will I remember how to do it next time?
only 2 hours to go and all our worldly possessions packed into 2. 23 kg cases. And you know who's got the bigger case don't you. Yes, Mick - it's the shoes!
It finally came and we are now in Amritsar on our first day. Off to explore shortly and I think an early night. It's been quite a gruelling day of travel.
Well what a day! Overslept, missed breakfast, but have taken in so many sights of Amritsar. 35 degrees and very dusty, noisy, vibrant, crowded and exciting. Amritsar is having a face lift for Diwali in a fortnights time. So much work being done.
well it's goodbye Amritsar Hello Delhi.
Amritsar has left a huge imprint on Mick, firstly his left foot was run over by a trolley at the airport, secondly he was hit in the eye by a woman throwing her shawl over her shoulder and finally his right foot was run over by a fully laden tricycle. The silver lining is that it cured his vertigo ( temporarily, of course!)
what a fabulous day. We can't really put into words how we felt upon seeing the Taj Mahal. Outstanding, amazing, wonderful, incredible, they just don't do it justice It was well worth the 3 1/2 hour ride to see it, although we had our hearts in our mouths through the Delhi traffic. There's just no rules, its each man for himself [or donkey/ horse / cow/ dog/ oxen / water buffalo or pedestrian!)
we travelled for about an hour by tuc tuc to visit Mick's uncle. Saw sights we'll never forget. Whole families and communities sleeping in road reservations and under bridges. Funeral procession, Friday roadside prayers, so many breathtaking near miss collisions on the journey. A day not to forget
gGot up early 2 days running but worth it , especially Jaipur. Seeing is believing. But wifi leaves a lot to be desired!!
IAbsolutely magnificent. The Akshardham Temple is breathtaking. The carvings in sandstone are beyond belief. It looks like an elaborately decorated iced cake, so delicately and intricately carved. Fantastic. It's goodbye India and hello Singapore tomorrow.
Thank you, Mattie, for asking your cousin, William to be our guide today, and thank you William for a fantastic day, even though we had some torrential rainstorms. From China Town, the Buddhist Temple, the Harbour, cable car, Senatosa Island, shopping malls, sampling local foods and travelling both underground and overground absolutely everything was brilliant. A wonderful start to our stay in Singapore
Thanks Rob, a great choice. Even Mick was enthralled? The creativity of the design and planning is incredible. We will never see such a setting or such a multitude of rare and exotic plants in our lives. Truely Fabulous. A must for anyone visiting Singapore.
Had a wonderful meal at Raffles with a bill to match, but, hey ho, only 65 once. After the torrential downpour this morning we went to the botanical Garden and orchard Garden. Another great day out.
We have our time here, but now it's time for stage 3 and Japan here we come.
But this time Japan. A fantastic find and only 300m away, who'd believe it. And then happening on shrines and temples whilst exploring the local area. So far so good. Quiet, clean ( lots of electric cars keeping noise and pollution down) and wonderfully polite people
we didn't end up where we intended as after buying our Tokyo metro ticket we could only use it on limited lines as others were run by different companies. Still the day wasn't lost and besides visiting central Tokyo and 3 other prefectures we negotiated our way through Shinjuku station ( the world's busiest) got our Japan rail passes and booked the bullet train to Kyoto for tomorrow and the express train to Mount Fuji for Friday. Not too bad for 2 OAPs, eh!
From the bustle of busy stations to the serenity of nature. We managed our travel so well, more by luck than design, as we found a tour bus within minutes of getting off the bullet train in Kyoto. The only problem was that we were the only non Japanese sightseers on the bus and consequently couldn't understand a word of what the guide was saying, still enjoyed it, though.
Well we did have another senior moment again. We got off the metro at what we thought was the right stop for the Meiji Jingu Shrine and eventually, after a 40 minute walk, found the Shrine, only to find a metro station 200m away! Still we did walk off breakfast! And the silver lining was the beautiful autumnal sun.
A fabulous day with outstanding views and scenery. I couldn't,t capture it with my phone,sorry. There was even a shrine at 2,400m. I don't know why that surprised me. We ended the day with a traditional Japanese meal with traditional Japanese seating which was great until it was time for us to stand up again! Our joints just aren't as well oiled as they used to be.
