More short days at sea – what we do – we don’t know – but we keep ourselves occupied all day long – so can’t say we’re bored yet. And we’re very pleased about that!!! Still cold and a little blustery today – so no real sun yet, but we’ve been doing the trivia and reading thing – so that keeps us busy. Also saw the movie “The Prestige” which was about the most bizarre thing we’ve seen. Still trying to figure out exactly what happened at the end. Anyone who can shed a light – please post here!!!
First day was cold, second day a little warmer – actually put on our swim suits and tried to find a chair in the sun. Not happening! We didn’t go up on deck until after noon, so what were we thinking??? Anyhow – did manage to get 2 on the upper most deck, which was fine except for the wind. On a hot day it would be good, but with clouds and rain threatening, it didn’t work out too well. Gave that up in pursuit of calmer and warmer digs inside where we could read without having the book ripped out of our hands!
Well, since there’s not much going on, guess I’ll talk about the ship and our cabin. We weren’t all that enthused with these huge ships prior to this cruise, but now, we’ve definitely changed our minds. Even though it is HUGE, you never feel crowded (unless it’s during trivia where you can’t get a seat if you’re not there ½ an hour early!), and there is truly always something to do. Even though it’s a day trip to the other end of the ship, it is at least good exercise, which we need after the food!
Princess has excellent food – and the dinner portions are tremendous. Absolutely no complaints there. We have personal choice dining, so we go to any of 4 restaurants and sit with whom we want (or don’t want!). We have settled into one specific restaurant because we like the wait staff – who always bring us extra vegetables and enough food to feed a small army. For some reason they think we can eat ½ a side of beef when ever we order prime rib – I keep telling our waitress I’m going to need a doggie bag and she wants to know if we have a dog in the cabin!
Staff is very nice and competent with a lot of stand outs, and some duds – but what do you expect with this many people. The stand-outs definitely outnumber the duds.
Our cabin is great – we are at the back of the ship in a lower lever mini-suite which has is directly below the main level of mini-suites so our balcony is covered. It’s great – keeps out the direct sun (if we get any!) and the rain – which we do get! Plus it has an added level of privacy the rest of the balcony cabins don’t. Only negative is that our cabin developed the squeaks last night when the seas got really rough. Has been fine for a week – then suddenly the ship was obviously moving differently – and so was our cabin walls! Sounds like a bunch of mice in the walls – too funny – we are hoping for calmer seas – or at least the front and back motion that doesn’t make the walls squeak quite so much!
First sea day was Formal night – we ran into two of our CC friends before dinner and they joined us. Only had reservations for 2, but the Maitre de and head waiter in “our” dining room happily accommodated us – as I said, great staff and service here. Food great, as well as the company – headed off for a show afterwards. Second day normal casual day – ate alone, although the way the 2 top tables are set up, you never really eat alone. You’re close enough to each other to talk and meet people, which we have.
Next, our first Saturday in Fiji!
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Ferry Boats and Harbor Fog (4/25)
Arrived in Auckland a little bit early today. We were up early and it was a beautiful sail in – although a fog was rolling into the harbor as we arrived. We sailed around Devonport (where we were headed for the day once we docked) and came into the Auckland harbor at sunrise – except for the fog it was quite beautiful.
Got ourselves ready to go early because we wanted to hit the ferries first thing and make it over to Devonport before it got too hot. As it turned out the fog kept everything cool – and running late, so the first ferry was delayed by about ½ hour. As we were buying our tickets, the ferry agent very helpfully suggested we take a roundtrip on the ferry to Birkenhead, which would take us directly under the Auckland Harbor bridge. He said it was a beautiful trip and then we could catch the later ferry to Devonport without a problem. We thought it was a good idea and took him up on it.
The ferry ride itself was lovely and quick – unfortunately the fog had really rolled in by the time we were on the water, so we really couldn’t see anything. Although the bridge coming out of the fog as we got close to it was pretty wild. After returning to Auckland – we had ½ before the Devonport ferry so we wandered through the streets around the dock and got our bearings for later on in the afternoon.
Ferry over to Devonport takes 12 minutes and by the time we arrived, the fog was finally burning off. As it was Anzac Day (Australian-New Zealand Army Corps Day – similar to our Memorial day), everything was closed until 1 pm in order for all the memorial services and exhibitions to be held. In Devonport, there was a huge gathering of armed forces platoons gathered at the park with a commemorative service being held by the mayor and other dignitaries. There were heaps (the Australian word for “lots”) of people there – probably most everyone from the town!
We skirted around the presentations and headed up to Mount Victoria, one of the 48 volcano cones around Auckland. Climbed to the top (for the exercise and the view!) and got the best look at Auckland city. It was a great day to be walking around taking photos – probably 70 or 75 degrees, passing clouds that kept you cool and the bluest skies. We strolled down Mount Victoria and headed over to North Head, the other Volcanic Cone that has a view of Auckland as well as tunnels and gun emplacements from the World Wars. North Head was instrumental in the protection of Auckland and they have left most of the materials there as a memorial. We walked a little way through one of the tunnels, but miss claustrophobic didn’t want to go farther – it was really, really dark in there and creepy as all – so after the little mouse ran across the floor of the gun emplacement we went back to the outside!
Took heaps of photos – and then wandered back to the ferry port past lovely Victorian homes and parkland. We think we read somewhere that Devonport has the largest collection of original Victorian architecture anywhere in the world. Regardless if that is true or not, the town is just picture perfect, very relaxing and welcoming. It is definitely some place to spend a relaxing afternoon walking around, seeing the sites and trying out one or two of the pubs and restaurants that dot the town streets.
Just caught the 12:15 ferry and reached Auckland at 12:30. Because it was Anzac Day, a lot of stores were closed and those that were opening didn’t open until 1. So we went back to the ship for a quick lunch, then ventured out in the city again. Auckland is a very walkable city. Streets are easy to find with good signage, and it’s not nearly as steep as we had read it was. We didn’t find any steep hills or find ourselves walking uphill all the time. Maybe we just weren’t on the right streets – or the wrong streets for that matter! But we found it a very easy city within which to wander. Headed up toward the sky tower, walking through the big retail district. Lots of shops – souvenirs and otherwise – but absolutely no bargains. Both Australia and New Zealand were pretty pricey.
Stopped at an Internet café near the Sky Tower, then headed back for the grocery store to stock up on necessities! Debated going to the Sky Tower – Ed was going to jump off it – but ended up ditching that activity and decided instead to stop at a cute little café off the Queen Street main drag. Called the Belgian Beer Café, they had tables and umbrellas set up in a little cobblestone walkway off the road. A CD/DVD store across the street was playing great music, so the atmosphere was wonderful. Can’t say that for the prices! Had the most expensive beer and wine ever, I think - $23 NZ for one glass of each – that of course included the 15% public holiday surcharge that is in effect virtually everywhere in Australia and NZ. Let’s hope that doesn’t catch on in the US! Anyway, we paid for the ambiance and enjoyed our beverages, then hoofed it down to the harbor for grocery shopping (of the liquid variety and we did buy toothpaste just to be on the safe side), and back to the ship.
Didn’t sail until 6 – so we took advantage of the hot tubs up on deck for sailing – which was a great way to end a very active day – our legs really appreciated it! Had a little issue with one of the gangplanks not being able to be raised, so we were a little late leaving, but we were warm and happy in the hot tub, so we didn’t really care too much. Sunset was incredible and we had front row seats for the sailing – when we finally did - which was very picturesque.
So bye bye to New Zealand and on to the South Pacific part of our odyssey! The weather should be changing – and we’ll be in sunburn territory as opposed to frost bite!
Monday, April 23, 2007
Sailing….. (4/24)
Another beautiful day today – sunny and brisk. Have been updating the blog and sitting on the balcony. Lost at trivia again this morning – so what’s new? Did find out though that there is some storm that is following us (fortunately following!!) and that Sydney has had floods for 2 days, Dunedin has had a lot of rainfall and it’s coming into Christchurch today. We’ve been so lucky! Let’s hope it continues on through Auckland and the islands!
Nothing much going on today – Ed is at the New Zealand Discovery talk and I’m here writing. Heading to the balcony to read and while away the time until the next trivia session this afternoon. Then the usual! There’s a special show this evening – one of the singers who is leaving the ship tomorrow so we’ll see about that. Then we’ll gear up for our Anzac day in Auckland!
Nothing much going on today – Ed is at the New Zealand Discovery talk and I’m here writing. Heading to the balcony to read and while away the time until the next trivia session this afternoon. Then the usual! There’s a special show this evening – one of the singers who is leaving the ship tomorrow so we’ll see about that. Then we’ll gear up for our Anzac day in Auckland!
My idea of wine country (4/23)
Woke up to beautiful sunshine and only mildly chilly temperatures. Docked at the far end of the harbor, we knew it was a good hike into town (about 2 miles), but wanted to get in and get the car early – so set off about 8 am on our morning exercise. There is also a ship’s shuttle here that will take you into town for $5 roundtrip (a bargain since the others were each way!), but it didn’t start until late and we wanted to make an early start.
Made it into town to the rental car agency by 8:30 or so. Hopped in the little Holden Viva and off we went. Excellent directions to the motorway – we were on the highway by 8:50 and on our way. The highway turns into a 2 lane road with traffic lights then narrows down to one lane and traverse the Rimutaka mountains up and away from the coastline and into the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. The drive over the mountain is another twisting turning road where Ed got his driving exercise. He is a pro at driving on the left now, so much so, I’m beginning to worry about driving in Hawaii when we get there!!!
Took about an hour through the mountains, including photo opp stops, then another 15 minutes or so through farmland stocked with cattle, sheep and horses, until we reached Martinborough, the heart of the wine country here outside of Wellington.
Martinborough is a sweet little town with a few shops and cafes, one hotel and all the quaintness of a small farming town. Although it’s now a hot spot because of the wineries surrounding the town, it still has all the flavor of a small little village, which is exactly what I think of when I think of wine country! We stopped at the visitor center right at the beginning of the town before the “Square”. Chatted with the representative there who gave us places to have lunch and a guide to the open wineries, then walked through the town window shopping and just soaking in the atmosphere.
Stopped in the Village Café for Cappuccino, got talking to our waitress who had just moved here from Minnesota! Her husband just finished cooking school and wanted to do something completely different and experience different things, so here they are. She said they love it, settling in and think New Zealand is great. We can’t argue that!
Headed off for the wineries – there are 30 boutique wineries in the area – all locally owned and run mostly by families. Only a few are open year round, so we headed to the Martinborough vineyard, which I had heard of – or at least thought I had seen their wines at home (now I think I was mistaken and it was Marlborough – but whatever!). Two other couples were already at the tasting shop when we arrived and turns out they are on the ship too. They had hired a private driver to take them around – and were interested in the fact that we were doing it ourselves. Ed’s my private driver since I’m the one tasting and he’s the one driving!
The wine at Martinborough was very good – served by a lovely woman who obviously owned the place. Had a nice conversation about cruising and season (not as busy as it is in the summer months) while tasting a good Riesling, not too sweet, and Sauvignon Blanc not too tart. But what surprised me most was the Pinot Noir. Since it’s a specialty of the region, figured I’d better try it (not to mention we had to pay for the tasting – 5 NZ – so figured I’d get my money’s worth!). Not being a red wine drinker, I figured I wouldn’t like it – but found it was quite good, not as dry and heavy as other red wines I have tried.
Next we headed to Winslow wines – a very small little cellar door almost hidden behind bushes and a wrought iron fence. Made friends there with the owner’s son, who was just adorable. He told us all about the wines, the area, and how they have underage drinking issues there as well. Told us some great stories about customers and trying to be nice and service friendly when they didn’t really deserve it! Also served an excellent Riesling, which we ended up buying, a cabernet I didn’t particularly care for, and their special champagne (can’t remember the name now) that was incredible. Very little bubbles (he told us that sometimes a lot of bubbles in the champagne mean that the glass is dirty – lovely!) and a very nice taste – not at all like typically champagne. Then he convinced me to try their cabernet liqueur – of course both Ed and I said no, “Cathy doesn’t like liqueur”, but he convinced us and it was surprisingly good. Cinnamon and clove tastes – and like he said, a little Christmas-y tasting. Ed even sipped and enjoyed it. Decided it was time for lunch so I would be able to stay awake long enough to navigate us home (and not throw up on the twisting mountain roads!!!). Took advise from the Winslow son and went to Alana vineyards café.
Turned off the road onto a one-lane dirt road alongside the vineyard. It led us down through a gully and into a car park area with the restaurant and tasting room alongside a large open patio. Sat outside and had a fantastic meal of grilled vegetable stacks (portabella, zucchini, peppers topped with melted brie) and Grouper with a lemon aioli sauce served with avocado and grilled tomato. The setting, the food, the wine and beer couldn’t have been better.
It was getting on toward afternoon, so we decided to head back to town so we could go to the Te Papa museum which we had heard was excellent. Made it back into town with little effort and no traffic. Found our way to the Car rental return and started to head to the museum when Ed noticed he had lost his Princess card. Needless to say Te Papa was now out! We hoofed it straight back to the ship to try to figure out how to replace the card and get back onboard.
It was actually very seamless. Security asked us if we lost the card in Wairarapa – which of course we did – they said it had been found but was still up there – so someone at the restaurant or one of the vineyards or somewhere must have found it – but of course couldn’t get it back to us. Didn’t matter – ship’s security checked our ID’s and then let us aboard where we had a new card re-issued. Not as dramatic as we had anticipated. Gave us plenty of time aboard too – so we got to see the local Maori cultural show that we otherwise would have missed.
The show was a great little insight into their culture – and the showroom as usual was packed! We got there ½ an hour early and could barely find a seat. Pretty funny! Afterward, did our usual deck walking, sail-away and then dinner. Also went to a “who’s Cuckoo” show where the staff told you lies about previous jobs they held and you had to guess who was telling the truth. Uh huh - well – it was what it was – but at least we gave it a shot!
