Sydney & Trip Home

Sydney Opera House & Harbour Bridge

January 5, 2009 (posted a couple of days later due to recovery from jetlag & spending time with grandkids). Last night we arrived back to our home on wheels in the Dallas area after a good uneventful flight. What a long day! We left Sydney at 3:15 PM and got here at 6 PM on the same day - in “less than 3 hours”. However, we crossed the International Dateline and “gained” a day so the actual elapsed travel time was about 20 hours and January 4th for us was over 40 hours long. We thought that we would have to pay duty on the $2,500 in items we brought back, but toys and books do not count. This brought our total to under $1,600 which is the duty free limit.

What a change in weather! When we left, it was warm and people were swimming at the beaches. When we arrived here, there were icicles hanging from our parked truck. After warming up the trailer, adding water, & connecting up to electricity, we enjoyed the night back in our own bed.

On New Year’s Eve in Sydney we stayed up until midnight to watch the massive 6 million dollars worth of fireworks. We were staying in a hotel close to the Harbour Bridge and had gone down to the waterfront at 9 PM to watch the “family” fireworks being shot up from multiple barges. What a packed crowd! There were more than a million & a half people watching the fireworks in the Sydney area and the area close to the bridge was overcrowded. Some of the prime viewing areas were only for ticket holders (which were sold out). Even though we did not have the best view, we decided to watch the 12 minute (1 minute for each month of the past year) midnight fireworks from our hotel room. We could see the Opera House and many of the fireworks being shot from barges & the tops of skyscrapers. In addition, we also had the TV on and could see the overall fireworks. If we ever came back, we would not stay right downtown, and get tickets months in advance for one of the better viewing areas -but probably not at the Opera House where tickets started at $220.

On the 2nd, we rode the train (electric) into downtown to the Circular Quay area where the Opera House is and the harbour ferries dock. First, we rode one of the ferries around the harbour to see 7 of the harbour lighthouses. Then we toured the Sydney Opera House – what a beautiful fascinating structure and engineering feat. We would have liked to have heard the symphony or seen an opera, but we only brought camping type clothes (blue jeans) along with us.

In our travels in New Zealand and Australia, we drove almost 6,800 miles. I did all of the driving with Cathy helping me multiple times to remember to keep to the left. It never really became completely comfortable driving on the left side & when I drove today I had no trouble readjusting back to the right side. In Australia, the turn signal lever is on the opposite side of the steering wheel & I kept accidently turning on the windscreen (windshield) wipers on about ½ the turns we made – with Cathy telling me over and over to turn off the wipers.

We were very successful in tracking down the lighthouses that we wanted to see and managed to find and take photos of 34 lighthouses in New Zealand and 42 in Australia to bring our grand total to 516. In New Zealand we saw most of the lighthouses, but Australia is so big that it would have taken weeks and thousands of miles to see them all. Maybe someday we can see them all – but on the other hand, this is probably just a dream.

In summary, we had a fantastic trip “down under” and in our campervan really ‘fell in love’ with New Zealand with its diversity in scenery, beautiful birds, and great people. In Australia, we traveled by car mainly in the populated areas (Brisbane, Sydney, & packed beach towns in between) and did not enjoy it as much. By this time we were starting to get tired from our long trip and also did not enjoy finding different motels/hotels to stay in each night. We did, however, thoroughly enjoy our visit to Canberra (the capital of Australia).

If you have been following our travels “down under” in this blog, we hope that you have enjoyed the trip. You can follow our past and future travels and learn more about us at our website at http://cathyandjan-travelog.com/

Vaucluse Bay Rear Range Lighthouse with “Disney style” top

Hornby (South Head) Lighthouse at entrance to Jackson Bay & Sydney Harbour

CLS-4 Carpentaria Lightship. This “lighthouse” was anchored at a point where a lighthouse was needed but not there yet.

A circular “island” in the Pacific Ocean as seen from our flight home.

Canberra & the Blue Mountains

Parliament House in the National Capital of Australia. This new complex was completed 20 years ago and consists of 5 connected buildings (the central building plus 2 each for the House of Representatives and Senate with their adjoining offices and staff)

December 31. Today we head into the inner city of Sydney and plan to see some of the fireworks at midnight (if we can stay up that late). Over 1.5 million people are expected to see the huge fireworks and we don’t know how good of a view we will be able to get with all of the crowds.

