South Island, New Zealand

For any of you that haven't been to New Zealand, I highly suggest you take a road trip through the South Island.  I've been to North Island before, and I definitely prefer South to North.  It's a bit of a drive to all the places, but it's an adventure destination for sure.  Plus, the scenery is gorgeous!  You will have to bare with the pictures because I couldn't control myself with scenes.  I've weeded them down, but you know me... can't pass up those landscapes.

We started out the trip in Christchurch for three days exploring the biggest city (population 350,000) in South Island.  It's very quaint with town center of Cathedral Square.  Actually, we arrived around 1am, and we were lucky enough to find a cool shuttle driver.  He used to be a limo driver in Sydney, and he came home to NZ for retirement.  Since we were the only passengers, he was kind enough to take us on a night-time tour of Christchurch.  He made sure to point out the "lovely dining options near the hotel."  He pointed out the "fine Scottish dining establishment of McDonald's" and some of the other local fast food chains.  His commentary was quite cheeky and entertaining at 1 in the morning.  We stayed in a hip new hotel called Hotel So.  It's modeled after a Japanese style with very compact rooms and simplistic amenities in order to keep the cost down.  It's like a fancy hostel, but there is a restaurant along with a self-serve kitchen and free internet.  We called the bathroom "the pod" because it was this compact toilet and shower area hidden behind a huge, heavy, frosted glass sliding door.

We couldn't get to every activity, but we did take advantage of a few fun things.  We tried punting on the Avon River, which reminded me a bit of the boats in Venice with the large stick to push it down the river, and the punters are dressed in period ties, vests and hats similar to those from the 1800's.  It was a nice relaxing ride along a very shallow river, and our German punter entertained us with facts about the city and different sites along the river.  As it turned out, he was traveling through NZ and picked up work as a punter.  He'd been in Christchurch for a month and a half and had stayed in Auckland before that.  Apparently, this is pretty common for young travelers to stop in a place and pick up work as they go.  I'm not sure I would have had the nerve to do something like that, but it sounds adventurous.

Another cool thing to do there is hot air ballooning.  I tried to schedule a trip up, but the weather wasn't good enough for me to go.  We did make it to the Antarctic Experience, which was cool!  Christchurch is the training center and launch point for all excursions to Antarctica, and we saw the blue-eyed penguins as well as experienced the extreme cold temperatures for only a few minutes.  I'm not sure I could have stood it much longer considering I had on flip flops.  The best part though was the Hagglund ride.  The hagglunds replaced exploration on foot and tractors and were introduced as all-terrain vehicles in 1985.  The course out back takes you over steep hills, into water, and almost horizontal around the hills.  I kept thinking we were going to tip over for sure.

We left Christchurch for Dunedin, a former Scottish settlement, and here starts the scenery pictures.  We drove towards Dunedin, down the east coast of South Island and encountered many of the local sheep that New Zealand is known for.  The NZ wool is some of the best, and I enjoyed checking out the livestock along the way.  Baaaaaa

In Dunedin, we arrived just in time to catch the evening tour of the Speight's Brewery.  This is the best brewery tour I've seen so far.  Everything still looks so antiqued, and our tour guide Steve was very charismatic.  Speight's touts itself as "the pride of the south," and I quite agree.  It was funny for sure.  Even though the US and NZ are different countries, I could definitely relate to the southern ways.  This is a must-see on your way through.

The next day, we grabbed lunch in town then hit the road again for another 4 hr drive to Queenstown, touted as the 'Adventure Capital of the World.'  Queenstown is a big skiing town that has a number of summer/fall activities.  Apparently, we arrived just after the snow had finally melted away.  It reminded me a bit of Park City, UT if you've ever been there.  Our choice of entertainment was white water rafting on the Shotover River.  Let me just say the river left a last impression on me.  We started off with a 45-minute drive through a very narrow pass that used to be a road used for gold mining.  At one point, the driver calls the turn a "one-wheel turn" because she had to hang one wheel off the road in order to get the rafts around the turn without scraping the rocks.  Wow, that was enough adventure for me, and we hadn't even gotten in the water yet.  When we did arrive at the drop point, the Chief, our local Maori river guide, separated us into 6-person rafting teams.  Travis and I got paired with "team China" as he called them.  There were 4 former classmates traveling from Shanghai in our boat, and their English was not as strong.  So, our guide put us in the front of the boat to steer.  I enjoyed talking with them, but was a bit frustrated because they were too busy talking and not listening to the guide.  So on the first rapid, I was the only one rowing on my side and ended up getting thrown out of the boat.  I either landed on a big rock or got slammed into it, and I was left with a huge bruise mainly down the back of my right thigh.  Painful!!  I got back in the boat and kept going though.  It's amazing what adrenaline can get you through.  After this trip, I didn't feel the need to do any of the hang-gliding or off-roading provided there.  The rafting trip covered it all!

