New Zealand (first half of trip)

New Zealand is the most amazing place! We drove around part of the South Island starting in Wellington (on the North Island) and taking the ferry across to Picton.

Then we drove to Blenheim, which is right in the heart of Marlborough wine country. We sampled plenty of Savignon Blanc and saw plenty of sheep.

After sampling fine wine and many varieties of cheese for two days, we took the mountain pass to Hamner Springs.

Yes, there is snow on the mountains. We explored the area for a day and stayed in a fantastic B&B then headed onward to Greymouth, on the west coast. Word of advice, if you ever go to Greymouth stay 20 minutes down the road in a little town called Hokitica. This is a photo of the Hokitica George.

Rainforest Retreat

Sometimes you can pick the perfect place to stay on the internet!

Our room had everything we needed - well we supplied the wine.

It was right in the middle of the Daintree Rainforest and we were surrounded by the most beautiful tress.

Apparently there was a cassowary (large, flightless bird near extinction) on the property. We didn't get to see her but there was a full size replica by the office.

And we were just a short drive from some gorgeous, pristine beaches.

Life in the Big City

We had a great time in Sydney on the weekend.

Sure we saw the famous Sydney Opera House, Darling Harbour and took the Ferry to Manly.

But the highlight of the trip was the food. Brisbane has very little cultural diversity, but Sydney is another story. Our hotel was right on the edge of Chinatown so we took full advantage of our location. By the way "Dim Sum" is called "Yum Cha" in Australia, and when you ask someone on the street for a recommendation, if you are lucky, they'll send you here.

The best thing about Sydney was the people. Everyone was friendly!

Busy Weekend

Mark was suppose to go fishing but there was a high wind warning. Seeing as we had booked a motel and rented a car we decides to do some island hoping. Got up early Saturday and caught the ferry to Stradbroke Island - called Stradie by the locals. For some reason the Aussies love to shorten words and stick "ie" on the end. It was really windy but the views from the Gorge Hike were fantastic.

On Sunday we took the rental car over for a drive to Bribie Island. We walked along the wetlands and we had the entire spot to ourselves. Australia has some interesting bugs and plants, unfortunately it's more difficult to capture the birds with a camera.

All this nature stuff was terrific but we needed a city break Sunday night and we just happened to have tickets to see Jersey Boys. If you ever get the chance to see it go! Even with Australian actors putting on Jersey accents it was fabulous!

Fun with Simon

Simon is the son of our friends who came to visit us all the way from Perth. Thanks to him I finally got to do some kid stuff! Like take a river cruise to the Koala Sanctuary.

Where we got to pet some kangaroos. They are very soft.

And of course see some Koalas up close.

Simon even got to drive the ferry back to our place. I mean that literally, he did actually steer the boat and the captain dropped us off right in front of our apartment building. They dock the boat here every night.

Has it been that long?

My son just told me I haven't posted on this blog in a while - I didn't realize it's been over a month. I do have an excuse - we haven't got a "real" internet connection and we are using a mobile telephone contraption that came with 5 gigabytes. I've almost used them all so I'll have to buy more anyway so here goes: We moved June first to a much nicer place right downtown. Here is a photo of our view.

We've been exploring Brisbane. Our favorite way to get around is on the City Cat or the train (although the train is really old and slow).

We flew to Adelaide and spent sometime roaming around the city. Our real destination was the Barossa Valley - an area famous for Shiraz Wine. Did a lot of wine tasting and exploring all the small towns nestled among the hills and vineyards.

So that's what we've been up to. Mark is working hard to try and get as much done as possible before we leave and I'm volunteering at a daycare center. Quit laughing - the rug rats are adorable, even if they did give me the flu. Our next adventure is entertaining some friends arriving from Perth next week. They have a 3 year old, so I will finally get to go to the zoo and koala sanctuary.

Sunshine Coast

One of the many beaches we stopped at on the Labour Day Weekend on the Sunshine Coast