Kiwi Christmas

I hardly dared hope that such a day might be possible on one particular date - sunshine, no cloud and a gentle breeze - but along it came and the fact it only stayed for that one day made it even more amazing. It was great to be able to experience a true antipodean Christmas of eating outside and lounging around in the sun. I even got a Christmas tan! Plus I was allowed to play Dire Straits all morning - what more could I want?? Here are a few snaps of the day.

Aussie Slideshow

Animal Antics

Well here I am back in NZ after my 4 week adventure in Oztralia. The first thing I’m doing (apart from catching up on Strictly and Merlin) is sorting through my photos. Undoubtedly some of my favourite pics have been of the different animals that are mostly unique to oz (just as some of my more frightening moments involved wildlife - a nice balance you may say). Here below you find a selection that I think are just begging for a caption so Bring It On.

A

B

 

C

D

Tastastic

I only have one minute to write this so all I'll say is I'm in tassie and it's good. Time out.

Crikey!

Hullo again to you all. We are now safely located in the Whitsundays and will be boarding our boat in T minus 3 hours. It was absolutely peeing down when we arrived yesterday - so much so the pilot had to take two goes at landing. The airport itself was one small building and baggage claim was just that; they drove the trollies round to the side of the building and you had to go and find your own bag in amongst everyone elses. But I get ahead of myself. I must first tell you of our trip to Australia Zoo which was an absolutely fantastic day and I can't wait until I can put some pics up to show you.
We set off from Brissie at half 8 and drove north for about an hour to get there. Sarah's friend Debbie was our driver and we are very thankful to her for that. Surprisingly there were no queues to get in and though there were plenty of people about it never felt crowded. We made it just in time to see the tortoise show and then proceeded on to the croc show in the aptly named crocoseum. The rest of our day involved feeding the roos and elephants, watching the tiger and bird of pray demonstrations and wandering around to see any of the animals (or indeed keepers) we fancied. The animals were all really well cared for and (except for the crocs) all had really good relationships with their keepers. If you ever find yourself over here I highly recommend you go. The zoo does an amazing job and any donations you give go directly out of the zoo to conservation projects, not back into the zoo itself which you might expect. All in all I have to say well done Steve and co. You beauty!
So, back to the Whitsundays. As I say, we arrived yesterday in very wet conditions and were told this was the forecast for our entire stay. Thankfully today the sun has been out so far (apart from a wee shower) and hopefully it will continue that way. Our overnight accommodation was the YHA and we were pretty shocked with how basic it was. Our room looked more like a cell and faced out onto the main street so wasn't exactly quiet. We soon decided not to come back there on Saturday night and booked into another boutique backpackers a little out of town. We then had to go and check in for our boat (which was news to us as we'd received no information after booking) and despite a minor hassle that was relatively painless. Last night was uneventful due to the rain, we just spent the evening in our cell reading (thankfully I'd decided to purchase a book at Brissie airport).
Now we find ourselves killing some time in between our checking out and our boarding. We will be back on land on Saturday and I shall hopefully be able to fill you in about our boating adventures then. Anchors away!

Brisbane Day 1 feat. Bernard

Wull hullo. It's our 2nd day in Brisbane and we were supposed to be at the zoo today but the forecast was storms so we decided to postpone until tomorrow. Instead we have come to the internet cafe (a novel experience after 4 years away from this sort of thing) and are booking our zoo tickets online to get a discount, amongst other things (which is proving to be rather difficult).
Yesterday was a very long day. I was up at 5am (the equivalent of 2am in Brisbane where I have learned there is no daylight savings) and had a smooth journey over to meet Sarah and her friend Linda on the corner of Edward and Turbot Streets - though there were so many 'big black cars' I did miss them driving by and Sarah had to run back for me. Linda then kindly took us to our home for the next 3 days - the Kookaburra Hostel. We dropped our stuff off and I got changed into my new summer dress (bliss) and headed out into town. We wandered to the main shopping street, had a spot of lunch and then headed over the river to the south bank. We followed this past the city beach and lagoon and then headed back to the north side for a walk through the Botanical Gardens where we came upon Bernard. Bernard was, and hopefully still is, a lizard of some sort, the biggest one I've ever seen in the wild, but not big in Aussie standards I'm sure. He was chilling out in the sun, though kept eyeing us up as we took photos (even doing a fabulous little walk to distance himself from us at one point).
In the evening Sarah's other friend Debbie came to pick us up and we went for a meal at a Meditteranean restaurant. I had a Turkish Pizza with Spit Roast Lamb, Rocket, Yoghurt and Sumac. I put these ingredients in capitals because they were soooooo delicious. Debbie then took us up to Kangaroo Point to look at the city by night. I have to say I was pooped by this point (about 8.30) and we were soon back at the hostel for an early night. Sadly I didn't sleep too well, as is my way in new and unfamiliar places, but I made it through and hope for a better snooze tonight.

