New Zealand's North Island is simply lovely. It is quiet and spacious. The hills are green & lush and dotted with fluffy white sheep. Hawks soar in an endless bright blue sky. Huge pine trees and redwoods line up separating one paddock from another. Flowering yellow shrubs, red leaf trees and wild flowers follow along the aqua colored crystal clear lakes and rivers. Wineries and fruit orchards abound. The cities are small and the towns are charming. The North Island is beautiful!!
We began our adventure in Auckland with a killer breakfast, no surprise, and a walk about. Auckland is the most populated of all the cities in NZ (1 out of 3 live in Auckland). The main attraction is the Sky Tower (192 meters high). Why doesn't Denver have a Sky Tower? Next we headed off to visit Fran & Dennis, friends of Marcia's that she met while traveling in Egypt twenty years ago. Located fifty miles southeast of Auckland right on the water is their very quiet and beautiful B&B. We spent the night listening to stories about Marcia & Gerri and getting a bit of travel advice. Enjoyed another excellent breakfast and were off to the Waitomo Caves to see the glow worms. After spending an hour deciding how adventurous we were willing to be, we plunked our money down on the 3hr tube ride through the caves. OK, picture this, Carin in a full wet suit, helmet and caving light on, standing backwards, butt in tube, at the edge of a 4ft water fall preparing to leap into the freezing water below. The look on Carins' face was the best. Unfortunately we weren't allowed cameras. At one point we formed a six person chain, shut off our head lamps and floated in total darkness, guided only by the light from the glow worms, "sweet". The adventure ended with very hot showers followed by bagels & soup and chatting it up with fellow tubers. We were off again continuing our journey south stopping at Rotorua which is home to spurting geysers, hot sulfur springs and bubbling mud pools, all of which is located on an inactive volcano. It was a wee bit smelly! . We hiked in a magnificent redwood forest, checked out the green and blue lakes and spent an evening experiencing the Maori culture complete with singing, dancing and an authentic hungi dinner, meaning the food was cooked in a pit for three hours. It was all you could eat and Mike was in his glory. Our next stop was beautiful Lake Taupo, a hike to the Huka Falls and the beginning of the great decline, in health that is. By the end of the hike Mike was sick as a dog. Carin drove the entire 5 hours to Napier with Mike complaining, coughing and sneezing the whole way. As Mike will tell you it takes a mighty big cold to get him down. Carin got to visit Napier, in between trying to arrange "take-away soup" for Mike with our very enthusiastic B & B hosts. Needless to say Mike got no soup but Carin did take a great walking tour of the art deco buildings. It turned out Mikes cold was so big he shared it with his wife. His care taking skills did not measure up to Carin's as she was left alone in the hotel for five hours while he tramped around Wellington, our final North Island destination. You can imagine how well that went over, but our colds are getting better and we've have decided to continue traveling together.
One big shoutout to Chuck and Chris for keeping the EUI ship afloat and supporting this great adventure!!!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
ROCK-N-REEF
Our journey has taken us where the rain forest meets the sea and the outback back meets the rain forest. We've gone through the hinterlands, tablelands and I-lands. After three weeks, two flights, a rental car, and a 1700km road trip we've only experienced a fraction of Australia. It's one bloody, big country.
ULURU, the Aboriginal name for Ayres Rock, along with Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) is quite the landmark in the middle of the outback. So what does one do at the biggest rock in the world? To start things off you get up really early, well not early enough, which makes the drive a little more exciting and race in your car to see the sunrise, where the light turns the rock a lovely shade of red. Then you walk the ten kilometers around, so you can admire it from every angle, and if that's not good enough provided you're not suffering from heat exhaustion , a little dehydration and craziness from the relentless flies swarming about your face, there's only one thing left to do, CLIMB IT! After finishing our trek around we sat down to relax, happy that we didn't have to decide whether to climb the rock since it was closed due to high winds. Climbing is a point of contention since it is a sacred place to the Anangu people and 34 visitors have died trying. Unfortunately for us the climb was re opened and we were faced with a decision, to climb or not to climb. After chatting with some Aussie mates we were convinced that climbing the rock was something we would remember for ever and "it would only take 20 minutes to get to the top ." How many times have you hear that? So the climb began with a steep ascent, totally relying on the soles of your shoes as there was nothing to grab onto. Carin was a bit nervous in the beginning but with warm encouraging words from her husband ( and a big shove ) upward she went. When the climbing became dangerously steep. there was a section of chain to grab onto. After about forty-five minutes we thought we'd made it to the top to find out that we were only a third of the way. With the water supply running low, blisters on our feet and the temperature rising we finally made it to the top. Ah, the thrill of victory. Except now we had to get down, and that was scarier than going up, at least for Carin. As we descended Mike took on the roll of Uluru cheerleader, encouraging both young and old climbers that they were doing great and to keep it up. By the end Carin thought he was going to get a job as an official guide. One last sunset, a load of laundry and off we flew to Cairns.
