Final Post - Random Remarks

Random Thoughts on NZ

Women’s fashion – While walking around downtown Wellington I noticed that the majority of females were dressed in black, denim or very neutral colors. There were a few well dressed business women – but they were also in black.

Kiwis are extremely hospitable, friendly and helpful including bus drivers, shop workers, neighbors – everyone.

There are no superhighways as we know them. Most highways are two lanes with occasional passing lanes on steep hills. Maximum speed limit on highways is 100 km/hr. Main highways do not by-pass any cities – they go right through and slow down. We did not see any toll roads. There are virtually no rest stops and gas stations are quite widely spaced. There are, though, a number of picnic table stops.

There are lots of cafes wherever you go. They drink a lot of tea but they also like their coffee, expresso, cappuccino, etc. Starbuck’s is here but small individual cafes are predominant, thank goodness.

There are sheep everywhere in the countryside. Lots of land has been cleared for logging and sheep farming. We saw a lot of new plantings of pine trees in areas that had been logged.

New Zealandese:

Ice chest = chilly bin

Gasoline = petrol

Cookie = biscuit

RV Park = Holiday Park

RV = Camper Van

Trash can on wheels = wheelie bin

Lot = Section

Sweet potato = Kumara

Food: Pretty much like what we are used to with one exception being they make lots of food pies – eg: egg pies, meat pies, mince pies and on and on in various sizes and types of crust. We thought there would be more seafood being surrounded by ocean but it was mainly the ubiquitous Fish ‘n Chips. Lamb and beef were prominent on menus.

Restaurants. The majority of places to sit down and eat require that you pick up a menu and when you have decided what you want, go to the counter to order and pay for it. They hand you a little stand with a number on the top that you put on your table. Someone will bring your food when it is ready. The first meal out we sat at an outside table waiting and waiting for service. We finally figured it out. They have a lot of Take-Away at these restaurants.

The wine and beer in New Zealand are excellent. We didn’t stop at any of the wineries for sampling because John had to keep his wits about him driving on the “wrong” side of the road.

Australia Random Thoughts:

We felt like we were in America – lots of same types of stores, malls, etc. People were almost as friendly as the Kiwis.

Perth to Sydney

Perth to Sydney – Thursday, April 12

Our neighbors Joy and Geoff very kindly drove us to the airport for our flight from Perth to Sydney. All went well –there was no hassle and it was an easy 3 ½ hr flight to Sydney. We left Perth at 11:30 a.m. and arrived in Sydney at 5:30 p.m. (2 hr time zone change). We took a taxi to a Balmain East – just a short distance from downtown Sydney. Our hostess, Lisette, met us at the door and we moved in for 4 nights. After visiting a bit with Lisette we felt the need for a little walk and a light supper so she gave us directions to the local Bowling Club (lawn bowling). We had a nice braised beef in Irish stout pie which was more than we needed but we ate it anyway with a bottle of beer. Lisette gave us some tourist brochures, bus and ferry schedules, etc. and we settled in for the night.

In the morning we had breakfast and then a short walk to see the harbor – just down some switchback steps from the house. Lisette then offered to take us on a tour of Sydney to get our bearings. She drove us all around the city with a couple of stops to get out and take pictures. She then dropped us off at the Sydney Opera House and went on her way. It was lunch time so we found a sidewalk restaurant on the Opera Quay and shared a very tasty pizza. Then we walked to the opera house and signed up for a 1 hr tour which gave us a nice overview and we were able to see the large hall which is used for orchestra concerts, the medium size hall which is used for opera and ballet and a smaller venue used for plays. The Australian Ballet Co. was rehearsing so we got to watch a few minutes of that. Currently the Ballet being performed is Don Quixote. We decided we just were not going to be here long enough to take that in and the seats available on short notice would not be very good and the tickets are very expensive. We’ll just have to settle for seeing a few minutes of rehearsal. It was pointed out to us in the tour that the name, Sydney Opera House is not really appropriate because opera is only a part of the many types of performance that take place in the numerous venues. We enjoyed the tour very much – the architecture is amazing and the setting is so beautiful that it’s difficult to describe.

From there we went next door to the Botanical Gardens which are quite large so due to time constraints we took a tram tour around the grounds. It was very beautiful and would have been nice to stroll around instead of race around on the tram. Maybe we’ll have a chance to go back before we leave.

Next we walked over to the circular quay which is the central ferry, train and bus terminal. We checked on the ferry schedule for getting home and then walked around the Rocks neighborhood and decided we should eat something before we get home so we stumbled upon a German Restaurant and split a plate of Nuremburg sausages, sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. It was very good and we chose to accompany it with a stein of German beer. We tried to figure out where to get the bus home and ended up taking the ferry, which was easier.

Saturday – we went to the Easter Show at the Olympic Park. This was a huge show kind of like the Royal Winter Fair they have in the UK or like a very large State Fair. There were lots of things going on –a horse show with four classes going on at once in the big arena all afternoon. Getting there was not easy as the ferry was late, then bus was late so we got there around noon. We stayed until about 7 pm and took the train back but it stopped before Circular Quay so we had to find a bus to get to the ferry but it all worked o.k. We were hungry because we didn’t eat much at the fair for lunch so walked up Darling St. and ended up at the Bowling Club again where we had a light supper. The waitress remembered us from our previous visit and when I told her we had been at the Easter Show, the conversation turned to horses and it turns out she also has a horse so we had a nice horsey chat.

Sunday –We took the ferry to Circular Quay and then the Manly Ferry to the city of Manly. There was a large crowd waiting for the ferry since Manly is a popular weekend destination for its beaches, shops and restaurants. The ferry to Manly is larger than the other ferries so there was plenty of room. The half hour cruise was very pleasant and picturesque. The beach was just a couple of blocks from the ferry landing. We walked around the area and visited the artisans market and since it was lunch time we had some fish and chips at one of the sidewalk cafes. We finally learned to order just one and split it. We took a walk along the beach – there was a nice paved walk for pedestrians and bicycles and went to the next beach with benches along the way. We took the ferry back to circular quay and then another ferry home. The weather while in Sydney was perfect all three days with today being the absolute best.

Just after we arrived at Lynette’s, we had a little thunderstorm but it did not last long – hardly enough to do much good – they have pretty serious drought conditions right now.

For dinner we wanted to treat Lisette so she took us to her Football (Rugby) Club which is really an excuse for a casino. They have a very nice restaurant in one area and the rest is a room full of slot machines. Kangaroo was on the menu and Lisette said that it is good so she and I tried it while John stayed with the roast of the day – lamb. It was all very good. Afterwards we strolled through the slot machines and blew $5 each. Lisette actually turned her $5 into $15 and we left – none of us being avid gamblers.

