Author: Liliana

Tuesday 6^th February 2018

It was a bright sunny morning and temperatures were just great 24 degrees – that’s the right temperature to go exploring the Limestone Coastline and heading into the Great Ocean Road. Our cottage at The Barn is very pleasant and our breakfast – we just made it on time – was also healthy and good, so the start of our day was perfect!

We had packed our gear and were ready to leave by 10 a.m. It was going to be a good travelling day along the last part of the Limestone Coastline of South Australia and entering the Great Ocean Road in the State of Victoria – with a time difference of half an hour. The state of Victoria is 30 minutes earlier than the state of South Australia!!

Our final destination point for today was Warrnambool where we would be staying at a B&B, however the trip would be along the coastline so it took longer than anticipated and anyway it was a sightseeing trip starting off with our first stop in Port MacDonnell, then onto Nelson and finally to Cape Bridgewater before crossing borders into the state of Victoria.

Nelson is a pretty quiet village which lies at the mouth of Glenelg River and it is here we spotted the beautiful lone pelican who stood first on the side of the ramp and then decided to go fishing….. Then after three quarters of an hour we arrived at Cape Bridgewater – according to the receptionist at The Barn, we were not to miss visiting this stunning little village.  What was interesting to see here was of course the petrified forest and the blow holes – well the petrified forest is not really a tree forest but due to the rock formation, it looks like  stumps cut down to different sizes. At Cape Nelson, we visited the lighthouse which dates back to the 1880’s and has witnessed many dramas on the seas.  The white and red tower and the long stone wall are the features that give the Cape Nelson Lighthouse a whole character of its own and interesting enough, we found out that you can make reservations to stay over at the lighthouse master’s quarters – well that is if you are planning to go hiking in the vicinities.

Monday, 5th February, 2018

That early rising is still in my system after having been out to the Red Centre! I was up at 4.30 and as everyone is fast asleep at that time, my internet connection was great to down load the pictures onto my blog. So I finished my blog about our 3 day Uluru safari and posted it and then went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours! We woke up round about 8 am to the sound of my alarm – not Cat Stevens but New Age music which I get every morning!!

Anyway while Gerry got coffee and tea ready, I sorted out the laundry room which was just a few doors down from our room, however I needed 1 dollar coins which I exchanged at the reception – yes Monday is laundry day. Once that was sorted, we went to the main building to have our breakfast. This place – The Barn – is an oasis compared to where we were the last 5 days!!! Beautiful roses, lavender and emerald green lawns!!

While the laundry was going on and in between loads ( only one washing machine and one dryer), I explored the beautiful grounds of our accommodation – The Barn – roses and lavender blossoming, gazebo with cream coloured roses climbing around it, tennis courts and luscious green lawns!

When our laundry was finished it was close to midday so we packed our stuff into the car to do some sightseeing in the neighbourhood – well not exactly neighbourhood as we drove back to Robe – some 80 minutes away from Mount Gambier where we were staying. We were very careful as to not hit any passing kangaroos –we saw a couple dead on the roadside – but luckily we didn’t see any today.

The coastline we were driving is known as the Limestone Coastline with vineyards along the way, rugged coastline changing with pure white sandy beaches and little towns dotting the scenery. There were many settlers arriving in these areas back in mid 1800’s and unfortunately alos many shipwrecks, where after sailing for a few months, the settlers met with ill fate just off the coast line – hence part of the coastline is also name Shipwreck Trail.

Our first stop was at Beachport, with sweeping sandy beaches on one side and rugged rocky cliffs on the other. Originally back in the 1830’s Beachport’s settlers were a whaling community but now Beachport is a safe haven for crayfish fishing. Because of its shallow waters, a very long jetty was built some 120 years ago and is considered as the longest jetty in South Australia – 772 meters long!

After having lunch at Beachport – again fish and chips and potato wedges with salad – we were back on the road and this time driving along the coast and vineyards, we arrived in Robe – a seaside town and fishing port located in the Limestone Coast of South Australia. The town’s distinctive combination of historical buildings, ocean, fishing fleets, lakes and dense bush was great to see. There were quite some waves in the sea which was a magnificent colour but great to watch!

We drove out of the little town to explore the surroundings The rock formation which is very similar to Malta’s – limestone – is just spectacular but you really need to watch where you are walking. We walked up to the obelisk – Cape Dombey Obelisk – built in 1852 and used to navigate the entrance into the bay and to store rocket life saving equipment – the rockets were fired with survival baskets to distressed ships offshore and bring back survivors ashore and hence saving lots of lives. As the Obelisk was built on the edge of a limestone cliff that is crumbling away with erosion, it won’t be long before this building crashes down into the sea!  Anyway when we looked over the cliff side at the other end , we spotted sea lions playing around in the sea. It was great to watch! But the phots are not that good as the sea lions kept doing somersaults under water.

