Bangkok, Thailand

These first four days in Bangkok have certainly been an eye-opening introduction to Thailand. Our hotel is in the old city, so it was about a 45 minute taxi ride from the airport. Talk about a crazy, frenetic city!! Our lonely plant book says Bangkok has 7.7 million people but it feels like twice that many. We were amazed at how our taxi driver was able to weave in and out of the traffic without getting any dents or scratches……there were cars, motorcycles, scooters and of course, “tuk-tuk’s” (which basically look like a motorized rickshaw) coming at us from every direction. So far, we haven’t taken a tuk-tuk ride yet because we’ve been able to get where we needed on foot or took a taxi, which with AC was MUCH more preferable with the heat and humidity!

Ah, the weather. I tell you, this place makes Puerto Rico feel like an arid desert. The moisture in the air just hangs on you and with temperatures in the low 90’s, it’s pretty suffocating. Add in the air pollution from so many vehicles and it’s no wonder I have a bit of a sore throat.

Our hotel is perfect and the service is impeccable. It’s situated on a small canal off the main Cha Praya river and it has a nice little pool to cool off in as well as a rooftop deck. One of the issues we’ve had to adjust to is not being able to drink the tap water, or even brush your teeth with it. Conveniently, the hotel provides us with 2 bottles of water a day, which is more than enough for basic necessities. Of course, because of the heat and humidity, you’re constantly drinking water as well so it’s a good thing that there is a 7-11 on just about every corner. In fact, I’m quite sure that somewhere in this city is a 7-11 with a view of another 7-11. The water bottles you end up carrying around with you are about the size of an infant and I was either cradling it like one or carrying it at my side like a rifle. Either way, though, it was reassuring to know we had access to clean drinking water. The other reason we found ourselves in 7-11 regularly besides getting water was just to have a blast of AC…..ahhh……heaven!

It really hasn’t been all bad, it’s just that we’ve had our fill of huge cities and are looking forward to getting away to some smaller and more manageable areas. I will say that as wild and crazy as this place is, there is barely any litter on the streets - it seems like you are always seeing someone sweeping up in front of their store or house. This may be because there are so many street vendors selling tasty eats so they want to keep the area clean……or they just take pride in their city.

We did go see the movie “Hangover 2”, which was a hoot. We found a theater near one of the mega huge shopping malls in the city after taking the Skytrain across town. Now that’s a great way to get around the city! Imagine the Seattle monorail except about 10 times more extensive. Anyway, the movie was filmed here in Bangkok so it was fun to see it here. It helped it was in English with Thai subtitles. The interesting thing is that before the movie started, the national anthem came on over the sound system and on the screen everyone was instructed to stand in homage to the king. I remembered reading that they do this before all movies or other public gatherings. Let me tell you, these people LOVE their king! Apparently, he’s been a bit sick lately so there are posters of him all over town and everyone is hoping he gets out of the hospital soon.

At this point, our plan is to take the train tomorrow morning to a town a couple of hours north called Lop Buri, which has a very large population of monkeys that are supposed to be quite entertaining. We’ll spend a couple of nights there and then take the train back to Bangkok where we’ll go directly to the airport and fly to Chang Mai. We’re planning on doing some fun things up in that part of the country, like take some Thai cooking classes and spend a day at an elephant reserve, So that’s it for now, folks……hope everyone is well!

Perth, Australia Day Two

Since we were able to reschedule our Rottnest Island tickets for the 23rd, we decided to drive north of Perth about 3 hours to see the Pinnacles, which are really unique limestone rock structures in the middle of Nambung National Park. Let me tell you, it doesn’t take long to realize you’re driving in a whole lot of nothing when you get out of Perth! This part of Western Australia reminds me a bit of West Texas, with a lot of scrub brush but not a lot of trees. Walking through the Pinnacles was really something else and well worth the trip. Imagine thousands of limestone pillars of different heights rising out of sand dunes the color of corn meal - really wild! We spent an hour or so walking around the area enjoying the dunes as well as the views of the Indian Ocean in the background and then drove to the beach to enjoy some lunch. We found the perfect spot for lunch - just outside the park entrance, we turned off the main road and turned down a smaller road that led to a parking area. From there we walked up a short path through the sand dunes and there was a picnic table on the dunes, looking out over the ocean with a beautiful white sand beach and no one around! Too much.

Tomorrow we head out to Rottnest Island and hopefully when we get to the airport I’ll have some internet access to write about it. What’s cool about the island, though, is it’s car-free so you can rent bikes to explore the island which we plan to do. The other thing we’re looking forward to is hopefully seeing some Quokkas, small marsupial mammals that are found only on the island and are supposed to be quite inquisitive. The name for the island comes from Dutch explorer William de Vlamingh who discovered the island and mistook the Quokkas for rats, hence the name, which means rat’s nest in Dutch. They look really cute, though, so I’m guessing we’ll like them better than rats!

