Our Holidays

Arkaroola

2011-08-20T15:41:00.000+10:00

Our last stop was Arkaroola, a wilderness sanctuary in the Flinders Ranges. We landed at a private airstrip in Balcanoona and were picked up by staff from Arkaroola and taken to the sanctuary. It is quite unlike anything I've ever visited and was just amazing. The accommodation was fantastic - we stayed in the Mawson wing so Huffle is very impressed - and the food once again was tremendous.

Early the next morning we did their famous ridge top 4WD tour and there is a good reason it's famous in the region. Wow. This is the view from the first look out post.

We saw a Wallaroo - which is a cross between a Wallaby and a Kangaroo.

This is Sillers Lookout, which is the highest point the 4WD goes up. The view from up there was amazing. We had morning tea at the top, admiring the view.

There are quite a lot of native plants to be seen - one of the most impressive is the Xantheria, or Black Boy.

Our final stop on the tour was to see the dry waterfall, which would look positively wonderful with water. It's very picturesque when it's dry!

After we got back to the lodge we drove back to the plane and began the long flight home. We stopped in Mildura for fuel and made it home just after 6pm on Friday.

We covered 3,049 kilometres on this trip and did the whole lot in three days. There is just no way you could cover that distance in that time in a car so flying was definitely the way to go. I do recommend it.

There are a few more pictures in my FlickR photostream, just click on any of the pictures above and you will be taken there. I hope you enjoyed your outback Australian tour as much as I did!

Flinders Ranges

2011-08-20T15:29:00.000+10:00

After leaving the vast openness of Lake Eyre, we flew over the Flinders Ranges on our way to our next stop. Again, these were all taken from the plane.

The Flinders Ranges seem to rise out of nothing, because on either side of them there are vast areas of flat land. Quite amazing really.

Talk about a road to nowhere...

Lake Eyre

2011-08-20T15:24:00.000+10:00

Our next flight was over Lake Eyre itself. As you can see from the map, it is very big and covers an enormous area. The lake is usually dry but due to extreme rain in northern Australia over the past three years, has actually had water in it for nearly three years. The water is starting to evaporate now, and the lake is only 60% full. When it's dry, it is just a huge expanse of dry salt flats.

These photos are all taken from the plane, apologies for unscheduled propeller appearances.

This is where the water has already started drying out.

Coopers Creek

2011-08-20T15:19:00.000+10:00

Our next stop was Cooper Creek along the Birdsville Track. The Birdsville Track is a dirt road that runs through central Australia and there are always MANY people in their four-wheel-drive vehicles driving along it.

This is the view from the Birdsville Track.

We landed at a private airstrip and took a bus to Coopers Creek, where we went on a boat cruise. The last time there was water in the creek was 1980. And now there are lakes and flooded areas everywhere you look.

Somehow, the birds seem to know when the water is there, and they all come flocking back for the season. I don't know what birds these all are (aside from the pelicans) but there were plenty to be seen.

When the Birdsville Track is flooded, as it is at the moment, cars are not permitted to drive down it but must detour and get ferried across the creek on the punt.

It's big enough to hold one car/4WD and a towed caravan or boat.

Birdsville

2011-08-20T15:10:00.000+10:00

Our next stop, and our overnight location was Birdsville. Birdsville is an iconic outback Australian town in Queensland. There isn't a lot there but they do have a racetrack and the Birdsville Races are held every year at the end of August. The resident population of Birdsville is about 120 but more than 8,500 people came for the races two years ago. Last year there were only 5,000 visitors for the races as the town was flooded and cut off by road - the only way in or out was by plane.

This is the Birdsville Hotel, the only pub and accommodation in town.

We stayed at the Birdsville Hotel for the night, and after making friends with the locals in the bar, had a thoroughly delicious dinner. The accommodation was surprisingly good and we slept very well.

The next morning we took a tour of the Birdsville Working Museum, which is possibly more famous for the character who runs it than the collection itself, and then we got back in the plane to head to our next destination.

Innamincka

2011-08-20T15:02:00.000+10:00

Our first real stop on this tour was Innamincka, in South Australia. That was after stopping in Broken Hill for fuel, but we only got to see the airport for 10 minutes so it doesn't count.

Innamincka doesn't have a lot going for it, as the resident population is about six people. It used to be a Customs stop between South Australia and New South Wales way back in the day when there was a charge to be paid for crossing the border, but now it's just another stop on the way to Birdsville and through to central Australia.

This is the main street. The Innamincka Hotel (accommodation for $2 per night in the low season) and the trading post/general store/petrol station.

We had lunch at a home stay farm which was lovely.

After lunch we wandered down the road to the creek, which had flooded earlier in the year. Only in Australia do you see road signs like this:

This is Coopers Creek which flooded and cut the town off for several days.

Innamincka is essentially in a desert but the recent flooding is what allowed the grass to grow so green.

You can see the height the water reached on the tree - the brown mark to half way up shows the high water mark.

This is the original nursing home in Innamincka which has been restored and is now used as the park rangers station and as an information centre.

You would think from the blue sky and bright sunshine that it was very hot but actually it was cool enough to wear a jacket most of the day. In the summer though, the temperature regularly tops 40 deg C for days at a time.

Lake Eyre Outback Australia tour

2011-08-20T14:46:00.001+10:00

We've just returned from our most recent holiday - a light plane tour of outback Australia, specifically to see Lake Eyre, which is a massive inland lake that only has water in it once every 30 years or so.

This is a map of the Lake Eyre basin so you can see how big it is.

We travelled with a company called Kirkhope Aviation, in a Piper Chieftan plane which seats 10 people in total. There were five others on our trip, and our pilot/tourguide Tony. If you ever get the chance to travel to this part of Australia, I highly recommend travelling with Kirkhope, as they were wonderful.

I've broken these posts up into actual places stayed or visited, to make it easier to follow. They are in the order visited.

Indonesia, part 5

2010-12-18T14:35:00.001+11:00

The other big activity we did was a helicopter flight over one of the volcanoes on Bali.

Our transport:

The village that has been established on the side of the volcano:

The site of the most recent lava flow - about 40 years ago:

Lava field, old caldera, caldera lake:

And a view from the helicopter of some rice paddies, which shows the amazing terracing they do on the hillsides.

If you ever go to Indonesia, and it is worth it, I recommend you pay attention to the weather. We didn't and went in the wet season, which meant that although it was very warm - about 31C every day - it also poured with rain every single day. Luckily all of our activities were in the morning and it rained mostly in the afternoon, but when it rained, it RAINED. As in, torrential downpours every single day.

You get used to that after a few days.

Indonesia, part 4

2010-12-18T14:25:00.000+11:00

One of the activities we did whilst on Bali was visit the elephant sanctuary at Taro. Most of the 30 elephants there have been rescued from unpleasant lives on Sumatra, and they come to Taro and live a lovely comfortable life. The park offers elephant rides which we of course had to do.

Is it just me or are elephants the happiest looking animals on earth?

One of the babies born in March 2009:

It was awesome fun and the elephants all look happy and healthy so if you ever get to Bali I highly recommend it.

Indonesia, part 3

2010-12-18T14:15:00.000+11:00

After driving for what seemed like days, we made it to Ubud, the town where we were staying on Bali. Our accommodation was the Ubud Hanging Gardens, which was the best decision I have made in years. It was brilliant.

And our pool:

Across the valley we had a view of this temple:

Which at night was beautifully lit:

And the gardens and surrounds were gorgeous, and all the staff were lovely, and if you are ever going to stay on Bali I highly recommend it.

Indonesia, part 2

2010-12-18T14:08:00.000+11:00

We survived the drive to Ijen (just) and spent the night at the Ijen Resort before our 4am wake up call. The setting for Ijen Resort was quite spectacular, high up in the mountains and surrounded by rice paddies, but there was a torrential downpour which started about 30 seconds after we arrived and continued until sometime early in the morning. Our wake up call was for 4am, and we set off to drive to the base of Ijen at 4.30am.

The drive to Ijen was along possibly the worst road I have ever been on. The first bit was relatively flat but the tarmac had so many holes and cracks it was like driving over rocks. And further along we were in fact driving over rocks. And by then we were going up some steep hills too. It was only a 17km drive but it took over an hour to get to the park ranger's station.

So we set off up the path. Me, the boy, and our ever-cheerful guide Prad. The signs said it was a 3km walk, and some of it was steep.

Some of it, my ass. The first 500m was a gentle slope and the rest was practically a vertical climb. I made it up 1.7km before throwing in the towel, after nearly having an asthma attack. The others continued up the hill while I sat on a conveniently place concrete plinth and recovered.

I'm glad someone made it to the top, because it was totally worth it:

See the yellow bits and the smoke? That's a sulphur mine. It's a barbaric place to work. Local men climb the hill, hack the sulphur out of the mine, then cart it back down the hill in baskets. They get paid approximately 7 cents per kilogram of sulphur. Most of them carry between 60 and 80 kg in their baskets.

And it's a horrible work environment. They don't have proper gas masks, or protective clothing. A lot of them were either in thongs or had bare feet. A few wore gumboots.

After collecting me on the way down, we walked back to the car and then spent 123456789 hours driving back to Bali. And I am glad I didn't finish the climb, the boy said the second half was a lot worse and even he thought about not going all the way. But I'm glad he did.