Relaxing sea day tomorrow……
Made it into town to the rental car agency by 8:30 or so. Hopped in the little Holden Viva and off we went. Excellent directions to the motorway – we were on the highway by 8:50 and on our way. The highway turns into a 2 lane road with traffic lights then narrows down to one lane and traverse the Rimutaka mountains up and away from the coastline and into the Wairarapa region of New Zealand. The drive over the mountain is another twisting turning road where Ed got his driving exercise. He is a pro at driving on the left now, so much so, I’m beginning to worry about driving in Hawaii when we get there!!!Took about an hour through the mountains, including photo opp stops, then another 15 minutes or so through farmland stocked with cattle, sheep and horses, until we reached Martinborough, the heart of the wine country here outside of Wellington.
Martinborough is a sweet little town with a few shops and cafes, one hotel and all the quaintness of a small farming town. Although it’s now a hot spot because of the wineries surrounding the town, it still has all the flavor of a small little village, which is exactly what I think of when I think of wine country! We stopped at the visitor center right at the beginning of the town before the “Square”. Chatted with the representative there who gave us places to have lunch and a guide to the open wineries, then walked through the town window shopping and just soaking in the atmosphere.Stopped in the Village Café for Cappuccino, got talking to our waitress who had just moved here from Minnesota! Her husband just finished cooking school and wanted to do something completely different and experience different things, so here they are. She said they love it, settling in and think New Zealand is great. We can’t argue that!
Headed off for the wineries – there are 30 boutique wineries in the area – all locally owned and run mostly by families. Only a few are open year round, so we headed to the Martinborough vineyard, which I had heard of – or at least thought I had seen their wines at home (now I think I was mistaken and it was Marlborough – but whatever!). Two other couples were already at the tasting shop when we arrived and turns out they are on the ship too. They had hired a private driver to take them around – and were interested in the fact that we were doing it ourselves. Ed’s my private driver since I’m the one tasting and he’s the one driving!
The wine at Martinborough was very good – served by a lovely woman who obviously owned the place. Had a nice conversation about cruising and season (not as busy as it is in the summer months) while tasting a good Riesling, not too sweet, and Sauvignon Blanc not too tart. But what surprised me most was the Pinot Noir. Since it’s a specialty of the region, figured I’d better try it (not to mention we had to pay for the tasting – 5 NZ – so figured I’d get my money’s worth!). Not being a red wine drinker, I figured I wouldn’t like it – but found it was quite good, not as dry and heavy as other red wines I have tried.
Next we headed to Winslow wines – a very small little cellar door almost hidden behind bushes and a wrought iron fence. Made friends there with the owner’s son, who was just adorable. He told us all about the wines, the area, and how they have underage drinking issues there as well. Told us some great stories about customers and trying to be nice and service friendly when they didn’t really deserve it! Also served an excellent Riesling, which we ended up buying, a cabernet I didn’t particularly care for, and their special champagne (can’t remember the name now) that was incredible. Very little bubbles (he told us that sometimes a lot of bubbles in the champagne mean that the glass is dirty – lovely!) and a very nice taste – not at all like typically champagne. Then he convinced me to try their cabernet liqueur – of course both Ed and I said no, “Cathy doesn’t like liqueur”, but he convinced us and it was surprisingly good. Cinnamon and clove tastes – and like he said, a little Christmas-y tasting. Ed even sipped and enjoyed it. Decided it was time for lunch so I would be able to stay awake long enough to navigate us home (and not throw up on the twisting mountain roads!!!). Took advise from the Winslow son and went to Alana vineyards café.
Turned off the road onto a one-lane dirt road alongside the vineyard. It led us down through a gully and into a car park area with the restaurant and tasting room alongside a large open patio. Sat outside and had a fantastic meal of grilled vegetable stacks (portabella, zucchini, peppers topped with melted brie) and Grouper with a lemon aioli sauce served with avocado and grilled tomato. The setting, the food, the wine and beer couldn’t have been better.It was getting on toward afternoon, so we decided to head back to town so we could go to the Te Papa museum which we had heard was excellent. Made it back into town with little effort and no traffic. Found our way to the Car rental return and started to head to the museum when Ed noticed he had lost his Princess card. Needless to say Te Papa was now out! We hoofed it straight back to the ship to try to figure out how to replace the card and get back onboard.
It was actually very seamless. Security asked us if we lost the card in Wairarapa – which of course we did – they said it had been found but was still up there – so someone at the restaurant or one of the vineyards or somewhere must have found it – but of course couldn’t get it back to us. Didn’t matter – ship’s security checked our ID’s and then let us aboard where we had a new card re-issued. Not as dramatic as we had anticipated. Gave us plenty of time aboard too – so we got to see the local Maori cultural show that we otherwise would have missed.
The show was a great little insight into their culture – and the showroom as usual was packed! We got there ½ an hour early and could barely find a seat. Pretty funny! Afterward, did our usual deck walking, sail-away and then dinner. Also went to a “who’s Cuckoo” show where the staff told you lies about previous jobs they held and you had to guess who was telling the truth. Uh huh - well – it was what it was – but at least we gave it a shot!
Relaxing sea day tomorrow……
Penguins!!!!! (4/22)
Today we’re in Christchurch, a beautiful town located on the Pacific coast of the South Island. Christchurch is centrally located – ½ an hour from skiing or the beach or the mountains, it’s a great location to stay for a while and explore the surrounding areas and the Maori heritage. Of course we only have one day – so we had to pick and choose our adventures!
Today is the Antarctic Center where we are going to have a back stage experience with their little blue penguins! We got off the ship early – and tried to strategize our way into Christchurch and to the Antarctic Center (which is at the airport and a $75 cab ride away). Since it was Sunday, the public transportation didn’t run as frequently as during the week – and the shuttle to Christchurch from the ship (25 minute ride) didn’t begin until 9 am. We had a 10:30 appointment so we ended up hiring a taxi for a one hour tour of Christchurch ending at the Antarctic center.
Our cabbie was a local Maori who has been here most of his life and enjoys the city. Didn’t give us too much history, but did show us the sites and tour us around to get our bearings. Made it to the Antarctic Center right as it opened and rushed inside before a tour bus of Princess passengers arrived. We had purchased tickets and the back stage experience online and when we checked in, they also gave us free handheld audio guides and a ride on the Hagglund (the transport they use in the Antarctic).
We wandered around the displays, which were incredibly interesting. Went into the Snow and Ice experience where we experienced what a real Antarctic storm would feel like. They have 5 tons of snow in the room, an igloo, a tent, wind chill machines and a storm that blows through dropping the temperature to –18 Celsius. They give you show covers to protect the snow, and heavy down coats to protect you. It’s a ton of fun – I even slid down an ice sliding hill. Too funny!
Outside of the storm, we wandered through fascinating exhibits explaining the Antarctic, the land mass, the atmosphere, how explorers can and do live there, and of course watched the penguins. They have a group of Blue Penguins, the smallest penguins in the world, at the center. They have all been saved from various situations around New Zealand – some are blind, some are paralyzed, or have other issues, and all are living there at the center in an environment specifically designed for them. Learned that penguins have a heavier bone structure than other birds because they don’t fly, they swim (although they are really just “flying” under water). Also learned that they’re feathers are water proof and when they molt, they aren’t water proof for quite some time and can’t swim – so they lose a lot of weight because they can’t hunt for food until they grow back their feathers and become waterproof again; when penguins shake, they are warm and trying to release some body heat; they mate for life but will mate with other penguins if their “life mate” isn’t available.
The penguins at the center live in an area with a swimming “hole” and rocks and pebbles and little nesting caves. They don’t really like to swim all that much, so the staff helps them along, and takes care of the little sick ones. We got to go up into their enclosure and see them up close, then got to go behind the scenes to see how they keep the area the penguins live and the water clean. Then we went into the care area, where one of the little penguins – Mo – was being kept. We got to pet her and watch her waddle around in the office while we sat there and talked to her. Really adorable. And so teeny and looked so cuddly – although the handler said they could bite and really hurt –so of course we were careful of that!
We also went on a Hagglund ride. The Hagglund is the vehicle they actually use for transport in the Antarctic. It’s a huge contraption with tank like treads. The course we rode is in the back of the complex and has 40 degree steep hills and doughnuts with 35 degree angles. It was really fun – but the best part was when we went into this ditch filled with water and the water was up over the hood of the Hagglund and we floated through it. Too cool!
After leaving the center, we took the Penguin Express shuttle back to town (which was free). Walked around Christchurch which has a gorgeous square in the middle of town called Cathedral Square along with a beautiful river called the Avon. Lots of benches and walkways along the river made it a very picturesque, but chilly day. Since it was Sunday, some stores weren’t open, but the weekend markets were in full swing. We spent some time shopping the stalls of locally made sweaters, woolens, soaps and jewelry. The knitted items are all a combination of Merino Wool and Possum. Kid you not. They have a huge possum issue here – they are multiplying and killing off the birds and foliage that keep the ecosystem going, so they are trying to eradicate them. In the process, they have found that combining the possum fur with the wool makes the clothing sturdier and softer – so everything is a combination of the two. There were some beautiful items, but no bargains, that’s for sure! And since we’re heading into Spring, not Fall like they are here, it was very hard to rationalize buying anything.
Ended up heading back into town, walking along the river and having lunch at the Tap – a great restaurant with a view of the river walk. We had a Tasting for 2 – which ended up being a selection of meat and seafood served on a hot stone, so that we “cooked” it ourselves. It was great- beef, lamb, veal, shrimp, mud bugs, mussels, and tuna all sizzling away in front of us. The perfect Atkins meal!
Wandered some more, visited a few stores where my back pack kept buzzing going through the theft detectors (never did figure out what made that happen!!!) and then headed for the shuttle and the ship.
Back aboard, sail-away, and then a mad rush to exercise and go see the “comedy” of Mark Angelo, which ended up being the Juggling of Mark Angelo, then dinner a drink or two and off to bed. Tomorrow Wellington and the wine country.
Today is the Antarctic Center where we are going to have a back stage experience with their little blue penguins! We got off the ship early – and tried to strategize our way into Christchurch and to the Antarctic Center (which is at the airport and a $75 cab ride away). Since it was Sunday, the public transportation didn’t run as frequently as during the week – and the shuttle to Christchurch from the ship (25 minute ride) didn’t begin until 9 am. We had a 10:30 appointment so we ended up hiring a taxi for a one hour tour of Christchurch ending at the Antarctic center.
Our cabbie was a local Maori who has been here most of his life and enjoys the city. Didn’t give us too much history, but did show us the sites and tour us around to get our bearings. Made it to the Antarctic Center right as it opened and rushed inside before a tour bus of Princess passengers arrived. We had purchased tickets and the back stage experience online and when we checked in, they also gave us free handheld audio guides and a ride on the Hagglund (the transport they use in the Antarctic).
We wandered around the displays, which were incredibly interesting. Went into the Snow and Ice experience where we experienced what a real Antarctic storm would feel like. They have 5 tons of snow in the room, an igloo, a tent, wind chill machines and a storm that blows through dropping the temperature to –18 Celsius. They give you show covers to protect the snow, and heavy down coats to protect you. It’s a ton of fun – I even slid down an ice sliding hill. Too funny!
Outside of the storm, we wandered through fascinating exhibits explaining the Antarctic, the land mass, the atmosphere, how explorers can and do live there, and of course watched the penguins. They have a group of Blue Penguins, the smallest penguins in the world, at the center. They have all been saved from various situations around New Zealand – some are blind, some are paralyzed, or have other issues, and all are living there at the center in an environment specifically designed for them. Learned that penguins have a heavier bone structure than other birds because they don’t fly, they swim (although they are really just “flying” under water). Also learned that they’re feathers are water proof and when they molt, they aren’t water proof for quite some time and can’t swim – so they lose a lot of weight because they can’t hunt for food until they grow back their feathers and become waterproof again; when penguins shake, they are warm and trying to release some body heat; they mate for life but will mate with other penguins if their “life mate” isn’t available.
The penguins at the center live in an area with a swimming “hole” and rocks and pebbles and little nesting caves. They don’t really like to swim all that much, so the staff helps them along, and takes care of the little sick ones. We got to go up into their enclosure and see them up close, then got to go behind the scenes to see how they keep the area the penguins live and the water clean. Then we went into the care area, where one of the little penguins – Mo – was being kept. We got to pet her and watch her waddle around in the office while we sat there and talked to her. Really adorable. And so teeny and looked so cuddly – although the handler said they could bite and really hurt –so of course we were careful of that!
We also went on a Hagglund ride. The Hagglund is the vehicle they actually use for transport in the Antarctic. It’s a huge contraption with tank like treads. The course we rode is in the back of the complex and has 40 degree steep hills and doughnuts with 35 degree angles. It was really fun – but the best part was when we went into this ditch filled with water and the water was up over the hood of the Hagglund and we floated through it. Too cool!
After leaving the center, we took the Penguin Express shuttle back to town (which was free). Walked around Christchurch which has a gorgeous square in the middle of town called Cathedral Square along with a beautiful river called the Avon. Lots of benches and walkways along the river made it a very picturesque, but chilly day. Since it was Sunday, some stores weren’t open, but the weekend markets were in full swing. We spent some time shopping the stalls of locally made sweaters, woolens, soaps and jewelry. The knitted items are all a combination of Merino Wool and Possum. Kid you not. They have a huge possum issue here – they are multiplying and killing off the birds and foliage that keep the ecosystem going, so they are trying to eradicate them. In the process, they have found that combining the possum fur with the wool makes the clothing sturdier and softer – so everything is a combination of the two. There were some beautiful items, but no bargains, that’s for sure! And since we’re heading into Spring, not Fall like they are here, it was very hard to rationalize buying anything.
Ended up heading back into town, walking along the river and having lunch at the Tap – a great restaurant with a view of the river walk. We had a Tasting for 2 – which ended up being a selection of meat and seafood served on a hot stone, so that we “cooked” it ourselves. It was great- beef, lamb, veal, shrimp, mud bugs, mussels, and tuna all sizzling away in front of us. The perfect Atkins meal!
Wandered some more, visited a few stores where my back pack kept buzzing going through the theft detectors (never did figure out what made that happen!!!) and then headed for the shuttle and the ship.
