From Brisbane to Cairns on the Sunlander Train

Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 - Brisbane, board the Sunlander
Happy 71^st birthday to me. How did I get this old? I still feel like I’m 25 and looking forward to conquering the world. I didn’t conquer the world, but I hope I left it a little better than I found it. No pity party, though, I am quite happy with my life, especially my life with Karen, who had a lot to do with shaping who I am. OK, enough of that!

We took the rental car back to the downtown agency, then walked through the botanical gardens (have you noticed that all cities here have botanical gardens?) and on to a ferry station to return by boat (City Cat) to the hotel. When we got to the station, we found it had been closed due to damage from the flooding and now it was very difficult to find our way back to a city street to catch a cab. After a couple false starts and some advice, we did get back to a street and hailed a cab.

Botanic Gardens in Brisbane

Shortly after noon, we made our way to the train station and boarded sleeping car A for our 30 hour trip on the Sunlander train to Cairns. We have our own stateroom with fold down double deck beds, a fold down sink, and other clever space saving items like a 3 inch deep closet. Naturally I get the top bunk, but it does have straps, so I won’t fall off, hopefully. We were served high tea at 2:00 and a three course dinner at 7. Drinks and a pianist/singer in the club car adds to the ambiance. So this is how the other half lives!
We met a nice couple from Anchorage who must be part of the other half, because they have been in Australia since Christmas to escape the Alaskan winter. They have traveled virtually everywhere in Australia. Too bad I didn‘t inherit old money or didn’t make a fortune in business. I could have been a great rich person!

Gourmet Food in the Dining Car

It’s 10:00 in the evening as I write this in the club car. The entertainer is playing and singing just for me, everyone else has gone to bed! I am truly a PC (privileged character). Reality will set in soon enough!

Friday, Feb. 25, 2011 - Aboard the Sunlander

It wasn’t that easy to sleep on the train - going around curves and rough tracks at times made it difficult to go to sleep and remain asleep, but it wasn’t too bad. Not much to report on this day - interesting scenery, great food, met some nice people, but for the most part it was just a day traveling on a luxury train. However as we approached Cairns, we could see the effect of cyclone Yasi which had come through a week or two before, wiping out whole forests. The staff on the train had not seen this and were aghast at the beautiful scenery that had been erased. It turns out we were on the first Northbound train to get through since Yasi.

This was a beautiful rainforest two weeks ago, before Yasi.

It also rained the whole day. Didn’t really care that much, because we were on a train. Our last meal on the train was really something.  The picture says it all.

Sea food lovers, eat your heart out!

Arrived Cairns at 7 PM, checked into the Hilton and went to sleep in a bed that didn’t move. It was still raining outside.

Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011 - Brisbane

As we got on the plane yesterday to fly to Brisbane, we were watching the news on the little screen on the back of the airline seats and saw to our horror the devastation of the earthquake in Christchurch. We had been there just nine days before, of course, and had spent considerable time in the cathedral, which had such extensive damage and loss of life. We were at once saddened, yet relieved that it did not happen when we were there. The people of Christchurch are among the nicest we have met on our journey and they do not deserve this fate.

One of the challenging things about a 35 day vacation is that you of course cannot pack for 35 days! So I figured we should pack for 10 days and count on doing three laundries during the trip. In New Zealand that was no problem, as we stayed in several motels and B&B’s where laundry facilities were provided. Once we got to Sydney, we discovered no laundromats anywhere in the central city. Of course we could send it out to the hotel, but there is something in my makeup (call it cheap) that will not permit me to spend $6.00 to launder a pair of socks! By the time we arrived in Brisbane, it was a question of find a laundry, or go a second time around on the underwear. Fortunately the hotel concierge was nice enough to refer us to a Chinese laundry, and we are fresh and clean again without being cleaned out!

The biggest attraction for us in Brisbane was the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, the only place in Australia where you can cuddle a koala and have your picture taken doing it. They have special dispensation from the government for this, because they have nearly 200 koalas, so any one koala is only on duty for twenty minutes a day. And all the eucalyptus leaves they can eat! Not too bad a life. So of course that is where we headed and we did cuddle a koala. No humans were harmed in this process, although the koala didn’t take to me as well as she did Karen. Anyway, here we are.



Awwwwwww!

 We were also able to cavort with kangaroos, stroll with emus, and observe much more of the wildlife of Australia, which as you know is different from anywhere else in the world. It was a great time!

