Australia Adventure Begins -Jan. 16 & onward

Early on January 16th we left the hotel in Auckland and then drove to the Auckland airport to return our rental car. We barely got all the bags into the rental car - of course we had accumulated an extra bag on our New Zealand portion and had the three bags that we had each checked through Air Canada initially. Well, the airline would not consider it as a stopover, but as a separate international flight and told us that we were only allowed two bags each. In addition they told us that all our bags plus our cabin luggage were overweight - their restrictions are 42 pounds per bag, not 50 as AC allows. Our carry-ons all had to be weighed as well and were deemed too heavy. They were going to send us to Air Cargo to ship two of our bags, but it was closed on a Saturday. So, after much help from the check-in lady, the manager told us that it was our lucky day - they would allow all our bags onto the flight gratis - and then told us that the charge really would have come to $832!!!! We were much relieved! The whole check-in procedure took us over 1 1/2 hours!

And so the Australian adventure began in the early evening. At customs we were ushered to a special place because we had taken apples into the country. Apparently they are very strict about farm produce etc. We gladly gave them up - especially considering that we had purchased a wooden bowl in New Zealand and I had collected some beautiful sea shells from the beaches, and apparently they are not allowed into the country either. But the customs people were so intent on the apples, that they neglected to ask us anything else! Our first foray into the neighbourhood was later that same night. We found several little streets with lots of little shops, reminiscent of Toronto. Our first meal at the house was a pizza we picked up from one of the shops.

We spent the next day getting settled into our place and unpacking. Our house is very long and narrow, looking like an elongated trailer with all the rooms running off a long hallway. Our house is around 120 years old, very Victorian in looks with lattice-work on the outside. The family left us some food in the freezer, including frozen kangaroo meat! The husband is an artist, and so there are lovely modern paintings throughout the house. The one daughter who remained here in Australia has been very helpful, taking us grocery shopping and showing us the ropes around the house. Rick feels very comfortable living in this area, because we are close to the junction of Ormond and ALTONA Streets. It makes him feel like he is right at home back in the country days of his youth!

Monday dawned cold and windy and rainy - I guess we brought the cool weather with us from New Zealand! Certainly a far cry from the 44 degree weather that Melbourne experienced last week! After we gathered up our courage sufficiently, we ventured out to try our luck with the Melbourne train system. We headed to the famous Lygon Street, taking in a movie and a delicious Italian dinner. We met an Aboriginal digeradoo player and had an interesting conversation about the skills required to play the instrument. When he begins to play he exercises "circular breathing", breathing in and out continuously while playing, making one long low mournful continuous sound.

We felt so confident after our initial experience, that we decided to try and conquer the transportation system completely today. Wrong assumption - some wrong tram directions, some long walking to make amends, some falling on the road, and some confusion on switched trains via the homeward trek all led us to believe that we still have much to learn! But our first impressions of Melbourne are fantastic - we WILL adjust and acclimatize to everything! We ventured out to find Karin's work site, and indeed found Malvern Primary School after two train rides and an incorrect tram ride. It is in a very upscale neighbourhood. We walked the grounds and then met the vice-principal and a teacher who took us around the main building and showed me the music room which I will call home for the next 10 months. It was VERY thrilling! Initial pictures are attached!! The school yard is huge, to accommodate the over 700 students in the school.

In the afternoon we headed to the Queen Victoria Market and were amazed at the magnitude of the place with all its great bargains. It is a place which we will frequent often, I am sure! Thereafter we headed over to the central train station which is next to Federation Square, which seems to be the meeting place of the entire world! There we came upon a Hungry Jack's restaurant (really the Australian version of Burger King), a juggler and unicycle performer, a movie set with a model posing on the steps, and a huge outdoor screen where we could bask in the sunlight and enjoy tennis matches with Roger Federer and Leighton Hewitt ( they both won their respective matches). Yes, the Melbourne Open has begun and tennis fever has hit the city. Tomorrow Rick and I have ground passes to walk around the tennis grounds and watch some of the preliminary matches. We also got tickets to attend the men's semifinal match next weekend. On Thursday and Friday we have orientation meetings at St. Andrews Place with the Victorian Department of Education, by the Parliament train stop. And on the weekend we will entertain our first guest out here, Marianne Labun! So, life out here thus far is great!