Perth, Australia

We arrived in Perth mid afternoon and the great weather followed us with sunny skies and warm temperatures. After checking in to the hotel, which is almost downtown, we walked down the riverfront to stretch our legs. Perth is situated on the Swam River, which is about as broad as the Mississippi but very clear and blue. A light dinner followed and after that, a quiet evening back at the hotel. The next day was our planned trip to Rottnest Island (a popular holiday destination for locals and visitors alike) which is an hour or so ferry ride out from Perth. We were scheduled to be on the ferry at 8:30 the next morning so we decided to make an early evening of it. Now, we had heard that there might be a weather front blowing through the next day, but we remained optimistic that it wouldn’t mess up the day too much……oh boy were we wrong…….

We got up the next morning and looking out the window, saw that it was somewhat cloudy but no rain so things were looking up, right? We headed downstairs and asked the front desk if they had umbrellas to borrow since we were walking down to the ferry dock, about 7 blocks away. Well, when they brought the umbrellas out, they were the really big, standard sized ones not the small fold up kind, and since we were planning on renting bikes on the island, that didn’t’ seem like it would work out too well. Sooo……we headed out the door, confident that the weather would clear up. I was feeling good in my freshly ironed new shirt and shorts which I hadn’t gotten a chance to wear yet and all seemed well with the world. Well, we weren’t but about a block away when the raindrops began to fall. And fall…..and fall. The rainfall was torrential, and I mean TORR….EN…..TIAL. We were completely soaked, through and through. We started to run to the ferry terminal but at some point realized we weren’t going to get any wetter than we already were! We stopped into several convenience stores along the way looking for umbrellas (hindsight was really good at that point) but apparently everyone else on the streets were trying to do the same thing and the first few places were completely sold out. Finally, we found a store that had ONE little cheap fold up umbrella left that was rainbow colored. Too cute. We continued on our way through the downpour, at one point walking through ankle deep water rushing down the street. Finally, we made it to the ferry dock and went up to the window to see what we could do about rescheduling the tickets. The woman at the desk was extremely helpful and sympathetic and swapped our tickets for the 23rd. With that obstacle out of the way, the next order of business was figuring out how to get out of our dripping clothes. As luck would have it, there was a souvenir shop next door and we were able to find a couple of shirts in there. The owner was so helpful that he even let us use his display Australian beach towel to dry off! Geez…..what a morning. Later, we heard on the news that this was the most rain they’d had in four years! We survived, though, and by the afternoon, the weather was nice again.

Uluru, Australia Day Two

Today was our full day to walk around Uluru and see the other rock formation called Kata Tjuta, so we got an early start and headed out. The walk around the base of Uluru us 10.6 kms and we headed out on the trail about 10:30 a.m. The visitor brochure said the walk should take about 3.5 hours but we ended up doing it in about 2.5 hours - and that’s with stops along the way! The weather was sunny and probably in the mid 70’s. Now, we had planed ahead and purchased some sun screen before we left Sydney knowing we’d be out in the sun for an extended period of time so we dutifully slathered it on before we left. We learned quickly that one of the trademark features of this area are the small black flies which can be pretty bothersome but apparently the scent of the sunscreen we were wearing made us unusually attractive to them. They were literally swarming around us…..I mean, it was constant. We were constantly waving our hands around our heads trying to ward them off as we walked and finally tore the map in half so we could each have a better fan to keep them off. At least they weren’t biting, but they were oh so annoying. Other than that, though, it was a really gorgeous walk. Not too many people on the trail, so that made it really enjoyable as we were often the only people on it. When we got back to the beginning of the trail, we looked up to see the people walking up the trail to the top of the rock. It was really interesting how they made the trail up to the top - it was basically a guide wire strung along a series of large metal stakes driven into the rock that people used as a handrail. Man, it was really steep! Apparently it can also be quite slippery after a rainstorm as well. Hmmm…….I think we’ll stick to the base trail.

After we finished the base walk, we drove up to café at the cultural center for lunch and then on to visit the other nearby rock formations, The Olgas. They are a bit farther away and it took about a half hour to drive there. Unfortunately, since we had worn our new sandals for the base walk, I ended up with the beginnings of a blister on my right foot so when we finally got there, I changed back into my hiking shoes which REALLY helped. At The Olgas, we decided to just do the Walpa Gorge walk, which took about an hour. This was probably more impressive than Uluru simply because there were lots of rock formations in one area as opposed to just one, and the walk took you down a really interesting gorge between two huge red sandstone rocks. Loved that!