I had intended to go down the luge on the ski slope, but I was having trouble walking and had to opt out.  We did take the gondola up to the top of Bob's Peak and took in the spectacular views of Queenstown and the surrounding area.  Oh, and the gondola was nearly straight up.  Travis is not too keen on heights.  So, he sat on the side to look up the mountain.  After our mountain-top sight seeing, we took off for the Lake Tekapo for an overnight stay before heading back for a final night in Christchurch.  There really wasn't anything to do at the lake, but we did slow down long enough to try out the new hot spring pools at the Alpine Spa.  The three pools look out over the pale turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo, such natural beauty.  We were told that the color of the water comes from the fine glacier dust that settles in the water and reflects the turquoise color when the light shines down.

We left Lake Tekapo in order to drive to Akaroa, a former French settlement, for lunch before returning to Christchurch.  The best part of the road-tripping was experiencing the change in the landscape as we drove along.  The scenery was lush and green then dry and mountainous then back to green again.  There's a fair amount of variation for such a small country.

If you have 10 days to make the flight and drive around, I suggest you add NZ to your trip "to do" list.  Ah, lovely.

Great Barrier Reef

For my birthday this year, Travis treated me to a trip to Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland.  We started off with a drive up to Mossmon Gorge and Daintree Rainforest.  It's plenty warm there, and there are a number of sugar cane fields along the way.  In Daintree, we found a place to stop for a river cruise on an electric boat... touted as the "Daintree's quietest boat."  And low and behold, we saw a good-sized croc as we cruised along.  He was about 2.5 meters, and I think that's about 8ft!

Later in the day, we stopped through Port Douglas for a nice meal at Nautilus Restaurant.  It was sort of like having dinner in a fancy treehouse.  The trees are grown up and very lush, and there was a lovely deck set up with outdoor seating.  It was some of the best seafood I've had.

The next day, we took a boat ride out to the Great Barrier Reef.  The first dive point was 2.5 hrs from the Cairns harbour, and unfortunately, the weather started to turn on us once we reached our first stop.  Luckily, it doesn't matter if there's rain in the water... You're already wet!  

And we didn't run across anything that would kill us.  The guides said it was unlikely we would see sharks, and the jellyfish that would kill us stay near the shore line.  He did mention that the ones at the reef would definitely pack a pretty harsh sting though.  Actually, his story went something like this...  "These guys won't kill you, but they put my friend in the hospital for 3 days on pain killers.  And he's a pretty big guy.  Anybody want a stinger suit for $7?"  Needless to say, almost every arm on the boat went up!  Best $7 I've spent in a while, and it had sun protection too!  Can't be too careful around here...

The fish were very cool and quite colorful.  The pictures don't do them justice.  After snorkeling, we had lunch provided then went on to another dive point then back to the harbour.  It was surprisingly reasonably priced for a full day of boat food and snorkeling.  Then, we got to sail back.  Quite cool!

New Year's Eve at Sydney Harbour

We returned from Tassie on New Years Eve and were able to see the fireworks on the harbour.  I must admit that it was sort of cool to move into 2009 a bit ahead of the US.  Although, it's not as easy to wish everyone a happy new year from there.  Travis and I took the train down to Circular Quay to find a good spot for the midnight fireworks, but it was a mad house.  Plus, everything was on a much lower level with blocked views.  So, we decided to go up through the Rocks to sit at Observatory Hill, which looks out towards the Harbour Bridge.  Since there were only two of us, we were able to find a decent spot without too much trouble, and we didn't get there until about 10pm.  So, not too long to wait.

I don't know if I was just tired when I took the pictures or whether the ground was shaking from the shock of the fireworks, but some of the pictures are a bit blurry.  It was still cool though.  (Link to PicasaWeb)

Tasmania - It's a real place! (Part 2)

Welcome to Hobart!  We got here at the perfect time.  The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race started in Sydney Harbour on Boxing Day, and the first boats started to arrive in Hobart around the 28th.  We missed seeing the winner, Wild Oats by an hour, but I think the starting line would have been a bit cooler to see with all the sails unfurled.  By the time they arrive, the sails are drawn in to keep the boats from blowing right into the docks.  Makes sense, I suppose. Can you tell I'm not a sailor?  (I was actually hoping to take some lessons since there is so much nautical activity here, but I never made the time.)