Another point of interest close to the cliff edge was the old gaol house – or rather the ruins of the goal house built in 1860 but quite a few prisoners made their way out from here as the walls were not reinforced – later strengthened with old boiler plates. However, this gaol house stopped functioning by 1881 and fell into disrepair until it was restored to its current state in 1995.

After all our sightseeing, it was time to get back to Mount Gambier where we were staying as we had made reservations at the Barn to have dinner there. We now drove back long the highway but still it took us 1.5hrs to get back. So it was a quick shower and then to the restaurant – filled with loads of corporate people who were in town for a conference – have really wiped out this past memory of my working life……… Anyway besides waiting too long for our meal – Gerry had rump steak and I had salmon, the food was not that great………. Well tomorrow is another day……. Travelling to our next stay – a bed and breakfast, Merton Manor in Warrnambool on the Great Ocean Road.

Sunday, 4th February 2018

I guess we are used to getting up early – only this time it was 6 am and we had a good night’s sleep in a proper bed and used proper bathrooms…….. going basic is good fun but I still like my luxuries ……… 

Anyway, it was good getting up early as I could continue writing in my blog – and there was so much to write and my mental notes had to be put down on paper ( or actually in the blog ) with the help of the many photos we had taken. So worked till about 9 am and then we got ready and had breakfast and checked out at 10. Our taxi pick up to the airport was at 11 am so we relaxed in the lobby as it was already too hot to go outdoors – this was a day where we would be spending in airco-ed surroundings – ac in bedroom, ac in lobby, ac in tact, ac at the airport and then on the plane.

Our flight to Adelaide was at 12.35 and it went on time – we were lucky to be sitting together in one row so we had the seat between us empty. This time I was able to take some pictures once we were crossing the Red Centre and also the many salt lakes in the middle of Australia. The bigger one is called Torrens Salt Lake.

This salt lake is more than 250km long and we could easily spot out of the plane -completely different as to what we had seen when we stopped at the Red sand dune to view both Mount Connor and Torrens Salt Lake. Besides this huge lake, we could see many other salt lakes of different sizes – this is the leftovers of the sea that once split Australia into two parts some 350 million years ago!

We filled up the car in Adelaide and keyed in our destination onto our GPS and started our 445 km drive at 16.45.

Driving down, we crossed the Murray River, Australia’s longest river and we saw many wineries on the way. When it was my turn to drive the road narrowed down to just two lanes and know take over stretches. However speed limit was 110 and that kept us going at a good average – luckily it was Sunday evening and though there were some heavy lorries on the road, traffic was good. We even had a pick up truck in front of us transporting two bulls. I quickly overtook this pickup truck!!

By the time we reached our hotel – The Barn – it was already 21.30 and it was dark and we just had an encounter with a kangaroo before entering town! I just called out “Kangaroo” and Gerry stopped the car on time. Kangaroo just looked at us and then hopped across the road and continued looking at us. By the time I had my camera out to take a picture kangaroo decided to hop back into the fields….. At the hotel we were told that kangaroos come out at night to look for water as it’s quite dry and yes they do make it into town as well.

Well we were glad to settle in and sort out our stuff – we had loads of washing to be done – and tomorrow is Monday – a perfect laundry day!

Thursday, 1st February 2018 – till Saturday 3rd February 2018

What an early start!  We were going to be picked up at 6.am by our 4WD truck to start our adventure to the Red Centre of Australia and learn more of the Aboriginal culture of this country. It was still dark when we were outside our motel  and sharp on time, a big 4WD drove down our street – we were the first pick ups for the trip. Dean introduced himself and seemed to be a very typical outback type of a man –  a well weathered Aussie cowboy hat, blue shirt and jeans and well tramped Aussie cowboy boots …… and a long beard!

 Our 3 day trip Uluru started off by picking up the next group – a Danish mum with 2 small boys who were still fast asleep and so we left Alice Springs through the Gap and picked up the Stuart Highway. After some repetitive scenery, I fell asleep as can be seen in the photo group below and only woke up when we had our first stop at the Camel Farm.

Camels  were first brought to Australia in 1840 and then again in 1860 first from Tenerife and then India and Pakistan and used for building the Telegraph and railway system from Darwin to Adelaide. Much later when cars and trucks were being used there was no need for camels any longer and most were set free – hence wild camels roaming around the centre of Australia. There are  still some camel farms mainly for camel milk and also for camel trips in the desert.

Back on the road again and this was one long grey asphalt with red sand on both sides till we reached Erldunda Roadhouse – very special place here as here  is the mark of the centre of the Red Centre of Australia. By that time we were more awake  and could continue enjoying the views

Our next stop was at our camp site – some 440 km away from Alice Springs and four hours’ drive.  We were glad to arrive at camp and we could choose our tent cabin for the night before having lunch. While we were having lunch Dean went to pick up some more guests who were joining our group and in total we were 11 of us including 4 children.