Monday morning it was time to head home. Lisette arranged for a taxi to pick us up at 7:00 a.m. for the short trip to the airport. Security in the Sydney airport was very good – and quite time-consuming. The process took about an hour and a half before we got to our boarding gate with lots of waiting in line. We finally settled in for the 13 hour flight to LA. Since it was a day time flight I found it just about impossible to sleep – John had quite a few naps. Our connection time in LA was 2 hours but our plane was a little late. We had long lines to clear customs and then pick up our luggage. They would not take them at the luggage transfer point because there was now less than an hour to catch our Mexicana flight. We had to carry our luggage to the next terminal over to check in. When we arrived they said check-in was closed for the flight. Fortunately, our baggage was already tagged for the flight and Qantas had given us our Mexicana boarding passes so we talked them into taking our luggage and letting us catch the flight. We had originally planned to spend a couple of days in LA but towards the end of our time in Australia, we decided that we would like to fly straight home. The only reasonable flight I could find was to Guadalajara so I booked that. Upon our arrival in Guadalajara we caught a taxi to the bus terminal and just managed to catch the last ETN bus direct to San Miguel. These buses are very comfortable with only 3 seats in each row so that they are very wide and recline fully with a comfortable leg rest. The trip was 5 hours with brief stops in Leon and Guanajuato but we managed to doze the entire way. One more short taxi ride from the San Miguel bus terminal and we were home after about 30 hours of traveling. We were happy to be home and the dogs were happy to see us.

Visit to the Aquarium at Hillarys Harbour

Monday, April 9

Easter Monday is a holiday - this has been a 4 day weekend for Australians. We didn't know what would or would not be open so we decided to visit the Aquarium at Hillarys Harbour, just a short drive from here. When we got close we realized that there were hordes of people flocking into Hillarys Harbour. In addition to the Aquarium, there are beaches, a Boardwalk full of shops and restaurants, etc. We wound our way to the Aquarium and luckily found a parking spot as someone was pulling out. Then we had to stand in line (we know how to do that well, being from Mexico) to pay admission.

The AQWA (Aquarium of Western Australia) was well done. The exhibits were organized in such a way that you wound through the building from one section of WA to another or from one type of sea-life to another. The entire exhibit was amazingly colorful and interesting and represented 12,000 km of Australian coast. They had many beautiful and strange as well as dangerous types of marine life, including an enormous tank that you sort of walk through - with sharks, turtles, rays and many types of fish. Outside there was a seal tank and show which we only caught the very end of. Most impressive to me were the beautiful living corals in the tanks and some of the most beautiful, colorful and exotic sea creatures we have every seen. I have posted some of the pictures I took but it was difficult to capture as much as I would have liked because of glass tanks and light levels.

After our visit to AQWA we strolled through the boardwalk along with the masses of other visitors. It was time to think about having something to eat but the restaurants and cafes were way too crowded for us. We headed back to Joondalup and found Paddy Malone's open - we had been there to eat on our first day here. John ordered seafood spaghetti and I tried their fish and chips. What we forgot to do was ask what was in the seafood spaghetti because John has a bad reaction to mussels. It arrived with 1/2 dozen small mussels on top but lots of other things so guess who got to eat the mussels? They were delicious.

Tuesday the stores were open again and I managed to persuade John to take me to a large mall and then downtown where we did a little shopping. Today we will be organizing for our departure tomorrow to Sydney. I may or may not be able to post from there but if not, I'll report on our Sydney adventures when we get home.

Goodbye to Joondalup and Perth - we truly enjoyed our time here.

Chapel Farm Mongolian BBQ

Easter Sunday, April 8

Our activities for the day were a leisurely morning at home and a trip to Chapel Farm in the afternoon for Mongolian BBQ. Since we would be returning home after dark and would be having a glass or two of wine, we decided to take public transportation. We took the train to Perth but had to get off and take a bus part of the way due to track maintenance. Then we took another train to Midland where we caught another bus which dropped us off right at Chapel Farm. It took about 2 hours total compared to a 25 min. drive but it was stress-free and we had plenty of time.

Darren and Myra, our hosts, welcomed us with a glass of wine and when the rest of their friends arrived they gave us all a tour of their new guest accommodations. Chapel Farm has been a restaurant and event facility for about seven years. Darren and Myra have been working very hard to add on the six guest rooms doing most of the work themselves. The facility used to be a horse farm and the guest rooms were stables. Each room has a different theme: African, Beach, Bali, Black & White, Australian and Japanese - I think. The rooms are lovely - they did a great job.

The atmosphere is very warm and casual. The grounds include a pasture and pond with a burra, young alpacas, exotic goats and a couple of sheep - all one big happy herd. The restaurant includes an indoor lounge and tables, covered pavilion and a dance floor. There are also outdoor spaces suitable for wedding ceremonies.

As for the Mongolian BBQ: we were given a bowl to fill with raw ingredients of our choosing from a refrigerated buffet cart containing beef, chicken, fish, squid, a variety of veggies and a large assortment of sauces - mostly of the Asian variety. We then handed the bowl to the chef who skillfully cooked it all (like a stir-fry) on a huge gas-fired grill - 1.8 meters wide. Actually, there were two cooks and quite a few dinners could be prepared at one time. The completed meal was plated and we helped ourselves to steamed rice and more sauce if desired. The results were delicious and you would only have yourself to blame if you didn't like the taste since you chose the sauces yourself.

One of the guests was Darren's mother visiting from Melbourne. After dinner, she and a friend of hers entertained us all with line dancing on the dance floor. Now the last time I was involved in line dancing was when we lived in Missouri. There it was all country & western music. It seems that now it's done to all types of music including opera. Anyhow, it was great fun watching and lots of the kids in the restaurant joined in.

Darren's chef very kindly offered to give us a ride home since he lives near Joondalup and we gratefully accepted. We said our goodbyes and thank-yous and were home in about a half hour.

Kings Park Perth

Saturday, April 7

Good Friday was an official holiday so we stayed home and didn't do very much - recuperating from our late night out Thursday.

Today we decided to head downtown to visit Kings Park. We had seen the edges of it briefly when taking the bus around Perth last week. We took the train to town and then a short bus ride to the park. By this time, it was noon so we had seafood and chips in the park overlooking the city.

Kings Park is the most impressive city park we have ever seen as it covers an area of 1,000 acres - Central Park, New York City could fit inside it and there would still be 1/3 of Kings Park left. After lunch we gathered up a map at the Info Center and set off on the Federation Walkway through the Botanic Gardens. The park was not at all crowded and we strolled along the walkway at a very leisurely pace looking at the amazing variety of Australian plants, shrubs and trees. A sign boasted that 1/2 of Australia's 25,000 species are represented in Kings Park. There were labels on many of the plants and most were unfamiliar to us. Since it is fall here, there were very few flowers - I can only imagine what the gardens look like in spring. The walk follows the edge of the park overlooking Perth center and the Swan River. The views were magnificent! There were lookouts along the way for taking photos and an unusual bridge that goes up to treetop level at one point. There are many areas for picnicking on the grass or in gazebos with ponds, waterfalls and fountains. Several areas were available for weddings (they are free to use) and they were all busy this day. At the far end of the walk we strolled through the grassy areas back to the Info Center. We then took a short (25 min) tram ride through the park since we weren't up to covering all 1,000 acres on foot. There is a lot of room for future development but the park is fabulous just as it is. I will be posting some pictures shortly. The day was somewhat overcast but pleasant for walking.

