yep, the cattle are allowed to graze again on Edoras. Nothing is sacred.

After taking multiple photos and soaking up the atmosphere, we sadly left Mt. Sunday and enjoyed a champagne lunch on another part of the station.

Heading back towards civilization, we stopped again in Methven to drop off the tour member. Methven, we were told, is where the cast and crew stayed while filming at Mt. Sunday. It's over an hour drive each way, which made for long days. Building the Edoras set took 8 months, and filming there took 11 days. Such are the ways of movie-making.

Next: Rotorua (where the wind can break freely) ... and Worms that Glow

Part 4: Boats, Roads and Itty-Bitty Airplanes

2010-02-18T22:42:36Z

Our first full day in Queenstown, we hopped on board a vintage coal-fired steamship, the T.S.S. Earnslaw, and crossed Lake Wakatipu to visit Walter Peak High Country Farm. It was a beautiful ride to another beautiful place. The Farm is a working sheep farm. We saw a very businesslike border collie herd sheep. Our tour guide then gave a sheep-shearing demonstration. The tour guide was a real character who delighted in pulling the wool over the tourists' eyes, shall we say. We got a real kick out of him. The farm also had a herd of Scottish Highland Cattle, which we visited, and a small herd of fairly friendly deer. The stag had a very impressive rack, which he allowed me to touch carefully through the fence. The tour guide had told us that deer antler is much prized throughout Asia, being thought of as an aphrodisiac. However, I am not about to start sprinkling antler powder on my breakfast cereal for any reason!

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I was lucky enough to be able to go on a trail ride at Walter Peak, along with 3 giggly, inexperienced and somewhat fearful teenagers, a very patient riding instructor/guide, and some equally patient horses. We got to see some of the farm not visible from the main homestead. I remember wondering if the guide was perhaps appreciating the scenery, and by that I mean the teenaged girls, not the mountains. Being who I am, I was tempted to quietly warn the guide, "Dude! Watch out-those girls are jailbait!" but was able to resist sticking my nose where it didn't belong.

The rest of the trip to Walter Peak was spent enjoying a tasty lunch and visiting the other animals in residence, including other herding dogs. By then I was missing my own dogs and cat quite a bit. I really appreciated being able to pet some substitutes.

The next day, we headed off to Milford Sound with a very personable local guide by the name of Jim. The drive to Milford was quite long, passing through miles of gentling rolling green hills and farmland. We saw sheep, sheep and more sheep. New Zealand has up to 35 million sheep; I think we managed to see most of them on our trip. I've never, ever seen so many sheep. And unlike in the U.S., we also saw quite a few deer farms. The deer products are largely exported to Europe and Asia. Poor Bambi!

Over time the landscape became more mountainous and the road more curving. We passed by the clear waters of Mirror Lakes, through the mile long "Homer Tunnel" carved through the mountains, then stopped to see "The Chasm" where the river carved its way through the mountains. Eventually, to my queasy stomach's relief, we arrived at Milford Sound and boarded a boat for a lunchtime cruise.

Milford Sound is stunning. There's no other word for it. The mountains extend right down to the Sound. The water is clear and clean. We were lucky, it wasn't raining that day, so we had a clear view of everything, including a couple of waterfalls, seals, fishing boats, and of course the mountains themselves. Since then we've heard that Doubtful Sound is just as beautiful, so if we ever return to New Zealand, off to Doubtful Sound we will go. It just wouldn't be right to go to New Zealand, and not go to one or the other.

After the cruise, Jim dropped us off at the tiny little airport right by the Sound, and drove all the way back home by himself. We felt sorry for him. But then I saw the plane we'd be flying back to Queenstown in, and I felt sorry for ME.

I've never been thrilled when it comes to getting on an airplane. In fact, for the first 25 or so years of my life, I flatly refused to do it. As far as I'm concerned, people weren't made to fly. It isn't natural. Eventually I realized that if I were to ever do some of the things I really wanted to do, I would have to face my fears and get on a plane. After much work, I've been able to get on a plane for many years, but I still don't enjoy it particularly, and am a white-knuckled flier

We were scheduled to fly back to Queenstown in a Cessna. An itsy, bitsy, 4 passenger Cessna. Holy crap. The only thing worse than flying in a big plane, as far as I'm concerned, is flying in a little one. I was glad I had emptied my bladder before seeing that plane.

