We went to the Australian Grand Prix today, a Formula One race. I was surprised by how much was going on; there were 5 races today, plus F1 practice and qualifying. In addition, all over the park there were shows and activities to participate in. Our favorite was the Crusty Demons, a motorcycle jumping and trick team. They are the some of the best motorcycle riders from around the world, including an ESPN X-Games gold medalist, and the first rider to do a front flip on a motorcycle in competition. There were also airplanes doing stunts and flybys, an educational expo, rides, lots of food and music. We walked around most of the track except by the grandstands where you needed a special ticket. We watched the races from three locations, a tight turn, a turn at the end of a straightway, and the middle of the straightaway. All spots were good for different reasons. Two things Misa noticed right away are how loud the cars are and how fast they are.
They had one race between a regular Mercedes sports car, a supercar (a stock car like in NASCAR), and an F1 car. First they had each car drive around the track as fast as they could, and handicapped the race based on those times. So the Mercedes left first, then after about 15 seconds the stock car, and then after about 15 more seconds the F1 car. All three got to the homestretch at about the same time, with the stock car closing in on the sports car and the F1 closing in on the stock car, it was very exciting. Right at the end the F1 passed both to finish first, with the sports car in second, and the stock car in third. It took about 2 minutes for the sports car to go around the track, compared to a minute and a half for the F 1.
After the qualifying competition for tomorrow's race to see who would start on the pole and in what order the other cars would start we headed back to our hotel. We stopped at Subway for supper, did homeschool, and now are headed to bed.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
The Great Ocean Road, Part 2
Friday morning we got up early for the second half of the Great Ocean Road. We ate, packed, said goodbye to our Heath mouse friend that visited our back door every morning, and headed for the Otway treetop walk. In the rainforest there are some giant trees, about as tall as the redwoods in Muir Woods but not as big around, and they have built a walkway 150 feet above the ground amongst the tops of the trees. At one point there is a tower that goes up another 65 feet to 215 feet, and it is still not as tall as the tallest trees, which can reach 300 feet. There is not much more to say: rainforest, ferns, huge trees, streams, fungi, beautiful, amazing, breathtaking...
After the hour walk we ate lunch and hit the road. Our first stop was Gibson's Steps were we got to see our first rock formation out in the ocean. Basically the entire second part of the Great Ocean Road is these huge columns of sandstone were the land used to be, but erosion has left these islands and arches all by themselves standing in the water. The most famous group of them, the twelve apostles, was next, followed by Loch Ard Gorge.
By far the second day is more spectacular due to the high cliffs and rock column formations. The entire Great Ocean Road over the two days of driving was 150 miles.
After the Great Ocean Road we drove straight to Melbourne 3 hours, arriving about 6:30. Once again our travel agent outdid herself, with a two bedroom serviced apartment right in downtown Melbourne. I think we only paid for a one bedroom, but this is all they had available. With the F1 Grand Prix here this weekend I am guessing everyone is booked to capacity. We will go to the Grand Prix tomorrow, and I will go again on Sunday while Katka and Misa visit our friends that live here in Melbourne.
One random observation: everything in Australia is quite expensive. For example, if we go out for fast food we eat for about $30; if we go to a sit down restaurant it costs about $90; and a days worth of food from the grocery store for three meals costs about $60. For the most part we can avoid buying most things, and we do not have any bills to pay, but we have to eat. The cost of some things, like sunscreen, are way out of whack. A decent sized tube of sunscreen is $18 Australian, or $19 US, versus $10 for the same thing at home.
After the hour walk we ate lunch and hit the road. Our first stop was Gibson's Steps were we got to see our first rock formation out in the ocean. Basically the entire second part of the Great Ocean Road is these huge columns of sandstone were the land used to be, but erosion has left these islands and arches all by themselves standing in the water. The most famous group of them, the twelve apostles, was next, followed by Loch Ard Gorge.
By far the second day is more spectacular due to the high cliffs and rock column formations. The entire Great Ocean Road over the two days of driving was 150 miles.
After the Great Ocean Road we drove straight to Melbourne 3 hours, arriving about 6:30. Once again our travel agent outdid herself, with a two bedroom serviced apartment right in downtown Melbourne. I think we only paid for a one bedroom, but this is all they had available. With the F1 Grand Prix here this weekend I am guessing everyone is booked to capacity. We will go to the Grand Prix tomorrow, and I will go again on Sunday while Katka and Misa visit our friends that live here in Melbourne.
One random observation: everything in Australia is quite expensive. For example, if we go out for fast food we eat for about $30; if we go to a sit down restaurant it costs about $90; and a days worth of food from the grocery store for three meals costs about $60. For the most part we can avoid buying most things, and we do not have any bills to pay, but we have to eat. The cost of some things, like sunscreen, are way out of whack. A decent sized tube of sunscreen is $18 Australian, or $19 US, versus $10 for the same thing at home.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Great Ocean Road, Part 1
Wednesday we flew from Hobart to Melbourne, rented a car and drove the first part of the Great Ocean Road to Apollo Bay. The Great Ocean Road is sort of like the PCH in California from Monterey down to Morrow Bay. It hugs the southeast coast of Australia over a good part of the way from Melbourne to Adelaide. Our first stop was the golf course in Anglesea, which is home to 400 kangaroos. Apparently the kangaroos were not home on Wednesday, because we didn't see any. It is a large area for sure, but how 400 kangaroos all hide out of sight is beyond me. Luckily we had more success at Kennett River, where we did find Koalas living in the wild. Koalas are sort of amazing, in that they don't really seem to do anything. They sleep in the trees in the most uncomfortable looking positions, just wedged between two or three branches, and occasionally wake up to eat whatever is close by before going back to sleep. Despite not seeing any kangaroos in the wild yet, we have seen echidnas, wallabies, koalas, a Heath mouse, cockatoos, red parrots, Australian king green parrots and lots of other cool birds. Echidnas and wallabies are our favorites so far, but the birds are sometimes amazing, sometimes beautiful, and sometimes very funny looking.
We also stopped at the Split Point Lighthouse, Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, and lots of viewpoints and scenic overlooks. The Great Ocean Road is actually a memorial to WW1 veterans, built by the veterans returning from the war in honor of their fallen comrades. It took 13 years to complete, from 1919 to 1932.
Our motel in Apollo Bay has a perfect view of the ocean. We have a small two bedroom "lodge" with a covered porch in back to sit and watch the waves. Ater we arrived and unpacked Misa and Katka went down to the beach while I went into town for food. I found a great frozen pizza, but when I got back to our motel I discovered our kitchen doesn't have a regular oven. So for supper I microwaved the pizza and then cooked it in a skillet to make the crust crispy, it was delicious. I think the expression should be "hunger is the mother of invention."
Thursday we caught up on homeschool. Misa had a bad cold when we were in Tasmania so we took it easy on the homeschooling. Having two nights in the same hotel means no driving, and a chance to relax and homeschool. So after a morning of school we drove out to the Cape Otway Lightstation. We were driving in the Great Otway National Park on the way there when we spotted a koala up on a branch, right over the road. Before we knew it there were koalas everywhere, "like ripe cherries," is how Katka described it. They really are funny little animals, just balancing out on a limb, hanging there like wet bags of socks someone threw up into the tree and they got stuck. Sometimes they wake up, look around, scratch a little, and then go back to dozing. In a zoo we did see one walking around in a tree and even jumping between branches, but in the wild we haven't seen one so much as change positions to get more comfortable.
The Cape Otway Lightstation included several historical buildings and a monsoon. It started raining as we headed into the lighthouse, but stopped when we were at the top taking in the views. But then the rain started coming in sheets and by the time we made it to the cafe we were drenched. We waited out the rain in the cafe and when it stopped walked quickly to our car and drove back to the motel. Now we are relaxing with the back porch open so we get the nice breeze, we can listen to the waves, and watch the ocean. Soon we will have to start homeschool again, but for now we can enjoy the view.
We also stopped at the Split Point Lighthouse, Great Ocean Road Memorial Arch, and lots of viewpoints and scenic overlooks. The Great Ocean Road is actually a memorial to WW1 veterans, built by the veterans returning from the war in honor of their fallen comrades. It took 13 years to complete, from 1919 to 1932.
Our motel in Apollo Bay has a perfect view of the ocean. We have a small two bedroom "lodge" with a covered porch in back to sit and watch the waves. Ater we arrived and unpacked Misa and Katka went down to the beach while I went into town for food. I found a great frozen pizza, but when I got back to our motel I discovered our kitchen doesn't have a regular oven. So for supper I microwaved the pizza and then cooked it in a skillet to make the crust crispy, it was delicious. I think the expression should be "hunger is the mother of invention."
Thursday we caught up on homeschool. Misa had a bad cold when we were in Tasmania so we took it easy on the homeschooling. Having two nights in the same hotel means no driving, and a chance to relax and homeschool. So after a morning of school we drove out to the Cape Otway Lightstation. We were driving in the Great Otway National Park on the way there when we spotted a koala up on a branch, right over the road. Before we knew it there were koalas everywhere, "like ripe cherries," is how Katka described it. They really are funny little animals, just balancing out on a limb, hanging there like wet bags of socks someone threw up into the tree and they got stuck. Sometimes they wake up, look around, scratch a little, and then go back to dozing. In a zoo we did see one walking around in a tree and even jumping between branches, but in the wild we haven't seen one so much as change positions to get more comfortable.
The Cape Otway Lightstation included several historical buildings and a monsoon. It started raining as we headed into the lighthouse, but stopped when we were at the top taking in the views. But then the rain started coming in sheets and by the time we made it to the cafe we were drenched. We waited out the rain in the cafe and when it stopped walked quickly to our car and drove back to the motel. Now we are relaxing with the back porch open so we get the nice breeze, we can listen to the waves, and watch the ocean. Soon we will have to start homeschool again, but for now we can enjoy the view.
Tasmania!
Our flight to Hobart on Friday was again ridiculously early (7:00am). We got up at 4:00, left the apartment at 5:00, and were at the airport at 5:30. The check in process here is almost fully automated. They use a computer terminal to check in like other airports, but the terminal prints both your boarding passes and luggage tags. You simply attach the luggage tags to your suitcases following the instructions provided and place them on a conveyor belt. The bags are weighed and scanned on the conveyor belt, and sent on their way. This whole process takes about 5-10 minutes, and no airline employees are involved.