After lunch we were complete to start our first trip to Uluru – first a visit to the cultural centre to get an introduction to the Anangu Culture and desert environment. The Uluru Rock  is a great sacred place to the traditional owners – and we are asked  to respect their wishes and not climb their sacred Uluru – but walk at the base – by April 2019 no one will be able to climb the rock as it will be prohibited by law. Our afternoon at Uluru was very interesting and informative..

After having visited Uluru, we drove to Yulara (according to Dean, this was town!) – there were other groups from the same organisers and certainly so many young back packers! This whole trip, exploring the stunning landscapes, the local Aboriginal cultures and the unique pioneering history of Central Australia is certainly not to be missed when visiting Australia. I know Gerry has offered up the coastline for a few days but I am sure he also appreciates this massive interior also known as the Red Centre.

Towards sunset, Dean drove us to a spot where other tourists were also gathered to watch the sunset over Uluru. It was such a lovely gathering – every guide had his/her group and pitched a table with drinks and nibbles including bubbly Pinot Noir for the adults and fruit juices for the kids. It was all very amicable! However the sunset was not as it should have been – clouds deterred the colour effects on the rock. But Dean took care of us – we had sparkling Pinot Noir wine and snacks whilst we watched the colours changing.

Came back to Camp to find that dinner was ready for us – Pasta Bolognaise……… with kangaroo meat! Wasn’t too sure to eat it or not – Luckily the vegetable sauce was separate so I could go vegetarian but then I just wanted to have a taste and I must say it tasted rather good – but then that’s because it’s minced – no way I would eat a kangaroo steak especially as not so long ago, I was petting one of these sweet natured animals ……

It was such a shame – it had started raining and our camp fire was soon out and we had dinner indoors – it rained all night! No one slept in a swag but rather in our camp tents

The following morning our roll call was at 4.30 with music – Cat Steven’s Morning has broken….(just in case you cannot remember the song just press on the link) followed by other songs getting louder. We really slept well in our tent cabin which had proper beds and a step higher than the ground.  We were going to drive back to Uluru to watch the sunrise and the effect on the great rock.   Dean had toasted bread and also cereal and coffee ready for us. All of us were really sleepy heads especially the kids! Anyway we all did what we were told to do and Dean drove us away. Again some disappointment as the clouds hindered the sunrise. Straight after we left for Kata Tjuta, 40 km further away.

Kata Tjuta or as previously known as the Olgas has some 36 domes and when we arrived there, Dean took us on a hike of about 7.5km along the  Valley of the Winds and taking just over 4 hours. This was quite an achievement for both of us as we were the oldest of the group and kept the pace going over lose rocks but the views were breathtaking. Climbing up and down the pathways, we could constantly hear the wind blowing and hence the appropriate name for this walk. However the last part was to climb a steep rock wall and then also come back down again and when I saw this, my common sense told me that I could climb the rock wall but I would never get down it again as it would mean putting a lot of pressure on my hip which was recovering from the hip replacement surgery 6 months ago! However Gerry, with Dean’s help did climb up the rock wall while I relaxed next to a small waterfall and cool creek full of tadpoles.

We then drove back to base camp after dropping off the Danish mum and 2 boys as well as a middle aged couple at the Uluru Airport. Here once again, the women prepared the salads and the men barbecued burgers and sausages – real outback meals! Dean then explained we were leaving this camp to drive to Kings Creek Station where we would be spending our second night right in the middle of the bush – but luckily or us in tent cabins, open air showers and curtained flushing toilets. He also warned us that we would need to stop on the way to gather firewood so that we could cook dinner in the evening. Apparently he had a very good place where to get wood, however we were not the only group there! Still we had enough and so made our way back at the camp

The drive to Kings Creek Station took some three hours however we stopped  for firewood and then at a gas station to fill up our 4WD ( we also bought some white wine to go with our evening meal).    

After a few hours we arrived at our new camp site at Kings Creek Station. On the way we had also stopped at a  red sanded dune not far from Curtin Springs Farm to admire the Fuluru (Fool Uluru) or rather Mount Connor and next to a great expanse of a salt lake with a hard crust but if you were to walk on it you would sink in slowly. We also had a brief encounter with the dragon lizard – a spiky lizard that eats only ants and drinks water through capillary system – the dragon lizard would stand in a puddle of water and the water creeps up its legs and into his neck and he only has to stick out his tongue to capture the drops of water – ingenious……..

Finally at Kings Creek Station, we certainly needed the 4WD to get to our camp as it was only a dirt road to where our camp was situated – in the middle of the bush! Robert immediately started the fire with the firewood we had gathered. It took quite some time to get the fire going as it had rained a few nights and the wood was quite wet. At this camp we met up with Megan, a Dutch girl from Rotterdam who was working her way in Australia but was starting at Deloitte in Melbourne next month, she helped with the cooking as did Robert and of course they were a couple – she an accountant just finished university and he a carpenter!