We caught a city bus inside the park which took us back to Perth Center where we strolled through some of the pedestrian shopping areas including London Court - a passageway of shops with English type facades. Finally, we browsed in Border's Books where I bought a book I had been looking for.

We headed back to Joondalup on the train just in time to fix a light supper and relax for the evening.

Jeannie's Birthday Dinner

Thursday, April 5

Even though my 65th birthday was on March 31, John decided to organize a dinner party to celebrate and last night was it. He asked our neighbors for a restaurant recommendation and invited them to join us for the dinner. He also invited Myra (our friend from Kansas City's daughter) and her partner Darren. Our destination was the Matilda Bay Restaurant overlooking the Royal Perth Yacht Club harbor. We were delighted that Geoff and Joy offered to drive since John still is not keen to drive at night. He was also able to partake in our wine drinking without having to worry about driving. In fact, last night was our first time to see Perth at night.

We arrived at the restaurant for our 8:00 reservations and the view of the harbor and the Perth city lights was stunning. The weather was perfect and the bay was like glass. Matilda Bay was a lovely restaurant - perfect for our little celebration. After enjoying our first bottle of wine we ordered our dinner (I ordered Tasmanian wild salmon which was served over risotto and a delicate orange glaze all topped with a couple of perfectly cooked onion rings) and more wine, ending with dessert 3 1/2 hrs later - a fun leisurely and delicious dinner party. While I certainly would have enjoyed having old friends there too, we did enjoy the evening with our new Australian friends.

Swan Valley Winery Experience

Wednesday, April 4

Just a short drive from here (25 min) is the beautiful Swan Valley - home to 70 wineries. As mentioned in earlier blog entries, we had already visited one or two. However, since we really couldn't drive and sample all the great wines, we signed up for a day tour of the area.

The 21-passenger bus picked us up outside the train station around 9:15 a.m. for the drive to the first winery. Our tour guide and bus driver, Claude, was personable and knowledgeable about the area and the wineries. He kept up a steady pleasant chatter on the way to the Sandalford Winery. This is one of the largest wineries in the area using commercial methods to produce their wines. In the beautiful, modern tasting gallery we were given a lesson on how to taste the wines and the fun began. Our Sandalford wine-pourer introduced each of the wines starting with the whites, then the reds and finally a Port. I lost count but I think we sampled at least 7 or 8 wines there. And, it was only 10 a.m. We had a few minutes to browse the shop and purchase any wine if we wished, but were under no obligation to do so. We did enjoy the Port so bought a bottle of that to take back with us to Mexico.

The other four wineries we visited were small, family owned vineyards as are most of the wineries in the Valley. While you may run into Sandalford wines elsewhere in the world, it is unlikely that you will find the others that we visited - like Windy Creek or Lancaster. Our second visit was to Lancaster - a very small vineyard where they send their grapes elsewhere to be processed according to their specifications. We again sampled several whites, reds and a Port. Swan Valley specializes in their white wines but also produce some nice reds and Ports. At the Lancaster tasting cellar we also enjoyed a sampling of delicious cheeses produced in the area.

Next stop was a lovely botanic garden on the river where our driver picked up the rest of the tour group who had taken a cruise from Perth to this point. We now had a full bus as we headed to the third stop - Windy Creek Estate. Again, we had a diverse selection of wines to sample and the group was definitely getting a little livelier.

It was approaching time to absorb all this wine with a little lunch so we drove next door to the Sittella winery. Unfortunately, we had to sample the wines there before lunch. By this time, they weren't tasting quite as good - my taste buds were already getting worn out. We sat down to platters of meats, cheeses, tempura veggies, salad and fresh bread. We enjoyed visiting with a British couple and another couple from Queensland, Australia while dining. Other tour members were from New Zealand and Italy. We were the only Americans. Everyone was very friendly.

Now we were ready for our fifth and last winery - Heafod Glen. Again we had 7 or 8 wines to try and I have to admit that I could not sample all of them. There was a noticeable lack of enthusiasm at this tasting cellar - I think we were all getting wined out. But, we had two more stops to make.

Elmar's in the Valley was a micro-brewery and we were offered to try a small glass of one of their 4 brews. We tried Ein Stein - a Pilsener and were not very impressed. However, we continued our visit with the British couple we met at lunch.

Our final stop, thank goodness, was the Margaret River Chocolate Factory - yum. There were bowls of chocolate buttons - dark, milk and white - which we could eat at much as we wished. We each received one truffle of our choice and a couple of other pieces of chocolate candy. There were viewing windows to watch the workers making these luscious truffles and other candies. The shop had lots of chocolate Easter bunnies and chocolate eggs.

Completely sated with wine, food and chocolate, we climbed wearily back onto the bus for the short trip back to our drop off at the Perth train station. Just as we were making the last turn onto the street by the train station, a large city bus turned into Claude's lane and dragged our bus several feet. It was clearly the city bus driver's fault and Claude had 21 witnesses to that fact. After a short slightly heated discussion with the guy, he (the city driver) admitted to his fault. There was not a lot of damage and we hardly felt the impact. Since we were so close to our drop off at the train station, we said our good byes to everyone and jumped on the train for our 25 minute ride back to Joondalup. It had been a lovely day and a great way to see and experience the Swan Valley.

36 Holes of Golf

Mini-golf, that is. Just down the road in Wanaloo is an unusual mini-golf course. The two 18-hole courses are in a botanical garden setting which is tropical and green unlike the surrounding dry, brownish bush. There were several waterfalls and ponds and the holes wound through the gardens blending in beautifully. It’s an oasis in an otherwise parched land. Beside the gardens is a lovely little café where you can have breakfast or lunch.

We arrived for golf around noon with the plan to eat after our 36 holes. Just ahead of us, a school bus load (79) of children had arrived and was swarming through the golf course. We decided to return later. At 2:00 we had a pleasant outdoor lunch and then played golf. We were practically the only ones playing and it was a very peaceful and quiet afternoon – except for the occasional expletive heard when certain golf strokes went awry. The first 18 holes were conventional mini-golf – some easy holes and some more devious. The second 18 hole course was different – it was called billiards golf and you had to hit the bumpered edges of the greens to go into the hole - you were penalized if the ball went in directly. It was very challenging – I won at regular mini golf but John cleaned up in billiards golf since he is the more skilled billiards player. It was a beautiful walk through the gardens even if we didn't par the courses.

Caversham Wildlife Park

Monday seemed like a good day to visit the Caversham Wildlife Park in the Swan Valley. Located within a larger State park, Caversham is totally fenced in to keep predators out and residents in. It was neatly laid out in sections of various Australian birds, mammals and reptiles (not many reptiles, though). Many of the birds were in huge aviaries so you were right in there with them. A large area was open to stroll around with totally laid-back, tame kangaroos. You could pet them and feed them. You could also go in with the Koala bears and meet them up close and personal. They were also very laid back - mostly sleeping since they only eat eucalyptus leaves which are very low in energy. They sleep 18 hours a day and eat the rest of the time. They were quite adorable-looking and very soft to touch but somewhat lacking in personality. It was nice to be able to take pictures of them so close up.

