Australia & New Zealand, March-April 2000

--writing from internet cafes (except where noted)--

--Becky writes unless noted by Marilou--

Wednesday, March 1, 2000

Hi,

MK here. We are in Gold Coast, on the east side of Australia.

We had a great day in the mountains, yesterday. Went on a tour of two different rain forests in the Hinterland, saw lots of birds, and even got some great photos of a water dragon as it sunned itself on a rock in a stream.

We're going to try to meet up with a doll maker who lives near Brisbane not far from where we are now. Spoke to her by phone for the first time today. She's going to try to gather some other doll makers and we'll all meet somewhere in Brisbane.

Going to have dinner at Dracula's tonight. Should be howling good fun. I'm slowly picking up the accent and more of the lingo. Some of these folks are very easy to understand, others not so easy. Everyone is very friendly.

Becky here. It's a hell of a flight to Australia. From LA to Sydney it's 21 hours. Before that it was 4 hours from Atlanta to LA and change planes. And then once we got to Sydney, it was a change of planes for a relatively short domestic flight to the Gold Coast. And now we are faced with getting use to the change of time.

So far it's all worth it. Folks are friendly. They almost speak English. Who cares what they are saying, it's just fun to listen to their accent. The weather is great. Warm, sunny. Our timeshare is very nice. There's a flock of green parrots in the trees at the edge of a wooded area next to where we are staying. Reminds me of India.

Gold Coast, named for it's golden beaches, does have a beautiful shore. There's good waves for surfing. I'm not a surfer. I just watch.

Love,

MK & BW

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Saturday, March 4. 2000

Howdy All,

Yesterday we flew to Sydney and Lesley picked us up at the airport. Then we went to the Mardi Gras parade, for which she was a Crowds Marshall and so we got a good spot on the sidewalk. Though, we had to sit and mostly stand there for 5 hours until the parade started at 8:00p!!! A lot of people came out for the sights. The parade was very fun. Lots of folks camping it up.

When we first got to the parade site to claim a spot for ourselves, we discovered right next to us was a couple of guys from LA. We spent the afternoon and evening talking and having a great time watching the folks go by before the parade started. Some of the crowd was as entertaining as the parade! We were VERY tired after it all.

Got home to Lesley's in Richmond around 2:30a, about an hour drive from Sydney. Slept until 11:30 this morning. We are now having breakfast and using her computer to write this.

About half way to her house last night, she let me drive her car. This was the first time I'd driven on the left side of the road and her car is a stick shift. Fortunately, there were not many other folks on the road at that time of the morning. I did okay. It was difficult in reaching for the gearshift to not find myself grabbing the window lever with my right hand instead. Use the left. Stay to the left. It's all so confusing at first. Also, when you're walking in town watch which way you look when you step off of the curb. The traffic is coming from the other direction. And then there's the round-abouts....

Near Richmond are the Blue Mountains. An area that is much like our Appalachian Mountains, which are also called the Blue Ridge Mountains. Lots of rotting vegetation produces carbon monoxide which can cause the air to have that bluish tinge. Sounds sort of icky, huh? Well, I've read that it's not the most healthy place to be when the air is really heavy with the stuff. Oh well, that's another story.

We keep looking for koalas and haven't seen any in the wild. Saw some in a controlled park.

We saw roadside signs for "Slashers Ahead" and wondered if we should be scared. Then we found out that here the roadside grass cutters are called Slashers. Funny how different their English is from ours.

Love,

Becky & Marilou

A world away and having a blast.

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Thursday, March 9, 2000

Howdy y'all,

We're in Perth now, on the southwest side of Australia, staying at the Hilton. Perth has been hot (90's) until today, much cooler now. Have eaten well and folks continue to be soooo friendly. Perth is a city built around a truly crescent shaped harbor. Absolutely round. Very picturesque. Sail boats docked in rows. We rented a car for a few days, drove in town and out in the countryside. Marilou drove, too. Our first real experience driving on our own in a country that uses the wrong side of the road. --grin-- We haven't hit anything. This is good

We went to see the Pennicals, a earth formation sort of like Brice Canyon (near our Grand Canyon). It's on the coast a couple of hours north of Perth. We wanted to get there as the sun was coming up for dramatic lighting, so we had to leave pre-dawn. Saw kangaroos in the wild for the first time. Saw more new birds and a foot long lizard of some sort.

