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

Glass House Mountains

These are views from an official look out and a restaurant the GPS found for us. By that I mean the GPS got us so lost that we ended up in a farmer's field in the middle of nowhere and it said "you have arrived at your destination". Well the farmer happens to have lost souls mislead by a GPS turn at his property on a regular basis. He gives excellent directions and we found the restaurant with a great view that he recommended.

The Moon

Why didn't anyone tell me that the moon was coming so close to Earth? I missed the event because I was in a hotel room getting ready for dinner. Apparently,according to Mark who was heading in off the beach after fishing,it was spectacular. He said he couldn't figure out why everyone was setting up cameras on tripods! But the night before I was out with my camera and got this shot. It seems strange to me that the sun doesn't sink into the ocean (I know it's because the ocean is on the east coast here

) but as it goes down the moon comes up and the sky turns from blue to pink.

Look a Koala Bear!

We went for a hike in Noosa National Park and my goal was to see a Koala. About 10 minutes into our "walk about" we see this young man staring up into a eucalyptus tree. It can only mean one thing, so we join him. There is a fuzzy little creature way up high that is sound asleep. I'm still pretty excited but there was no action so we moved on up the trail. On our return trip we stopped to look for the Koala again and he was just waking up! We watched him climb to the very top of the tree to get some juicy leaves for his lunch. Mark did his best to capture him on film (well the digital card if you don't remember film cameras) but it wasn't easy without a telephoto lens.

It's a kookaburra!

Honestly it really truly is one! I saw it in the park and looked it up - now I just have to see a Koala and a Kangaroo and my trip to Australia will be better as good as an African Lion Safari!

My Favorite Walk

Bon in OZ

I haven't blogged in a few years but my friend Lauren suggested, now that I'm living in Australia for a few months, I should post some stuff. So here it is - I've decided to keep everything short and just post daily stuff about Australia and/or Brisbane. Today's post is about lunch. They sell these sushi rolls everywhere downtown and I'm addicted. When I get back to the U.S and Canada (I'm thinking big) I'm opening shops that sell these in every mall and I'm going to be rich! They are stuffed with just about everything - you have to really search for raw fish.