After picking up our rental car at the airport in Hobart, we arrived early at our hotel. Because our room was not ready, they put us in a room that was ready, a deluxe suite with 180 degree views of the bay. Needless to say Misa found no reason to leave the room for the rest of the day except for a short trip out for lunch.
Katka took a nap after lunch while Misa and I read and rested. Katka and I explored the waterfront and then found a fun Irish pub for supper. We brought Misa back some food from the grocery store.
On Saturday we drove to Port Arthur, a UN World Heritage site and location of one of the first and largest convict settlements and penitentiaries for repeat offenders. After America declared independence, England needed a new place to send its convicts, and Australia was the new location. As a comparison, 80,000 convicts were sent to America through the years, and 165,000 to Australia. The convicts that didn't manage to walk a straight line after getting released from prison, or the trouble-makers from the other prisons in Australia were sent to Port Arthur. Now it is a beautiful and tranquil place, but at the time the conditions were brutal. The maximum punishment (besides hanging) for breaking the rules was 200 lashes. The entry fee included a guided tour and cruise around the bay. We learned a lot about life in Australia at that time, and the history of convict settlements in Australia.
After Port Arthur we headed for our next destination, Swansea. We arrived just after sunset, and at the reception the woman asked me if we had our evening tea yet. I replied no, thinking that maybe Misa and Katka would like some tea before going to bed. The lady then informed me that we should hurry then, because the restaurant would be closing soon. By evening tea she meant supper, asking me if we had eaten yet. Despite the Australians speaking the same language as I do, we often misunderstand each other. One of my favorite greetings they use is, "How're you going?" It is sort of a mix of our "How are you doing?" and "How's it going?"
After checking in we went to the room, then I went out to the car to get the rest of our things. But when I got back to the room Misa and Katka were not there, they had walked out the back of our room down to the bay. All the time in Tasmania it was almost impossible to forget we were on an island, as most of the time we were close to water.
Our next day trip was to Freycinet (pronounced fry-sin-ay) National Park, and a three hour hike to Wineglass Bay, one of the world's top ten beaches. I think it deserves it, based on the beauty of the beach with the hills behind, the remoteness, and the beautiful color of the water. That and the wallabies hopping around, which by itself puts it into Misa's top 10. The hike was almost too much, we had to cross over a good portion of a mountain both ways, and it was really steep. But it was a good workout, and we all made it, and the extra effort made the day more special.
The drive to Launceston took about two hours driving plus a stop for supper at Subway. Our hotel was right in downtown Launceston, a city of about 250,000 people. The city sits right at the conflux of three rivers, and has monkeys. Well, not in the wild, but in the main city park is a large monkey enclosure with 10 or more macaques monkeys from their sister city, Ikeda, Japan. On Monday we walked to the park to see the monkeys, then down to the largest of the three rivers for a river cruise to Cataract Gorge. Cataract Gorge runs right down into the city, and there is a great walking trail along the gorge to a beautiful park at the end. After the river cruise we drove up to the park and rode a chairlift across the lake to the hill on the other side. The chairlift has the largest single span in the world (308 meters, or over 1,000 feet between towers) over the lake, and was part of the Olympic torch relay in 2000. The park itself is amazing, with a large lake that has the gorge on one end and a river with small falls on the other coming down the canyon. Kids were jumping off of a rock about 15 feet above the water into the lake. The park also has an Olympic-size pool, lots of green grass and gardens, a suspension bridge high above the river, peacocks, and wallabies. After a snack, a short walk, and some relaxing time in the park we headed for Strahan.
The drive from Launceston to Strahan was about 5 hours, including a stop at Dove Lake in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. On the way there someone asked me where we were headed, and I responded "Strahan," pronounced stray-han. They thought about it a minute and said, "oh, you mean Strahan," but they pronounced it "strawn." The Australian dialect has two distinguishing characteristics that I have identified so far. One is that they randomly drop letters from place names. For example, in Cairns they drop the "r" and call it "cans." Brisbane loses the "e" and becomes "briz bun." Strahan lost "ah" and became "strawn." The other habit is to drop all but the first syllable in a word and add a "y" or "i" at the end. Breakfast is brekky, university is uni, a rash guard is a rashy, etc.
On Tuesday, after a look around Strahan, we drove through Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park to Lake St. Clair. We stopped there for lunch and a stroll around part of the lake. Misa saw a neat old branch out in the water, so she found some driftwood and built a jetty out into the lake to get it. Then she found a boulder with a crack in it and put the branch in the crack like a flagpole. I guess she claimed part of Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park for America.
We finished the day back in Hobart, exhausted but happy. Misa and I walked into town for supper and homeschool, and Katka caught up on email and writing back at the hotel.
Overall I think Tasmania was surprising. I did not expect it to be so nice, I almost never hear anyone talk about it, except the Tasmanian Devil from Bugs Bunny. Every city and park exceeded my expectations except perhaps Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. By the time we got there I was expecting it to be beautiful. Probably the most surprising thing is how dry it is. I know summer is just ending, but I expected it to be really green, whereas it is more like Colorado or the area around Sacramento in California. The other surprise was the cities. Hobart is a regular metropolis, and I could see myself living in Launceston. The small towns and villages are very cute, and the people are probably about as nice as anywhere I have been, equal to New Zealanders I'd say, if not nicer.
After picking up our rental car at the airport in Hobart, we arrived early at our hotel. Because our room was not ready, they put us in a room that was ready, a deluxe suite with 180 degree views of the bay. Needless to say Misa found no reason to leave the room for the rest of the day except for a short trip out for lunch.
Katka took a nap after lunch while Misa and I read and rested. Katka and I explored the waterfront and then found a fun Irish pub for supper. We brought Misa back some food from the grocery store.
On Saturday we drove to Port Arthur, a UN World Heritage site and location of one of the first and largest convict settlements and penitentiaries for repeat offenders. After America declared independence, England needed a new place to send its convicts, and Australia was the new location. As a comparison, 80,000 convicts were sent to America through the years, and 165,000 to Australia. The convicts that didn't manage to walk a straight line after getting released from prison, or the trouble-makers from the other prisons in Australia were sent to Port Arthur. Now it is a beautiful and tranquil place, but at the time the conditions were brutal. The maximum punishment (besides hanging) for breaking the rules was 200 lashes. The entry fee included a guided tour and cruise around the bay. We learned a lot about life in Australia at that time, and the history of convict settlements in Australia.
After Port Arthur we headed for our next destination, Swansea. We arrived just after sunset, and at the reception the woman asked me if we had our evening tea yet. I replied no, thinking that maybe Misa and Katka would like some tea before going to bed. The lady then informed me that we should hurry then, because the restaurant would be closing soon. By evening tea she meant supper, asking me if we had eaten yet. Despite the Australians speaking the same language as I do, we often misunderstand each other. One of my favorite greetings they use is, "How're you going?" It is sort of a mix of our "How are you doing?" and "How's it going?"
After checking in we went to the room, then I went out to the car to get the rest of our things. But when I got back to the room Misa and Katka were not there, they had walked out the back of our room down to the bay. All the time in Tasmania it was almost impossible to forget we were on an island, as most of the time we were close to water.
Our next day trip was to Freycinet (pronounced fry-sin-ay) National Park, and a three hour hike to Wineglass Bay, one of the world's top ten beaches. I think it deserves it, based on the beauty of the beach with the hills behind, the remoteness, and the beautiful color of the water. That and the wallabies hopping around, which by itself puts it into Misa's top 10. The hike was almost too much, we had to cross over a good portion of a mountain both ways, and it was really steep. But it was a good workout, and we all made it, and the extra effort made the day more special.
The drive to Launceston took about two hours driving plus a stop for supper at Subway. Our hotel was right in downtown Launceston, a city of about 250,000 people. The city sits right at the conflux of three rivers, and has monkeys. Well, not in the wild, but in the main city park is a large monkey enclosure with 10 or more macaques monkeys from their sister city, Ikeda, Japan. On Monday we walked to the park to see the monkeys, then down to the largest of the three rivers for a river cruise to Cataract Gorge. Cataract Gorge runs right down into the city, and there is a great walking trail along the gorge to a beautiful park at the end. After the river cruise we drove up to the park and rode a chairlift across the lake to the hill on the other side. The chairlift has the largest single span in the world (308 meters, or over 1,000 feet between towers) over the lake, and was part of the Olympic torch relay in 2000. The park itself is amazing, with a large lake that has the gorge on one end and a river with small falls on the other coming down the canyon. Kids were jumping off of a rock about 15 feet above the water into the lake. The park also has an Olympic-size pool, lots of green grass and gardens, a suspension bridge high above the river, peacocks, and wallabies. After a snack, a short walk, and some relaxing time in the park we headed for Strahan.
The drive from Launceston to Strahan was about 5 hours, including a stop at Dove Lake in the Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. On the way there someone asked me where we were headed, and I responded "Strahan," pronounced stray-han. They thought about it a minute and said, "oh, you mean Strahan," but they pronounced it "strawn." The Australian dialect has two distinguishing characteristics that I have identified so far. One is that they randomly drop letters from place names. For example, in Cairns they drop the "r" and call it "cans." Brisbane loses the "e" and becomes "briz bun." Strahan lost "ah" and became "strawn." The other habit is to drop all but the first syllable in a word and add a "y" or "i" at the end. Breakfast is brekky, university is uni, a rash guard is a rashy, etc.
On Tuesday, after a look around Strahan, we drove through Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park to Lake St. Clair. We stopped there for lunch and a stroll around part of the lake. Misa saw a neat old branch out in the water, so she found some driftwood and built a jetty out into the lake to get it. Then she found a boulder with a crack in it and put the branch in the crack like a flagpole. I guess she claimed part of Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park for America.
We finished the day back in Hobart, exhausted but happy. Misa and I walked into town for supper and homeschool, and Katka caught up on email and writing back at the hotel.
Overall I think Tasmania was surprising. I did not expect it to be so nice, I almost never hear anyone talk about it, except the Tasmanian Devil from Bugs Bunny. Every city and park exceeded my expectations except perhaps Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park. By the time we got there I was expecting it to be beautiful. Probably the most surprising thing is how dry it is. I know summer is just ending, but I expected it to be really green, whereas it is more like Colorado or the area around Sacramento in California. The other surprise was the cities. Hobart is a regular metropolis, and I could see myself living in Launceston. The small towns and villages are very cute, and the people are probably about as nice as anywhere I have been, equal to New Zealanders I'd say, if not nicer.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Short Update
Yesterday Katka and Misa came to school with me. Next door to my school is the Powerhouse Museum, and they have a Harry Potter exhibit going on. It contains over 200 props and costumes from the movies. So we took the train and tram to my school, and walked to the museum from there. As Misa said, the exhibition was ah-MAZING! After that I showed them around my school and we went to City Market for lunch. The two markets, Paddy's Market and City Market occupy 4 floors of a huge building next to my school. Katka found a suitcase to replace one of ours that lost a wheel in New Zealand plus some souvenirs.