The four of us (Leo, the pilot, another passenger and myself), stuffed ourselves in the little plane (most willingly, me not so much) and off we went.

There's nothing like flying right towards a mountain to make you feel humble and insignificant; like nothing more than a gnat on the breeze, especially when you're in a tiny plane. I was petrified the whole flight. Leo of course was having a great time and took some really nice photos. I do have to admit, when I let myself look, the mountains, rivers and lakes were beautiful. Fortunately, the weather was good and the flight quite smooth, but I still wanted to kiss the ground when we landed in Queenstown. I'm sure the pilot, who was very professional, thought I was a real boob for being such a coward. I can't say I blame him.

Next: Queenstown to Christchurch ... and onward to Rohan

Part 3: From One Country to Another - Sydney to Queenstown

2010-02-17T03:17:25Z

Reminder:
More pictures at
LeosPictures.com

Our last day in Australia was, as the others had been, hot. Every day we slathered on the sunblock before leaving the hotel. I also put on bug repellant, which unfortunately didn't discourage the hungry bugs nearly as much as I'd hoped. Australia has some mighty tenacious bugs, damn their miserable, rotten exoskeletons.

Leo met with a group of his readers that morning while I did my share to stimulate the Australian economy at some of the local gift shops. Then we walked over to the Royal Botanical Gardens, which offer a really nice view of the harbor and Opera House as well as interesting flora. We really liked the various fig trees in the Gardens. Their roots and branches looked perfect for climbing and just lent the trees more personality. I especially liked the plumeria trees with their fragrant blossoms. The formal gardens of the Government House were rather disappointing in that there weren't many things blooming, and of what was blooming, most things I was already familiar with. I was hoping to see something really tropical and exotic.

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It was too hot to stay outside in the sun, so we walked to the CBD again and hung out in the food court where I once again had the wonderful yogurt with a fruit salad. It was a very busy place, filled with folks from all over, which made people-watching a lot of fun.

The next morning Leo drug me out of bed all too early for our flight to Queenstown, New Zealand. Good thing I wasn't the one doing the piloting, or it would have been a really interesting flight. As expected, it was indeed a very scenic flight, especially as the mountains of southern New Zealand became more prominent in the landscape. We flew along a river valley, between two sets of mountains, to get to Queenstown. I can see how flying there during foggy weather would be more than a little unnerving - those mountains did seem awfully close to the plane at times.

The lucky folks of Queenstown are blessed with an incredibly gorgeous place to live, between the clear blue-green waters of Lake Wakatipu, the green foothills and the Remarkables (portrayed as the Misty Mountains in one of the LOTR movies). The air is so clean and clear, it just seems like a place as yet untouched by all the pollution that people inevitably bring. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen, or ever hope to see.

Our first afternoon, we walked around the very warm town, finding to our surprise multiple Sequoia trees. We thought we'd left all those behind in California, but the Queenstown area has a fair number of those friendly giants. We noted the very abundant number of both ATMs, and liquor stores - apparently Betty owns several of them, whoever Betty is. Queenstown is quite the party town. During the day, the tourists fling themselves off mountain-tops via paragliders, bungy jump off the Skyline tower, parasail on the lake, risk getting skin cancer on the beach, or ski if it's winter. At night, the survivors party at one of the many bars or restaurants, or visit one of the many liquor stores for their favorite libations.

Next: Boats, Roads and Itty-Bitty Airplanes

Part 2: Olga Fizzles, but Sydney Shines

2010-02-14T23:59:13Z

Port Douglas is as pretty a harbor town as you could imagine. There are big parks at both ends of the main street, a beautiful marina just a couple blocks from downtown and multiple cozy coffee shops and bakeries. Lush foliage was planted everywhere. The shopkeepers were all friendly. It was so hot, nobody was in much of a hurry. It was a relaxing place.

We headed back to Thala Beach after stocking up on a few essentials. The road was lined with various resorts, and field after field of sugar cane. I remember thinking parts of Hawaii must look very similar.

]]> That night our trip to Kuranda was canceled due to the threat of Tropical Storm Olga turning into Cyclone Olga. Note to self: Do not visit northeast Australia during cyclone season. Heavy warm rain again pummeled our little abode. Yep, we were in a tropical rain forest, all right. Sheesh. And bugs. Hungry, clever, nasty bugs. I got bitten multiple times while Leo was basically ignored. So not fair!

