Fjordland

Milford Sound

Today we left the condo by 6AM to drive about 300 km from Queenstown over to Milford Sound.

The GPS led us on a wild goose chase, 45 minutes into the trip we realized we were traveling in the wrong direction. Just what we needed so early. We had pre-booked/paid for the tour. Leaving so early gave us a little extra time for stops along the way. Even though the speed limit is 100kph there is little chance of going that fast. We made it in the nick of time.

Milford Sound is one of 14 Fjord's located on the western side of NZ's southern island. We left for our cruise at 12:30, and were told by the nature guide on board that this was the best weather they have had in the previous 8 days. We were also fortunate just to get out to Milford sound. About a week prior to our cruise, there were heavy rains that caused rockslides that closed the roads out to Milford Sound for a few days.

Milford Sounds was beautiful. The mountains that form the Fjord ranged in height from 1500 meters to 2000 meters. The depth of the water in the Fjord was over 700 meters deep. At one point we were only about 50 feet from the side of the side of the mountain, and the water was still 130 meters deep.

The enormity of the Fjords is difficult to show with photos. In order to really experience their size, one must be surrounded by the Fjord. Cruising along the water next to a mountain that is 1.5 miles high can make you feel pretty tiny. Other boats look like tiny bath toys when seen next to a 150 meter waterfall.

Our cruise had a nature guide on board who gave us a lot of great information about the Fjords and the area. Milford Sound gets about 7 meters of rain a year. All of that rain makes a lot of great waterfalls on the mountains. Because of all of the rain, and because the fresh water from the rain is less dense than the saltwater from the sea, the top 5 meters of water in the Fjord is actually a layer of fresh water on top of the saltwater.

Looking at the mountains, one has to wonder how all of the trees and foliage can grow on the side of the mountain. Only about 25% of the trees are actually anchored into the side of the mountain. The other 75% of the trees and shrubs are anchored into these roots. It's a bit of a precarious system. Occasionally the system fails, and there is a landslide of trees that washes down the mountain side.

Geologically, the area of Milford Sounds is quite active. The Fjords were formed by plates pushing up on each other. The mountains are continually growing at a rate of the thickness of a fingernail per year. Additionally, there are approximately 2000 earthquakes in the area per year.

The cruise lasted 2.5 hours. We made it out of the Fjord, into the Tasman Sea, and then back to port. It was a great cruise and a great day trip.

Adventure Capital of the World

Luging on Bob's Peak.

Queenstown is dubbed the adventure capital of the world. This is the birth place of bungee jumping. It is a multi million dollar industry here. There is also luge, river surfing, para sailing, para gliding, hang gliding, abe sailing, hang gliding, just about anything a person can dream up.

Today we walked down to the city center. We took a wrong turn and a 30 minute walk turned into 1 hour. It was a beautiful morning. A flying acrobatic show was going on, it was raining para-gliders doing neat tricks. They could go head over heels, so the sail was below their bodies.




















We crossed a cemetery on our way to the Gondola to Bob's Peak. Ironically it's the mountain the bungee jumpers and para-gliders are on. We joked that a person could dig his own grave on his fall from the bungee platform. Bob and Mike wanted to watch the view on the way up, which was fine with Linda and I.



We each signed up for 3 luge rides. From the top of the Gondola we had to take a chair lift to the start of the Luge ride. We all went down the scenic route the first time. Bob took off like a bullet, I was behind him and quickly pulled over for Mike to pass. The track is switch backs down the mountain. You can see over the side of the mountain on the way down. It's pretty scarey. Linda and I both got stuck behind some lady, she wouldn't get out of our way.



Bob luged down the advanced track on his second ride. Mike, Linda and I stuck with the scenic route. Linda started out before me, I quickly caught up with her, she got stuck behind someone again, I tried to push her to get her started. I think she got a bum cart.

We all gave the advanced track a go on the third ride. This is where we really let our hair down. It wasn't that this track was that much faster, just that there were not so many people/obstacles in our way.