Indonesia, part 1

2010-12-18T13:30:00.001+11:00

Yesterday we arrived home from Indonesia. We were gone for 12 days and had a horrible overnight flight from Denpasar to Melbourne. I had managed one hour of sleep in about 27 hours so I felt like rubbish when we got home, and had to go to bed for five hours. I'm feeling slightly more alive today so it's time to update this blog and tell you all what we've been up to!

We flew Garuda Indonesia which wasn't too bad. Their business class seats are reasonably comfortable to sit in but horrible to sleep in. And the service, although friendly, was a little lax at times. If Garuda wants to move up the Skytrax world rankings they're going to have to get their butts in gear. But no matter, they got us there and back safely and that's the most important thing.

Our first adventure was to the island of Java, to do some volcano hiking. After flying to Surabaya from Denpasar, our guide picked us up from the airport and drove us to Malang, where we spent the night. Well, I say night, but actually we had a 1am wake up call as we left Malang at 1.30am in order to make it to Mt Bromo in time to see the sunrise.

Note the lack of actual sunrise pictures. Yeah, not really worth it.

Anyway the erupting Mt Bromo was quite spectular so it was (almost) worth the ridiculously early start to see it. We're both pretty sure it would have been just as good at 10am as it was at 5am.

In the bottom left corner of that picture above, just above the tree, you can see a little camp where the locals have a temple. When Mt Bromo is NOT erupting, you can go across the caldera floor (presently covered in fog) and climb to the crater itself.

And what you can't see behind the smoke and ash coming out of Bromo is Mt Merapi in the back ground, the very same volcano that erupted in October and killed a lot of people.

Later that morning we left Bromo and spent hours and hours (and hours and hours) driving to Ijen Resort in preparation for climbing Mt Ijen the next day.

More Silk Road memories

2010-11-13T14:01:00.002+11:00

At the hotel in Bukhara (Uzbekistan), there was a little art gallery. This man - Vafo Barno Narziy - had done all sorts of paintings and portraits of the local area and people he'd met. We saw this picture and immediately loved it.

The boy negotiated a price with the man, then we had to figure it out how to get it a) safely through the rest of Uzbekistan and Russia, and b) home in one piece. We decided the best thing to do would be to have it unframed, and we'd get it framed again when we got home.

So that is what we did and that is what it looks like now.

Silk Road Memories

2010-11-02T16:34:00.000+11:00

I don't know what made me think of it... but I found this photo in my archives and it still made me laugh.

Posted on the entry gate to the Summer Palace in Beijing.

2010-10-26T21:44:00.000+11:00

Because our main aim in life is to always be planning or heading off on our next holiday, in five and a bit weeks we are going to Indonesia.

First, we are doing this tour to visit some volcanoes on the island of Java. Totally not my cup of tea but the boy is a big fan of volcanoes so we will spend three days there. The second day starts at 2.30am (!) so you can see the sunrise over Bromo. Oh joy.

Then, my part of the holiday kicks in. We are going to Bali to stay in Ubud, at Ubud Hanging Gardens resort. Now THAT'S what I call a holiday!

Antarctica

2010-07-16T21:01:00.004+10:00

I've just realised that although I posted about this on my own blog, I never mentioned our trip to Antarctica here. And since it was technically a holiday, albeit a very short one, it deserves its own post on my holiday blog.

So. In January we did a scenic flight over Antarctica. And it was wonderful. I had no idea I could get so many great photos from so far up. But I did.

The plane left from Sydney so we had to fly up there the day before, as we were expected at the airport at obscene o'clock (6am). We decided to go out for a nice dinner and went to Quay, which I can highly recommend if anyone is looking for somewhere special to eat in Sydney.

Then we got on our plane the next morning and set off. It took about four hours to reach the land mass of Antarctica, and we then flew around for another four hours, before heading back to Sydney.

It was awesome fun and I totally recommend you get there some day. I'd love to go by boat and be able to land but this was a great way to see lots and lots.

Silk Road Day 28: heading home

2010-04-23T16:46:00.000+10:00

Woke up this morning with a really sick stomach so I missed seeing the Kremlin inside. One of the guides took lots of photos which he'll send out in a couple of weeks so hopefully I can put one of them here then.

I am so impressed with Moscow as a city. The architecture is amazing and it's not at all what I thought it was going to be. We'll definitely come back some day and spend some more time here, and hopefully visit St Petersburg too.

Our flight leaves at 3pm and we should arrive home at 7.30pm on Saturday night. It's been such a great trip, but really hard work. The schedule has been full on and we're both really tired now. Mind you, I don't know how you could make it any shorter, or what you'd have to cut out. We've travelled 9,800km from Beijing to Moscow, with a lot of side trips in between. It was wonderful.

Now, where should we go next?

Silk Road Day 27: Moscow

2010-04-22T16:37:00.001+10:00

First stop this morning was Red Square. Not nearly as big as I thought it would be, and they were doing repairs to the surface so we couldn't wander through.

We did have a walk through the G.U.M. department store, which was full of very nice shops and arcades.

Saw St Basils Cathedral which was most impressive. Sorry, forgot to take photos of the inside.

Visited the Christ the Saviour Cathedral which was completely over the top. And they don't let you take photos of the interior, which is a shame because it's completely mad.

We also stopped at a convent (can't remember the name, but it's where Peter the Great banished his first wife to, after he decided he didn't want to be married to her any more).

Lunch at a city restaurant and then we went and had a look at one of the Metro stations - most impressive. The rest of the group went shopping but we headed back to the hotel and relaxed before our farewell dinner. Dinner was nice and we got up and made a small speech thanking our guides for doing such a wonderful job of looking after us.

Can't believe we are going home tomorrow. Hopefully we'll get to see the Kremlin before we go to the airport.

Silk Road Day 26: on the train

2010-04-21T16:33:00.001+10:00

Today we spent most of the day on the train, travelling to Moscow. It was very relaxing with a late breakfast and nice relaxed lunch. We arrived just before 4pm and went straight from the train station to our hotel. I have never in my life seen such bad traffic! I thought Beijing was bad but this was something else. But we made it eventually.

Kendall and I had dinner in one of the restaurants by ourselves with a lovely bottle of French Champagne. Then we went back to our room - upgraded because they'd originally assigned us a room that was already occupied - and climbed into our lovely big bed and went to sleep.

Silk Road Day 25: Volgograd

2010-04-20T16:11:00.001+10:00

Today we visited Volgograd, formerly Stalingrad, on the banks of the Volga river. We saw the monument with the eternal flame, guarded by high school children with what I hope were fake rifles. The changing of the guard happens every 20 minutes and seemed to take about 15 minutes to complete so I don't think they had to stand around for very long.

We saw the War Memorial and the changing of the guard there, which was quite impressive.

The concrete statue of Mother Russia cuts a rather imposing figure at the top.

We also visited the museum, which has lots of old planes and tanks on display. It is built next to a building that was partially destroyed during the battle for Volgograd in the war, which has been left standing to remind everyone how terrible war is.

The weather was magnificent. Tonight is our last night on the train so there was a party in the bar car. I will be sad to say goodbye to our train when we arrive in Moscow.

Silk Road Day 24: on the train

2010-04-19T16:07:00.000+10:00

Spent all day on board the train travelling across the Kazak desert. Hardly a person to be seen, a few herds of wild camels here and there. Late at night the Kazak border control police came on board to make sure we were all leaving the country - and I think they wanted to check out our train! - and they wanted to get their photos taken with us. Of course you don't refuse men with guns.

After a few drinks and a chat with Tony, our resident lecturer, we made it to bed by midnight. We'd been told to expect to be woken by the Russian border patrol police at about 1.30am. I woke up at 7.30am so obviously they'd decided to let us in the country anyway.

Silk Road Day 23: Khiva

2010-04-18T14:37:00.000+10:00

This morning we arrived in Urgench and hopped on the buses that have been following us through Uzbekistan and drove to Khiva. Apparently the bus drivers are both from Urgench so they have been slowly making their way home as they take us around.

Khiva is an ancient city more than 2,500 years old and recently restored by UNESCO. 500 people still live inside the ancient city walls. Being Sunday, the market was open and I think 250,000 Uzbekis were there.

Being so obviously blonde, Kendall and I were besieged by students wanting to take our photos. At first we refused, thinking they wanted us to take photos of them, and then hassle us for money (a typical scam in this part of the world) but we eventually realised they were just curious. They wanted to know our names, where we were from, how old we were, did we have any children, they wanted to tell us their names... it was exhausting but very funny. As soon as they figured out we were Australian they'd hop around like kangaroos.

We had morning tea at a traditional tea house and it was delicious. After more wandering around and people watching we had lunch at the Khan's Summer Palace and then got back on the train.

Crazy hat party after dinner was hilarious; Kendall's impersonation of an Uzbeki rap star (Hello Book!*) had everyone rolling in the aisles. Gained an hour as we travel further west, and we were warned to be ready for border security as we cross the border back into Kazakhstan in the morning.

*What every local vendor would say to try and get you to look as his wares.

Silk Road Day 22: Bukhara

2010-04-17T14:29:00.000+10:00

After a surprisingly good night's sleep on the usual hard beds, and a dodgy breakfast in the hotel, we set off for our sightseeing. We visited the Ark (where the Emirs used to live) and the bug pit where they used to throw prisoners.