Glorious warm sunshine and clear blue sky backdropped our day at Mt Kakao. We've made a mental note to not repeat a visit at the weekend though as it was packed with Japanese families having a weekend outing from Tokyo. Good museum, local crafts, traditional performances and of course food and souvenirs.
we're so pleased we went to Osaka. It was very different. The first pagodas that we have seen and some lovely more traditional lanes with older buildings around the Shitennoji Temple area. It is so understated and so magnificent. We!d certainly recommend it.
We knew that there wouldn't be a wrestling tournament until January but did hope to catch a glimpse of them training but unfortunately it wasn't,t to be, the stable was empty, the sumos had bolted. If only we had known we would have gone when we first arrived. Never mind we still had a good day and enjoyed the traditional neighbouring district of Asakusa, with the obligatory ancient temple.
Another day to remember. Japan has been so full of them. Just when you think you've seen it all another fabulous Temple comes along. About 2 hours from Tokyo and quite high up in beautiful mountainous countryside is Nikko's world heritage site. You could spend an entire day here. And the autumnal colours were an added bonus.
We've just got used to the money and now it's time to move on so it's goodbye Japan and hello Australia but we're not looking forward to the travel. A hiccup with connecting flight from Cairns to Darwin has added another 10 hours on to the trip so we'll be totally cream crackered by the time we arrive.
Arrived in Darwin midday yesterday with 3 cheers for common sense? We were allowed to fly direct from Cairns to Darwin rather than the rescheduled flight we'd been given of flying to Darwin via Adelaide. Have been to Lichfield National Park today in the outback and Howard Springs. We,vevwalked in a monsoon forest, seen quite unique scenery topped by waterfalls, a myriad of termite mounds and rounded off by a stroll on a beach at sunset. Beat that!
over 40 degrees and a 3 hour drive but certainly worth it. The park is in Aborigini territory so we needed a special pass to enter but wow so pleased we did. Our only regret was that we didn't have longer. We weren't able to take the Aborogini river cruise as it's too late in the season and the only trips were at 5 and 9 a.m , far too early for us. The Northern Territory is really unique and well worth seeing
The first lie in for I don't know when followed by a relaxing day in Darwin. First a visit to the Royal Flying Doctor Service which we can thoroughly recommend, it also combines with the history of the bombing of Darwin during World War 2 with a spectacular virtual reality experience. Well worth a visit. We followed up with the museum and Botanical Gardens. Altogether an enjoyable day. Tomorrow night we leave for Cairns and on to Daintree where we're having b&b in a zoo. I only hope that they let us out again.
wow, I can't believe that it was only this morning when we woke up in that fabulous colonial house after arriving from the airport at 11.30 last night. We drove along Captain Cook Highway (nothing to do with cricket) stopping and taking in the views before arriving at Mossman Gorge. All of you who have been there know just how wonderful it is. Our favourite was the circuit walk in the rainforest and coming upon Wurrmbu Creek, but I must admit that I was continually on the lookout for snakes. I'm such a wuss! We finished off with dinner a the local in Daintree, a great experience in itself.
we love the wild life b& b and can thoroughly recommend it, so handy for Cape Tribulation. The visitor centre allows you to see the rainforest at 3 different levels and photos just can't do it justice. The beach at Cape Tribulation was wonderfully long and sandy but there had been a recent crocodile sighting according to the sign ( it seems that everywhere we has had a recent croc sighting! ) On the move again tomorrow to Port Douglas.
we're taking the opportunity to relax a while, reorganise the cases and do some washing. It was fabulous to see the cassowary with her chicks, unfortunately we couldn't capture it on camera, it all happened so quickly, but it's a memory we'll treasure.
We had 1 1/2 hr sail to the Agincourt Platoon. A bit of a bumpy crossing but after 2 sea sick tablets Mick was alright. We had the best of both worlds as Mick wasn't swimming so we went out in a submersible and actually saw a green turtle, but it wouldn't stay still long enough for a photo shoot! We went to an underwater observation room when the fish were being fed and saw some huge fish as well as decorative ones. I had a fabulous snorkelling experience,albeit with a buoyancy aid, and was absolutely thrilled by being so close to the fish and coral. A fabulous day.
From Port Douglas to Townsville with stops at Cairns, Cardwell and Tully on the way. Not too impressed by Cairns but loved Tully and Cardwell, 2 very different places. Townsville is full of character and charm, such a beautiful place. No wifi at our apartment so we're nestled in the library. Off to Magnetic Island tomorrow on the ferry.
