Greece Part 1: Athens

There is a class system in Athens -- 1. Athenians 2. Trojans 3. Spartans 4. Pedestrians ... if we do not return to Toronto soon, it will be because we were killed trying to cross a street at a traffic light ... sidewalks appear to be used only for overflow parking. In the event the overflow feature is not used, motorists regard sidewalks as detours.

There is a pretty part to Athens. Most of it, however, is a dump. The area around the Acropolis is kept clean and very historic (and tourist friendly). Unfortunately, the remaining part is an overcrowded, polluted, hostile place -- full of buildings erected using the unfortunate 1970s brutalism style of architecture. The single family dwelling is nonexistent.

There is plenty more to add to Athens (the good things and the stories) ... unfortunately we are back in the stone age where the internet service is only available via a dial-up modem ....

Our next update (and pictures) will be done once we have returned to Toronto -- we are looking forward to catching up and seeing you soon!!!

back in the northern hemisphere -- aka Spain

After our wonderful trip to South Africa, we had a long flight (and plenty of time in the London airport) to Seville -- we were happy to be returning to the Northern Hemisphere. Although we knew it was summer in the N.H. we did not realize what we were missing until we started to experience the 30+ (Celsius) temps in Spain. In less than a week we experienced Seville, Granada, and a little town called Ronda -- all in the Andalusia region of Spain. All quite interesting! At first we found Seville a bit cramped as it feels somewhat like Florence -- a ton of tourists all crammed into the tiny streets of the historic section. We first stayed in a hotel dedicated to Mozart -- given he was Austrian we do not know why this hotel was in Seville -- but it was quaint with tons of mosaics and few pianos thrown in ... The Cathedral in Seville is the most ornate and dramatic church either of us have ever experienced. The wealth that was poured into this massive structure is truly amazing. We found wandering around the streets of Seville quite interesting -- it took a few tries but we, eventually, found a wonderful tapas bar there -- unfortunately we found it on our last night in Seville.

Granada is most famous for the Alhambra -- a series of medieval palaces set high above the city. If you go, you need to book your tickets in advance. Fortunately we had booked tickets for the early morning -- given the temps in Spain during our visit, this made the visit quite manageable. The structures are from the Moorish era, prior to the Crusades. The buildings were amazing in their detail ... the pics will be added at a later date. We found Granada to be a more relaxed atmosphere than Seville. There was definitely more of a family, Spanish feel to several of the areas we wandered (of course there were tourists but they were not as noticeable).

Ronda straddles an enormous gorge that divides the town into new and old. It is quite small -- and very hilly -- as we discovered as we searched high and low for a non-existant restaurant recommended by our guidebook. What we could not figure out, however, was why all of the high end hotels sat along this gorge. Although spectacular (and all of the houses are white, making the town quite dramatic), there was this extremely pungent odour hanging over the town ... we suspect the town's sewage is dumped into the river at the bottom of the gorge. We experienced this first hand by paying to climb down a series of steps into a "mine" (turns out it was a water mine -- too bad we did not know any Spanish).

We were quite shocked to discover that the sun does not set in this part of Spain until well after 10 p.m. -- we suspect the country had adopted a special form of daylight savings time ...

South Africa lll The Brine Pool

Kevin here--
I have found heaven and its name is Brine Pool. The brine pool simulates the dead sea and is kept just below body temperature at 35 degrees. The only thing one needs to enjoy the brine pool is the ability to remain inert. I have that abillity.

The idea behind the pool is that the extremely salinated water keeps you afloat and there is a gentle current in the pool that drifts you around in lazy circles. Given my group of friends I am something of an expert in lazy circles. At any rate, you just lie there and keep your head in the water so that your ears are beneath the water level. This is done so you can hear the massage music piped into the water. Above you is a black ceiling with star cutouts that gives you the impression you are floating in space.

The brine pool is located in a very nice resort called the Westin Western Cape an hour south of Capetown. The resort is quite nice, golf course, pool etc., but it is the brine pool that will be the main reason I remember our two day stay.

