flipPod

Wednesday we left Whangarei around 9am to get to Tutukaka, the dock where we would leave for our Poor Knights Island boat trip.  After our last boat trip (re:  Great Barrier Sick), me and Ame were not taking any chances.  We popped a travel pill the night before to help us sleep and so it was still in our blood stream the next day. 

Again, the cloud was out in the morning, but as we pulled away on our boat, the sun came out.  It seems the sun in NZ does indeed have his hat on approximately 11am...  We pushed out of the boat towards the Poor Knights Island which are about a 2 hour motor boat drive from the North East Coast.  The boat was nice and big so the motion was not too bad.  We had a great spot for all of us on top, outside at the back.  As we headed on out, the captain alerted us to some movement in the water.  Not one dolphin, not two dolphins but a whole bloooooming pod of dolphins!  There were quite a few mothers and babies so they were quite wary but still some broke off and came right up next to the boat.  It was amazing.  You can't capture it on camera or video as well as reality.  It certainly was worth the wait of not seeing many in Australia.

After leaving flipper et al, we arrived at the Poor Knights Islands and took in the awesome sights.  Basically, they are formed of volcanic rock from millions and millions of years ago.  The seas have eroded them to what they are now but geologists reckon the rocks would have been massive but slowly erosion has decreased their size.  But they are still quite a size!  There are giant caves which we drove into and had a good look about.  The biggest cave we went in has amazing acoustics so some artists including Crowded House have recorded music in there!

It was a bit choppy on the shore side of the islands so we went round into a sheltered inlet in the rocks where we parked up.  This is where we were to do our snorkeling.  It was really sunny and I was feeling tip top.  We got our wetsuits on and made it into the water (well some people thought they were hard and got in without wetsuits; they were out in about 10 seconds flat to get one on!)

After only moments in the water and looking around the edges of the underwater world, there was lots of activity around a certain area:  dozens of stingrays; some of which were massive!  They were so impressive, calm and commanding.  They let us hang around but I think they were in control.  We snorkeled for ages and me and Ame even had a good potter about on a sea kayak.  After a really good lunch we went on a quick tour around the other sites of the islands.  Loads of caves you could see all the way through!  Incredible natural structures that you couldn't believe were still standing.


On the way back to the main land, we were presented with yet another perfect dolphin pod.  Not only were they being friendly, they were fricking jumping too!  Again impossible to capture on our camera, but let me tell you, it was incredible.  They jumped so high and they were obviously enjoying themselves.

After we got back to shore it was time for a quick power nap in the car on the drive to Paihia.  The accommodation is lovely and where we spend the next 3 nights, 11 of us spread across three motel apartments.  Tomorrow we're on another boat for NYE morning and afternoon to explore the Bay of Islands and I think we're all going out for dinner tomorrow night.  Tonight we're just setting up for a BBQ next to our heated swimming pool.  It's a hard life...

Hen and Chickens

Tuesday.  We started our NYE trip with a fairly prompt get away from Auckland (well around 10:30 but if anyone knows Andrea that pretty good going ;-) )  We took a drive up the main highway heading North.  As the scenery opened up to fields, you could help but liken the scenery to England.  Maybe England on steroids:  everything was just a little bit hillier and a little more beautiful.  The day started off rainy but as we drove, it brightened up.  We're learning that the weather is incredibly changeable here.

On lunch stop was at Waipu and it gorgeous cove.  We got all the stuff out of the cars and went and had a really good play in the sea.  It was excellent.  The waves were about 3 - 4 foot and were strong but not too crashy.  Our view from the cove was a set of rock islands that the locals call the "hen and chickens" because it apparently looks like them.  I couldn't see it but pretty all the same...

After lunch we headed off to Whangarei (pronounced Fangarei - Wh in NZ is pronounced the same as F).  This was our stop for the night.  We stayed in a really nice backpackers place.  We caught up with Andrea's sister Emily, partner Mick and her daughter Ella.  Unfortunately Emily had a bit of food poisoning so she was a little out of action.  Andrea and Darren went off to spend the night with his mum and Darren's dad went off to see a friend.  So, the rest of us who were staying at the hostel were more than content to buy food from the local "Pak 'N Save" (a giant warehouse style shop) and cook at the hostel.  It was an early night.  We were all knackered from our swim experience and the drive.  We needed to conserve and regenerate some energy for our exciting trip the next day to the Poor Knights Islands...