We then had to take an emergency taxi ride back to the hotel because something I ate a breakfast did not agree with me. Thankfully we made it back in time and all was okay eventually.

I decided not to risk venturing out in the afternoon so we stayed in the hotel and read, and I caught up on some emails. Thankfully we were back on the train for dinner, another delicious Russian meal. I don't know how they make such great food in such a tiny space!

Silk Road Day 21: Samarkand - Bukhara

2010-04-16T23:57:00.000+10:00

We left Samarkand at 10am and travelled to Bukhara on the train - a pleasant and easy trip which included a delicious lunch. From there it all went downhill. Our local guide - Raisa - talked at us in a relentless monotone for the whole afternoon, failing to draw breath even for a second. Kendall and I refused to take headsets on the visit to another bloody mosque, we were so sick of the sound of her voice.

We then checked into our hotel - built in 1961 under Soviet power, no doubt* - and it is truly dreadful. Our room is tiny and smells as though it hasn't been opened since 1961. Our double bed is two single beds pushed together. Which would be okay, but they are different heights.

Tonight we had dinner at a Persian restaurant inside a Maddressah. The floor show went on for an hour before we were allowed to eat. To me, the music was noise but some enjoyed it, I guess. When can we get back on the train?

* It seemed our guide had some obsession with the fact that Uzbekistan used to be part of the Soviet Union. Every single building and every event seemed to be built in 1961, or happened in 1961, under the time of Soviet Power. She said it so much we started to laugh about it.

Silk Road Day 20: Samarkand

2010-04-15T23:09:00.002+10:00

This morning we went to Registan Square to see it properly in daylight. It is an amazing sight. And the weather co-operated with sunshine and a lovely blue sky.

(Panoramic shot - six photos stitched together)

A dodgy policeman offered to let some of us climb to the top of one of the minarets that is off-limits to the public, for the enormous amount of 5,000 sums each. That's about $3USD. We ended up paying $5USD each and four of us climbed. It was terrible and if I'd known what it was going to be like I wouldn't have done it; dirty, steep, dark, narrow, dank... not fun.

Later we visited another mosque and the central market - I bought a lovely scarf.

In the afternoon we had several options so we chose relaxing. Kendall slept and I read the rest of my book (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest). Had dinner at a local restaurant with an Uzbeki fashion parade which was quite good.

My left leg hurts from climbing the damn minaret.

Silk Road Day 19: Samarkand

2010-04-14T22:35:00.000+10:00

We got back on the train after breakfast and travelled to Samarkand. We visited the Gur Emir Mausoleum, where Tamarlane is buried, in the afternoon. The buildings are most impressive with lovely mosaics and patterns.

Dinner at our hotel was... interesting. Uzbek food is not quite to my taste. I had two desserts (dry cake) to try and fill the hole. After dinner we went to Registan Square for a special light show. I am not sure if this is a regular thing or a special event put on for Captain's Choice; either way it was spectacular.

Our hotel leaves a lot to be desired. We have two single beds and mine is on a 10 degree slant. Bedding consists of a blanket and a sheet, and what feels like a sack of flour for a pillow. This is their version of a four star hotel :)

Silk Road Day 18: Tashkent

2010-04-13T21:20:00.001+10:00

I woke up this morning with a headache and it got progressively worse during the day. By lunchtime I could hardly see so when we got to the hotel I went straight to bed. Spent the afternoon throwing up and had to get the doctor to give me an injection to stop, so that I could keep some painkillers down. Not a good day. Kendall looked after me very well though.

I vaguely remember seeing some impressive mosques in the morning.

Obviously I can take photos with my eyes closed now :)

I was able to eat some soup about 9.30pm so hopefully I'll be okay for the trip to Samarkand tomorrow.

Silk Road Day 17: Almaty

2010-04-12T20:57:00.000+10:00

Woke up this morning to pouring rain in Almaty. After a 6am breakfast (!) we set off for a morning of sightseeing. We drove up to the Medeo, which is a big ice skating rink in the mountains, but it was very foggy and we couldn't really see anything. We visited the Zenkov Cathedral, which is built of wood entirely without nails, but it was hard to get excited about getting drenched in the process.

The rain did stop long enough for us to have a look at the earthquake monument.

We were back on the train at 11am for our overnight run to Tashkent.

Silk Road Day 16: Kazakhstan

2010-04-11T20:45:00.000+10:00

We were due to arrive in Almaty this morning but because of recent floods and messed up train timetables we only arrived at 7pm. So we spent all day relaxing on the train, looking at the desert and the mountains. Not really a problem at all, and our compartment is very comfortable.

When we finally arrived at the hotel Kendall did not want to join the group dinner so we had room service and went to bed early.

Books I have read so far on this trip:
I Am Ozzy
The Cinderella Deal
Things I Learned About My Father In Therapy
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Girl Who Played With Fire

Silk Road Day 15: China - Kazakhstan

2010-04-10T20:15:00.001+10:00

This morning we crossed the border from China into Kazakhstan. We were told it could take several hours and to be very patient, and to NOT take any photos. Happily after two hours and 15 minutes of sitting around and having our passports scrutinised, we were permitted to exit China and enter Kazakhstan.

We are now on the Russian train, the Golden Eagle Trans Siberian Express, which is much more luxurious than the Chinese train. We have our own bathroom with a shower and a toilet, which makes life much easier. The beds on this train are much softer and bigger too. And we are now eating good old fashioned Russian food, which makes for a nice change from the Chinese.

We left Alashankou at 2pm and have been travelling through the Kazak desert ever since.

Silk Road Day 14: Urumqi

2010-04-09T20:07:00.000+10:00

After a good night's sleep in a nice soft bed (thank you Sheraton!) we woke up to snow in Urumqi. Damn it was cold. We drove to the mountains and up to Heavenly Lake, which reminded me so much of Lake Louise in Canada.

It snowed nearly all the way there but stopped when we arrived, which was just perfect. Got back to the hotel for lunch, and then we decided not to visit another museum and had a quiet afternoon of relaxing.

We had dinner at the hotel and got on the train to head for the Kazakhstan border. We had to completely pack everything and put our new carriage stickers on, ready for the Russian train tomorrow.

Silk Road Day 13: Turpan

2010-04-08T15:43:00.000+10:00

We arrived in Turpan this morning and went to visit the museum of the underground irrigation system, which was started thousands of years ago and is still in use today. Turpan is famous for its grapes, largely due to the irrigation system.

We saw the Emin Minaret (only from the outside) and visited the local bazaar where Kendall bought a Uighur hat and a Mao cap.

We also visited the ancient city of Jiahoe which was built in 100BC and is largely still intact. Quite fascinating and very picturesque.

We then spent nearly three hours driving from Turpan in the Gobi Desert to Urumqi in the mountains. Our bus driver did not seem to understand the concept of brakes, or driving in a straight line. Scary stuff but we made it in one piece.

Silk Road Day 12: Dunhuang

2010-04-07T15:18:00.000+10:00

This morning we visited the Mogao Caves. They are a series of caves carved out of the cliffs and full of Buddha statues and lovely frescoes. You're not allowed to take pictures of them, however.

After the Longmen Caves we were not so excited about seeing more Buddhas so we looked at the first couple and then went back to the car park to take more photos of the sand dunes.

We got back on the train last in the afternoon and after being organised enough to get some laundry done we went to the Bar Car for a drink, and never made it back. Oh, we did rush back to our cabin to put on our pyjamas for the pyjama party, which was great fun, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed Kendall's impersonation of Peter Allen singing I Go To Rio, complete with maracca action. It was a very late night and much alcohol was consumed.

Overnight on the train.

Silk Road Day 11: Dunhuang

2010-04-06T15:09:00.002+10:00

We left Jiayuguan at the crack of dawn and took the train to Dunhuang. We went straight to the Singing Sand Dunes (noise made by the wind) where the majority of the group went on a camel ride. Other less adventurous souls took a golf buggy tour. Riding Bactrian camels is way more comfortable than riding Dromedary camels. Just an observation.

Then we climbed the sand dunes - I nearly died - and did a toboggan ride to the bottom. The near-death-inducing climb was totally worth it - it was awesome!

See that tiny dot in the top right corner? That's where we climbed to, to do the toboggan run.

Tonight we went to dinner at the Silk Road Hotel where they put on a little show for us. The best part was the fireworks display, again all for our group. Once again we have two single beds which are as hard as tables but we're so exhausted from the sand dune climb we should fall asleep pretty quickly anyway.

Silk Road Day 10: Jiayuguan

2010-04-05T14:22:00.002+10:00

Arrived this morning in Jiayuguan and went straight to the end of the Great Wall.

Bloody long climb straight up a vertical mountain but we made it to the top, as did most of the group, except Louis who is 85 and therefore excused :)

Then off to the Jiayuguan Fort, which sits between two mountains and marks the end of the Great Wall.

There was a film crew there and they were offering the chance to shoot bow and arrows at a dummy in the courtyard so Kendall had a go, and managed to get one hit which was pretty impressive.

We then zoomed through the local museum. Dinner at the hotel which included a massive birthday cake for Kendall. Early to bed on beds which were so hard it was like sleeping on a table.