Back aboard, sail-away, and then a mad rush to exercise and go see the “comedy” of Mark Angelo, which ended up being the Juggling of Mark Angelo, then dinner a drink or two and off to bed. Tomorrow Wellington and the wine country.
The gorge and the chocolate (or gorging on chocolate…) 4/21
Arrived right on time in Dunedin, our first real port in New Zealand. Not an overly nice day – overcast and cold. We had the Taieri Gorge train booked and were worried about the weather and the viewing potential. Made our way down to the Princess Theater to get in line for the tours (you have to be REALLY early around here to get anything – a seat in the room for trivia, tickets to the tours – these people are amazing!). We were to meet Harold and Meryl to go together, but the lines and the masses of people made that impossible – you were just milled into the room by the masses, no chance to get out of line or get someone else in with you. I was almost mauled trying to reach Ed who was in the line. We ended up on separate train cars from Harold and Meryl because we couldn’t find each other in the crowd!
So…..after that little test of patience, we did manage to find our way to train car #3 which was vintage 1920’s. Great old wooden railway car with seating facing each other for 2 on one side of the aisle and 4 on the other, all with a table in between and china service, etc. The train ride follows the route originally developed after the Gold Rush passed and the land began to be developed for agricultural and pastoral uses. The line opened in the late 1890’s and was finished in 1921. The line continued to be in use over the years and was protected from competition until 1961. It continued to operate until 1990 when it was scheduled to be closed. The Mayor of Dunedin made a proposal to buy the railway if the community could raise $1 million to finance it. Once purchased, they turned the rail into a tourist attraction and keep it running that way today.
The train ride took about 1 ½ hours on the way up – we were served tea (coffee and shortbread), and beer on the ride up along the Taieri river and through gorgeous country of cliffs, mountains and farm land. The train stopped every so often for pictures and you could hangout on an outside platform for better photo opp’s. We took a lot of pictures and just enjoyed the views, which were better than we expected as the cloud cover had not come up the gorge.
At the top of the railway line, we stopped in Pukerangi where there is a small farm and of course the obligatory local’s selling their wares. Stretched our legs and took some photos but high tailed it back to the train because it was so chilly. One interesting fact – they brought EMT’s along with us on the train – they had mentioned something about if you needed first aid it was available, but we didn’t think anything of it until we saw the EMT’s at the Pukerangi stop!
Back aboard, we were served a light “finger” lunch of a sandwich, yogurt, quiche, fruit and cheese. Also all the wine and beer you could drink so the ride down was a bit tipsy!
Learned a lot about New Zealand during the ride from two great guides (husband and wife) who volunteer on the train. There are 10 sheep for every available acre of grazing land, there are more sheep than humans in population size in New Zealand (40 million sheep vs. 4 million humans), the ozone layer is so thin here that children must wear hats to school and the horses all have blankets on to protect them from the sun, not the cold.
After leaving the train in the heart of Dunedin, we went to the Cadbury factory for our tour. Oh, that was so not good (as our friend Stu says!). The tour itself was fun – there wasn’t much going on in the factory as it was a Saturday, but the smell was intoxicating and the machinery really wild to look at. The plant in New Zealand supplies virtually all their chocolate to New Zealand and some to Australia. It’s a small plant, but it produces an astonishing amount of chocolate. Along the way, the tour guide gave us pop quizzes for which we were rewarded candy. It was a bit like Halloween, we were issued bags and then we got to put our candy in the bags as we went along! Ended up only seeing one conveyor of Moro bars being boxed (that’s the NZ version of a Milky Way – but better!), and the operator did look a bit like Lucy when some of the bars didn’t come out lined up right! Also got to see 1 ton of chocolate dumped into a huge holding vat – and splash out all over everything – had to stand back so we weren’t dipped in chocolate ourselves.
Then of course, the tour ends in their candy shop – well – not good – not good at all! Not only had we made ourselves sick on the chocolate they were handing out on the tour, now we could buy more – and at really reasonable prices. So no more ship dessert for us! We’re still eating the darn samples they gave us and have kilos of chocolate to go!
Did find out why the chocolate over here tastes so much better – in NZ for instance – they use whole milk, not milk derivatives for the candy. And in the US – Hershey’s has the license to make Cadbury chocolates and it’s a completely different recipe - obviously.
After our gorging (LOL), we wandered around Dunedin, which is a cute little town, but not overly interesting. Hit the internet, had a nip in a sports bar/pub--The Terrace--that was owned by the son of our train tour guides, then headed back to the ship on the shuttle. Sail-away, dinner and DVD’s in the cabin, then early to bed for our next port, Christchurch.
So…..after that little test of patience, we did manage to find our way to train car #3 which was vintage 1920’s. Great old wooden railway car with seating facing each other for 2 on one side of the aisle and 4 on the other, all with a table in between and china service, etc. The train ride follows the route originally developed after the Gold Rush passed and the land began to be developed for agricultural and pastoral uses. The line opened in the late 1890’s and was finished in 1921. The line continued to be in use over the years and was protected from competition until 1961. It continued to operate until 1990 when it was scheduled to be closed. The Mayor of Dunedin made a proposal to buy the railway if the community could raise $1 million to finance it. Once purchased, they turned the rail into a tourist attraction and keep it running that way today.
The train ride took about 1 ½ hours on the way up – we were served tea (coffee and shortbread), and beer on the ride up along the Taieri river and through gorgeous country of cliffs, mountains and farm land. The train stopped every so often for pictures and you could hangout on an outside platform for better photo opp’s. We took a lot of pictures and just enjoyed the views, which were better than we expected as the cloud cover had not come up the gorge.
At the top of the railway line, we stopped in Pukerangi where there is a small farm and of course the obligatory local’s selling their wares. Stretched our legs and took some photos but high tailed it back to the train because it was so chilly. One interesting fact – they brought EMT’s along with us on the train – they had mentioned something about if you needed first aid it was available, but we didn’t think anything of it until we saw the EMT’s at the Pukerangi stop!
Back aboard, we were served a light “finger” lunch of a sandwich, yogurt, quiche, fruit and cheese. Also all the wine and beer you could drink so the ride down was a bit tipsy!
Learned a lot about New Zealand during the ride from two great guides (husband and wife) who volunteer on the train. There are 10 sheep for every available acre of grazing land, there are more sheep than humans in population size in New Zealand (40 million sheep vs. 4 million humans), the ozone layer is so thin here that children must wear hats to school and the horses all have blankets on to protect them from the sun, not the cold.
After leaving the train in the heart of Dunedin, we went to the Cadbury factory for our tour. Oh, that was so not good (as our friend Stu says!). The tour itself was fun – there wasn’t much going on in the factory as it was a Saturday, but the smell was intoxicating and the machinery really wild to look at. The plant in New Zealand supplies virtually all their chocolate to New Zealand and some to Australia. It’s a small plant, but it produces an astonishing amount of chocolate. Along the way, the tour guide gave us pop quizzes for which we were rewarded candy. It was a bit like Halloween, we were issued bags and then we got to put our candy in the bags as we went along! Ended up only seeing one conveyor of Moro bars being boxed (that’s the NZ version of a Milky Way – but better!), and the operator did look a bit like Lucy when some of the bars didn’t come out lined up right! Also got to see 1 ton of chocolate dumped into a huge holding vat – and splash out all over everything – had to stand back so we weren’t dipped in chocolate ourselves.
Then of course, the tour ends in their candy shop – well – not good – not good at all! Not only had we made ourselves sick on the chocolate they were handing out on the tour, now we could buy more – and at really reasonable prices. So no more ship dessert for us! We’re still eating the darn samples they gave us and have kilos of chocolate to go!
Did find out why the chocolate over here tastes so much better – in NZ for instance – they use whole milk, not milk derivatives for the candy. And in the US – Hershey’s has the license to make Cadbury chocolates and it’s a completely different recipe - obviously.
After our gorging (LOL), we wandered around Dunedin, which is a cute little town, but not overly interesting. Hit the internet, had a nip in a sports bar/pub--The Terrace--that was owned by the son of our train tour guides, then headed back to the ship on the shuttle. Sail-away, dinner and DVD’s in the cabin, then early to bed for our next port, Christchurch.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Sailing Away (4/18-20)
First 3 sea days have flown by. The weather has been decent, not too cold, not too windy. We’ve managed some sun time on our balcony and lots of rambling around on outside decks. Everyone says that this is the smoothest sailing they’ve had on the Tasman sea ever. Must say we are due! After the Bay of Leone on the Costa Fortuna (126 km winds and snow) and the Atlantic crossing to Bermuda on the Celebrity Zenith where our brave captain ran through a Nor’easter that bobbed us around like a cork, it’s refreshing to have a smooth sailing for a change!
Not much going on around the ship but we’ve managed to keep ourselves busy. Have made trivia every day – and lost every day. Great team – but we’re always just shy of the winners. Yesterday we would have had a perfect score if we would have listened to our first gut instincts instead of 2nd guessing – oh well. It does keep us busy though!
Today we are sailing through the Fiordland National Park. It’s one of the largest national parks in the world with 3.5 million acres of forest clinging to steep cliffs. We sailed through Milford Sound which at it’s narrowest is 300 meters wide and the cliffs towered over the ship. We dropped off passengers here for an overland tour to the interior of New Zealand. As we were disembarking the passengers, the photographers were out in a zodiac taking photographs of all of us on the ship.
Back out of Milford sound, we then sailed through Thompson and Doubtful Sounds. More beautiful scenery, waterfalls, and cliffs and mountains. The park gets 300 inches of rain a year, but it’s been dry lately, so there aren’t as many waterfalls as usual, but there are still more than enough photo opportunities. As we pull out of Doubtful Sound, the fog and mist rolled in (along with some Snow), but it’s still a majestic site along the coast with the fog.
Not much going on around the ship but we’ve managed to keep ourselves busy. Have made trivia every day – and lost every day. Great team – but we’re always just shy of the winners. Yesterday we would have had a perfect score if we would have listened to our first gut instincts instead of 2nd guessing – oh well. It does keep us busy though!
Today we are sailing through the Fiordland National Park. It’s one of the largest national parks in the world with 3.5 million acres of forest clinging to steep cliffs. We sailed through Milford Sound which at it’s narrowest is 300 meters wide and the cliffs towered over the ship. We dropped off passengers here for an overland tour to the interior of New Zealand. As we were disembarking the passengers, the photographers were out in a zodiac taking photographs of all of us on the ship.
Back out of Milford sound, we then sailed through Thompson and Doubtful Sounds. More beautiful scenery, waterfalls, and cliffs and mountains. The park gets 300 inches of rain a year, but it’s been dry lately, so there aren’t as many waterfalls as usual, but there are still more than enough photo opportunities. As we pull out of Doubtful Sound, the fog and mist rolled in (along with some Snow), but it’s still a majestic site along the coast with the fog.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Embarkation Day – Can’t believe it’s here at last! (4/17)
Did our walking early – went through the Botanical Gardens all the way to the Quay. The Botanical Gardens are an amazing wilderness in the middle of the city. In one section, there were thousands (and I mean thousands!) of bats hanging in the trees and making the biggest screeching sound you’ve ever heard. Some were flying around overhead making for a fantastic site on the way down to the harbor. Also making for a hazardous walk through an awful lot of bat guano through the woods. Yuk!
Walked to the Opera and saw that our ship had in fact come in! So, since we knew we had our ride, we headed back to prepare to board.
Note about The Coronation Hotel: This hotel, where a few fellow Cruise Critics also stayed, is an outstanding value in this city. It’s a great location, right in the heart of everything, and is very nicely appointed for an economy hotel. Our room was very nice, quite large and clean. A desk, table, mini-fridge, and lots of storage. Also, as I mentioned earlier, a 24-hour pub, a restaurant and a bottle shop. What more could you want? The only oddity was the shower. It was a European-type shower that has no stall – it was literally a drain in the tile floor with a shower curtain hung around it. Great shower, hot, good pressure, but you had to learn to become a human down spout so the water would run down you and into the drain – not fly out all over the place and flood the bathroom (and probably the bedroom since there wasn’t any water catch by the door). The only negative is the lift, which was very old and a little quirky. We were on the 2nd floor so we just walked the stairs – not a problem for us – but could be for others.
Checked out at 11 – and ready to roll. Went outside for a cab, which were in short supply. Met up with fellow C.C.ers – Earl and Carolyn – who were also in search of a cab. After 10 fruitless minutes trying to hail a cab, Earl walked up the street to a queue of cabs and grabbed 2 for us. They arrived, we hopped in, and tried to head off to the ship. Told our cabbie where we were going - and he gave us a blank stare. Tried to explain – Circular Quay, the cruise ship terminal, big ship – even showed him where we were going on the map – he had no idea. So we told him to follow the other cab thath Earl and Carolyn were in (we’re now thinking we’re in the Amazing Race – follow that cab!). Cabbie said fine, but Earl’s cab was turning left and our cabbie couldn’t understand it. We needed to go right, not left. So, I asked if he could take a right to turn onto George Street (where we needed to be). No, he said he couldn’t turn right there – well – duh! So, “Please follow that other cab sir”. We made it, of course we’re in the back telling the cabbie which street he’s going to turn on as we head through town because we’re more familiar with the place than he is! We made it – thankfully – Stevens 2, cabbies 0!
Finally at our home away from home for the next 30 days! Embarkation was the smoothest we’ve ever had. Stowed our bags on a truck (we were on the upper level, it takes them down to the lower level to load), stood in line for about 10 minutes until they opened the boarding process, then flew right through. We were the very first passengers on board – pretty wild!
Found our room, met our steward, Phillip, dumped our bags and were off the ship by 12 noon to wander through Sydney for a while before we sailed. Watched a great street performer juggle, do tricks and then finally mount a huge pole with spikes/nails on top, lie down on the nails and juggle. He was really good – plus – he had a little 5 year old come out and help him (along with other adults) and he told the 5-year old if he would do x, y an z, he’d give him 10 bucks. Well we all thought he would just joke it away – nope – he gave the kid 10 bucks! Talk about priming the pump. When he was done (and after his spiel about how this is how he makes his living, etc.), he really made some dough from the crowd.
