FINAL BLOG!

October 16-22, 2012 – Rarotonga, Cook Islands – Paradise Found!!

Tuesday morning #1 (10/16/12) we got up early to catch our shuttle to the airport, the suspense was building, would the bags be too heavy?  Guess the packing “Gods” were with us, we made our weight and were ready to spend the day flying towards our last stop – Rarotonga. From Sydney we flew to Auckland, New Zealand, and then on to the Cook Islands. Long day, but because of the International Date Line crossing we gained a day back actually landing on the 15^th of October. We got to the resort about 1:00am (Tuesday 10/16/12). Stumbled up to our room and fell into bed, very tired from a long day/ long 7 weeks travel.

Tuesday morning #2, we awoke to the beautiful surrounds of the Rarotonga Sanctuary Resort. Looking off of our little balcony into the clearest, bluest water imaginable. Pinch me, were we really in paradise?  Because of the previous days long traveling, the day repeating and bit of chest colds we bumbled about in the morning. “Gilligan and Mary Ann” wandered around the resort and tried to get a lay of the land.  Finally getting our wits gathered together we made arrangements for the rest of our time on island. We rented a little yellow scooter to ride around the island; these are the way most islanders get around. Mike took me on our first ride – a bit of a white-knuckle trip, but I got used to it fairly quickly.

Wednesday morning we joined Captain Tama’s Lagoon Cruise. We sailed the gorgeous lagoon on glass bottom boats, taking time to snorkel, enjoying the information and entertainment of the “whacky crew” and being treated to a great bar-b-q fish lunch. This was followed by more singing, traditional Maori music on the ukulele; log drums, jokes and hilarious gags. The evening was an “umu” dinner  - fish, chicken, pork and beef that had been steamed underground in an umu oven.  The food was delicious and the Polynesian Dance and Music show that followed was very enjoyable.

Thursday morning was our Safari Tour; we were loaded in the back of a 4-wheel drive type pick up for a morning’s tour. We saw much of the island including Papua Waterfall, the beautiful tropical rain forested mountains – including the iconic Te Rua Meranga (the needle point), Nagatang Harbor – the starting point of the Maori’s sail to New Zealand in 1350 AD. Our guide was very knowledgeable and shared a lot about the history and culture of the island. The trip ended with another excellent fish barbeque. Mike had to get a Cook Island driver’s license to drive the scooter so we set off to find the police station. $20 later he was a legal driver. A bit of pool time topped off with a couple of cool ones was about the best we could do to end the day.

Friday was our last day with the scooter so after breakfast we jumped back on and drove the 30 kilometers (about 20 miles) around the island. The ride was beautiful, but we had one flying baseball cap and few tailbone bruising bumps – but all was well. The route took us right around the lagoon that surrounds this island. The Punanga Nui Market was open – a farmers market with beautiful looking produce, plants, and arts and crafts. We wandered around admiring the stalls and enjoying the atmosphere of the locals shopping, eating and visiting. I went to the “loo” and was run into by a little girl crying, going in I saw a big chicken up on the sink. I shooed the bird and it flew up and over my head out of the toilet. Good deed done. We stopped at a couple of souvenir shops purchasing a couple of island objects – got to support the local economy, you know.  We returned the scooter and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on the amazing beautiful beach.

Saturday was our last day in Raro – we took time to re-organize, pack and spend the last few hours enjoying the resort. Our flight is at 11:00pm, and we will be back home by about 9:00pm on Sunday – October 21, 2012.

ONE RULE OF TRAVELING: stay flexible! We were boarded on our plane in San Francisco only to be told the flight was going to be canceled. Guess there was problem with an engine (Mike wondered if we couldn’t fly with only 1 engine, what a guy, still keeps his crazy sense of humor despite our very long day – 30 hours or so without much sleep). We will not be able to get home until Monday evening. So we went on United Airlines dime to spend the night at a Holiday Inn. Ahhhh the bed was heavenly; we slept in and were able to post this final blog.  Anxious to get home, but know it is within reach today.

Return 2 OZ 2012 has been another amazing travel experience for us. 54 days of exciting adventures have left us a bit travel weary, but already planning other itineraries. Our top 10 events/locations of this trip were:

1.     The Red Centre – Uluru & Kata Juta – sun rises, sunsets and helicopter flight.

2.     Rarotonga, Cook Islands in the South Pacific – paradise found

3.     Helicopter flight over Sydney – no doors, amazing views

4.     Visiting friends: Kris, Bill, Ted, Linda, Faye, Jen & Rob – great times, good laughs and much fun was had by all

5.     Heron Island on the Great Barrier Reef – snorkeling and enjoying the island life style

6.     The Blue Mountains in New South Wales – incredible views, and adventurous rides up, across and down the mountains

7.     Wine, beer and spirit tasting in South Australia, Victoria and N.S.W.  Some very good tastings!

8.     3 days of driving the Stuart High from Alice Springs to Cobber Pedy – long road with desert views unparalleled for its vastness and unique flora and fauna.