Tomorrow we are flying to Darwin, a day before planned. We want to spend more time there.

Before we arrived in Australia we purchased tourist flight packages. These are great. We can fly whenever and wherever we want in the country.

More later, love to all,

Becky & Marilou

A world away and having a blast.

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Monday, March 20, 2000

Howdy all,

It's been awhile.

Let's see, the last email we sent was from Perth. Well, we got to Darwin and found very hot temps and high humidity. Taking lots of showers. This IS the tropics of Australia. There are many more tourists. And there are many natives. This is where most of the aboriginal folks live. I would love to bring home one of those 20 foot long digeredoos that I'm seeing in the stores. On second thought, it just wouldn't be easy to travel with it for the rest of our trip. --grin--

We hired a car and drove to Kakadu National Forest, Oz's largest protected area. We took an hour flight in a 4 seater over the park and from up there we could see the park is huge. Because it is the rainy season the waterfalls were roaring. Back on the ground we saw wild horses (nice looking stock), Sea Eagles, other new birds, and the wonderful Frilled Lizard along with several other kinds of lizards.

In another nearby park we saw a large group of big bats hanging in the trees by a waterfall. The mist from the waterfall clouded the air giving the scene an erie feeling as we walked under the bats, who occasionally moved a wing or head.

Throughout this area floods occur during this time of year. Crocodiles, large water birds, and other wet loving creatures thrive. The folks who live here have developed an interesting feature on their vehicles to deal with the flooding of their roads. At first we were mystified at this pipe we saw coming from the engine compartment and going straight up as high as the roof of the vehicles. After a while we understood it's an extension of the air breather for the engine so that when the vehicle goes through deep water, that would otherwise choke the engine, it can still breath and thus get through the water. A wonderful invention.

One day we drove south from Darwin and found a tiny B&B in a tiny town. The B&B was a few little camper trailers set up behind a lady's house. It was clean and real cute. There were not any restaurants in the town, so our hostess suggested the local private country club for dinner. She called and they said they'd be happy to serve us. She gave us directions and we drove back out of town to a dirt road off of the main highway and followed it a ways. Finally we got to the country club. It was good that our hostess had told us that this place was a small racetrack where local horse breeders race their stock. It was REALLY small. And we were just in time to join about 20 locals for the evening barbie. The dinning hall wasn't much to speak of, it had a roof. It also had a lively bar. There was a TV at the bar. There was a pool table. There were some tables and chairs. All this was open air as far as walls were concerned and right next to the home stretch of the racetrack. It looked like it all had been there for decades, just barely still standing or so it seemed to us. It was their place to relax and enjoy themselves and they did. The folks welcomed us warmly and the man in charge of the grill that night cooked some very good steaks. A few of the locals struck up conversations with us. We think they like our accents as much as we like theirs.

The next morning at the B&B, as we were having coffee, many birds began to arrive at the appointed place where our hostess feeds them each morning. This is tropical Australia and the birds are brilliant with color. We had our bird book and IDed all we saw. What fun!

From Darwin we flew to Alice Springs and because there were no cars available we had to find space on a tour bus to Ayers Rock the next day. At the Rock we found even hotter temps with lower (thank goodness) humidity. This is in the middle of the proverbial nowhere. We rode the bus for several hours through absolutely flat dry land. And then you begin to see the rock in the distance. It IS big! The largest single rock exposed on earth. And it's red. In fact, everything is red in this area due to the high iron content. We have arrived just after unusual amounts of rain and everything that could be green was.

About 30 miles away from the rock is another formation, known as the Olgas, that is very interesting as well. The Olgas is entirely different in that it isn't a single rock, it's many pebbles compressed together. Two extremely different formations right (relatively) side by side in what's otherwise a flat landscape. One of the oddest places I've ever been.

After discovering that the native people really don't like folks walking on their sacred rock, we didn't, out of respect. Also, there are several deaths each year from people falling off the rock. It's a fairly steep climb. Railings have been installed at the steepest parts, yet people slip and it's a long way down. We just walked around the base and took pictures.

About 4-5 miles away from the rock are several hotels, restaurants, a tent camping area, a rustic cabin area (where we stayed), and a Cultural Center. No internet cafes.