Karen didn't shoot these kangaroos, they just are taking a midday nap!

We then drove north to the Sunshine Coast, but there was, alas, no sunshine. There were 50 knot easterlies, so it was decidedly unfit for strolling on the wonderful beaches there.

We did, however, drive up into the Glass House Mountains, different from any I have seen. They are basically ancient volcanoes that have eroded away, leaving the lava plug exposed. They were named by Captain James Cook, who thought they resembled glass factories near his home in England.



Glass House Mountain with lava "plug"

 In retrospect, if I had it to do over again, I would give Brisbane 5 days or no days. I should say southern Queensland, not Brisbane, as there is so much unique land and seashore to experience, that our one day here was like eating one potato chip. We left way too many chips in the bag.
On to Cairns tomorrow, riding on the Sunlander train. We leave at noon Thursday (my 71^st birthday!) and arrive on Friday evening, covering 1,000 miles!

Feb. 21 & 22 - Sydney to Brisbane

Monday, Feb. 21 - Sydney


Aaarrrgh!  Woke up this morning, looked out our window and saw that we had been invaded by a pirate ship!  I found out later, on a tour of the ship, that it is actually a replica of the first Dutch ship to discover Australia, akin to Columbus’s Santa Maria.  It is fascinating how sailors were able to survive on such vessels for months and years on end!  It is the Duyfken (Little Dove) which landed in the Cairns area in 1606, the earliest known European landing in Australia.  The replica is so authentic (it even smells old!), you would swear it was 400 years old, but it was built in 1997.  What an unexpected treat!

Karen in the hold

Under sail!

As I saw the ship from our balcony.  Also notice the "Edible Cafe" in the background.

Our breakfast today (and tomorrow) was taken at the “Edible Café,” a very unusual restaurant which we could see from our balcony.  Strawberries and herbs are grown on the outside walls and roof of the restaurant, which is constructed from (apparently) discarded materials including truck trailer containers.  The doors to the toilets (I’ve adjusted to the local terminology) are folding tables, and drinks are served in jars.  The interior walls are painted with dissertations on healthful eating and the waiters and waitresses are delightfully flaky!

Inside the Edible Cafe

We went to the well-known Manly Beach today, taking the even better known Manly Ferry, which serves both tourists and commuters.  So you have people in business suits with attache cases seated next to people (like us) with shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops, and funny hats, smelling of skin block.  The Corso, a shopping promenade built in 1855, looks like it hasn’t had a coat of paint since then, but the beach itself is a full mile long and very wide, very popular.  We took another cliff walk and had lunch at the Sand Bar, which fortunately had no sand in the fish & chips!

A Sea Monster Lizard on our walk.  It is an endangered species.

Back in Sydney we walked through the Botanical Gardens to sit in Mrs. Macquaries chair, hewn from a large rock in the area, so that the governor’s wife (in the early 1800’s) would have a place to sit and view the growing skyline of Sydney.  Now every tourist wants to have their picture taken there, so……

Thanks, Mrs. Macquarie!

Dinner at Café Sydney in the Customs House overlooking Circular Quay.  Over the past two days we must have walked twenty miles, but with all the good food, somehow we don’t look any slimmer!

Tuesday, Feb. 22 - Sydney to Brisbane

Aaarrgh!  Woke up this morning and another ship had docked.  But this time it was the Queen Elizabeth!  It is huge!  Like a floating apartment building!  This was a big day in Sydney, because the Queen Mary also arrived this morning, but is docked by the Naval station, because it is too big for the normal cruise ship docks.  People were up at 5:00 this morning to see the two Queens come in together.  I was not up at that time….

The QE II in all her glory!

After another wholesome (darn!) breakfast at the Edible Cafe, we spent a couple hours in the Sydney museum.  We learned a lot about the not-too-pleasant history between the white man and the aborigines.  They suffered like both the red man and the black man in the U.S., since they were the original residents (like the Indians), but were also black-skinned.  More about aborigines in a future post.

Today is a travel day to Brisbane via Virgin Blue, the Southwest Airlines (aka cattle car) of Australia.  But it’s cheap!  Next post from Brisbane.

Sunday, Feb. 20 - Sydney and the Harbour Bridge

This morning we found an Irish pub on George Street with much cheaper breakfast!  Everything in Sydney is at New York City prices, at the very least.

Breakfast in the garden of an Irish pub.