Afterward just strolled through the Rocks, had a beer (2 for 1) and wine (1 for 1) at the Harborview hotel and watched the Bridge climbers come back down. Found the Weiss store and bought some souvenirs then headed back aboard the Sapphire to begin our “Epic” journey to L.A. (Epic, because that’s what the staff and captain keep calling it!).
Settled in, unpacked, got familiar with the ship, exercised, then went up top for sail away – which was a majestic sight. The bridge, the Opera, the city, all lit up and fading away as we sailed into the night. One little ditty – the Opera is only lit on the Quay side, once you get to the other side facing the bridge, it’s no longer spot lit.
Dinner in the buffet tonight since we were right there and didn’t want to dress for the dining room. Had an enjoyable time with some fellow CC’ers, Ro and Murray, then to the show and home. Very good start to our cruise adventure!
Walked to the Opera and saw that our ship had in fact come in! So, since we knew we had our ride, we headed back to prepare to board.
Note about The Coronation Hotel: This hotel, where a few fellow Cruise Critics also stayed, is an outstanding value in this city. It’s a great location, right in the heart of everything, and is very nicely appointed for an economy hotel. Our room was very nice, quite large and clean. A desk, table, mini-fridge, and lots of storage. Also, as I mentioned earlier, a 24-hour pub, a restaurant and a bottle shop. What more could you want? The only oddity was the shower. It was a European-type shower that has no stall – it was literally a drain in the tile floor with a shower curtain hung around it. Great shower, hot, good pressure, but you had to learn to become a human down spout so the water would run down you and into the drain – not fly out all over the place and flood the bathroom (and probably the bedroom since there wasn’t any water catch by the door). The only negative is the lift, which was very old and a little quirky. We were on the 2nd floor so we just walked the stairs – not a problem for us – but could be for others.
Checked out at 11 – and ready to roll. Went outside for a cab, which were in short supply. Met up with fellow C.C.ers – Earl and Carolyn – who were also in search of a cab. After 10 fruitless minutes trying to hail a cab, Earl walked up the street to a queue of cabs and grabbed 2 for us. They arrived, we hopped in, and tried to head off to the ship. Told our cabbie where we were going - and he gave us a blank stare. Tried to explain – Circular Quay, the cruise ship terminal, big ship – even showed him where we were going on the map – he had no idea. So we told him to follow the other cab thath Earl and Carolyn were in (we’re now thinking we’re in the Amazing Race – follow that cab!). Cabbie said fine, but Earl’s cab was turning left and our cabbie couldn’t understand it. We needed to go right, not left. So, I asked if he could take a right to turn onto George Street (where we needed to be). No, he said he couldn’t turn right there – well – duh! So, “Please follow that other cab sir”. We made it, of course we’re in the back telling the cabbie which street he’s going to turn on as we head through town because we’re more familiar with the place than he is! We made it – thankfully – Stevens 2, cabbies 0!
Finally at our home away from home for the next 30 days! Embarkation was the smoothest we’ve ever had. Stowed our bags on a truck (we were on the upper level, it takes them down to the lower level to load), stood in line for about 10 minutes until they opened the boarding process, then flew right through. We were the very first passengers on board – pretty wild!
Found our room, met our steward, Phillip, dumped our bags and were off the ship by 12 noon to wander through Sydney for a while before we sailed. Watched a great street performer juggle, do tricks and then finally mount a huge pole with spikes/nails on top, lie down on the nails and juggle. He was really good – plus – he had a little 5 year old come out and help him (along with other adults) and he told the 5-year old if he would do x, y an z, he’d give him 10 bucks. Well we all thought he would just joke it away – nope – he gave the kid 10 bucks! Talk about priming the pump. When he was done (and after his spiel about how this is how he makes his living, etc.), he really made some dough from the crowd.
Afterward just strolled through the Rocks, had a beer (2 for 1) and wine (1 for 1) at the Harborview hotel and watched the Bridge climbers come back down. Found the Weiss store and bought some souvenirs then headed back aboard the Sapphire to begin our “Epic” journey to L.A. (Epic, because that’s what the staff and captain keep calling it!).
Settled in, unpacked, got familiar with the ship, exercised, then went up top for sail away – which was a majestic sight. The bridge, the Opera, the city, all lit up and fading away as we sailed into the night. One little ditty – the Opera is only lit on the Quay side, once you get to the other side facing the bridge, it’s no longer spot lit.
Dinner in the buffet tonight since we were right there and didn’t want to dress for the dining room. Had an enjoyable time with some fellow CC’ers, Ro and Murray, then to the show and home. Very good start to our cruise adventure!
Doing the town and the beach (4/16)
Full day today as we are doing the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus around Sydney and out to Bondi Beach. Caught one of the first HOHO buses at the Central Station. Just pure luck – we had just arrived and were beginning to explore the area looking for the bus stop – when the bus magically appeared! Hopped on (excuse the pun), found they only took cash, so we handed over our last dollars (literally!) – and off we went.
Great way to see all the city. Headed over to Darling Harbor, where we got off and wandered a bit, found an ATM, then had some cappuccino at a little outdoor café. Boarded the bus again and took the circular tour of the city, including the red light district (which we ended up seeing and hearing about 4 times on these trips – just the way the buses ran and intersected routes!). Saw all the sights, then changed buses at Central station for Bondi beach.
Perfect day for our ride, about 70 degrees, partly cloudy (mostly fine in Aussie terms) and a cool breeze. The HOHO was an open air double decker bus, so we sat up top the whole time, watching out for low hanging branches that could definitely do some damage if you weren’t careful! Got to Bondi (pronounced Bon-deye) around noon. The bus stops for ½ hour, you can get back on then, or wait for the next bus in 2 ½ hours.
We had lunch at a café called Lamrock, where they had a “Tapas for 2” that was a main meal! Chorizo, squid, octopus, Cajun chicken, olives, feta, sun dried tomatoes, prosciutto and bread. Really great. Sat in the sun for a bit, then headed down the Coastal walk to Bronte Beach. This is a walkway that stretches down the coast along a number of little beaches. It’s carved out of the cliffs and limestone on the shore and is a beautiful exercise on a lovely day. We walked to Bronte and back, about 7 KM roundtrip. It was a perfect day to walk up and down the coast.
Caught the 2:20 bus back to Sydney, then wandered about shopping for this and that in the shopping district. Finally found a hat for Ed – not a real Tilly Hat (which are very hard to find, as it turns out), but a nice cloth hat with mesh to breathe and a string to tie it on in heavy winds. I also bought what I am calling a Gilligan Hat! It was on sale at a little shop that sold “Outback Clothing” and was going out of business due to leasehold issues. The owner was quite sweet and she told me she had one of the same hats and loved it – we’ll see!
Had dinner in the 24-hour pub downstairs in the restaurant. Cute place with great snacks and wine/beer. Headed out to the Cruise Critic meet and greet at the Sheraton up the street. About 50 of the C.C. group showed (think there are over 100 total in the group). Nice to get to know everyone – and start putting faces with names. But way to big to meet everyone – of course we have almost a month to do that on the ship! We stayed for quite a while then headed back to the Hotel Coronation.
Great way to see all the city. Headed over to Darling Harbor, where we got off and wandered a bit, found an ATM, then had some cappuccino at a little outdoor café. Boarded the bus again and took the circular tour of the city, including the red light district (which we ended up seeing and hearing about 4 times on these trips – just the way the buses ran and intersected routes!). Saw all the sights, then changed buses at Central station for Bondi beach.
Perfect day for our ride, about 70 degrees, partly cloudy (mostly fine in Aussie terms) and a cool breeze. The HOHO was an open air double decker bus, so we sat up top the whole time, watching out for low hanging branches that could definitely do some damage if you weren’t careful! Got to Bondi (pronounced Bon-deye) around noon. The bus stops for ½ hour, you can get back on then, or wait for the next bus in 2 ½ hours.
We had lunch at a café called Lamrock, where they had a “Tapas for 2” that was a main meal! Chorizo, squid, octopus, Cajun chicken, olives, feta, sun dried tomatoes, prosciutto and bread. Really great. Sat in the sun for a bit, then headed down the Coastal walk to Bronte Beach. This is a walkway that stretches down the coast along a number of little beaches. It’s carved out of the cliffs and limestone on the shore and is a beautiful exercise on a lovely day. We walked to Bronte and back, about 7 KM roundtrip. It was a perfect day to walk up and down the coast.
Caught the 2:20 bus back to Sydney, then wandered about shopping for this and that in the shopping district. Finally found a hat for Ed – not a real Tilly Hat (which are very hard to find, as it turns out), but a nice cloth hat with mesh to breathe and a string to tie it on in heavy winds. I also bought what I am calling a Gilligan Hat! It was on sale at a little shop that sold “Outback Clothing” and was going out of business due to leasehold issues. The owner was quite sweet and she told me she had one of the same hats and loved it – we’ll see!
Had dinner in the 24-hour pub downstairs in the restaurant. Cute place with great snacks and wine/beer. Headed out to the Cruise Critic meet and greet at the Sheraton up the street. About 50 of the C.C. group showed (think there are over 100 total in the group). Nice to get to know everyone – and start putting faces with names. But way to big to meet everyone – of course we have almost a month to do that on the ship! We stayed for quite a while then headed back to the Hotel Coronation.
Coming round the mountains (4/15)
Beautiful morning in Leura. Crisp and sunny, a perfect day for some bush walking. We had scoped out the different walks from literature picked up at the tourist information in Glenbrook (the very beginning of the Blue Mountains). Wanted to take a leisurely walk in the morning before heading out to Sydney sometime mid-day. There are a couple of waterfalls and good lookout points in Leura, so we decided to do our walk in town, and not drive to other sites.
Walked down to the lookout called Sublime Lookout Point for a look at the three sisters (a very neat rock formation) and then, from there walk through the bush to Gordon Falls. Depending on time, we’d continue on to Leura Falls or just head back to the hotel. The walk to the lookout didn’t look too far on the map – so off we went. Fortunately we are early risers – and love to walk! We headed out about 6 am, and walked, and walked, and walked! The map was “rubbish” as we heard one Aussie explorer remark later in the morning.
The walk to the lookout took us a good 45 minutes – and it was pretty strenuous. Nice in the weather, and the view from the point was sublime. Like looking out over a forested Grand Canyon – fabulous vistas across rolling green mountains, the mist hanging in the valleys and a good view of the three Sisters rock formation (if you knew what you were looking for!). Leaving the lookout, we diverted off the main street looking for the path to Gordon Falls that showed on our map. Wandered through scrub brush at the end of the street shown to be the trail head – but never found a thing (remember the map is rubbish!). We could see a path further down the mountainside heading in the right direction, but we couldn’t find any way to get there. Thoroughly frustrating! So we headed back the way we came – and bushwalked through the streets of Leura. Probably a lot safer activity as later in the day there were news reports of a lost bush walker whose body had just been found in the same basic region (further out than we’d ever be, but still! Two crazy Americans walking through the bush with little other than a bottle of water and a map that was rubbish! Make that 3 bodies……)
So, disappointed, but completely exercised, we showered up and drove around to some of the look out points on the Grand Circular Drive in the Blue Mountains. The sites were all really incredible and we were very glad we had made this little stop over, even if the drive on Saturday was brutal.
Ended up heading back in to Sydney very early, hitting the road about 10:15. Very easy and quick drive into town – we arrived at the airport to drop off our rental car in 1 ½ hours. While the drive is simple, one word of advice to driving visitors – Sydney has things called the “links” on their highway system. These are expressways that “link” major roads to one another – almost like a little beltway or loop system. The warning is that these links (or at least the one to the airport that is shown on all the maps and even on the highway directional signs) are toll roads. Fine you say, so what? Well, they are electronic toll roads – no cash, no tickets, no nothing. You have to have a sticker or an e-pass to use the roads. Of course, you don’t know that until you are on the road and see a bizillion signs about no cash, no tickets. There are also signs telling you to call 13-toll or go to their website if you don’t have a pass. Gee, how nice! So, long story short, ends up we had to set up a visitor’s pass on the web site to pay the 6.15 Aud toll, with a .75 Aud charge per trip and a 1.80 Aud set up fee (on the web, 3.30 via phone), completed by providing your credit card information. In addition, don’t forget to make the pass expire (or in Aussie terms: set a date of expiry) – because of course – it’s a rental car! If you keep the pass open for the whole length of the typical Visitor’s pass (30-days), you’ll end up paying every time that car goes on that road. As it was, the earliest we could set up the expiry date was April 17 – so we may get stuck with another toll or two. Charming!
That little incident aside – we are in Sydney! Very exciting as we take a cab into town for our hotel. Tell the cabbie where to go, but don’t have the exact address, just know the name of the hotel and it’s between such and such a street on Park. Even showed him the map. We head into town, it is a very quick drive, only about 20 minutes or so, and the cabbie pulls up to 27 Park, where he insists the hotel is located. No signs, just a big plate glass door on a busy street surrounded by coffee bars. We tell him it’s not right, he insists it is. Ed gets out an checks, comes back, tells him it’s not right, it’s an apartment building. Cabbie insists it’s right. Cabbie gets out and checks with the coffee shop next door – they say it used to be a hotel, but now it’s apartments. Cabbie thinks this is fine!
Finally we get him to keep going down the block because we’ve noticed he is one block short of the hotel. It’s right on the next block, we can see the sign. He starts driving, we tell him to stop, here it is. He keeps driving. “Sir, stop, it’s right here, see the sign”, he keeps driving. “Sir, Stop!!” Finally, the guy pulls over – finally in front of the hotel. Too funny!
Dump our bags at the hotel (too early for check in) and off we go. We walked the whole CBD (Central Business District). Walked down George Street, the main shopping drag with everything from souvenir shops to Gucci and Hermes. Headed into Circular Quay and watched the ferries, looked across the harbor at the Opera House and made it to the Sydney Harbor Bridge Pylon. We chose to climb the pylon instead of the bridge for a couple of reasons: 1) we could do it at our own pace, take our own cameras and it only takes about 15 minutes – the bridge climb takes about 3 hours once you go through all their rigmarole (including a breathalyzer test) and you can’t take a thing up there with you, they take your picture and then you have to buy it; 2) it was 18 Aud compared to 400 Aud. Hmm…… The view was fantastic (and really only 40 metres shorter than the bridge climb anyway), we took loads of pictures and stayed up there for quite a while. The inside of the pylon is also a museum dedicated to the building of the bridge and it was quite interesting as well. Did you know they used 6 million rivets on the bridge?