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF is Earth's biggest reef system, in fact it is the only living thing that can be seen from outer space. After renting a car , driving to Port Dougie ( as the locals like to call it) choosing a reef tour company from the 500 or so ( we of course chose the one that looked like it had the best lunch), fins and snorkel in hand we were ready to check it out, that is until the two hour boat ride. For those of you who may not know this, Mike gets a little sea sick on the open waters. As the captain cruised along at record breaking speed and the waves splashed up to the windows, Mike began to sweat like crazy and turned a lovely shade of greenish gray. The Canadian couple that we were sitting with asked " do you think he'll be alright? " as he crawled off to buy some motion sickness medicine. No worries, the boat stopped, Mike felt a hundred percent better and we found ourselves part of the most beautiful under water world .
A ROAD TRIP is just what you need to meet the locals and see the country. We traveled north to Danetree and up to Cape Tribulation where the rain forest meets the sea. Hiking, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the company of fellow travelers and great hosts at the B & B's. From there we drove a bit west and many hours south stopping in small towns along the way, enjoying national parks, looking for Kangaroos ( only road kill) and singing along to the great radio stations. Mike was really enjoying seeing how many trucks he could pass at one time on the narrow two lane road between Cairns & Brissie. The highlight for Carin was the " I told you so moment" after the police pulled him over for "dangerous overtaking." Luckily no ticket just a warning.
FRASER ISLAND the largest all sand island in the world (are we noticing a trend here?) .What a blast. The only way to get around is by 4 wheel, so we rented a Jimmy, watched a fifteen minute video on the do's and don'ts , received five minutes of instruction, signed a liability release and boarded the barge. There are no paved roads, the sand is soft and deep in spots, the tracks are rutted. The four wheelin was full on. Mike was in heaven. What makes this island so amazing is the clear fresh water lakes on the interior and ocean surround. Driving up and down the beach trying not to get caught in high tide made things a bit more exciting. We managed to only get stuck once. It turns out Carin is quite the 4 wheeler.
ULURU, the Aboriginal name for Ayres Rock, along with Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) is quite the landmark in the middle of the outback. So what does one do at the biggest rock in the world? To start things off you get up really early, well not early enough, which makes the drive a little more exciting and race in your car to see the sunrise, where the light turns the rock a lovely shade of red. Then you walk the ten kilometers around, so you can admire it from every angle, and if that's not good enough provided you're not suffering from heat exhaustion , a little dehydration and craziness from the relentless flies swarming about your face, there's only one thing left to do, CLIMB IT! After finishing our trek around we sat down to relax, happy that we didn't have to decide whether to climb the rock since it was closed due to high winds. Climbing is a point of contention since it is a sacred place to the Anangu people and 34 visitors have died trying. Unfortunately for us the climb was re opened and we were faced with a decision, to climb or not to climb. After chatting with some Aussie mates we were convinced that climbing the rock was something we would remember for ever and "it would only take 20 minutes to get to the top ." How many times have you hear that? So the climb began with a steep ascent, totally relying on the soles of your shoes as there was nothing to grab onto. Carin was a bit nervous in the beginning but with warm encouraging words from her husband ( and a big shove ) upward she went. When the climbing became dangerously steep. there was a section of chain to grab onto. After about forty-five minutes we thought we'd made it to the top to find out that we were only a third of the way. With the water supply running low, blisters on our feet and the temperature rising we finally made it to the top. Ah, the thrill of victory. Except now we had to get down, and that was scarier than going up, at least for Carin. As we descended Mike took on the roll of Uluru cheerleader, encouraging both young and old climbers that they were doing great and to keep it up. By the end Carin thought he was going to get a job as an official guide. One last sunset, a load of laundry and off we flew to Cairns.