At the bottom of the luge we had to rack our carts on the conveyor belt, they would hook onto the chair lift and ride up. While I was doing this, some idiot kid decided to slam right into my ankle which pinned it between two carts. Then his idiot friend slammed into him like bumper cars which rammed my ankle again. Boy was I mad, yes the teens got a mouth full from me, then Mike. I tattled on them, but they didn't get kicked out and kept on being idiots.

We went to the lookout bar at the top of the gondola for a beer. We had a great view of Queenstown and the flying acrobats. We figured out where the para gliders were launching from, we walked over and watched for close to an hour. It was pretty cool.



In the picture below, Linda was taking a picture of a mom and daughter that were going to tandem para glide. Mike actually said, I hope this isn't your last picture!



Our walk back was the short route, but straight up hill. The city is built on the side of a mountain. This makes Duluth look like it has ant hills.

Grilled steak and potatoes for dinner then a dip in the hot tub with a glass of wine.

Surfs up

River surfing in the Kawarau river.

Today we had a leisure morning. The folks at Mad Dog River surfing recommended we have a big breakfast/lunch, we would need all the energy we could get for the surfing.

Bob fired up the grill for hot dogs. All four of us left the condo at the same time. Bob and I walked down to the meeting point for river surfing, about 30 minutes. Mike and Linda took off in the car for their excursion.

After a 45 minute drive we got our gear for surfing. Full body wetsuit, booties, life jacket and helmet. We got to read comments previous customers had written about surfing. I wasn't nervous until I read the comments. Folks wrote about how hard and tiring it was.

On our way to the entry point we stopped for a quick training session. We had to prove we knew how to swim. I wouldn't call it swimming with all that gear on. We basically had to show that we could scissor kick to turn ourselves around out of an eddy and dunk our heads in the water. Apparently some of the folks that start this adventure don't want to get their hair wet. The training was pretty tiring. This paired with the comments gave me an anxiety attack.

I should mention that the point of our entry into the river was a place we stopped along the road for a photo op, it was beautiful.

The guide said go, we were supposed to stay in a line behind the front guide and in front of the back guide. There were 5 of us. They will take up to 16 at a time. We hit the rapids right off the bat. After lots of bumping and kicking each other we came out the other side. This is a contact sport. It's impossible to stay in a line. The second rapids was a grade 3 on a scale of 1 to 6. Going into the rapids there was someone right next to me. I got dunked. I wasn't sure if I was kicking him, he was kicking me, his board was whacking me or my board was whacking me. When I came out my board was flipped over and upside down. Thank goodness there were only 5 of us.

After the 3 rapids we floated down fast moving quieter waters. A jet ski had been left on the side of the river. The guides pulled two at a time down the river to the end point. Bob and I were last. Just the two of us were floating in the big river.

At the end point they had lots of activities waiting for us. Cliff diving, a rope swing and sliding into the river. Bob jumped off the 7 meter cliff, I chickened out and jumped off the 5 meter cliff.
After each jump/swing/sliding into the river, we had to climb up the rickety ladder on to the rickety plywood platform and do it all over again. OSHA would not approve of the setup. Thank goodness they weren't around because we had a great time.






Mike and Linda went for a drive up to Mt Coronet. This is a popular ski run. They shared the sights with 800 Chinese people. They got an amazing picture of one sheep on a hill. This is an unusual sight, usually there flocks of hundreds of sheep. I think this one was lost.



The condo doesn't have a furnace. Just a few space heaters and a wood fireplace. Apparently most residents here are not Kiwi's. This is a big resort town and the houses were only built for summer. They do get snow, but it's gone the next day.

Albatross, Penguins & Sealions Oh My.

Where in the world is BobO, taking a picture of Mike on a table on a hill at Sandfly lookout, looking out for penguins and sea lions.

Breakfast this morning was fresh crossiants, fruit and bread. We got to try VegiMite. We have an uncontested vote, it is NOT edible! Mike might have eaten an entire loaf of fresh raisin bread! We have been able to make coffee at all the accomodations we have stayed at, and so far it is always with a french press not a coffee pot. The one other guest at the B&B was from Chicago. She was working at a Museum convention.