We got up early one morning to see the sunrise on the rock. It's an event. Many tours converge on the eastside of the rock in the hour prior to first light. Some folks have a candelabra style breakfast. Others have a sack breakfast or just coffee. Then all of us jockey for a good spot from which to take pictures as soon as the light begins to hit the rock. It begins to glow in the sunlight and changes color throughout the first 20 minutes or so. Quite spectacular. Then it's over and everyone get back in the buses or cars and go elsewhere.

One evening we went on a dinner excursion that took us several miles east of the rock for a sunset barbie. They had a whole permanent kitchen setup outside on a small hill. While we had dinner in the open under the sky on white linen and the waiters wore tuxes, we watched the sun set behind the rock. There was a storyteller and an astronomer with a good telescope. These Aussies are quick to have a good time.

One thing that is quite noticeable here is that the stars ARE different. Constellations are upside down. The moon fills from the opposite side. And also, the water does spin down the drain in the opposite direction.

After several days at Ayers Rock we flew to Melbourne, got a car and drove north out of town into rural Australia to our next timeshare stay.

Today, the 20th, we are now in north Victoria, staying in a small town called Numurka. It's mostly flat farmland with some rolling hills. Beautiful, green. Yesterday late in the afternoon we saw a roo (what locals call kangaroos) hopping through a field. This is much more the everyday Oz. Nice, quiet, out of the way. Folks continue to be so great and helpful.

Had our hair cut and colored in a saloon in town.

We've been keeping our work-out routine going. Either the places we're staying have gyms or we go to one in the town. We found a small one in Numurka. The local high school also uses it. Learned when not to go.

Marilou is getting used to driving now and is having loads of fun with the small cars we hire. We are having to draw straws to see who drives for that day.

Love to all,

Becky and Marilou

A world away and having a blast.

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Sunday, April 16, 2000

Howdy Everyone. Sorry about the time lapse. We've been having too much fun and not finding email locations handy. So ... the last mail I sent was when we were in the rural area of Numurka, north of Melbourne.

From Numurka we drove back to Melbourne to take a four day course at the Landmark school there. The course keyed on time management, one's attitude towards time, and how we can see it differently. Stayed with a seminar leader and her family. Had a great course AND family life with a pet dog.

In between classes we drove west out of Melbourne along the coast to a formation called the Twelve Apostles. This is a coastal cliff area. The edge of the coast has eroded away leaving 80-100 foot pillars standing in the ocean unattached to the coast. There were twelve and I believe one has fallen recently. The whole arrangement takes up a mile or so of the coast. Some of them have caves and arches carved into them by the waves.

From Melbourne we flew to Tasmania and found a B&B 30 minutes out of Hobart on the river. A lovely old mansion built in 1830. As we walked next to the river we saw a platypus swimming in still water. It's said that they are very shy and we saw two in as many days. We IDed more new birds and drove inland up into the National Forest. Taz has wonderful mountains.

The B&B also has a public restaurant that's open only for dinner. On our second evening there, we had just sat down for dinner and got to talking with the couple at the table next to us. They had spent the afternoon fishing the nearby river. In the mouth of the river is a salmon farm. Sometimes the fences that keep the farmed fish in check gets holes in them and some of the fish go free and head up river. Word gets out among the locals and everyone runs up the river to catch a free dinner. Today had been one of those days. Our table neighbors were in the right place at the right time and had one of those salmon. It was a big one. They offered to share it with us. The chef of the restaurant was all to happy to cook the fresh fish. How nice!

Too short a stay - one day and the nights on either side of it. I'd return to Tasmania in a heartbeat.

Then we were headed to New Zealand. After a LONG day of flying (Hobart to Sydney to Christchurch to Queenstown) we arrived at Queenstown on the south island. In order to land at the Queenstown airport the plane has to bank surprisingly close to large snow peaked mountains. A few moments of wonder. Then we're safely on the ground. The airport is like something out of the 1950's. We deplaned down roll-up stairs onto the tarmac. The terminal building was small and cute. We had not made any arrangements for a car. We were the last flight in for the day and all of the rental booths were closed except one which had someone on our flight scheduled for a car. Thank goodness! He had one more car left. It's just how our luck usually goes. Our guardian angel is great. Plus the rental man is a bee keeper and gave us a jar of his honey. We smiled a lot after that. Even though our luggage had not made it to Queenstown. It was still back in Christchurch. The airline promised to have it at our doorstep the next day. We had our carry-on bags, which had all we needed until then. Travel smart.