By the time we were settling in at Kings Creek Station, it was nearly sunset and Dean suggested we take in the views of the George Gill Range opposite the camp grounds. This was spectacular – especially as we had missed the sunset at Uluru. By the time we walked back to our camp, dinner was cooking on the open campfire ashes. Dean is a really outdoor man and showed us what he had prepared – with the help of Megan and Robert who did all the cutting and chopping!

The menu for that evening was a chicken casserole, baked potatoes, boiled rice and freshly baked bread all to be prepared on the charcoaled wood. There was plenty of food for the six of us – The other family travelling with us was also Danish who had taken a 9month sabbatical.

After an excellent dinner, we finally had a good shower and were ready for bed – and fell asleep straight away – never heard anything till next morning at 4.30 when we were woken up to Cat Stevens “ Morning has Broken”. Once again it was an early start and this time we were off to the Kings Canyon for an early hike – 

Gerry and I did the South Wall Return walk, which began with a demanding climb up to the south wall of Kings Canyon and offering stunning views of the park’s geological features. This was a 4.8 km hike, which took us up to 3 hours (but then we were taking a lot of pictures of the fantastic views). The rest of the group walked The Kings Canyon Rim walk under Dean’s guidance. We did not do this as the steep climb to the top is called the Heart Attack Steps – some 500 steps climbing steeply to the top. This was a 6km loop taking some 3-4 hours. Anyway at the end of our hike I was so glad to soak my feet in the cool water of the creek which was overflowing due to the heavy rainfalls in the last few days.

 What an achievement! As Gerry keeps on saying certainly his children won’t believe him that he’s done so much hiking  – this was such an exhilarating experience even though our muscles ached afterwards and certainly for me coming back down the canyon wall, my legs trembled quite a bit……..but we arrived  back at base without any major problems – we were glad that the others were still hiking so we could catch our breath and feel somewhat fit again…..

 The rest of the group joined us within an hour and also for them especially the kids the hike was strenuous but they too were compensated with beautiful views. Dean started up the truck so that it would be somewhat cooler with the airco on – it was just gone 11 am and it was 36 degrees!!  On our way again, Dean had told us that he was going to take a short cut through a dirt road – a 100 km red sand road which cut down our turn time to Alice Springs by an hour.  I could only think of the Dakar races – only sand around us and the bush and the bumpy road – no way we could sleep again……. We made it to Alice Springs by 16.30 and we stopped at the Welcome monument to take our last pictures – of course I needed to take a picture of Dean and his 4WD truck – we had driven some 1.500km in 3 days and spent some 10 hours hiking some 20km in the Red Centre of Australia.

In my mind  I have awarded both Gerry and myself a gold medal!! 

Wednesday, 31st January 2018

Today, the last day of the first month of the year and we are  travelling to Alice Springs as we are joining a safari to Uluru. We left The Franklin Hotel by 7.30 and it was only a 20 minute drive to the airport – no traffic! We parked our rental car on the long parking area and while leaving our heavy luggage in the booth, we made our way to the departure terminal with two rucksacks – we’ve learnt to travel light!!

Our flight to Alice Springs left on time – it’s so easy boarding when flying domestic and here in Australia, you are allowed to carry water bottles on board domestic flights! Well we are getting handier with checking in our own luggage, printing tags and sending our luggage off – it really saves time and you don’t have to queue up!

When we got to Alice Springs, we spent the rest of the day around town and our taxi took us straight to the  Diplomat Motel where we are to be picked up early tomorrow morning – 6am – to join  our Uluru tour. I’ve been reading up about this majestic and holy rock on the plane – and I guess no matter what you read about it, it will be a personal experience feeling the immensity, grandeur and colour changes of Uluru.

Well we made it to Alice Springs and the last part of the flight was very interesting – we flew over red earth – incredible – the open red spaces that seem to stretch on forever tell the story of the exploration and development of Australia’s pioneering spirit and unique identity – this is the Australian Outback!

When we descended the steps, we were met with really warm weather – and the sun was shining – it was so good to feel the warmth and the rays on our bodies! Our luggage was delivered real quick so we took a taxi into town – a 15 minute ride and the driver told us that where the mountains had a gap, that’s were we would be driving through to Alice Springs. This is really the outback – the Red Centre!!

After we had checked in, we changed back to shorts and T-shirt as it was too warm to wear long trousers. We took a map of the town with us and started wandering around and actually we had worked up quite an appetite so decided to stop at one of the cafe’s for a salad.