John Milton should have paid Magnetic Island a visit. It was absolutely idyllic. We went to Horseshoe Bay first which was a little more rugged, but there seemed to be a film of oil on the water so we moved on to Picnic Bay and wow it was everything a beach should be. The water was 28 degrees and a big safe swimming area with only about a dozen or so other people there. Brilliant Now we're in Mackay.
Another fabulous day spent cruising the Whitsundays, visiting 2 of them briefly and then enjoying the sanctuary of Whitehaven beach which is apparently in the top 10 of the world's best beaches - and we've been there! Can't quite believe it. It's totally unspoilt. There is one tiny soft drinks station and that's your lot. The silicone sand reflects heat so is cool and comfortable to walk on. There was a possibility of stingers in the water, hence the suits. And whoever thought that Lycra was sexy just hasn't seen Mick and I kitted out for swimming!
Eungella is famed for being the home of the elusive platypus, and it was truly that today, elusive, although we did see 2 wild peacocks! The scenery was excellent with mountains, creeks and gorges and, of course, sugar cane. This is huge sugar cane country and produces over half of the domestic market. Our treat today was lunching at the Pinnacle Pub and having their scrumptious home made pie. Now, I'm not usually a pie person but this was the cordon bleu of pies honestly. People travel for over 100km just for the pies! I'm not kidding.on the move again tomorrow, heading for Rockhampton.
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we are at Lannemoor only about 250m from a fabulous quiet beach and about 20 miles from Rockhampton. We enjoyed the aboriginal cultural centre but our boomerang throwing was absolutely awful, we just haven't got the wrist action! Rockhampton was very quiet and had some lovely older buildings as well as the river and parks,
The heritage centre spanned 100 years of Rockhampton with a range of original buildings depicting the life styles of families. We finished in Emu Park which had the best tributes to it's world war victims that I've ever seen with life stories and photos of each lost soldier in a truly wonderful setting.
Murray Lagoon was a real treat, and a little down time before moving on tomorrow towards Maryborough, the home of the Author of 'Mary Poppins'.
No wifi for a few days but O.K. now. We had a great time on the Capricorn coast - pelicans and Mick' s legs. Then we moved on to Uranagang near Harvey Bay where we visited Fraser Island, the world's largest sand Island and a world heritage site. It is an absolutely fabulous place. Has something for everyone but only accessible by 4 wheel drives as mostly sand tracks. The waters are crystal clear and pure, there is an ancient rainforest, a shipwreck and fabulous lakes, a geographer's heaven as much of the geography is unique to the island. We also took a 20 minute flight over the island which was exhilarating, my only concern was that Mick was in the co pilot's seat but much to my relief he wasn't allowed to take control. And I couldn't elieve my luck in spotting that dingo at the end of the day. We are now in Brisbane and had a good drive down stopping in at Noosa Head on the Sunshine Coast and then crossing to the Blackwell range to Mapleton National Park before arriving here this evening.
The 14th stop in our journey to date. We've used local transport to explore the heritage trail in Brisbane, but it has been very hot and walking became uncomfortable so today we went to Australia Zoo, Steve Irwin's baby and still following his ideals. We ended the day in Calaunder on the Sunshine Coast, a place I'd certainly return to. It has several beaches with varying challenges. Loved the atmosphere there. We've had 3 storms consecutively over the last 3 nights, but still hot during th day.
we drove to Bellingen via Byron Bay, much nicer than the Gold Coast, just at the bottom,less bling, more charm and more suitable for wide age range. Bellingen reminded us of the rolling green hills back home, could be the Peak District but peaks are much higher, Mount Dorrigo is over 1200 ft and the scenery is good. Much colder though, only 24 and for the first time in arriving in Oz we have worn long sleeves and trousers, how ridiculous, back home we'd think we were having a heat wave. Lots of good food and live music in Bellingen and a lot of 'north London type older hippies, like at the Haye Festival. Moving on to Sydney tomorrow
yes we just had to take those iconic photos, we'll what else do tourists do. We've had a great day using our opal cards for trains and ferries We've visited Manley beach and walked through The Rocks, looking at the oldest part of Sydney and the Cove where the first serttlers arrived. Another day of sightseeing tomorrow.
whoever said that Australia was sun and blue skies got it seriously wrong for the last few days. It's been grey and wet and down to 16 degrees. It's certainly cured any home sickness that we might have been having.