All in all I was captivated by South Africa, perhaps a little more than Abigail. On any given day you can hear any number of languages. It is eaasily the most diverse place I have ever been. The poverty is disturbing, especially with the contrast of extreme wealth in some places. I wish we had more time there, but I am reasonably sure we will be back as we would like to take Connor on a safari at some point. We did not have time to do the Garden Route along the southern coast, so that will be another trip at another time. As a tourist, I must say SA is the best bargain as the Rand to Dollar ratio is very favourable. The golf courses look appealing as well, and the next time I will bring my clubs.

If any of you are looking for an affordable "exotic" vacation this is the place.

One last thing about the brine pool. On our last day we went for a workout and then off for a last trip to the brine pool. I should have added that the spa in which the pool is loacted is nudity optional. In our time there we never saw anyone actually atke advantage of this option Anyway, we were the only ones there and Abigail thought it would be clever if she didn't get her suit wet, so she went starkers. As luck would have it, she got busted when a guy came waltzing through the doors. Giggling to my self, as I watched Abigail, I noticed the guy take one wide eyed look in the pool and then quickly turn away and duck into the bathroom. Abigail quickly jumped out and got into her house coat, but not before she had made someone's morning.

South Africa Part II: Capetown and Surrounds

First off, any pics from this part of the trip will be posted once we have returned to Canada (it is too difficult for us to find a place to download pics). ...

After our Safari -- we made our way to Capetown -- although it is winter in South Africa, we had tremendous weather (on the safari the highs were high 20s (celsius) and in Capetown, low 20s). Capetown is a very beautiful town. We arrived at dusk so did not get to see much until the next day. We spent the next day wandering around the city -- it is very dramatic as it is nestled between the ocean and a huge mountain (table mountain). The architecture was stunning. We went to the wharf for a late lunch -- they have done a nice job of combining commercial shipping with tourism along the waterfront. The one thing that was very clear in Capetown, however, is the disparity in wealth between those who have and those who do not have. For the most part food, clothing, etc. is quite cheap. Unless you are looking at designer clothing ... and then stuff is quite expensive. For lunch one could easily find a filling meal for only a few dollars. And the fruit/vegetables were extremely inexpensive. We also noticed how much one has to be aware of one's surroundings. Houses of any value (even the very small ones) are protected with alarms, etc. Along the highways there are tons of hitchikers (although one is not supposed to pick them up -- in the middle of nowhere we did pick up a woman and her young son -- nothing happened and we think the woman was grateful for the ride). Wherever you walk there are lots of folks milling about. It is definitely a place where you would have to get used to always being alert.

After our lunch we headed out of Capetown to our next destination -- a resort near Hermanus. We had a very lovely coastal drive -- very dramatic moutains, red earth, and ocean (two oceans). As we headed out of town, however, we got to see what we could not see in the dark. There are parts where there are miles and miles of "shacks" -- one room buildings made out of used cardboard (and other materials) and aluminum roofs, side by side. The poverty displayed in these shacks were amazing. Turns the S.A. census classifies these structures as "informal housing units." ... it really brings home how poorly Africans have been treated ... while at our resort, however, we saw a picture book that documented the "originality" and artistic aspect of these shacks -- it is called "Shack Chic." ... This book painted a picture of poor people who although wanting out of poverty were proud of their shacks and the community built around the shacks. We do not know what to think ... while some of the shacks probably do represent a home and the creative nature of these Africans -- there are also lots of shacks that are probably plain miserable ...

We explored several of the coast towns -- very striking geographically. Again well worth the trip. We spent two days exploring the areas around Capetown (including some inland winery towns). There is one more installment on South Africa and then we are on our way to Spain ...

South Africa Part 1: The Safari

The flight to Johannesburg was uneventful, given we left Sydney at 10 a.m. and arrived around midnight (Sydney time) we failed to get any sleep. Of course that meant that we fell asleep around 6 p.m. Johannesburg time. I managed to get a decent night's sleep (only waking up around 4 a.m.) -- kevin was pondering great thoughts from 2-4 a.m. ...