The next day, not having anything else to do, we went back to Port Douglas, where we found out that our trip out to the Great Barrier Reef had also been canceled, due to Olga. Most of the larger boats had been taken upriver for safety. Oh, well. We spent the rest of our time just hanging out at the Lodge, where the staff had to literally tie down all the chairs, tables and lounge chairs just in case Olga blew through. Of course, Olga fizzled out and next day all the furniture was again restored to its proper place. The rain and wind overnight was truly impressive. We've never heard rain come down that hard, for that long.

Next on the agenda was Sydney. We landed in Sydney on Australia Day, their equivalent of our Independence Day. Our hotel was right on the harbor, and masses of people were hanging out, listening to the various live bands, taking ferries from place to place. It was a happy bedlam, culminating in fireworks that night.

Sydney has got to be one of the most beautiful big cities of the world, between the Opera House, Botanical Gardens, Harbor Bridge, sailboats, green hills, the blue-green water of the harbor...it was even better than I had expected. Certainly nature gave Sydney much beauty, but the people who settled it and then grew it to what it is today, have much to be commended for. They did a lot right.

Our first full day in Sydney we went to the Taronga Zoo via a short, scenic ferry ride. The zoo takes up the better part of a good-sized hill overlooking Sydney Harbor. It is quite a lovely zoo with not only native animals but a good variety of animals from other parts of the world. We enjoyed a free-flight demonstration put on by various parrots and predatory birds. The adorable red panda pair put on quite a show for us. Unfortunately the duckbill platypus was less cooperative and we only got to see him for a few seconds before he hid away in the shadows of his tank. Oh, well-maybe next time! The pelicans were amazingly graceful as they groomed themselves. We left the zoo tired but happy, and rode the ferry back to Circular Quay (pronounced "key").

We then walked to Sydney's CBD (central business district), home of all sorts of shops. Sydney prides itself on its homegrown fashion designers, and many of the shops featured their fashions. They were fun to look at, but I wasn't tempted, always being most comfortable in casual clothes. At one food court I had the best yogurt I've ever had. The food court featured food from the exotic to the mundane. Subway was there along with other recognizable names, all of which we avoided, except for Starbucks. In fact, we felt compelled to apologize to the natives for McDonald's and KFC, most especially. Wherever we went in Australia, fresh locally grown fruits and veggies were readily available, which we really appreciated. It was great having so much good fresh produce available in the middle of our winter.

The next day, we boarded a tour bus for a day trip to the Blue Mountains. The bus headed northwest up Australia's busiest road through many Sydney suburbs. At tea time we stopped in Leura, a small, lovely village, for a break before the final leg of the trip.

They might be called the Blue Mountains, but to us they were more like the Blue Hills; they just weren't all that tall. But oh were they pretty. Covered by temperate rain forest, fern trees grow in abundance. The Three Sisters are beacons to the eyes. We took a short ride on the Katoomba Scenic Railway, which according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the world's steepest railway. Coal was mined from these mountains; we saw some original mining cars and mine shafts. The river gorge extends for miles and miles. Due to our short time there, we were unable to take advantage of all the trail walks and tram rides available, but it was a very worthwhile thing to see just the same.

After lunch in the rotating restaurant above the gorge, we once again boarded the bus and headed off to the Featherdale Wildlife Park. When we were met at the bus by a bloke holding a wallaby for us to pet, I knew I was going to like Featherdale. While Taronga was nice, it was a typical zoo, keeping quite a bit of distance between the animals and the people. Featherdale was much more informal and felt much more personal. There was not a lot of space between the animals and the people. In fact, you could get right up to the bird enclosures, for example. Of course there were lots of "Caution-these animals bite" signs, but that was ok, because it meant you could get close to the animals and really see them. And if you were stupid enough to get chomped, it was your own fault. Anyway, we got to see the wombats close-up. They were so cute!! The tasmanian devils were out and about. In a separate enclosure, I got to pet the ubiquitous kangaroos and wallabies, another koala, an emu and even several kookaburras and tawny frogmouths. It was wonderful to be so close to the critters. We saw dingos, bats (called flying foxes by the Aussies), umpteen bird species and more critters I can't even remember at this point. We both loved it. If we ever go back to Sydney, we'll be making another visit to Featherdale as well.

After leaving Featherdale, we took a quick look at Sydney's Olympic Park, then boarded a catamaran for a very scenic ride up the Parramatta River back to Sydney. It was a beautiful trip.