Our Frommer’s guide said don’t miss the Bronte to Bondi cliff walk, so we didn’t.  Located in suburbs southeast of the city, these are two of the most famous beaches, along with Manly beach, which we will visit tomorrow.  Between them is a paved cliffside walk of about two miles with striking seaside vistas.  There was also a lot eye candy for dirty old men, but I, of course, modestly averted my eyes when confronted by pulchritude on our walk.  So the beginning of our walk was Bronte Beach and the end was Bondi Beach, where we had lunch at the Bondi Trattoria.

Bronte Beach, our starting point

The cliffs along the way

 Returning by taxi to our room, we decided we needed a bit of a rest before our next strenuous exercise, the climbing of the Harbour Bridge.  Although incredibly expensive, especially for the sunset climb, we decided we had to do it, a once in a lifetime opportunity.  We were surprised by the elaborate preparations once we got there.  We felt like we were going on a space mission - special suits, a harness connecting us to a cable for the full length of the walk, earphones and radio receptor so the guide could talk to us, a pack containing a parka in case of rain, all connected in some way to the suit.  We had to submit to a breathalyzer test and there was a practice set of ladders so we could get used to climbing while connected to the cable.  This was all done with patience and good humor by the guides.  One disappointment is that we could not take cameras with us, partly because they wouldn’t want us snapping pictures instead of concentrating on what we were doing, and partly because they took the pictures, which they could then sell to us, of course!

Here we go!

The climb was only moderately strenuous.  I confess to being out of breath a couple times, but there were rest stops along the way to recover, and to take photographs.  As we approached the top, the view was breathtaking (or was I just out of breath?).  We lucked out on the weather - it was clear and we could see all of Sydney and as far away as the Blue Mountains, about 40 miles away.  And as you can see from the photo, it was a gorgeous sunset.  Our guide said it was one of the most colorful she had ever seen.  When I asked Karen a couple days later what was the best part of Sydney, she replied without hesitation, “The Bridge Climb.”  So then we descended, spent lots of money for photos and t-shirts, and had a nice light dinner on Argyle Street.

At the top!

Hello, Australia!

Hello, Oz!  Friday/Saturday Feb. 18/19

We have now set foot on our sixth and last continent!  I shall now be satisfied to dream dreams, as the Bible says old men are supposed to do.  You young men will have to see all the visions now.  As we were descending for our landing, I could see the cityscape below between breaks in the clouds, but didn’t expect to recognize anything, when BAM!!  there was the Sydney Opera House from about 1,000 feet!  An omen of good things to come, I thought.

We are staying at the Park Hyatt Sydney, one of the premier Sydney hotels.  We were shown to our room, and when we opened the drapes (with the remote control!) and stepped out onto our little balcony, BAM!!  there was the Sydney Opera House all lit up just for us, across the waters of Campbell’s Cove!!  We also have a view of the cruise ship dock and several buildings in The Rocks, the original settlement of the convicts arriving in 1788.

The Sydney Opera House, viewed from our hotel room balcony!

 

In case you are wondering how we can afford such luxurious accommodations, the answer is, we can’t!  I am cashing in all the American Express points earned over 14 years of traveling for Telxon.  So for one brief moment in time, we get to see how the rich and famous live.  Then it will be back to clipping coupons for the best deals at Giant Eagle.  But I digress.

We wondered around the area that night, and were amazed that there were thousands of people out on the streets.  There were markets, street performers, cafes and pubs everywhere.  This has to be the most happenin’ city in the world.  But fatigue was setting in, so we retired to our room, closed the drapes with our remote (heh, heh) and got a good nights sleep.

Thousands of people enjoying the streets of Sydney.  This was a Friday night, but it happens every night!

 The first thing we did on Saturday, following an outrageously costly breakfast in the hotel, was head out on a Captain Cook Harbor Cruise.  The Sydney Harbor is amazing, probably the largest in the world.  We explored every bay and cove on the south as we worked our way out to the Tasman Sea, then turned back and explored the northern area until we were back to the Harbor Bridge, then back to port at the Circular Quay (pronounced “”key”).  Along the way we saw 80 million dollar homes, nude beaches (I am so sad I forgot to bring my binoculars), yachts by the thousands, and many other sights, all explained with humor and excellent history lessons by a very articulate hostess.  In the best English tradition, we were served high tea on the high seas.

On the Captain Cook Harbour Cruise, Opera House in the background.