We spent 2 days in Canberra – the capital of Australia. Canberra is in a separate entity in the state of New South Wales that has been set aside as the Australian Capital Territory like the District of Columbia is in the US. This is where the parliament and other national activities take place. Parliament House sits right in the middle of the city and is surrounded by streets emanating out like spokes of a wheel. The center area covers a very large area and has lakes, parks, very wide boulevards, museums, government buildings, and monuments. The rest of the city is far enough out from the centre that at times you wonder where the businesses and houses are.

Parliament House is truly built for the People of Australia and is the main place to visit in Canberra. It is by far the most open centre of government that we have visited. Parliament was not in session and , after going thru security, we could wander in and out of the gallery areas of the House of Representatives and Senate as we wished. Surprisingly, the Parliament here is very similar to the US Congress (not like Parliaments in the UK, Canada, and New Zealand). They have a House of Representatives and a Senate. House members are elected based upon population, and Senate members are elected based upon equal numbers from each state. Bills must pass both the House and Senate to become law and all appropriation bills must originate in the House. The Senate here is considered to be the 2nd most powerful Senate in the world (the 1st being the US Senate). After seeing Parliament House we visited the National Art Gallery and viewed some fascinating aboriginal art works. Then it was on to the National Museum to learn some things about the history of this great nation.

Yesterday we drove thru the Blue Mountains north of Sydney. These are not true mountains since originally it was a mesa and has been eroded over time to produce sandstone cliffs, mountains, and waterfalls that resemble the Great Smoky Mountains in the US. The name Blue Mountains got its name due to the blue haze that covers them in the distance when you view them. They are a very popular retreat - especially for the people of Sydney. It is cooler here (at around 1,000 meters / 3,000 ft) than at sea level in the big city. Since this is holiday season, some of the viewpoints were packed. We will have to say that we were not really impressed by the Blue Mountains – probably since we have seen many more beautiful areas than this in our travels.

Side note: The signs here say ‘Mind The Step’ – instead of ‘Watch Your Step’

The Australian Shield on the front of Parliament House with the Australian flag flying in the wind. The Kangaroo & Emu are facing each other – to symbolize moving forward and they were chosen since neither of them can go backwards.

The ‘Three Sisters’ rock formation in the Blue Mountains. This is the main formation at the most popular viewing spot – Echo Point in Katoomba

The National Carillion (with the Telstra Tower in the far distance). This is one of the areas surrounding The Parliament House in Canberra.

Australian currency. Note: the sizes of the coins. The $1 and $2 coins are gold and are thicker than the other coins. The bank notes (bills) are different sizes. As a bill gets larger in value, its width increases.

500th Lighthouse

Point Perpendicular lighthouse in New South Wales, Australia – Our 500th - and a beautiful one. To get to this one, we had to drive down a gravel road through a military testing range. The parking lot was full, but most of the people were there only to see the boats go by in the long Sydney, New South Wales to Hobart, Tasmania sailboat race.

December 28 – Yesterday we met our goal and photographed our 500th lighthouse – Yeah! The grand total of 503 so far includes 276 in the US, 164 in Canada, 34 in New Zealand, & 29 in Australia. Many of the ones in the US and Canada were around the Great Lakes (of which we have seen most of them). Our quest has taken us down numerous roads and byways that we would have never traveled on. We have been rewarded with some beautiful picturesque sights – with many of them being rugged coastal points. Of course, some of the lighthouses have not been very picturesque (examples: surrounded by industrial buildings or storage tanks, that have badly deteriorated, and those that were not very architecturally beautiful). You may ask – where do we go from here? The simple answer is that we keep on our quest to see more. Our next goal is 600 – and who knows – maybe even a 1,000 in some distant future. There are over 9,000 of them in the world, but we don’t think that we can see all of them.

On Christmas Day we drove out to Palm Beach to see a lighthouse and then went thru Sydney. Traffic was heavy and parking in beach areas was overflowing. It appears that almost everyone heads to the beach on Christmas Day & since it was a sunny day they were out in force. We read about people driving fewer miles due to the recession, but it doesn’t seem to be happening here (as a matter of fact, the Australian economy is in pretty fair shape – as opposed to New Zealand which is not faring very well). In the evening we did manage to find a McDonald’s that was open and enjoyed our Christmas Day feast there.

On December 26th (Boxing Day) and yesterday we continued south along the coast of the state of New South Wales seeing lighthouses and then headed inland to the Canberra – the capital of Australia. By the way, Boxing Day doesn’t seem to real special here since most stores were open and people were exchanging gifts etc. Traffic again was very heavy on the day after Boxing Day since people were heading back home.