Down off the Pylon, and into Circular Quay. Had a refreshment at one of the many restaurants on the broad promenade around the Quay, then headed over to look at the Opera House up close. Fantastic building! Walked back to the hotel by way of the Botanical Gardens (skirting the outside of the gardens) and Hyde Park (lots of British references here, for obvious reasons). Rested up a bit before heading out for dinner in a section of town where there are “reasonable” restaurants (we asked the Tourist info gal for cheap places to eat and she directed us to Stanley Street).
Really fun little area, lots of little Italian Trattorias, a Sushi bar, Mexican place, etc. We ate at a place called Giardinetto’s – which was cute and lovely and bustling. Food was great – Barrimundi with Lemon sauce and Veal with red wine sauce, shared calamari appetizer. Everyone there was doing BYO – it was only a 4 Aud charge, so one couple even left their table to go out and buy a couple of bottles of wine right in the middle of their dinner!
Back to the hotel to drop exhausted into bed!
Walked down to the lookout called Sublime Lookout Point for a look at the three sisters (a very neat rock formation) and then, from there walk through the bush to Gordon Falls. Depending on time, we’d continue on to Leura Falls or just head back to the hotel. The walk to the lookout didn’t look too far on the map – so off we went. Fortunately we are early risers – and love to walk! We headed out about 6 am, and walked, and walked, and walked! The map was “rubbish” as we heard one Aussie explorer remark later in the morning.
The walk to the lookout took us a good 45 minutes – and it was pretty strenuous. Nice in the weather, and the view from the point was sublime. Like looking out over a forested Grand Canyon – fabulous vistas across rolling green mountains, the mist hanging in the valleys and a good view of the three Sisters rock formation (if you knew what you were looking for!). Leaving the lookout, we diverted off the main street looking for the path to Gordon Falls that showed on our map. Wandered through scrub brush at the end of the street shown to be the trail head – but never found a thing (remember the map is rubbish!). We could see a path further down the mountainside heading in the right direction, but we couldn’t find any way to get there. Thoroughly frustrating! So we headed back the way we came – and bushwalked through the streets of Leura. Probably a lot safer activity as later in the day there were news reports of a lost bush walker whose body had just been found in the same basic region (further out than we’d ever be, but still! Two crazy Americans walking through the bush with little other than a bottle of water and a map that was rubbish! Make that 3 bodies……)
So, disappointed, but completely exercised, we showered up and drove around to some of the look out points on the Grand Circular Drive in the Blue Mountains. The sites were all really incredible and we were very glad we had made this little stop over, even if the drive on Saturday was brutal.
Ended up heading back in to Sydney very early, hitting the road about 10:15. Very easy and quick drive into town – we arrived at the airport to drop off our rental car in 1 ½ hours. While the drive is simple, one word of advice to driving visitors – Sydney has things called the “links” on their highway system. These are expressways that “link” major roads to one another – almost like a little beltway or loop system. The warning is that these links (or at least the one to the airport that is shown on all the maps and even on the highway directional signs) are toll roads. Fine you say, so what? Well, they are electronic toll roads – no cash, no tickets, no nothing. You have to have a sticker or an e-pass to use the roads. Of course, you don’t know that until you are on the road and see a bizillion signs about no cash, no tickets. There are also signs telling you to call 13-toll or go to their website if you don’t have a pass. Gee, how nice! So, long story short, ends up we had to set up a visitor’s pass on the web site to pay the 6.15 Aud toll, with a .75 Aud charge per trip and a 1.80 Aud set up fee (on the web, 3.30 via phone), completed by providing your credit card information. In addition, don’t forget to make the pass expire (or in Aussie terms: set a date of expiry) – because of course – it’s a rental car! If you keep the pass open for the whole length of the typical Visitor’s pass (30-days), you’ll end up paying every time that car goes on that road. As it was, the earliest we could set up the expiry date was April 17 – so we may get stuck with another toll or two. Charming!
That little incident aside – we are in Sydney! Very exciting as we take a cab into town for our hotel. Tell the cabbie where to go, but don’t have the exact address, just know the name of the hotel and it’s between such and such a street on Park. Even showed him the map. We head into town, it is a very quick drive, only about 20 minutes or so, and the cabbie pulls up to 27 Park, where he insists the hotel is located. No signs, just a big plate glass door on a busy street surrounded by coffee bars. We tell him it’s not right, he insists it is. Ed gets out an checks, comes back, tells him it’s not right, it’s an apartment building. Cabbie insists it’s right. Cabbie gets out and checks with the coffee shop next door – they say it used to be a hotel, but now it’s apartments. Cabbie thinks this is fine!
Finally we get him to keep going down the block because we’ve noticed he is one block short of the hotel. It’s right on the next block, we can see the sign. He starts driving, we tell him to stop, here it is. He keeps driving. “Sir, stop, it’s right here, see the sign”, he keeps driving. “Sir, Stop!!” Finally, the guy pulls over – finally in front of the hotel. Too funny!
Dump our bags at the hotel (too early for check in) and off we go. We walked the whole CBD (Central Business District). Walked down George Street, the main shopping drag with everything from souvenir shops to Gucci and Hermes. Headed into Circular Quay and watched the ferries, looked across the harbor at the Opera House and made it to the Sydney Harbor Bridge Pylon. We chose to climb the pylon instead of the bridge for a couple of reasons: 1) we could do it at our own pace, take our own cameras and it only takes about 15 minutes – the bridge climb takes about 3 hours once you go through all their rigmarole (including a breathalyzer test) and you can’t take a thing up there with you, they take your picture and then you have to buy it; 2) it was 18 Aud compared to 400 Aud. Hmm…… The view was fantastic (and really only 40 metres shorter than the bridge climb anyway), we took loads of pictures and stayed up there for quite a while. The inside of the pylon is also a museum dedicated to the building of the bridge and it was quite interesting as well. Did you know they used 6 million rivets on the bridge?
Down off the Pylon, and into Circular Quay. Had a refreshment at one of the many restaurants on the broad promenade around the Quay, then headed over to look at the Opera House up close. Fantastic building! Walked back to the hotel by way of the Botanical Gardens (skirting the outside of the gardens) and Hyde Park (lots of British references here, for obvious reasons). Rested up a bit before heading out for dinner in a section of town where there are “reasonable” restaurants (we asked the Tourist info gal for cheap places to eat and she directed us to Stanley Street).
Really fun little area, lots of little Italian Trattorias, a Sushi bar, Mexican place, etc. We ate at a place called Giardinetto’s – which was cute and lovely and bustling. Food was great – Barrimundi with Lemon sauce and Veal with red wine sauce, shared calamari appetizer. Everyone there was doing BYO – it was only a 4 Aud charge, so one couple even left their table to go out and buy a couple of bottles of wine right in the middle of their dinner!
Back to the hotel to drop exhausted into bed!
Monday, April 16, 2007
From the Valley to the Mountains (4/14)
Started off early with a walk down the beach and around the town of Port Macquarie. It’s a sweet little beach/lake/port town, and we’d really like to spend more time here. But, today, we are headed out to the Sydney area to tour the Hunter Wine Valley and then the Blue Mountains.
Headed out about 8 and found our way south to the Hunter. Made it there just before lunch time and gathered tons of information from the main info center in Cessnock. Mapped out our strategy to hit a few wineries and the cheese factory. The Hunter Valley was just lovely. You would have thought on a Saturday in the fall, with perfect weather (70 degrees and not a cloud in the skies) that the place would be packed. It wasn’t.
The little lanes that run in and along all the vineyards had few cars on them. They were all 2 lane little country roads with picturesque vineyards on each side. Tall trees lined most of the roads, and it was really a lovely, relaxing drive through the hundreds of wineries. We chose to visit Pepper Tree, which is a beautiful little vineyard with their processing center right on sight. I liked their wines the best – they have a Verdelho varietal that is excellent. Their Semillon is also very good. After Pepper Tree, headed to Lindeman’s (of course, they are one of my favorites). Tasted a bunch of wine, Semillon and Verdelho – but nothing as good as Pepper Tree. Did have some cheese samples there as well as fudge (oh boy, was that good – step away from the fudge!!! Remember you’re going on a cruise where you need to fit into your ball gown!!!).
Next stop was the cheese factory, where all the buses were! Yep, we found the tourist hub. Original plans were to buy some cheese, have a snack somewhere along the route and then head to Blue Mountains. Ended up just tasting all the cheese they had (brie was excellent and the marinated feta the best!), then leaving without buying. Filled up on the samples and figured we didn’t really need any more!
Headed out to the Blue Mountains the “back way”. Instead of re-tracing our steps through the Hunter, we went out through Broke – and into the Yunga National Park. Road was brutal – turns, switch backs, rocks jutting out of the sides of cliffs onto the road, motorcycle demons flying up and around you at any given time. Beautiful through the mountains, but really tough on Ed driving. It was the most direct route from where we were, but it was a tough drive.
Finally made the turn onto the Great Western Highway toward the Blue Mountains. This area is also a weekend retreat from Sydney. Beautiful mountains that have a blue “sheen” to them from reflected sunlight, loads of small mountain villages (now turned touristy), lots of scenery and nature walks. We arrived at our hotel/apartment early and walked through tiny little Leura to get our bearings. A handful of boutique gift shops, bottle shops and restaurants. Quaint and cute.
Tired of the 30 Aud entrees and 18 dollar salads, we decided to go Chinese tonight. Had two excellent combinations – one sizzling (kind of sweet and sour) and one satay (ginger/peanut). Very good, quick, and filling. Back to the hotel for TV and reading, then bed. Off to Sydney tomorrow! Our Australian adventure is almost done – can’t believe that we’ve been here this long already.
Headed out about 8 and found our way south to the Hunter. Made it there just before lunch time and gathered tons of information from the main info center in Cessnock. Mapped out our strategy to hit a few wineries and the cheese factory. The Hunter Valley was just lovely. You would have thought on a Saturday in the fall, with perfect weather (70 degrees and not a cloud in the skies) that the place would be packed. It wasn’t.
The little lanes that run in and along all the vineyards had few cars on them. They were all 2 lane little country roads with picturesque vineyards on each side. Tall trees lined most of the roads, and it was really a lovely, relaxing drive through the hundreds of wineries. We chose to visit Pepper Tree, which is a beautiful little vineyard with their processing center right on sight. I liked their wines the best – they have a Verdelho varietal that is excellent. Their Semillon is also very good. After Pepper Tree, headed to Lindeman’s (of course, they are one of my favorites). Tasted a bunch of wine, Semillon and Verdelho – but nothing as good as Pepper Tree. Did have some cheese samples there as well as fudge (oh boy, was that good – step away from the fudge!!! Remember you’re going on a cruise where you need to fit into your ball gown!!!).
Next stop was the cheese factory, where all the buses were! Yep, we found the tourist hub. Original plans were to buy some cheese, have a snack somewhere along the route and then head to Blue Mountains. Ended up just tasting all the cheese they had (brie was excellent and the marinated feta the best!), then leaving without buying. Filled up on the samples and figured we didn’t really need any more!
Headed out to the Blue Mountains the “back way”. Instead of re-tracing our steps through the Hunter, we went out through Broke – and into the Yunga National Park. Road was brutal – turns, switch backs, rocks jutting out of the sides of cliffs onto the road, motorcycle demons flying up and around you at any given time. Beautiful through the mountains, but really tough on Ed driving. It was the most direct route from where we were, but it was a tough drive.
Finally made the turn onto the Great Western Highway toward the Blue Mountains. This area is also a weekend retreat from Sydney. Beautiful mountains that have a blue “sheen” to them from reflected sunlight, loads of small mountain villages (now turned touristy), lots of scenery and nature walks. We arrived at our hotel/apartment early and walked through tiny little Leura to get our bearings. A handful of boutique gift shops, bottle shops and restaurants. Quaint and cute.
Tired of the 30 Aud entrees and 18 dollar salads, we decided to go Chinese tonight. Had two excellent combinations – one sizzling (kind of sweet and sour) and one satay (ginger/peanut). Very good, quick, and filling. Back to the hotel for TV and reading, then bed. Off to Sydney tomorrow! Our Australian adventure is almost done – can’t believe that we’ve been here this long already.
Early morning, long day (4/13)
Made it up and out at the crack of dawn, well before dawn actually, to the airport and onto our 6:30 am flight! Yuk! But we knew we had a huge day in front of us driving half way to Sydney from Brisbane. It was a very long day, but it was great driving down the coast through all these little seaside towns and farm country. The coastland is lovely, but it quickly turns in to farmland. Then the farmland turns into semi-tropical pine forest that also has banana plantations scattered through them! After a while the road then follows a river around for kilometers – just a hugely varying landscape the whole day.
There are great signs all along the roads- watch for Kangaroos, Koalas Wombats. Signs telling you that there is “crossing stock” on the road. A kilometer didn’t go by when I wasn’t on a Koala, Roo or Moo lookout! Fortunately we didn’t see any – live or road kill.
One thing we did notice here is that they are big time serious about speed limits, fatigue and “drink” driving. For speeding they use cameras that take your picture and then your ticket just shows up in the mail. People pay attention, that’s for sure. We have not seen hardly anyone speeding, or driving crazy. They all go the speed limit or a little above. And rightly so, most of the time the speed limit is 100Km so it’s not like they want you to go slow!
The fatigue thing is big here – we guess because the country is so huge and you do so much driving. Everywhere on the road are big signs tell you to stop every 2 hours to rest, revive, survive. They even have driver reviver stops where you can get free coffee. Big banners are placed up and down the road asking you to “Please slow down”.
Also drink driving is under intense scrutiny over here. Every day there are articles in the newspapers about offenders, on TV there are shows about it. Apparently Easter weekend is a huge drinking holiday here and they stepped up the media because of it.
The schools are all out for 2 weeks this time of year too, so there are lots of folks out and about on holiday. Not too crazy the places we’ve been, but people have said that it’s been very busy.