Ditto.  I have to get in the picture once in a while.

 

The afternoon was spent mostly on a double decker bus to get an overview of this very impressive city.   

From the top deck of the bus, approaching the Harbour Bridge.

 Then it was back to the room to dress for …. the opera!  I had booked this weeks ago, because it is almost impossible to get tickets the day of performance.  So we put on our finest and arrived at the Sydney Opera House to see Bizet’s Carmen. 

Karen inside the Opera House, enjoying a pre-performance drink.  Note the Carmen program propped up on the table.

 It was a magnificent performance, made even more special for me because I had conducted the Carmen Suite No. 1 on two occasions with the TrueNorth Symphony.  From our dress circle seats, we could see the orchestra in the pit.  They were magnificent, as was the conductor, Guillaume Tourniaire.  The singers were also outstanding, especially Carmen and Michaela.  The sets were kind of minimalist, but interesting, all with a subtle golden cast.  On several occasions I remember thinking, “I am watching grand opera in the Sydney Opera House!  How much better can it get from this?”  No pictures were allowed in the theatre, of course, but did get one of a pre-concert lecture. 

A view of the Harbour Bridge from inside the Opera House.

A lecture about Carmen and Bizet, who never knew how successful his masterpiece would become.

 

Once again as we walked back to our hotel we were amazed at the thousands of people on the streets and in harbourside restaurants.  Tomorrow we climb the Bridge!

Wrapping Up New Zealand

We are now in Sydney and having a great time here, but first let me wrap up New Zealand.

Wednesday, Feb. 16  Franz Josef Glacier to Nelson (yawn)

Today could be summed up in a manner similar to Caesar’s Gallic Wars:  We came, we saw, we went to bed (or something like that.)  We are making our way back to Auckland driving up the west coast of both islands.  We did see more gorgeous scenery, but not the spectacular type we have come to expect.

We ate lunch in Greymouth (not a disease - the town sits at the mouth of the Grey River, which isn’t grey.  Grey does describe the town, however, a very industrial town, the only one we have really seen in our journey thus far.  We had just about decided we would have to eat at McDonalds, when we finally spotted an interesting tavern, Speight’s Gold Medal Ale Tavern.  Speight’s Ale is the Budweiser of New Zealand, only it tastes much better.  As usual in this country (which we dearly love, don’t get me wrong!) I had to virtually stand up and wave my arms to get service.  But the seafood chowder was delicious!

Speight's Gold Medal Ale Pub

 Otherwise it wss five hours of driving through seaside, mountains, riverside, and farm country.  Driving on these two lane roads (with one lane bridges) reminds me of what a pilot friend of mine said about flying:  “Hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror.”  Part of the terror this day was getting to our heritage house stay on the top of the mountain overlooking Nelson and Tasman Bay.  Up a twisting single lane road about two inches wider than our tires.  And of course we met someone coming down!  So we backed up until we could pull into someone’s driveway so the other party could pass.  But the view from this aerie was wonderful!

View of Nelson from our bedroom window

 Dinner at Ford’s Restaurant downtown featuring a delightful grouper and a Sauvignon Blanc from Nelson, which is in the Marlborough region famous for this varietal.  Of course, to get to dinner, we had to drive down the road and back up again.  I made sure we got back before dark!

Thursday and Friday, Feb. 17-18 - Nelson to Plymouth, then to Auckland for flight

From Nelson we were up early to get to the ferry back to the North Island, then up to New Plymouth as a convenient stopping-off point on the way back to Auckland.  Once again, the scenery on the drive was quite striking, or at least Karen told me it was, because I was doing the white knuckle thing steering around the mountain curves and taking our lives in our hands passing double trailer trucks.  Glad to be done with the driving now, which was about 2500 miles (my rough calculation of the 4000 + kilometers on the odometer.  Best of all, I delivered the car back to Avis with both car and occupants intact!

One interesting feature of New Plymouth is a walking bridge over a river near the seashore which is a real work of art.  It looks like the skeleton of a whale and if you stand at the south end and look back north, it frames Mt. Taranaki (Mt. Egmont), a very impressive dormant volcano which is an almost perfectly symmetrical cone. I’ve included a picture, but the mountain is barely visible because it was partially obscured by clouds.

Walking bridge in New Plymouth with Mt. Taranaki in the background.

