Happy New Year

I'm back in Sydney - at Collaroy Beach, one of the suburbs to the north of the city - in a hostel that has its own rooftop swimming pool! Despite that attraction I will be heading into the city tomorrow for New Year's Eve and meeting up with my friend Margaret who has flown out for a visit to cousins who live over here. She finally made it after an earlier attempt was cancelled because of the snow before Christmas.
Happy New Year!

Beaches Galore

Today's been hot and sunny and I went for a walk down the coast, which consists of a string of lovely sandy beaches linked by a well-made path. I ended up at a nature reserve and had a guided tour along a raised boardwalk through sub-tropical rainforest, finding out about the traditional uses of the local plants. So here's a picture of me definitely not wearing the famous green fleecy jacket.

As it's a combination of Christmas Holidays and Summer Holidays here, the beaches near car parks were busy, but there were so many beaches it was easy to find a quiet one.

Tomorrow I head back to Sydney for the New Year celebrations. Enjoy your New Year's Eve celebrations if you are having any, and all the best for 2011.

Caves and Koalas

After a sunny Christmas Day, Boxing Day dawned wet, so I decided to visit the Jenolan Caves. It turned out to be a good decision even though the weather brightened up later. The stalactites, stalagmites and other related phenomena were the best I've ever seen, so good that I forgot to be claustrophobic.

Then yesterday I travelled via Sydney up the coast by train to a little town called Port Macquarie. It's a nice quiet seaside resort with surfing beachs and coastal walks. Unfortunately the weather was grey and cloudy again, with occasional rain, but I had a paddle anyway. And this afternoon I visited the Koala Hospital - which was the reason I picked this town rather than any other one on the coast. The koalas are very cute to look at, and you hear about their amazing stories of survival from bush fires, dog attacks or road accidents. But the nicest thing there was that I bumped into a woman who I'd shared a dorm with at Kaikoura in New Zealand. I had no idea she was coming here too. So we had tea and cakes together and swopped email addresses. We may well overlap again in Singapore or Malaysia.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing all my readers a very happy Christmas!
I have had a very relaxing and lazy Christmas day - sunbathing in the hostel garden and giving myself a present of a load of nice fresh laundry, dried outside in the sunshine. It's been warm and sunny, though we did have a very cloudy, damp day yesterday when I went for hike with two new Irish friends. I also enjoyed a Christmas celebration meal out with them last night.
The hostel staff have just laid on some snacks (it's about 6pm) and I have opened my special Christmas bottle of wine and am going to cook myself a steak!
I hope you all have equally enjoyable Christmases.

More Blue Mountains Experiences

Today I went to "Scenic World", where I travelled first on a very steep railway through a tunnel down to the valley where there are boardwalks through the forest past old mineworkings; then travelled up in a cable car; and finally got another cable car across from one part of the cliff to another, with splended views of the Katoomba falls (left).

At the main view points near car parks it is packed with tourists, but you only have to walk a few minutes to have fabulous viewpoints to yourself. The picture 0n the right was taken at my picnic spot yesterday where I was totally alone apart from a friendly lizard (or skink possibly).

Sydney and The Blue Mountains

Some catching up to do - so this will be a longer entry than the last!

My first full day in Australia I visited Paramatta - a town near where Nicola lives - that's now part of the Sydney connurbation, and was one of the earliest towns to be established in New South Wales. It's definitely got its own identity,and I enjoyed exploring the town and its parks on foot. Then yesterday we had a day out in the big city, catching the river ferry to central Sydney - which is a great way to get a first look at the iconic Harbour Bridge and Opera House. We had lunch and explored around Darling Harbour in hot sunshine. The Christmas Tree picture was taken in Darling Harbour.

Later Steve and Nicola kindly drove me up to Katoomba where I'll be staying over Christmas. It's so beautiful up here in the Blue Mountains. The views are spectacular - on a par with those at the Grand Canyon. And it's very easy to get around on foot or on public transport, as there's a string of quaint little towns connected by railway and walking trails, along the top of the huge escarpment that looks out over forests, waterfalls and cliffs. There's also lots to do - adventure sports, a scenic cable car, caves to visit - as well as walking, which is what I did today. I walked along the cliff top past some lovely cascades to Leura and got the train back.

I hear that on top of all the bad weather, you've now had an earthquake in North West England! I definitely chose the right winter to spend down under.

In Australia

Just a quick entry to report that I arrive safely in Australia yesterday where I am staying for a few nights with Nicola (former colleague), Steve and baby Sammy before heading up into the Blue Mountains for Christmas.
Despite it being summer here I can no longer ignore the fact that Christmas is imminent. Many apologies for the absence of cards and presents from me this year, but I wish you all the very best for a happy and peaceful Christmas!

Goodbye to New Zealand

I'm in Christchurch on my last night in New Zealand, which has definitely lived up to expectations. I feel as if I've done an awaful lot in a few weeks here.

The sun has come out again after some grey and even wet days. Kaikoura finally showed me its beautiful views (see picture), and now I'm in Christchurch which shows very little evidence that it was hit by a huge earthquake less than four months ago.