Other than that we have settled into a bit of a routine. I am getting a lot of work done at school, except not so much today. On the way to school I got stuck at my station because of an injury to a passenger a couple of stations ahead. The delay was about 30 minutes. Then at school I uploaded the photos from our last trip: http://bdehning.fotki.com/2012australia/australia/ and worked on our next trip. For such a small island there seems to be a lot to do in Tasmania.
Other than that we have settled into a bit of a routine. I am getting a lot of work done at school, except not so much today. On the way to school I got stuck at my station because of an injury to a passenger a couple of stations ahead. The delay was about 30 minutes. Then at school I uploaded the photos from our last trip: http://bdehning.fotki.com/2012australia/australia/ and worked on our next trip. For such a small island there seems to be a lot to do in Tasmania.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Two Observations
I like the fact that advertisements here are required to disclose the total cost of a contract for things like cell phones. For example, they advertise $69 per month, but then disclose the total is $1,800 minimum over the life of the contract, including up front fees. I think many people would think twice about signing up for some of the things they do if they considered the total cost. Even something cheap like Netflix used to cost us over $200 per year.
Our apartment building has 23 floors, but the elevator goes to 26. Yep, you guessed it, they skipped the unlucky floors. It goes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26. In Chinese and Japanese 4 is pronounced the same way as the word for death. So there are no unlucky floors with a 4 in them in our building!
We had the first research seminar presentation at school today. The presenter was another American from the University of Washington that is spending about 6 months here. I have started to realize how much I miss being at a heavily research-oriented school. That and having a lot of time to focus on my own research has been great. Misa has been a little sick lately so we're taking it easy this week. The only thing we want to do this week is attend the Harry Potter exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum on Wednesday or Thursday before it leaves Sydney.
Our apartment building has 23 floors, but the elevator goes to 26. Yep, you guessed it, they skipped the unlucky floors. It goes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26. In Chinese and Japanese 4 is pronounced the same way as the word for death. So there are no unlucky floors with a 4 in them in our building!
We had the first research seminar presentation at school today. The presenter was another American from the University of Washington that is spending about 6 months here. I have started to realize how much I miss being at a heavily research-oriented school. That and having a lot of time to focus on my own research has been great. Misa has been a little sick lately so we're taking it easy this week. The only thing we want to do this week is attend the Harry Potter exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum on Wednesday or Thursday before it leaves Sydney.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Gold Coast
Our last day in Queensland we went to Surfer's Paradise on the Gold Coast, south-east of Brisbane. Back in the 50's the area was an almost unknown part of Australia, when someone had the brilliant idea to change the name of their town to Surfer's Paradise, and the rest is history. Now it is one of the most developed coasts in the world. I don't know how a country so small supports such a large vacation area. They must have millions of tourists every year. It is mile after mile of high rise hotels, condos, and apartments. There are a few theme parks in the area, including Sea World, Warner Bros. Studios, Wet-n-Wild, and Dream World.
We arrived south of the main part of Surfer's Paradise after a long train and bus ride and walked along the beach watching a kite surfer and an occasional regular surfer. Swimming in Australia is only allowed in certain areas of the beach, and the rest is reserved for surfers and boogie boarders. The lifeguards focus on the swimming areas, and there is a large volunteer surf-watch group that watches both the swimmers and the surfers, but mostly the surfers. Not many folks were out, it was still early, and the weather was not very good, windy with rain on-and-off.
We had lunch at a local surf club. I'd describe it as a country club for the water sport set. The dining room was open to visitors, with a 10% surcharge over member prices. It was interesting to eat with the locals, and the view of the ocean was awesome. While we ate lunch the sun came out, so after lunch we enjoyed a nice walk up to the main part of Surfer's Paradise, and then a promenade with lots of shops and cafes. We finished at a large inlet, part of a bay with a large wharf, and walked along it to Beach Rd. to catch our bus back to the train station. The train on the way back had WiFi, so I checked my email and Facebook and finished homeschool for the day with Misa. Despite the poor weather and not being able to go for a swim, it was a good day.
We made it back to Sydney on Sunday early in the afternoon. After unpacking I headed to a mall with a K-Mart to buy a mattress topper for our beds. One thing I have noticed that was also true on our first visit, Australian hotels (and our apartment) have hard beds. I think our bedss are actually just bricks covered with a few layers of cloth. Even after adding the one mattress topper I bought today I might have to go back for another one or two.
Friday, March 2, 2012
Brisbane and the Australia Zoo
The flight from Cairns to Brisbane was uneventful. Once we got checked in we went to the train station to figure out our transportation for the next two days. We had lunch in one of several food courts around the station, and went back to the hotel for homeschooling. In the evening we walked down to Queen Street, a pedestrian mall with lots of shops and restaurants. We walked almost all the way across the river, and then back to our hotel, grabbing supper along the way. Brisbane is a surprisingly nice city. There is the wonderful downtown, good public transportation, nice people, lots of good shops and restaurants, good weather, interesting neighborhoods, and apparently quite a nice theater and concert hall. In many ways it is the best city we have visited in Australia.
Friday morning we caught the train to Beerwah, home of Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. It was everything we hoped it would be. We got to see the crocodile show, a snake and bird show, Misa got to hold a koala, we fed the kangaroos and wallabies, visited the animal hospital, and saw lots of Australian wildlife, inside and outside of the cages. It is only a bit unfortunate that it is so far from Brisbane. It took us an hour-and-a-half to get there, and two-and-a-half hours to get back to our hotel. The trip back took so long we got all of the homeschooling done. That plus a nice conversation with a young Australian woman saved the trip home from being a complete disaster.
Tomorrow we see another top 10 Australian sight, the Gold Coast.
Friday morning we caught the train to Beerwah, home of Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo. It was everything we hoped it would be. We got to see the crocodile show, a snake and bird show, Misa got to hold a koala, we fed the kangaroos and wallabies, visited the animal hospital, and saw lots of Australian wildlife, inside and outside of the cages. It is only a bit unfortunate that it is so far from Brisbane. It took us an hour-and-a-half to get there, and two-and-a-half hours to get back to our hotel. The trip back took so long we got all of the homeschooling done. That plus a nice conversation with a young Australian woman saved the trip home from being a complete disaster.
Tomorrow we see another top 10 Australian sight, the Gold Coast.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The Rainforest
Monday we visited the rainforest near Cairns. Of course, it was raining on and off all day, the first day of real rain since we arrived. The trip started with the scenic railway from Cairns to Kuranda, stopping once along the way to view the Barron River waterfall and slowing down a few times for other sights. Kuranda is a small town that was originally a mining town, and then became a sort of artists colony in the 70's. Now it is just a tourist town, with lots of shops, cafes, art galleries, markets, and small tourist attractions like a koala petting zoo and butterfly pavilion. We had some great pastries, shopped, got a massage, walked through the nature preserve, and did a jungle walk.
After Kuranda we took the Skyrail above the rainforest. It is a 50 minute gondola ride, with two stops along the way at nature stations. It is 4.5 miles long, which doesn't sound like much, but it is when you are 10-50 feet above the tallest trees in the rainforest. It was quite incredible. At one stop we had a nice ranger-led walk around part of the rainforest. We saw lots of trees, HUGE spiders (6 inches), bugs, lizards, and bush turkeys. They have a special way to cook bush turkeys. First, you take off your boot and fill it with water. Then you clean the turkey and boil it in your boot. Then you eat your boot, because it tastes better than a bush turkey.
Most of the wildlife in the rainforest is nocturnal, so we didn't get to see many animals, but the forest/jungle is amazing. I am glad we did not get to see any crocodiles while walking along the river. The one animal we are getting our fill of is the flying fox, which we call a bat, except larger. The large trees in Cairns are full of these flying foxes, or bats. Each is about the size of a very small cat, and they even sort of sound like cats. During the day they sleep in the top canopies of the trees, 50-100 per tree. It is ridiculous how many there are. At night when they start to fly around they make a small black, swirling cloud. It would be sort of creepy, except they are pretty cute.
On Tuesday we had a tour with a variety of activities. We started with a bus trip on the Captain Cook highway, which follows the coast north to Port Douglas. Supposedly it is the 6th most scenic drive in Australia. I assume number 1 is the Great Ocean Road outside of Melbourne. Our first stop was a wild animal park where we got to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. There were also a variety of other native Australian animals there, such as koalas, emus, and ossuaries. Our second stop was a walk through the rainforest, with views of the Daintree River. Then we went into the Daintree National Park for lunch where the rainforest comes down to the coast, and the UN World Heritage listed rainforest meets the UN World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. It is the only place in the world where two World Heritage sites meet.
After lunch we went for a guided nature walk through the lowland rainforest. The trees are so different from whatever I have seen before. For example, the strangler mango tree grows from the top down, starting up in the air, and then sending roots down to the ground. Other trees have roots that they send up through the water to breathe like snorkels. One kind of tree has roots like buttresses on Notre Dame.
The last activity before the bus ride back to Cairns was a river cruise on the Daintree River to see the crocodiles. The largest we saw was about 8 feet, and the smallest about 2 feet. The little ones are so cute it is hard to imagine they grow up to be the deadly monsters I am so afraid of. The whole day was nice, in part because there was a neat group of young people on board, from Ireland, England, and Germany.
For dinner we went to a little nicer place than usual, because if you go before 6:30 they have specials such as 25% off. After 6:30 everything is busy anyway, so they work hard to get you in early. I tried kangaroo and crocodile skewers. The crocodile was edible, the kangaroo not so much. Misa's Barramundi fish, which is also from Australia, was much better.
Now it is time for some homeschooling, and a day off tomorrow to relax and pack for our trip to Brisbane.
After Kuranda we took the Skyrail above the rainforest. It is a 50 minute gondola ride, with two stops along the way at nature stations. It is 4.5 miles long, which doesn't sound like much, but it is when you are 10-50 feet above the tallest trees in the rainforest. It was quite incredible. At one stop we had a nice ranger-led walk around part of the rainforest. We saw lots of trees, HUGE spiders (6 inches), bugs, lizards, and bush turkeys. They have a special way to cook bush turkeys. First, you take off your boot and fill it with water. Then you clean the turkey and boil it in your boot. Then you eat your boot, because it tastes better than a bush turkey.