Here are a few driving notes. In many of the towns, parking in the downtown areas by law is by backing in at an angle. Roundabouts work well except when there is heavy traffic from 3 or 4 directions. Traffic really backed up yesterday whenever we entered a town with its roundabouts. Divided highways are the exception and the major roads go right thru downtown in many places.

Flagstaff Point (Wollongong Head) Lighthouse

Crookhaven Head lighthouse – one of those lighthouses that has been vandalized & is being left to the winds.

Australian Pelican

Australian Darter (Male) – in the cormorant family

Warden Head lighthouse. We could drive right up to it, roll down the window, and touch it (far easier than those 3 to 5 kilometres (2 to 3 miles) round trip hikes to get to others).

Christmas in Australia

Sugarloaf Point (Seal Rocks) Lighthouse – You can stay in one of the keepers quarters for only $300 per day (minimum of 2 days).

December 25 – Merry Christmas this morning to all from ‘down under’ where one can only dream about snow. The forecast today is for sunny skies with temperatures in the 80s – a great day to head to the beach. On TV, they have been tracking Santa’s last minute plans and have plotted his flight path in the Southern Hemisphere. Christmas dinners here are not your typical turkey and ham – instead it is a mixture of foods with seafood (such as prawns and oysters) or a picnic at the beach with BBQ, etc. The Christmas decorations are even a little different here with Santa seen in shorts in some displays. With all of the food stores and restaurants closed today, we may be celebrating our Aussie Christmas dinner with crackers and cereal or a snack from a petrol (fuel) station (many of which are open).

The last 3 days we have continued our drive along the coast from the Brisbane area, and today we will continue south through Sydney before heading inland to see Canberra. Since we will end up in Sydney, we do not plan to stop to see any of sights as we drive through. After leaving all of the resort cities on both sides of Brisbane, it has really been great to be out in the country and in small towns without all of the condos etc. and travel thru farmland and eucalyptus forests on our way to lighthouses along the coast. Some of the lighthouses are in remote communities and this has taken us down some gravel roads to reach them. It has been worth the drives most of the time since we have been rewarded with some really beautiful lighthouses and rugged coastlines.

In one of several National Parks we have driven through, when we stopped for a rest, Cathy noticed on a sign that the largest eucalyptus tree in the state of New South Wales (in which Sydney and Canberra are) was close by. So, we decided to go see it. Little did we know that we would drive 12 kilometers (8 miles) down a deserted gravel road that was narrow & rough in places. Fortunately, it had not rained recently since part of the road was dirt and would have been impassable for a car if it was wet. What we found was a beautiful gigantic flooded gum eucalyptus tree called ‘The Grandis’. The tree is over 400 years old, 76 meters (250 ft) tall, and over 9 meters (30 ft.) in circumference. With the lowest branch being 25 meters (80 ft) high, it would be a little difficult for koalas to reach the leaves of this tree to eat – so they will have to settle on smaller trees for their food. This side trip was quite refreshing and we almost felt like we were in a wilderness.

Side note: Prices for items seem higher here than back home, but not as high as it might seem since the Australian dollar is worth about 70 US cents. Also, in New Zealand and here in Australia, the GST (sales tax) is included in all prices for everything. So – what you see on the price tag or menu etc. is what you pay. This makes the shopping experience much simpler. Prices are also rounded since there are no pennies.

Cape Byron Lighthouse – most easterly point on the Australian mainland. Note the castle-like design (James Barnet style). You can also stay here overnight.

Point Danger and Captain Cook Memorial – This sits right on the border between the states of Queensland and New South Wales.

Eastern Curlew sighted at one of the lighthouses.

‘The Grandis’ eucalyptus tree.

One of the many koala road signs that we have seen. We have not seen any of the koalas while driving, but hundreds are killed by cars each year. ->
<- A kangaroo road sign.

Koalas and kangaroos

What would Australia be without a kangaroo?

December 22nd - Three days ago we got up early and took a shuttle to the Auckland airport for our flight to Brisbane, Australia. Just before security, they weighed our carry-on luggage and we had over 10 lbs too much. After moving items between our backpacks & bag to one another and re-weighing a few times, the lady just gave up and said we could go on thru. Fortunately, this was our only problem and we had a great 3.5 hour flight (over 2,200 miles) into Brisbane. Brisbane is a large city in the state of Queensland on the eastern coast of Australia. Our first impression was the very HOT weather. At over 90F degrees it felt just like being in Houston in August with high humidity. Fortunately, our rental car has good air-conditioning – plus it is automatic which is a welcome change from our campervan in New Zealand.