THE GREAT BARRIER REEF is Earth's biggest reef system, in fact it is the only living thing that can be seen from outer space. After renting a car , driving to Port Dougie ( as the locals like to call it) choosing a reef tour company from the 500 or so ( we of course chose the one that looked like it had the best lunch), fins and snorkel in hand we were ready to check it out, that is until the two hour boat ride. For those of you who may not know this, Mike gets a little sea sick on the open waters. As the captain cruised along at record breaking speed and the waves splashed up to the windows, Mike began to sweat like crazy and turned a lovely shade of greenish gray. The Canadian couple that we were sitting with asked " do you think he'll be alright? " as he crawled off to buy some motion sickness medicine. No worries, the boat stopped, Mike felt a hundred percent better and we found ourselves part of the most beautiful under water world .
A ROAD TRIP is just what you need to meet the locals and see the country. We traveled north to Danetree and up to Cape Tribulation where the rain forest meets the sea. Hiking, relaxing on the beach and enjoying the company of fellow travelers and great hosts at the B & B's. From there we drove a bit west and many hours south stopping in small towns along the way, enjoying national parks, looking for Kangaroos ( only road kill) and singing along to the great radio stations. Mike was really enjoying seeing how many trucks he could pass at one time on the narrow two lane road between Cairns & Brissie. The highlight for Carin was the " I told you so moment" after the police pulled him over for "dangerous overtaking." Luckily no ticket just a warning.
FRASER ISLAND the largest all sand island in the world (are we noticing a trend here?) .What a blast. The only way to get around is by 4 wheel, so we rented a Jimmy, watched a fifteen minute video on the do's and don'ts , received five minutes of instruction, signed a liability release and boarded the barge. There are no paved roads, the sand is soft and deep in spots, the tracks are rutted. The four wheelin was full on. Mike was in heaven. What makes this island so amazing is the clear fresh water lakes on the interior and ocean surround. Driving up and down the beach trying not to get caught in high tide made things a bit more exciting. We managed to only get stuck once. It turns out Carin is quite the 4 wheeler.
BRISSIE, our final destination. We were lucky enough to be the guests of the "cousins" Lisa & Alan their son Callum and Ruby their great big dog. Their daughter Maltilda was away at university in Tasmania. The minute we saw Ruby we thought of Sony which brings us to our connection -Dave & Lisa Compton. Aussie Lisa, who grew up in the USA , is Dave C's first cousin. They have been so wonderful, showing us around the city, taking us on a bike ride, up to the beach house and treating us like family. They really are quite amazing hosts considering when we arrived they were also hosting Christopher, a student from Germany. Brissie is a great city with wonderful parks, terrific public spaces, a world class arts complex all located along the Brisbane River. It was so nice to have a few home cooked meals and share thoughts and experiences with such lovely people that we can now call our friends.
A few shouties to our mates back home;
- Dennis & Diane, Carin is wondering if there are any tickets left for the concert in NY. She thinks it's worth the 22 hour flight. Keep the sports updates coming.
- Sue S, Your China pics were great. We will exchange travel stories. Good luck to Mark in his new school.
- Mom & Joe, Loved hearing your voices. What can you tell us about NZ?
- Ivi, You know we love you guys. You're always on our list. Thanks for checking in on the girls, and we hope to help you move into your new home in Boulder when we return in June. Ha ha.
- Dave & Lisa, The cousins are amazing, thanks.
- Cyndy, South Africa is known for having some pretty good golf courses. Check your May schedule.
- Jess, Love everything your doing.
- Hannah, Our little drama queen, thanks for keeping things exciting. (This one comes from dad.)
- Hannah, You are such a delightful daughter. Counting the days til December. (This one comes from mom.)
- Brit, Happy Birthday. Sorry Mike's cantina was closed due to extended travel. Should be reopened for the big 21.
- Lee, You are the best!! The eagle has landed and the trip will go on. Thanks for keeping us connected. Loved the extra goodies. See you in Cambodia.
- To all, enjoy the fall and stay in touch.
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