 New Zealand - Some observations and reflections

New Zealand is a wonderful place to visit and I think would be a great place to live.  We have visited many wonderful places, but we would not choose to live there.  (I always say that Cleveland is a great place to live, but I wouldn’t want to visit there!)

The People:  We were there for two weeks and with one minor exception, everyone we met was friendly and genuinely interested in us.  I’ve joked about the restaurant service being slow, but the servers were always friendly and smiling.  Everyplace we stayed the hostess took great pains to help us make the most of our time there.  I mention the lone exception, because it was fairly humorous.  At a gas station, I asked where the “restroom” was.  The imperious reply was, “We don’t have any rooms where you can rest.  However, we do have a toilet you can use.”  At first I thought he was joking with me - he wasn’t!  But never mind him - the other 4 million people were great!

A few of our newly found Kiwi friends at Waitangi

 The Scenery:  All in all, some of the best scenery in the world.  I described in the Milford Sound post the magnificence of the Southern Alps, particularly in the Sound itself.  The South Island is one spectacular view after another.  The North Island is less spectacular, for the most part, but I compare it with Tuscany in Italy.  Around every bend there is another vista where I would say, “Look at that!  Isn’t that beautiful!”  Like Tuscany, that was only when I could take my eyes off the road.  I wanted to visit Hobbiton, the site where the Shire was constructed for “Lord of the Rings” and will soon be used again for “The Hobbit.”  But there were so many places with greener than green hills that could have been the Shire.

A typical rural vista on the North Island

 The Roads:  Despite my complaints in previous posts, what a refreshing change to have to drive through every little town on the way and see the real country rather than zipping by everything on a superhighway.  It took me back to the ‘50’s when I would go on road trips with my parents on two lane roads through every city, town, and burg along the way to Florida or out west.  New Zealanders are excellent drivers and courtesy abounds.  When a car or truck is holding up a line of traffic and there are no passing lanes in sight, it is not uncommon for them to pull over to the left, slow down, and indicate by turn signal that those following should go ahead and pass.  When have you ever seen that in the U.S.?  They really ought to work on converting the one lane bridges to two lanes, however!

Oh, I hope no one is coming from the other end!

 So in summary, New Zealand was fabulous!  If I had unlimited funds, I would buy a condo somewhere on the South Island (probably Queenstown area) and spend January to March watching the sun come up over the mountains.  I will do this just after I buy a villa in Tuscany, where we would spend our summers.  Remind me to buy a Lotto ticket when we get home.

Stay Tuned - On to Sydney!

The last three days of New Zealand involved a lot of driving, a lot of beautiful scenery, and a lot of food, of course, but nothing spectacular.  We are now in the Auckland airport awaiting our flight to Sydney.  My next post will be from the land of Oz, where I'll offer some wrap-up comments about New Zealand.  Stay tuned!

Jim

Milford Sound - the new best scenery in the world for the Traxlers

Monday, Feb. 14 - Queenstown & Milford Sound
Today was the high point of the trip to date.  We were up bright and early to catch the tour bus at 6:35(!) to Milford Sound.  It is a 5 ½ hour trip by bus, but the last two hours were among the best drives ever.  The mountains in Fiordland National Park are strikingly beautiful and we passed alternately through rain forest and openings to see the mountains, including Mirror Lake with the reflections of the mountains.

On the road to Milford Sound:  Mountain peak reflected in Mirror Lake.

But that was only the prelude!  Boarding the Mitre Peak boat in Milford Sound, we were treated to the most amazing two hours of scenery I have ever experienced.  I rank it right up there with the Grand Tetons, the Grand Canyon, and Bryce Canyon as the times when all I could say was, “Wow!”  The Milford Sound is really a fiord carved by glaciers eons ago.  The mountains rise straight up to a height of over 5,000 feet up from the water. They are the highest mountains in the world to rise up from the ocean water. I’m including a couple pictures, but neither words nor pictures can convey the sense of awe and wonder I felt at these works of nature.

Mitre Peak at Milford Sound, rising 5,500 feet from the ocean.

I had decided when planning this day that we would fly back to Queenstown, for two reasons:  first, to avoid the 5 ½ hour trip back on the bus; but more importantly to see Milford Sound and the Southern Alps from the air.  We were not disappointed.  From the air we saw alpine lakes of incredibly blue water, with outlets cascading down the mountains as waterfalls.  These features of the landscape could only otherwise be seen by climbing the mountains.  More wows!