So, we’ve been here and seen the infamous Ayer’s Rock. We were definitely here the right amount of time and are now MORE than ready to move on. We both think it is a really cool and interesting place to explore but definitely a one time thing. Afterall, once you see the rocks, there really is absolutely nothing else out here but lots of red sand and desert scrub trees! So it’s off to Perth tomorrow and back to some (hopefully) more beautiful ocean scenery……stay tuned!

Uluru, Australia

It was a smooth and comfortable 3 hour flight from Sydney to Ayer’s Rock. The approach to the Ayer’s Rock airport was classic outback Australia - red sand, scrub trees and lots of bright sunshine! We walked off the plane into perfect, 70 something degree warmth and after getting the rental car, we had our first beautiful view of infamous Uluru, the original Aboriginal term for Ayer’s Rock. What a sight!

Here’s the interesting thing, though, about coming to Uluru. Because you’re out here in the middle of the desert there is one place to stay, the Ayer’s Rock Resort. Now, within this resort, there are three hotels and two campgrounds and those are your choices for accommodations. Now it’s all very nice looking - a nice smooth road in from the airport, a little “shopping center” with two restaurants, a post office, grocery store, tourist information, etc., as well as a shuttle bus that makes a loop through all the hotels and the shopping center all day long. Let’s just say, whoever set this place up knew what they were doing. I have to say, it’s kind of weird being in this pre-packaged compound in the middle of nowhere.

Now, because there is this monopoly on places to stay near the rock, prices are outrageously high and since we’re trying to do this travel on somewhat of a budget, we decided to go with the most “modestly” priced option, the Pioneer Outback Lodge. Suffice it to say, it’s the most we’ve spent on a hotel since we’ve been traveling for the worst room we’ve had. It really looked more like a glorified prison cell than a hotel room. Our room has a tile floor, yellow painted cinder block walls with no artwork on them and a double bed that rolls across the room if you move around on it too much. Gotta love it, right???? On well…..we just have two nights here and how much time are we really going to spend in the room anyway……

After taking a spin into “town”, which is at most a mile away and getting a bite to eat, we headed out to Uluru for a sunset viewing of the rock. Uluru is actually in a national park along with another rock formation called “Kata Tjuta,, also known as “The Olgas”. While Uluru is certainly the more famous of the rock formations, I have to say Kata Tjuta also looks really cool so we’re looking forward to exploring that area as well tomorrow. The entrance fee to the park is $25 a person - I know, ouch! - but it does cover you for three days, which is about the maximum amount of time anyone spends out here. And even though the fee is steep, we know it goes to support the park as well as the Aboriginal community that lives in the area.

The first view of that rock as you drive out to it is truly breathtaking. To see this amazing, other worldly looking huge loaf of a rock rising out of the desert landscape with nothing else around it is truly something. Once you’ve entered the park, there is a bush walk around the base of the rock that you can do that is 10.6 kms long and takes about 3.5 hours (we’re planning on doing that tomorrow). As you drive through the park, there is a parking lot specifically designed to watch the rock at sunset, which we did tonight and it was spectacular. The rock starts out this beautiful red adobe color but as the sun goes down, it starts to fade to purple. What a cool sight! The best part of all is that there was a full moon tonight and we got some great pictures of the full moon rising behind Uluru.

Sydney, Australia

Well, Sydney has turned out to be just as wonderful as we remember from when we were here six years ago. Unfortunately at that time, we only had a couple of days to explore so this week has really given us a great flavor for the city.

First off, we have once again lucked out with absolutely lovely weather the whole time we’ve been here. It has been just cool enough in the evenings to wear our light jackets, but otherwise our short sleeved shirts have been just fine. We did manage to buy some shorts and sandals for the rest of the trip, which should take us into warmer weather, so that’s been nice. We mailed back two boxes of our heavier clothing back home, so that has really freed up some space in our bags!

You might remember us mentioning a couple we met on our cruise through Milford Sound in New Zealand, Ian and Carol from Sydney. Well, they invited us to look them up when we got to town so they could show us around, so wee contacted them and arranged to get together last Saturday. Ian picked us up at our hotel and drove us to Carol’s condo, in the northern suburbs of Sydney. It’s a beautiful area with lots of rolling hills, heavily wooded with eucalyptus trees. Carol greeted us warmly and had even made a homemade date loaf for my birthday, complete with a sparkler in it! It was really tasty and kind of reminded me of banana bread. Anyway, they drove us around the coast north of Sydney to some spectacular lookouts over the ocean and bays and then we ended up at a great little dockside restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, Carol had tickets to the ballet that night which she couldn’t get out of, so after dropping her off we went to Ian’s house where he made us dinner. All in all, they were absolutely lovely hosts and really made our time in Sydney enjoyable.