Most of the wildlife in the rainforest is nocturnal, so we didn't get to see many animals, but the forest/jungle is amazing. I am glad we did not get to see any crocodiles while walking along the river. The one animal we are getting our fill of is the flying fox, which we call a bat, except larger. The large trees in Cairns are full of these flying foxes, or bats. Each is about the size of a very small cat, and they even sort of sound like cats. During the day they sleep in the top canopies of the trees, 50-100 per tree. It is ridiculous how many there are. At night when they start to fly around they make a small black, swirling cloud. It would be sort of creepy, except they are pretty cute.
On Tuesday we had a tour with a variety of activities. We started with a bus trip on the Captain Cook highway, which follows the coast north to Port Douglas. Supposedly it is the 6th most scenic drive in Australia. I assume number 1 is the Great Ocean Road outside of Melbourne. Our first stop was a wild animal park where we got to feed the kangaroos and wallabies. There were also a variety of other native Australian animals there, such as koalas, emus, and ossuaries. Our second stop was a walk through the rainforest, with views of the Daintree River. Then we went into the Daintree National Park for lunch where the rainforest comes down to the coast, and the UN World Heritage listed rainforest meets the UN World Heritage listed Great Barrier Reef. It is the only place in the world where two World Heritage sites meet.
After lunch we went for a guided nature walk through the lowland rainforest. The trees are so different from whatever I have seen before. For example, the strangler mango tree grows from the top down, starting up in the air, and then sending roots down to the ground. Other trees have roots that they send up through the water to breathe like snorkels. One kind of tree has roots like buttresses on Notre Dame.
The last activity before the bus ride back to Cairns was a river cruise on the Daintree River to see the crocodiles. The largest we saw was about 8 feet, and the smallest about 2 feet. The little ones are so cute it is hard to imagine they grow up to be the deadly monsters I am so afraid of. The whole day was nice, in part because there was a neat group of young people on board, from Ireland, England, and Germany.
For dinner we went to a little nicer place than usual, because if you go before 6:30 they have specials such as 25% off. After 6:30 everything is busy anyway, so they work hard to get you in early. I tried kangaroo and crocodile skewers. The crocodile was edible, the kangaroo not so much. Misa's Barramundi fish, which is also from Australia, was much better.
Now it is time for some homeschooling, and a day off tomorrow to relax and pack for our trip to Brisbane.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
GBR (hint - not an Australian beer)
Friday started out tough; we had to get up early to catch our flight. We decided to take the train to the airport because it was free with our weekly passes, and to avoid any potential traffic problems. As we live on a hill, the first 100 yards towards the train station are a very steep uphill climb. Misa dragged her suitcase by herself the whole way, but by the time she got to the top she was overheated. In addition, my weekly pass had expired, and although you can take the train to the airport with the weekly pass, you cannot actually get off and go into the airport. It is sort of like in Berlin when the wall was still up. The west Berlin U-Bahn still went to all of the East Berlin stops, you just couldn't get off there. So $36 later I had my ticket to the airport and airport entry passes for Katka and Misa. Next time we are taking a taxi.
Finally after getting to our hotel, cooling off and resting we were all feeling better. So Misa and I headed out to the swimming lagoon in Cairns. It is a large public pool right by the ocean. By large I mean about two Sunset pools or more, and filled with very warm, slightly salty water. The water is actually easier on your eyes than fresh water. I guess the PH might match your actual tears more closely, making it more comfortable to open your eyes under water. We stayed there until well into the evening.
Friday night was awful, because we had three guests next door that partied until 4:00 in the morning, constantly waking us up. The night manager talked to them, I talked to them, and they just did not care if they were a bother. One thing I have noticed about Australians is that they are very nice, but not very accommodating. Your problem is your problem, and not their problem. The stories our friends tell us about their kids' teachers would horrify Americans, but it is the norm here. For example, their 7-year-old daughter had a loose tooth that was hurting and went to tell her teacher, who replied, "well, your tooth isn't my problem." That was sort of the attitude of the people partying in the room, and even the night manager, who was unwilling to do much at all to help. They even have an expression for it, "no whingin' mate," which roughly means, "no whining." I guess that what we have discovered about trips to Vegas is true here; you have to pay a little more to be surrounded by classier people that you can count on for better behavior.
Saturday was the day I have been waiting for since we decided to come to Australia, the Great Barrier Reef. Saturday is also the day I have been dreading since we decided to come to Australia, the Great Barrier Reef. As excited as I was about seeing the reef, I was equally nervous about sharks, deadly jellyfish, poisonous jellyfish, painful jellyfish, paralyzingly jellyfish, and eels. So when I saw the set-up of our dive location I was really relieved. The boat docks on a huge pontoon platform from which you dive. The platform also serves as a dock for the glass bottom boat and semi-submersible, and has changing rooms, showers, an underwater viewing area, and a children's pool, which is just part of the ocean fenced off. The snorkeling area is set up perfectly. The pontoon sits right next to the reef, so when you want to snorkel you just walk down some stairs to benches that are even with water level situated on a platform below you in the water. This allows you to sit on a bench and get your gear on, and then gently glide into the water above the reef. It seems to me that there is not enough room for any large animals that might bite to squeeze in there, and if they can, please don't tell me, as I don't want to know. The were also no jellyfish to be seen, and if they are present they have full body suits you can wear, but we did not need them. Having the boat docked on the pontoon meant there was plenty of room for everyone. All of us of course fit on the boat, and all of us could fit on the pontoon, so it was like we each had twice as much space as we needed. Sometimes while on the pontoon I wondered, "where did everyone go?" The snorkeling area was so large that Misa and I almost always had a large area to ourselves, but small enough that the two lifeguards could monitor everything from their towers. It was quite remarkable to be following a school of some large, colorful fish, and then stop and look back and see the lifeguard watching you.
Misa and I went out snorkeling twice before lunch and twice after. There were more fish than I thought there would be, also larger and more colorful. Of course Misa is half fish herself, so she took off her life vest and dove down to the actual reef, while I floated on the surface and watched admiringly. We had an underwater video camera that I brought with us, and took almost 30 short videos.
Misa liked getting up close to the fish and then following them with the camera. There was one particularly large, colorful fish that she went to pet, or shake hands with, I don't know, but when she got close it turned quickly and started to swim menacingly toward her rather than away from her. Except it was a fish without any visible teeth, and a mouth that would not even fit around her arm if it did want to take a nibble. But Misa was back on the surface faster than Michael Phelps, with only one comment, "that's a mean fish!"
Meanwhile, Katka was enjoying the underwater viewing platform, glass-bottom boat, and semi-submersible. The semi-submersible is like a regular boat with the hull made of glass, so you sit well below the surface and look out, as if you were in a submarine. The semi-submersible goes next to the reef, while the glass bottom boat goes over it so you can look down like the snorkelers do.
The lunch buffet was OK; I guess they figure you don't care what the food tastes like when you are eating it sitting and looking at the Great Barrier Reef. There were other activities available for an extra charge, like scuba diving, guided snorkel tours, and some sort of dive where you wear a huge helmet connected to the surface by air hose like divers used to do in the days before scuba diving. They promoted it by saying, "you don't even have to get your hair wet to dive the reef," which was obviously aimed at the debutantes and princesses on board. For Misa and I the snorkeling was perfect, particularly for Misa who could dive to the lowest points on the reef anyway, and for me because I didn't see any sharks, deadly jellyfish, poisonous jellyfish, painful jellyfish, paralyzingly jellyfish, or eels.
We did a little homeschooling on the boat on the way back, although we have fallen a bit behind. We will use all day on Sunday to relax, sit by the pool, and work on homeschool. To Misa that sounds like a terrible way to waste a day by the pool, but I think her friends in regular school in Ladera might trade places with her.
Finally after getting to our hotel, cooling off and resting we were all feeling better. So Misa and I headed out to the swimming lagoon in Cairns. It is a large public pool right by the ocean. By large I mean about two Sunset pools or more, and filled with very warm, slightly salty water. The water is actually easier on your eyes than fresh water. I guess the PH might match your actual tears more closely, making it more comfortable to open your eyes under water. We stayed there until well into the evening.
Friday night was awful, because we had three guests next door that partied until 4:00 in the morning, constantly waking us up. The night manager talked to them, I talked to them, and they just did not care if they were a bother. One thing I have noticed about Australians is that they are very nice, but not very accommodating. Your problem is your problem, and not their problem. The stories our friends tell us about their kids' teachers would horrify Americans, but it is the norm here. For example, their 7-year-old daughter had a loose tooth that was hurting and went to tell her teacher, who replied, "well, your tooth isn't my problem." That was sort of the attitude of the people partying in the room, and even the night manager, who was unwilling to do much at all to help. They even have an expression for it, "no whingin' mate," which roughly means, "no whining." I guess that what we have discovered about trips to Vegas is true here; you have to pay a little more to be surrounded by classier people that you can count on for better behavior.
Saturday was the day I have been waiting for since we decided to come to Australia, the Great Barrier Reef. Saturday is also the day I have been dreading since we decided to come to Australia, the Great Barrier Reef. As excited as I was about seeing the reef, I was equally nervous about sharks, deadly jellyfish, poisonous jellyfish, painful jellyfish, paralyzingly jellyfish, and eels. So when I saw the set-up of our dive location I was really relieved. The boat docks on a huge pontoon platform from which you dive. The platform also serves as a dock for the glass bottom boat and semi-submersible, and has changing rooms, showers, an underwater viewing area, and a children's pool, which is just part of the ocean fenced off. The snorkeling area is set up perfectly. The pontoon sits right next to the reef, so when you want to snorkel you just walk down some stairs to benches that are even with water level situated on a platform below you in the water. This allows you to sit on a bench and get your gear on, and then gently glide into the water above the reef. It seems to me that there is not enough room for any large animals that might bite to squeeze in there, and if they can, please don't tell me, as I don't want to know. The were also no jellyfish to be seen, and if they are present they have full body suits you can wear, but we did not need them. Having the boat docked on the pontoon meant there was plenty of room for everyone. All of us of course fit on the boat, and all of us could fit on the pontoon, so it was like we each had twice as much space as we needed. Sometimes while on the pontoon I wondered, "where did everyone go?" The snorkeling area was so large that Misa and I almost always had a large area to ourselves, but small enough that the two lifeguards could monitor everything from their towers. It was quite remarkable to be following a school of some large, colorful fish, and then stop and look back and see the lifeguard watching you.