Silk Road Day 9: on the train

2010-04-04T13:46:00.002+10:00

This morning we left Xian and are travelling to Jiayuaguan, which marks the end of the Great Wall of China. We have travelled through some lovely mountain scenery and also the desert. There are farms everywhere and I don't know how they make a living.

Tonight we spend our first night sleeping aboard the train. The beds are very narrow - I hope I don't fall out! As we have two compartments Kendall is sleeping in the other one so we both have a lower bunk.

Silk Road Day 8: Xian

2010-04-03T13:26:00.004+11:00

Today was my favourite bit of sightseeing so far. We saw the Terracotta Warriors. What an amazing sight.

Three huge excavation pits, and over 7,000 warriors inside. Archaeologists are still putting together the pieces and it is truly a wonderful spectacle.

The only downside was our local tourguide Jackie, who seems intent on telling us every single that has happened in China's history in the space of three days. She's exhausting. Sweet, but every now and then I want to tell her to shut up.

Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant (!) then on to the Banpo Neolithic Village Museum. Not really my cup of tea and hard to photograph as it was mostly piles of dirt with signs pointing to them saying "this is where the house was" but surely interesting to some.

Tonight we get to choose where to eat so we are having Australian steak from room service. No Chinese food for our meal! I went for a swim in the evening but there were too many kids so I only stayed half an hour. Oh well.

Silk Road Day 7: Xian

2010-04-02T12:16:00.002+11:00

A real western breakfast set us up for a busy morning of sightseeing - first the Forest of Steles, the largest collection of stone tablets anywhere. Very peaceful with lovely gardens around.

Then a walk atop the part of the city wall here which is in excellent condition.

We also visited the Wild Goose Pagoda, which is a working Buddhist Temple. If it looks a little wonky, that's because the Pagoda has a slight lean to it.

Lunch was a special dumpling banquet but I could only find four dumplings to eat. Plenty of other food though so it was all okay.

Had a free afternoon so I booked in for a massage at the day spa. Felt pummelled but relaxed afterwards, especially since it finished with a milk bath full of rose petals. Tonight we went to a Tang Dynasty dinner show. The food was surprisingly good and the show was very entertaining. And short enough that we didn't get bored. Forgot to take my camera though.

Silk Road Day 6: Luoyang

2010-04-01T11:49:00.001+11:00

This morning we visited the Longmen Caves, a series of more than 2,100 grottoes containing carved images of Buddha. Quite amazing but 10,000 carved images of Buddha are a lot to appreciate when you are not a Buddhist. Spent a pleasant two hours walking along the river and climbing various sets of steps to look at the carvings. Some of them were huge!

Gayle - our wonderful tour leader - had arranged for golf buggies to collect us at the end and ferry us back to our bus. Very civilised and being on tour with the oldies has its advantages.

After lunch - more Chinese food - we visited the Chariot Museum, a discovery that was made in 2002 when the city was excavating for their new city square. Very sad to see all the horses that were killed and buried with the chariots, all because some Emperor wanted them! On the train late in the day for dinner, and a late arrival into Xian where we are staying at the very lovely Sofitel Renmin Square.

Silk Road Day 5: on the train

2010-03-31T12:50:00.001+11:00

After leaving the hotel at the crack of dawn this morning, we spent the whole day on the train. We have two very small but gorgeous compartments with a tiny washroom in between them. It's all rosewood with gold handles; very opulent. We had lunch on the train, then a lecture on the history of the Silk Road from our resident expert Tony Pritchard.

Dinner on the train - yet more Chinese food - then relaxing in our cabin watching the world go by until we arrived in Luoyang, quite late. Our hotel room was perfectly nice, with a bed approximately one acre in size.

Silk Road Day 4: Beijing

2010-03-30T12:34:00.001+11:00

Today we saw the big three: the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. All were amazing. Wish I could say the same about the weather. It was foggy and raining all day. This did not seem to deter approximately 200 million Chinese people, all of whom seemed to be in the places we went today.

Standing in Tiananmen Square, you could picture the tanks rolling in to stop the student demonstration in 1989. And that huge queue of people? Those are all people waiting to go into Chairman Mao's mausoleum and pay their respects.

The Square is huge, much bigger than you expect. It is bordered by Mao's mausoleum, the Houses of Parliament, and the Forbidden City. You could probably fit a million people in it, it's so big.

The Forbidden City was ridiculously enormous; it must have been so intimidating for foreign dignitaries to visit.

I couldn't get over how steep the Wall was, and although I had a migraine today I still managed to climb part of it so I was pretty proud of myself.

Quiet night tonight as we have an early start to our train journey tomorrow!

Silk Road Day 3: Beijing

2010-03-29T11:53:00.002+11:00

This morning we went on a rickshaw tour to the old part of Beijing, the Hutong houses. These are traditional houses and most have been demolished to make way for high rise apartment buildings, but the Chinese government has realised the historical value of the remaining residences and is making an effort to restore and preserve those that are left.

After lunch we visited the Summer Palace of the last Emperor, which was massive and insanely ornate. The Emperor used to go there in the summer (duh) to escape the oppressive heat of Beijing. It is built right next to a massive lake which contributed to the cooler temperatures, and it's still in the city itself.

I would just like to point out that EVERYWHERE you go in Beijing, there are so many people. Millions of them, in fact. There is no escaping the crowds. That's why there are always going to be lots of people in my photos. Be warned!

We then visited the Temple of Heaven, where the Emperor used to go once a year to pray to the gods for a good harvest for the year. Apparently he would walk from the Forbidden City to show his humility (it's about a three mile walk).

The temple was built 300 years ago but is wooden and was completely destroyed by fire in 1899, and rebuilt the following year. No nails were used in the construction, which is pretty amazing.

The weather in Beijing has been less than impressive so far; very soggy and overcast. Not great for taking photos but I did the best I could.

Tonight we had dinner at the best restaurant in Beijing. The food was good and they did a little floorshow which was very funny, especially as they made Kendall get up and join in. Early start tomorrow for a big day: Tiananmen Square, the Forbidden City and the Great Wall.

Silk Road Days 1 - 2

2010-03-28T18:42:00.003+11:00

We left Melbourne today, flying with Singapore Airlines. A few weeks ago we got offered an upgrade to the Suites on the A380, which we gladly accepted. Best decision of the year! We were the only passengers in the Suites and so were totally spoiled. You know it's a tough life when your biggest decision is to drink either the Krug or the Dom Perignon. We even had our own separate bedroom to nap in. What a life. We had a four hour stopover in Singapore and landed in Beijing at 7am on Sunday. Met some others from our group at the airport (Beijing airport is HUGE) and have settled in at the Westin Beijing. It's bloody cold - it was -3C when we arrived.

Vanuatu part 2

2010-01-18T21:10:00.002+11:00

Some photos of Yasur erupting.

It was fairly amazing to be up close and personal with the volcano.

Vanuatu part 1

2010-01-04T15:44:00.004+11:00

A few loyal readers said they would be keen to see some photos from our previous holidays, so I'm starting the Vanuatu collection now. We went specifically to see Yasur Volcano on the island of Tanna.

We stayed in a treehouse with no electricity or running water, lots of spiders (it's amazing I got any sleep, to be honest) and it was hot and humid. Oh, and it rained. A lot. We loved it.

This is the tree house:

This is our view of the erupting volcano from the tree house:

This is the volcanic plain, with Yasur in the background:

That's all fine ash by the way, and we drove across it.

Preparations are underway

2009-12-17T09:14:00.002+11:00

We got a letter from the lovely people who are organising our trip last week. Including FIVE visa application forms, a letter from the tour doctor, a request for SIX passport photos, and a request for a letter from our employers, stating that we are employed by XX in the position of XX and will be returning to work on XX, to accompany one of the visa applications.

Holy crap.

It took hours to fill in all the forms, we had to take a trip to the chemist to get extra passport photos, we had to make sure we had at least six empty pages in our passports, two of which must be facing pages... it was exhausting. By the time I couriered everything to the travel agent yesterday I was positive I'd forgotten something.

And I did. I forgot to include the extra passport photos. So I had to send an extra envelope. That was annoying.

But so exciting, because it means in just over three months time, we'll be on our way!

The next big thing

2009-09-28T11:40:00.004+10:00

In exactly six months from today, the boy and I will be embarking on our next big adventure. We'll be travelling on the Silk Road by private train. The marvellous people at Captain's Choice Tours are organising this all for us, and all we have to do is show up at the airport with our passports on the right day at the right time.

You can click on this link to see the full itinerary - four weeks of it - and meanwhile you can look at this map (sorry it's not a big larger) to see the route we will be travelling.

Why yes, we are excited, thanks very much for asking.

Broome part 6

2009-08-19T14:24:00.003+10:00

One of the last things we did in Broome was go on a camel ride along the beach. We totally thought it would be trashy and touristy but it was so much fun!

This is our camel Wun, showing us his lovely teeth:

Here is Wun showing us his long eyelashes:

Kendall and I with a spectacular sunset behind us:

Seriously, this was much more fun that I ever thought it would be. I did have a sore bum for a few days afterwards because camels? They are not comfortable to ride. But really good fun!

Overall it was a great relaxing holiday. I read five books, lots of magazines, we played lots of music on the iPods, and didn't think about work once. Just the way it should be.