Flaming Gollah!

G'day folks. This is the last in my surge of posts and it is just to say 'see ya later' as I'm off to Aussie in the morning and am not sure when I'll have the chance to blog again. To give you a quick idea of what I'm up to my itinerary is Brisbane, The Whitsundays, Tasmania and Melbourne all taking place in the space of 4 weeks. My current feeling is excited nervousness. So I bid you tarra for now. Take care possums.

The 5th of November

After a gorgeous day of catching the rays it was hard to believe the fireworks display on the harbour could be in jeopardy but sure enough the southerly rolled in at tea time and I was checking Stuff regularly to see if it was going to be called off. In the end it wasn't and I headed down to the city to sea bridge to watch this years' display. I remember 2006 being brilliant but I really should learn not to have expectations. Don't get me wrong, it was a good show (especially the end) but I found myself a little underwhelmed. Whether this came from watching it on my own when I'd expected to be with a group of friends I don't know but that's the way of it. Anyhoo, here are a couple of pics of the event.

Julia's back in town

I'm trying to get all of my recent antics blogged about before I head off to Oz so here follows a brief account of my reunion with Ms Julia Inkster which took place on Monday 1st November at around 4.10pm (on account of the train having brake issues).
Our first important activity was getting on the trampoline. Julia was a pro, I was a wuss (Sally, Fred, Lals, recall the hamster wheel if you will). Here Julia demonstrates how it's done.

We then went out for an drink at the waterfront bar and sat out in the glorious evening sun.

After a spiffing tea (many thanks Chef Julia) we went for a walk along the beach to catch the last of the sunset. It was beauteous as you see.

On the tuesday we went for a walk in Queen Elizabeth II Park and had a wee picnic. It was another stunner of a day and South Island was very clear right from the sounds down to the snow covered Kaikouras.

The afternoon saw us relaxing with a book and later on a bit more bouncing ensued. Thankfully I was less of a wuss on this day (though as you will see from the pic I was nowhere near as good as Julia).

I've just had fish for tea

I didn't know what else to call this post and because I didn't want to spend half an hour trying to think of something, I went with the first thought that came into my head. Why it was about my tea I do not know, but I did have fish and it was very nice. Anyhoo.

I'm now coming to the end of my first day of freedom since arriving in New Zealand for a second time. Ever since I set foot on Kiwi soil in April (even before so) I have either been looking for a house/a job/both, or I have been in a job. Today felt like a new beginning, almost as if I'd only just arrived (or had the worlds longest jet lag) and the fact that I was halfway around the world and back in NZ actually started to hit me. Why this has only just started to happen I can't explain, I only know that I've been trying to come to the realisation of where I am for the past 7 months without success. But now I think I have it. And I like it! I am completely free to do what I want, go where I want, when I want. Even though I woke up at 7.15 it didn't matter because I could go back to sleep if I wanted, or not, I had no early get up in the near future and so that somehow made me feel less tired (it must all be psychological really). So what I did do was to finish my book, take my time in getting up and ready, walk into town and go to see the photography exhibition at Te Papa (the first of many 'Wellington' things I hope to do this week).

Whilst in Te Papa I had a look out of several windows at different levels and through these transparent wonders I saw what seemed to be some kind of yacht race going on as well as some cannons going off down by Frank Kitts Park (this turned out to be some event for the Wellington Free Ambulance and thankfully there were no injuries so no ambulance was needed). Below you see a photo of this scene (n.b.I often wonder if such prose is needed as I'm sure you would figure out that the photo is of what I have just described and yet I feel I would be a poor host if I did not say this. Thoughts?)

After Te Papa I headed round the waterfront to snap some more shots. Here is the view up Taranaki St towards Mt Cook where I currently reside. I'm guessing the hill at the end of the road is actually Mt Cook but I must say I couldn't tell you for sure. What else would it be though? 

And here's a shot of Cafe Eis (with lagoon in the foreground) for Fred.

Plus an artsy shot of the fern ball.