Misa and I went out snorkeling twice before lunch and twice after. There were more fish than I thought there would be, also larger and more colorful. Of course Misa is half fish herself, so she took off her life vest and dove down to the actual reef, while I floated on the surface and watched admiringly. We had an underwater video camera that I brought with us, and took almost 30 short videos.
Misa liked getting up close to the fish and then following them with the camera. There was one particularly large, colorful fish that she went to pet, or shake hands with, I don't know, but when she got close it turned quickly and started to swim menacingly toward her rather than away from her. Except it was a fish without any visible teeth, and a mouth that would not even fit around her arm if it did want to take a nibble. But Misa was back on the surface faster than Michael Phelps, with only one comment, "that's a mean fish!"
Meanwhile, Katka was enjoying the underwater viewing platform, glass-bottom boat, and semi-submersible. The semi-submersible is like a regular boat with the hull made of glass, so you sit well below the surface and look out, as if you were in a submarine. The semi-submersible goes next to the reef, while the glass bottom boat goes over it so you can look down like the snorkelers do.
The lunch buffet was OK; I guess they figure you don't care what the food tastes like when you are eating it sitting and looking at the Great Barrier Reef. There were other activities available for an extra charge, like scuba diving, guided snorkel tours, and some sort of dive where you wear a huge helmet connected to the surface by air hose like divers used to do in the days before scuba diving. They promoted it by saying, "you don't even have to get your hair wet to dive the reef," which was obviously aimed at the debutantes and princesses on board. For Misa and I the snorkeling was perfect, particularly for Misa who could dive to the lowest points on the reef anyway, and for me because I didn't see any sharks, deadly jellyfish, poisonous jellyfish, painful jellyfish, paralyzingly jellyfish, or eels.
We did a little homeschooling on the boat on the way back, although we have fallen a bit behind. We will use all day on Sunday to relax, sit by the pool, and work on homeschool. To Misa that sounds like a terrible way to waste a day by the pool, but I think her friends in regular school in Ladera might trade places with her.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Sydney Observations
On the way to work today I was waiting for the train and happened to look in the window of the station bookstore. Of course the selection I could see was about trains. The first book that caught my eye was "Forest Trains of Hungary." Now I am no lover of train books, but I am guessing that "Forest Trains of Hungary" was not a best-seller in Hungary, let alone in a country almost literally on the other side of the world. The rest of the books were just as esoteric, including my favorite in the narrow gauge train section, "4 Gauges in the Czech Republic." I'm not sure which was more surprising, that there were 4 different gauges of narrow gauge trains in a country with 10 million people, or that someone was able to write an entire book on the subject, or that someone decided that writing an entire book on the subject was a good idea. Why someone in Sydney buys that book is an entirely different but equally puzzling question.
The tram broke down about halfway to my school. "No brakes," I heard the driver say. So I jumped out and into Paddy's Market, the most wonderful collection of cheap stores imaginable. Around every corner there was another surprise, a hat store, luggage, iPhone covers, helicopters, wooden toys, iPhone covers, purses, souvenirs, clocks, knives, army surplus, iPhone covers, factory outlet, vegetables, toys, lighters, wall hangings, massage, boba tea, iPhone covers, etc. I had to return at lunch to explore some more. I found an OK kebab place, and tried the boba tea, which turned out to be fantastic. Except they do not call it boba here, it is "pearls."
I got home and Katka and Misa were not home yet. Misa met her new friend Christian after school in Manly and they went to the beach. So I packed for our trip to Queensland tomorrow and when I was done I walked around the neighborhood looking for something good for supper. I discovered salt and vinegar chicken strips, which of course were incredible. I skipped the chicken salt on my fries, as I found regular ketchup at the grocery store and wanted to see if it actually was ketchup, and not the tomato sauce they give you everywhere here instead of ketchup. It was 100% Heinz, and tastes like it was just off the shelf of Albertson's back home.
Work today was good again. I go in to my office, close the door, write for three hours, go to lunch, go back to my office, close the door, write for four hours, and go home. No phone calls, no email, no one stopping by to bother me, and amazing coffee, for free, from a $7,000 coffee machine from Switzerland.
Off tomorrow for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, hope to have something to report besides rain.
The tram broke down about halfway to my school. "No brakes," I heard the driver say. So I jumped out and into Paddy's Market, the most wonderful collection of cheap stores imaginable. Around every corner there was another surprise, a hat store, luggage, iPhone covers, helicopters, wooden toys, iPhone covers, purses, souvenirs, clocks, knives, army surplus, iPhone covers, factory outlet, vegetables, toys, lighters, wall hangings, massage, boba tea, iPhone covers, etc. I had to return at lunch to explore some more. I found an OK kebab place, and tried the boba tea, which turned out to be fantastic. Except they do not call it boba here, it is "pearls."
I got home and Katka and Misa were not home yet. Misa met her new friend Christian after school in Manly and they went to the beach. So I packed for our trip to Queensland tomorrow and when I was done I walked around the neighborhood looking for something good for supper. I discovered salt and vinegar chicken strips, which of course were incredible. I skipped the chicken salt on my fries, as I found regular ketchup at the grocery store and wanted to see if it actually was ketchup, and not the tomato sauce they give you everywhere here instead of ketchup. It was 100% Heinz, and tastes like it was just off the shelf of Albertson's back home.
Work today was good again. I go in to my office, close the door, write for three hours, go to lunch, go back to my office, close the door, write for four hours, and go home. No phone calls, no email, no one stopping by to bother me, and amazing coffee, for free, from a $7,000 coffee machine from Switzerland.
Off tomorrow for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, hope to have something to report besides rain.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
First Week in Sydney
Tonight we had two beautiful birds land on our balcony. They were like some type of small parrots, very colorful. I think they were looking for handouts. They were not very afraid of us and we got some good pictures. We also sent in most of Michaela's homeschool materials tonight via email. Every month we have to send in examples all of the work that she did, plus quizzes and exams. For the next few days we'll be finishing up math and then starting the March assignments. We basically do math the entire month, a section each day, and one other subject intensively each week, with days off only for traveling.
Work has been fine the past two days. I am getting a lot done because there are very few distractions. I found a tram that goes straight to my school from the metro, but unless it is there waiting for me it is just as fast to walk. We are going to try to take the train to the airport on Friday.
After work today I met Katka and Misa at "The Rocks" in Sydney across the water from the Opera House. We ate dinner at Subway and walked around some of the cute little shops. There was a huge cruise ship docked, it is fun to watch them go in and out of the bay under our window. They really dwarf the other boats. We can't wait to see one go under the Harbour Bridge. We took the ferry home from Circular Quay, a pretty cool way to commute.
Wish us luck next week, we are headed for Queensland but the weather looks nasty - rain, rain and more rain. Luckily it will also be very hot and humid.
Monday, February 20, 2012
First Day of Work
I went to work in Sydney for the first time today. The school is The University of Technology Sydney, or UTS. It was 3 stops on the train and then about about a 10 minute walk. Well, it was a 10 minute walk and 10 minutes wandering around lost. I was sweating when I got to school because of the humidity. Last night there was a rainstorm, complete with huge lightning and window-rattling thunder. So this morning it was very humid, even though the sun was shining bright.
I have a nice office furnished with everything I need. I met with the head of the school, a professor that I will collaborate with, and a PhD student that I will work with. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. Two things at the school struck me as a bit unusual. First, at every major intersection in the hallways, or about every 10 offices, there is a security door. To get through the door you need an 8 digit code. But entering the code is tricky, because although the keypad is like a telephone keypad, the numbers appear every time in a random order. That keeps someone from watching your hand and learning your number. The other interesting thing was the new $7,000 coffee machine. It makes good coffee, but it is hard for me to imagine putting in that request at Chapman. "Hi, this is Bruce over in the Argyros School. We are going to order a $7,000 Swiss coffee machine, and I am just wondering which account to charge it to?"
I need to finish a paper I am working on, so it is great that I don't really know anyone at work. Today I got a lot done even though I arrived late and left a little early so I could stop and pick up a SIM card for Misa's phone. I cut the wandering around lost to 5 minutes getting back to the train station, but it was worth it because I found Chinatown and a cool market.
Katka and Misa did Misa's homeschooling and some shopping today. Every time I think we have everything we need we remember something else we have to buy. Time to start getting ready for bed, tomorrow is another hard day at work.
I have a nice office furnished with everything I need. I met with the head of the school, a professor that I will collaborate with, and a PhD student that I will work with. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. Two things at the school struck me as a bit unusual. First, at every major intersection in the hallways, or about every 10 offices, there is a security door. To get through the door you need an 8 digit code. But entering the code is tricky, because although the keypad is like a telephone keypad, the numbers appear every time in a random order. That keeps someone from watching your hand and learning your number. The other interesting thing was the new $7,000 coffee machine. It makes good coffee, but it is hard for me to imagine putting in that request at Chapman. "Hi, this is Bruce over in the Argyros School. We are going to order a $7,000 Swiss coffee machine, and I am just wondering which account to charge it to?"
I need to finish a paper I am working on, so it is great that I don't really know anyone at work. Today I got a lot done even though I arrived late and left a little early so I could stop and pick up a SIM card for Misa's phone. I cut the wandering around lost to 5 minutes getting back to the train station, but it was worth it because I found Chinatown and a cool market.
Katka and Misa did Misa's homeschooling and some shopping today. Every time I think we have everything we need we remember something else we have to buy. Time to start getting ready for bed, tomorrow is another hard day at work.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
First Weekend in Sydney
Saturday morning we slept in, did
homeschool, ate lunch,
and headed for the Olson’s, a family from Ladera that also just moved to Sydney last summer. First we went to the train station to buy
weekly tickets for Katka and Misa. The public
transportation tickets are expensive here if you buy them for single trips, but
the weekly pass is an amazing deal. It
works for all of the trains in zone 1, which includes 99% of everywhere we want
to go, plus it includes all of the busses in the entire city, and all of the
ferries, including the 30 minute ferry to Manly. Given there is a ferry stop and train station
right by our apartment, we are perfectly situated.
After getting the weekly passes
we found a “bottle store” and bought a bottle.
By coincidence it had some wine in it from Monkey Bay in New
Zealand. Then a short walk to the wharf
and we caught the ferry to Circular Quay.