For my birthday, we had decided to do the Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb. Not sure how many of you have heard of this experience, but it is quite a popular thing to do here. After you check in, you sign a release saying you won’t sue them for whatever might happen, etc., and then they give you a breath test to make sure you haven’t been drinking. Since our climb was at 2 p.m., it wasn’t too hard for us to stay off the sauce prior to heading up!!! Then you get all geared up in a jump suit, harness, and radio with headphones so you can hear your tour guide as you climb the bridge. Basically, you climb up a couple of stairways that are like climbing ladders and then you’re walking along the upper arch of the bridge along a sort of catwalk. It’s all very safe as the company has been doing this for years, and you’re clipped to a guide wire the whole time as well as having hand rails to hold on to. Let me tell you - the view from the top of that bridge is completely AMAZING!! We were about 500 feet above the water and had the entire harbour and city laid out below us with unobstructed views to the west of the Blue Mountains and to the east of the Pacific Ocean. Really something to remember. Of course, we couldn’t take our camera or any other personal belongings up on the bridge, so we purchased a CD with pictures on it from them and maybe down the road I can post some pictures from up there.

The entire event took about 3 hours and was well worth every penny. It was about 5 p.m. when we got back down and we had planned to have dinner at a restaurant I had researched before heading over to the Opera House for a blues performance that night. Unfortunately, we had left the tickets to the show in the hotel room! Since our hotel was about 10 blocks from the bridge, we jumped on a bus and zipped back down to the hotel. Once in the room, we went right to where we thought the tickets were but lo and behold - no tickets!!! We tore the room apart and just couldn’t find them. Poor Jim was really stressed as he just wanted me to have the perfect birthday so I suggested that we just head down to the Opera House and see what they could do to help us. To make a long story short, they very kindly printed out new tickets and we enjoyed a really fantastic show. Of course, what do you think happened when we got back to the room that night? Right - we found the tickets in a pile of paperwork we thought we had gone through……geez……

Some “Australian” we’ve learned:

Instead of “The road is packed with cars“, “the road is choc-a-block with cars”, and instead of “We had lots of fun”, “We had heaps (or loads) of fun.” And then, of course, there is the classic Aussie fashion of shortening so many words, so rather than breakfast, it’s brekky and sunglasses are sunnies. I know there are bunches of others we’ve heard, but they escape me right now! Suffice it to say, it’s quite an endearing way of speaking.

So, that’s our time in Sydney. We head out tomorrow morning for Uluru, or Ayers Rock, in the center of the country. It will be about a 2 hour flight and we’ll be out there until the 19th, when we fly to Perth on the southwestern corner of the country.

Hope all is well with everyone!!!

P.S.: I'll add more pictures shortly......internet issues......nuff said!!!!

Tasmania Day Two

Today was the big day - our zip line tour through the forest canopy!! Our tour was taking place at Hollybank Treetops Adventures, which was about a two hour drive north of where we were. We were really impressed with how well run the place was and how thorough and safety minded they were. There were about 10 of us that headed out and it ended up being a really fun group to spend three hours with. First, our two guides Jackie and Alex got us all rigged up in our harnesses and safety gear, and then we all went outside to do a practice run down a cable they had set up in back. Once they were satisfied with all of our abilities, we headed out for the actual trip. There were six “cloud stations”, which is what they call the platforms that have been built around the trees in the middle of the forest. Fortunately, the first run was not too high up or too far away for those of us still adjusting to the idea! Basically, our harnesses were clipped on to a pulley system attached to the overhead cables which ran the whole length of the track. There were six cloud stations with stretches of cable of varying lengths and heights between them. In a nutshell, it was TOTALLY cool and we would do it again in a heartbeat!! It’s hard to describe how amazing it feels to sail through the treetops above a valley with a river flowing below you…….it’s the closest thing to flying I’ve ever felt. We were instructed on how to tuck our legs in and do a “cannonball” run to really pick up speed on one of the longer runs and were also told that if we slowed down too much before we reached the station, we would have to sort of scoot our bodies forward to get our pullies close enough so the guide could get us hooked and pull us the last few feet to the station. Well, I was the first lucky one to somehow slow down - even though I thought I was going pretty fast - and I didn’t quite make it all the way to the station. So there I was, hanging I don’t know how far above the forest floor, with the guide telling me to do what they call “the walrus” and scoot and swing my body to make my pulley move up to where it needed to be. Now, I do actually have somewhat of a fear of heights which usually isn’t too bad if I’m not in a position to dwell on it. Hanging there, I either could have looked down (bad idea) and frozen in fear or just focus on the task at hand. Focus I did, though, and after a bit of swinging back and forth, I scooted up to where I needed to be and the guide pulled me in the rest of the way. Hooray!!! Now I’m ready for that Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb on my birthday!