We were quite surprised at the huge difference between South African and Australian cultures (at least as seen at the airport). The international airport is quite old and is infested with "official" porters -- knowing that with luggage carts and rolling bags they are not likely to get much use as a porter they more or less take charge and walk you to the hotel shuttle area (just outside of the terminal) and then wait for the shuttle to arrive -- forcing most people (at least us) to feel compelled to give them a tip for doing almost nothing ... The international terminal has a felling of a rundown third world country. This feeling was continued when we showed up at the holiday inn near the airport and the front desk quoted us a rate that was 1.5 times the rate we had booked and then we requested (as per our booking) a non-smoking room they had us wait 20 minutes for such a room when in reality it was a smoking room that had been sprayed with an air freshener ...

In stark contrast was our experience the next morning -- we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel and then made our way to the modern domestic terminal -- where we could have been in any developed country --

We left Johannesburg and took a short flight over the Drankensberg Mountains to Hoedspruit -- there where three distinctive aspects to this airport. First, it was the smallest airport to which we have traveled. Second, our bags were transported via a tractor (really) -- this airport is so small there are not screening devices. Third, the runway is the longest runway in South Africa -- turns out the real purpose of the airstrip is for the Air Force ...

After landing we were picked up and driven to our safari lodge. The lodge was on a private game reserve that borders Kruger National Park -- of course the animals do not know about the division of property. Our reserve had 7 commercial lodges and several privately owned lodge (yes, you too can buy your own lodge on a private game reserve). At our lodge, there are 7 chalets that are protected from the rest of the reserve by an electric fence -- at most there are 14 guests, although during our stay there were between 6 and 8 guests. We were amazed at (a) how modern the chalets were (just like staying at a high end resort) and (b) how close we were to the animals. Next to the lodge was a watering hole -- it was not uncommon to watch giraffes, warthogs, and other animals drinking from the hole. One night we even heard the roar of the lions ... A typical day at the lodge includes an early morning and late afternoon safari (about 4 hours each) -- with the time in between spent eating breakfast, reading, sleeping, etc. The safaris are conducted using a completely open land rover (no doors, windows, roof, etc.) ... so there is nothing to protect you from the animals ... on each safari there is an experienced guide and a tracker. These two work together to figure out where the animals are (at the same time there are other vehicles carrying the guests from other lodges roaming the area -- so it is not uncommon for the the guides of these vehicles to talk to one another).

On our safaris (you have to go on so many as you never know what you will see) -- we managed to see all of the "big 5" (lions, leopards, rhino, elephants, and water buffalo) and more -- the lions were the most interesting and the scariest -- in general we tracked a family of 3 females (a grandma and 2 moms), 2 males, and 4 cubs -- the very first night we were there, we were watching this pod of lions and they decided to move on, walking right by us -- the male lions got within 3 feet of my side of the vehicle ... yes, I was quite scared ... while we did not get to the beginning of a kill, we did spend some time one morning watching these lions devour a zebra. Not surprisingly, the females kill the the animal but the males get to feed first ... And how did we know it was a zebra? Periodically you could see the lions pull from the skin as they were eating and a hoof or two would appear. While eating the lions do a combination of a loud purr (like a domestic cat but very loud) and chomp -- their teeth are strong enough to break bones ... during this feed, the males were mostly resting but one decided he wanted some more food. He charged each female lion (ignoring the cubs). As a result we got sandwiched between grandma and the other lions -- yes, another scary moment ... when we searched for the lions the afternoon after this big kill -- they all were sleeping and had very full stomaches (they continued to sleep at the same place through the night) ...