They pronounce “Quay” as “key” and are not sure what it means
anyway. First of all, a quay is “a wharf
or reinforced bank where ships are loaded or unloaded.” Yet there are streets all over Sydney named
“Quay.” I guess most of them are near
the water, or in cities near the water, but many of them are not wharfs or
reinforced banks.
From Circular Quay we caught the
ferry to Manly. It all took much less
time than expected, so we had a coffee break in Manly for 30 minutes before
catching a bus to the Olson’s. It turned
out to be one of the best weekends of the trip so far because of them. First of all, they are extremely nice people,
very friendly, and good conversationalists.
They live in a beautiful house with a view of one of the bays on that side of
Sydney. But maybe even more
importantly they have a daughter Michaela’s age. We were having so much fun we totally lost
track of time and didn’t catch the ferry back to Circular Quay until 9:30.
Sunday morning we got up and did
half of Misa’s homeschool work for the day,
and headed back over to Manly. Misa was going to meet the
Olson’s daughter Christian to hang out for the day while Katka and I went shopping for some
apartment essentials. We caught the
ferry to Circular Quay from our apartment, but then when we got to the ferry for
Manly there was a line with hundreds of people in it. First, the day was beautiful so everyone was
headed to the beach, and it was the last day of the Australian Open Surfing
Championships at Manly, so huge crowds were headed there for the finals. So we had to wait for the second ferry before
we got on. While we waited in line and
on the ferry we finished homeschooling.
When we got to Manly the Olson’s
recommended we go to shops over there that they knew would have decent selection
and prices, so we left Misa and Christian and went to lunch with the rest of the
Olson family. Then they dropped us off
at the mall, we did our shopping, and then they picked us up and took us to the
beach were Misa ended
up after eating lunch and exploring Manly.
We hung out there until 6:00 and then headed home. Once we got home it was a quick shower,
dinner, email and blog, and off to bed.
So if the rest of our time in
Australia is half as good as the first weekend it should be great.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Sydney
"That
we live in an apartment in Sydney with a view of Lavender Bay?"
"No,”
I replied, "that we have Wi-Fi in our apartment in Sydney." You see, I had just
returned from the mall where I bought a Wi-Fi hotspot, and was focused on the
small picture, my success of getting it set up. Katka was focused on the
big picture, that we live in an apartment on the other side of the globe from
her homeland.
We
left Franz Josef Glacier early on Thursday and drove to Greymouth. It
was the first oddly unkempt city we had seen in New Zealand. There were
buildings that needed painting and the streets were not particularly clean, but
the people were as nice as always. After lunch at a small cafe we returned our
rental car and took the Tranz-Alpine train four hours over the Southern
Alps of New Zealand from Greymouth to Christchurch. It was a spectacular
ride, almost like stepping back in time. The train was sort of old and run
down, and the tracks were not smooth at all. Most of the land we passed through
between the mountains was either deserted or ranch land with cows and
sheep.
Arriving
in Christchurch about 6pm, we got to our hotel in time for a quick walk
into the city for dinner while Misa took a shower. I was shocked at the
damage from the earthquake last year. Someone told us that 60% of the buildings
in downtown Christchurch have to be demolished. As we walked down the street,
about every-other-building was fenced off, slated for demolition. And this was
not in the badly damaged central business district that is closed
entirely.
Katka and
I split a pretty good pizza, and brought some delicious chicken strips back for
Misa. She was having a grand time at the hotel enjoying her solitude.
She was only a bit bummed that we made it back so fast, as she was getting ready
to order some room service.
Our
flight was scheduled to leave for Sydney at 6:30am, so I set my alarm for
3:15. At 3:45 the ringing of the telephone woke us up; it was our back-up plan
wake-up call. Oh no, my alarm didn't go off! Was it the snooze? Did the
electricity go off? No, it was the AM/PM! Just like that episode of Seinfeld
with the marathon runner. So we got ready like our family never gets ready
(fast), and made our 4:30 taxi to the airport. We had a little trouble at the
airport convincing them we were allowed to check two bags each, but finally they
relented. We grabbed a pastry for breakfast, got on the plane, and were in
Sydney at 7:30. The school had a taxi waiting for us, and we were in our
apartment by 10:00. The apartment is OK, two bedrooms and two bathrooms on the
17th floor, but the view is ridiculous. If you have a map of Sydney, we are
across Harbor Bridge, and we overlook Lavender Bay . Right below is us the
"Luna Park," which is what amusement parks seem to be called in the rest of the
world, and just beyond that is the water, stretching on and on. The bay is very
active, with lots of ferries and small boats racing to and fro.
Misa was
so tired that she "might fall asleep from exhaustion," and Katka was
doing laundry, so I went off exploring by myself. My goal was to get an
Australian cell phone and Internet. First I wandered around our neighborhood,
locating the train station, parks, convenience store, small grocery, and kebab
restaurant, where I had an awesome lunch. It is my new favorite restaurant in
Australia. While I was eating lunch I noticed a travel agency on the second
floor of the building. We have two trips still to plan, Tasmania/Melbourne and
Perth/West Coast/Adelaide. So I stopped in and had a chat, and will go back on
Monday to finalize at least the Tasmania/Melbourne trip.
The
travel agent found a cell phone store for me and gave me directions on how to
get there. It turned out to be in a shopping mall one stop from our house on
the train. The train is like an above and sometimes below ground subway. From
our house there are two train lines and one ferry.
The
shopping mall was a godsend; there is a nice supermarket, butcher, fruit and
vegetable store, pharmacy, food court, and lots of cafes. And most importantly
there is a Vodaphone mobile telephone shop. I picked up a
pre-paid SIM card with $20 on it; the number is (04) 1457-0013, where 04
is the area code for this part Australia. The country code for Australia is 61,
so I guess to call from the USA it would be 011 614 1457 0013, but you don’t
ever need to call, as my US phone is always on and costs me the same amount of
money. I also picked up a Wi-Fi hotspot, $99 for 6GB. We’ll use about
that much each month. What is cool about the hotspot is that it works from the
cell phone network, so you can use it in the park, in the car, on the ferry, in
a tree, etc. The apartment where we are staying charges $50 per week
for 1GB of Internet, so we are getting 2GB more for half the
price. You can see why I was so excited.
On
the way home I picked up some groceries and schnitzel at the
butcher. Katka cooked the schnitzel for supper and we had it with some
delicious Australian apples.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Franz Josef Glacier
Leaving Wanaka was tough, with the three swimming pools, free WiFi, but more importantly, a washing machine and dryer in our room. But we did leave, heading first to Mt. Aspiring National Park for a short hike, followed by a long drive to Franz Josef Glacier. The road was sort of like the PCH in Oregon. We went over the mountains to the coast, and followed the coast for a while until heading into the mountains and Glacier Country. The scenery was spectacular, only spoiled a bit by rain. The most surprising thing about the drive to me was the one lane bridges. Remember that this is a major highway in New Zealand, like I-70 or I-25 in Colorado. And all of the major bridges were one lane. That means that traffic headed in one direction gets to use the bridge while the traffic going in the other direction waits. Luckily we almost always had the right-of-way, and luckily we were about the only car on the road. We didn't get to Franz Josef Glacier until pretty late, just enough time to eat, relax, homeschool, and sleep.
The weather this morning was great, so we went straight to Franz Josef Glacier and hiked 45 minutes to the base of the glacier. To go out onto the glacier you have to have a guide, and we didn't have the time or money for that. Today was a pretty big homeschooling day before we start our last leg to Sydney. After the hike we had a nice lunch and headed for the West Coast Wildlife Center so Misa could get to see Kiwi birds. We saw them last time we were here, but she does not remember them. We spent the entire afternoon in the Wildlife Center, going in to see the birds, snacking in the cafe, and homeschooling. I think the workers there thought we were a bit strange.
It is hard to talk about New Zealand without using the same words over and over, beautiful, amazing, spectacular, etc. I felt the same way this summer when we were traveling through Yellowstone, Teton, Glacier, Banff, Lake Louise, Oregon, Redwoods, etc. Sometimes words just aren't enough.
Tomorrow we turn in our rental car and take the train to Christchurch. It is sad to be going back, knowing how the beautiful city was damaged by the earthquake last year. We hear the center of town is still closed. We will not visit the town, but just try to eat and re-pack our bags for our flight. My next update will most likely come from our apartment in Sydney!
The weather this morning was great, so we went straight to Franz Josef Glacier and hiked 45 minutes to the base of the glacier. To go out onto the glacier you have to have a guide, and we didn't have the time or money for that. Today was a pretty big homeschooling day before we start our last leg to Sydney. After the hike we had a nice lunch and headed for the West Coast Wildlife Center so Misa could get to see Kiwi birds. We saw them last time we were here, but she does not remember them. We spent the entire afternoon in the Wildlife Center, going in to see the birds, snacking in the cafe, and homeschooling. I think the workers there thought we were a bit strange.
It is hard to talk about New Zealand without using the same words over and over, beautiful, amazing, spectacular, etc. I felt the same way this summer when we were traveling through Yellowstone, Teton, Glacier, Banff, Lake Louise, Oregon, Redwoods, etc. Sometimes words just aren't enough.
Tomorrow we turn in our rental car and take the train to Christchurch. It is sad to be going back, knowing how the beautiful city was damaged by the earthquake last year. We hear the center of town is still closed. We will not visit the town, but just try to eat and re-pack our bags for our flight. My next update will most likely come from our apartment in Sydney!
Monday, February 13, 2012
Wanaka
We said goodbye to Te Anau about 10am on Monday. The drive to Wanaka took us back to
Queenstown, and then north through the mountains. Just outside of Queenstown we stopped at the Stoneridge
Estate Winery for lunch. It is a
beautiful property, complete with 6 room inn and a chapel for weddings. The café had only been open 4 weeks, and was
being run by a young English couple from Camberley. They are getting ready to move back to
England and start a coffee and sandwich shop there. We talked for at least 30 minutes about their
travels, coffee, the winery, our travels, etc.
It was really a delightful visit.
They encouraged us to stop at Arrowtown on our way to Wanaka. Arrowtown is an old mining town with the historic
buildings restored and now filled with interesting shops, cafes, restaurants, and
ice cream parlors – our type of city.
After walking around the town we went to see an old Chinese
settlement. Just like in California, and
about the same time, the Chinese came to New Zealand to mine for gold.