Tomorrow, we’re going to head south from Hobart and explore the Tasman National Park on our way to Port Arthur, which was one of the first penal colonies in Australia. It sounds like we should see some really beautiful scenery on the way, so keep your fingers crossed! All in all, Tasmania has exceeded our expectations and we would definitely return here as there is so much more to see & do that we didn’t have time for on this trip.

Oh, we did get a CD of pictures from our treetop adventure, but since it’s on a disc and we don’t have a disc drive on the computer, I don’t think I can get any pictures of it on the blog for now…..darn!! If that changes, we’ll let you know for sure.

Tasmania Day One

After a 3 hour flight from Auckland to Melbourne, a 4 hour layover and then a 55 minute flight to Hobart, we arrived in Tasmania about 9 p.m. on Saturday. Fortunately Hobart is not huge or hard to get around, so after we collected our rental car, we made it to our cottage within the hour. Our accommodation is quite nice though not exactly what we expected. We’re basically just outside of town in a neighborhood overlooking the harbour and the city and our cottage is right next to the owner’s home. Suffice it to say, though, it has everything we need and since they also market themselves as a B&B, it was well stocked with a fresh loaf of local bread, cereal, yogurt, cereal and other necessary extras. The instructions from them explained that if we were arriving late the door to the cottage would be open and the keys inside, which is exactly how it turned out, but I have to say, it’s kind of weird staying so close to the owners of the place and not actually meeting them……oh well……

Our first full day we drove down to the harbour area of Hobart and walked around a bit to get the lay of the city. Hobart is Australia’s second oldest city and is ideally situated on a harbour that is ringed by petty hills and Mt. Wellington. One of our must do’s while we were here was to actually see a Tasmanian Devil so we had researched a bit and found a wildlife park called Bonorang Animal Park about 25 minutes out of town where they had Devils as well as other Australian animals. So, after our walk around the harbour area and a light lunch, we hopped back in the car and headed out towards Brighton, where the wildlife park is. The weather really cooperated for the most part and even though it was pretty chilly, at least the sun has been out.

Arriving at the wildlife park, we found out the next guided tour was at 2 p.m. and since we had about 45 minutes until then, we were each given a bag of treats to feed the friendly mob of kangaroos they had in the back field (yes, that’s what you call a group of kangaroos!). So off we went and, indeed, there were about 30-40 kangaroos relaxing in a field in the back of the compound. Now, we had fed kangaroos the last time we came to Australia in 2006, but it was still quite a site to see them start bounding towards us as we reached into our bags. I’m sure as many of you know, there are a variety of types of kangaroos, from very small tree wallabies to the huge red kangaroos you find in the Australian outback. These fellas were in the “medium’ range, standing about 4 feet tall and very sweet and friendly. We would hold our a handful of feed and they would very gently take it from our hands without any kind of nipping or jostling. And it was just as fun as the last time we did it!!

The tour was equally enjoyable. Our tour guide started with a wombat, which had been orphaned as a baby when his mother was hit by a car. Now, this was a real treat for me as I had always wanted to see a wombat and did not expect that we would get to see one on this trip. If you’re not familiar with what a wombat looks like, you should check them out - they are COMPLETELY adorable! They’re the largest burrowing marsupial, and they basically look like a big, fat ball of fur. Apparently, road kill is a big problem on Tasmanian highways, and what happened to his mother is not an uncommon story. He was still in her pouch when he was found, and according to what the guide said, a baby in the pouch can actually live on for a few days after their mother has been killed. Well, this little guy was about 12 months old and so darn cute - he was chasing the guide around, nipping at his heels and then he would just pick him up and snuggle him in his arms while he talked about him……too cute!! Interestingly, wombats have a layer of hard cartilage on their butts which protects them from predators. If a dog or whatever chases them into a burrow they tuck their bodies into a ball so that just their backside is exposed and it becomes much harder for the predator to bite through this tough layer.

We then moved on to see the star of the park, the Tasmanian Devils. Cute little devils they are with some very unique features. Their young are born after only 21 days gestation and are about the size of a grain of rice when they come out. They have the largest litters of any marsupial, with the mother having as many as 20-25 babies. Since she only has four nipples in her pouch, however, a lot of the young simply don’t make it beyond the 21 days. The devils are about the size of a house cat (think Seamus, Jeannie & Deb) or a small dog and all of them look the same because they‘re genetically identical, with mostly black hair and a few white marks on their backside. They are also carnivores, and often eat road kill, which is one of the reasons they’re endangered because they will wander onto the highway to have a nibble at something and get hit by a car. In addition, there is a contagious skin cancer among the wild population here that has also significantly reduced their numbers.