We took a city tour of Dunedin (Dun-Eden). Dunedin is a college town with about 100,00 residents plus + 30,000 college students. It is home to the worlds steeptest street. The best thing about the town, it is home to Cadbury. We have been trying out all the different kinds of Cadbury chocolate.

After the city tour we hit the Pick & Save for meat and cheese for our lunch. We drove out to the Otago penninsula for bird watching and a picnic.No penguin sightings, they were out to sea. We drove a little further to the worlds largest Albatross colony. These birds are enormous with a wing span for 3 meters (about 10 feet). We got to see one of them flying around. The real sight is to see the whole colony flying, it wasn't in the cards for us today. They were not active.

We took the high road back to town. We stopped at Sandfly lookout. Supposedly there was a hike down to the water to see a colony of penguins. Bob and I started out on the hike. We stopped about 1/2 way down questioning whether we should keep going because it was raining/hailing out. The beach looked like it was 5 minutes away. It didn't seem to get closer the farther we walked. It was 40 minutes straight down hill in the sand. At the bottom we saw some lazy sea lions on the beach. No penguins. We will have to try our luck at penguin sightings when we get back to Christchurch.

We started back up hill, where we saw Mike & Linda right behind us. The walk back up hill in the sand was life threatening. I heard Mike call out, "I might have the Big One". Mike & Linda had a whirlpool tub for two in their room. I picked up bath salts at the Albatross center gift shop. They were much appreciated.

The drive was pretty scarey. Very narrow and windy roads. Similiar to the cliff drive we took in Ireland. Mike said if this is a pucker drive, then this is pucker point. The speed limit is 100kpm (62mph) Bob drove 50kph.

It was quite a bit cooler. We could see our breath in the morning. I wore all the clothes in one day that it took me one week in Australia to wear. Tank top, t-shirt, long sleeve shirt, tank top, and a fleece. I even grabbed a hat & gloves.

Hug a Koala

Australian Zoo.

We set out for the zoo. It's about 1 hours drive from Brisbane.
It's the zoo Steve Irwin worked at. I don't think any of us thought we could spend an entire day there. But we did. The charm of the Australian zoo is the interactivity. There are not a lot of animals, but we got to get up close and personal to the ones they had. The majority of the animals were native to Australia.

They have scheduled activities for most of the animals, we ran from one place to the next. We got to feed the elephants, pet the Koalas, pet the kangaroos, got buzzed by birds of prey, watch a crocodile show. We saw tigers but missed the show. We had to choose between feeding an elephant or watching the tiger show.

The animals were super active. I think the keepers do things to keep the animals moving. For example. I think they were placing food in the panda cage so we got to see them walking around instead of lazily sleeping on a branch.

We stopped at Woolworths, it's the grocery store chain, and picked up dinner. Tonight we cooked parsnips and spaghetti with Italian sausage for dinner. We ate on the patio overlooking the city.

Warm day with a few sprinkles. Not to hot.

Surfers Paradise

Enjoying a frosty one on the harbour in Surfers Paradise.

We started our day with a walk on the beach at Darlington beach and a breakfast of eggs, cheese and toast before we started out for Brisbane.

Our GPS sent us down the road less traveled which lead to a live kangaroo encounter. We stopped and watched them hopping around in a pasture.



About lunch time we were looking for a picnic spot, which lead us to Byron Bay. This may have been the beginning of the Gold Coast, very remote, the only people there were kids skipping school to surf, drink and smoke a little wacky weed. Just what you would expect from them. What we did not expect was the boot camp a group of hippies held. Even the ladies could do 'real' push ups.




Next stop, Surfers Paradise. The day was cloudy due to the remnants of hurricane Ul. There were plenty of obvious tourists at Surfers Paradise. One of the more interesting was a small China-man acting oddly in his Speedo swimsuit. He had a great time frolicking in the big waves. Mike managed to capture a good photo of the guy posing on the sandy beach.





We found a bar in Surfers Paradise that was right on the harbour. There was cheap beer and live music, so we hung out for a while and enjoyed to warm weather. After we had our fill of beer, we were hungry, so we went on the search for some food. We found restaurant that had fresh fish for sale. You chose what you wanted to eat, and then they cooked it up. We all had fish and chips, and they were yummy!