Other things we’ve seen on our drive: The Big Prawn (huge prawn in the lawn of a restaurant of the same name); The Big Banana (huge banana over the entrance of the Big Banana gift shop); Big Rock (a restaurant that had a roof that look like a huge rock). They like BIG things here!!!
Arrived in Port Macquarie after our all day drive. The hotel was awesome. Huge one bedroom apartment looking right out at the water and the small beach in town – it’s a shame we’re only here for one night. Wandered through the little shopping town and hit the bottle store (OK – Maggi and Richard stop reading) – found the deal of the century on box wine. Lindeman’s no less, 4 liter boxes of wine for 7.99 Aud – that’s like $6 US. Yeah, I stocked up! Hoping to find more bargains like that to keep me in wine for the entire trip!
Dinner at the restaurant downstairs at the hotel/apartment complex, salt and pepper calamari salad to start, then mahi mahi with garlic parsley sauce and Mixed grill which had enough meat for both of us – lamb chop, filet, prawns, sausage, bacon with a seeded mustard sauce that was so good I had to ask for the ingredients. All excellent – we shared everything and were very happy.
Oh – another thing now that we’re in New South Wales, lots of restaurants have BYO where you can bring your own wine and pay a small fee (4 Aud at this restaurant) and drink your own. You also have to look out for restaurants that aren’t “licensed”, they are BYO only.
That’s it for our long day’s drive. Tomorrow the Hunter Wine Valley and Blue Mountains.
There are great signs all along the roads- watch for Kangaroos, Koalas Wombats. Signs telling you that there is “crossing stock” on the road. A kilometer didn’t go by when I wasn’t on a Koala, Roo or Moo lookout! Fortunately we didn’t see any – live or road kill.
One thing we did notice here is that they are big time serious about speed limits, fatigue and “drink” driving. For speeding they use cameras that take your picture and then your ticket just shows up in the mail. People pay attention, that’s for sure. We have not seen hardly anyone speeding, or driving crazy. They all go the speed limit or a little above. And rightly so, most of the time the speed limit is 100Km so it’s not like they want you to go slow!
The fatigue thing is big here – we guess because the country is so huge and you do so much driving. Everywhere on the road are big signs tell you to stop every 2 hours to rest, revive, survive. They even have driver reviver stops where you can get free coffee. Big banners are placed up and down the road asking you to “Please slow down”.
Also drink driving is under intense scrutiny over here. Every day there are articles in the newspapers about offenders, on TV there are shows about it. Apparently Easter weekend is a huge drinking holiday here and they stepped up the media because of it.
The schools are all out for 2 weeks this time of year too, so there are lots of folks out and about on holiday. Not too crazy the places we’ve been, but people have said that it’s been very busy.
Other things we’ve seen on our drive: The Big Prawn (huge prawn in the lawn of a restaurant of the same name); The Big Banana (huge banana over the entrance of the Big Banana gift shop); Big Rock (a restaurant that had a roof that look like a huge rock). They like BIG things here!!!
Arrived in Port Macquarie after our all day drive. The hotel was awesome. Huge one bedroom apartment looking right out at the water and the small beach in town – it’s a shame we’re only here for one night. Wandered through the little shopping town and hit the bottle store (OK – Maggi and Richard stop reading) – found the deal of the century on box wine. Lindeman’s no less, 4 liter boxes of wine for 7.99 Aud – that’s like $6 US. Yeah, I stocked up! Hoping to find more bargains like that to keep me in wine for the entire trip!
Dinner at the restaurant downstairs at the hotel/apartment complex, salt and pepper calamari salad to start, then mahi mahi with garlic parsley sauce and Mixed grill which had enough meat for both of us – lamb chop, filet, prawns, sausage, bacon with a seeded mustard sauce that was so good I had to ask for the ingredients. All excellent – we shared everything and were very happy.
Oh – another thing now that we’re in New South Wales, lots of restaurants have BYO where you can bring your own wine and pay a small fee (4 Aud at this restaurant) and drink your own. You also have to look out for restaurants that aren’t “licensed”, they are BYO only.
That’s it for our long day’s drive. Tomorrow the Hunter Wine Valley and Blue Mountains.
Walking in the Rain…..Forest (4/12)
Once again, started out the day walking down the beach and to the marina in Yorkey’s Knob. Very warm and humid – but – hey – we’re in the tropics! And we’re reminded of that every morning about 6 am when this bizarre bird starts singing – if you can call it singing. Sounds like a sick monkey!
Decided once again not to go to the Reef. While it appeared the wind had died down on shore, we weren’t certain about out on the reef, so we just chalked it up to bad luck and headed north to Daintree and the Rainforest.
Took us about an hour and a half on a fantastic drive up the coast. Beautiful scenery, twisty turny roads again, but well worth it for the views and the rainforest. We arrived in Daintree, which is a small little tourist outpost with a few gift shops, 2 restaurants and booking windows for all the different river and rainforest tours available. We had read about a rainforest walk called Tranquility Tours. Husband and wife team, walk through the forest to a waterfall, learn about the history of the property, etc. Sounded really fun – there was a 10:30 and 1:30 tour available. Unfortunately the 10:30 was sold out – we didn’t really want to wait for the 1:30, were thinking about going back into another town about 30 km away to walk a gorge, but then the tour booking agent talked us into a package deal where we got a Daintree River tour, lunch and the rainforest walk for a package price. Figured, when all the shooting was done, we got the lunch for free so we took it.
Turned out to be a great day in Daintree. The river tour was very fun – saw 2 crocodiles, learned all about them in the process: their body temperature controls everything, stomach, energy, reproduction, you name it; the females hold up better than the males because they don’t fight as much (go figure!); they are called salty dogs (so now I know where all those beach restaurant names come from!). Just a fun trip on the river. Came back for lunch which was really good – pan fried Barrimundi and the Daintree Delight – Crocodile wontons (yes, crocodile – and it tastes like chicken – what did you expect?), barrimundi spring rolls and sugar cane prawns. Both were excellent –and gave us our energy for the rainforest walk.
As it turns out, it was just the two of us on the tour. They didn’t have anyone else, so we ended up with a private tour with Di, one of the proprietors of Tranquility Tours. Di and her husband Craig bought about 100 acres of rainforest about 8 years ago to farm and to open a rental cottage (what they call self-accommodation). A few years later, while researching some information they found out about the original owners of the land, they decided to add the rainforest walk to try to impart their historical knowledge as well as teach people about the rainforest and the ecosystem.
It was a fascinating tour. The original owners of the land was a family from Paris who moved to Australia after being bilked by a con artist selling property in Papa New Guinea. They landed in Sydney then somehow sailed up the Daintree and purchased this property. The family lived on the land for quite a few years, but crop failure from floods, and pestilence, illness which took the lives of a few of their children and Maori attacks forced them to move back to Sydney and abandon their land. During the walk thought the forest, Di relayed the story as well as pointing out where the Chinese workers houses were located and the main family home. They’ve found quite a few artifacts from the family and are researching the details through a couple books a daughter and the wife have written.
In addition to discussing the history, Di also shared a lot of rainforest facts. Different vines, how they grow, ferns, edible plants, the oldest plant in the rainforest, the original Red Pine that started the entire development of the Daintree river and rainforest. It was a fabulous walk – it poured rain a couple times – it is a rainforest after all – but that just made it even better. We arrived at their waterfall at the end of the walk – it was just mind blowing! This huge waterfall on their property where Di swims every day. Just amazing to think that someone could own that! We could have stayed there all day.
As Di drove us back to our car down a 10km long gravel road through the farmland, we came upon a baby calf that had just been born that day. It could barely walk and still was wet from birth. Right on the side of the road walking (or trying to walk!) with it’s mom.
Left Daintree and headed back to our home away from home in Yorkey’s Knob. Went to dinner early as we knew we had to be up at 4 and out by 4:45 to catch our early morning flight to Brisbane. Went to the Marina which has a huge bar and restaurant. It’s a semi-fast food type place (which seems to be the rage over here). You walk in, grab a menu, sit at any table. When you are ready, you go to the counter and order and pay for your meal. They give you a number and you go back to your table with your number and they serve you when it’s ready. Drinks are ordered in the same way, but you take them away with you. Great meal, but kind of odd since you do half the work! At any rate, we sat outside under a huge tent and watched it pour down rain (that’s what you get when you come to Australia in the wet season!), and had a great time.
Decided once again not to go to the Reef. While it appeared the wind had died down on shore, we weren’t certain about out on the reef, so we just chalked it up to bad luck and headed north to Daintree and the Rainforest.
Took us about an hour and a half on a fantastic drive up the coast. Beautiful scenery, twisty turny roads again, but well worth it for the views and the rainforest. We arrived in Daintree, which is a small little tourist outpost with a few gift shops, 2 restaurants and booking windows for all the different river and rainforest tours available. We had read about a rainforest walk called Tranquility Tours. Husband and wife team, walk through the forest to a waterfall, learn about the history of the property, etc. Sounded really fun – there was a 10:30 and 1:30 tour available. Unfortunately the 10:30 was sold out – we didn’t really want to wait for the 1:30, were thinking about going back into another town about 30 km away to walk a gorge, but then the tour booking agent talked us into a package deal where we got a Daintree River tour, lunch and the rainforest walk for a package price. Figured, when all the shooting was done, we got the lunch for free so we took it.
Turned out to be a great day in Daintree. The river tour was very fun – saw 2 crocodiles, learned all about them in the process: their body temperature controls everything, stomach, energy, reproduction, you name it; the females hold up better than the males because they don’t fight as much (go figure!); they are called salty dogs (so now I know where all those beach restaurant names come from!). Just a fun trip on the river. Came back for lunch which was really good – pan fried Barrimundi and the Daintree Delight – Crocodile wontons (yes, crocodile – and it tastes like chicken – what did you expect?), barrimundi spring rolls and sugar cane prawns. Both were excellent –and gave us our energy for the rainforest walk.
As it turns out, it was just the two of us on the tour. They didn’t have anyone else, so we ended up with a private tour with Di, one of the proprietors of Tranquility Tours. Di and her husband Craig bought about 100 acres of rainforest about 8 years ago to farm and to open a rental cottage (what they call self-accommodation). A few years later, while researching some information they found out about the original owners of the land, they decided to add the rainforest walk to try to impart their historical knowledge as well as teach people about the rainforest and the ecosystem.
It was a fascinating tour. The original owners of the land was a family from Paris who moved to Australia after being bilked by a con artist selling property in Papa New Guinea. They landed in Sydney then somehow sailed up the Daintree and purchased this property. The family lived on the land for quite a few years, but crop failure from floods, and pestilence, illness which took the lives of a few of their children and Maori attacks forced them to move back to Sydney and abandon their land. During the walk thought the forest, Di relayed the story as well as pointing out where the Chinese workers houses were located and the main family home. They’ve found quite a few artifacts from the family and are researching the details through a couple books a daughter and the wife have written.
In addition to discussing the history, Di also shared a lot of rainforest facts. Different vines, how they grow, ferns, edible plants, the oldest plant in the rainforest, the original Red Pine that started the entire development of the Daintree river and rainforest. It was a fabulous walk – it poured rain a couple times – it is a rainforest after all – but that just made it even better. We arrived at their waterfall at the end of the walk – it was just mind blowing! This huge waterfall on their property where Di swims every day. Just amazing to think that someone could own that! We could have stayed there all day.
As Di drove us back to our car down a 10km long gravel road through the farmland, we came upon a baby calf that had just been born that day. It could barely walk and still was wet from birth. Right on the side of the road walking (or trying to walk!) with it’s mom.
Left Daintree and headed back to our home away from home in Yorkey’s Knob. Went to dinner early as we knew we had to be up at 4 and out by 4:45 to catch our early morning flight to Brisbane. Went to the Marina which has a huge bar and restaurant. It’s a semi-fast food type place (which seems to be the rage over here). You walk in, grab a menu, sit at any table. When you are ready, you go to the counter and order and pay for your meal. They give you a number and you go back to your table with your number and they serve you when it’s ready. Drinks are ordered in the same way, but you take them away with you. Great meal, but kind of odd since you do half the work! At any rate, we sat outside under a huge tent and watched it pour down rain (that’s what you get when you come to Australia in the wet season!), and had a great time.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
The Reef? Not in 10 foot seas! (4/11/07)
Well, the headline should say it all. We jettisoned the Reef today as there were 10 foot seas and 20-30 knot winds. While I told Ed I’d brave it out, we decided it would not be a fun trip for either of us if I was either green or sleeping the entire time. So – Plan B. To the Atherton Tablelands to explore the rainforest and the outback.
After walking on the beach for a while (very pretty, very “Lost”-like) we headed out early to the Tablelands. Went first through the mountains on a switch back road that took us past Kuranda (the tourist spot for aborigine and rainforest visiting), and on to Mareeba. The little town is very cute and old school (think Mayberry) with diagonal parking on each side of the road and little cafes and hardware stores and the like. We stopped at the info center where a very nice girl gave us all the information we would ever need to find our way around the tablelands.
After a coffee and cappuccino at the local lunch spot, Natashi’s, we decided to head out to the outback. Although it was a 2 hour drive, we thought it might be the only chance we’d have to see it this trip since we are sticking pretty close to the coast. Headed out to Chillagoe on the “Wheelbarrow Way”. Signage here is EXCELLENT btw! We are so happy to be able to follow all the route signs, etc. Haven’t made a wrong turn yet – watch – that will jinx us for the Gold Coast!!
Anyhow – the Wheelbarrow Way gets it’s name from the Gold Rush when all the miners looking for a stake would walk down this route pushing all their belongings in a wheelbarrow. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Mareeba which is a 30 minute drive from Yorkey’s Knob. So a long way to go – but so worthy it.
Once out of Mareeba, the scenery turns to farmland. A 2 lane road through sugar cane and coffee tree fields. As you approach Dimbulah, a small outpost on the road that reminds you of the old west (blink and you miss it, a bar, a general store, a hotel and a board walk just like in John Wayne’s heyday!!). the scenery becomes more scrub like and desolate. There are thousands of sandstone looking towers – like anthills or termite hills – all over the fields. We couldn’t figure out what they were – and there sure wasn’t anyone to ask! We wouldn’t see a car from kilometers. Maybe saw 5 cars the entire time we drove out to Chillagoe.