Finally, the guide brought out one of the two koala bears they have at the park, but explained that these two guys were donated to the park as they don’t naturally occur on Tasmania and are only found on the mainland of Australia in either the tropical north and in South Australia. Also really cute buggers and just as fun to be around as the last time we were in Australia.

We finished up at the wildlife park about 4 p.m. and realized we still had time to visit one of the newest big attractions in Hobart, the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). This place just opened in January of this year and was, for both of us, one of the absolute coolest and most interesting museums we’d been to. In addition to the museum they have a restaurant and winery on the property as well as overnight accommodations. The exhibits were all really modern, some very wild, and altogether totally cool. If you want to learn more about it, click here. Nuff said…….

New Zealand Photo Album

Hey Folks,

Below is a photo album of some of our favorite New Zealand pictures.......so hard to decide!

Enjoy!

Back in Auckland

We spent the last two nights with the campervan in an absolutely beautiful place called Orewa Beach, which is just 30 minutes or so north of Auckland. The holiday park was right on the beach and the beachcombing was awesome - we found some really amazing shells! The best part of being there, though, was meeting Maerushia & Ralph.......this is a great story........

Jim and I decided to go for a walk along the beach that cut back around the estuary and back into town (according to the map). Well, it was a gorgeous walk and the path ran awhile behind people's houses that backed up to the estuary. At one point, we noticed the cutest little dog sitting in the middle of the pathway ahead of us. When we got up to her, another dog joined her and they were both really friendly and as we petted her, a window opened at the house where she lived and a really friendly woman asked us which one we wanted (joking, of course!). So we chatted with her and her husband for a bit and they asked where we were from, etc., and wished us well on the rest of our trip. We continued on our way but at some point, the pathway wound into a newly built subdivision and as it was getting dark, we noticed that we were no longer on the pathway but on a regular sidewalk and even the streetlights weren't even on. There had been another couple walking behind us, so we pulled out our map and asked them if they knew whether or not the path wound back into town, but they had no idea - and they were locals! So, we decided to just turn around and head back the way we came. Well, as we walked past the house with the dogs again, the owners stepped outside on the deck again and we ended up chatting some more. Turns out their names were Maerushia and Ralph and they asked if we'd like them to show us around Auckland that night - can you believe it?! Well, we couldn't pass up an offer like that, so we decided to meet up in about a half hour or so, which gave us just enough time to rush back to the campervan and get changed.

These two wonderful people turned out to be the friendliest hosts we could have asked for! Ralph is a doctor at one of the hospitals in town and Maerushia is a clinical psychologist. They ended up driving us around to see the main sights of Auckland and then we went to a favorite spot of theirs for some delicious hot chocolate. As if that wasn't enough, they also wanted to show us their sailboat, which they keep anchored in a lovely marina in the shadow of downtown Auckland. So, we picked up some light snacks and drove to the marina where we spent a couple of hours on their gorgeous 43 foot sailboat. On the way back to Orewa, they asked if we would be interested in having dinner on the boat the next night - their generosity was just too much!

Of course, we agreed, so after dropping off the campervan this afternoon, they picked us up at the hotel tonight around 5 p.m. and off we went. Maerushia had prepared a wonderful spread of tasty appetizers and then for dinner, we had some delicious pasta with homemade sauce. We had picked up some nice wine as a thank you for being such generous hosts so we had that to enjoy as well. On top of all that, we had a terrific cruise around Auckland Harbour, under the bridge and along the downtown waterfront. Ralph even pointed out the Southern Cross in the sky, which was so cool since, of course, we had never seen that constellation living in the northern hemisphere. As an added bonus, they had brought their pet rabbit, Humphrey, onto the boat with us and he was so adorable! He's a small, fawn colored lop eared bunny and just as sweet as can be.........well, towards me, anyway......he ended up nipping Maerushia a couple of times! They really couldn't have been nicer and our chance encounter with them is the perfect example of the serendipitous experiences that are the best part of traveling for us. You make these wonderful connections with people and end up making great friends. We told them we would definitely be returning to New Zealand in the future and would definitely stay in touch and also encouraged them to think about visiting us in Seattle so we could have the opportunity to host them as well. Ahhhhh........life really is good, isn't it?????

In the Land of Rainbows and Giants

The sun was streaming in the campevan windows when we woke up, so we knew it was bound to be a good day and as we stepped outside, we were greeted by a perfect rainbow as well……it was bound to be a good day! After breakfast and showering, we were on our way to the Waipoua Forest to see the Kauri trees. The rain from last night had mostly blown away with just some light mist falling through the bright morning sun, and as we rounded a bend in the hilly, verdant countryside of the North Island, we came face to face with one of the most beautiful sites either one of us could recall. A second rainbow of the day arched over this absolutely stunning green valley with the Tasman Sea in the distance……WOW!!! As you can see, we quickly stopped to snap some pictures and it is truly a moment neither one of us will never forget.