9.     The Grampians Mountains in Victoria – beautiful mountain range with lots of kangaroos, cockatiels and other Aussie Animals

10. The Island of Tasmania tour: Ferry ride, beautiful landscapes and an interesting museum.

Hunter Valley, NSW

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October 11-12, 2012 Swirl, Sip & Savoring in the Hunter Valley New South Wales

Thursday morning we drove the little MoHo north to a world famous wine region know as the Hunter Valley. Another good day’s drive through some typical Australian countryside. The weather was more pleasant and most of the day was sunny. What a fantastic view: driving into the valley and being overtaken by acres, acres and acres of vineyards – the vines here were well broken out in their spring greenery. We got a wine tour set up for the next day and enjoyed the afternoon relaxing a bit and getting the MoHo a bit ready for the “cleanup” to happen in a couple of days.

Friday morning we met the “Wine Rover” out front of the campground about 9:40am.  We drove quickly to our first stop – wine tasting at about 10:15am. Hmmm a bit early perhaps, but we joined right in with the festivities. We were greeted with a tasting of 15 different wines – yikes!!! We quickly realized we must only sip a tiny bit of each one or the day would get away from us quickly. We then went on to one other vineyard and an olive tasting before lunch. We ate lunch at the Hunter Valley Gardens, a nice stop, chance to get a bit of nutrition to set us up for two more afternoon stops at good winery cellar doors plus a tasting at the Hunter Distilleries – Vodka and liquor tasting. Back to camp by about 4:45pm, we headed out to find Peter Lesson’s, (Peter is Linda, our Melbourne friend’s brother) home in Paterson.  It was a bit of a drive, but with only 1 or 2 wrong turns we made it their lovely country home. The house sits on about 25 acres of Australian bush, so very picturesque. That evening we enjoyed a wonderful Aussie style dinner of steak and roasted vegies. Peter’s wife Linda is a master cook. It was great catching up with Peter after 40 + years.

Blue Mountains

October 9-10, 2012 Katoomba, Blue Mountain Region

Tuesday is day #42 of this adventure; we left the beautiful New South Wales coast and headed in-land to another national treasure. The Blue Mountains were our next destination. We bid good-bye to Jenny and Robert – this had been a wonderful time together; they are hoping to come and visit us in Oregon sometime in 2014, so we are already thinking about where we can take them? Coast, wineries, Crater Lake? The drive was another one of country, city, curvy, straight, rainy, sunny – a lot of things to enjoy, except the road construction – lots of it every few miles. Makes the trip a bit slower, but we made it into Katoomba by mid-afternoon.  The only caravan park there had no powered sites left, so we said we could “rough” it for one night. BRRRRRR it got pretty cold in the little Apollo.

Wednesday morning we caught the red double decker “hop on-hop-off” bus to see the sights. It dropped us off at an area called Scenic World where we caught the Cableway and slid across the beautiful Jameson Valley seeing the Katoomba Falls, Mt. Solitary, the Three Sisters and the blue of the Blue Mountains all were simply breath taking. Across the valley we then rode the Railway down a VERY STEEP route to a pathway where we walked to the valley floor through a beautiful rainforest.  Our trip up and out of this amazing area was by way of a Skyway Basket.  These 3 rides were amazing in of themselves, but the scenery that they took us into and through were some of the best we have seen on our trip.  Back on the bus we drove through the own of Leura and into Katoomba, we did a bit of window shopping and had lunch with a million dollar view at the 3 Sisters Café. This is another area definitely worth a more days time to view, but alas the clock is ticking and we must head off again tomorrow.

Coastal Caravanning

October 4-8, 2012 – Coastal Caravanning

Thursday morning we packed up our bits and pieces and reloaded the motorhome. It had been very nice staying with our friends Ted and Linda in their beautiful home in East Doncaster, Victoria, Australia (sleeping in a real bed, nice hot shower….). Said our “goodbyes” and headed out of the greater Melbourne area driving east along the Princess Highway. Another day of driving through some beautiful countryside. We saw more rainforest areas, lots and lots of gum trees, the occasional sheep, or cattle farm – beautiful.  By the afternoon we even got a glimpse of the coast again, along the Bass Strait. Stopped for the night in a  coastal community of Lake’s Entrance.