Anyhoo, back to the holiday.  We arrived in Hobart just in time to catch the Salamanca markets closing down.  Salamanca is the arts village on one side of Constitution Dock, and there is a well-known Saturday market there.  We walked around town to get a lay of the land and ran across the historic area of Battery Point.  There are mainly older homes there with a few shops and eateries, but it was cute.

The next day, we found our way about 20 minutes out of town for a visit to the Cascade Brewery.  What a great setting at the bottom of Mt Wellington, where they get their water.  Of course, we had to take the tour and get some sampling in at the show room.  One beer in particular was the First Harvest beer that is actually made with the whole hops flower.  They only serve it at the brewery, and I quite enjoyed it.  It's definitely got a distinct flavor to it.  Wish I could share, but you'll have to come here to get it.  After quenching our thirst, we wandered through the Taste of Tasmania back on the waterfront.  Australia has a lot of markets and festivals, but the Taste is Tassie's most noted festival of food and beverages from all over the state.  I have to admit the seafood here was better than any of the places I've been so far.  (I always thought that Oz would have amazing seafood since it's an island, but it's only okay, mainly prawns and calamari.  The barramundi, native Aussie white fish, isn't bad.)

The next day we took a local tour of the historic Richmond Village and visited the Bonorong Wildlife Conservation Centre.  This was my favorite part of the trip.  It was so much better than a zoo.  They gave us feed for the kangaroos, and the guide was able to tell us all about the wombats, devils and koalas.  Pixie, the wombat, was just the cutest thing ever.  She was rescued from the side of the road.  Apparently mom was killed, and Pixie was in her pouch.  There are a number of animals with pouches here, and the reserve sees many cases like hers.  Pixie was very friendly and well adapted to visitors, and she kept rolling over for the keeper to pet her belly.  It was just the same way my dog rolls over for a belly rub.  I got a good laugh out of it.  I'm sure wild ones aren't quite as cute.

Then, we got to see the devils up close and personal, no petting these guys though.  It was rather impressive to see how well they could attack their food with a scraping motion of their front claws to rip the food apart.  I don't think I'd want to run up against one of these without some serious protection.  (There's video posted at end of blog.)  There is also a "Save the Devils" campaign going on right now as many of the wild devils are contracting a type of mouth cancer, and many have died.  This cancer is contagious, and no cure has been found yet.  Quite a sad story really.

Our second stop was Richmond, which is part of the historic convict trail.  Australia was a place where the Brits sent their convicts, and over time, Oz exiled their convicts to Tasmania.  (Must be something about those island places...  no way they are escaping with killer sharks in the water.)  It's interesting hearing about the oldest of this and the best of that.  The Richmond Bridge is the oldest bridge in Australia, constructed in 1823, and the St. John's Church is the oldest Catholic Church.  I would have thought Sydney would have the oldest of both considering the first settlers landed there, but these bridges and churches have since been destroyed or burned down over the years.  And Tassie is more than happy to claim the title.

Before I left Hobart, I had to make a trip out to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory.  Unfortunately, they aren't conducting tours anymore, but there were plenty of samples and tasty treats to buy.  (Em, you would have loved it!!  I wanted to send some, but they have signs everywhere saying that it will melt if you try to send it internationally.  Way to rain on my parade, huh?)

Another interesting place I saw was a tour of Hobart's rivulet tour.  These waterways were originally used as Hobart's drinking water supply but over time became more of a storm water drain as well as other things.  It looked cool in the brochure, but I don't think I quite new what I was getting myself into.  I had this image in my head of a small boat ride through Hobart's underground tunnels, only to find out that the tour guide had hard hats, neon safety jackets and industrial-sized flashlights for us to walk through the old sewer lanes!  I was quickly thinking let's forfeit the money and get the hell outta here, but I stuck with it for just a bit and realized it actually was pretty cool.  There wasn't any stinky smell, and they really are more storm drains now.  The city council commissions the local kids to graffiti the walls to dress it up.