We finally arrived at our condo in downtown Brisbane at about 6:00 pm. It was a very nice place that had a great view of the river and downtown Brisbane. It would be our home for the next few days.

Holiday Stay

Paradise Court. Would you expect anything less from Bob.

Today was a long haul driving day. We said good bye to Bondi Beach for a seven hour drive to Paradise Court in Coffs Harbour.

We drove up the Pacific Highway. We were surprised by the scenery. It was a lot hillier and greener then we expected. The highway in most places was only two lanes (1 in each direction). For such a big developed country this seemed odd. The HWY speed was 60 to 65 mph. Bicyclists are allowed on the highway.

We were warned about hitting kangaroos on the highway. It sounds like hitting a 'roo is as common as hitting a deer. We saw plenty of road kill 'roos but no live ones. We were also on the lookout for Koalas. We weren't lucky enough to see any.

We found a place to replace the flat tire. The car rental company is making us pay for it. We will have to take it up with the Visa card when we get home.

Ready for a break, we saw a sign for the Great Lakes winery. So we stopped for a tasting and a picnic lunch in the vineyard. We bought two bottles, we drank one with our lunch of hummus, cheese and sausage. Gotta love vacation.

We arrived at the Darlington Beach holiday park. We stayed in a cabin at a camp ground. The cabin was similiar to the ones in Hayward and was nicer then our condo in Bondi Beach. Some cabins were owned by individuals and some folks parked RV's for the season, similiar to Ed & Becky. We saw live 'roos hopping around the camp ground. Too bad we only had one brief night.

Prices for food and beverages is super high. A coke is $4.00.

89 and sunny.

Blue Mountains

Today we picked up a car for the drive to the Blue Mountains, and then we will drive to Brisbane Saturday morning. On our way to the car rental place in Darling Harbor we decided to buy a GPS. Renting one actually costs more then buying one. And buying one was cheaper then buying the AUS/NZ maps for the gps we already have.

Bob is the better navigator so I always drive. Even with the GPS we managed to get ourselves mixed up on the drive out. It wasn't all bad though we got to drive across the Harbor Bridge, Old Iron Lung. Our time in Sydney was short, we did not get a chance to walk across the bridge on the pedestrian path or climb the bridge. So getting off course wasn't so bad.

Zinger of the day...
Linda said,
"Bob, don't forget it's your anniversary, when you tell Lori where to go."

On the 1.5 hour drive to the Blue Mountains we had a flat tire. With our NASCAR pit crew, it took about 5 minutes and we were back on our way. Linda pulled out the box of chocolates during the tire changing. You could say the flat tire was bitter sweet! Lunch was in the city of Katoomba at the Old Bank Beer Garden. Kangaroo strips were on the menu. Mike & Linda shared the steak burger, which they swear was Kangaroo.

On to Echo Point. I didn't really know what the Blue Mountains were all about. OMG. It's like the Grand Canyon x 20. It's fabulous. Imagine the Grand Canyon covered with foliage. It was amazing. We did a 1.5 hour Bushwalk. There are hours and hour’s worth of Bushwalking paths. We did drive to a few other look out points and spent about 6 hours in the Blue Mountains altogether.

Hit the ground running

Bondi Beach.
We were fortunate enough to be able to check into our condo at 8AM. We wanted to check out the beach, pick up a few groceries and take a short nap before we started our sightseeing. On our way to get groceries we saw the Hop On Hop off city tour bus. We hopped on right then and there.

The weather was gorgeous. Sunny and about 80. In the sun it was hot in the shade it was cool. We had lunch on the darling harbour near the maritime museum and aquarium. We then made our way over to the Rocks. The Rocks had beautiful views of the Opera House. On our way to hop on the tour bus we stumbled on an Irish bar celebrating St Patty's day. We couldn't resist. There was tons of people, great music and good beer. We chatted up the locals a bit. Mike in his casual stance and new sunglasses got dubbed Mr. Super Cool.

Back to the hotel for a short nap then a walk to find something to throw on the Barbie.