Our plans here in Australia are to go down along the coast from north of Brisbane thru Sydney and see lighthouses along the way. So we headed north thru Brisbane about 100 kilometers (60 miles) to Mooloolaba. The coastal area north of Brisbane is called the’ Sunshine Coast’ and has beautiful beaches. Since it is summer here, school is out, and it is holiday time – all of the small cities along the coast are packed with people. And guess where the lighthouses are – of course along the coast. This made driving not as much fun as it could have been in the winter. We did manage to see all of the lighthouses we wanted to see and then headed into Brisbane.

With the help of our navigation system, we made into the very heart of the city to the Maritime Museum to see a lighthouse and a lightship. We drove by to see the parliament building but it was surrounded with scaffolding and so drove on. It was then out to the ‘Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary’ to see Australian wildlife and we were not disappointed. We saw kangaroos (which we petted), wombats, dingos, and of course koalas. We enjoyed the koala and birds of prey shows and the feeding of the lorikeets. The highlight was being able to hold and cuddle a koala and have our picture taken. Note: koalas are not bears but are marsupials (related to kangaroos).

After saying goodbye to the koalas, we headed out to the coast south of Brisbane. We were so happy just to be out of Brisbane – driving there was a challenge with streets that are winding, hilly, and with multiple lane markings that were confusing. After making what seemed like countless number of turns, we managed to exit the city. If the navigation system had not been programmed correctly, we might still be in the city going around in circles.

The coastal area south of Brisbane is called the ‘Gold Coast’ and here again the coastal towns are filled with people, but we managed to see all of the lighthouses that we wanted to so far. Hopefully, we get to drive some of those small country roads soon after we leave the resort areas. A good bit of Australia is in a drought and this area is no exception. The trees and plants are green, but there are signs everywhere telling us to save water

Cathy cuddling koala named Mark

Jan cuddling koala named Yabba

A beautiful lorikeet. One of the activities at the koala sanctuary was feeding the lorikeets. If was fascinating watching over a hundred of these birds flying around vying for the food.

A mother bird protecting her young. If you look closely, you can see the tails of her 2 young chicks under her front feathers.

Farewell to Aotearoa (New Zealand)

The Pohutukawa Tree. The tree bursts out in red blooms in December – so it is called the New Zealand Christmas Tree.

Three days ago we went into the caves at Waitomo to see the fascinating glowworms. In their larvae stage, the glowworms build a nest in the ceiling, generate multiple sticky silk-like lines that hang down, and emit a bluish light that attracts insects which get stuck on the sticky lines (and then eaten). During our tour, we rode in a boat on the river that flows thru the cave bringing insects into the cave. All the lights were out on our boat ride and the ceiling was covered with hundreds of glowworms making it look like the Milky Way in the night sky (except the stars here were blue) – what a great sight!

After the cave tour, we drove thru Auckland to Muriwai Beach to go wading in the Tasman Sea (one of our traditions is to wade in each major body of water that we visit). Then we went to the viewing area of one of the three Australasian Gannet colonies in New Zealand. What an amazing experience to be so close to these fabulous birds and to be able to watch them interact with each other. This colony has expanded so much that the birds come right up next to the viewing stands. What a treat for us to see them so close, since we had not able to see them at one of the colonies and only saw them in the very far distance at the other colony.

Two days ago, (on a very windy day), we rocked and rolled on a 15 minute ferry ride to the bird sanctuary on Tiritiri Matangi to see some rare birds and of course to see the lighthouse there. We got to see one of the less than 300 South Island Takahe birds in existence. One of these birds is very bold and we watched as he snatched a sandwich from someone in our group. After tramping on some of the trails, we rode back on the ferry – fortunately we were not affected by the ferry rides this time.

Yesterday, it was time to prepare to complete our great 7 week adventure here in New Zealand. After doing our biweekly laundry, cleaning up the campervan, and filling all tanks (including LPG), we drove to the campervan owner’s home to pack up our suitcases which we had stored there. Earlier in the day we had purchased an inexpensive suitcase In order to pack our souvenirs and quilt fabric. But guess what – we had so much stuff that we had to go back out and buy a 2nd large suitcase.

