New Zealand & Australia

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 Ocean Drive. In Lorne we walked along the beach and saw 4 new birds to add to our list. Continuing our drive on the Great Ocean Drive we next stopped at Apollo Bay and visited a small grocery, George’s Cafe, and Dooley’s Ice Cream shop (best chocolate ice cream!!). Onward to the “Twelve Apostles “ (limestone pillars) and Port Campbell National Park and our accommodations in Port Campbell. Tomorrow we continue our journey on 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 Margaret Court Arena. As the day session ended, matches were beginning on all the outdoor courts. Lots of catching up to do! Today (1/19/23) we have tickets for the night session in Rod Laver Arena… lots of sunshine today:). We are mastering the Melbourne PT (public transport) from our accommodations with friends in Williamstown, VIC, Australia.

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 renovated with each governor. Our next destination was the Art Gallery of New South Wales which resides in the Botanic Garden Domain. Yes, we were in the Botanic Garden yet again😊. We love the garden! After another walk in the Botanic Garden to the Circular Quay we board a ferry to Watson’s Bay to eat at Doyle’s Takeaway, a famous establishment since the late 1800’s! It was quite tasty 😋 Time for a return to our hotel to pack for a very early morning departure for the airport and a flight to Melbourne where we will attend the Australian Open🎾🎾🎾

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 both love beach walks and thoroughly enjoyed seeing these unique rocks that have survived on the coast for hundreds of years. Upon our return to Oamaru it was still raining and Connie challenged me to a game of Qwirkle as we bided time before our Blue Penguin extravaganza at 9 pm. Thankfully it stopped raining prior to our Blue Penguin event. At the Oamaru Blue Penguin Colony we were able to see 4 rafts (groupings) of Blue Penguins totaling 130+ come ashore to their habitat for the night after being out in the Pacific feeding during the day. These Blue Penguins are adorable 😊. After a cold, rainy night we departed Oamaru for Christchurch where again it stopped raining as we embarked on a botanic garden stroll and a CBD (central business district) walk. Much of the CBD is under construction/reconstruction following the 2011 earthquake that devastated much of Christchurch. After visiting Christchurch the reality of preparing to pack and return our camper van hit us! We are sad to end our time in New Zealand and at the same time excited to begin our Australian adventures🥰

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 videos in preparation; donned a special suit, harnesses, headset, special souvenir hat, and straps for glasses; and practiced climbing both up and down ladders with all of our gear. The views from atop the bridge were magnificent!! What a fabulous experience (no pictures to post as no cell phones were permitted on the climb😕). The climb lasted approximately 2 hours with many pauses for pictures, history, and just taking in the scenery. My favorite quote of the day: “The people of Sydney like to say that the Harbor Bridge is 2x’s more riveting than the Eiffel Tower” ( Why? The Harbor Bridge required 6 million rivets to construct and the Eiffel Tower required only 3 million rivets!). After the climb we went to The Rocks to grab a bite to eat before heading to the ferry and a trip to Watsons Bay. Watsons Bay was a bit crowded by the beach but not on the walking trails above the beach… there is a trail which we did not follow today that takes you to or from Bondi Beach (one of the most well known of beaches in Sydney) to Manley Cove. After a lazy afternoon in the park at Watsons Bay we headed back to the Quay and a walk in the Sydney Botanic Gardens… I love these gardens & could spend many hours here. We spotted about 12 new birds to add to our ever growing list for these novices😜. Time for dinner along the Quay where we watched a huge cruise ship depart and watched lots of people enjoying summer on the Quay. Time to return to our nice accommodations on Hunter Street.

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 the way to Milford Sound during a 2+ hour journey. Our guide described the landscape and how it came to be. The beech forests are dense. Of note was that the bottom of the sound is actually below sea level! The area on both sides of the road to Milford Sound is very steep and prone to avalanches and consequently results in the road being closed on average 50 days/year. At Milford Sound we boarded our ferry and picked up a wonderful picnic lunch and found a very comfortable spot next to a window (of course!). Upon completion of lunch we made our way to the front of the ferry & outside so we could look up, forward, right & left, and back … did not want to miss anything!!! The front position was very windy as we made our way to the Tasman Sea. Once we turned around it was quite comfortable😊. On our return journey we saw seals sunning themselves and a school of dolphins entertaining all of the sightseers. We traveled near enough to a waterfall to get adequately sprayed. Our guides noted that the only other place in the world where you can see a glacier + a rainforest + the sea is in Patagonia in Chile… amazing! When the ferry landed and we boarded our charter bus for the return trip to Te Anau, we both were glad we were not making the two hour drive in the camper van!!!!

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 Center to check out what we could expect tomorrow during our bridge climb. One of my favorite singers, Bette Midler, has done the bridge climb! We continued to explore the area near to the bridge climb and signed on to a walking tour of “The Rocks” – the area where the convicts from England landed and settled. The indigenous peoples were not happy about the new residents. Our guide, Sophie, was wonderful! Following the tour refreshments were in order, so we headed to the Lowenbrau Hofbrau House…a German beer garden that we encountered during our walking tour. While enjoying our beverages and people watching, we saw a man with a shirt that said “Too Midwest to be too stressed”. I engaged in conversation with Mark and Karen, from Chicago, who will be attending the Australian Open next week too! Drinks and conversation completed we headed to the Circular Quay and investigated the ferry system which we will try tomorrow after our bridge climb. The iconic Sydney Opera House is quite visible from the Quay! We walked to the Opera House to get a close up view. Then it was into the beautiful Botanic Garden where we saw new birds to add to our ever growing list – the Eurasia Rosella parrot; the Kookaburra; a Maned Duck; a Masked Lapwing; and a yet to be identified Ibis. Our dinner spot, the Chat Thai, was in an interesting building near to the quay. A stop for some breakfast items at an EZ Mart near our hotel suite.

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 and most likely will have a bit more to share.

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 Te Anau we stopped at Mararoa Motors to find out what they needed to do to our camper van while we did our Milford Sound excursion … come to find out after multiple battery warnings and after a call to THL (road service) to set up the appointment .. the battery in the camper was not a compatible battery!!!! Problem solved and then on the road to Queenstown for a day of adult child’s play – a ride up the gondola and then 5 awesome luge runs and a return trip on the gondola – we had a blast!!! Off to Omarara for an overnight before heading to Oamaru to see the Blue Penguins😊

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 camper at the Te Anau Top 10 Holiday Park we headed to the “realNZ” Visitor Center and boarded the Luminosa to cross Lake Te Anau to the Glow Worm Caves. What an excellent adventure!! We have no pictures to share as no cameras are permitted. Upon our return to Te Anau we decided to check out a local Chinese restaurant😋. Tomorrow we are headed to our Milford Sound tour with realNZ😊