So, we got our rental car and headed off for Wanaka. It was late afternoon and light was getting dim. As we drove out of Queenstown we saw pastures of animals who's silhouettes couldn't be identified. They were too tall for cattle. They weren't horses. Weren't anything we could figure out. Then it got too dark to see anything except the road in front of us.

We drove on to Wanaka (wha-na-ka), a resort town on Lake Wanaka about an hour north of Queenstown. The lake is natural and it is beautiful as we discovered the next day. Reminds me of Lake Tahoe with the snow capped mountains behind the mountains rising up out of the lake. Small, very friendly town. It is still their off season, the end of summer.

We found out what those strange animals are. We saw them again, this time in the daylight. They are deer. Herds of deer in pastures. Tall fenced pastures. Deer being bred and raised domestically. We were astonished. They were everywhere. All kinds. After asking around, we were told that most are exported to Asia as meat. We stopped at one of the pastures where the herd was close to the road to see how domestic they really are. They stopped grazing, all looked at us, and moved away as we got out of the car. In just a minute they had trotted to the far end of the pasture. Not the reaction of, say, a herd of cows. It'll take a few more hundred years to bred that much docility into them.

Our wandering luggage was delivered to our timeshare in Wanaka the next day as the airline promised.

As we drove around that week, I kept thinking how this looked like Tasmania on steroids. Everything was beefed up and just more, more, more. Then I found out that New Zealand and Tasmania were made by the same fault action and have drifted apart though the millions of years since. So, their land structures are much the same, with NZ being much bigger.

In one day, from Wanaka, we drove west over the mountains through Haast Pass, right next to a glacier, to the coast and then back over the mountains to the east coast at Dunedin. The west coast is a rain forest. The east coast is arid. Up on the mountains is perfect.

In Dunedin (dew-need-n) we stayed at a B&B which we found by going to the city tourist center. Australia and NZ have these centers in just about all their towns. They are wonderful. They'll actually book for you. The B&B was on the peninsular that forms the large harbor of Dunedin. The owners sponsor a licensed guided walk into a protected area of the shore nearby where Yellow Eyed Penguins nest each night. It was not an easy walk and had to be done before the penguins returned to the sea in the morning. Early, in the dark, with the help of our guide and a few flashlights, we made it to the blinds built for this particular observation. Waited. And just as the sun fully lit the beach, the penguins started coming out of the nests they had dug in the tall banks. They would stand in the sunlight for a while as if still sleepy, stretch, and begin sliding down the sandy slopes and waddling to the sea. Once in the ocean they spend the day fishing. Then return to their nests each evening. Our guide knew them by name.

Later that day we went to the end of the same peninsular where Royal Albatross nest. These are one of the largest birds in the world. They nest on the open ground and raise one chick a year. Watching them land is a thing of patience, for them as well as for us. It can take many tries in the breeze to get it just right so they don't hurt themselves. Their legs are so far back on their bodies that they are top heavy on land. They can soar on the wind and dive like a plane effortlessly. They cannot land or take off as easily.

The south island is the place we've liked the best, so far. Not very many people and the land is just breathtakingly beautiful!!!! We continue to see new birds. Those of you who don't like snakes --- there aren't ANY. There are sheep, by the thousands, fifteen for every person and I believe there's 2,500,000 people in all of NZ. That's 37,500,000 sheep. It just ain 't natural!

In talking with a kiwi (NZ people), we got a confession. She likes to listen to our accent. She wanted us to talk as much as we wanted her to talk. Our suspicions were correct.

Next we flew to Auckland on the north island and got a car and drove up to the Bay of Islands to Paihia (pi-he-a). This the northern part of NZ, it's most tropical area. The north island is very different from the south island. While the south island was formed by plate upheaval, the north island was formed by volcanic action. Most all of the forests on the north island have been cut to make pastures for sheep. And almost everywhere is possible pastureland. What mountains that are high or rugged enough to not be good pastures are semi-active volcanoes and used mostly for skiing.

Our timeshare in Paihia turned out to be not so nice. The only one so far that hasn't measured up. Also, this week was some kind of a school holiday. The resort we were staying in filled with families and became very noisy.