After finishing packing, the campervan owner invited us in for tea with his wife and to hear about our travels. It was really great to deal with such a great, friendly, and helpful small businessman . There were no unforeseen charges and we were even reimbursed for the items we had to buy to fix small problems. Throughout our journey, we sent him emails about our travels and he responded with very helpful travel tips of what to see and do. We can highly recommend ‘NewZealandFrontiers.com’ (one of the over 25 companies here that have campervans for hire (rent).

We had mixed emotions as we turned over the keys to the campervan – our home for 50 days. We could celebrate all of the great memories that we can take with us and give thanks that we did not have a major breakdown or accident driving 7,900 plus kilometers (over 4,900 miles) on the opposite side of the highways. I (Jan) was also very glad to ‘give up’ the manual transmission shifting (after shifting into wrong gears numerous times and stalling the engine a few times). When we had planned this trip earlier in the year, we came knowing that this would be our only trip here. But, after seeing this great place and meeting many great people, we would jump at an opportunity to return (however, next time we would like to come back in the wintertime to see the mountains covered in snow).

This morning we board a plane to Brisbane, Australia where we will travel around for 16 days in the 90F degree plus heat in a rental car (with automatic transmission & A/C) chasing down lighthouses, quilt shops, National Parks, birds, kangaroos, koalas, etc.

So, we say Kia Ora (farewell) to Aotearoa (the name that the indigenous Maori call New Zealand – which means ‘The Land of the Long White Cloud’) – and say “G’Day mate” to Australia.

View of the coast of the Tasman Sea at Muriwai Beach. We went wading in the surf in sand that was really all black. The gannet colony was on the bluff in the distance.

Lighthouse on Tiritiri Matangi Island. When we were planning our trip we thought that we might see about 15 lighthouses, but we far exceeded this and this was our 34th one to photograph in New Zealand – bringing our overall total to 474.

One of the many nesting areas in the gannet colony.

One of a parents feeding their chick.

One of the gannets – it almost looks like he is smiling.

Jan taking pictures of gannets that flew very close – at times they flew only a metre (3 ft) away from us.

Kiwis

No New Zealand travelog would be complete without talking about the national symbol – the kiwi. This very unusual flightless bird is now endangered and is only found in New Zealand. They are very difficult to see since they sleep in burrows in the daytime and feed at night by rummaging in the ground with their long beaks. The picture taken here is of a model of a kiwi taken at a rehab place in Rotoura. Here are some of the things that make this bird so unique:
· Their nostrils are at the end of the beak (so that they can smell the bugs that they eat in the ground)
· No tail and no visible wings
· Very large and powerful legs to run fast and kick predators
· Cat-like whiskers
· Very poor vision, but excellent hearing
· Have marrow on their bones
· The huge egg is about 1/3 the weight of the female. She is exhausted after laying her egg and fortunately the male does the incubation for 80 days. The female then can lay a 2nd egg in a couple of weeks, depositing it next to the 1st, and then she takes a long break to regain strength.

New Zealanders also consider themselves quite independent and unique and with pride refer to themselves as ‘kiwis’.

The last couple of days we have been gradually moving towards Auckland. We drove thru the large volcanic thermal area around Taupo and Rotoura. This is where the Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’ begins. There were numerous areas to visit, and we picked out 2 of them (Wai-O-Tapu & Te Puia). After seeing what they have here, we now appreciate much more the wonderful treasure that Yellowstone National Park is. The geysers, terraces, and vents here were interesting, but were small in comparison and not nearly as colorful.

In our travels we passed Lake Taupo - the largest lake in New Zealand which covers 619 Sq. km (239 sq. miles). It was formed in ~186 AD in a huge eruption that ejected pumice 50 kilometers (30 miles) in the air and it is estimated that the volcanic debris would cover all of New Zealand over 13 ft.

Today, as we near the end of our journey, we thought that we would learn more about the first people in New Zealand – the Maori people that arrived in here around 1,000 AD. So, at Te Puia in Rotoura we watched a weaving demonstration (using flax), wood carvers at work, learned about some of the Maori customs, and were entertained with some of their songs and war dances.

Fragile looking Pied Stilt wading in a small stream in the ‘Frying Pan Flat’ – a rather bleak thermal runoff area.

Champagne Pool in Wai-O-Tapu

Beautiful light blue Huka Falls in Taupo.

Lady Knox geyser in Wai-O-Tapu – New Zealand’s answer to ‘Old Faithful’ – It goes off only at 10:15 daily when they trigger it by pouring soap down the vent to break the surface tension between the cold top water and hot water underneath