Maori and friends

Monday.  On our first day in Auckland we got up nice and early and had a energetic swim in the hotel's pool.  A good way to start the day.  So on we went to the bus stop to get into Auckland...  NZ seems to have a little bit of a public transport issue.  Everyone has a car so it took us quite a while to figure out we had to get a bus to the bus terminal and then get another bus from there.  Even after we had got to the bus station it all seemed quite confusing.  But we battled on and finally got to central Auckland.  It's a nice, hilly city which is quite contained and has a lot of pleasant sights on offer.

We thought, as we know very little about NZ, a good place to start would be the Auckland Museum.  We enjoyed a good, brisk walk to the museum through Carlaw Park (which consequently every second tree I said that looks like something out of Lord of the Rings - I don't think that's the last time I'm gonna mention that!)  The museum was brilliant.  We signed up to the Maori Culture Experience (as students, with our fake ISIC cards: you've got to love $20 off) and used the waiting time to have a good look round at the Maori art, NZ history and had lunch in the cafe.  Interestingly, NZ was only populated by humans around 800 years ago when the Polynesians sailed here after going via Papa New Guinea, the Pacific Islands and Hawaii!  They must not have known it was there. 

We were summoned by the Maori Warriors by a horn like blast from a shell.  We followed them to the display room and witnessed songs, stories and dances.  It was all really well done.  They didn't really go on too much about their history which was a shame but all else was wicked.  The woman did this "ball and chain" kind of dance which we particularly liked and I have to admit the Haka was quite scary when done by 5 burly Maori Warriors.  What do you think of this Maori Warrior?!!

So then we walked back to central Auckland and watched nutters throwing themselves off the famous Skytower.  Finally, we received word from Andrea and Darren and we went to meet them at Viaduct Quay.  It was a good reunion and great to catch up over a beer in beautiful surroundings.  Also it was cause for a double engagement celebrations as Darren has popped the big Q to Andrea a few days earlier....

It was then back to Darren's dad's house to see Andrea's parents Jane and Bill and Darren's dad Paul.  We had a great BBQ, a few chuckles and a few beers.  Me and Ame arrived back at the Poenamo Hotel around 23:00 after a pretty wonderful and full on day.  I think that will be just the start of it in NZ.  It seems like an amazing country.  The next day we would begin our NYE trip up the North Island...

Aucklanded

We left Perth at 23:15 on boxing day and had a 4 hour flight to Brisbane of which we slept the whole way.  We arrived in Brisbane at 05:45 local time, transferred ourselves to Brisbane International Airport, got through security and then took another flight at 08:45 to Auckland.  Finally we were in Auckland and in our hotel at 17:00 local time (we gained 4 hours on route...)  Andrea and Darren sadly couldn't pick us up as they had limited time and needed to see some friends all the way down the North Island in Wellington.  So after we got the shuttle bus to Poenamo Hotel in North Auckland we were finally able to chill out.  And chill out we did.  The hotel is very nice and we're here for two nights.  It's like a converted motel with 3 different restaurants and 2 bars.  The room isn't even that expensive really compared to Oz.  The beers aren't too expensive either.  So we chilled out by the pool on the bean bags, eating bar food, listening to the live acoustic music and nearly fell asleep.  Tomorrow we're meeting up with A+D and hopefully seeing a bit of Auckland in the morning.  On Tuesday we set off for our NYE experience in the Bay of Islands...