A typical safari day -- at 5:30 a.m. (yes, that early) there is a knock on your door -- you quickly dress grab a cup of coffee and are headed out around 6 a.m. for the first safari -- on our first morning, we saw in early dawn light several giraffes eating from the tops of trees ... basically you spend the morning driving around and watching -- there are lots of impala, kudus, and other small deerlike creatures wandering around -- and then it is really amazing when you find the lions, the leopards, elepants, zebra ... the leopards live on their own. On our game reserve there were several male leopards we were trying to track (the males seem to have realized that the territory is up for grabs and so they were staking out their territory). The leopard is very elusive -- it was much easier to find the lions. On one of the afternoon safaris we found a femal leopard who was walking down the road carrying a dead monkey back to her cub ... it was amazing to see the determination the leopard had to get back to her cub ... The elephants wander around in big herds -- we saw a huge group of them several times -- eating and stomping their way through the reserve. It is amazing to see how graceful these huge animals are when walking around ... At some point during the morning safari we would stop for special coffee (a mixture of coffee, hot chocolate, and amurilla (similar to baileys but is made in S.A.)) and treats ... once back from the morning safari, you get a huge cooked breakfast and then start to relax. Late in the afternoon you are served a tea and then are piled back into the vehicle for the afternoon safari -- the afternoon safari is different from the morning one in that the animals are starting to think more about finding food -- also, you get to watch the sun set (while enjoying a "sundowner") and then get to spend about an hour or so tracking the active night animals (lions, leopards, etc).

After the second safari of the day-- we have a dinner (usually a group dinner -- but one night we had a private dinner in each of our chalets) -- at that point we were exhausted and so would fall into bed, get a bit of sleep so we could again get up quite early. On one of the mornings instead of driving, we walked through the reserve -- a bit scary but our guid was extremely good about reading animal tracks and keeping us away from anything that could seriously harm us ...

When we think of ecotourism, we tend to think of things like camping in the brazilian rainforest. We have been slow to realize that we have taken various trips that fall under the category of "ecotourism." Although we have been blessed with many interesting trips -- thus far, the safari was the most amazing. It makes you realize how vulnerable we are -- how amazing animals are and just what a vast world we have ... it is an experience everyone should have!

In case you are interested in learning more about our safari lodge, check out the Jackalberry lodge at www.jackalberrylodge.co.za !

Coral and Rainforests

Here we are along the GBR – along the northern coast of Queensland about 14 degrees south of the Equator (in the Tropics zone). We flew into Cairns but chose to stay in Port Douglas (about 50 kilometers north). Both towns are resort areas along the coast. While the area is very built up it is not as touristy many beach towns in North America. In part it may be because the land that can be used is rather limited. The coast (like most of Queensland) neighbors tropical rainforests (that are also mountains).

We spent our first day on a small boat snorkeling along the outer reef (the reef is huge – from the coast of Australia one has the option of going to the outer reef, reef along the lower isles, or going to an island and exploring the area around the island). Our morning started with one of the guides (actually all of them) making it very clear that there was gravol (or the Aussie equivalent) on board and that even they were taking some … Kevin took one and I took two. We traveled an hour and a half to get to the reef along very very very choppy water (good thing we took the gravol). And then we spent the day exploring three different parts of the reef (the views got better during the day as it was low tide). The coral (and the things growing on the coral) was very diverse and colourful (although not as colourful as we expected) – it was really interesting to see all of the stuff “breathing.” As for fish, we saw lots of colourful fish (including “Nemo”), big and small. We found (with the help of the marine biologist on board) a big (although not hug) turtle and a shark (Kevin did not see it as he was swimming with another group – so I can now say that I went swimming with a shark without having to jump in a tank). All in all, we realized (okay so we are dense) that what makes the GBR a “must do” destination is seeing the reef and the stuff living on the reef, not seeing the fish – while the fish were very pretty and interesting, they were not that hugely different from our snorkeling in other places. It is also clear that in this area one only needs to snorkel to see the reef – diving could be a bit of overkill.

To our pleasant surprise, the guides were very relaxed and informative and seem really interested in helping us to learn about the reef and have an enjoyable experience. Granted we picked a group that limits the number of passengers …