And seeing as I'm actually finishing the post of a week after I started it I thought I'd add last Sunday's antics onto the end which began with brunch at the newly located Parade Cafe.

Followed by a trip to Sue's and a wander round her pretty little wilderness.

Finishing up with an impromptu trip to the ballet to see The Nutcracker.

And there it is in black and white.

Hey Warner, We're All Bros Here

To steal the title from one of the banners at the weekend, this post is about the pro-hobbit rally held in cities across the country on Monday in line with the visit of the Warner Brothers big cheeses to discuss the future of the Hobbit in NZ. Happily this has now reached a terrific conclusion with the decision that the films shall stay here in Middle Earth after all. I just thought I'd share a few photos of the event as, even though it was on the news back in blighty, not everyone heard about it. It was fab to be there and be able to show support for, what will undoubtedly be, another set of amazing films. I even got to meet Sir Richard of the Taylor variety (pictured below). I don't have the picture of that myself but will post it as soon as I do. He was a very nice man. Still is I'm sure.

Hair today, spider tomorrow

This morning I emailed my fellow workers Gavla, SuBo and CMac to tell them how I hilariously leapt from my bed in the middle of the night after being woken from a deep sleep by the sensation that something was crawling on my face. When I turned the light on there was nothing to be seen and so I thought it had been my hair that tickled me and my subconcious was just playing tricks on me after all my worrying about critters that I may encounter in Australia. Thus explained I happily hopped back into bed and went on snoozin.
But I was deceived for tonight as I pulled back my sheets what should I find but this hefty and hairy fella just chilling out in my bed (perhaps thinking I needed company).

It took me a while to get the nerve to get rid of him but he's now happily playing in the garden. I, however, am rather freaked out by it all and am having phantom itches. Shudder. I hope I can sleep.

We are sailing, we are sailing, home again, 'cross the sea

Two weekends ago I was very lucky to be invited out on my friend Caroline's boat, well, actually her dad's boat to be all present and correct. Anyhoo, myself and Susanne were instructed to be at the wharf by 11.15am and so we were. Our friend Gavin (henceforth known as Gavla - though he has no idea why) was supposed to be there too but being the Gavla that he is he was still in bed when Susanne (henceforth known as SuBo) phoned to see what he was playing at.

Down at the wharf SuBo and I were keeping a beady eye out for the sea faring vessel though we had no idea whether it was a sailboat or a motorboat, or a rowing boat for that matter. This ignorance led to SuBo waving at a couple of random boats before we distinguished Caroline heading towards us at full steam.

We were directed to our exact pick up point and then it was all aboard!! (Meanwhile, back in the city, Gavla was hotfooting it down to the wharf but only to miss the boat - sorry Gavla).

Our first port of call was to watch the sightseeing helicopters take off and then we pootled round the harbour in the Saturday sunshine. It was a wee bit rough so we didn't go too crazy but it was most enjoyable. I even got excited about wearing the life jacket (just because of the novelty factor). Our Health & Safety briefing was if someone falls in point and shout (more likely to be point and laugh to start off with though eh!). Thankfully noone did, but we had to hold on to SuBo on a couple of occasions - just a precautionary measure though you understand.

About halfway through our trip who should we spy but this lonely soul....

....how we laughed! (It's Gavla just to clarify).

Here you can see there were plenty of other boats out and about enjoying the good conditions.

We came back to port after and hour and after bidding farewell to skipper and co we headed off for a day of drinks and saunters.

 

 finishing up on a bench on Cuba st very contented.

Hopefully we shall go sailing again, and maybe next time Gavla will make it. 

Coromandel Adventure Sept 25-Oct 1 (aka beaches, beaches, caves, more beaches and a really long train journey)

Hello folks! It is now Sunday 3rd of October here and the Summer is coming, though it’s not quite reached Wellington yet. This last week saw myself and Melissa head north for the sunny climes of the Coromandel Peninsula, more specifically Whitianga. I’ve been here twice previously and loved it both times and on this occasion I was the tour guide for the native.

We flew up to Auckland on Saturday morning, got our ‘ace’ rental car (DJ Reg) and headed south and east towards the ‘mandel. We stopped in Thames for a spot of lunch and came across these guys in a display outside one of the shops.

I had expected it to be really busy seeing as it was school holidays but it was rather like a ghost town. After this we headed on up the west coast of the peninsula passing through many small settlements before heading up and over to the east coast.

