Australia Part Dos

The adventure continues....

Airlie Beach

We watched the sunrise over a few of the 74 tropical islands that make up the Whitsunday Islands. This group of islands are in the heart of the Great Barrier Reef.

Our ship was tendered about 6 km off the coast of Airlie Beach. We took a tender (smaller boat) to the shore. From there we took a ferry to Daydream Island.

Daydream Island

This island is a very small resort island. We hired (Aussie for rented) a double kayak and paddled around the whole island (told you it was small). We saw a few fish and a sea turtle!

We hiked through the rainforest back to the other side of the island.

Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

We had a very interesting day in Papua New Guinea. Immediately outside the port area it was very clear to us that this is a very poor country. There were a lot of people on the dirty streets selling anything you could think of. The streets were littered with trash. People were either living on the streets or in run down shacks on stilts and lots of the people were bare foot. There are 80 different languages spoken in Papua New Guinea because each native tribe has their own language but, english was one of the main languages spoken. This was the closest that we were to the equator (besides crossing it on the way to NZ). We were about 9 degrees south of the equator which is approximately 650 miles south. It was about 90 degrees with high humidity, so we loaded onto old run down city busses without any air conditioning to join our tour guide for a taste of Port Moresby.

Our first stop was the Botanical Gardens. Inside there were native people performing their traditional dances while singing to the beat of drums. The gardens have many native plants and animals that are very different and quite interesting.

Our next stop was to a native cultural center right next to the Parliament House. Here we were greeted with native women dancers who in their native costume, do not wear anything to cover their tops. Inside the cultural center there were exhibits explaining their culture and examples of their famous wood carvings. This was the only spot we visited where we saw flushing toilets (no soap or paper towels, but at least toilet paper). When we loaded the bus to our next location, the bus didn’t start! Our driver yelled out the window to some men in the area and they came and started pushing our loaded bus uphill. Luckily, the driver was able to pop the clutch and start the bus. Horray!

Our last stop was a local art market where we bought some PNG Coffee. On the way back to the pier they took us to a scenic overlook. While climbing up the side of the hill next to the ocean we got stuck in traffic on this narrow road. It was packed with people because the locals came out to see and take pictures of the cruise ship in the port.

Something interesting that we noticed during our travel through the city was the absence of stop lights. At every intersection there was a round-about and when you got to a bigger intersection there was just a bigger round-about.

Cute Towel Animal!

Stay tuned for Australia Part Tres....

Australia Part Uno

We found an awesome, last minute, super cheap deal on a cruise around Australia. So, we got to see several different places. Here it goes:

Sydney

After a four hour delay from Auckland to Sydney, directions in spanish (from our inexpensive South American airline), and navigating through customs we arrived in Australia.

Aussie's are blunt. Here are all your duty free cigarette choices, but ya they will kill you.

We walked through downtown Sydney and over the Harbor Bridge. Some people walk on the outside of the bridge to the very top!

The Sydney Opera House from the Harbor Bridge.

We took a very interesting tour of the design process and building of the Opera House. Which should really be called the performing arts complex. There is a lot more that goes on here besides opera. The fancy architectural clams are only an outside shell. There is a whole different building on the inside where the amphitheaters are.

The Sydney Harbor Bridge

Burger King?

Our cruise ship "The Rhapsody of the Seas" has arrived.

The Sydney skyline as we are leaving the harbor.

Brisbane

We did our own self-guided walking tour of this city.

This picture is an old windmill, one of the oldest structures in Australia. When it wasn't windy enough for the mill to grind the grains, the criminals had to grind them with a treadmill like machine.

The Brisbane River

The tall tower in the photo below is the clock tower on the top of City Hall. They give free (yes free!) tours of the tower. We were lucky enough to be there at noon to hear the noon chimes. We have a video, but it was having a hard time loading. Maybe it will work in the next post.

Stay tuned for Australia Part Dos......

Coromandel Peninsula

We took a drive up the beautiful coast of the Coromandel Peninsula. We stayed the night in Coromandel. The next day we visited a local potter. He started constructing a railroad up the side of the mountain to get the clay and fire wood down to his studio. He expanded the railroad and it became a tourist attraction.

We continued around the east side of the coast and had a picnic at a beautiful spot along the Pacific Ocean. We ate fresh smoked mussels and scallops from a popular smokehouse in Coromandel.

On the east side of the Coromandel Peninsula, just south of a little town called Hahei there lies a thermal wonder. It's called Hot Water Beach. This is a beach with a thermal pocket underneath it. During low tide you can take your spade (shovel) out to the beach and dig a hot tub to sit in. We spent about a hour and a half enjoying our sandy hot tub until the ocean reclaimed our spot.

A few km north of Hahei is a beautiful hiking area. We took the trail along the coast and down to the ocean. Along the way we saw Gemstone Bay, had a picnic on the beach at Sting Ray Bay, and ended our hike at the ever so popular Cathedral Cove. This is an arch over the sand.

The next day we went for a hike at Wentworth Falls. Another beautiful waterfall. And Black Betty got a car wash on the way back:)

We are expanding our adventures over the "Big Ditch" (the Tasman Sea) to the biggest island in the world, Australia. For three weeks we will be exploring Australia where it will be warm and sunny! We will keep you posted as frequently as possible.

The Forgotten World Highway & The Dairy Farm

We left New Plymouth on Monday October 5 to begin the next part of our adventure. We started up The Forgotten World Highway (Highway 43), one of New Zealand's most secluded roads. Don't worry, we will filled up Black Betty before we left and we had 5 liters of extra petrol. You can read more about it at the following site:

http://www.aatravel.co.nz/101/MustDo_The-Forgotten-World-Highway.html

These photos are of the old single lane Moki tunnel we went through. It was surveyed in the 1890s and constructed in 1935-1936.

On our way to Turangi, near Lake Taupo we got to experience some southern hemisphere kiwi snow! Big wet flakes. This was a pretty big storm and many of the roads around us were closed. It made for a very chilly night of camping in Black Betty. Check out the road sign, "slippery when frosty."

From Turangi we headed north to Maramarua (East of Pukekohe on Highway 2). This was a very beautiful drive through the middle of the country. Rolling hills of green and lots of sheep. We are going to visit and stay with some good family friends (the Smith family). They live and work on a Dairy Farm. We spent the day visiting the calves, pigs, sheep, chickens, etc. John is helping feed the calves. This sheep had triplets! It's pretty unusual for them to have three lambs at once. They are only about a week old and so cute.

Later we got some fresh milk to put it in the fridge overnight so the cream and milk would separate. The next morning we used the cream for our coffee and the milk for our cereal. So tasty! A few hours later Angela made butter. It turned out great!

We had delicious fish and chips down by the Firth of Thames (pronounced Tims). This was a beautiful sunset.

Funny sign at the mall:)