We made it to the Waipoua Forest and learned a little more about the famous Kauri trees of the area at the visitor center. These ancient trees are all that’s left of forests that used to cover New Zealand before the arrival of man on these shores. Turns out, Kauri trees grow VERY slowly and the woman at the visitor center explained that even a tree that is thirty years old would only be up to your hip……pretty interesting. Consequently, most of the Kauri trees that are seen in the forest are young by Kauri standards - probably hundreds to maybe a thousand years old but there are just a handful of the oldest trees that are a must see due to their age and size. I hadn’t researched what a Kauri tree actually looks like and for some reason I was expecting something that looked more like the evergreen trees we see in the Northwest, but these trees look more like deciduous trees (although the woman at the visitor center didn’t think they ever lose their leaves), with very straight, sold trunks that reach quite a height before branching out. They sort of reminded me of the Bilbao trees that are found in Madagascar or, more comically, a grander version of the Keebler Elf tree. Anyway, we walked down a few different trails to see the main trees, which were The Four Sisters (an impressive stand of four ancient trees growing very close together), Te Matua Ngahere (Maori for “Father of the Forest“) and Tane Mahuta (Moari for “Lord of the Forest“). The trails were wooden walkways raised up off the forest floor, which is done to prevent people from walking on and damaging the very shallow feeding roots of the Kauri trees. To say these massive trees are impressive when you walk up to them would certainly be the understatement of the day. They‘re huge!!! Tane Mahute is estimated to be 2000 years old, the trunk height 17.7 meters, total height 51.5 meters, trunk girth 13.8 meters, trunk volume 244.5 meters. Maybe it was the fact that there was no one else around and we were surrounded by nothing more than the sounds of the forest, but to sit in the presence of such a massive, ancient living thing is humbling beyond words……it really does provide perspective on where we, as humans, stand in the natural world.

Having gotten our fill of these grand trees - although I don’t know if that’s even possible since I could have stayed there all day - we headed south towards Auckland. Since we weren’t overly impressed with the “emergency” holiday park we stayed at last night, we decided to find one closer to Auckland for our last two nights with the campervan. We remembered passing through a very picturesque town on the way up to the Waipoua Forest called Orewa Beach, so we checked and sure enough, there was a holiday park perfectly situated on the beach in the middle of town, so we decided to head down that way.

Once we got here, we were so glad we picked this spot! It’s literally right on the beach, yet still in the middle of town so it’s easy to walk to all kinds of shops and restaurants. It was pretty windy when we arrived and as we walked out to the beach, we saw a number of guys kite surfing on the waves and going pretty darn fast. Looks like fun!! Hmmm……maybe another hobby to look into down the road. Anyway, we’re here until we turn the campervan back in the 4th so we’ll see what else there is to report about this place tomorrow……

Baylys Beach

We got an early start this morning and headed out of The Coromandel about 8:30. The wind howled all night and in listening to the weather report, it sounded like the tail end of a tropical depression was brushing the area. So probably a good time to get away from that part of the coast! Fortunately, since we were headed up the Northland area of the North Island, we didn’t have to drive back through all of the twisty, windy roads we took up to The Coromandel, but were able to cut across, once we got far enough south, to the main highway that runs up through to Auckland and on to the Northland. The drive up was fine, though pretty windy at times. We stopped at a tourist information center just south of Auckland to inquire about the weather conditions further north and the woman was nice enough to call up to another information center in that area to see what they knew. She reported that everything was fine as far as they knew and no roads were closed. So, after filling up and having a quick bite, were back on the road. We got within about 60 km of our holiday park when we came upon a roadblock……yikes! The road maintenance guy explained that a power line was down and the road was closed until further notice and he proceeded to give us some very convoluted directions on how to bypass the road to get where we were going. Geez!!!! We decided we needed a plan B and after looking at our holiday park book, found one just outside of the town of Dargaville, which we had just passed. In looking at the map, it looked like it wouldn’t be that much further to get to the Kauri Forest from there than the original park, so we turned around and headed that direction. The place is pretty nice and not very crowded since it is Sunday night, so that’s good. After parking and plugging in, we took a walk to the beach, which to be honest, was not nearly as impressive as the last beach we were on. This particular beach is a very wide, flat sandy beach on the west side of the island that people can drive on if they want to. Kind of reminded us of Long Beach on the Washington coast, for our Seattle friends. In addition, it was pretty darn windy and the sand was blowing in our eyes at times which wasn’t so fun, but despite all that, we were still able to get a nice long walk in and collect some pretty cool looking shells. So, we’re tucked in for the night and planning on heading to see the famous Kauri trees tomorrow……