An alpine lake seen fromour plane at 6,500 feet.

With the extra time given to us by flying us back in 40 minutes, we were able to take a cruise on Lake Wakapitu on the TSS Earnslaw, an old steamer with all the parts of the engine visible.  It was a trip to yesteryear.  Would you believe it burns a ton of coal every hour?  (Yeah, not too green in this very ecology-conscious country!)

Beautiful Lake Wakapitu from the stern of the TSS Earnslaw.  Not the trail of smoke!

Dinner at Luciano’s capped a fantastic day.  As an aside, Queenstown is the farthest south we have been on the globe to date, 45 degrees latitude, halfway between the equator and the South Pole.

Tuesday, Feb. 15 - Queenstown to Franz Josef Glacier
From now until Friday we are in travel mode - a series of one night stands to get us back to Auckland for our flight to Sydney.  In the process we will see a lot of New Zealand that most tourists do not see, and today was a great first example.  Driving north from Queenstown, we stopped at a little town on Lake Wahai, as we knew there was very little civilization from there to our destination.  As our continuing good luck would have it, we stumbled upon a little motel/testaurant with an incredible view across the lake to the mountains beyond.  Also, I was introduced to “whitebait.”  I never thought I would be eating anything with “bait” in the name, but it was delicious!  Whitebait is a little (white) fish smaller than a sardine with no skeleton.  I liked it so much I had it again for supper at the end of the day!

Lake Wahai.  Wouldn't you like to wake up every morning and look out on this vista?

Then we traveled along more lakes and mountains of indescribable beauty until we reach the west coast, which until a few decades ago when a road was put through, was unreachable by any means except boat.  The mountains come down to the sea there and the foliage is so dense from all the rain they receive, would you believe 280 inches of rain a year on about 200 days?  How lucky can we be that the two days we have spent on the west coast so far have been sunny?

Knight's Point on the West Coast of South Island, a rain forest at the base of the mountains.

In the town of Franz Josef Glacier, guess what we walked two miles to see?  Correct, the Franz Josef Glacier!  Very impressive, and about the only place in the world where you can walk through a rain forest to see and touch a glacier!  Figuring we walked off about 600 calories each, we feasted back in town at Beeches Restaurant.  (The beech tree is the most common tree in New Zealand.)  I had the aforementioned whitebait again, while Karen had a steak sandwich.  Is she turning into a meat and potatoes person like her brother?  But to be fair, we shared our meals with each other, as we usually do.

James Eric and Karen Elise at the Franz Josef Glacier.

Guess what, folks?  I'm all caught up!  But now it's 1:30 in the morning!

Christchurch

Hi, everyone.  This posting is on tape delay, as I find it difficult to catch up with posting every night.  So if I'm three days behind (as I am now), assume we are fine and I will catch up eventually.  Here is the post for Feb. 12 and 13.

Saturday, Feb. 12 in Christchurch

We had another hot typical English breakfast at Croyden Inn; that is, sausage that is not really sausage, bacon that is not really bacon, and eggs that – OK, well, they are really eggs, but not cooked to Karen’s satisfaction.  But like a dog eating any table scraps, I wolfed it all down.  We began our exploration of Christchurch with a walk to  Cathedral Square, the city’s centerpiece.  As you would expect, the square is dominated by the Cathedral, but a new sculpture also catches the eye, Chalice as shown in the picture beside the cathedral.

Christchurch Cathedral with Chalice sculpture at right

Our dumb luck brought us to Christchurch at the beginning of their flower festival and the center of that festival was in the cathedral.  The center aisle of the church was a carpet of flowers very artistically laid out.  All around the sanctuary were displays of flowers that were also exquisite works of art.  The theme of the show was conserving water and each display was some representation of that theme.

Carpet of flowers in the cathedral

We had a muffin and coffee in the Cathedral Café.  By now I have learned the cafe terminology of New Zealand. There is “short black” which is espresso, “long black” which is a double espresso, “flat white” which is espresso plus milk, all very strong, obviously, which I love, but is too strong for Karen.  Coffee in homes (and hotel rooms) is either plunger (French press) coffee or (yech!) instant.  Some restaurants do offer “Americano” coffee which is drip coffee through a filter.

We went punting on the Avon River; no, we weren’t kicking a football, we were pleasantly boated down the river in a punt, poled by a punter.  Very peaceful and somewhat romantic, but very inefficient mode of transportation!

