Author Archives: laurettepayette

Today we left the sheep farm in Geelong, Victoria, Australia where we had a fabulous 24 hours with the Morgan family, friends of the Dorff’s for many years🥰 We headed southwest to the town of Winchelsea, Victoria, Australia and on to the town of Lorne to begin our journey to Adelaide via the Great OceanContinue reading “1/22/23 – The Great Ocean Drive”

Our third Grand Slam event – US Open, Wimbledon, and now the Australian Open! Our first session (1/17/23), a night session ended with lots of matches suspended by rain, but we were in Margaret Court Arena under cover:) Our next session (1/18/23), a day session, was hampered by rain, but again we were in MargaretContinue reading “1/19/23 – Australian open”

Today was a bit warmer than yesterday or maybe it was because we were farther from the water while walking to museums?? Our first visit was to the Museum of Sydney on Bridge Street where the first 9 Governors of Sydney resided in a home first built by convict laborers and added onto and renovatedContinue reading “1/16/23 – Sydney Cultural Day”

We did not have WiFi last night🤨. Omarama to Oamaru was a beautiful drive along Lake Waitaki and along Roaring Meg (a river carving a beautiful gorge). When we arrived in Oamaru it was pouring and chilly… had to change clothes before heading to the Moeraki Boulders on a beach at low tide. We bothContinue reading “1/12/23 – Omarama to Oamaru to Christchurch”

Today was the big day! We awoke to a beautiful, blue sky, not a cloud in the sky type day with a slight breeze. Our climb reservation was for 9:45 am😊👍. The preparations for the climb took 45 minutes.. it was a bit like a boot camp as we followed our leader’s instructions; watched videosContinue reading “1/15/23 – Sydney Bridge Climb”

WOW!!!! No pictures that we could take can do justice to the awesome beauty of this fiord in Fiordland National Park in the southwest corner of the South Island of New Zealand. We traveled with “realNZ” via charter bus from Te Anau to the ferry docks at Milford Sound. We made numerous stops along theContinue reading “1/9/23 – Milford Sound”

We awoke to a cloudy, rainy day in Sydney, but lo and behold by 10:30 am the clouds gave way to blue sky and sunshine and a wonderful breeze. We had a most wonderful brunch at Brix & Beans Coffee House near Millers Point. After brunch we wandered over to the Sydney Bridge Climb CenterContinue reading “1/14/23 – Sydney”

Our camping adventures in New Zealand have come to an end🥲. We have landed in Sydney and are staying 4 nights in downtown. What a change from New Zealand!!! A bit of an adjustment – surroundings and a time difference of 2 hours…seems like 10 pm and it’s only 8 pm😳🥱. We’ll explore tomorrow andContinue reading “1/13/23 – Campervan Return & Off to Sydney”

Te Anau is a great walking and biking town! Did a 2 hour walk along Lake Te Anau and along part of the “Lake2Lake Trail” or Lakeside Walk to the Wildlife Park. At the Te Anau Bird Sanctuary I saw a pair of South Island Takahe; Kakas (Parrots); and Antipodes Island Parakeets. Before leaving TeContinue reading “1/10/23 – Te Anau to Queenstown to Omarama”

A beautiful day for a drive through the mountains…. Mount Cardrona, Mount Pisa, Dunstan Mountains, The Remarkables, Eyre Mountains (to name a few:)… from Wanaka to Te Anna on the edge of Fiordland National Park and next to the 2nd largest fresh water lake (1st is Lake Taupo) in New Zealand. After parking the camperContinue reading “1/8/23 – Wanaka to Te Anau”