What’s remarkable is that we are in Aboriginal country and this is actually their home – for more than 60,000 years!  Since 1976, the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 was the first attempt by an Australian government to legally recognise the Aboriginal   system of land ownership and put into law the concept of inalienable freehold title. Till then, the Aboriginals were dictated to by missionaries and miners and pushed into controlled settlements. My first impression of the Aboriginals here in Alice Springs is that they have somehow been left behind with regard to the social standards that are enjoyed by the Aussies. However, I just learnt this evening that that Aboriginals that are living here are being paid royalties to perform cultural activities around Ayer’s Rock to attract more tourists. Here below a photo I took whilst waiting for lunch and I captured some of the young Aboriginal girls who actually looked quite smart!

After lunch, we went for a walk around town to capture the heritage trail, however we had to give this up as we had a heavy downpour. One minute the sun is out and the next the clouds came rolling in – a monsoon ! Back at the motel we had time to catch up on our social media, however at one point Gerry fell asleep so i decided to continue the heritage walk on my own as the rains had stopped and the sun was shining again!

This is all for tonight, we had a quick Pizza and salad with a good glass of wine and now back in our room where we got our gear sorted out. Tomorrow at 6 am we will be picked up to go on our Safari to Uluru. This means we will be without any WIFI for 3 days……..

Goodnight all!!!

Saturday 27th January 2018

Was it an early morning or a late night? In any case, at 3.30 am we had all our gear packed into the rental car and were on our way to the airport. Anisia’s directions were very clear and drove straight to the airport, however we had some difficulty trying to locate the return parking for our rental car – and who do you ask at 4 am? There is no one in sight. Anyway Gerry unpacked the car at the terminal and took the car to the returns parking area 2.5km further away. No problem getting there with google maps but walking back took quite some time and there I was, without any phone as Gerry had taken my iPhone with the directions to the car park  Anyway, after that, it was smooth travelling – till we got to Melbourne, our first point of contact in Australia. Passport control and customs, those are so cumbersome but got through on time to catch our domestic flight to Adelaide.

The flight to Adelaide went off without a hitch and once we collected our luggage, we were picked up by the rental car shuttle to go and pick up our car. We also bought a TomTom navigator and we were at our hotel without any problems.

After having explored the Central Market area with its China Town, we decided that we really needed to go to the beach. Gerry’s maritime background and my roots in Malta, make us both crave for the blue sea. So off we went in our rental car and using our new TomTom navigator. We started driving and thought of making our way to Port Adelaide but we got stranded at Semaphore……

Beachside Semaphore has a nostalgic vibe, a boulevard lined with Victorian houses, quirky organic cafes and historic pubs serving craft beers. Although we were there late afternoon, Semaphore Beach attracted families to its shallow waters, especially settling down under the pier for shade. After a walk on the beach, we made our way into the town centre which is full with quirky shops, café’s and hotels – by this time we were quite hungry and we were attracted to Greek music playing and found ourselves ordering a souvlaki at a Greek fast food kiosk with tables on the sidewalk – really enjoyed watching the crowd and trying to make out their origins…..

 The following day was Sunday! We woke up to a bright sunny day and we were promised quite high temperatures – 35 degrees – and we haven’t had that yet since Singapore!!

We planned a road trip along the coast going down to Victor Harbour and then Cape Jervis via the MacLaren Valley. This is where we saw some vineyards but unfortunately didn’t have time to stop as we planned to do the Barossa Hills the following day! Instead at Victor Harbour we spent some time on the boulder strewn Granite Island which was connected to the mainland by a causeway built back in 1875. Normally there is a horse drawn tram which goes across but today there wasn’t any service – either because it was Sunday or because it was too hot……

 Leaving Granite Island, we continued our trip to Cape Jervis and on the way we came along a lookout point at Yankalilla, to mark the scuttling of navy ship, HMAS Hobart which had done a number of years duty in the Vietnam war. The ship was laid to rest in 2002 and the anchor points to the spot where the vessel was laid to rest.

 And now it was time to have a swim and we ended up in Normansville, a pretty holiday town with a really wide sandy beach. By the time we decided to get into the water, the wind had turned up and for us the water was quite cold even though there was a warm wind blowing. But it was very refreshing…….. and then dried ourselves up with the warm wind and the sun that was still visible even though the clouds were thickening. By the time we were dressed and ready to have a bite to eat the clouds looked very menacing……

 Back at our hotel, we did not stay up too long – we were dead tired and we planned to visit the Barossa Hills the following day so I had some research work to do. Gerry has become very fond of Serena, our TomTom girl – she brings us everywhere without making any mistakes – the only times we went wrong wa because we did not listen carefully.

So after a Nespresso coffee for Gerry and a green tea for me, we wet off on our expedition. The weather was really grey and although we kept our fingers crossed and hoped there would be no rain, our prayers were not answered! Anyway, we started off by heading off to Hahndorf – A germanic town with loads of German features and the oldest German surviving settlement founded by 50 Lutheran families back in 1839. Here we had breakfast before heading on with our trip.