Paul, my brother, turned up? The last person I would have expected in Botany Bay. We all went to the Blue, or should I say Grey Mountains, where there was limited visibility due to persistent rain. We could easily have even back home in Wales!
Mick and I met up with 2 friends of a friend for lunch in Sydney and had the most wonderfully memorable meal with 2 vivacious, fun loving, vibrant and warm octogenarians.
On the way to Canberra we stopped in the mist to see Lake George. The first time in over 30 years that the grassy plane has returned to a lake. Just shows how much rain we've been having.
wifi last place only available whilst standing in the shower! Needless to say, no blog done. Canberra, although purpose built for government, has been built around the shores of Lake Burlie Griffin and has a range of hills surrounding it, the highest being The black Mountain where we found the parrots and the Telestra Tower. I had found 2 cockatoos so close to me but stood on an ants nest when attempting to capture the moment. Didn't think I could still run so fast.
In Wodonga now, Snowy mountains
We've enjoyed a couple of days in the Snowy moumtain foothills and day tripping to the Snowy Mountains. On the way to Carryong we found a pub and a school together, no church, and no houses, Kuetong, It was old in Australian terms, 1886, and we thought we would have lunch there as we hadn't seen anything else for about 30 miles and would you believe it it was shut on that day. The countryside is beautiful and we' re now in Melbourne, adultlings arrive tomorrow morning and Ian 11.30 tonight. Can' t wait.
A great day today, Ian arrived last night and the adultlings this morning. It's so good to see them all again. We've just spent the day relaxing, catching up with just a touch of local exploration. The Lygon Road is just a few minutes walk away with a host of multi National restaurants, a huge range to choose from. Lucky us.
It's just so different. Sunshine, and hardly anybody in the city centre, couldn't believe how quiet it was. It's so nice to have the family here. Couldn't be better.
We had a fantastic Christmas, beginning with drinks at my cousin, Rob's, followed by dinner at cousin Kim's with a dip in the pool, a visit from Santa and a jamming session. Truely a Christmas to remember. The Boxing Day Test today was a bit of a disaster, rain stopped play (I can't believe the trouble my cousins have gone to to make us feel at home!)
It's so true what they say about Melbourne weather. We had tremendous gusts of wind, a torrential storm that lasted on and off the whole day - I've never seen so much rain and it still felt like 30 degrees. We got absolutely drenched, but at least our clothing didn't become transparent like some unfortunate folks but we still managed a little bit of sightseeing. We ended up with a family meal,16 of us, at Lygon Street. A good ending to a very wet day.
I still haven't seen a wild kangaroo, except as street pizza, but have seen a colony of blue penguins on Philip Island. Who would believe it! We had a spectacular view of the fireworks on New Years Eve from our 10th floor balcony, I think we could have made a fortune if we'd sold tickets. Have done a walking tour of Melbourne and taken ferry to Williams town where a cycling race was being run. The weather has improved and now back to blue skies and good temperatures. Hopefully St. Kilder tomorrow
we are at Saint Leonard's, just a little way away from the Great Ocean Road. Paul is with us and we shall travel along the Ocean Road tomorrow, so hopefully we should have some good photos
An early start today. We picked up the road at Torquay around 9 and stopped off at vantage points and places of interest along the way. The temperature hit 38, so different to the 16 of a few days ago. One of the most magical moments was capturing a look at the koalas en route and of course the 12 apostles and sandstone cliffs. The scenery has been spectacular as have the views. We're stopping overnight in Warrnambool and moving on again tomorrow.
Can't believe how lucky we've been with our accommodation. We've met fantastic and knowledgeable people who have helped us along our way and stayed in some wonderful places. Today is no exception, we have a beach front bungalow in Tennyson lwhere our back garden (yard) meets the beach in a lovely residential area. I could just sit in the lounge and stare out at the changing colours of the sky at sunset, something which I think will stay with me for a long time to come.
We stayed at Tanunda in the Barossa Valley and took the scenic tour incorporating about 20 wineries en route. We only wine tasted at 3 which was quite enough for me, Mick was spitting them out, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that with such good quality wine! We bought 3 bottles and could quite easily have bought more, but for once in my life I knew when to stop!
we are wonderfully situated in Skye near Maglin, 2/3 up the hill with only one other home at the bottom and one at the top. The air is full of eucalyptus, a great place to be if you have a cold, and wonderful for our neighbours, the koala. We can see them in the trees, grunting , eating and of course sleeping. I don't think I'll ever tire of this view!