Day 2 of our trip was exploring the tropical rainforests around Northern Queensland and going to Cape Tribulation. So the geography of Queensland is basically this: ocean with a bit of a beach, then rainforests that go into the mountains (that are not that far from the beach) and then on the other side of the mountains is the outback/bushland. Having spent a fair bit of time in the rainforests in Victoria we rather expected the rainforests in Queensland to be the same. Wrong. In Victoria, the rainforests are “non-tropical” which means to us, a relatively manicured (so to speak) forest full of fern trees and gum trees – the trees are straight and shoot straight up. The Queensland tropical rain forests, in contrast, represent utter chaos. Yes, there are ferns but not the lush fern trees we found in Victoria. There are tons of vines (Tarzan would be quite happy here) and it is not uncommon to find one tree/plant wrapped around another tree/plant. The other thing about Queensland – there are more deadly snakes and spiders as well as crocodiles (fresh water and estuary (combination of fresh and salt water) ones) lurking about. So even though you are on a boardwalk or other type of track or you are on the beach next to the rainforest you have to be extremely aware of your surroundings! We saw several signs warning of recent sightings of crocs – fortunately we did not have a close encounter with one. (Even on the golf course there were signs of recent sightings of crocs). We found the tropical rainforests interesting (and still amazing) but not as wonderful as the non-tropical rainforests.

Cape Tribulation received its name as way back when Captain Cook landed there and had a devil of a time while there. There are picture perfect postcards of the beach at the Cape and so we thought it would be a wonderful destination for our drive that day. It was pretty (very white sand set against a backdrop of the tropical rainforest), but not as spectacular as the Great Ocean Road. If you are in the North Queensland area, it is worth exploring the rainforests – but we would not recommend staying in one!

Our last day around the Great Barrier Reef was spent driving over the mountain (through the rainforest) and to an “outback” (still civilization) town called Mareeba. This area is known for its coffee beans. We found a plantation that gave tours (we joined on the part about roasting and brewing) and coffee samples – it was great (also gave us a big buzz before we went to lunch). Along the road (alas we did not stop to take a picture) were tons of huge mounds of earth/dirt – many looked like big boulders that were about 3 feet high and 2 to 3 feet wide. Any guesses what they were? Ant (or Termite) hills – we opted to just look at them from a far in the safety of our car …

We also explore the town of Kuranda, a town set in a rainforest – although touristy we still thought it was quaint and worth the visit. There are several walks/hikes one can take in Kuranda, including one to a set of very tall falls (give it is dry right now, the water was there but not in abundance). We then continued onto the town of Cairns – one of the bigger cities in Queensland. There was little of Cairns that was picturesque – lots of hotels upon hotels and tourist shops – and the ocean there was not particularly beautiful. We were there during low tide which left a lot of the ocean looking muddy and unappealing.

All in all we enjoyed our trip to the Great Barrier Reef and to Northern Queensland – we found both the rainforests and the reef very interesting but probably not as dramatic as we expected. One thing we did notice was more aboriginals. Our understanding of Australia is that the native Aussies are not treated very well, to the extent that in many places they are viewed with disdain – of course not that much different from the situation in the U.S. and Canada. So it was interesting to see (a) more aboriginals in our travels and (b) to see them more integrated in the towns/areas we visited.

This is the last blog we will post from Australia. Our travels are taking us to South Africa, Spain, Greece, and then home – we will post a couple blogs along the way so keep checking back!

a spider we found in the rainforest -- we did not stay around to find out if it was deadly 

lily pads in an area near the golf course at Port Douglas 

Ingrid and Abigail in the Tropical Rainforest around Cape Tribulation -- surprisingly, in the rain 

cape tribulation along the beach 

yes, this became a common sign around Port Douglas and Cape Tribulation 

Guest Blog from Marg ...

As I think about the wonderful time I had in Australia, certain memories come back to me. Here they are in no particular order.

Driving from the Gold Coast to Agnes Water (in case you can’t find it on a map, Agnes Water is right beside 1770). The rain started in earnest just about dark. Abigail was at the wheel as we drove through what was a good facsimile of a car wash – for hours. We stopped in Gympie to get gas, and it was here that the man behind the counter, for no particular reason, helpfully told Kevin that if someone comes up behind you and puts a plastic bag over your head, don’t grab the part of the bag around your throat. Instead reach up to the top of the bag and break it open. Make sure to file this one in “essential things to know”.

With no regrets we left the gas station, and the intrepid Abigail continued on through Gin Gin where we saw a woman making a phone call but decided not to stop. Then on through Marion Vale and finally to Agnes Water.

It wasn’t until the trip back that we realized that we had been driving through literally thousands of acres of sugar cane.