Next: From One Country to Another - Sydney to Queenstown

Our Trip Down Under, Part 1: Large Aircraft, High Humidity and Koalas

2010-02-14T23:16:32Z

[Kathy decided to write up our trip, both to help us remember it better as the years go by, and to share the story with friends. With her permission, and in installments, here 'tis for all.]

We left Seattle on a typically gray, damp day. The first flight was to L.A., where our good friends Joo and Simon and their 6 month old son Eugene met us. It was our first time to meet Eugene, who of course cried every time I held him. Simon said I shouldn't feel bad, as Eugene cries when Simon holds him too. He is very much a velcro baby and wants to stick to Joo all the time. But he sure is cute.

]]> The security line at L.A. was long and slow, but finally we got through it, and boarded the plane that would carry us to Sydney. Holy s**t, it was a big plane - the Airbus A380. It is a double-decker and holds almost 500 people. We were flying business class, which meant we had plenty of legroom, storage space, seats that fully reclined and various other goodies. For that long a flight, I highly recommend it. I sure wouldn't have wanted to be in the cattle-car section.

Anyway, the plane lumbered down the runway for quite awhile and finally took off, to my relief. Flying that sucker must be a little like trying to make a small cruise ship fly, or maybe a herd of pregnant elephants. It took off around 11pm Wed. January 20th.

The flight attendants, in an effort to make us all behave nicely I'm sure, fed us well, handed out jammies and toothbrushes, and shut out the lights. They practically tucked us in. Probably good-night kisses would have cost extra.

On we flew. And flew. And flew. Quite a few folks managed to sleep for awhile, or were able to fake it. Being the white-knuckled flier that I am, I slept very little, if at all. Leo managed a bit, but we were both pretty tired by the time morning came around. Breakfast was served, and about 14 hours after taking off, we landed in Sydney Friday January 22nd, Sydney time. Yep - we totally skipped over Thursday.

Between the plane landing a bit late, and luggage taking forever to be unloaded, we missed our flight to Cairns, in the northeast state of Queensland. Oops. Fortunately there was another a couple hours later and we finally got to Cairns in the late afternoon, something like 30 hours after we left home.

The first thing we noticed about Cairns was the humidity. Oh. My. God. It was incredible. Between that and the heat, it was like stepping into a sauna. The humidity remained high, and the temperature very warm, the whole time we were in northeast Australia. Had we done any research in advance, we would have learned we would visiting in the monsoon season. Not the best time, but, oh well. Everybody there said September would have been cooler and less humid. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right??

The drive to our hotel from Cairns was beautiful. For the most part, it followed the curve of the shoreline. Everything around us was so green. And there were countless little waterfalls - I've never seen so many waterfalls. The water off to our right - the Coral Sea - was a beautiful shade of blue-green. We kind of felt like we'd stepped onto a movie set or something; it just seemed too beautiful to be real.

Just about the time I was getting queasy from the curvy road, we arrived at our hotel - Thala Beach Lodge.

It was very, very cool. The lobby, restaurant, bar and meeting areas are open. There's a roof, and some areas, like the kitchen, are walled, but most areas are not. The wind can blow through, the rain can blow in, the tropical birds can even come and go. It was just so different from every other hotel we'd ever been in. Lush tropical rainforest surrounds each little abode and the main lodge itself. We had a beautiful view of the ocean and the hills. There was a scenic path down to the very lovely beach. We were surrounded by the songs of many tropical birds and what seemed like a billion cicadas. Actually, pretty much no matter where we went, we heard cicadas. They must outnumber any other insect "Down Under" or maybe they're just louder than anybody else.

The next day, we jumped onto a local shuttle bus and went to the Rainforest Habitat where we had their "Breakfast With The Birds". Yep, various types of birds, including black cockatoos and other parrot-types, ibis, ducks and spoonbills, hung around as we ate, and hoped for crumbs to be thrown their way. Then came the best part - for the first time in my life, I was able to hold and pet a very mellow koala bear by the name of Glen. Glen was quite a solid chunk of critter, weighing about 20#. Like all males, he had a scent gland on his chest which made him somewhat aromatic. The scent was reminiscent of eucalyptus; not too surprising since that's what koalas eat. Glen did me the favor of not pooping or peeing on me, and was quite tolerant of being petted. His fur was very, very thick - you couldn't see his skin through it at all. I wish I could have petted his ears, which looked very soft, but they were off limits.