Soon I'll tell you about the next holiday we have planned. It's a doozy.

Broome part 5

2009-08-19T14:14:00.002+10:00

One of the side trips we did in Broome was take a scenic flight over part of the Kimberley, to Koolan Island and Cape Leveque.

This is part of the Buccaneer Archipelago that we flew over: more than 1,000 islands and the King Sound.

These are the Horizontal Waterfalls. When the tide comes in, two lakes behind the coast fill up through two narrow breaks in the rock. As the tide goes out again, the water level in the lakes is higher than the sea, so horizontal falls are created as the water seeks to escape.

This is Koolan Island, a former iron ore mine operated by BHP. When BHP decided to close the mine back in the 1980's, they were told they had to return the island back to its natural state. Years later when another mining company took out a new mining lease, they found all the BHP mining equipment at the bottom of the flooded mine. BHP were fined millions of dollars for their laziness.

This is the beach at Cape Leveque. It's a very nice place that has a small eco tourism venture owned by the local Aboriginal groups in the area.

On the way home flying along the coast we saw Humpback Whales, Sea Turtles, Manta Rays and Dugongs. It was totally awesome.

Broome part 4

2009-08-19T12:14:00.003+10:00

These gorgeous smelling frangipani flowers are everywhere in Broome. These were in the courtyard outside our room, next to our private pool.

Here's a Boab Tree; you see them everywhere in northern Australia. They store water in their fat bottoms for times when there is no water to be found.

And this is the resort pool at night. Sorry it's a bit fuzzy, I must have knocked the focus off as I was setting up the tripod. But you get the general idea: stunning.

The resort was very nice but they had only officially opened the week before we arrived and they were still sorting their systems out, I think. Everyone was lovely but the service at times was a bit slow. I'd still recommend it to you; it was a very nice place to be.

Broome part 3

2009-08-19T12:08:00.003+10:00

This is the world famous Cable Beach.

It's a very nice beach :)

What amazed me more than anything about Broome, though, was the fact that cars and four wheel drive vehicles are allowed to drive onto the beach. Not a very good way to keep it clean.

We found this little fella half buried in the sand right at the edge of the water, so I made Kendall dig him up for me to get a photo. I don't think he was overly pleased about it either.

Broome part 2

2009-08-19T11:25:00.005+10:00

Have you ever wondered why the middle of Australia is referred to as the Red Centre? Here are a few shots from the plane over Alice Springs to explain that to you.

Here's a shot of the Olgas (Kata Tjuta), also from the plane:

Sorry it's a bit small but if you click on the photo it will take you to my Flickr photosream and you can see a larger version.

And here is Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, taken from the plane. I was on a weird angle so it's not the best photo but it shows you how big it is, given you can see it clearly from 35,000 feet up in the air!

And here is a dry waterway in the middle of Broome, showing you yet more red dirt. During the wet season, that would be a raging torrent of water.

Broome part 1

2009-08-17T12:35:00.003+10:00

Usually I break my posts up into days for each trip, but since for this holiday we stayed in one place and only did a few activities, I'm just going to post a few "Broome, part 1 (2, 3, 4, etc)" things. Today I have a rant, and a recommendation.

Because Broome is in the middle of nowhere (see map below - you can click to make it bigger), you don't have many choices in getting there. You can either fly with Qantas, or with Virgin Blue. If you choose Virgin Blue, you must go via Perth (totally not on the way). The distance from Melbourne to Broome is 4,996km. That's about 3,104 miles. A very long way. The distance from Melbourne to Perth is 3,456km (2,147 miles) and then from Perth to Broome is 2,233km (1,387 miles). You can understand why we chose to fly direct to Broome with Qantas.
There are several things wrong with this decision. Despite the fact we have a rule that for all flights over three hours we will consider going business class, we chose to fly economy. The reason for this? Business class flights to Broome (on the ONLY direct flight for the week) were more than it cost for our entire New Zealand holiday back in March. We simply could not justify the cost.

In retrospect, of course, we should have sucked it up and paid the extra 40 gazillion dollars because OH MY GOD it was awful. The stewards were rude. Every single thing they served us to eat contained nuts. I am allergic to nuts, as a lot of people are. Surely they could find me something else to eat? Just a simple cookie with no nuts in it? No, apparently not, I should have ordered that IN ADVANCE. If I'd known IN ADVANCE that I was going to be poisoned, I wouldn't have flown with Qantas in the first place.

My recommendation? Take an extra day on either side of your trip and go via Perth. It's a lovely city and you'll feel much better. Also go with Virgin Blue, not Qantas.

Other Holidays

2009-07-27T21:18:00.002+10:00

I will add the photos and stories from previous holidays when we come back from Broome. Hey it's only 13 days until we go!

After we get back I can tell you about our next holiday, which is going to be the most awesome trip ever. Ever.

An idea

2009-07-04T20:12:00.003+10:00

I've been thinking about adding posts and photos from previous holidays to this blog. They won't be as detailed as the Canada and New Zealand and any future trips, as I can't possibly remember what we did every day, but a general idea and some nice photos could be cool.

What do you think?

p.s. 5 weeks until we head to Broome... yipee!

Counting down

2009-06-02T14:14:00.004+10:00

I've just realised that it's only nine and a half weeks until we leave for Broome. I can't wait! The weather has been getting colder and more miserable here, so I am really looking forward to some sunshine and warmth.

Happily, the resort is even open now so that's even more encouraging (it hadn't opened at the time we booked which is always a gamble).

What sort of activities are there to do in Broome?

Pearl shopping
Camel rides
Sitting by the pool
Drinking cocktails
Other suggestions?

I wonder if I'll take any photos while we're there! Of course I'll be taking the camera; I never leave home without it.

The next holiday

2009-04-19T13:26:00.002+10:00

Because we must always have something to look forward to, we have booked our next holiday. From 9 - 16 August, we'll be in Broome, staying here. It looks awesome, doesn't it?

This will be more of a relaxing holiday than the last couple, we are flying to Broome and staying put at the resort until we fly home again. We may go for a camel ride on the beach. But that's about as stressful as it will get.

Why does August seem so far away?

We're home

2009-03-12T09:42:00.002+11:00

We made it back safely last night. Now I'll have to get on to downloading the photos and filling in the details of the trip!

Heading Home

2009-03-11T16:57:00.001+11:00

We were picked up at our hotel at 9am, to be driven to the airport. Our flight was at 10.30am. The drive to the airport took nine minutes. We had a lot of time to spare. So we drank coffee and sat around.

After we arrived back in Christchurch, we had four hours to kill before our flight. Since our bags were checked through Queenstown we didn't even have to check in again. We had lunch at a restaurant/bar type place and played a game of pool. I lost.

Then we went and sat in the Air New Zealand lounge and I read my book, the boy read the paper and played on the internet. We had a short four hour flight home and landed just before 5.30pm.

After we got off the plane we had to go past the sniffer dogs. For some reason the dog took an interest in the boy's bag. Very weird. We collected our luggage and then got sent to have our bags checked. The customs officer said the dog was a drug sniffer dog which really freaked me out. Obviously we had no drugs but why did the dog take an interest?

Anyway after lots of questions, they unpacked some of our bags and did a drug swab test, which came back negative. So we were allowed to go. I knew we had done nothing wrong but it was quite scary!

We made it home safely and the Huffle was very happy to see us.

Queenstown

2009-03-10T16:56:00.001+11:00

It rained for most of today so we had a quiet day in the hotel. We went out for breakfast, wandered around town for a bit and I had a facial at the day spa. The boy took the car back to the hire place, since we were being picked up and taken to the airport in the morning.

We felt like something simple for dinner so we found a small italian restaurant and had pasta. Mine wasn't very good though.

It was a nice relaxing day.

Milford and Queenstown

2009-03-09T16:56:00.001+11:00

When we were driving to Milford on the world's longest bus ride, it started pouring with rain. Apparently that was a good thing, because it meant lots of part-time waterfalls would be cascading down the side of the mountains.
And they were right. It was stunning, especially when the sun came out.
I even managed to catch the rainbow over this one.
Because Milford Sound is really deep, the boats can get right under the falls so you can feel the spray on your face (and everywhere else not covered up).
These are New Zealand Fur Seals. They hang out on the rocks and play. The best part of seeing them was when one of them hopped on the back of the boat after dinner and waved at us. The only people to see him were the boy and I. We felt pretty special.
See that tiny boat in the distance? That's actually a cruise ship carrying 2,000 passengers and 800 crew. That's how big Milford Sound is.
The lights you can see in the bottom left corner of this picture are from the underwater observatory at Milford Sound. We didn't go there but you can see the marine life and coral and everything, if you want to.
After the traumatic bus ride yesterday, our driver told us we might be able to fly back to Queenstown. We though that sounded like a great idea but the weather was against us. No flights into Queenstown today. Happily, the helicopters were flying so we went back to Queenstown on one of those. The best part was a glacier landing. It was just amazing. Here are the boy and I standing on the glacier.
And this is our helicopter.
We had a short 50 minute flight and a 15 minute cab right back to our hotel. It was so worth it! The glacier was amazing and it totally made up for missing the flight over Fox Glacier earlier on.