There was the typical children's petting farm also with quite an assortment of goats, sheep, burros, llamas and even camel rides. The whole park was well designed and attractive with native plants and neat landscaping and walkways. It made for a pleasant afternoon. We certainly wouldn't be able to see these native animals so up close and personal.

Before visiting the park, we stopped at one of the wineries for lunch. We chose one called Oakover and it turned out to be a good choice. One of their lunch specials was a seafood risotto topped with 3 tempura battered shrimp and a tangy green salad. The flavors were fabulous and we chose a bottle of their white wine to go with it. Well, we didn't drink the whole bottle, of course, but took it home to enjoy later. John has to keep his wits about him when driving down here.

Burns Beach and Joondalup Festival

Friday through Monday

Just a 10 minute drive from home is a beautiful beach on the Indian Ocean called Burns Beach. It was another lovely warm, sunny day - perfect for a stroll by the beach. The beach was quiet and the water wonderfully clear. Seemed a bit chilly when I waded in it but we were not planning on swimming anyway. There was a walking/cycling path on the limestone cliffs above the beach and we took a fairly long walk there before heading home to park the car and then walk to a nearby area for lunch at an Asian restaurant recommended by our neighbors. The menu had lots of things we never heard of, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, etc. - quite a selection. We decided on dishes we knew: John had Pad Thai and I had Sweet and Sour Pork - both were very good. That evening the neighbors, Geoff and Joy, joined us for a bottle or two of wine and a very pleasant visit. One of our favorite things about home exchanges is the opportunity to meet locals. Australians and New Zealanders are very friendly.

Saturday was the beginning of a 2 day annual street festival in Joondalup. We walked over in the afternoon to catch a few street performers and a very creative parade - made up mostly of the various primary schools and community organizations. I loved the bagpipes at the end of the parade. The theme of the parade was about a children's fantasy book which was collectively written by a community writers organization, as I understood it. Each school made costumes and floats (mostly out of recycleable materials) to represent sections of the book. We thought it was very well done. After the parade we strolled back home and stopped at the local fish and chips place - Govendors - I'm not getting tired of fish and chips yet and enjoy comparing them. Here we had a choice of types of fish and we decided to try the barramundi. It was excellent - the breading was light and crisp and tasty. The fish was perfectly cooked and absolutely fresh. So, it was pretty high on our list so far - probably just exceeded a little by the restaurant at the fishing dock in Fremantle. Today (or tomorrow, depending on whether it was the 31st here or in the US) was my birthday but John has plans for a dinner party at a restaurant in Perth next week so we will celebrate then, if becoming old enough to go on Medicare is reason to celebrate - ugh.

Sunday we did a little food prep and laundry. We invited our friend's daughter and her 2 teenagers over for an American meal of hamburgers, cole slaw, potato salad and apple crisp with ice cream. We enjoyed the visit with Myra, Calvin and Mia very much. Myra is an event planner at Chapel Farm in Swan Valley in the heart of the wine district and she seems to be a very hard working young woman and has done a great job bringing up her kids so far. Matt, 15, was about to leave on a 2 1/2 wk trip to Thailand with his school to visit and help with some orphanages there. Mia, 13, is also a charming, well behaved young lady and both seem to be good students as well as a help to their mother. They live right at Chapel Farm.

Later that evening we saw some of the festival fireworks display from our back patio. It was very impressive, even though we are accustomed to the seemingly continuous fireworks in San Miguel. We felt sorry for the poor local birds - they were protesting and flying in every direction thinking the world had come to an end having been so rudely awakened from their evening's roost.

Pleasant Times in Perth

Monday through Thursday - March 26 to 29

We love the transportation system here. The train station is a 20-25 min walk or 5 min drive from the house and we can get a senior all day ticket for about $2.40 US which is good on all trains, buses and ferries. It's just 25 min on the train to downtown Perth. From there we can take other trains or buses to just about anywhere local.

On our first trip to town, we took 3 different bus routes around downtown just to get an overview. Then we walked around the center and found a wonderful food court with an overwhelming number of food stalls to choose from. I spotted some sushi that looked fabulous. It's not John's thing but they also had some cooked Japanese dishes that looked good to him so that is what we decided on and it was a delicious choice. I have not had a lot of sushi in the past but this was certainly the best I've had so far.

We had done our grocery shopping on Monday so I have been doing a little cooking in the evenings. There is a great gas BBQ out side and nice outdoor spaces in which to eat. We're very comfortable in our Joondalup house.

Across the street from our house is a regional park with a lake. We did a 2 1/2 hr walk in both directions and enjoyed it very much - very different trees and shrubs from what we are used to. We did not see a lot of different birds but there is a crow-like, huge black bird that is very vociferous - we hear and see them everywhere. There's another large black and white bird we also see - a type of magpie. We haven't seen any kangaroos yet but I'm sure they are around. There is a drought here and much of the terrain is brown and dry. It's quite a contrast from very green New Zealand. That may be why we are not seeing a lot of wildlife.

Yesterday we took the train (2 of them) to Fremantle - called "Freo" by the locals. It's a charming seaside town with interesting architecture located just down the road from Perth - two 25 min train rides from the house. We first took a bus all around the town for an overview and then had lunch at the fishing boat docks. The restaurant had beautiful fresh seafood of every kind and was well known for its fish and chips. So, that's what we had except that I had a combination of fish, shrimp, scallops and squid - all fresh and delicious. John had Red Snapper and chips and it was wonderful too. I wish I had taken a picture of their fresh fish counter - everything was so beautifully arranged and colorful - a work of art. After lunch we set off on a section of the walking tour and stopped in King's Square to wander through a market of artisan stalls which they have every Thursday. We also stopped at a jewelry store specializing in opals. They were very beautiful but VERY expensive. We just looked. We really appreciate the availability of excellent tourist brochures and maps - makes it easy to get around and see everything.

Today we plan to check out the local beach. The weather should be quite nice for a walk there.

The Flight and First Day in Joondalup (Perth)

Friday, March 23, 2007

It's time to head for Auckland and our flights to Perth. Since we have to be at the airport by 3:30 a.m. on Saturday, we booked a motel close to the airport. We were able to arrange to leave the rental car at the motel for pick up by the rental company and take the shuttle to the airport only 5 min. away. We had a simple dinner next to the motel and retired very early in order to get a decent night's sleep. Well, we didn't sleep very well thinking about getting up at 3:00. Everything went well checking in and boarding the plane. They served a decent hot breakfast and we tried to doze a bit. The flight was about 3 1/2 hrs. and I watched "Dreamgirls" which was very entertaining. Our plane arrived on time in Melbourne in the rain. We stood in line quite a while to have our documents checked and then we had to pick up our luggage and there was a problem because there were a lot of international flights arriving at the same time. We waited 45 minutes just to get our luggage and ours was about the last to arrive - nerve racking, to say the least. Fortunately, since we had nothing to declare (darn, I had to leave the nice seashells I found on the beach behind because I would have had to declare them). Luckily, we were waved through without an inspection. There was no easy way to check our baggage through. We had to haul it to domestic departures and check in with Qantas again - standing in line. Oh well, we still made our connection to Perth in time. This was a 4 hour flight and they served a nice lunch and showed a movie which turned out to be "Dreamgirls". Oh well, I tried to sleep but since it was now late morning, I wasn't able to but I had a good book to read.