The road turns narrow at a little town called Petford – and there are cows all around, sometimes in the middle of road just looking at you as you come barreling down lonely stretches at 100 K, Brakes are a very important thing to have in the Outback! Then once past the cows, the road turns to gravel – yep – that’s right – on and off for 30 kilometers – it is gravel and rocks and red clay. And us American city slickers are being passed by the 5 cars we’ve seen at astonishing rates. These guys just barrel though these roads! When they say 100K, they aren’t kidding!! So – we just ate their dust and kept on driving.
We crossed one lane bridges that had no railings just a concrete track across the water. You could see where the floods hit all around. We drove through scrub and termite hills, around limestone outcroppings. Just amazing. And marveled at the fact that every truck had a snorkel on it! Obviously the engines are sealed and the snorkel is attached to the air filter so the truck can go through 3, 4, 5 feet of water and still operate! I want one!!! Just think what that would have done for the old truck during Isabel!
We finally arrived in Chillagoe – and it was all an outback town should be. A general grocery with you name it, and a very friendly owner who told us all about her trip to Minneapolis in the February and how she wants to go back in the summer. The inevitable tourist information center where you could book any tour you wanted – and of course the one cross road in town. So isolated, but such a community.
Stopped for pictures, apples and a soda, then headed back to the coast. Drive back was a little quicker as we were more familiar with the roads so we could drive a little faster. Had wanted to detour and see some old historic towns along another “Wheelbarrow Way” route, but the turn off was all dirt and we decided our Hyundai was better suited for paved roadways. Did decide to go back to Cairns by way of Atherton and Yungaburra which was a good detour. Yungaburra is a cute little community with a ton of restaurants and trendy shops, but for us, the best part was the Curtain Fig Tree. This tree was amazing (yes, we’ll figure out how to post pictures soon!). It started out as one Fig tree, then scavenger trees attacked it and started growing on the original tree, which of course killed it. Over time, the scavenger trees keep multiplying and finally the whole tree system fell over, so now the roots of all the trees are in the air searching for the ground so it’s like thousands of roots forming a huge curtain. Well, you’ll just have to wait for the pictures, because it’s too hard to explain!
The Curtain Fig Tree rounded out our sightseeing adventure. We then headed into Cairns proper. The city is an adorable beach town, right on the water with a huge esplanade that runs the length of the bay. A wonderful “lagoon” is at the center of the esplanade where you can swim during the day. It’s basically a pool at the edge of the bay, but It’s very artfully designed to appear as a lagoon or infinity pool. Along the town streets there are travel/tour agents galore as well as trinkets and souvenir shops and restaurants.
We walked the esplanade and then chose a restaurant that had a 25% discount if we were seated by 6 and “vacated” by 7. Worked for us!! Called Mangostino’s, the menu was perfect for us. More seafood than Italian, outdoor seating so we could look over the Esplanade and the bay. We ordered the Seafood platter for one, and the Mangostino’s basket. Both came with Prawns, barrimundi, scallops, calamari and Moreton Bay Bugs! I finally had my bay bug!! The bay bug looks like a lobster but tastes like a cross between lobster and a large crayfish. Excellent! Between the 2 of us we had 4 to share, we were in heaven! Finished dinner and headed back to the hotel in the nightly down pour. It’s definitely the rainy season here – don’t go out with out your brelly after 5pm!!
Tomorrow we head for the rainforest. More from there…..
After walking on the beach for a while (very pretty, very “Lost”-like) we headed out early to the Tablelands. Went first through the mountains on a switch back road that took us past Kuranda (the tourist spot for aborigine and rainforest visiting), and on to Mareeba. The little town is very cute and old school (think Mayberry) with diagonal parking on each side of the road and little cafes and hardware stores and the like. We stopped at the info center where a very nice girl gave us all the information we would ever need to find our way around the tablelands.
After a coffee and cappuccino at the local lunch spot, Natashi’s, we decided to head out to the outback. Although it was a 2 hour drive, we thought it might be the only chance we’d have to see it this trip since we are sticking pretty close to the coast. Headed out to Chillagoe on the “Wheelbarrow Way”. Signage here is EXCELLENT btw! We are so happy to be able to follow all the route signs, etc. Haven’t made a wrong turn yet – watch – that will jinx us for the Gold Coast!!
Anyhow – the Wheelbarrow Way gets it’s name from the Gold Rush when all the miners looking for a stake would walk down this route pushing all their belongings in a wheelbarrow. It’s about a 2 hour drive from Mareeba which is a 30 minute drive from Yorkey’s Knob. So a long way to go – but so worthy it.
Once out of Mareeba, the scenery turns to farmland. A 2 lane road through sugar cane and coffee tree fields. As you approach Dimbulah, a small outpost on the road that reminds you of the old west (blink and you miss it, a bar, a general store, a hotel and a board walk just like in John Wayne’s heyday!!). the scenery becomes more scrub like and desolate. There are thousands of sandstone looking towers – like anthills or termite hills – all over the fields. We couldn’t figure out what they were – and there sure wasn’t anyone to ask! We wouldn’t see a car from kilometers. Maybe saw 5 cars the entire time we drove out to Chillagoe.
The road turns narrow at a little town called Petford – and there are cows all around, sometimes in the middle of road just looking at you as you come barreling down lonely stretches at 100 K, Brakes are a very important thing to have in the Outback! Then once past the cows, the road turns to gravel – yep – that’s right – on and off for 30 kilometers – it is gravel and rocks and red clay. And us American city slickers are being passed by the 5 cars we’ve seen at astonishing rates. These guys just barrel though these roads! When they say 100K, they aren’t kidding!! So – we just ate their dust and kept on driving.
We crossed one lane bridges that had no railings just a concrete track across the water. You could see where the floods hit all around. We drove through scrub and termite hills, around limestone outcroppings. Just amazing. And marveled at the fact that every truck had a snorkel on it! Obviously the engines are sealed and the snorkel is attached to the air filter so the truck can go through 3, 4, 5 feet of water and still operate! I want one!!! Just think what that would have done for the old truck during Isabel!
We finally arrived in Chillagoe – and it was all an outback town should be. A general grocery with you name it, and a very friendly owner who told us all about her trip to Minneapolis in the February and how she wants to go back in the summer. The inevitable tourist information center where you could book any tour you wanted – and of course the one cross road in town. So isolated, but such a community.
Stopped for pictures, apples and a soda, then headed back to the coast. Drive back was a little quicker as we were more familiar with the roads so we could drive a little faster. Had wanted to detour and see some old historic towns along another “Wheelbarrow Way” route, but the turn off was all dirt and we decided our Hyundai was better suited for paved roadways. Did decide to go back to Cairns by way of Atherton and Yungaburra which was a good detour. Yungaburra is a cute little community with a ton of restaurants and trendy shops, but for us, the best part was the Curtain Fig Tree. This tree was amazing (yes, we’ll figure out how to post pictures soon!). It started out as one Fig tree, then scavenger trees attacked it and started growing on the original tree, which of course killed it. Over time, the scavenger trees keep multiplying and finally the whole tree system fell over, so now the roots of all the trees are in the air searching for the ground so it’s like thousands of roots forming a huge curtain. Well, you’ll just have to wait for the pictures, because it’s too hard to explain!
The Curtain Fig Tree rounded out our sightseeing adventure. We then headed into Cairns proper. The city is an adorable beach town, right on the water with a huge esplanade that runs the length of the bay. A wonderful “lagoon” is at the center of the esplanade where you can swim during the day. It’s basically a pool at the edge of the bay, but It’s very artfully designed to appear as a lagoon or infinity pool. Along the town streets there are travel/tour agents galore as well as trinkets and souvenir shops and restaurants.
We walked the esplanade and then chose a restaurant that had a 25% discount if we were seated by 6 and “vacated” by 7. Worked for us!! Called Mangostino’s, the menu was perfect for us. More seafood than Italian, outdoor seating so we could look over the Esplanade and the bay. We ordered the Seafood platter for one, and the Mangostino’s basket. Both came with Prawns, barrimundi, scallops, calamari and Moreton Bay Bugs! I finally had my bay bug!! The bay bug looks like a lobster but tastes like a cross between lobster and a large crayfish. Excellent! Between the 2 of us we had 4 to share, we were in heaven! Finished dinner and headed back to the hotel in the nightly down pour. It’s definitely the rainy season here – don’t go out with out your brelly after 5pm!!
Tomorrow we head for the rainforest. More from there…..
The Next Leg of Our Journey – Cairns (4/10)
Up and out early to the Parklands – then to the Queens Street mall to check email and waste time. Don’t have to leave for the airport until about 1 pm so we have plenty of time to waste. Checked in without a problem – totally different world flying domestic over here. No need for the liquids in a baggie – don’t think they ever even checked our i.d.s. Flight went off without a hitch and we were in Cairns by 5:30. Collected our rental car in the heavy drizzling rain and headed out to Yorkey’s Knob.
About 15 minutes outside of Cairns, Yorkey’s Knob is a cute little bedroom beach community wth an IGA, post office a couple of restaurants and not much else. The main road through the town is a broad 2 lane street with houses on either side. Our hotel, The Golden Sands, is located off the main drag in a cute little subdivision of other lovely hotels and single family homes. The hotel itself is very pretty, white stucco with balconies for every room (two for ours). It has efficiencies and one bedrooms – we have a one bedroom that is huge. The living area is bigger than the condo at Sanibel. All white tile floors, new tile bathroom and almost full kitchen (no oven, but a microwave). Owners Brian and Qi are very friendly and helpful. Knowledgeable about everything there is to see and do around the area, Brian talked to us for almost an hour on our arrival.
After settling into our room, we made a quick run to the bottle store for beer and wine, then had dinner at the restaurant that is located on the property adjacent to the pool. Named Jai’s on the Beach, it was a charming introduction to Cairns laid back life. All outdoors with a very attentive wait staff, we shared a Caesar salad with fried proscuitto (for some reason the salads here are really expensive – anywhere from 12 to 20 AUD – very odd – so we end up sharing one just about every night), then for our mains – Ed had the Curry Seafood which he really enjoyed and I had the Rib Filet with Lemon Garlic Mushroom. It was excellent. Australia is beef – land (where as New Zealand is lamb) and their beef is very good. Haven’t gotten to the Kangaroo or Croc yet, but, the beef is excellent!
Dragged ourselves back up to our room, watched a Grey’s Anatomy episode and fell asleep early.
About 15 minutes outside of Cairns, Yorkey’s Knob is a cute little bedroom beach community wth an IGA, post office a couple of restaurants and not much else. The main road through the town is a broad 2 lane street with houses on either side. Our hotel, The Golden Sands, is located off the main drag in a cute little subdivision of other lovely hotels and single family homes. The hotel itself is very pretty, white stucco with balconies for every room (two for ours). It has efficiencies and one bedrooms – we have a one bedroom that is huge. The living area is bigger than the condo at Sanibel. All white tile floors, new tile bathroom and almost full kitchen (no oven, but a microwave). Owners Brian and Qi are very friendly and helpful. Knowledgeable about everything there is to see and do around the area, Brian talked to us for almost an hour on our arrival.
After settling into our room, we made a quick run to the bottle store for beer and wine, then had dinner at the restaurant that is located on the property adjacent to the pool. Named Jai’s on the Beach, it was a charming introduction to Cairns laid back life. All outdoors with a very attentive wait staff, we shared a Caesar salad with fried proscuitto (for some reason the salads here are really expensive – anywhere from 12 to 20 AUD – very odd – so we end up sharing one just about every night), then for our mains – Ed had the Curry Seafood which he really enjoyed and I had the Rib Filet with Lemon Garlic Mushroom. It was excellent. Australia is beef – land (where as New Zealand is lamb) and their beef is very good. Haven’t gotten to the Kangaroo or Croc yet, but, the beef is excellent!
Dragged ourselves back up to our room, watched a Grey’s Anatomy episode and fell asleep early.
Cuddling Koalas and feeding Wallabies (4/9)
Beautiful morning in Brisbane – skies clear, temperatures cool and breezy. Woke up early – yeah, that’s a surprise! - went out for our morning walk and found the most amazing park right behind out hotel. Called the Roma Street Parklands, it’s an oasis of rainforests, gardens, lakes and fern gullies right in the heart of Brisbane by the train station. It was truly beautiful and a great hour long walk that really made us feel better after our flying ordeal the day before.
After cleaning up, we were back on the streets and heading toward our river cruise and koala encounter. We were scheduled to board our river cruise for the Koala sanctuary at 9:30 – of course, we were early, so we took a stroll down the boardwalk on South Bank. Fabulous walk down the river side with lots of parks, open spaces and restaurants/cafes. Heading back to the pier for our cruise, we passed a Nepalese Pagoda where a film crew was setting up. One of the producers called us over and asked if we’d mind walking into the Pagoda, looking around then walking out for the cameras. Hey – we’re hams! So of course we agreed and – so now we’re famous! LOL – anyhow – look for us on NBC or AOL when they start to air Australian Travels!
Made it back to our pier and boarded the Mirimar, the oldest wooden hull ferry ship still working today. Cruise took 1 ½ hours and was a great learning and visual experience. We got to see Brisbane by the river, including an island with thousands of flying foxes (otherwise known as fruit bats!). That was something, let me tell you. All of those little bats hanging there from the trees making that lovely screeching noise. It really was amazing – all bat grossness aside!
Once we hit Lone Pine Sanctuary, we headed straight for the Koala cuddling. Line wasn’t too bad and we managed to get through it in under ½ hour. The koala was just adorable. His name was Neon and he actually smelled really good – like Eucalyptus which is the only thing they eat. He was like a lump of warm fuzz – a big old warm blooded stuffed animal. Too cute. They take very good care of the Koalas here too – they have special dispensation to allow people to hold the animals – it’s illegal everywhere else in Australia. They have over 100 Koalas in the preserve and they switch them out frequently. They are only allowed to cuddle for 40 minutes every 4 days. Keeps them from being totally domesticated.
