Land of the Long White Cloud

Kia Ora from The City of Sails. We got off to a great start in Auckland with an evening walk around the waterfront before dinner. Preparation is underway for the Volvo sailing next week and there are some very large yachts at the quay.

Yesterday started with a 45 minute ferry ride to Waiheke where we rented a motorbike for the afternoon and roamed this hilly island of bays, beaches and vineyards, 30 in all.

The rain was timely, it began as we were boarding the ferry back to Devonport, a pretty Victorian village across the harbour from the city, and by the time we disembarked the sun was out so we walked to the top of Victoria Hill to enjoy the 360 degree views, followed by some local Pinot Gris.

Today was historic. Pardon the play on words but we have never spent a full day in a museum before, having visited many but Auckland Museum is outstanding and the best place to preview a tour of NZ.
The Pacific People exhibition is fascinating, comprehensively highlighting the similarities and contrasts between the inhabitants of Macronesia, Micronesia and Polynesia in every aspect of their culture . The Maori cultural performance was most enjoyable and concluded with the Haka..

The afternoon was spent in the Natural History section: Origins, Volcanoes the Coastal Regions and Oceans and everything that crawls, swims in and flies over them! Scars on The Heart covers the Kiwi military involvement in the Boer Wars, ANZAC, and the Great Wars and includes original fighter planes The Japanese Zero and The Spitfire. Another reminder: WAR what is it good for?

We are now much better prepared to understand and enjoy all that New Zealand has to offer over the next few weeks. If you don’t hear from us it will be due to the lack of access the internet.

Van Diemens Land

Otherwise known as Tasmania, discovered by a Dutchman who for some reason did not wish to stay! The Isle of Arran is considered to be like Scotland in miniature and the same can be said of Tassie, if you don't have time to get around Australia you can visit here instead and see just about every form of topography, flora and fauna and wildlife that you would on the mainland, with the exception of a few million hectares of desert.
We started in Hobart, the second oldest city in Australia, a sleepy fishing port much of the time but it does come alive for the Salamanca market and the Sydney-Hobart race. The waterfront area is quaint with a variety of pubs and galleries and a mix of stone and wooden Victorian style houses around Battery Point.
Further afield to the west is the pristine wilderness of the Huon Valley and our next destination was the west coast, most of the journey borders on National Parkland.

Lunch in Queenstown, a copper mining town, reminded us of a wild west scene and we were pleased to arrive in Strahan,a very tourist oriented little fishing port and the the gateway to the
Gordon River. Unfortunately our timing was not good for a boat cruise as it poured with rain the next day so we left town and drove north. Again the scenery was spectacular and changed frequently and the sun came out prior to passing Cradle Mountain and arriving in Wilmot Valley.

We ended the day in the Tamar Valley area, which was like a return to Devon, many names were familiar: Sidmouth, Exeter and Launceston but a few. We stayed in Grindelwald, there are lovely views over the estuary with many vineyards and gardens. Oysters and fish dinner were the obvious choices, washed down with a local sauvignon blanc at sunset. marvellous.

For the weekend we visited friends on their sheep farm in the East, the weather was very hot and dry, the sightseeing in Freycinet National Park spectacular and in the late afternoon we arrived at Wineglass Bay, following some wine tasting and a tour of Milton Vineyard.

The ride home after dinner, for some of the time on gravel roads was pure Australia as we were possum weaving and wallabie dodging constantly, pleased to report that we didn't hit any but many people do.
Life on a farm can be challenging particularly when the government keeps moving the goalposts but the upside is that there is also a great feeling of tranquillity and appreciation of nature and watching the sun go down over this valley, with a cold beer in hand was delightful, thanks to Bob and Ange for all their hospitality.

Six days in Tassie is only enough time to get a taste of this most beautiful of states, we leave for Auckland tomorrow, can it get any better?

The MCG

The last train ride to Melbourne from Yass Junction (Canberra) was a short hop of 8 hours by our now easy going standards. First stop was the MCG, the mecca of cricket for Australians and also quite a popular venue for a game they call football which is nothing like it!
The tour of the stadium and sports museums is a must see, the biggest capacity in the country at 100,000.

Another must is the viewing platform of Eureka Towers, at over 300 metres, the highest in the southern hemisphere, we went up in the late afternoon for a drink before sunset. From here one can see how green and vibrant a city this is: The MCG, Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena, Sidney Myer music bowl and the Botanical Gardens all in this shot.

There is a tram and tourist bus on which you can visit most points of interest and it is free, however they get you back on water and coffee! Australia is at least if not more expensive than Europe at the moment. There are many parks and we have spent quite a lot of the time just walking in them. We have also realised from the various memorials we have seen in all the cities just how many Australians have been involved in the wars so our visit to The Shrine of Remembrance was a sobering one as they have just celebrated 70 years since the fall of Singapore, when this memorial was built in the 1930's in this view of the city the tallest building was the cathedral.

Our hotel at Spencer and Flinders Streets is a short walk from the Crown Center on the Southbank, where we can stroll along the river, grab a bite and people watch. This is a great city for all of the above.

Big Country

The blog has been quiet as we have spent the last 10 days visiting family and friends and we have logged about 40 hours of train time from Cairns to Canberra. The scenery has been spectacular, fine views into the distance which you know will never look the same in a photograph but you take one anyway! Cairns-Brisbane is primarily sugar cane and banana plantations for about 300 miles. Brisbane-Sydney is cattle and horse ranching with some kangaroos mixed in. Steep hills and full rivers flowing through the valleys of the Great Divide, this is a huge country.
One of the amazing aspects is the wildlife, in most countries one would need to visit a zoo to see the birds and animals which you can see here from the front porch. Wallabies,cockatoos and Scarlett Rosellas just to name a few.

Our host in Sydney is a volunteer bushcare worker, possum nurser and snake relocator which appears to be almost a full time job judging by the number of calls she receives. If you find a snake in your home or garden you can ring the hotline and a volunteer will remove it for you. Clare went out to help capture this 2 metre long diamond python, not what you would usually expect on holiday.

In most cases the snakes are released at the bottom of the garden which borders on parkland in the middle of the North Sydney suburbs which has over 25,000 hectares of National Parks.
We took a ferry down the Parramatta River into Sydney, as everyone has seen the Harbour Bridge and Opera House here's a shot of Bondi Beach on a glorious day, the whole scene is very like California.

Yesterday was a short 5 hour ride to Canberra, after the Sydney suburbs it's a long gentle climb into the tablelands, large sheep ranches with some cattle and horses. After years of drought this has been the wettest summer for a long time and everyone is moaning about it, except us because Australia has never been more green and the views from the train were varied and stunning.

Queensland

The final day in Bali was more sightseeing west of Denpasar with a supper in Sanur before a late flight which for some unknown reason stops in Darwin for 2 hours at 3am. We realised we were back in the modern world when 2 coffees cost $13.00!
Arrived in the Daintree Rainforest and did not do much as we were pretty jetlagged.
Yesterday was a special one. We set out from Port Douglas on the Calypso headed for the Great Barrier Reef. 15-20 knots had been forecast so we were chomping on the ginger (which doesn't help because if you are going to be sick you might as well face it) and we were going about 35 miles offshore.

We need not have worried because it was the most perfect day, flat calm and there were only 20 in total on the boat. This was one of those bucket list items we have talked about for years, snorkelling on the GBR and we were not disappointed. We visited 3 different sites spending about 45 minutes in the water at each, all were different. Bermuda diving is excellent but for variety, particularly of coral this is better. We wore stinger suits as this time of year the waters get inundated with jellyfish, although we did not see any.