After Arrowtown we drove to Wanaka, over some pretty impressive
mountains. The road was under
construction a lot of the way and the speed limit was 30 kmh, about 18 MPH. The rest of the time the speed limit was
100kmh, about 60 MPH, except due to the tight curves it was hard to go over
45. Basically it took a lot longer than
expected to get to Wanaka, but it was worth it.
Our hotel is a nice resort with three swimming pools and perhaps 10 hot
tubs. Misa was very excited, she finally
got to go swimming.
After swimming we did homeschooling and I ran into town for
groceries. These motels and
apartment-style hotels are saving us a lot of money because we are cooking in
the room. All three breakfasts and
dinners in Te Anau and now dinner in Wanaka we ate in the room.
The setting here in Wanaka is very tranquil, open prairie
surrounded by soaring peaks. Tomorrow we
will leave for Franz Josef Glacier, stopping at Mt. Aspiring National Park on
the way.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Te Anau Part 2
This morning we started our trip to Milford Sound/Fjord/Fiord at 9:45. It was nice to sleep in a little bit. We also called Katunka for the first time since we left on our trip, it was great to talk to her. With WiFi we can call the US for free, so we are planning a few more phone calls while we are here.
The bus ride to Milford Sound/Fjord/Fiord took three hours because we stopped several times for photo opportunities. The mountains were incredibly steep, which made for some awesome views.
Our 1.5 hour boat ride in the fjord included a nice buffet lunch on the boat. Unfortunately it was so good we ate almost the entire way out to the Tasman Sea. Once again we were blessed with great weather. Someone said they are having something of a drought, it hasn't rained for three days. Misa says we brought the nice weather with us from California. Milford Sound/Fjord/Fiord is impressive. The steep canyon walls rise straight up out of the water. Due to the lack of rain there weren't many waterfalls, but there were enough to get the idea of how it looks after a big rain.
One of the most interesting things in Fiordland is the tree avalanches. Because the mountains are made up of really hard granite, the roots of the trees don't go into the ground but link together and hold each other. But if a couple of trees start to slide, they take a whole slice of the forest with them, wiping out everything below. After a tree avalanche the rock is totally barren, as if nothing was ever there.
Milford Sound was prettier than Doubtful Sound, particularly the drive there through the mountains. It is hard to compare the two, because Doubtful Sound is so big, and we got to see the dolphins and the power station. Both days were special, and now my list goes like this: 1. Norwegian Fjords; 2. Milford Sound/Fjord/Fiord; 3. Swiss High Lakes; 3a. Doubtful Sound/Fjord/Fiord.
When we got home Misa played with a cat that lives here at the Motel and talked to Shay on FaceTime. Katka and I went to the grocery store and for a walk down to Lake Te Anau. Tomorrow we head to Mt. Cook and Lake Wanaka.
Our 1.5 hour boat ride in the fjord included a nice buffet lunch on the boat. Unfortunately it was so good we ate almost the entire way out to the Tasman Sea. Once again we were blessed with great weather. Someone said they are having something of a drought, it hasn't rained for three days. Misa says we brought the nice weather with us from California. Milford Sound/Fjord/Fiord is impressive. The steep canyon walls rise straight up out of the water. Due to the lack of rain there weren't many waterfalls, but there were enough to get the idea of how it looks after a big rain.
One of the most interesting things in Fiordland is the tree avalanches. Because the mountains are made up of really hard granite, the roots of the trees don't go into the ground but link together and hold each other. But if a couple of trees start to slide, they take a whole slice of the forest with them, wiping out everything below. After a tree avalanche the rock is totally barren, as if nothing was ever there.
Milford Sound was prettier than Doubtful Sound, particularly the drive there through the mountains. It is hard to compare the two, because Doubtful Sound is so big, and we got to see the dolphins and the power station. Both days were special, and now my list goes like this: 1. Norwegian Fjords; 2. Milford Sound/Fjord/Fiord; 3. Swiss High Lakes; 3a. Doubtful Sound/Fjord/Fiord.
When we got home Misa played with a cat that lives here at the Motel and talked to Shay on FaceTime. Katka and I went to the grocery store and for a walk down to Lake Te Anau. Tomorrow we head to Mt. Cook and Lake Wanaka.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Te Anau
We arrived in Te Anau Friday after a 2.5 hour drive from Queenstown. The drive wasn't bad - one thing that helped was a GPS I bought on e-Bay for $99 before we left on our trip, and it is amazing. It is actually a little 7" Windows CE tablet, with a built-in GPS receiver. It came with maps from all over the world. I specifically requested North America, Australia, and New Zealand, but it has about 20 other random countries (e.g. Egypt, Hungary). It works perfectly here. The screen is huge and shows all kinds of extra information. You can also put movies on it to watch while you are driving - not that I'd do that of course. I haven't even figured out all of the things it does yet.
Our Motel in Te Anau is the best yet, because it has free Wi-Fi. We haven't really been able to use the Internet extensively since we arrived in New Zealand, but now we are going crazy, like kids on Easter who gave up candy for lent. We didn't even do anything except go grocery shopping when we got here because we had so much Internetting to do. Yes, I just made up that word, but how else do you describe everything we do on the Internet these days? So we blogged, posted our pictures (http://bdehning.fotki.com/2012australia/), checked Facebook, email, watched Modern Family, Skyped, etc.
Saturday we had our first day in Fiordland. I don't know why it isn't Fjorland, as this is an English-speaking country, but they insist on spelling fiord with an "i", which must be OK, because the spell-checker doesn't say that it is wrong. First we took a bus to Lake Manapouri, then a boat across the lake, then a bus to Doubtful Sound, and then a boat all the way out to the Tasman Sea. It was a triple-lucky day: 1. the weather was awesome; 2. the Tasman Sea was calm so we got to go way out into the Sea; 3. we got to see seals and dolphins (The animals might have been the high point of the day for me. First, there were baby seal pups walking around on the rocks, and second, two dolphins jumped straight up out of the water at the same time like they do at SeaWorld. I didn't know they did that in the wild.) When we were in "Crooked Arm," a particularly steep-sided part of the fjord, they stopped the boat and turned off the engines. They made everyone stand still and be quiet. It was amazing. You could hear the birds singing in the forest, the waves lapping against the shore, and nothing else.
Doubtful Sound is a fjord, not a sound; it was given the wrong name and it stuck. In fact, most all of the sounds in New Zealand are really fjords. Any way, Doubtful Sound/Fjord/Fiord is beautiful. Unfortunately I think my expectations were "Norwegian Fjords" beautiful, and they are more "Swiss high-lakes" beautiful. So as incredible as they are it still goes, 1. Norwegian Fjords; 2. Swiss High Lakes; 2a. Doubtful Sound.
One very cool unexpected surprise was seeing the Lake Manapouri hydroelectric power station. It is basically like Hoover Dam, except instead of building a dam and having the water pass through the turbines and out on the other side of the dam, they just put it next to a lake and have the water pass through the turbines and then six miles of tunnels out into the ocean. So the water enters from the lake about 400 feet above sea level and falls straight down into the turbines, which are at sea level. Then the water flows out two 6 mile long tunnels into Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound is huge, and covered with about 3 feet of fresh water, floating on the salt water, leading to unique marine life.
Back at the Motel (after bus, boat, bus) we ate, worked on homeschool, Internetted, and got ready for tomorrow, when we will go to Milford Sound/Fjord/Fiord and I'll see where that goes on the list.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Queenstown
We arrived in Queenstown early, the flights in NZ are short. Our hotel was right by Lake Wakatipu. So far each city is a little better than the last. Queenstown is small, friendly, beautiful, and full of good restaurants and things to do. When we checked in we were told we had to eat at Fergburger, the best hamburgers in the world. Judging by the line, that might be true. Luckily the service was fast, we only had to wait about 10 minutes for our food. We walked down to the lake and had a picnic on the beach. The burgers were pretty awesome, the fries above average, but nothing special.
After lunch we took the gondola to the top of a hill (mountain?) overlooking the town and lake. At the top of the hill they have a luge ride. It is sort of like an alpine slide, but the track is wide enough for two sleds so there is steering and passing. It is more fun than a regular alpine slide. We spent a long time on top of the mountain before taking the gondola back to town. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the city, ending with a nice dinner in a traditional NZ pub.
Thursday the weather took a turn for the worse, but we made the best of it. We found a great playground with a unique seesaw where the bar is up high and you sit on swings hanging down. We also walked through the botanical gardens and visited "Underwater World" - a huge window in the side of the lake where you watch the fish and ducks dive down for food. It was much better than I thought it could be. They had a system set up that dumped food pellets into the water when you pushed a button, so the area was full of big fish and ducks. After lunch at KFC and coffee at a lakeside cafe, Katka went to see the shops in town while Misa and I went to feed the ducks. We all ended up together in town shopping eventually, and then for dinner on top of a restaurant with beautiful views of the mountains. Our waitress was from Illinois and has a brother going to IIT where Katunka goes to school in Chicago, it is a small world.
Today we leave for Te Anau, time to see some fjords!
After lunch we took the gondola to the top of a hill (mountain?) overlooking the town and lake. At the top of the hill they have a luge ride. It is sort of like an alpine slide, but the track is wide enough for two sleds so there is steering and passing. It is more fun than a regular alpine slide. We spent a long time on top of the mountain before taking the gondola back to town. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying the city, ending with a nice dinner in a traditional NZ pub.
Thursday the weather took a turn for the worse, but we made the best of it. We found a great playground with a unique seesaw where the bar is up high and you sit on swings hanging down. We also walked through the botanical gardens and visited "Underwater World" - a huge window in the side of the lake where you watch the fish and ducks dive down for food. It was much better than I thought it could be. They had a system set up that dumped food pellets into the water when you pushed a button, so the area was full of big fish and ducks. After lunch at KFC and coffee at a lakeside cafe, Katka went to see the shops in town while Misa and I went to feed the ducks. We all ended up together in town shopping eventually, and then for dinner on top of a restaurant with beautiful views of the mountains. Our waitress was from Illinois and has a brother going to IIT where Katunka goes to school in Chicago, it is a small world.
Today we leave for Te Anau, time to see some fjords!
Auckland and Wellington
We flew from LAX to Auckland late Thursday night. Even though our flight left at 11:30pm they served a full meal before turning out the lights. The flight was 13 hours, time enough to watch 3 movies and sleep a few hours. We had never flown Qantas before, and it was good. There was a personal entertainment system at each seat, and the food was good.