You can go here to see a picture of our Koala cuddling:
www.koala.net/photo/0904021495.htm
After cuddling, we proceeded to feed the wallabies and Kangaroos. They are all kept in huge open compound that you can walk through. They go hopping around – in front of you, away from you, it’s really quite amazing. We fed them a whole bag of food – then wandered over to the other Koala enclosures. The sanctuary separates the Koalas by age and sex. They have Kindergarten for the babies, Bachelors and Brides for the reproducing set. Retirement home for the oldest koalas. Just seeing them in their natural habitat was really cool.
Oh – and Steven – we did see the dingos – but they didn’t eat any babies!
Finally watched a sheep herding show where the border collies ran so fast you could barely see them. Then for the finale, one of the dogs actually climbed up on the sheep’s’ backs and walked across the top of all of them. Then he laid down on their backs. That was pretty wild!
Back to the ship, cruised back to Brisbane and walked all though South Bank, across the Goodwill bridge, through the Botanical gardens and to Eagle Pier. Must have walked 10 miles – looked at all the restaurants trying to figure out dinner and ended up heading back to the hotel with nothing in mind. Everything was either closed (closed on Mondays or public holidays, which this was – Easter Monday?) or really pricey (I mean really pricey!!).
After resting and cleaning up – we headed out to a place called the BrewHouse, but ended up next door at Ashala’s – mostly because the maitre d’ was a hustler and really impressed us. Plus the menu looked really good. Sat outside and shared a chili encrusted Calamari dish for starters. Ed had the Snapper special which was a huge portion of fried Snapper with French fries. I had the Barrimundi wrapped in Nori with champagne hollandaise. Really, really good!!! (Ok – so it’s the foodie journal – what can I say?) Everything was great – except the bill which had a 15% holiday surcharge on it. We’ve noticed that here – virtually everyone charges a holiday surcharge up to about 20%. Nice way to inflate the bill!
Back to the hotel to prepare for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef!!!
After cleaning up, we were back on the streets and heading toward our river cruise and koala encounter. We were scheduled to board our river cruise for the Koala sanctuary at 9:30 – of course, we were early, so we took a stroll down the boardwalk on South Bank. Fabulous walk down the river side with lots of parks, open spaces and restaurants/cafes. Heading back to the pier for our cruise, we passed a Nepalese Pagoda where a film crew was setting up. One of the producers called us over and asked if we’d mind walking into the Pagoda, looking around then walking out for the cameras. Hey – we’re hams! So of course we agreed and – so now we’re famous! LOL – anyhow – look for us on NBC or AOL when they start to air Australian Travels!
Made it back to our pier and boarded the Mirimar, the oldest wooden hull ferry ship still working today. Cruise took 1 ½ hours and was a great learning and visual experience. We got to see Brisbane by the river, including an island with thousands of flying foxes (otherwise known as fruit bats!). That was something, let me tell you. All of those little bats hanging there from the trees making that lovely screeching noise. It really was amazing – all bat grossness aside!
Once we hit Lone Pine Sanctuary, we headed straight for the Koala cuddling. Line wasn’t too bad and we managed to get through it in under ½ hour. The koala was just adorable. His name was Neon and he actually smelled really good – like Eucalyptus which is the only thing they eat. He was like a lump of warm fuzz – a big old warm blooded stuffed animal. Too cute. They take very good care of the Koalas here too – they have special dispensation to allow people to hold the animals – it’s illegal everywhere else in Australia. They have over 100 Koalas in the preserve and they switch them out frequently. They are only allowed to cuddle for 40 minutes every 4 days. Keeps them from being totally domesticated.
You can go here to see a picture of our Koala cuddling:
www.koala.net/photo/0904021495.htm
After cuddling, we proceeded to feed the wallabies and Kangaroos. They are all kept in huge open compound that you can walk through. They go hopping around – in front of you, away from you, it’s really quite amazing. We fed them a whole bag of food – then wandered over to the other Koala enclosures. The sanctuary separates the Koalas by age and sex. They have Kindergarten for the babies, Bachelors and Brides for the reproducing set. Retirement home for the oldest koalas. Just seeing them in their natural habitat was really cool.
Oh – and Steven – we did see the dingos – but they didn’t eat any babies!
Finally watched a sheep herding show where the border collies ran so fast you could barely see them. Then for the finale, one of the dogs actually climbed up on the sheep’s’ backs and walked across the top of all of them. Then he laid down on their backs. That was pretty wild!
Back to the ship, cruised back to Brisbane and walked all though South Bank, across the Goodwill bridge, through the Botanical gardens and to Eagle Pier. Must have walked 10 miles – looked at all the restaurants trying to figure out dinner and ended up heading back to the hotel with nothing in mind. Everything was either closed (closed on Mondays or public holidays, which this was – Easter Monday?) or really pricey (I mean really pricey!!).
After resting and cleaning up – we headed out to a place called the BrewHouse, but ended up next door at Ashala’s – mostly because the maitre d’ was a hustler and really impressed us. Plus the menu looked really good. Sat outside and shared a chili encrusted Calamari dish for starters. Ed had the Snapper special which was a huge portion of fried Snapper with French fries. I had the Barrimundi wrapped in Nori with champagne hollandaise. Really, really good!!! (Ok – so it’s the foodie journal – what can I say?) Everything was great – except the bill which had a 15% holiday surcharge on it. We’ve noticed that here – virtually everyone charges a holiday surcharge up to about 20%. Nice way to inflate the bill!
Back to the hotel to prepare for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef!!!
Where did Saturday go? (4/7-4/8)
Boarded the plane, which was very nice, with roomy seats and great service. Took off on time, all was well, until the 2 year old behind us decided to scream her way to Auckland. No offense to our friends with children, but we've decided there should be family only flights on overnighters. The child screamed intermittently for almost the whole 9 hours. The father tried to calm her and took her to the lavatory, but still didn't help the sleeping part of the journey. So, not only did we miss Saturday, we also missed a night's sleep as we arrived in Auckland on Easter Sunday.
Flight to Brisbane was blessfully silent. Only 3 1/2 hours - nice smooth ride with lots of entertainment. Must have had 50 movies to choose from. Arrived in Brisbane and to the hotel by noon - then took off to explore the CBD (Central Business District). Walkable town, downtown walking mall jammed with people. Shops and restaurants all open. We had drinks at one of the open air restaurants then dragged back to the hotel for a nap.
Headed back down to the mall for dinner since there were quite a few restaurants to choose from - being Easter Sunday we had had our concerns, but all were open and serving. It was funny though - all the menus of all the restaurants are formatted exactly the same, and most had the same menu items, just with a different theme. One was Seafood, one Asian, one Italian and one British. They were strategically placed every 100 or so yards apart in the middle of the Mall and we decided they were all owned by the same people and that there was a tunnel underground where they shared the food and cooking!!! After looking at all the menus, we chose Il Milano - for the chicken ceasar salad since we really weren't that hungry.
Headed back
Flight to Brisbane was blessfully silent. Only 3 1/2 hours - nice smooth ride with lots of entertainment. Must have had 50 movies to choose from. Arrived in Brisbane and to the hotel by noon - then took off to explore the CBD (Central Business District). Walkable town, downtown walking mall jammed with people. Shops and restaurants all open. We had drinks at one of the open air restaurants then dragged back to the hotel for a nap.
Headed back down to the mall for dinner since there were quite a few restaurants to choose from - being Easter Sunday we had had our concerns, but all were open and serving. It was funny though - all the menus of all the restaurants are formatted exactly the same, and most had the same menu items, just with a different theme. One was Seafood, one Asian, one Italian and one British. They were strategically placed every 100 or so yards apart in the middle of the Mall and we decided they were all owned by the same people and that there was a tunnel underground where they shared the food and cooking!!! After looking at all the menus, we chose Il Milano - for the chicken ceasar salad since we really weren't that hungry.
Headed back
Hangin' Ten on the North Shore
Spent Friday morning and afternoon on the North Shore of Oahu. Only takes about 40 minutes to get to the main town of Hale'iwa. Talk about different world! Surfer dude and earth muffin territory. Really fun and ecclectic. Had the traditional lunch at the "original" Shrimp Truck - Giovanni's Shrimp truck. Parked on a tree lined dirt lot (with 3 other trucks - one shrimp, one Thai, one smoked something or other), order from the window, sit at a picnic table, compete with the flies for your peel and eat shrimp. After filling up on Shrimp Scampi and "Hot, Very Hot Shrimp (really hot, no refunds!)" - we cruised through horse country and surfer beaches before heading back to the Dole Pineapple plantation.
The Pineapple plantation is stark commercialism, but a fun way to waste a couple of hours (and we had plenty to waste since our flight didn't leave until midnight!). Passed on the train ride through the "plantation", but did stroll through their gardens (which we could have missed at $4 each, but thought we could waste some time there - did learn about how they plant the pineapples and send the picked pineapples to the Phillipines for processing and canning). Ate pineapple samples at the cutting demonstration - but the best was the Maze. The largest maze in the world (according to the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records), it was well worth the admission price - and kept us laughing and giggling our way through over 100,000 square feet of twists and turns. After an hour we had only found 4 out of 6 "secret" stations - so we gave it up and headed back down to Honolulu for dinner.
Ate at Formaggio's - a great little tapas place snuggled into the bottom side of a strip shopping center. Accoustic entertainment, fantastic wine selections, food outstanding (this is rapidly turning into a food junkie blog so I'm not going into details on what we had - but suffice it to say it was great!). The only down side was that the service was a little too quick. We were done by 7 and still had 5 hours to kill before flying to Auckland! Slowly drove back to the airport for check in - made there before the lines even opened. Hung out at the airport nursing drinks at the bar and then hopped the midnight flight to New Zealand!
The Pineapple plantation is stark commercialism, but a fun way to waste a couple of hours (and we had plenty to waste since our flight didn't leave until midnight!). Passed on the train ride through the "plantation", but did stroll through their gardens (which we could have missed at $4 each, but thought we could waste some time there - did learn about how they plant the pineapples and send the picked pineapples to the Phillipines for processing and canning). Ate pineapple samples at the cutting demonstration - but the best was the Maze. The largest maze in the world (according to the 2001 Guinness Book of World Records), it was well worth the admission price - and kept us laughing and giggling our way through over 100,000 square feet of twists and turns. After an hour we had only found 4 out of 6 "secret" stations - so we gave it up and headed back down to Honolulu for dinner.
Ate at Formaggio's - a great little tapas place snuggled into the bottom side of a strip shopping center. Accoustic entertainment, fantastic wine selections, food outstanding (this is rapidly turning into a food junkie blog so I'm not going into details on what we had - but suffice it to say it was great!). The only down side was that the service was a little too quick. We were done by 7 and still had 5 hours to kill before flying to Auckland! Slowly drove back to the airport for check in - made there before the lines even opened. Hung out at the airport nursing drinks at the bar and then hopped the midnight flight to New Zealand!
Friday, April 6, 2007
Aloha from Waikiki
The adventure has begun! Flights were not too terrible - just long - but made it here safe and sound - with a couple of good movies to boot (Pursuit of Happyness and Holidays).
Weather in Hawaii is, well, beautiful, every day. 80's and blue sky. The Breakers hotel where we are staying is right in the middle of Waikiki, 1/2 a block from the beach - and really convenient. Old, retro style motel with a real Japanese flair (sliding panel doors with that Japanese parchment style windows), great pool right in the middle of the complex and very friendly, helpful owners and staff.
Got in late on Wednesday and just basically crashed. Then yesterday we hiked Diamond Head - great climb up to the top for beautiful view of all of Waikiki, Honolulu and up the Windward side of the island. Took an hour and a half, a little longer because we had to hike up to the park as their parking lot was full! But it was certainly worth it - great photos - which we will post later (posted now!)
Then drove over to Kailua on the Windward side and had lunch at Buzz's Original Steakhouse. Great little bungalow across from the shore with awesome Ono Ceasar salad and Thai chicken salad (yeah, well, we weren't really in there for the steaks, not in Hawaii!). Came back to the pool and relaxed, then dinner at the Shore Bird bar - Sashimi for me and macadamia encrusted mahi mahi for Ed. That's Hawaiian!
Now we're off the North Shore for a while, then to the Dole Plantation. Flying out tonight at midnight for Australia - so the next entry will be from down under mate. Take care everyone!
Weather in Hawaii is, well, beautiful, every day. 80's and blue sky. The Breakers hotel where we are staying is right in the middle of Waikiki, 1/2 a block from the beach - and really convenient. Old, retro style motel with a real Japanese flair (sliding panel doors with that Japanese parchment style windows), great pool right in the middle of the complex and very friendly, helpful owners and staff.
Got in late on Wednesday and just basically crashed. Then yesterday we hiked Diamond Head - great climb up to the top for beautiful view of all of Waikiki, Honolulu and up the Windward side of the island. Took an hour and a half, a little longer because we had to hike up to the park as their parking lot was full! But it was certainly worth it - great photos - which we will post later (posted now!)
Then drove over to Kailua on the Windward side and had lunch at Buzz's Original Steakhouse. Great little bungalow across from the shore with awesome Ono Ceasar salad and Thai chicken salad (yeah, well, we weren't really in there for the steaks, not in Hawaii!). Came back to the pool and relaxed, then dinner at the Shore Bird bar - Sashimi for me and macadamia encrusted mahi mahi for Ed. That's Hawaiian!
Now we're off the North Shore for a while, then to the Dole Plantation. Flying out tonight at midnight for Australia - so the next entry will be from down under mate. Take care everyone!
Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Waiting for the taxi
Last post before the taxi gets here. Weather does not look too bad, no thunderstorms as yet. First round of packing went reasonably well. With all the variations of weight/size/number of bags restrictions we will need to repack a couple more times before we get on the Sapphire Princess on 17 April.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Adventure Eve
One day to go until Ed and Cathy's long adventure! Arranged for the limo service to the airport, checked the reservations in Honolulu since we will be arrriving real late. We will be staying at the Breakers in Waikiki, a 1970s style Hawai'ian hotel that has received some pretty decent reviews. A short walk to the beach but at a reasonable price for Waikiki.
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