Our plane arrived on time in Perth but there were no gates open so our plane sat on the tarmac for 45 minutes. At baggage claim we found our home exchangers' daughter, Kym, there to pick us up. We really appreciated this because by now we felt a little like zombies. The ride to Joondalup was less than 1/2 hour. The house was very nice and we quickly settled in. We were too tired to go out and buy groceries but our hosts very kindly left a meal in the freezer for our first night and a nice bottle of wine. We stayed up as long as we could which wasn't very long. On top of the time zone changes (3 hrs) we had an additional hour to deal with because this night was the end of daylight savings time. I fell dead asleep on the sofa watching TV at something like 7:00. We woke up and went to bed probably around 8:00. Unfortunately, we were wide awake at 4:30 a.m. Well, at least we got 8 hours of sleep. After breakfast, which our hosts also kindly provided, we took a walk around the neighborhood. Joondalup is a northern suburb of Perth - about 15 miles north of the city center. It's very close to the beach and relatively new. The streets and walks and green areas are very clean and pleasant. The architecture of the area looks sort of English. After our walk we made out our grocery list and jumped in the car to go shopping. We easily found our way to the nearby mall and guess what, all the stores here are closed on Sundays. So, while we were there, we checked out the commuter train station for schedules, fares, etc. While we were reading the signs a woman in a security uniform asked if she could help us. She gave us all the information we needed and we found that the train is a great way to go and very inexpensive. There is also a local free bus to tour around Joondalup. We asked her if there were any restaurants nearby and she directed us to an area down the street that had a lot of restaurants and thankfully, most were open on Sundays. She particularly recommended Paddy Malone's, owned by friends of hers. We headed there and had a very English dinner called "Sunday Roast" consisting of roast beef, carrots, peas, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, Yorkshire pudding and gravy. It was all delicious.

The weather was lovely - not a cloud in the sky and warming up quickly to something that felt like 80 degrees with no humidity - a lot like San Miguel.

Our good friend Ed in Kansas City has a daughter living in the Perth area. She and her partner run an establishment in the Swan Valley - only about 1/2 hr from here. They call it "Chapel Farm" and it is a restaurant and event facility - they cater a lot of weddings and other parties there. They've been working on adding overnight accommodations and are having their grand opening on Tuesday. We were invited and since it is at night, we thought we would drive out there today so we were familiar with the area. I got directions from Myra and Google Maps and off we went. It turned out to be quite easy to find and Myra gave us a quick tour of their charming facilities. They were getting ready for a wedding to be held that evening. So, we headed down the road to take a look at some of the wineries which Swan Valley is famous for. We stopped at the Houghton Winery which John had read something about. The facilities were beautiful and the wines we sampled - just a few since John needed to keep his wits about him driving - were very nice and reasonably priced, we thought. We bought a White Burgundy, a Chardonnay Verdelho and a Merlot for later consumption. We decided that we would be back to this area so just made a nearby stop at a rum distillery. Who would have thought that we would find a rum distillery here - but I sampled a couple of rums - one was 51% alcohol. They were made from cane sugar and surprising good. We purchased a pint of the standard 37.5% rum and headed for home.

Last Days in Pauanui

Wednesday and Thursday we didn’t do a whole lot. It would have meant more driving for John to explore other parts of Coromandel Peninsula so instead we did some walking locally. There is a small wetlands area in Pauanui with a pleasant “boardwalk” which we did and also on the beach on the Pacific – just absolutely gorgeous – wide and very fine white sand. This time of the year it was almost totally deserted – just a few hardy souls actually in the water – we were not among them.

On Thursday I decided to take the hike up Pauanui Mountain – not really a mountain but that’s what they call it. The sign said it was 1 ½ hrs to the top. but someone else heading up ahead of me said it wasn’t really that long. The sign also said “only for experienced, fit walkers”. I decided I was up to it and I really wanted to get up there for the view so up I went. It started out pretty easy but got quite steep and rocky the farther I went. Unfortunately, I did not have hiking shoes/boots – just running shoes with somewhat worn out tread. I got up to a point where there was a great view and decided to turn around there because my traction just wasn’t good enough for the trail – darn! I did get some nice pictures, though with a view of all of Pauanui and the beautiful beach. Back at the trail head there were a couple of short walks along the beach to a stony cove which was quite beautiful – so I did that. I had just enough time to walk on the deserted beach then before John returned to pick me up. You’ll be able to see the pictures I took on my web albums page.

Friday we headed to Auckland to return our rental car and spend part of the night in a motel – we have to be at the airport by 3:30 a.m. for our 5:35 a.m. departure to Melbourne and Perth. Ugh!

Hot Water Beach

Tuesday, March 20 – It’s another beautiful, sunny day with mild temperatures – perfect for our day trip to Hot Water Beach. This gorgeous beach on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula has an unusual spot where natural hot water pools are very close to the surface. For two hours before and after low tide, you can dig your own hot tub in the sand. We took our time driving to the beach and stopped at another beach just to enjoy the scenery. Low tide would be at about 2:30 so the best time to be at the hot water beach was 12:30 to 4:30. We arrived a little early but there were quite a few people heading down the beach with their spades so we followed along. It was only a short walk along a beautiful beach before we arrived at the hot beach area. John started digging as did everyone else – no hot water yet and it seemed that most others were not finding hot water either. Well, we were early and there were no instructions as to where exactly to dig. As the tide continued to move out, we tried another spot – still no hot water. We started checking out what others were doing and found that just next to us, a family had dug a wide depression and were all enjoying the hot water. Walking on the sand in front of them we found it was hot – VERY hot. So we dug in there and soon had our little shallow hot tub. The water was so hot that we had to expand the depression to include a cooler area of the sand to blend with the super hot water. Even just standing in the hottest water was impossible - well over the temperature of the hottest of hot springs.

As I was sitting in the shallow hot water, a German lady came by and asked if she and her husband could share our pool. Her husband then came with his spade and he and John dug a little more. Eva and Dietmar, a retired professor of physics, were from Kassel, Germany and were near the end of a four month journey around New Zealand. . When they arrived in NZ, they bought camping equipment, tents, sleeping bags, air mattresses, cooking gear, etc. and have been camping for nearly four months. We told them about home exchanging and they are now very keen to try it themselves. I think they have probably had enough camping for a while but it certainly enabled them travel around the country inexpensively and they were able to see a lot – and escaped Germany’s cold winter months. We had a very pleasant visit with them and John had a chance to practice his German, although both Eva and Dietmar spoke English. We exchanged email addresses and will hope to keep in touch with them.

We drove up the coast a little farther to Cooks’ Beach and then headed back to Tairua where we stopped for a very late lunch.

I’ll post pictures of Hot Water Beach next week after we arrive in Perth.