By the time we left Hahndorf, the raindrops were gathering momentum….. So even here in Adelaide and the Barossa hills, we just could not keep it dry!!! The rain is really following us……. 

Our next stop was at Gumeracha, which actually is only a village of about 400 people but why did we stop here? This village boasts of having the biggest wooden pony (like a rocking horse) built by the local wooden toys factory. However what we found more interesting here was the animal park, which for 1 Australian dollar you could go in a walk around in the park – and for me the most interesting animals were the kangaroos!! We’ve seen many road signs on the way warning us of kangaroos but these were the first real kangaroos we were seeing on our trip to Australia – I am sure we will encounter some more!

After taking a few pictures we were on our way again and this time we stopped at Birdwood – not for any special winery here although we did see some vineyards on the way, but for its interesting National Motor Museum. Of course this was a museum, which we could not skip – there were some 400 vehicles showcasing Australia’s motoring and social history. Well even I found this an interesting exhibition.

By this time it was pouring with rain and right at the moment when the beautiful vine covered hills came into sight. Acres and acres of emerald green hills – it was amazing! We made our way to Eden Valley and actually right here on top we had a fantastic view – this must be a place we will have to return to when the weather is much better.

It was nearly 4 pm when we made our way back to Adelaide and by that time, the traffic jams had started – we thought it would be better weather in Adelaide as we heard over the radio that it was 23 degrees while up in the hills we barely had 17 degrees. So we decided to make our way to Glenelg and go for a beach walk. What a lovely seaside resort with its town hall from 1870 converted to a discovery centre. Nowadays the sea front is lined with both Victorian villas and beautiful modern summerhouses. A great pity that we saw this beautiful beach on a rainy and blustery afternoon. By now we were quite famished and cold so a hot plate of pasta was what we really needed to warm us up before we walked back to the car. That evening we recorded that we had walked 7km.

And then it’s Tuesday morning – we were going to have a leisure day today and meeting up with an old school friend of mine who has been living in Adelaide for the past 24 years. Margarette and I were Sacred Heart girls and it was just great to catch up over coffee and then afterwards went to the Central Market – it’s a shame we did not have enough time to enjoy each other’s company somewhat longer – but then Gerry was stuck with two Maltese women who couldn’t shut up for one moment….. At the market while Margarette bought some fish for her dinner, Gerry got some oysters that we slurped away when we got back to our hotel sitting at our balcony. They were super delicious!!! Later we went out again as we wanted to visit the Aboriginal Cultural Centre – which we had mistaken for the museum – by then we were dead tired from walking around so we made our way back to the Central Market but first stopped at the Town Hall which was built in 1866. We had to stop here as there was an invitation to come and take a look at where the Beatles had greeted the crowds of fans back in June 1964. There is still a perplex photo of the Beatles on the Town Hall balcony but we were really surprised at the beauty of this town hall with its auditoriums and hallways and stairs! Later on Queen Victoria square took some more pictures of the surrounding areas and then made our way to China Town for dinner – but it was no Chinese food but rather we went to Gauchos for steak and lamb!

 WILL PUT ON MORE PICTURES ONCE WIFI IS WORKING BETTER BUT NOW IT’S TIME FOR ME TO GO TO BED…….. and now waiting for our flight to Alice Springs, Airport WIFI is really good so I’ve added more pictures!

Tomorrow we leave our hotel bright and early as we have a flight to catch to Alice Springs! Our next adventure is coming up – we will be going on a safari to Ayers Rock – am very excited about this trip! You will hear from me after we get back……..

Monday, 22^nd January 2018

What began as a lazy leisure day due to the rain in Rotorua, it ended with an adrenaline filled activity that sent the blood pumping through our veins at really high speed. I can forgive the weather gods that they brought us rain as even then, we could enjoy this outdoor activity!

 The above pictures show our leisure time in the Government Gardens with beautifully laid lawns. The grounds were gifted by the Maori chiefs to the British back in late 1800’s and as this was a swampy area, it cost quite a bit to have the grounds drained and then built a spa and sanatorium so that the rich and wealthy could come here “for the cure”. The sanatorium is now the Museum which is currently under refurbishment and the oldest hotel in Rotorua was built round the same time. By the way, that’s me doing the Haka, seeing that we missed this activity!!

And now back to to my story:

We had read up about a tree top walk in a redwood forest and were thinking of doing that – seemed cool! But then when we arrived at the i-Site centre, we saw an even better activity – a zipline canopy tour in New Zealand’s only native forest!

Yes! Both Gerry and I got excited about this – I had already wanted to go ziplining and had seen such an activity, which we could do, when in Australia, however now that this adventure was so close, we just could not miss the opportunity!! 