Chrissie in Oz

Thursday, we awoke from a good sleep to aching calves and Xmas Eve!  There were a few jobs to do as you can imagine.  Ame went off with Jenny to get our big Red Snapper fish we would be BBQing the next day for Xmas lunch and I nailed a few "admin" jobs on the net.  Then me and ame rushed down to a photo shop to complete our Christmas presents set.  We printed a nice photo of all of us down in Albany for Peter.  After returning, Peter and Jenny had a few visitors and then there were lots of salads to make.  I was about 50% successful in the 2 salads I made...  I totally balls up one of the recipes but then did rescue it at the last second.  Ame spent a good deal of the afternoon wrapping the pressies up then went with Kevin, Peter, Jenny and Oscar for a walk on the hills while I made dinner.  Before you knew it, it was 8pm and I was talking to my parents and brother Adam on Skype.  That was nice.  Mother could not believe we were not in swimsuits...  I tried to explain that it was 8pm here!  We then had a few drinks and then it was off to bed to await Santa and his white kangeroos.

Christmas day arrived with temperatures of 35 degrees!  There was lots of sparkling wine being drunk in the morning whilst exchanging presents near the Christmas (monkey puzzle) tree.

Peter's friend Graham came for lunch, along with Kevin and Anna's house mate Katie and her father.  Lunch was super.  We sat out on the now very familiar and comfortable veranda.  We also had the entertainment of Kevin's dog Oscar who behaved very well (I think it was too hot for him to muck about in).  The family communications then started with first Ame's mum on the phone, then Mike, Alison, Alex and Tom, then another Prince family session this time with my sister in law Sarah, older brother James and their kids.  We even got a little song sung to us by Olivia which we all found very sweet and Tom showed us what he had made at a recent party.  Finally, we settled for some Xmas pressie DVDs.  It was a good first hot Christmas abroad for me.

On Boxing day, me and ame started our packing and a few last minute jobs (they're never done you know even when you're traveling!!)  Then went down to Peter and Jenny's friends Doug and Kirsty's for lunch and a swim.  I was a tincey bit hungover today so for me it was lots of water and trying not to doze off in the heat.  The pool was lovely and relaxing.  Doug's sons were there as well and one of them lives in Tokyo with his wife which was interesting to find out about.  After a good filling at lunch and one last swim it was back to Peter and Jenny's house for final preparations before our 23:15 flight to Auckland via Brisbane.  It's gonna be a little bit of a slog through the night but eventually we will be in New Zealand.

So farewell Australia, you've treated us very well, bye-bye to 2 months of our trip and a special thank you to our Australian family who have looked after us so well in the past few weeks.

Voyage to the Great Southern

Sunday 20 - Wednesday 23 December

Sunday morning we were up at 8am despite a rather late and wine filled evening the night before.  Very excitingly we were heading off on a four day trip down South to Albany.  By 10am we were ready, packed and on the road and 6 hours later we arrived in the small and pretty city.  By the time we had collected the keys to our unit from the tourist office and bought food and alcohol supplies Anna and Kevin had caught up with us and we headed in convoy to our base for the next four days.

Our unit was just off Middleton beach which is the main beach in the area and so once we were unpacked and settled in we took a stroll along the beach to stretch our legs and take in how gorgeous it is.  It wasn't a long walk however as that evening we had guests coming round and there was dinner to prepare.

Both Kevin and Peter and Jenny have friends who have moved down to Albany and Kevin's friend Paul was coming that evening with his girlfriend Allie and their young baby Elvie.  We had a lovely evening and Elvie was very good.  It was nice to hear about how Paul and Allie enjoy living down in Albany and made me look forward to seeing more of the area. Later in the evening we also had a surprise visit from Peter's friend Jeff who he has known ever since he lived in Jersey and who came over to Australia around the same time as Peter and Jenny.

We discussed with Jeff which beach might be warm enough and wavey enough to have both a swim and surf at the following day and a plan was made to visit Mutton Bird beach.  Once Jeff left everyone headed off to bed and Anna and I decided to have one last glass of wine before following them.  As it happened one glass lead to another and we ended up staying up chatting until rather later than expected (3am).  It was lovely to get the chance to have a good catch up, I wish there was more time for it.