The Coromandel

The area where we’ve been the last two days is called The Coromandel, which is a peninsula on the east coast of the North Island. I have to say, I’m so glad we decided to stay here two nights so we’d have more time to explore because it really is stunning scenery. From the holiday park, we walked a trail to Cathedral Cove, which is about an hour and a half hike (or as the Kiwis call it, a ‘tramp”). The weather was perfect yet again, with sunny skies and temps in the upper 60’s to around 70, so we couldn’t have ordered better. The hike takes you up around an outcropping, through dense forest of evergreens and tree ferns. The whole time we were on the trail, you could hear the roar of the waves below on the beach and when you go to the top of the trail, the views were truly breathtaking. We were able to look down on the beach where our campervan was parked, all across the bay and the numerous islands that dot it around to the north where Cathedral Cove lay. When we finally got to Cathedral Cove, it was a bit of a letdown only in the fact they have the area underneath the stone arch blocked off due to the risk of falling rocks, so you don’t actually get to stand under the arch, but it’s still a pretty cool geological phenomena.

Once back at the campervan, we were got to know our neighbors next door over a glass of wine, Lynn and Barry, and Lynn’s sister Robin. They are all from the Auckland area and just delightful to hang out with. They were here for a wedding that was taking place down on the beach not too far from the holiday park. We ended up exchanging information with them and plan on ringing them up when we get back to Auckland and go out to dinner. That’s probably the best part of travel - meeting nice people and making those fun connections that really make travel memorable.

Well, because we stayed her two nights instead of one, we had to revise the rest of our itinerary and expectations (probably more me than Jim since I’m that one that likes to go, go, go!) and instead of trying to make it all the way to the very tip of the North Island and a couple of other places in the three days we have left with the campervan, we’re going to go straight over to the West Coast and stay in one place for those days. We found a holiday park near the famous Kauri Forest, which apparently are some of the oldest trees in New Zealand, with fossilized specimens dating back millions of years. So it will be nice to just be in one place and soak up some more nature before we head back to the city on the 4th.

Sounds like the wind is picking up - we can really hear the wind and waves tonight……should be nice to fall asleep to!

Rotorua to Hahei Beach

We left Rotorua for the Hahei Beach, in the Coromandel region of the North Island. We talked with the camp mangers at the Cozy Cottage Holiday Park in Rotorua and they recommended a holiday park right on the beach which was managed by a friend of theirs. So off we went on what we expected to be no more than a 3 hour drive. Well, even though it wasn’t that many kilometers, the road up to the Coromandel is quite twisty and curvy and because we had to go so much slower, we didn’t get to the holiday park until about 3:30. The terrain - I’m sure you’re going to get sick of hearing me say this! - was really gorgeous, with rolling hills that were so green, I really can’t describe the color……it was like the hills were covered with bright green velvet. Portions of the road also wound through a mountainous area filled tree ferns and evergreens. Another plant we’ve seen a LOT of all through New Zealand that is plentiful up here as well is the New Zealand Flax. It grows in large clumps and is found literally everywhere on both islands. After first seeing it, I remembered when we were in Boise I went to the nursery and bought a New Zealand Flax plant for the yard, and now I can see why - they’re so plentiful, they can easily be exported! Besides the flax, there is also lots and lots of pampas grass growing everywhere, which adds a really nice contrast to the green hills with their white plumes.

Like I said, after all the twisting and turning, we finally made it here and were able to score a beachfront site, so from the back of our campervan, we can actually see the waves rolling on the beach. There’s a path behind us that we can take down to the beach, so as soon as we got the campervan hooked up to the electricity, we locked up and went for a stroll along the beach. There are numerous outcroppings in the ocean, so it makes for pretty dramatic scenery with the waves crashing against the rocks. This area is famous for Cathedral Rock, which is a natural stone arch on a white sand beach. According to the information from the holiday park, it’s just an hour and a half walk down the beach, so we’ll plan on doing that tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a great area for kayaking, so maybe we’ll be able to rent a couple of kayaks and explore.

The other big attraction in this area is called Hot Water Beach. It’s just south of us and from what I understand there are thermal springs that well up under the beach, so for two hours on either side of low tide, you can take a spade to the beach and dig your own hot tub - how fun does that sound??!! We’ll try to fit that in tomorrow afternoon.

Well, that’s it for now…..Patsy Cline is playing and she’s starting to make us a little drowsy…….Buenos Noches to all…….