Voyage to Tairua

Monday in Pauanui

The title of this blog is a little joke – the “voyage” was a ferry ride of 10 minutes across the bay from Pauanui to the little tourist village of Tairua. We started the day rather early because daylight savings time ended in New Zealand this morning so we were wide awake before by 6 a.m. We needed to get tourist info from the tourist information center but it wasn’t open until 10:00. We knew there was a ferry but not the times and took a ride over there and no signs. So, we went back home and I figured out how to use the Espresso machine and made us some cappuccino – it turned out great! So then we did a little spin around Pauanui – that didn’t take long as it is only about 2 miles long by a mile wide – (just a guess). We finally got to visit with the very helpful lady at the info center who gave us lots of brochures and suggestions. We found out that the next ferry was leaving at 11:15 so we were on it heading for Tairua. It was pleasant, not exciting, and we walked the little Main St. – checked out the gallery and gift shops and had lunch – BLT pannini sandwiches which were excellent. Bacon, by the way, is quite different from what we are used to, but very good. Walked some more, sat on a bench by the shore and watched the seagulls. Headed home on the 3:00 ferry. The weather is absolutely the best! A little windy but blue skies and warm temperatures. Tomorrow will be more interesting – we’re going to head out in the car to explore the Coramandel Penninsula including the Hot Water Beach.

Wellington-Napier-Pauanui

Part 1 – Lower Hutt to Napier

Friday, March 16 – It’s time to leave our comfortable home exchange of the last two weeks and head for our next stop – Napier. We are members of a home-stay travel club (ATC). There are a lot of members listed in New Zealand and on a whim I looked up members between Wellington and Pauanui, the next stop on our agenda. Comparing member locations to the map, I found a couple of members in the town of Napier, on the east coast about ½ way to Pauanui – perfect! I emailed members Ruth and Don on Wednesday to see if they would have us for Friday night. I received an answer right away that they could accommodate us. Don gave me a link to his web site and it turns out that they are also in the B & B business with their separate studio apt. where we stayed as well as a bedroom inside their house. Don also is a photographer and he had some examples of his fine work on his web site. So, we headed their way on Friday morning. One of the few negatives we found about NZ is that there aren’t enough road signs telling you where you are or where you should turn. We had a map but still turned the wrong way not even out of town near Lower Hutt and ended up with a beautiful view of the bay up in the hills but we had to back track to get on the road we were supposed to be on. It’s about a 4 hour drive to Napier and we had no further problems – just beautiful scenery all the way. Our conversation in the car was – “wow, look at that!” - “amazing!” - “beautiful!” – “more sheep!” – “keep toe left!” The photographer in me wanted to stop every 5 miles to take pictures but, of course, we couldn’t do that or we never would have arrived at our destination.

Our neighbor in Lower Hutt, Grant, invited us to stop at one of their “Mr. Apple” orchards near Napier. He gave us the name of the manager and assured us he would give us a tour. We found the orchard – Te Papa – amidst beautiful rolling hills of vineyards and orchards. Ian was happy to drive us around the 300 acre orchard with six different varieties of apples. They were just finishing harvesting the Royal Galas and were starting a new variety called “Jazz”. We stopped to try it out – New Zealand is very proud of this new apple – look for it soon in your supermarkets. It was very tasty – lots of juice and zip. He gave us a half dozen to take along with us. The apple trees here are quite small and loaded with apples. They are grafting onto dwarf stock which makes for much easier harvesting. Check out my pictures in Web Albums to see the beautiful apples. The harvest will go on until about May with temporary workers from Samoa. They provide living facilities for the workers right at the orchard and they are able to earn quite a bit of money to take home with them back to Samoa. The NZ government has a good program to welcome these foreign guest workers.

We arrived in Napier around 2 p.m. and had a short welcome visit with our congenial hosts, Ruth and Don. Then we headed into town to look around and find something to eat. Napier is the “Art Deco” city of the world. There was a devastating earthquake close to the city in 1931. Nearly everything was destroyed and may lives were lost. The town was totally rebuilt in the style of the times with a group of professional architects. Somewhere in the 80’s, the buildings were spruced up and the city capitalized on its Art Deco theme. It’s now a lovely sea-side town with nice pedestrian shopping area, beach, gardens, restaurants and a very successful commercial port area. We walked through town and then had a nice meal at a seafood restaurant. When we returned to the house, Don and Ruth invited us in for tea and pleasant conversation. Both are retired schoolteachers. Don now works part time with a local travel agent – their specialty is arranging freighter cruises. They have been on a couple of cruises themselves and sounds like quite the adventure. As I said earlier, Don is also an accomplished photographer. They both like gardening and have lovely flowers and an extensive veggie garden in their back yard. (They sent a bag of tomatoes with us when we left).

Next morning, we went in the house for a nice breakfast including Ruth’s homemade lemon poppy seed muffins and homemade jams. We also met their B & B guests from England who were on their way to the south island where they were going to rent a camper-van for the rest of their trip. After breakfast we said good-bye to our new friends and were on our way again.

Don gave us direction on how to by-pass the city of Taupo which we had gone through on our way to Wellington so we followed those directions. I then looked at the directions to Pauanui that our Wellington hosts had given us and realized that we were on a different route. So, after some discussion and map-studying we decided to stay on the route Don had given us since it went right to the coast and would probably have very nice scenery but maybe a little longer. Well, it definitely took longer and the roads were very winding and up and down but spectacular. We easily found our way to Pauanui and settled into our next home. We had enough groceries with us to have a lamb chop dinner and turned in early.

The house in Pauanui is wonderful. It is new, modern with a wonderful simple open floor plan design and only a 2 min. walk to the beach. Sunday morning we went for a walk and then stocked up on a few items at the local supermarket. Pauanui is kind of a little peninsula of its own on the east side of the Coramandel Peninsula. It has nice parks, two nine-hole golf courses and is very quiet. The high season is past but the weather is still very nice. There are lots of nearby things to see and do. We’ll be making a stop at the Info office shortly. There’s no Internet connection in the house but I was told at the shopping center that I could take my laptop there and get a wireless connection anywhere there. We’ll see.

Leaving Wellington

It's Thursday evening and we are about cleaned up and packed up ready to leave early tomorrow morning. We are going to drive about 4 hours to Napier (the Art Deco City) on Hawkes Bay on the east coast of the North Island where we will spend the rest of the day and tomorrow night. We are also hoping to stop by and visit an apple orchard and packing plant - this a recommendation of our neighbor Grant who works in the apple industry. On Saturday we will drive about 5 hours to the other part of our exchange in Pauanui - on the Coromandel Penninsula.

We've had a couple of days of intense rain so haven't done much. But today it was bright and sunny and we visited the New Dowse Gallery in Lower Hutt. Had a nice lunch there and saw all of the exhibits. It was a delightful modern museum emphasizing innovative creative arts and crafts.

We've thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Wellington area and feel quite at home now in New Zealand. The people are very friendly and kind and everyone made us feel very welcome.

Now it's on to more adventures.