Due to this we were a bit slow getting started the next morning, although we were up at 8am.  It was just nice to have breakfast together at holiday pace and take time to pack a lunch up for later.  Once everything was sorted we headed over to meet Jeff and also Fernanda the Brazilian exchange student who was staying with Jeff and his wife Sue.  We all had a quick stop at Bayonet Head look out to get a view across the coastline and nearby Islands and then went over to Mutton Bird Beach to appreciate the white sandy beaches at closer range.

Mutton bird beach is stunning!  It is long, gently curved and pretty with grassy cliff banks.  There was barely anyone around and we saw Mutton birds.  It was a little breezy when we arrived (Albany is quite a bit further south than Perth and correspondingly cooler).  But by the time we had had a lengthy walk along the beach it felt warm enough for a swim and bit of body boarding.  We had a brilliant time in the water, it felt lovely and warm once we were in and it was really fun in the waves.  It was so good I went back in for more after lunch while the others had a sleep (other than uncle Peter who watched me in case I drifted out to sea and needed rescuing).


We had all had a bit too much sun by the time we headed back for tea and xmas cake and showers.  That evening Jeff and his wife and Fernanda were coming over and Rob and I were in charge of cooking.  It was another fun evening and further bottles of wine were consumed, as well as rather a lot of chocolate.  However that night we all headed to bed by 11pm.

The plan for our second full day in Albany was to walk along the boardwalk that runs from Middleton beach (where we were staying) into town.  We had sun from the start today and it was lovely following the path along the twinkling coastline.  Admittedly it was a little longer than we had quite realised and everyone was ready for refreshments by the time we reached town. We also then took the slightly shorter but less scenic route back to have some lunch.

After lunch we did the touristy visits to the gap and the natural bridge which were beautiful and epic.

Then we visited the wind farm on the hillside.  Amazingly this wind farm of 12 turbinds powers 50% of Albany's energy needs!  A wind of 7km/hour can turn the propellers and there will only be on average 7 days a year that there is not enough wind to turn them.  I think they are beautiful and a real positive sign.

Then there was still time for a swim on the way back at the town end of Middleton beach where there is a jumping off platform in the sea which Kevin, Rob, Peter and I swam out to and practiced our diving.  Our final stop for the day was to visit Paul and Allie's house for a beer and a catch up before picking up noodles for dinner.  Everyone was pretty snoozy that evening and after a spot of telly watching everyone started heading off to bed and sadly our time in Albany was over.

Wednesday morning was our earliest start as everyone was so well slept and so we were packed up and ready to leave by 9am.  We were taking a different route back through the Stirling Ranges today as on the way home we were going to tackle Bluff Knoll mountain.  The walk to the top was only 3km however this was all up hill up large steps!  It was hard going but we persevered and the view was stunning.  At times the view was rather close for comfort as the mountain is very steep, almost vertical, and the path is quite narrow.  Rob had to challenge his vertigo at these moments.


But eventually we made it to the top and took the congratulatory photographs before going back time.  I had underestimated the walk back, we all got wobbly legs in the constant battle against gravity. It is tempting to run down, as naturally you start to.  Anna and Peter did this once, however we decided not to this time as the combination of the very uneven surface and my natural lack of balance and grace suggested I should stick to walking down.  The walk was 6km in total but as you can see from this that underestimates the extent of the climb upwards!

A well deserved lunch awaited us at the bottom and then we started the drive home.

It took quite a while to get back via this different route and we didn't walk through the front door until 10pm!  We ate the pizzas we'd picked up on the way, unpacked the car and sloped of to bed exhausted but very happy.  The trip to Albany had exceeded my expectations, it was great to see more of Western Australia and really really lovely that the six of us got to spend four solid days together.

It's a family affair

Saturday. 

We discovered on Friday afternoon that our broken little camera was fixed after being told it could take anything from 1 minute to 10 working days to complete (well you wouldn't want a straight answer would you?)  We got up early, burned rubber to Midland station, walked the now familiar route to Barhams Electronics, paid a kidney and collected the now super fixed up TZ6. 