While at the Rainforest Habitat we saw - and heard - the native Kookaburra with its famous "laughing" call. Its call does sound like someone laughing hysterically and was quite entertaining. Of course I might feel differently if I had to listen to it all the time. We also got fairly wet from a cloudburst, but it was a warm rain and didn't take long to evaporate. Soon enough we were back to sweltering and sweating.

After seeing all there was to see, including the fruit bats, which were quite actively moving around in their trees, we boarded another bus and went into Port Douglas, a quaint little harbor town.

Next: Olga Fizzles, but Sydney Shines

Auckland Meet-Up

2010-02-11T17:00:00Z

Thank You! to John, Dave and Jerry who joined me at the Symonds Street Starbucks. It was very nice to meet you all.

I'm sorry there's no group shot, but in addition to not all being there at the same time, my "camera person" had elected to sleep in that morning.

And for the record, while 3 attendees in New Zealand is less than the 4 with whom I met in Australia, I feel the need to point out that on a per capita basis, New Zealand was better represented.

Not that New Zealand and Australia ever compete in anything, of course.

Auckland

2010-02-11T05:00:00Z

I was expecting not to be too impressed with Auckland. Not sure why, just didn't expect to be.

]]> Our first night in Auckland seemed to bear that out - what walking we did do around the city's central business district was "OK", but nothing terribly different from other places.

Then we took today's tour, and though it was a bit of a whirlwind (we had only the one day, after all) our eyes were opened. We've come to love Auckland.

The tour started with a simple over-and-back on the city's harbor bridge, which gave us a very nice view of the city, then a stop at a point in the harbor that gave us the complimentary view of the bridge (and more).

We then drove up to Mt. Eden, a volcanic crater, from which we got gorgeous views of the city, bridge and the surrounding country side.

After a visit to the local penguin encounter, followed by a quick lunch, it was off to the Auckland Zoo, where we finally saw the fellow above (a Kiwi), as well as others trotting around in their nocturnal enclosure. They're pretty cool little birds.

Then it was back to the harbor for a bit of a sail. We boarded a sailboat with perhaps 15 others and as the wind picked up, we went under the harbor bridge (watching the crazy bungee jumpers), and back past the docked cruise ships for the better part of an hour. The photo above is of our twin - two boats from the same company took the same path.

Finally, after leaving our bus (and another great driver) behind, we wandered our way up to the sky tower where we had dinner below and views above. It had actually started to rain as we returned from our boat trip, but it let up long enough for our trip to the top of the tower. If you look carefully at the harbor above, you'll see lots and lots of sailboats.

It was a full day, a busy day, but we really enjoyed it, and it put Auckland on the list of places to return to so as to spend more time.

Tomorrow: a meet up, and the long trip home. It's hard to believe our three weeks is already about to be over.

Dinner in Hell

2010-02-08T05:42:29Z

Today was a "day off", so we shuttled into "downtown" Rotorua for some shopping and just general wandering around.

]]> Rotorua is fundamentally a tourist town - you can tell by the number of souvenir shops if nothing else; often three on a single block. Fortunately there's also a wide variety of restaurants and other things to see and do that make it an interesting little town.

The other sign that this is a tourist-driven economy is the number of empty storefronts. Clearly Rotorua has been impacted by the economic turn down. One can only hope that it, and cities around the world like it, will start to see the effected of a recovery soon.

We had dinner in Hell.

Quite literally.

Hell serves good pizza.

And yes, while I was there I made sure to drop off one of these. It only made sense.

A few more pictures from recent days added to LeosPictures.com.

Tomorrow: we're bussing it to Auckland.

Ah, that sulfur smell...

2010-02-07T06:23:08Z

I may never eat eggs again.

]]> Actually, to be honest, it hasn't been that bad. Rotorua sits in a very active volcanic region full of hot springs and geothermal activity, so even flying in you notice a slight smell of sulfur as you descend into the area. That dissipates quickly (and varies greatly on location, weather and wind), but it's not really been a problem at all.

It's hot here. We slept with the windows open and a fan blowing all night. (This particular hotel is a tad older and has no air conditioning. Yeah, surprised us too.)

However we woke up to this, though:

That's Lake Rotoiti, on which the hotel sits.

Today we were picked up for Rotorua Wanderer, by the same company that took us out to Milford Sound a few days ago. (Highly recommended - the guides were friendly, helpful and basically a lot of fun. We enjoyed ourselves quite a bit.)