The Weekend & Ferry to Picton

The Weekend

We didn't do much on Saturday other than walk around the neighborhood and relax. The next door neighbors, Camille and Grant, phoned us in the afternoon and invited us over for drinks. We accepted, of course, and had a lovely visit with them in their beautiful gardens. They both work full time so this was the first chance we had to get together with them since we met them briefly on our arrival.

Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast, we drove to Petone, a suburb between here and Wellington. We walked along their beautiful waterfront on this bright and sunny day and then walked a couple of blocks to the main street and found a place to have a light lunch. After lunch, we visited their little museum on the waterfront called the Settler's Museum. It was a nice historical exhibit of the history of the area. On the way home, we stopped at the Pack 'n Save to pick up a few more groceries - John has sticker shock every time we go to the grocery store - quite a bit more expensive than Mexico - but probably about like the US.

I prepared a roast leg of lamb for dinner and it was delicious - the lamb is just unbelievable here.

Ferry to Picton - Monday

Our friendly neighbors, Camille and Grant, gave us a lift to the Interisland Ferry dock for which we were very grateful since we didn't want to drive there and weren't sure if the bus would get us there in time for our 7:55 a.m. check-in. We arrived just as passengers were boarding, and there were a lot of passengers including a mob of pre-teens from a school group. Our ship, the Kaitaki, was the newest in the fleet having been launched in 1997 in Holland. Its capacity was 1600 passengers and 900 cars. Once aboard we had a variety of choices of where to sit including a cafe, food court, bar, and numerous lounges on several decks - mostly indoors but you could walk around outside on the decks also. The weather was not the best as it was quite cloudy but it was not cold and there was no rain - yet. The voyage was three hours to Picton through Cook's Straights - connecting NZ's North and South Islands. These straights are often very windy and treacherous but our sailing was quite smooth and pleasant.

The hours passed quickly as we enjoyed a mochaccino, the passing scenery and the antics of the school children aboard who were virtually running wild while the teachers payed little attention to them.

In Picton we walked down the street to the Information Center to ask about the various tours available. The friendly agent, Annette, suggested the Mail Boat cruise. It sounded interesting so we signed up. Mail is delivered for the NZ Post by boat to the remote cottages and homes located in the bays of the Queen Charlotte Sound - Picton is located in this sound. After lunch of some sort of egg pie in a flaky pasty we boarded the boat with about 25 or 30 other passengers. The "Tiri Cat" was a very comfortable catamaran with inside and outside seating. Monday's route was the best as it ducked into numerous little coves to deliver the mail. The boat would pull up to the dock almost without stopping and hand over a bag of mail to whoever was waiting there, and taking their outgoing mail bag in exchange. At most docks, a dog would accompany their master and the skipper would hand him/her a dog biscuit. As we passed one dock whose delivery was on a different day, the skipper noted that "George" was waiting at the dock for the mail boat and he knew that he was home alone. He said that he would stop on the way back to give George his biscuit. So, later, he pulled towards the dock honking the boat horn and soon George was running down from the house to the pier as fast as his little Jack Russell legs would carry him. George was delighted to receive his treat and really didn't seem to mind that there was no mail.

Some of the stops were private homes and some were guest cottages and a few were small resort hotels. All were very remote and surrounded by wilderness. At the farthest point out we pulled in at Ship Cove - named by Capt. James Cook who also named the Queen Charlotte Sound. He made numerous visits to the area in the 1700's to study the wildlife and the southern skies. He made several stops at Ship Cove and there is a memorial to him at this beach.

Our mail cruise lasted about 4 hours and we enjoyed every minute of it. In one spot we encountered a large number of bottlenose dolphins and the skipper stopped for quite a while so we could enjoy their cavorting and leaping all around us.

Upon our arrival at Picton the skipper very kindly dropped us off right at the ferry pier and we were just in time to check in for our journey back to Wellington, this time on the Antere - one of the other ships. This one was older and smaller than the Kaitaki but very comfortable and we had great lounge chairs right at the front of the ship with big glass windows so the view was great. The last hour was in darkness and it was wonderful to cruise into Wellington harbor with all the lights of the city and suburbs surrounding us. We managed to negotiate our way to a bus stop and got home around 10:20 p.m. No rain yet so we were quite pleased with our ferry adventure to the South Island.

It's now Tuesday morning and the rains came last night and while it has stopped this morning, it's quite overcast and a good day to relax at "home". I'm just reflecting on one of the many advantages it is to do home exchanges as compared to being in a hotel room on a rainy day.

I've posted pictures of yesterday's trip so be sure to check them out. The link is at the top of the blog.

More Museum & More Lamb Chops

Thursday we decided to mostly stay home except for a trip to the supermarket, Pack 'n Save, to stock up on a few groceries. There aren't very many supermarkets in evidence - this is the only one we know about between our house and downtown. We found everything we needed and then some. They had a very nice wine selection, although we weren't familiar with most of the wines for sale. We went home and grilled lamb chops again.

Friday we went back to the Te Papa Museum to see what we had missed the first day and it was a lot including a special exhibit about ancient Egypt centering on mummies and included a real mummy found of a young woman. We split an order of fish and chips at the restaurant and then spent about 4 hours in the museum.

At home, I booked tickets for a cruise to the South Island on the Interisland Ferry. We'll leave the dock in Wellington at 8:30 a.m. on Monday and return at 9:00 p.m. The cruise to Picton is 3 hrs each way so we'll have about 6 hrs to sightsee in the Picton area. It is supposed to be the most beautiful ferry crossing in the world. We're hoping our wonderful weather will continue.

Te Papa Museum

Our Lunch at Te Papa

Wednesday - The day was kind of cloudy and windy - a good day to go to a museum. We hopped on the now familiar bus for the 1/2 hour ride to town. The Kiwi's (New Zealanders) are very friendly. I asked the bus driver which stop we should get off for the museum. He told us it's the last stop before the turnaround but that we should stay on the bus - he had to fuel up and the gas station was right across the street from the museum so we could get off there. Then he asked us where we were from and was surprised to hear we were from Mexico - he thought we were from the UK. Te Papa is a large museum which has wonderful exhibits about Earthquakes, Volcanos, New Zealand in general, wildlife, the environment and on and on. We had a nice lunch there and then spent several hours looking at exhibits - until we were worn out even though we didn't see all of it. We'll go back another day to finish.

Thursday we decided to take a day off from sightseeing, do laundry and take a trip to the supermarket. It's very interesting to see what kinds of things they have in the stores that are different from what we're used to. There are a lot of ethnic ingredients - especially for Asian cooking. Groceries are more expensive than what we're used to in Mexico - probably about like the US, though. One very bizarre item, though, is a product called Marmite (in Australia they have a similar product called Vegemite). My friend Ingrid told me to avoid it - she's been to Australia - it's vile. I mentioned it to our rental car people, and before we took off in our car he presented us with a gift of a jar of Marmite. They spread it on their toast for breakfast. I opened it and it smelled strongly of yeast. Yup - that's what its base was - 80% yeast, the label said. Anyway, it's indescribable. I tried a tiny bit on a piece of toast and Ingrid was right, it's vile. John, on the other hand, thought it was o.k. but he definitely prefers marmalade on his toast. I suspect we'll leave the Marmite behind for our hosts. I guess it's supposed to be healthy - full of B vitamins and iron.