Punting on the Avon.  This was another punt passing by us.

On to the Christchurch Art Museum, a flashy architecture space with excellent art by mostly 20^th century New Zealand artists.  Very high quality stuff, but none of the artists are really known to Americans.  A 21^st century aspect of this museum is that the audio tour was on an ipod, which neither Karen and I had used.  A bit confusing, but we are now trained in ipod use and are ready to be given ipods on our next birthdays.  Lunch at the art museum café – cafes are everywhere!  However, because of very slow service, an endemic disease in NZ restaurants, we were late for a walking tour of botanic gardens.  However, we took a guided tour on a tram, less effort for us.  The Botanic Gardens were the best ever, exceeding even Wellington.

At the Christchurch Botanic Gardens

Our final activity for the day was the Antarctic Centre - really well done multi-media, hands on experience, including a ride on an Antarctic track vehicle that traverses the rugged icy landscape, very bumpy and wild.  After my experience with the whale watching boat, I was a little concerned, but this time I kept my lunch down.  There was also a 4D movie about life in Antarctica,  3D, of course, but complete with water spray and snow falling, etc.  Pretty cool (so to speak).  So maybe Antarctica is our next continent?  I doubt it.

Awaiting the snowstorm.  Here's a hint - don't wear shorts in a snowstorm!

Dinner at Portofino capped a fine day in a fine city.  Oh, one other thing.  I noticed right away that several buildings had scaffolding around them and learned later that Christchurch had quite a major earthquake last September and major repairs are still being completed.  They have had thousands of aftershocks since, the last one a day or two before we arrived!

Sunday, Feb. 13 – Christchurch to Queenstown

This was a travel day, driving across southern part of South Island, from the Canterbury Plains to the Southern Alps.   I have mentioned driving before, mostly two-lane winding roads especially in mountainous country, with passing lanes at times.  I got a real scare when passing a car thinking I could see ahead, but suddenly a car appeared from a dip in the road I didn’t see.  A quick acceleration and a slide back to the left side of the road averted a collision.  Patience, Jim, patience!

It was our first rainy day and the mountains ahead of us were dark and mysterious because of the  rain and low-hanging clouds.  Reminded me of Mordor… (If you didn’t see or read Lord of the Rings, never mind.) 

Oh, Mr. Frodo - it looks so dark and evil over there!

Finally arrived in Queenstown. Nice hotel (Coronation Lodge) and nice town, Queenstown is.  Dinner at Soltera Vino - food excellent, service a little slow (notice the pattern here?).  Looking forward to tomorrow, the trip to Milford Sound.

Jim

Feb. 11 - Wellington to Christchurch

Up early to get to the ferry on time.  We actually made a dry run yesterday just so we knew where to go.  I booked first class lounge for the trip, minimal cost, but included breakfast, lunch, and a quiet place to sit, away from the hoi polloi. :-)  Beautiful scenery once we entered the islands of the Marlborough region before landing at Picton.  Then on to Kaikoura for the whale watching boat ride.

When we got to Kaidoura, we were told that the winds were 25 knots and the seas were very rough, 7-9 foot waves.  We said, hey, we don't get seasick, bring it on.  I knew all the right things to do - focus on the horizon, etc.  I lasted through the first whale sighting, a sperm whale on the surface for about 15 minutes, tried to take pictures and movies with the boat rocking violently back and forth.  Pretty exciting, but I almost lost it on the upper deck.  Came back to our seats and then I did lose it.  Not so cocky any more about having sea legs!  I was proud of Karen until she lost it about 10 minutes later.  From then on it was, when is this going to be over?

There is a whale out there - really!  I need a faster camera with telephoto lens!

This was our whale-watching boat.  The captain said, "If you have to use the bags, the instructions are at the bottom of the bag."  Ha, ha, ha!  Very funny!

Nevertheless, it was a great experience.  The same sperm whale surfaced again an hour later, and we had a bunch of dolphins around the boat at various times.  But it was finally over!  Then I had to get in the car and drive over mountain roads to Christchurch.  Whew!

Checked into Croydon House very late and the only thing open was the RSA across the street.  RSA stands for Returning Servicemen Association, providing a meeting place, bar, and cafe for their soldiers.  They took pity on us (after all, I did play trumpet in the National Guard band!) and we feasted on fish and chips surrounded by young people.

Tomorrow - exploring Christchurch.

Jim