Sydney

Wow, I love Sydney! Arrived this afternoon after driving up from the Blue Mountains. The city has a real buzz. Our hotel is in The Rocks area, right in the centre of the city. Just look at the view from the 8th floor pool area!

Had a bit of an explore around the harbour before picking up our tickets for a performance at the Opera House. We listened to 4 soloists performing famous arias from operas including Carmen, Madam Butterfly and La Boheme. They were all excellent and were accompanied by an equally excellent pianist. Really enjoyed it all and at the end we all joined in the chorus of 'Brindisi' from La Traviata. We have both sung in the Sydney Opera House!

Day 2:

Still love Sydney! Today we went on a walking tour of the city. We were told the history of the Rocks, the location of our hotel. This was the area where the original convicts were housed and was a rough area. Now it is full of chic bars and resturaunts and is a protected area of Australia's history.

We went on to see other areas and buildings of historical significance. Saw a statue of Flinders, the explorer who circumnavigated Australia with his cat, Trim. 

Then went on to the Botanic Gardens where we met Genny and Mike Noglik who are here visiting their son! Michael and his family. We spent a pleasant afternoon in the gardens and then on a boat trip to Milson(?) point where we left them and walked back over the Harbour bridge.

Lovely views of the opera house. What a stunning building! The original estimate to build the Opera House was £7M, which rose to £102M on completion, puts the Orchard into perspective eh? The architect, Jorn Utzon, never saw the completed structure, how sad.

This evening we met up with a couple who are holidaying in Australia. We went for aperitifs on a bar in Australia Square. This has a revolving resturaunt/bar on the 47th floor, with stunning views as you can imagine.

Our time in Sydney has been too short. We would love to come back if we get the chance.

The Blue Mountains

Andy decided it was too expensive to spend 5 nights in Sydney, so after flying to Sydney from Melbourne, we headed off to the Blue Mountains for 3 of the nights. Stayed in Katoomba, a small town on the Great Western Highway. Day 1 was spent driving and exploring Katoomba.

Day 2: drove around the Katoomba and Leura tourist trail. First stop was Gordon Fells lookout

Then on to the Leura cascades

Before arriving at the major tourist attraction of Echo Point from where you can see the three sisters and the orphan rock. Also saw a huge lizard, which we think was a blue-tongued skink!

Some beautiful views today. Not up to New Zealand standard, but lovely in their own way.

Day 3:

Andy wanted to see Mudgee, the wine growing region of this area. He has been told that Mudgee wines are better than those from the Hunter Valley. It was quite a long drive to Mudgee, and we saw quite a bit of road kill on the way including kangaroos, wallabies, a fox and a huge pig! 

Eventually found Mudgee, which wasn't up to much really, and didn't visit the vineyards after all. So we ended up driving 350km to have lunch and buy a bottle of wine in the supermarket!

Got some lovely pictures on the way back though, and even saw a kookaburra, though we weren't able to get a photo!

Views of the Megalomg Valley from the Hargraves lookout

Melbourne

Our first impression of Australia wasn't good, as it was raining and cold when we arrived in Melbourne. Things didn't get any better when, on our first morning, we visited the waterfront and docks area. Not the prettiest part of the city. We were hoping to see the Queen Mary II, which was docked here somewhere that day, but can you believe we didn't see it? A great big ship like that and we didn't see it! Anyway, by the afternoon things had started to look up. The rain had stopped and we discovered the art museum, happy hour and a very good Chinese!

Day two was good. A lovely day so we visited St Kilda beach which is really nice.

Later on we went to see 'Private Lives' by Noel Coward which was on at the Southbank theatre. The theatre is an expensively appointed, modern building which really impressed Andy.

We were threatened with rain on day 3, so scrapped our plans to go to an outdoor concert this evening. Still, had another nice day in Melbourne having a bus tour of the city, visiting another museum and the botanical gardens.

Flying to Sydney tomorrow. Andy has been googling 'identification of snakes in Eastern Australia' in preparation!

Sailing on the Interislander..... Picton to Wellington

Drove to Picton this morning. Signposting in New Zealand is a bit lacking and we ended up on the scenic route from Havelock. The road took us high into the mountains where the views over the sounds were beautiful, but we didn't get a chance to take any photos, largely because I was in a bit of a panic as to whether we were on the right road and if we would get to the boat on time! However we made it and joined the ferry for the trip back to Wellington for the last time.

Leaving South Island

Arriving in North Island

All looks pretty similar eh? But really the two islands are quite different. We have had a lovely time in South Island, but I still retain a soft spot for the North. South Island is more beautiful, there is no doubt about that, but it sometimes felt like one big theme park. There were so many tourists everywhere, and really not many Kiwis other than those servicing the tourist industry. North Island seems more like normal life to me.

It was our last full day in New Zealand today and we are feeling a bit sad about leaving after all this time. Still, there are more adventures to come yet and it's not long now until we are home and can see all the family again. I will be home 5 weeks today :)

A walk in the Grampians

The Grampian hills overlook Nelson and have many walking tracks which you can take. There are some splendid views over the city and to the Tasman Bay. The tracks were very steep both up and down. Can't say much more as I am still puffed!

Abel Tasman National Park

We are spending a few days in Nelson, rumoured to be the sunniest place in New Zealand. The weather has actually been lovely, around 26 degrees and sunny since we got here! Today we decided to drive to the Abel Tasman Park which we were told is lovely. Drove to Kaiteriteri and caught the water taxi to Awaroea.

Hiked back to Tonga Quarry, with some lovely views over the beautiful bays.

At Tonga we had a hour on the beach before the water taxi came to collect us for the return trip to Kaiteriteri.

This evening, Andy took me out for a pre-Valentine's day meal in Nelson. How romantic he is, or is it perhaps because it will be more expensive tomorrow? Anyway, apart from a loud-mouthed, self-opinionated Swede at the next table, we had a lovely evening.  

Christchurch again

Andy and I were due to fly to Nelson this afternoon, so this morning we had another look around Christchurch. Here are some pictures.

The bank in container city

The devastated city centre

The 185 empty white chairs, representing those lost in the earthquake 3 years ago

The amazing cardboard cathedral 

Christchurch is an amazing city with a great spirit.