I took some pictures of the flowers in Moira's garden this afternoon. You can check my Web Albums if you're interested. They are quite beautiful.

Exploring Wellington

After our good night's rest on Sunday, we were eager to head into Wellington to do a little exploring. Our hosts left plenty of brochures and information so that we could investigate the many opportunities. We decided to leave the car in the garage and use public transportation which is very good here. With bus schedule in hand we walked about a block to the bus stop on the bay. The ride into town was pleasant and took about 1/2 hr. to the center of Wellington. Our all-day Senior tickets cost $5 NZ each and worth it to not have to drive.

Our first day in town we did a lot of walking just to get the lay of the land. We ended up in a pedestrian area called the Cuba mall. It is an older part of downtown with lots of little shops and cafes. The architecture was a mish-mash and not very attractive. We had Fish & Chips for lunch - a very common staple here and it was very tasty. We then walked a little more and found ourselves in a more modern area of trendy shops and restaurants. Eventually we found the right bus to head back to Lower Hutt and spent the evening relaxing at "home".

Tuesday we arose bright and early again - not quite adjusted to the new time zone. Again we headed for town on the bus and now feel like we know our way around.

In the late 1800's, Wellington built a cable car system to go from downtown up the steep hills to another part of town. It still exists - with modernizations and modifications over the years. Now at the top of the cable car route is a little museum about the history of the cable cars and a 35 acre botanical garden. We rode the tram up and walked through the museum and then the extensive gardens which are quite magnificent. We especially enjoyed the enormous rose garden and greenhouses filled with unbelievable tuberous begonias and another room of tropical plants. I have uploaded a lot of pictures to Picasa Web Albums and you can look at them there if you wish. The website is: http://picasaweb.google.com/equussanmiguel Check back regularly as I add pictures along the way.

We walked down from the gardens and found a Thai restaurant that looked good for lunch. It was very good - we had to eat with chopsticks which neither of us had done for a while. We managed but it was a bit awkward. John had a scallops entree and I had pork and mushrooms in won ton wrappers with a delicious sauce and coconut rice.

After lunch we headed for the wharf and found the Wellington history and maritime museum. We spent several hours there - it was very interesting - learned a lot about the history of Wellington and the Maouri people.

It was alomost 5:00 when we left the museum and we were getting a little weary so found a bus and headed for home with a stop for a few groceries on the way.

The Long Journey

The worst part about visiting New Zealand and Australia is getting there. It is a very long ways to go. Our journey started with a 4 a.m. pickup to take us to Leon for the 3 1/2 hr flight to Los Angeles. Our flight to Auckland was not until 8:30 p.m. so we had the day in Los Angeles. It was just the right amount of time to visit the Getty Museum. The Getty is a very beautiful place with wonderful gardens and architecture -no expense was spared. We particularly enjoyed a 45 min tour describing how the museum complex was designed and constructed. My nephew, who lives in LA, came by to meet us for lunch so it was a pleasant way to spend our layover.

Then it was back to the airport for all the security check-ins and boarding. A very full plane meant that we had no extra room to get comfortable for the 12 1/2 hr. flight to Auckland. We flew on Qantas and the flight was actually not too bad with decent food and we each had a personal video screen in the seatback in front of us. I watched "The Queen" and "Little Miss Sunshine" as well as part of "The Last King of Scotland". I got a little sleep, but not much. John can sleep anywhere so he did quite well.

Upon our arrival in Auckland we easily cleared customs and called our car rental company for pick-up. Soon we were on our way to Wellington. It's about 350 miles but NZ highways are not like our superhighways so it is much slower to get somewhere. We were too tired to travel very far so we just drove 3 hours and stopped in Rotarua which is a tourist area with mineral hot springs and a large lake. We found a very nice motel - practically new with suites and every room had a hot tub - exactly what we needed after our travels. It was still early afternoon so we visited a museum that used to be a bath house in the 1800's. They also had exhibits about a devastating volcanic eruption there that killed 120 people. It was all very interesting but we were really wiped out and after soaking in our hot tub, we crashed around 6 p.m.

Next morning we awoke at 6:00 a.m. and as soon as it was light we walked a mile or so and finally found a cafe that was open for breakfast. Then we were on our way to Wellington. John was doing the driving and I was the navigator. It was a bit hairy watching him getting used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road. He did pretty well except for one right turn that was very scary . After that I kept reminding him to "keept left". It also took him a while to use the turn signal instead of the windshield wiper when making a turn.

The scenery from Auckland to Wellington was amazing - very, very green - every shade of green you can imagine. Many forests followed by rolling hills, mountains, and pastures dotted with sheep, cattle and more sheep. The highways were mostly two lanes with occasional short term passing lanes. The speed limit was never more than 100 km/hr (62 mph). We were warned by the car rental people that they are quite strict about enforcing the speed limits so we were very careful.

We arrived in the Wellington area after about 5 hours with just one stop for gas (US equiv. about $4.25/gallon). Our home exchange is just outside the city on the harbor in an area called Lower Hutt. We had good directions from our hosts and found the house without too much trouble. It is large, welcoming and comfortable with a fabulous garden. As we were unlocking the front door, the next door neighbors came by to welcome us and offer their help should we need any. They told us where the nearest grocery store was located so after dropping off our luggage we headed down the road for a few supplies for a light supper and breakfast. We relaxed and unwound and soon felt quite at home. We faded again pretty early and slept well in our comfortable bed.

Our Plans

We have been doing home exchanges since about 2003. We have now completed ten successful exchanges via homlink.org and are about to embark on our longest exchange - both in distance and time. We are going to New Zealand and Australia.

On March 1, 2007 we will fly from Leon, Guananjuato to Los Angeles, CA. We'll have a whole day's layover there so plan to visit the Getty Museum before our flight to Auckland, NZ departs. We will arrive in Auckland on March 3 (a 12 1/2 hr flight - ugh!) where we have arranged for a rental car. That should be an adventure in itself since they drive on the "wrong" side of the road there. Even though it's only about 350 miles from Auckland to Wellington - our destination - we plan to take two days so that we can enjoy some fabulous NZ scenery along the way without being in a hurry.

Our exchangers are not coming to San Miguel at this time. It will be a non-simultaneous exchange - they can come to our home at some future mutually agreeable date. Shirley and Bruce Gough will be going elsewhere for their son's wedding and we will stay in their home while they are gone - about a week and a half. When they return, we will move on to their beach home on the Coromandel Penninsula - the town of Paunaui. We will stay there for about a week and a half. From there we will return our rental car in Auckland and fly on to Perth, Australia on the 24th of March. Our exchangers in Perth will arrive at our home in San Miguel at the same time. We will spend three weeks in Perth. Finally, we will head home with a 4 night stop in Sydney. When we arrive in Los Angeles, we will spend two nights there before returning to San Miguel on April 19th. Whew! It is a very long trip - the longest away from home ever.

I will update this blog regularly while we are on the trip and will post pictures. Please check back regularly if you are interested and you can post comments too.