To make sure that our trip wasn't 100% camera related, we did some final "Chrissie" shopping (Australian's love to stick an "ie" on the end of everything) and even managed a quick whip around the Perth Art Museum.  They had some really good Western Australian and Aboriginal Art in there so it was well worth the visit.

We got back to Peter and Jenny's house for lunch and I sorted out the remaining New Zealand North Island trip stuff.  A few phone calls here, a few VISA payments there...  Ame, meanwhile, helped to prepare for the extended family BBQ that was about to take place. 

Jenny's Cousin Karen also moved to Australia back in the day with husband David and they have all remained close over the years in Oz.  Karen and David came along to the BBQ with their two children Beth and Darren (and his girlfriend Lisa) and of course Anna and Kevin turned up for the festivities.  It took us a while to establish the correct term for how they are all related but then Peter looked it up and confirmed that beth and Dareen are Amy, Kevin and Anna's second cousins.  It was all very pleasant and we had some good chuckles.  It was interesting to meet Ame's blood relatives and see shades of similarity amongst them all...

I saw seashells on the seashore

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday

The plan for Tuesday was to go to the beach however we awoke to a cooler, breezy day (although still about 30 degrees so no snow like London) and a sky full of smoke from distant bush fires.  So instead we brought forward our day out to Freemantle.  We had also decided that we definitely needed to get our camera repaired and so it made sense to pop into Perth on the way down to Freemantle to drop that in. It is good to know that the camera is on the road to recovery (best not to think about the cost) and my uncle has kindly lent us his camera until ours is back in action.

When we arrived in Freemantle we did a tour of the town by bus and then were already ready for lunch.  We went to Joe's Fish Shack on the waterfront for a fishy lunch.  I had a yummy local fish packed chowder and glass of WA wine to make the most of the locality.


We then visited the historic roundhouse jail where my aunt Jenny learned the hard way the consequence of misbehaving!!


After a wander around the pretty town and a good strong dose of caffeine we hopped back on the train to battle with the commuters home to Darlington.

As it was Anna and Kevin's housemate's birthday that day we went over to theirs for evening to join in with champagne drinking and seafood cookery.  We had a great evening of top notch food and excellent company and even stayed up past midnight.

This is why the next morning we didn't get up and out as quickly as was needed to fulfill our surf plans for the day.  Plus Oscar the dog looked so excited at the mention of the beach that we decided to head to the nearby dog beach for a walk, splash and picnic and postponed the visit to the surf beach to the next day.  Anna, Kevin, Rob, Oscar and I were the only people on the beach and we played in the waves for quite a while.  Oscar was very brave in the water considering lots of the waves were splashing right over his head.


Later that afternoon Anna dropped us back just in time to wave Jenny and Peter off as they left for a charity dinner.  I then had an accidental snooze, woke up to watch the sunset while Rob cooked us some dinner, and then we settled down to watch two fun 80's classic films.  A nice lazy evening.

So it was third time lucky on Thursday when we made it up to Scarborough beach.  Today Anna and Kevin's housemate Clint came along as our fifth companion (Oscar wasn't allowed) and the five of us had lunch together before heading onto the sand.  The sun was out and the beach was beautiful and although is was not wavey enough to surf we still body boarded about, which was great.  I also had a nice long peaceful walk to the end of the beach where it meets Trig beach and then Anna and I made a seashell creation in the sand. The lovely afternoon was topped off when we were given 2for1 ice cream vouchers for the shop by the beach, and free frisbees!


Back at the house we decided that beer and crisps were in order to keep us busy while the sun went down, and then these were countered with a healthy salad dinner and a game of ultimate pool.  I was very content and rather sleepy by the time I hit my bed for the night.

Today was a less active and more jobby day.  We left Anna and Kevin's after brek and as we had taken the car over the day before it meant we could head back via a spot of shopping.  Back at the house we did our washing, had a tasty lunch that had been prepared for us (we're being very spoilt here) and then put some time into planning and booking our second week in New Zealand when we are traveling down the North Island.  Then Jenny showed me how to make Tiramisu in prep for tomorrow eve's BBQ which made me feel very happy as I always find baking a therapeutic novelty.  (I can only do it when supervised as otherwise I tend too stray from the recipe.  But Jenny kept me on track so hopefully it will turn out nice.)