We got to Auckland ahead of schedule, breezed through immigration and customs and were at our hotel by about 11:00am on Saturday. Somewhere along the way we lost Friday. We’ll make it up in May when we’ll have the 9th and 10th in Australia, then fly to Tahiti and have the 9th and 10th again.
Our room wasn’t ready at the hotel so we walked over to a mall on Queen Street, had lunch, and then went back to our hotel to check in. It was a typical New Zealand day, cloudy with a bit of a breeze. We left winter to come here to summer and somehow the weather got colder in the process.
Our hotel was more of a little apartment, right near the water. After freshening up we walked out to see the area around our hotel. We went up to the Auckland Tower and then over to Queen Street. Auckland is odd in that it is a very quiet city. We explored some of the streets around Queen Street, ate supper at Subway, and went back to the hotel. We overdid the walking a little and Michaela was exhausted. She only slept a few hours on the plane, and a little Subway sandwich was not enough food for supper. After a nice hot shower and a snack she felt better and we all went to bed early. I woke up first on Sunday morning after 13 hours of sleep.
Last time we were in Auckland we went to a park with huge trees that are great for climbing. We went back to that park and it was all set up with Chinese lanterns for the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival. There were lanterns that looked like sheep, penguins, cows, dragons, polar bears, etc. It was cool during the day, so I’m sure at night it was really beautiful. We had lunch at one of the hundred sushi places we passed. There were often two sushi restaurants on the same block. While exploring the city we found a cool park with bean bag chairs for park benches, and little shops made out of shipping containers.
We wanted to see Auckland from the water so we took a ferry over to Devonport across the bay. Misa and I climbed Mt. Victoria (a 15 minute walk) to get a better view of the city. On top was a little fort with a cannon to protect the bay. We did have beautiful 360degree views and took some nice photos. We met Katka back in Devonport, had a little ice cream and took the ferry back to Auckland. Right at the ferry terminal was a Korean sushi restaurant so Katka had sushi again and Misa and I had Korean pancakes. The pancakes were pre-cooked, but they heated them up in a cast-iron press and then covered them with sauce. I had custard and Misa had chocolate.
We finished exploring with a walk around the wharf area. The America’s Cup yacht race was held there recently and the area is full of nice restaurants and beautiful boats. I was in kind of a hurry to get back to the hotel to catch the end of the Super Bowl, but it wasn’t on. I couldn’t even find highlights. When I heard a preview for an upcoming segment on the news, “We’ll take you backstage in Indianapolis where Madonna is rehearsing for tomorrow’s Super Bowl in America.” Oh yeah, we’re a day ahead here, the Super Bowl will be on Monday.
After a short stop at the hotel Misa and I went for supper. We found a hamburger and pizza place with hamburgers the size of a small plate for only $10. I know that sounds like a lot, but given that a Grande Mocha at Starbuck’s is $6.50, and two subs and three drinks at Subway was almost $20 we felt like we had found a bargain.
Early Monday we flew from Auckland to Wellington. Just by coincidence we are staying at the same hotel where we stayed last time. The hotel is right near the Parliament and Lambton Quay – a big shopping street in Wellington. We grabbed a quick bite to eat on Lambton Quay and took the cable car to the top of a hill overlooking the city for some great views of the city and Lambton Harbor. From there we walked back to our hotel by way of the Carter Observatory, Wellington Botanic Garden, Lady Norwood Rosegarden and Begonia House where we stopped for coffee and a snack. Misa also finished her homeschooling for the day that she started at the airport and on the airplane.
The walk from there took us past the “Beehive” government headquarters building and to our hotel. Misa is supposed to do something like 45 minutes per day for PE. I think we have knocked out a month’s worth of PE in just three days.
After refreshing and resting a bit in our room we met Matt for dinner. We walked down to Lambton Quay looking for a restaurant but everything was closed. Monday was a public holiday here commemorating the signing of the Waitangi Treaty between the Europeans and the indigenous Maori people. The only thing open was Subway, so we went back to our hotel and ate there. It was great to catch up with Matt and hear all of his plans. He is staying in a youth hostel now, but has looked at a couple of apartments and wants to move soon. He is also looking for a job so he grabbed an application from our hotel. He seems to really like Wellington, which we do too. It is a beautiful city, very clean and friendly. Somehow I like it more than Auckland even though it is similar.
This morning we slept in and Misa worked on her homeschool while Katka and I checked our email. When we left it was raining, but our first stop was the Parliament so it didn’t really matter. After some meat pies for lunch we took a tour of the Beehive, Parliament, and Parliamentary Library. It was the NZ Parliament’s first day back in session for the New Year and a lot was going on. There was a protest going on outside, and inside were all of the TV crews. One of the neatest parts of the tour was when they showed us how the made the building more earthquake proof. Basically they put the building on rubber pillars so that it moves independently of the ground during an earthquake. After our tour we went and sat in the gallery for a while to watch the Prime Minister answer questions. It is always fun to watch the British Prime Minister answer questions from the Parliament on C-SPAN and it was equally entertaining here. If the opposition did not like an answer they would hoot or shout out.
We finished the day in our hotel, Misa doing her homeschooling, me writing this Blog, and Katka relaxing and working on her writing. Tomorrow we have an early morning flight to Queenstown, where we will rent a car and start our drive around the southern island.
We got to Auckland ahead of schedule, breezed through immigration and customs and were at our hotel by about 11:00am on Saturday. Somewhere along the way we lost Friday. We’ll make it up in May when we’ll have the 9th and 10th in Australia, then fly to Tahiti and have the 9th and 10th again.
Our room wasn’t ready at the hotel so we walked over to a mall on Queen Street, had lunch, and then went back to our hotel to check in. It was a typical New Zealand day, cloudy with a bit of a breeze. We left winter to come here to summer and somehow the weather got colder in the process.
Our hotel was more of a little apartment, right near the water. After freshening up we walked out to see the area around our hotel. We went up to the Auckland Tower and then over to Queen Street. Auckland is odd in that it is a very quiet city. We explored some of the streets around Queen Street, ate supper at Subway, and went back to the hotel. We overdid the walking a little and Michaela was exhausted. She only slept a few hours on the plane, and a little Subway sandwich was not enough food for supper. After a nice hot shower and a snack she felt better and we all went to bed early. I woke up first on Sunday morning after 13 hours of sleep.
Last time we were in Auckland we went to a park with huge trees that are great for climbing. We went back to that park and it was all set up with Chinese lanterns for the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival. There were lanterns that looked like sheep, penguins, cows, dragons, polar bears, etc. It was cool during the day, so I’m sure at night it was really beautiful. We had lunch at one of the hundred sushi places we passed. There were often two sushi restaurants on the same block. While exploring the city we found a cool park with bean bag chairs for park benches, and little shops made out of shipping containers.
We wanted to see Auckland from the water so we took a ferry over to Devonport across the bay. Misa and I climbed Mt. Victoria (a 15 minute walk) to get a better view of the city. On top was a little fort with a cannon to protect the bay. We did have beautiful 360degree views and took some nice photos. We met Katka back in Devonport, had a little ice cream and took the ferry back to Auckland. Right at the ferry terminal was a Korean sushi restaurant so Katka had sushi again and Misa and I had Korean pancakes. The pancakes were pre-cooked, but they heated them up in a cast-iron press and then covered them with sauce. I had custard and Misa had chocolate.
We finished exploring with a walk around the wharf area. The America’s Cup yacht race was held there recently and the area is full of nice restaurants and beautiful boats. I was in kind of a hurry to get back to the hotel to catch the end of the Super Bowl, but it wasn’t on. I couldn’t even find highlights. When I heard a preview for an upcoming segment on the news, “We’ll take you backstage in Indianapolis where Madonna is rehearsing for tomorrow’s Super Bowl in America.” Oh yeah, we’re a day ahead here, the Super Bowl will be on Monday.
After a short stop at the hotel Misa and I went for supper. We found a hamburger and pizza place with hamburgers the size of a small plate for only $10. I know that sounds like a lot, but given that a Grande Mocha at Starbuck’s is $6.50, and two subs and three drinks at Subway was almost $20 we felt like we had found a bargain.
Early Monday we flew from Auckland to Wellington. Just by coincidence we are staying at the same hotel where we stayed last time. The hotel is right near the Parliament and Lambton Quay – a big shopping street in Wellington. We grabbed a quick bite to eat on Lambton Quay and took the cable car to the top of a hill overlooking the city for some great views of the city and Lambton Harbor. From there we walked back to our hotel by way of the Carter Observatory, Wellington Botanic Garden, Lady Norwood Rosegarden and Begonia House where we stopped for coffee and a snack. Misa also finished her homeschooling for the day that she started at the airport and on the airplane.
The walk from there took us past the “Beehive” government headquarters building and to our hotel. Misa is supposed to do something like 45 minutes per day for PE. I think we have knocked out a month’s worth of PE in just three days.
After refreshing and resting a bit in our room we met Matt for dinner. We walked down to Lambton Quay looking for a restaurant but everything was closed. Monday was a public holiday here commemorating the signing of the Waitangi Treaty between the Europeans and the indigenous Maori people. The only thing open was Subway, so we went back to our hotel and ate there. It was great to catch up with Matt and hear all of his plans. He is staying in a youth hostel now, but has looked at a couple of apartments and wants to move soon. He is also looking for a job so he grabbed an application from our hotel. He seems to really like Wellington, which we do too. It is a beautiful city, very clean and friendly. Somehow I like it more than Auckland even though it is similar.
This morning we slept in and Misa worked on her homeschool while Katka and I checked our email. When we left it was raining, but our first stop was the Parliament so it didn’t really matter. After some meat pies for lunch we took a tour of the Beehive, Parliament, and Parliamentary Library. It was the NZ Parliament’s first day back in session for the New Year and a lot was going on. There was a protest going on outside, and inside were all of the TV crews. One of the neatest parts of the tour was when they showed us how the made the building more earthquake proof. Basically they put the building on rubber pillars so that it moves independently of the ground during an earthquake. After our tour we went and sat in the gallery for a while to watch the Prime Minister answer questions. It is always fun to watch the British Prime Minister answer questions from the Parliament on C-SPAN and it was equally entertaining here. If the opposition did not like an answer they would hoot or shout out.
We finished the day in our hotel, Misa doing her homeschooling, me writing this Blog, and Katka relaxing and working on her writing. Tomorrow we have an early morning flight to Queenstown, where we will rent a car and start our drive around the southern island.
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