Milford Sound

2009-03-08T16:55:00.001+11:00

We got picked up from our hotel at 8.20am today to start the journey to Milford Sound, for an overnight cruise. On the way we stopped at Kingston to have a look at this steam train. Then we went for a ride on it, which was pretty cool. It was built in 1925, with carriages dates back to 1898, and restored to its former glory so that tourists could enjoy it.

This is one of the many waterfalls we passed on our VERY long journey from Queenstown to Milford. It took about seven hours on the bus. About five hours too many.
Anyway we finally made it to Milford around 4pm, to get on our boat for the overnight cruise. It was stunning but I don't have many photos because it was getting dark. Suffice to say we had a really nice time, even if it was a buffet dinner, and we had single beds. At least we had our own room.

Ooooh Helicopters!

2009-03-07T16:54:00.001+11:00

This morning we woke up to a bit of blue sky but a lot of cloud. We had a helicopter flight booked for midday, taking us over to the two glaciers but we had a bit of time to kill so we went for a drive around Fox Glacier township. We saw a sign to the lookout so we went there first.
There are some fairly spectacular cloud formations over the glacier here.
After viewing from the far away lookout, we decided we still had plenty of time so we went for a drive to the actual glacier, where you can do a bit of a walk and come out next to it. Amazingly, the road looked like this - total sub-tropical rainforest. Freaky.
After walking for about 20 minutes we came out on this lookout. It was sort of misty and the sun was shining so there's a bit of haze.
This glacier has been advancing since 1985, unlike the Franz Josef glacier which has been retreating for 250 years.
These photos can't begin to describe the amazing size of these things. They are just enormous. And incredible.

We went back to town to the helicopter office but the weather had gotten a lot worse so our flight was cancelled. It was really disappointing. They offered us a refund but it's not the same as flying over the glaciers and landing on one!

So we got in the car and headed off to Queenstown. It's a long drive, over five hours, through some spectacular scenery. We drove through national parks with amazing forests and waterfalls, then got to the drier region near Queenstown and passed massive gorges with rivers thundering along at the bottom, but not many trees on the hills. We stopped in Wanaka on the way, which was very pretty, and carried on to Queenstown. We stayed at the Sofitel, which was just gorgeous, particularly since we had a room looking over the lake.

Fox Glacier

2009-03-06T16:53:00.001+11:00

We left Punakaiki this morning and headed for Fox Glacier (yes, that's the actual name of the town). We stopped in Franz Josef on the way, to have a look at their glacier too.

See all those little coloured dots? Those are people who are closer to the glacier than we were.
This is the river created by the melting glacier.
And here's a shot of the glacier again. It was quite amazing and we could walk on all those rocks all the way to the base of the glacier, but it started raining so we headed back to the car.
You might have heard about two men who were killed when a part of the glacier fell on them about two months ago? That was this glacier. But they had jumped over the rope and gotten closer than they were meant to.

We got back in the car and drove on to Fox Glacier. We headed straight to our accommodation, Te Weheka Inn, because by now the rain was coming down in bucketloads.

We didn't go very far for the rest of the afternoon because it was dark and pouring with rain. Staying in our room with some magazines was far preferable. Dinner too. And it was a very nice dinner. We were just hoping the weather would improve in the morning for our helicopter flight over the glacier.

Punakaiki

2009-03-05T16:52:00.001+11:00

We arrived in Punakaiki after a long drive, maybe five hours. We stopped a couple of times on the way so it wasn't too bad. And the scenery everywhere we go is stunning. Anyway, we arrived at the Punakaiki Resort mid-afternoon, so we had a bit of time to relax.

We stayed in one of the eco suites, and it was very nice! But no mini bar again, so the boy went back into town (two shops) to get some beer for himself. I went for a walk on the beach, armed with the camera. Thankfully the boy had reminded me to take the spare battery with me, because the one in the camera died after two photos. But I was organised so it didn't matter.

The beach was nice but it was fairly windy and not very warm. It means I had it all to myself so that wasn't so bad. This was a little waterfall and creek that ran across the beach.
These are the pancake rocks that Punakaiki is famous for. Scientists don't know why they are formed that way. They really do look like stacks of pancakes.
Here's a little rockpool with some interesting patterns at the bottom.
I was playing around with the camera, trying to slow down the exposure to get the effect of rushing water looking all cloudy, and mostly succeeded here. Other photos I took were so overexposed that you couldn't actually tell what you were meant to be looking at. These are all beach photos, by the way.
Except this one. These are the pancake rocks proper. They are enormous and all shaped like stacks of pancakes.
There apparently was a blowhole here too but we didn't see it. I'm guessing it had been eroded since the signs were put up. But it was worth seeing.

We had dinner at the restaurant at the resort, once again very nice food. It was lovely listening to the waves as we went to bed too.

Nelson

2009-03-04T16:51:00.001+11:00

This morning we sadly left the Hapuku Lodge, headed for Nelson. We decided to go to Picton on the way, only to discover it wasn't on the way at all, and we had to drive back to Blenheim to then get to Nelson. But we drove through the Malborough wine region which was just lovely. I even recognised some of the winery names.

Picton was lovely, but quite small. We headed on to Nelson, to find our next accommodation, the Honest Lawyer.

I did not enjoy Nelson in the slightest. I was navigating with a very bad map (we'd stopped at the visitor centre in town to try and find the way to our accommodation) and I managed to get us lost. For the first time, I might add. The boy got annoyed with me and told me I clearly couldn't read a map, so I threw it at him and told him to read the effing map himself. He then got us lost twice more. I was getting sick of going around in circles so I took the map back and found the way.

We didn't think much of the Honest Lawyer, to be honest. It was one of those Olde Worlde type places, which I don't like at the best of times. And we'd booked the Rose Cottage, but when we got there they told us it had sprung a leak and had moved us to the honeymoon suite.

Pffft, honeymoon suite my ass. It was the smalled, darkest, pokiest room I've stayed in in a long time. Seeing the look on my face, the boy offered to go find some other accommodation but I couldn't be bothered. So I sat in the beer garden and read my book while he went off to find some chocolate to placate me. No room service or mini bar, you see. The food from the bar wasn't too bad though.

We left as early as possible the next morning and headed to Punakaiki.

Whale watching

2009-03-03T16:49:00.002+11:00

This morning we went to pick up our hire car. They gave us a Hyundai Sonata. We ended up referring to it as the gutless wonder. But it got us everywhere we needed to go so I guess it was okay. Next time though, I'm going to insist on a better car.

We then drove to Kaikoura, about three hours away, to go on a whale watching cruise. At first we thought we might not get to go, because the weather was pretty bad, but they sent us out anyway, making sure we had all taken motion sickness tablets. The swell was 1 - 2 metres, so it was pretty rough out there. I have never had motion sickness in my life but the boy suffers terribly and I was quite worried that he'd spend the entire time out the back throwing up. Luckily the ginger tablets and Kwells he took did the trick, and he was fine.

This is the beach at Kaikoura. You can see the weather isn't very nice.
This is a Sperm Whale poking his head out of the water to look at us. It was quite amazing and our nature guide said they rarely do that so we felt quite special.
This is one of the whales showing us his magnificent tail as he headed back under the water. These whales were about 18 - 20 metres in length, and were quite amazing to see. He was a long way off which is why his tail looks small. They're really not small at all.
This one is an albatross that lives in the area. They skim along the tops of the waves, looking for fish. The wingspan on this one was about 9 feet. I can't remember the exact name of it, I was really looking for more whales.
And here you can see the whale as he's about to head back under the water. For some reason my camera had a fit and stopped taking photos for 5 minutes, so I missed the close up view of his tail. But at least I saw it in real life, which is more important.
After the cruise (two and a half hours which seemed like about 20 minutes) we headed off to find our accommodation. The maps the car hire place gave us were practically useless so we did a lot of driving around randomly looking for places.

Eventually we found our accommodation. It was called the Hapuku Lodge and it was absolutely stunning. We stayed in one of the treehouses and Wow! is all I can say.

This is the view from the shower. Yes, the shower.
This is the view from the lounge, which had a fire as well. We did light the fire, even though it wasn't that cold, just because it seemed like we should.
We ate dinner in their restaurant and the food was delicious again. I would highly recommend Hapuku Lodge to anyone going to Kaikoura. We've already decided we need to go back at a different time in the year, probably winter, just for the stunning scenery, and to see more whales.

Tranz Alpine Train Ride

2009-03-02T16:47:00.001+11:00

Today we went on the TranzAlpine Train over to Greymouth, and back to Christchurch. It's a four hour ride in either direction, and the scenery was quite amazing. I didn't take many photos because it's hard to take photos from a moving train, so you'll just have to trust me that it was lovely. I did get this one photo of the Canterbury Plains as we were coming back into Christchurch.
Greymouth was pretty but there wasn't a whole lot there. We only stayed for an hour to have lunch, then had to get back on the train to come back to Christchurch. But it was nice enough. I slept a lot on the way back, having seen all the scenery already. It was a very relaxing day!

We decided to go out for dinner - the boy went and did some reconnaisance and found a nice italian restaurant for us to eat in. Their service was a bit slow but they had the best garlic bread I've ever eaten, and my dinner itself was delicious. It started raining while we were eating but wasn't really cold. Luckily it had mostly stopped by the time we walked back to the hotel so we didnt' get too wet.