After the tour, it was time for a drink, and we stumbled upon this garage/bar that had a lot of US road and car memorabilia and parts.  It was a cool place for us to meet up with a couple friends that were traveling through as well before heading over to the Taste festival again.  All in all, it was a great place to spend a week.  (Link to PicasaWeb)

Tasmania - It's a real place! (Part 1)

Tasmania is more than just the Tasmanian Devil, and let me tell you that the real Tasmanian Devil looks nothing like the one in the Bugs Bunny cartoon.  Tasmania, or Tassie as Australians refer to it, is an island state off the south east coast of Australia, a long ferry ride away from Melbourne or 2hr flight from Sydney.  We arrived on Christmas day in Launceston (pronounced - lawn-sess-ton) at the top of Tasmania and stayed two days before making our way to the capitol of Hobart, in the southern end, for the remaing 4 days of the trip.

Launceston is a fairly small town, and I wasn't prepared for how small the airport was.  As we descended towards a runway, all I could see were open fields of cows and sheep enjoying their Christmas lunch of local grasses.  They scattered out of the way as we lowered to the ground, and I really thought we might land in a paddock.  There was in fact a paved runway though, but the baggage claim was just a garage with a luggage cart that rolled up for us to find our bags.  Considering the holiday, I knew nothing would be open except our hotel.  However, the restaurant there was closed as well.  We arrived right about lunch time and were thinking that Christmas dinner would be snacks from 7-11, but we ran across a Thai restaurant that was serving.  There were maybe 4 other tables occupied and the classic Christmas carols playing... A little Perry Como and Andy Williams instantly make you feel right at home.  The food was really good too.

With a filled stomach, we decided to wander around the town a bit.  Our hotel was a short walk away from Cataract Gorge.  As I understand it, a cataract is a series of waterways flowing down.  Anyway, there is an easy pathway that winds along the South Esk River up to the First Basin, which is a large pooling of calm water.  It was quite nice actually.  There were peacocks roaming the grounds, and a chair lift gives you a ride to the other side of the river.  It seemed like the perfect place for a lazy, summer (Christmas) day swim.  Once on the other side, we took the more difficult walk back to town, and I must say that I am not in the shape to do it.  It's called the Zig Zag Track, and it just keeps going up!  The cool thing is that we saw a wallaby on the way.  I never get tired of seeing Aussie wildlife in a natural environment.  It's always a reminder that I really live here...

After our hike, we decided it was time to scout out where dinner was coming from, and crazily enough we found a decent steakhouse that is open 365 days a year.  They do allow a surcharge on holidays though.  We made a booking, and luckily so, because the place was packed.  There were either more travelers than I thought, or no one wanted to cook a Christmas dinner.  Christmas meals consist of a lot of seafood, especially since it's summer.  There were a number of news segments about the rush on the fish markets... Time for shrimp on the barbie, except they are actually prawns here.

The next day, we walked around town hoping something was open since it was Boxing Day.  People were certainly out, but only the major department stores were open.  And the two they have were completely flooded with crowds.  (I included a link for Boxing Day considering I'm still not quite sure what the holiday is for other than having the day after Christmas off of work.)  After breaky and wandering around the shopping area, we decided to take a river cruise up the Tamar River towards the Bass Strait.  It was a nice way to spend the afternoon, a couple hours on the water with afternoon tea and a guide covering the history of the area.  It's all about the tea really.  Brits and Aussies love their tea!

The next day, we took the Tassie Link bus from Launceston to Hobart.  I would have to say that 2 days in Launceston was enough.  It sounded like there were more touristy things to do in the outlying towns, but I saw what I wanted to see.  The bus ride was fairly uneventful.  The bus drove us down the main highway, not along the coast.  And the eastern shore, where we were, is much drier landscape.  Supposedly, the western shore is the more lush side of the island, much wetter climate.  (Link to PicasaWeb)

A Little Random...

As you've well seen so far, I tend to take a lot of scenery pictures, and I've pulled together some random pictures I've taken along the way to share with you.  These were taken with my cell phone.  So, some of them are a bit grainy.  (Link to Picasaweb)

Shelly Beach, NSW

Here are few pics from a recent to Shelly Beach.  This beach is much more rocky than the other beaches I've seen here.  Plus, the flies are ruthless.  Apparently, this is an Oz thing.  Flies during the summer tend to be huge pests.  At one point, I counted about 30 or so that were hitching a ride on the back of Travis's t-shirt.  Crazy!!  (Link to Picasaweb)