The highlight of the day was visiting the Wai-O-Tapu "Thermal Wonderland", with volcanic craters, lakes, and yes - an "on demand" geyser:

I say "on demand" because the geyser is initiated - and as they say, I am not making this up - by tossing some soap into the opening. So, at 10:15 every day, a park worker gives a short talk on the geyser's history, origins and how the creative use of soap was discovered. Part way through his presentation he tosses in the soap (ok, more correctly, surfactant) into the geyser's opening, and over about 5 minutes it works up to what you see above, which can last 30 minutes or more.

The area has many various geothermal activities ranging from the geyser to bubbling mud pools, steam vents and the appropriately named "Artists Palette" pool:

After heading back to Rotorua proper and enjoying a leisurely lunch, we headed out to Rainbow Springs nature park for a look at some local wildlife.

The Kiwis (a nocturnal bird) were in hiding, so we saw a variety of other flora and fauna.

The Kea - a New Zealand native parrot that likes to eat cars. Seriously, the park had a short film showing how unsuspecting hikers return to find their cars seriously damaged as the local Kea's eat and/or remove almost everything rubber, including little things like the seals around windshields and the like.

Oh, and Kea's are protected. Go figure.

A few more pictures also at LeosPictures.com.

Rohan, Edoras and ... a Corgi

2010-02-05T08:32:00Z

The Lord of the Rings was filmed in several locations all over New Zealand. Even just flying into Queenstown on our arrival evoked images of many beautiful scenes from the movie.

So, it only made sense that we would take a "Lord of the Rings" based tour while we were here.

]]> Mount Sunday, the location where Rohan and the city of Edoras, was filmed a three hour drive out of Christchurch. Edoras was featured in the second The Lord of the Rings movie, The Two Towers.

Here's a larger pan of the valley with "Edoras" about 1/3rd the way in from the right.

The tour took us to the top of Edoras - this view is from looks towards the mountains used as the entrance to Helm's Deep (the actual Helms Deep was filmed in a different location in New Zealand.)

As a pretty nifty side note: our driver was the Oscar Award Winning (honest!) Hammond Peek - he won for sound on Return of the King (though he worked on all three, and all three were nominated in his category; best sound mixing). He was able to provide some really interesting insider insights into the making of the movies. He does the tours in his off time because they're fun, and - as he put it - an Oscar doesn't come with cash.

Finally, we've commented that we've been going through some "Corgi withdrawal" - so imagine our surprise when at a stop along the way to Mt. Sunday we find this fellow waiting outside the coffee shop:

More pitures at LeosPictures.com.

Tomorrow: Rotorua.

6WD, Jet Boats and Trains

2010-02-04T08:24:40Z

]]> Our first full day in Christchurch had us taking the Alpine safari - an all day excursion that started in a six wheel drive Land Cruiser that holds roughly a dozen people. We drove out across the Canterbury Plains in which Christchurch resides out to the mountains to the west.

Our first venue was a drive through a large farm highlighting much of the local rural scenery and livestock (there's more than sheep - really).

Next up - a 45 minute jet boat ride!

Had I known how cool this was going to be I would have also done it in Queenstown, where it was also offered. The ride up and down river (about 15 miles each way) was fantastic - even the occasional 360's - and the view was gorgeous.

Next up - a 45 minute jet boat ride!

After getting back into the 6WD, we headed further into the mountains to Arthur's Pass, where we boarded the train shown at the top that took us back into town

As always, photos (and my narrative) don't do it justice. This was a very worthwhile excursion.

Happy Anniversary

2010-02-02T07:46:05Z

We spent the "reason" for this trip - our 30th Anniversary - in Queenstown with a "day off". No special activities planned, just a relaxing morning sleeping in, some shopping, wandering about town, some time at the beach watching this years sunburn harvest, and so on.

Oh, and a visit to Starbucks.

And a very nice dinner at the Skyline Restaurant, which rests on a mountainside about 1500 feet above Queenstown.

I had to play a touch with the lighting on that one, since it was evening the gondolas were very dark and the city in the back very bright, but you get the idea. 1500 feet, UP.

The view from above is spectacular:

Definitely see larger version of that, and others, by clicking on the picture.

And a good meal as well.

All in all, a good anniversary, and a fine end to our stay in Queenstown. Tomorrow: Christchurch.

(And yes, technically it's not our anniversary at home yet - international date line and all - so perhaps we'll celebrate twice. :-).