We bought our tickets at the i-Site centre and this included pick up and drop off from our motel. Our tour was at 16.30 and pick up was at 15.45 – we arrived in good time to be fitted with all the gear. As the weather was not dry, we were given good rain jackets and then harnesses, ropes and metal clasps and then whizzed off to the native forest of the Mamaku Plateau which was only a few minutes drive away from Rotorua.

We had a three-hour tour escorted by two highly trained Kiwi guides. The group was made up of 10 people which included a young Belgian couple, a Chinese son and mother from Hong Kong, a mother and 2 teenage daughters from Wellington, a young German woman (her husband did the tour in the morning and because they have a baby girl they had to do the tour separately) and us two – 65 plussers! The brochure said that you are never too old to do this tour as their oldest visitor was 93 years old and they have had more than 100 people over the age of 75!!

Most important of all, this was an eco tour – we were told that back in 2012 the forest was a silent forest. Why? It had been overrun by possums, rats and stoats that had killed almost every bird in the area and decimated the surrounding eco system. The Rotorua Canopy Tours is out on a mission to restore the environment in this forest, which has trees, which are more than 500 years old! Traps have been set out over a 35km-trapping network and through modern technology; thousands  of pests have been removed. And this was evident during our tour, as we could see and hear the birds, which have come back to the forest.

Back to the fun part, we had 6 ziplines with over 650 meters and in total a network of 1.2km of ziplines; 2 treetop swingbridges, and an education on the prehistoric forest where we all were for our activity. Some trees are so high – similiar to a 14 storey building and some of the platforms were rigged halfway up these trees. Some of these platforms were up to 22 meters above the ground. We had a couple of participants who were afraid of heights but as there were giant treetops, the actual height was never prominent and hence they had no fear of height!!. 

The highlight of this expedition was the 220 meter “Tui Song” zipline – we were on a canopy built round a 500 year ol indigenous rimu tree and we were told that we could fly over the valley onto a platform which was hidden in the distance. Well my flight was with only one wing…… and I managed that well enough and my Tui song started first on a fearful but excited note but in less than halfway, I was one happy excited Tui bird!!! Gerry too enjoyed the excitement but he was constantly scrutinizing the technical parts of the structures!!

 Gerry taking his zipline trips

What amazed me most is the fact that we placed our trust in our two guides – Levin and Scott – they told us jump and we did that!!! But they had given us such good instructions and were very knowledgeable that we could not do otherwise!

That’s me setting off on the zip line, crossing a swing bridge and then handsfree on another swing bridge and being greeting by Gerry at the other end!

It was a most exhilarating experience and we are both looking forward to enjoying more of these exciting adventures when we get to Australia – but rest assured, we wont be doing any bungy jumping, which incidentally was invented here in New Zealand!!

Tomorrow we are heading off to Auckland, our last leg of our trip to New Zealand. There we will be meeting up with my cousins, Mark and Philip whom I’ve never met and staying with my old school friend, Anisia! We will also be meeting up with Rocky and Sarah ( Rocky had stayed over at Gerry’s place in NL when travelling as a young man in Europe). Looking forward to this!

Sunday, 21^st January 2018

What a lovely morning! We were up bight and early and had already reorganized our baggage the night before. Breakfast was outside on our picnic table and it was ever so peaceful. We packed the car and made sure we did not leave anything behind and were ready to hit the road again at 10 am.

The Huka Falls Resort was a good place to stay but their WIFI was terrible!! And nowadays you do need to be in contact with the world especially when being far away from home!

The drive to Rotorua was not far – only 60 km but we had a couple of sights we wanted to visit on the way. Gerry got to the driving seat quicker than I did so again I was in the passenger seat and this meant I had time to read up about the route we were taking. Am so glad I did get the Lonely Planet’s “ New Zealand’s best trips” with 26 amazing road trips. We used the information on for our trip from LP’s Classic Trip nr 7: Thermal Discoverer – but then in reverse.

We wanted to stop at Wai-Otapu Thermal Wonderland – but when we got there there were multitudes of people and coaches that we took fright and carried on driving! This is the first time ever that we saw so many tourists flocking to one area and we were not interested to be walking in queues along the thermal grounds. Of course this site had really interesting features such as the Champagne Pool (bubbling mud pool) and Lady Knox Geyser which spouts regularly at 10.15 in the morning ( anyway we would have missed that part!)

On the way and not far from the Wai- Otapu Thermal Wonderland, we saw a signpost  saying Mud Pool to the left. We followed that and came to a smaller version of the Champagne Pool! There was mud bubbling away and the heat and stench coming from this mud pool was quite strong!

The pictures below were taken en-route to the Volcanic Valley – here you can see the rolling hills which were the typical views in this area till Mount Tarawera erupted in 1886 and a line of craters was formed from the northern end of the mountain down to the Waimangu valley.