On my final full day in Kaikoura I visited a historic house which gave an insight into the lives of early European arrivals and the whaling industry (it's interesting that the town now lives off whale watching rather than whale hunting) and then enjoyed a sheep shearing demonstration which seemed a very New Zealand thing to do.

And today I actually saw two kiwis (the birds not the people). They are very rare, shy, nocturnal creatures so the only way to see them is in captivity, in almost pitch dark, and total silence. And they aren't the most exciting creatures to look at, but I felt it completed my New Zealand experience.

Tomorrow it's off to Sydney and the next stage of the journey.

Whales and Sheep

The clouds have finally cleared in Kaikoura, on the east coast of New Zealand's south island - giving wonderful views across the bay to snow capped mountains.

Yesterday I went on a whale watching boat trip. We saw a sperm whale and a school of dusky dophins which seems to be a typical success rate. The male sperm whale (the only year-round whale here) is a solitary creature and only surfaces to breathe for about five minutes, roughly every hour. The dolphins are less elusive and much more friendly. The whale is called Tiaki, by the way.

I was supposed to go horse riding today, but it got cancelled because of rain. Then the rain cleared and instead I went to a sheep shearing demonstration which was very entertaining, and seemed much more particular to New Zealand than horse riding so it all worked out fine.

Tomorrow I head to Christchurch for my final night in New Zealand. I'm rather regretting not having more time here to go further south to the high mountains, but I can always go to Switzerland or Austria to see snowy peaks.

Tramping in New Zealand

Just got back from four days out of internet contact - in fact we were away from roads, electricity and hot water, too! Jacqui and I have been trekking (or tramping as it's called here) in the Abel Tasman Park, which is an unspoilt area of coast and forest. We walked over wooded headlands from one pristine, deserted beach to another - all with yellow sand and turquoise water - where we swam and sunbathed. They were the sort of beach I really like, with not a building in sight, but most had little campsites, so there were toilets provided. At night we stayed in huts, cooking on a little camping stove and sleeping on huge communal sleeping platforms with random strangers either side. All quite an adventure for me! It was great fun, and lovely to have just the essentials and be close to nature (though I got a bit too close to the sandflies!). It also means you really appreciate hot showers and real beds when you get back.

On the way home we stopped at a "catch your own" fish farm, where I caught and killed my own salmon. Another first for me! I've always said you shouldn't really eat animals and fish unless you're prepared to kill them, but whilst I found fishing very relaxing, I won't be killing anything again unless I am stranded on a desert island and facing starvation! (except sandflies - I'll kill them quite happily.)

Wellington and Nelson

I had a couple more really good days exploring Wellington. I took the cable car up to the top of the botanical gardens and spent a long time exploring the gardens, woodlands and sculpture trails. The rose garden in particular was spectacular - I caught it just at the right time of year. I also spent many hours at Te Papa - the Museum of New Zealand - learning a lot about the geology, history, flora and fauna, and culture of New Zealand. Also went out for a really nice Thai meal on my last night with Betty and Douglas.

Yesterday I caught the ferry across the Cook Straits to the South Island and then the bus to Nelson to be met by my cousin Jacqui. Today we're getting ready to go off hiking - or tramping as they call it here - on the Abel Tasman trail. We're hoping the weather picks up a bit - it's been cool, cloudy and damp the last few days!

Wellington

Having had a lovely train journey down from Auckland to Wellington yesterday, I am now staying with Betty and Douglas (old family friends) and it's lovely to be in a proper home for a change. I enjoyed seeing the varied countryside of North Island. One minute you think you could be in Mid Wales, and the next you spot a tree fern or other exotic plant and the illusion goes.
Wellington is living up to its windy reputation - we visited two different beaches today and at both were nearly knocked over by the wind.
I'm updating the blog today on their computer not mine so it would be complicated to add photos - but it's a beautiful coastline here, and quite wild within just a few miles of the city.
Just trying to sort out my crossing over to South Island in a few days time - the buses and ferries don't seem to co-ordinate very well!

Volcanos and penguins

I've had two enjoyable and interesting days around Auckland. Yesterday I went to Kelly Tarleton's Anarctic Encounter and Underwater World - a very quirky attraction which includes a replica of Scott's hut from the doomed Antarctic expedition, a chance to see penguins up close (including some fluffy baby ones) and one of those glass tunnels through a giant shark tank - like you get at Sea Life centres in the UK. It was the creation of one man - Kelly Tarleton - who sadly died young, just weeks after it first opened.

I then caught the ferry over to the little seaside town of Devonport for a short guided tour to some good viewpoints, a pleasant afternoon pottering round the cafes and shops, and a delicious early dinner, before getting the ferry back.

Today I caught another ferry over to a relatively young volcanic island - Rangitoto. It erupted out of the sea about 600 years ago. I walked through exotic forests and lava fields to the crater rim, and then back to the shoreline via some lava caves, fern groves and historic seaside holiday cottages known as baches.

The picture was taken half way up the volcano with the city of Auckland in the background.

The weather continues mainly cloudy but very warm.

Tomorrow I catch the train for the twelve hour journey to Wellington.