Departure Day

2009-03-01T16:45:00.001+11:00

This morning we left the house at the crack of dawn (really - 7.15am) to head to the airport to fly to Christchurch. We arrived about 2.30pm and were collected by a very nice man with a van big enough to carry 10 passengers. He drove us to our hotel - the George Hotel - and give us a bit of a tour of the city on the way.

In the afternoon we went for a walk along the Avon River, which winds through the park that is in the middle of Christchurch. It was right opposite our hotel and very nice. It's a pretty city, remind me a lot of an English village (only bigger).

We decided late to have dinner in the hotel but there were a lot of people in the restaurant so it took AGES for us to get our food. I think the waitress knew we were annoyed because we got free dessert. My meal was nice, which made it not so bad.

No photos today because I didn't think to take the camera on our walk. Silly, I know.

Leaving, on a jet plane

2009-02-28T18:00:00.002+11:00

Well, I hope it has big engines anyway. We are off to New Zealand in the morning and I've done the same thing as last time, posted blog entries for each day which I'll fill in when we get back, complete with photos.

See you in 12 days!

Travel documents

2009-02-19T09:00:00.001+11:00

They're here! And it's only 10 days til we leave! I am excited.

Ooooh

2009-02-17T21:08:00.000+11:00

Hey, did you know we leave on our holiday in 12 days?

I'm excited too.

Ready to go!

2009-01-31T09:07:00.002+11:00

The bookings have been made, payment has been made, we are ready to head off on our holiday! It's just a shame that it's still four weeks away. Oh well, at least we don't have the massive countdown of our last holiday again.

And finally some good news; my new camera lens has FINALLY arrived so I will be picking that up this morning.

Planning our next holiday

2009-01-09T21:48:00.002+11:00

So this year we've decided to go to New Zealand in March. We'll be there for about 10 days. At this stage, it's just the south island we'll be visiting. Flying into Christchurch and then driving around the island. We'll include a whale watching cruise, a train trip over the mountains, and a cruise through the fjords. I'm already excited.

The final thing

2008-12-29T14:25:00.002+11:00

So in the mail last week I got a card from the post office telling me I had a package waiting for me. Of course the post office was closed until today, so I finally went and got it. It was the box of stuff we'd ordered from the Rocky Mountaineer two months ago! Yay!

I have a new t-shirt, keyring, polar bear carving, and fuzzy hat. The boy has 2 t-shirts, a dvd, a book, and 2 panorama posters of the mountains. We also have a magnet for my sister. I can't believe it took two months for these things to arrive. They charged my credit card all that time ago and I was beginning to think I'd have to fight with them to get the money back! But all is well.

My rock

2008-11-19T11:16:00.003+11:00

I'm not a "rock" person. I don't understand the appeal. But when we visited the fossil shop in Vancouver, I saw an egg made from this rock and couldn't keep my eyes off it. Something about the colours just appealed to me. However, the egg was $5,000 so I was not bringing that home with me. Instead I got this small one. It's called a Septarian Form. And I love it.

Day twenty nine

2008-10-31T16:34:00.000+11:00

Arrive home in Melbourne! Tired but happy.

Day twenty eight

2008-10-30T16:34:00.001+11:00

This morning in Singapore we decided to go shopping again and get my lovely new handbag. She has been named Kate.
Isn't she lovely? We had a late checkout from our lovely hotel so we got to hang around our suite until 6pm. Then we got driven to the airport by another man with a nice shiny car (this one was a mercedes benz) and hung out at the airport for a couple of hours until our flight left.

We had intended to claim back our GST from our shopping in Singapore but we checked in our bags before finding out that we needed to show what we had bought in order to make the claim. Suffice to say, we did not claim back the GST. Oh well, lucky it wasn't a LOT of money.

The flight back to Melbourne is about 7 and a half hours which isn't too bad. As it's overnight we just slept most of the way.

Day twenty seven

2008-10-29T16:34:00.001+11:00

After waking up at 4.30am (jetlag sucks) we got up early and went for breakfast. We decided to go shopping but after consultation with the concierge discovered that the shops didn't open until 10am. We had a couple of hours to kill so we went back to our suite and read for a bit.

After setting off to go shopping, we covered about 3km of underground shopping centres - thank god for the airconditioning because it was HOT! Anyway we made it to the train station and caught the train to Orchard Road. They were doing major construction on Orchard Road so there wasn't a lot to see... we did visit a few shops and I got some new sunglasses. The boy got some new boots and a winter coat from Hugo Boss (which is ironic considering it was about 32 deg C outside) and we caught a cab back to the hotel.

We had dinner at their fancy restaurant that night which was lovely. Then afterwards I decided that I needed a photo of the city skyline from our hotel room and this is what I got.

Day twenty six

2008-10-28T16:34:00.002+11:00

We spent all day today flying, flying, flying and arrived in Singapore at almost midnight. Luckily a nice man with a big shiny car picked us up at the airport and took us to our cushy hotel, the Ritz Carlton. Even better, they upgraded us to a suite!

Day twenty five

2008-10-27T16:34:00.001+11:00

Early afternoon flight from Vancouver to Singapore. 19 hours in the air!

Flying... flying... flying...

Day twenty four

2008-10-26T16:34:00.001+11:00

Today was our last day in Vancouver. We decided to have a lazy day - got out of bed late, wandered down to a cafe for a late breakfast, moseyed back down Robson St and looked in all the shops. I bought some stuff in Kiehls and spent a bit more than intended. We lazed around for the rest of the afternoon.

Day twenty three

2008-10-25T16:34:00.001+11:00

Today we went to Grouse Mountain and the Capilano Suspension Bridge. This involved a long walk (a VERY long walk) down to the sea bus terminal (otherwise known as the ferry), then a ride across the bay, then a bus trip up the mountain. THEN we had to catch the skylift gondola thing up to the top. Actually that was pretty cool but it was so foggy we literally could not see three metres in front of us.

Anyway the whole point of going to Grouse Mountain was to see the grizzly bear refuge. There are two orphaned grizzly bears that live there together. And look, here they are! Grizzly bear butts!
I saw this chipmunk sitting on a tree trunk. Personally, I wouldn't have been in the bear enclosure but maybe that's just me.
Here the bear was posing for me...
And here comes the other one, not wanting to miss out on the action.
And now, for your entertainment, grizzly bear wars!
So Grouse Mountain was totally worth the hassle to get there. On the way back to the ferry we decided to get off the bus and visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge. After paying CA$31 (each - and that's about A$689 each) to get in, we walked over the bridge and were... disappointed. It was nothing to get excited about. But I got a couple of nice scenery shots.

The ride back was long and the walk back to our hotel was even longer. We went out for dinner and crashed again.

Day twenty two

2008-10-24T16:34:00.001+11:00

Today I foolishly went out without my camera. We walked down to Stanley Park, which was just beautiful. After wandering around there for a while we eventually found the Aquarium and visited that for a couple of hours. They have Beluga Whales there and they were so much fun to watch.

We went back to the hotel (I should be point out that it was a one hour walk in each direction) and found the address of the fossil shop that the boy wanted to visit. We caught a cab over there and spent over two hours looking in the shop. We left having bought several fossils and cool rocks, which were shipped home to us.

After a big day out we had dinner and crashed out at the hotel.

Day twenty one

2008-10-23T16:34:00.001+11:00

This morning we flew back to Vancouver (in business class thankyou very much). For a three hour flight we only arrived one hour after leaving. Happily, our hotel let us check in early and they gave us a nicer room than the one we had booked. Anybody going to Vancouver, the Listel Hotel on Robson St is great!

So we left our bags and stuff and wandered down Robson St for a bit. We looked for some decent coffee but just like in the States, the evil empire is everywhere and we were disappointed in our quest for coffee. We did find a decent cafe and had some reasonable eggs benedict so that was a plus. We just moseyed around the shops, and ended up having dinner at the restaurant in our hotel, which was excellent.

Day twenty

2008-10-22T16:34:00.001+11:00

Here's the most important shot of the day.Yes people, those are BABY polar bears. With their mum. How freakin' cute are they? These babies are about 10 months old.

This afternoon we travelled back to Churchill and spent an hour in town before heading back to the airport. We flew back to Winnipeg and arrived around 8.pm. After three exhausting days on the tundra buggy seeing the amazing polar bears, we crashed out (after having our first showers for three days).

Day nineteen

2008-10-21T16:34:00.001+11:00

Today I will mostly let the photos speak for themselves.
Except for this one. The story here is that one of the tundra buggies blew a tyre and it had to be changed. Going on the ground in polar bear territory is not advisable. There were three men to change the tyre, and one man to stand on the roof of the tractor (being used to jack up the tundra buggy) with a shotgun in case of polar bears. Just as well he was there too. One very large male bear spotted the potential for some lunch and snuck up in the grass. The tyre changing boys jumped into the tundra buggy until he went away. But he didn't go away. He got closer and closer (very slowly) until they had to get in the mechanic's vehicle and drive at the bear to chase him off. We called it polar bear reality tv.

This is a snowy owl. They nest on the ground. Well, there are no trees.

Day eighteen

2008-10-20T16:34:00.003+11:00

After our first night on the Tundra Buggy Lodge, which was an experience, let me tell you. We had bunks, which is fine. But there were 18 of us in one buggy and we had one shower and two toilets for all those people to share. It was ... cosy. But seeing these magnificent beasts made it totally worthwhile.