So we drove further and arrived at the Waimangu VolcanicValley. This valley was created during the eruption of Mount Tarawera in 1886 and has spectacular craters, lakes and other volcanic features. All the lakes are bubbling boiling water and ultimately the overflow from these lakes finds its way to the lake mixing with a cold water rivulet and into Lake Rotomahana. It was time for our coffee break when we got here so we had time to study the hike downwards to the lake – luckily there was a shuttle bus to take us up again. Coffee break over we started on our hike.

After arriving at our motel – Golden Glow  on Fenton Street and not far from the lake front, we had time to get into the jacuzzi – our own private one behind our bedroom! Then we were ready to hit the town – which we thought was very quiet till we found the Eatery Street!!  Here we enjoyed a good meal although it was quite noisy to our liking – anyway another short walk before we got back to our motel and of course when we tried to use our WIFI, it was very slow and, knowing me, got quite annoyed!! Luckily I could finish my blog this morning!

Saturday, 20^th January 2018

Lo and behold! This morning we woke up to just cloudy skies and the forecast was that there was no rain today!! Of course fingers crossed that this would be true! Again a healthy breakfast: Greek yoghurt with muesli, berries and banana followed by a slice of toasted German cumin bread with cheese and accompanied by a mug of tea (mine English style with milk!)

 By the time we had showered and were ready to leave there were more blue patches in the sky – perhaps we thought we would be lucky today and have a rain free day. Our itinerary for today was as follows:

• The Aratiatia Rapids
• The Thermal Valley Walkway
• Wairakei Terraces and Thermal Health Spa
• Wairakei Geothermal Power Station

If you click on each bullet point you will be linked into the site that would give you more in depth information . All these activities were close to our resort so we reached our first activity within 15 minutes of setting off.

The Aratiatia Rapids was a spectacular part of the Waikato River until the Kiwi Government built a hydro-electric dam across the waterway and shut off the flow. However the spectacle hasn’t disappeared completely as the flood gates which are built into the dam are opened periodically during the day to let the water flow down to the river. We were lucky enough to arrive on the spot about 15 minutes to 12 o’clock and we could watch the whole spectacle. Actually I stood on the bridge to watch the flood gates activities and Gerry walked up a pathway to a vantage point to watch the river bed fill up with the rushing waters. It was just magnificent! Just before noon, the siren sounded to warn that the flood gates would be opened – the first siren blast was 5 minutes, then another blast at 2 minutes and then when the flood gates and the Aratiatia Rapids gushed through the narrow gorge filling up with turbulent water surging past at up to 90,000 litres per second.

The Geothermal Valley is situated in a  traditional Kiwi campsite complete with its own thermal garden, hot pools and petting zoo. We first had coffee at the camp cafe and booked the walkway which was approximately a 45 minutes walk, which included the main attractions, including natural steam vents, bubbling mud pools and geysers, on a site next door to a geothermal power plant. The walk was pleasant and although yesterday we had visited the Crater of the Moon, we saw other aspects here such a little river running parallel to the steaming vents. Of course had loads of opportunities to take pictures here and sometimes Gerry did get off the pathway to make sure that the notices were right!

Because the Geothermal Valley is close to the Power Station which is fed from hydroelectric dam, we decided to follow the huge pipe network to the top of the hill to get a good view of the whole network.

Wairakei Power Station uses steam extracted from the geothermal fluid produced in this steam field to generate electricity.  Already in the 1950’s exploratory wells were dug and currently there are 60 wells in production. Wells go as deep as 2000 meters to tap into hot fluid which when brought to the surface is separated into dry steam and hot water.  This power plant has been in production since 1958 and generates renewable steam and sustainable energy. When we drove up to the hill following the pipelines, we were not the only ones there – most interesting to see young people as well as families showing interest in NZ’s sustainability policies.

Our last stop for the day was at the Wairakei terraces and Thermal Health Spa. Mineral  laden waters from the Wairakei geothermal steam field cascade over silica terraces into pools. So we decided after these last few busy days spent sightseeing, we were ready to soak in all those minerals in a therapeutic bath. However before we got into the baths, we went for a walk around the Terraces Walkway.  This walkway features a recreated Maori village, carvings showing the Maori history, and artificially made geysers and silica terraces, echoing on a smaller scale, the Pink and White Terraces that were destroyed by the Tarawera eruption in 1886.

Ending the day in hot, mineral laden baths was pure luxury and to complete this the sun was out to warm us up with its afternoon rays. After a couple of hours, we got changed and made our way back to our resort and I thought to get along and start writing up my blog – but our WIFI failed me once more – so Gerry went off to complain and finally it was fixed so that I could finish off today’s blog. 

Tomorrow, we will be heading for a 2 day stay at Rotorua and here I am looking forward to seeing more about the Maori culture.