Lots of cyclists around at the moment preparing for the Big Down Under Tour in Adelaide and surrounding areas. We don't need to worry about them holding us up on the hills as they're usually going much faster than us on the twisting roads! We began the day with a visit from a neighbour, a wonderful start to the day and have been sightseeing around the Hills, Stirling, Mount Barker and Bridgwater. Now it's off to sit on the patio with a glass of Barossa wine and do a bit of neighbourhood watching. Oh, it's such a hard life!
we visited the Fleurieu Peninsula today and had yet another beautiful day. The horse drawn tram ride was such a delight, probably the first and last time we'll ever travel that way. Granite island was pretty spectacular with the 200,O00 tons of granite in it's breakwater. And I'm iin danger of running out of superlatives in describing the journey from Victor Harbor through to Port Noarlunga. Exquisite, spectacular, breathtaking and unforgettable, only Four of the many adjectives I could use to describe the journey. A perfect ending for a perfect day
we landed in Australia on November 11th and apart from street pizza and icaptive we have not seen a single wild kangaroo, only a couple of wallabies. So today we were determined to find kangaroos. We knew we'd see some at the wild life park so we started there and were aptly rewarded, but it wasn't the same as in the wild, so we headed to Kangaroo Creek. We put it in the Sat Nav and set off. The original 16km somehow changed to 20 km after 15 mins and imagine our surprise when it suddenly changed to 2360 km, taking us to N. S. W. An hour later we were almost back to our starting point with, yes, 16km on the Sat Nav..We found a Gorge on, of course, Gorge Road, and a Reservoir but not a single sighting of a kangaroo at Kangaroo Creek. It must be the perfume I'm wearing.
Well, certainly a day to remember. After passing through Renmark, a pretty town on the banks of the Murray we arrived at Mildura, a place we were destined to be as we found the most wonderful of combinations, a microbrewery serving excellent food. A marriage made in heaven!
Yesterday, when travelling to Horsham, we went to Hattah National Park. We went about 10 miles into unsealed roads on our trek to find wild kangaroos but, yet again, had no luck, although the landscape was quite spectacular, harsh and unforgiving, true outback territory. We decided to give up the ghost and forget about the kangaroos as it was becoming quite an obsession. Today we went on Halls Gap through the Grampian National Park and then back into the Park again via the road to Horsham on our return journey and, gosh, what did we see? Kangaroos and emus plus magnificent scenery and the spectacularly majestic McKenzie Falls in full flow. A very special day
Firstly, thank you, Rob for recommending a visit to Port Fairy. We've had yet another fabulous day. We started at Tower Hil Wildlife reserve set within a volcanic crater and it's hinterland. Here we walked the peak trail and saw a kangaroo en route and after a strenuous climb we were rewarded with magnificent views and after our descent we saw several emus strolling along quite unperturbed by our presence. We followed this with a walk to Griffin Island to the lighthouse, again with wonderful scenery and bird life in abundance. Later we drove to the Crags, steep in Aborigini history, and understood why when we saw the rocks and the volcanic island off shore. Finally we went to Port Fairy wharf and East Beach for an ice cream. Now settled in with a nice glass of red!
We are actually living in an historic building in Maldon. The town has been preserved very much as it was at the turn of the century when it flourished with 2 goldmines literally on its doorstep. It is quaint and proud of its history. It also boasts the fire observation tower which is manned during the summer season for, I think, 14 hours a day. Maldon is basically in the centre of Victoria and has Castlemaine and Maryborough relatively close to it, in Australia terms!
It's been a great week for socialising. You can tell we're in Australia, how many of us consider it normal to travel over an hour for a local family celebration. Carisruhe, at Hedges Farm winery was a fabulous place to celebrate a birthday on Sunday. Three of us also went off the radar to 'look around' the cottage that was up for rental. We had seriou Goldilocks moments trying out the furniture and bathroom appliances, but it was great fun. The following day we met up with Rod and Val, our neighbours from home, and had a fantastic night at Alana and Jeff's catching up. We enjoyed a true Aussie BBQ, with, of course, true Aussie wine. A good time had by all. Off to see Springsteen tonight and having a magical mystery tour directed ny our personal travel advisor, cosin Rob.