Friday, October 5, 2012, day #38 of our R.2.OZ.2012 found us driving north along the coast, leaving the state of Victoria and entering New South Wales. The weather was a bit more of our gray/raining variety, but we had occasional breaks of sun. The coastal view was now that of the Tasman Sea, beautiful in any weather.  Our destination for the day was Bateman’s Bay. Our friends Jenny and Robert had made reservations for us; Robert had gotten a good deal on the sites and booked us a nice “ensuite” (this was our own private bathroom adjoining our campsite) right next to them and their caravan (travel trailer).  We arrived late in the afternoon and enjoyed a nice evening catching up with them, had a great Aussie BBQ of steak and sausages cooked on “George” aka the grill. Robert also tempted us with selections from his wine collection – kept safely in the friger in the ensuite J.

Saturday morning was a bit rainy not a real good sightseeing day, but the 4 of us struck out to see what sights we could see. We drove south along the coast pulling into viewpoints and getting a few good coastal perspectives. Brrrrr it was chilly, so most of our viewing was done from the car. We bought some fresh fish from a local fisherman and 4 dozen oysters from a little shack right down on the water; a real feast for our evening meal. So nice that Jen and Rob’s rig is bigger than our little Apollo, room for the 4 of us to sit inside and enjoy our meals together.

Sunday and we have SUN!! Smiling faces - we planned another little site seeing trip – heading north along the coast.  The coast is so much prettier when the skies are blue and the sun is shining. We enjoyed seeing the communities of Pebbly Beach, Ulladulla, and Mollymock – all pretty little “beach towns” a lot of beautiful homes that we are sure are worth lots of $$$$. More oysters for our entrees tonight – YUM!

Monday morning we are on the road to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Canberra. It was about a 2-hour drive. Along the way we stopped in the little town of Bungendore to look at a hallstand that Jen and Rob had admired on their way over to the coast. A purchase was made and we continued on our journey. We stopped at a tulip garden called Tulip Tops – it is a 10-acre park that is planted beautifully with every color, size and shape of tulip imaginable. There were also 1000s of flowering trees. My favorite bed was the aBRAetum – a dozen or so hanging flower baskets made from some very fancy BRAS.

The “fearsome foursome” then traveled on into the capital city and had a nice tour of many of the sites, including the National Art Gallery, the National Film and Sound Archive, The War Memorial, and the stunningly beautiful new Parliament House. This area has really grown up in the 40+ years between our visits. Another great day for the OZ visitors. Tomorrow we head off again.

Melbourne

September 30 October 3, 2012 – Melbourne, Victoria, yet another place where the wine flows freely.

Sunday morning found us docking back at South Melbourne. We had a good night on board the Spirit of Tasmania, slept a bit better on this trip despite the rougher passage, (stormy seas). We arrived at our long time friends Ted and Linda in East Doncaster about 8:00am. Linda made us a great breakfast and we caught up on all that is happening with them and their kids Sasha and Brent.  We spent the afternoon and evening with our friend Faye. She took us around to see some of Melbourne that we hadn’t seen – we loved the “singing bridge” and the Federation Bells Carillon. The evening was capped off by a wonderful dinner at Faye’s and enjoyed her great collection of Aboriginal art.

Monday we spent the afternoon at the Melbourne Museum enjoying a great variety of displays. Our favorite was the Little Lon Exhibit that featured the growth of that part of Melbourne from 1700’s to present. There were some very interesting artifacts, photos and sets portraying the evolution of this beautiful city. We were treated to an Aussie BBQ (done perfectly by Ted the Latvian) – steaks, sausages, salad a bit of wine (followed by a bit more J).  Linda’s parents John and Thelma joined us for a great evening. A very goodtime was had by all.

Tuesday saw us getting a wonderful tour of the countryside east of Melbourne, guided by Brent. We visited the Yering Winery, Tarra Warra Winery and art gallery, and had a wonderful lunch at the Giant Steps Winery (enjoying a gloriously sunny afternoon) and bit of beer tasting at the White Rabbit Brewery. The highlight of the day was a walk through Healseville Sanctuary where we were treated to seeing many of the Australian animals: roos, wallabies, wombats, platypus and my favorite the Dingos. What fun to walk around this wild life park and see the wonderful things they are doing to educate people about the specialness of their unique animals.

Wednesday was Sasha’s day to tour us around the Brunswick area where she had lived for a few months. We had a wonderful lunch at the Fitz Pub on Brunswick Street. What a wonderful area. Spent a couple of hours walking the street, peering into bookshops, gag shops and the like. Karen could have done some serious damage there, but was reminded by Mike that her bags were very heavy when we left and that she had already bought up some souvenirs. The evening was capped off by a wonderful dinner at a favorite restaurant of Ted and Linda’s, Hellenic Republic.  What a great visit we have had: sight seeing, laughing eating, drinking, laughing, having a glass of wine.  Such wonderful time for these travelers, tomorrow we head out again in the MoHo – places to go, people to see.