Besides not liking the timeshare, the area was interesting and we had some good experiences there. One day we joined a tour to go to the very tip of the island where an old lighthouse stands. From there one can see the Pacific Ocean mixing with the Tasman Sea. There is visually a distinct pattern of turbulence. Ships have a particularly tough passage here. The lighthouse warns of this. Many wrecks lie at the ocean's floor. After the lighthouse viewing we went down the 100 mile beach on the west side of the point in a large dune buggy. Occasionally there would be a car abandoned after it's owner realized it was hopeless to get it out of the sand and now the car would be half covered by the beach and rusted away. At one place the buggy driver stopped to let us walk around on these shifting sands. Quite tricky. When we got back to a town the little tour stopped at a designated fish & chips place at the waters edge. Really fresh fish and really good chips. Man oh man! The best!

We decided to leave the timeshare before the week was over and drove south for two days to Wellington, NZ's capital on the southern point of the north island and caught a ferry to go back to the south island. The ferry was one of those catamaran rigs that jet over the water. Big, too. I thought it would be going fast enough that I wouldn't get seasick so I didn't take any Dramamine (seasick medicine). Well, it did go fast AFTER it putt-putts, rolling this way and that, out of the harbor. I was green the whole three hour trip. I managed to keep my lunch down, somehow.

We arrived at Picton, the harbor town on the south island, none too soon. We got a car and headed off for an area we'd read about in the Lonely Planet, our trusted guide book. We are now in the Golden Bay at Takaka (ta-ka-ka) on the north shore of the south island. This is a small town of cattle farmers, fishermen, and artists. Lots of them leftovers from the 60's hippy days. We are liking this a lot. Such great mountains covered with forests going right into the sea and many small beaches where only a handful of folks live or visit. This week we have a small cabin style house all to ourselves, about 15 minutes from Takaka. The local tourist center helped us find the place. It's right across the road from a little beach. We can sit on the porch and watch the fishing boats go by. Just beautiful.

Hope you all are just fine and dandy. We are.

Love to all,

Becky and Marilou

A world away and having a blast.

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Monday, April 24, 2000

Howdy all,

We left Takaka, drove back to Picton to catch the ferry to the north island, staying one night with a couple of ladies we had met on the way through the first time a week ago. They own a coffee shop that we stopped in for a snack. We got to talking and hit it off. They invited us to stay with them on our way back to the north island.

Before I got on the ferry this time I took some Dramamine. Helped a lot. We got another car when we got to Wellington and headed north towards Lake Taupo, where our next timeshare is located. Night one of the two day drive we stayed in a B&B that was built in the early 1900's. Stylish place. Listed in the Lonely Planet.

This week at Lake Taupo has been mostly a rainy one. The lake is a huge old crater of a volcano and there are other younger cones rising above us to the north and south. The largest is still active and blew some in 1995. There are steam vents in the mountains near where we are staying. They make the mountain side look like it's on fire, "smoking" all the time.

On the edge of the lake water there are floating rocks. Lava rocks that are so filled with air holes that they will actually float. Hard as a rock and yet it floats.

The accommodations are very nice here. Though, the local electric power plant can't keep up with the demand during this Easter holiday weekend. We have lost power three times for several many hours at a time. Marilou is winning the on-going game of Spades that we play when there's no power for the telly.

Today it has turned much colder. It's snowing not far away from us, up on the volcano. There are ski fields there. It's becoming winter here, time to think about going home to our spring.

We drove up to Rotorua to check out a buried city of the Maori that has recently been uncovered. Rotorua is known for it's hot springs. In this volcanic area, I'm not surprised. The Maori have lived here for many hundreds of years. They are descendants of the Polynesians who left the Hawaiian islands way back when to find new lands.

We will fly back to Sydney from Auckland the 28th and spend a couple of days with friends there. The 30th we will fly to San Francisco, then on to Atlanta and home later that night. An interesting note: due to the dateline in the Pacific Ocean, we will arrive in San Fran BEFORE we leave Sydney! Figure that one out. Right.

We've enjoyed our two months in Australia and NZ. Our favorite has been the south island of NZ. We could easily live there. A close second is Tasmania. We also liked Melbourne, of all the cities that we experienced.

Love to all,

Becky & Marilou

A world away, having a blast and now we have to go home.