We've had a fabulous last week in Melbourne enjoying the company and hospitality of Kim and Rick and Rob and Sue, our fantastic cousins in Oz. We've also met up with friends, Val and Rod, and met their ncreasing family circle. The week has incorporated rock concerts, wine tastings, family meals, birthday celebrations, sight seeing and a day out with family elders to Ballarat. Rob has been our wonderful trip advisor who has shown us aspects of Melbourne and it's surrounds that we'd never have discovered. A big thank you to everyone who has made our Australian trip so enjoyable and memorable.
After being scanned for explosives when leaving Melbourne and then the Sat Nav sending us to the hillsides in dwindling light and eventually taking us off road for 16 km in darkness with twisty steep bends ending up on Crows Nest Road (at which point I was so pleased that the darkness hid the sheer drops) we were so pleased to wake up to a brilliant blue sky and sunshine. Our first day in New Zealand couldn't have got off to a better start. It is Waitangi Day, the anniversary of the signing of the treaty with The Maori people, the day that N. Z. became the nation of today and we were only 2 km from the treaty ground. There has been a day long celebration and it has been a privilege to have been able to share it. We've also visited some local attractions and are seeing some breathtaking scenery.
Our introduction to NZ just couldn't be any better. We took a ferry across to Russel and learnt a little about local history at the museum and then enjoyed a Bay of Islands cruise. We were almost the last ones on and ended up with probably some of the best views on board. A pod of dolphins were literally metres away, including a mother and baby, truely wonderful to see. We stopped at an island and walked to fabulous view points which we just couldn't capture on my phone. We finished the day with a meal at a restaurant overlooking the Bay, green mussels and Angus steak, yum yum! Followed by a chocolate dessert and accompanied by Pinot Noir. Home cooking now for the next few nights!
A strange but beautiful journey, beginning with Gaudi style toilets, whoever would have expected that in such a small town, and ending with the beautiful Lake Rotorua and it's thermal springs and geysers. It was great to catch up with Ray and Linda and we shared a thermal foot bath in the park, the waters were fantastic. Rotorua sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire so there is a lot of volcanic activity, both past and present.. we have a fabulous air bnb, truely luxurious and situated on the lakeside about 8 km out of the town centre. We couldn't have asked for more.
we had a fascinating day with displays of dancing, singing and the symbolic greetings of the Maori people. The craftsmanship in carving and weaving was evident throughout the village and their use of the thermal pools and vents for cooking was a joy to see although we didn't actually eat any. The guided tour was both informative and interesting
A great day out in Hobbiton built on a farm in Matamata. Even Mick enjoyed it! We had a 2 hour guided tour which incorporated the entire film set ending with a drink in The Green Dragon. I think Mick may even watch some of the films now that he has seen the set. Hesr's hoping!
Either weak or no wifi for the last few days so a quick catch up. We arrived in Napier but unfortunately our timings were out with the tractor tour of the gannet colony. From there we headed to Greytown, a pretty little town en route to Wellington. We crossed the Rimutaka mountain range, such a high and twisting road but with magnificent views to get to Wellington. From there we took a 3 and a half hour ferry journey to Picton. The. Coastal road to Christchurch was impassable due to a landslide so we had a 7 and a half hour inland journey. The silver lining was the absolutely phenomenal scenery during the journey consisting of magnificent rock faces, rugged gorges, river valleys and fantastic mountain ranges. It just got better and better. The downside was that there wer very few stopping places and when we came upon one it tended to be in a glade with no opportunities to capture the magnificence of the scenery. We couldn't make illicit stops either as we were in a convoy of cars which included one police car for over 100 miles of the journey. Sod's law! We brought the much needed rain to Christchurch and now the fires, deliberately started, are out. Now we are farther south enjoying the bird life and looking forward to the stunning scenery to come.
after a damp start the weather improved as we headed west down the Waitaki Valley towards Duntroon. We saw a little wall art, but some sadly had been graffitied, making it difficult to judge what was what with my camera phone. We enjoyed the Elephant Rocks and the limestone Island Cliff amongst the rest of the scenery. Tomorrow we head south with hopefully many sightseeing stops en route. We have Eve's old atlas and it looks as though we'll be following her footsteps in our journey to Invercargil.
another long day, but well worth it. We spent a little while in Dunedin then headed onto the scenic route. Some of our timings were out though as the Cathedral Caves were closed and we missed another site because of a road detour, 18km on unsealed road! In fact we spent quite a long time on unsealed roads and felt as though we covered woth a film of dust at the end of the day. The Mc Clean Falls were fabulous, well worth the trek, the petrified forest was special although as the tide was coming in only a little could be seen. The bays and views were beautiful and the countryside green and lush. The weather was good too, hopefully a sign of things to come!