North Island - Jan. 15/16

We returned to the North Island for our last two days in New Zealand! We headed from Auckland by car to the more desolate North country called Hokianga to see the subtropical rainforest of giant Kauri trees. The living trees are between 1000 and 2000 years old. Some of the fallen trees were covered with swampland and are now being reclaimed - the preserved wood was carbon-dated back to 45,000 years ago. We spent some time in a phenomenal Kauri museum which simulated how the trees were felled in the 1800's and the furniture that was made from them. The gum or sap from the trees was very valuable and had been made into carvings and jewellery. Today only 4 % of the original forest remains.

The scenery was spectacular up north. During the day the view of the sand dunes out in a harbour on the ocean was spectacular! Then at night we took a tour with a Maori guide for a guided walk through the forest to see the giant kauri trees. The rains let out a torrent of water for the entire four hours of the hike! We were soaked! Then when we returned like drowned rats to our hotel, we discovered that the hydro was out! The villages have been preserved as original right from the 1800's. We took a ferry to one village where time seemingly stands still. We saw a modern day school which has a swimming pool for the students' recreation, and we saw an old-fashioned school which posted the rules for teachers in 1915 - it will give you a chuckle to read all the rules applicable back then.

By now we have seen four different rain forests and each one is uniquely different from the other. The vegetation is all unique and unlike anything that we have ever seen before. What a beautiful creation God has made! We loved New Zealand!

South Island Adventures Continue - January 13/

The South Island of New Zealand is always unbelievably beautiful wherever we travel - lots of lush green hills with flocks of sheep or herds of deer, elk or cattle everywhere. There is so much land that is not really habited.

We left the Milford Sound tour bus at Te Anau. En route at one of the rest stops we happened upon a wild destructive parrot. We had learned about this at a sanctuary we had visited and had seen the parrot in a cage. We couldn't believe finding one in the throes of doing damage to a parked vehicle! Everyone tried to scare the bird off, but it was unfazed. Apparently they can actually break the glass of the windshield and then damage the car interior totally if you leave the car parked for some length of time.

The cold and rain continued all night and the next morning as we travelled again by Inter-City coach to Dunedin, our most southern destination. When we arrived, we found our hotel was a most quaint little place right on the main road of Dunedin. It had originally been a doctor's office, then a hospital, and now a hotel for the last seven years. As soon as we checked in, we left immediately to take a tour of the Cadbury chocolate factory. The smells were tasty and chocolates of every kind different from those we get in Canada were available for purchase. The factory was not in operation so we just got an abbreviated tour where we saw 2 tonnes of chocolate fall down the height of a grain silo into a stirring barrel and of course got to drive Mr. Cadbury's vehicle!!

In the late afternoon we were scheduled for a boat cruise up the harbour along the Ortaga peninsula, famous for its seal viewings and albatross sightings. The rain would just not let up, so it was a cold outing, but the birds and wildlife did not disappoint, as you will see from the pictures! The albatross have a wing span of six feet - amazing as they steal fish from other fowl and swoop down along the water's surface with the tip of one wing.

The next morning dawned bright and sunny and we were off to Christchurch by rental car. This was Rick's first independent foray onto the highways on the "wrong" side of the road, and he managed wonderfully! We stopped at a little beach where there are some unusual boulders, supposedly done through erosion, and we tried our hand at the newly-acquired skill of perspective once again! It was just so beautiful along the eastern coastline, and we were happy to travel at our own leisure and pace.

The next day was our last visit to Christchurch, to see those things that we had missed the first time around. We spent the morning at the Antarctic Expedition site. This is the point from which all the US and other countries leave for Antarctica via ship with all their supplies. We were lucky to actually see a ship departing! The complex was most informative and we had lots of fun riding on the simulated bombadiers and surviving an Antarctic snowstorm! Like the explorer Scott we planted a flag at the South Pole! And of course we watched the penguins frolicking in the water and being fed!

In the afternoon we headed down to the Arts Centre the Art Gallery and the Botanical Gardens. The day was perfect for a final outdoor luncheon, some shopping and some hiking through incredible rose, orchid, and hydrangea gardens! What a perfect way to end our visit to the South Island!