Once we’d checked in and dumped our stuff at the motel we went in search of the supermarket. I thought I knew roughly where it was but we had a wee scenic tour of the town before we happened upon it.

On the Sunday we walked into town along the beach and checked out a few shops and check the tides for Hot Water Beach. We then wandered back to get the car and drove back to get the ferry over to the other side of the harbour. We wandered up the hill and explored a couple of beaches over there (and when I say explore I mean paddled the length of the beach and back). The sun had come out now so it was most pleasant. We even had a few goes on this rope swing we found.

On Monday we set off in DJ Reg towards Hahei and Cathedral Cove. We stopped at Hahei beach first and went for a wander before grabbing a couple of snacks and heading to the track to Cathedral Cove.

Having made the mistake last time not to explore the beach on the other side of the ‘Cathedral’ I was happy to have the chance to do this now, but when we got down there we discovered the passage was blocked off due to the danger of rocks falling on heads. Whether this had happened to a tourist previously I don’t know, but it was most disheartening. As we were pondering on what to do we saw someone coming back through so decided just to go on over anyway. Thankfully no rocks fell on us, but I did trip over the rope on the other side falling flat on my face (what a plonker!). We spent a happy hour on the ‘other side’ and because of the warnings we mostly had the place to ourselves which was lovely.

When we came back through we explored a cave on the other side of the cove and Melissa decided to climb what has become known as ‘our rock’ and after a little (ok quite a lot) of persuasion I did too. It wasn’t particularly high or anything but I bruise easily. Honestly.

After Cathedral Cove we headed to Hot Water Beach and had a look round a fab little shop with lovely jewellery and house and garden stuff. We then headed onto the beach and played around in the hot water for a bit before exploring the rest of the beach. At the other end was a gorgeous little stream that we sat in for a while (and to be honest, I could have stayed there forever).

On the Tuesday we decided to go on a boat trip around the sea caves and so headed into town about 12, read a bit by the harbour and then met our fellow sailors at the jetty at 1.15. The trip lasted 2 hours and took us south along the coast to some awesome caves. The first one we only just made - if we’d been any later the tide would have been too low. I think this was my favourite so I’m very glad we did.

  

On our return to shore we picked up some fush and chups before heading back to base camp to have a rest and a change for our venture to the hot pools. This was very pleasant though I do wish they'd left it silent rather than playing island music.

On our last day in the Coromandel we decided to head further south to explore Tairua and Whangamata.

 It was a bit breezy but we managed to find a nice spot at the southern most end of Whangamata beach and spent a happy time there both before and after lunch.

 In the evening we treated ourselves to a meal out at

the local Thai restaurant and then on an impulse drove to a beach that myself and Sal had discovered on our visit. The stars were unbelievable as there was no light pollution anywhere close. I can’t tell you what constellations I saw but I must have seen a lot.

On Thursday we headed back to Auckland to drop off DJ Reg and were met by Phillipa (a friend I’d worked with at the Galleries) and taken on a tiki tour of a damp and chilly Auckland and some of its playgrounds.

We also visited the Museum. Later on Melissa’s cousin Angela picked us up from Phillipa’s and took us back to her house where we were to stay the night. We popped out to grab some tea and all had an early night as we all had early starts.

Friday. What can I say? Friday was the day of the EPIC journey from Auckland to Wellington on the Tranzscenic railway. At least that was the plan. The journey began at 7.25am and was supposed to take 12 hours (a daunting enough prospect in itself). During the week we’d heard about a couple of slips on parts of the railway line and a crash near Wellington (due to the bad weather) but hoped it would be cleared, or at least that only the latter part of the journey would be affected. Alas it was not to be. When we got to Hamilton we learned we would have to get onto coaches from National Park (halfway down the line) as there’d been a slip that morning somewhere after NP. Because of this it meant the train no longer had the necessary engine for pushing the train back to Auckland and so we had to wait an hour for a new engine to come along. We then proceeded to NP and the day that had started wet and grey turned into a nice one (weather wise at least). To cut a looooong story short, we arrived back in Wellington only an hour later than scheduled so we were lucky in that I suppose. The most disappointing thing was that we’d taken the train to see a different view of the journey south and to pass over some fab bridges and gorges. We missed all the bridges and gorges as it was and so what could have taken an hour on a plane ended up taking 13 hours, and for what? Saying that though, it could have been worse, and though we were exhausted at the end of it, it didn’t feel too bad an experience. And there endeth the adventure.