We just had to try to find the sea lions today and were rewarded by seeing 2 of the NZ endangered species sun bathing on the blustery coast atvWaapapa Point. The winds almost got the better of us at Bluff lookout. My photos were largely useless as I couldn't keep my phone still in he face of the wind. It did give us a good reason to get ourselves warm in the local restaurant with a large dish of green muscles.
0nly a 2hr drive today, but longer taking in the scenery. Te Anau is a fabulous lakeside stop. We're on a farm with glorious night stars and superb mountain views from all windows. The glow worms were fabulous, different to the caves iwe saw on the North Island. The caves here had wonderful fast flowing rivers and fantastic waterfalls, we then travelled on a boat through an underground river viewing thousands of glow worms, like galaxies of stars all around you. A memory we'll never forget!
The weather has been so kind to us today with a beautiful blue backdrop and temperatures in thei mid 20s, a gentle breeze too. We were told on our boat trip on Milford Sound that it is rare for them to venture as far out as they did today because of inclement conditions. Today it was like a mill pond, which was great for Mick, the reluctant sailor! Sorry there are so many pictures, I had so much difficulty in narrowing them down. I think they speak for themselves although they don't do justice to the scenery.
Had a good journey to Queenstown, more beautiful scenery en route. The weather is cooler but the sun is trying to break through. Again we're lucky with the fantastic location of our air bnb. Only 12 km from Queenstown centre but with fabulous 360 degree views.
Probably one of the prettiest towns we've been to. Touristy, but in a nice way with lots of live music, good food and a host of activities as well as the fantastic scenery. Again we've been lucky with the weather so we simply had to take yet another boat trip!
Another beautiful summers day. The scenery here never ceases to amaze me. Every time you think it can't get any better you find something else equally as stunning although very often quite different. I saw this on a board the other day in Queenstown and thought, how true :Travel, it leaves you speechless then turns you into a storyteller.
Had another brilliant day with good weather. The national park is stunning. We went to the Edmond Hilary Centre n Mount Cook Village and visited the museum. We also went to Hookers Valley, not at the back of Rackhams! The hardest thing for us at the moment is deciding which pictures to select as we have so many! We're on the road again, Christchurch tomorrow.
We are preparing to leave NZ. Our only regret is not having spent more time here. In the past weeks the only thing that has been missing has been orks, dwarves and elves bursting through the scenic countryside. We've seen so many places that have formed parts of the filming of The Lord of the Rings, absolutely incredible. Today, a more sedate visit to Christchurch and so good to see it in sunshine, bustling with tourists, hopefully a sign of the future regeneration of such an iconic NZ city and a tribute to the resilience of it's people. Last day tomorrow.
I still can't find my way to our room. The casino area must be at least 200 metres long and very wide too. There are 22 bars and restaurants in the hotel plus shopping precincts. It's just another world. The hotels on the strip are amazing. We had a gondola ride today at the Venetian on the internal canal that flows through it. We made up a foursome woth 2 American guys celebrating a birthday
I think we've seen all of the hotels now. I took some photos for a couple today. He had proposed to her at the foot of the Eiffel Tower and celebrated in Venice. I don't think there's any other place in the world where that could happen!
The pictures speak for themselves. It was spell binding, a truly fabulous day with a champagne lunch at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I really haven't got the words to describe the magnificence of the landscape, but I shall try when the speechlessness has left!
we finished our tour of Asia and Australasia but didn't quite manage America. 5 days in Vegas and a quick return for the premature arrival of our grandson. He was born while we were sipping champagne at the bottom of the Rocky Canyon. He certainly has a sense of style. Eve and son are doing well and Ian is cockerhoop. What a fantastic reason to return home and enter another transition in our lives, grandparenthood. And very proud ones too.