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In Agnes Water we met Chris, an expat from England who now rents a shack for $18.00 a day, goes crab fishing in the day and drinks Stone’s Ginger Wine by night. He invited us all to his shack the next morning at 5:00 to take us crabbing with him. Kevin was fairly certain that Chris would forget all about our great time at the pub, and greet us with a shotgun blast to the head.

Perhaps it was the romance of the Charles and Camilla wedding (the woman hosting the coverage for Australian t.v. wore an evening dress and diamonds, and had a bucket of chilled champagne in front of her – take that Mansbridge!), but I did go to Chris’s crab shack the next morning at five a.m. As we sat sipping ginger wine on the beach I realized that the injury to my head from the Scooter Roo accident had been more severe than I had thought. As soon as Chris slumped forward in an early morning stupor I made tracks back to safety of the hotel. I’m still trying to forget him. Ouch! My head!

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Seeing the Southern Cross for the first time on a wonderfully clear night in Bicheno, Tasmania. Even more than water going down the drain the other way, or having the noonday sun in the north instead of the south, this brought home the fact that I was in the Southern Hemisphere.

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The gardens of Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney, filled with roses and lavender and geraniums that form enormous bushes, because the climate allows is so temperate. Also, the trees of Australia are splendid. Is there anything more exotic than a herd of sheep relaxing under a muna tree? Well, is there?


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Marsupials in general. They are all so different - from Tasmanian Devil, to Wombat, to Kangaroos. Yet they all have that pouch thing going. And they all have little hands too. How did they figure all of this out? I read that if you have the misfortune to hit and kill a marsupial you should immediately check the pouch in case there is a baby in there.

At the Taronga Zoo in Sydney I saw an orphaned baby wombat named Iza. She was asleep and her head was drooping to her fat little belly. I believe she is the most adorable creature I have ever seen. If you want to see a great picture of a wombat, google Brutus the Wombat. The picture of a happy wombat (Brutus) is bound to cheer up even the most gloomy-guts.

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Sitting in my hotel room in Sydney I had a view of the Opera House clear across to Elizabeth Bay. Between the Opera House and our hotel lay the Botanical Gardens. On each of the three evenings we were there, just at dusk, huge brown bats rose out of the Gardens and flew right past our windows toward Elizabeth Bay. They flew so close to my window that I could have reached out and touched them. That was something.

I also saw them as I walked through the gardens one morning. They hang from the trees, and fly around during the day as well as at night.

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Puffing Billy, the steam train that goes up the Dandanong Mountains was a fun trip. It is run by really enthusiastic volunteers. We were in the dining car, but the
“B” cars are open and you can sit with your legs and arms hanging out. I have a picture of us going over t pretty high trestle and the cars at the rear are full of kids half hanging out of the train. All the volunteers had said was “Don’t let the kids fall off!”

I gather that Aussies are not the suing type. Safety, along with attitudes in general (except for the Footie), seem to be quite casual. Good on ya!

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Kevin and I trying in the midst of a rainstorm to see the sights of the Great Ocean Road. We seemed to be just ahead of the storm, so that we would arrive at the next scenic spot, get out of the car and run to the view. Every time we got to the view the rain would roll in and soak us. But on we pressed, I’m sure for my sake, because, of course, Kevin was coming back. Thanks, Kev. You’re brave!

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In Williamstown (near Melbourne) there is a pub that celebrates the sinking of the Titanic. It’s called the “Titanic Entertainment Emporium” and features a mock-up of the great ship going down on the roof of the pub van. There is also another mock-up of the ship on the roof of the pub. Unfortunately the place wasn’t open when we were there so I can’t tell you much fun it would be to celebrate the watery demise of hundreds of victims. I guess it would depend on much alcohol one has consumed.

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I had lunch with Russell Crowe. He’s up for the lead role of Gilligan in the new feature film “Gilligan’s Island”. He wondered if it was too much of a stretch. But I said “Crikey Russ! It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. You gotta take it!”

That’s the way I feel about my trip. The Opportunity of a Lifetime. Thanks to Abigail and Kevin for making it happen.

As Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, but Australia is a whole nuther place”.

Melbourne and Surrounds

Since our return from New Zealand, we have been enjoying a visit from Ingrid. One of the interesting things we have done recently was to visit a neighboring village/suburb called Toorak. It is one of the more expensive neighborhoods in which to live in Melbourne (kind of like Rosedale in Toronto). We wandered around the village as we had heard about an art show – all of the shopkeepers agreed to display a sculpture in their front window – and so one could “window shop” and see all sorts of art. It was really interesting and quite a novel way to encourage folks to visit a shopping district.

We have just returned from a weekend trip to the Great Ocean Road (again) – once again we stayed at the Cape Otway Lighthouse – we explored a few more areas, however – even made it into the eastern edge of South Australia where we explored some wineries in the Coonawarra region. The coast west of Melbourne truly is amazing – again we will let the picture speak for themselves – although this time around we had more sun and the colors of the sandstone outcroppings and the ocean were just magnificent … In addition to the coast, there is a rainforest area (where Otway fly is located) – this time around we visited Mabel Gully – an area that was full of ferns and gum trees … we also had more sightings of koalas and kangaroos – and on the bird side, we had our first sighting of a kookaburra! We found the kangaroos at the bottom of an old volcanic (5000 years ago) crater.
We are off to visit the Great Barrier Reef and then will have less than a week to clean, pack and leave Australia – we cannot believe how fast time has flown …

Ingrid and Kevin along the Great Ocean Road  

a cave that is part of the coast along the Great Ocean Road 

more of the Great Ocean Road 

more along the Great Ocean Road 

one of the many outcroppings along the Great Ocean Road ..  

Kevin at the base of a fallen gum tree -- this tree was huge -- and very old when it fell over. 

the ferns in the Gulley park we toured 

Cape Otway Lighthouse -- a great place to stay ... (read closest thing Kevin and I will ever get to with respect to camping) 

Can you find the Koala? 

one of the many sculptures on display in the shops of Toorak Village in Melbourne 

New Zealand Part 2

Overall, we were quite enamored with New Zealand’s South Island. While Christchurch was a bit too touristy for us, the rest of what we saw was marvelous. Our train trip from Christchurch to Picton took us along the eastern coast of New Zealand where we saw more beautiful beaches, wildlife, and a bit of the inland scenery. The ferry from Picton to Wellington started off rather innocently (but a couple of hours late). Initially you have to go through some protected land and that part of the trip was quite beautiful. Then you have to pass through Cook’s straight – and that is another story. The weather was stormy that day and so the seas were rough – Kevin had a blast and was happy to go to the top deck to see what was going on. Abigail (me), on the other hand … let’s just say that I made it to Wellington in one piece and was all too happy to get off the boat. Of the three New Zealand cities we visited, Wellington seemed the most cosmopolitan and most livable. Kevin got to do most of the site seeing as I had to work most of the time I was there – ended up giving two talks, meeting with folks from a research institute, and even gave an interview on Radio New Zealand (hopefully nothing that I said will come back to haunt me). There is a fabulous museum in Wellington called Te Papa – it covers life in New Zealand from a “white man’s” perspective as well as from the Maori’s perspective – and covers life as it was as well as life today. We were quite surprised to learn that the Maori are quite respected in New Zealand (extremely different from the way the aboriginals are treated in Australia). In Wellington, we also got to reconnect with a friend from Princeton’s days which was quite nice.

We spent the weekend at Wharekauhau, a resort north of Wellington. The resort was beyond our expectations. We had our own little cottage that faced onto Palliser Bay. We were there for 3 days and nights. In general, the resort is in a rather remote location (but still 90 minutes from Wellington) – there are only 10 cottages situated on a 5000 acre sheep station. There are lots of activities and for the most part the meals are served to all guests in a communal setting (everyone sits at the same table). The first day we were the only guests and so we had this fabulous five course dinner alone. We explored the area on horseback and on foot. There was a lovely pool and spa. The setting was fabulous (see the pics), the food tremendous … we even had one of the two resident cats (fish but not chips) come and hang out with us in our cottage. The night sky was unbelievable – all sorts of stars and the milky way was amazing. Our second and third nights we dined with the other guests which included a winemaker and his wife and one of the principal owners and his girlfriend. A bit pretentious but we still enjoyed our evenings.