Peter spent the day on the roof clearing gutters and cutting the tops of trees.  One tree top (a monkey puzzle!) was sacrificed in the name of xmas and is sitting nakedly in the front room hoping to be decorated.  It is still difficult to conjure up feelings of xmas or believe that at home it is snowing.  Not that I mind, I'm very happy to be here and hot and eating seafood.  I am willing to wait until next year for xmas carols, mulled wine and winter layers, but I can't help but wonder how everyone else is enjoying the festivities back home.

A "Perth"ect time

Saturday, Sunday, Monday

After our previously lazy time we were well rested for our quick flight over to Perth today.   We'd booked an 8.30 taxi to get to the station and were sharing it with our friend Dan from the Rock Tour.  So we thought everything was under control until it didn't turn up.  When I called him to check he said he'd been drunk last night when I'd called him and though he was coming at 9.30, great!  but he came straight away and there was still good time to check in.

In fact there was more than good time, we had an extra three hours to check in as that is how delayed we were! But there was free wifi so Rob got tons of jobs done and I wrote some post cards and we were given a free coffee so we were quite happy.  I took a nice picture of this Aboriginal mosaic in the airport.  It killed a bit of time... The only thing was that after being patient there I found the flight dragged a bit.

But eventually we were in Perth airport and all was well, although the sniffer dog did take my honey which I'd brought as a pressy for my aunt.  It was very exciting because not only did my aunt and uncle come to meet us but also my cousins Anna and Kevin.

We all went back to Peter and Jenny's House and had lunch.  It was lovely to see the house after to seeing photos in the past 10 years.  As our flight had made everything a little later than expected, we went with Anna and Kevin to help prepare for their BBQ they were having at their house (well in fact we didn't help a great deal - it all seemed very much in order).  Here we met the other member of the family:  Oscar.  He's more like a horse than a dog but thinks he is about 1 foot tall!  Very entertaining.  The BBQ was really fun and we met a lot of A+K's friends.  However, we were pretty knackered so we went home with Pete and Jenny around 11pm.

The next day we got up had breakfast outside and just talked to my uncle and aunt which then turned into lunch!  It was lovely to feel we had all the time in the world.  In the late afternoon, one of their friends said we could use their pool, so we wandered down there for a little splash.  It was hot that day.  When we got home Rob and I cooked and we all watched Angel and Demons (Rob says: what on earth was that helicopter bit about???!) and then we were bed bound.

On Monday, we got up relatively early (8am) and went into Perth on the train from Midland.  We have discovered we have scratched our camera lens a little and a gray line is showing up on a few of our sunny photos.  We found somewhere in Perth to get advice on it and hopefully we'll be ordering a part and somewhere along our nomadic life we'll manage to fix it.  After that we had a really good wander around Perth centre and went to Kings Park.  This had lovely views of the city and the lagoon.  Later, we were back at the house and making salad dinner for our lovely hosts.  It's been a relaxing couple of days which have been great after the pace of the East Coast and Centre...

Cold Desert

Today we woke up to find that after yesterday's thunderstorm and rain that the temperature had dropped to around 17 degrees celcius.  Crazy fricking semi arid environment.  We had to put jumpers on!  We have done nothing today except totally abuse the free internet at our hostel, buy nice cheap food from the super market and cook a brilliant meal (a la ame).

It was interesting going into Alice Spring's shopping centre and seeing their Xmas decorations (about the only interesting thing in the whole town really).  These are some funny reindeers aren't they??  Santa must let Rudolf et al have a rest when he gets to Australia and then he makes Skippy and boys take over for a bit...

Whilst Ame slept this afternoon, I sat on our hillbilly patio and was amused by the flaming galas.  Silly noisey things.



Like I said Ame cooked lamb with 3 types of veg tonight.  It was fantastic and only cost $8 between us.  We're flying to Perth tomorrow to have Xmas with Ame's Aunt Jenny, Uncle Peter and cousins Anna and Kevin...