After our weekend of relaxing and being well fed we drove from the resort north to Auckland. Unfortunately we only had a day to do the drive so we did not see much of the North Island. While nice, we decided we enjoyed the people and the landscape of the South Island. We were very disappointed with Auckland. It is the biggest and most industrial looking city in New Zealand – apparently the charm of Auckland comes from its mini-islands – it struck us that it was a mini-Sydnew with less charm.

Fish, our cottage cat -- Fish was quite happy to hang out in the cottage with us, especially near the fireplace 

the wild beach at Wharekauhau 

after our horseback riding adventure through the sheep station 

the view from our cottage 

A view of the cottages at the resort 

a sheep up on the hill, greeting us as we entered Wharekauhau 

Roos, Koalas, Dolphins and Seals

The past several days have been amazing from a wildlife perspective … what is amazing are the different forms of life one can experience quite easily … what is extremely sad is how we (humans) have made such a disastrous dent on the non-human population…

On to our adventures … our last two days spent with Richard and Carol were traveling along the Great Ocean Road (GOR). The beginning of the GOR can be reached within an hour from Melbourne. It stretches to just before the eastern border of South Australia. Initially the beaches are quite sandy and the waves in the ocean encourages tons of surfers. But then the surf becomes quite rough, the beaches inaccessible (except for rockclimbers) and the outcroppings (most known are the “twelve apostles”) amazing. The windy (rather narrow) road fluctuates between the coastline and the bordering rainforest. We were quite successful in finding kangaroos on a golf course (they were quite used to golfers, choosing not to pay any attention to the flight path of the golf balls nor the golfers that were trying to avoid a “kangaroo hazard.”). In two different rainforests we (Carol had the eagle eye) were quite fortunate to spot several Koalas – who were more than happy to just hang out and let us take their pictures. We spent two days along the GOR, spending a night at the Cape Otway lighthouse. At the beginning of the second day, we made our way to the “Otway Fly” – a private venture that has managed to build a steel bridge and tower through a rainforest, allowing one to view the rainforest from treetop level – a phenomenal sight. Instead of continuing on about our GOR adventures, we will let the pictures show you what we saw …

Upon our return from GOR, we un- and re-packed for our adventure to New Zealand. First stop, Christchurch (in the South Island). Fortunately, we had 2 days of absolutely gorgeous weather!! Christchurch takes a bit of time to warm up to – as you are immediately greeted with tons of high-priced, low-quality tourist shops near the cathedral (and most hotels). But if you walk around, you will find an arts center (housed in what started as the University of Canterbury) and a wonderful botanical gardens (with huge amazing trees) … we also found an interesting natural history museum near the gardens. Most of our time, however, was spent traveling east of Christchurch to the Banks Peninsula and Akaroa. Akaroa has a French history (although it is less than obvious today). The peninsula was created from a series of volcanic explosions 20,000 years ago. Again, the pictures speak for themselves. The highlights – first, Abigail and Kevin without a proper map deciding to explore many of the bays – mid-way through discovering that the only road from one bay to the next was a one lane gravel road designed for two-way traffic – this road of course traveled high and low with lots of curves and no guard barriers – the picture of the sheep just looking at us (probably thinking “are you crazy?” tells all). Second, the boat cruise of the harbour where we got to see two hector dolphins swimming and playing (they are the smallest and one of the more endangered dolphins in the world). Third, a “seal safari” … we got a personal tour by Paul and his friend Murray through Paul’s farmland (with lots of sheeps) and a bay full of fur seals (with babies and adults) … we are off to Wellington and Kevin’s final birthday gift tomorrow … more on that in the next blog …

A cockatoo (cockateel?) that joined us for dinner in Akaroa 

Several of the hundreds of seals part of the seal colony near Akaroa 

One of the seals that chose to pose for us ... in Akaroa 

One of the Hector Dolphins (smallest in the world)