This is the outside of the lodge. Sorry about the reflection, I didn't have much more opportunity to get a good photo.OH MY GOD look it's a polar bear! This one spent most of the time just sitting in the kelp bed and waiting for the ice. He would sometimes raise his head as we drove past, but mostly he ignored us and slept.
This one did almost the same thing.
Want to know what a polar bear butt looks like? I have many variations on this shot.
This bear obliged by at least not showing me his butt as I took the photo.
And here's the sunset from our second night. It had snowed early in the morning then cleared up and we had great weather.

Day seventeen

2008-10-19T16:34:00.001+11:00

This morning we got up at quarter to dawn to fly to Churchill to see POLAR BEARS! We landed in Churchill after a two hour flight at about 10am. Here's a picture of our plane on the runway after we got on the bus.
This is the world famous polar bear jail! Bears that are caught too close to town before the sea ice freezes are trapped and kept here until they can be released a safe distance away out on the sea ice. They don't get fed, they only get water to drink. It's to encourage them not to come back.
The bears are caught in these traps.
I don't know if I've mentioned how cold it was in Churchill. Oh and those white dots you see in the picture? Not bad photography, no no, that's snow.
Just up the road from the sign that says you shouldn't walk in this area because there are polar bears about, is this boat. The locals have turned it into a sort of playground. We didn't go and play, you know, because of all the polar bears that were about.
After lunch in town (not an exciting place, if you're not going to see polar bears I really don't know why you'd go to Churchill) we had booked a helicopter flight out over the tundra. These are the helicopters we went on.
FIRST POLAR BEAR SIGHTING!! Okay it's a bit blurry but I was excited and it's hard to keep a camera really still on a helicopter.

Day sixteen

2008-10-18T16:34:00.001+11:00

This morning we left Lake Louise and travelled to Calgary (about a 3 hour drive, give or take). Our driver picked us up on time but there was some confusion about payment. I had already paid the travel agent back in Australia but he seemed to think we would be paying cash for the trip. Anyway about an hour away from Calgary he pulled over to the side of the road and rang his boss to clear up the confusion. I spoke to his boss and he was extremely rude to me. He said the pick up had "been booked on the internet somehow" and he hadn't received any payment and that I had to pay by credit card now. Mind you, he wouldn't even tell me how much I had to pay. So after much arguing I just gave him my credit card number and we continued on to Calgary.

By the way, Calgary is an ugly city and I don't ever want to go back. It seemed to have no soul or character at all. So we got on the plane to Winnipeg and checked into our hotel. Tomorrow morning we fly to Churchill to see POLAR BEARS!

Day fifteen

2008-10-17T16:34:00.001+11:00

Still at Lake Louise today. We had to get moved to a different room because the thermostat in our room wasn't working properly and we were too hot - I was even starting to get a heat rash on my leg! Ironic when it's snowing outside. Anyway today they moved us to a very nice suite on the other side of the hotel so we have this view out our window now.
It alternated between rain and snow which means the rain washed away the snow. Very sad. We went for a walk along the lake in the morning and got these couple of shots, but it really started coming down so we went back inside.

I went and had a (VERY expensive) facial and massage at the hotel spa and the boy napped all afternoon. We had a very nice lunch in the Lounge with big picture windows looking out over the lake. Dinner was good, we played some pool (I didn't win) and all in all it's been a good stay at Lake Louise.

Day fourteen

2008-10-16T16:34:00.001+11:00

This morning we spent wandering around Banff before heading off to Lake Louise. This is the main street of Banff. It's very pretty, and one of the cleanest towns I've ever seen! It wasn't crazy busy with tourists, although there were enough of us there. They were gearing up for ski season to begin in three weeks' time.
We decided to take the gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain and see what the place we were in really looked like. Here's the view from our gondola, looking down.
These are the views from the top of the mountain. Oh and by the way, we can never call the hills in Australia "mountains" again. They are pathetically small!

In the afternoon we caught a cab to Lake Louise. We were staying at the Chateau Lake Louise and this is the view from our window.
(If you look carefully, you can see a bit of my reflection in the window.)

Day thirteen

2008-10-15T16:34:00.001+11:00

We left Kamloops at the crack of dawn (okay so it was still dark) and began the journey to Banff. You can see in this photo that the temperature of the water in the ponds was warmer than the air, hence the steam. Yes that is steam.
Today we travelled through the Canadian Rockies proper. Every five minutes we'd round a corner and see some spectacular scenery. After a while it's hard to keep taking photos because it's ALL so good!

Random nice scenery shot: there are a lot of these things to see in the Rockies.
Snow! I'm trying to be arty by showing you this picture in black and white.

More lovely scenery...
The Christmas Card shots!

Arriving in Banff late in the day, and boy was it cold. We had to dig extra warm clothes out of our suitcase for the short wait to get a cab to our hotel.
We stayed at the Fox Hotel and Suites and it was just lovely! They gave us a suite which was even nicer, so we had a huge bedroom and separate lounge, two big screen TVs, a kitchen, the works. I would definitely go back there again. And the food in their restaurant was really good too.

Day twelve

2008-10-14T16:34:00.002+11:00

This morning we left our hotel at 6.30am (!) and went to the Rocky Mountaineer train station. The people there were very nice and had us all sorted in about 10 minutes. We departed on the train at just after 7.45am for the first day's journey to Kamloops.

We travelled out of Vancouver and through some very nice countryside and then the mountains, but not the Rockies yet!

This pass is called Hell's Gate; there is a cable car across it that you can go on if you're not whizzing past on the train!
We went under this bridge and I managed to snap a photo of the structure underneath. There are several single span bridges in the mountains; you have to wonder how they built them more than 100 years ago!
What we didn't realise about these mountains is that some of them are in a desert! Everything is very barren and there are not many trees, as you can see from some of these photos.
These are some rock sheds that have been built across the tracks to protect the trains from landslides. You can see the avalanche tracks right above the sheds.
But more excitingly, we saw lots of bald eagles! This one sat nicely in the tree to pose for me.

We stayed overnight in Kamloops but I don't have any photos because it was dark when we arrived and dark when we left again the next morning! Kamloops is not very exciting in the dark.

Day eleven

2008-10-13T16:34:00.002+11:00

We didn't realise that flying from Seattle to Vancouver wasn't really necessary. We just assumed that if you go to another country you need to go in a plane (that is always the case in Australia). Apparently we could have gone on the train which would have been more scenic. Oh well. We flew in a Dash-8 Series 300 which the boy was excited about.

We stayed over night in Vancouver and tomorrow we get on the Rocky Mountaineer for two days.

By the way, it rained the whole time in Vancouver while we were there.

Day ten

2008-10-12T16:34:00.006+11:00

Seattle - Mount St Helens Tour! We left the hotel at 7.15am for the three hour drive to Mount St Helens National Park. We stopped on the way at a tiny place called Toledo (not where Klinger is from!) and had the best coffee of the whole holiday from a dirty service station.

We then went to the County Park to have our morning tea. While we were there these Canada Geese flew overhead.
This is what the park looked like:
This was one of our first views of Mount St Helens.
Here are some more shots:

This is a view of the river plain which was covered in many metres of ash and rock. The water is slowly carving another channel for itself.

And here are The Hummocks, a topographical feature caused by the ground swelling after the eruption.

Day nine

2008-10-11T16:34:00.002+11:00

Seattle - today we trekked over to Fremont to meet up with friends and their huskies, Steve and Kat. We had a nice lunch and then went for a walk to find some photo spots. I got Valerie to take this photo of the boy and I with Steve (red bandanna) and Kat (pink bandanna).
The people at our hotel told us it would take us ages to drive to Fremont (it took 12 minutes) so we decided to walk back to the city. On the way we walked over the Fremont Bridge which is a draw bridge and started to split as we walked over.
This is a picture of the river under the bridge. I have no idea what it is called.
We walked and walked and walked and eventually made it to the Space Needle so we decided to go up there since we were in the neighbourhood. This is what it looks like from underneath.
This is the view of Mt Rainier from the top of the Space Needle. Apparently we were lucky because it was a clear day.
I love the fact it looks like the mountain is just floating in mid-air. It's not, that's just how it looks.

Day eight

2008-10-10T16:34:00.001+11:00

Seattle - our first day here. We just walked around and looked for a decent cup of coffee, somewhat unsuccessfully. We went to the Pike Place Market because everyone said it was so fantastic but honestly, I wasn't that impressed. And there was no good coffee!

Anyway, we went back to the market in the evening to get some shots of the fluorescent signs.

Day seven

2008-10-09T16:34:00.001+11:00

Most of the day on the train. This is what our train looked like. This was at a place called Klamath Falls in Oregon.
This is what Oregon looks like - those parts that weren't covered in snow as we went by.
Here's my idyllic farmhouse photo. It's a bit far away but I like it anyway.

We arrived in Seattle really late at night and made it to our hotel around midnight

Day six

2008-10-08T16:34:00.002+11:00

San Francisco - our last day here. We spent most of the day lounging around and doing not very much. Oh, in the morning we caught the tram up to the train station and collected our tickets. I didn't get a photo of the tram myself, but the nice people at FreeFoto.com have some so here is one for your viewing pleasure.

We also went for a ride on the cable car into the city. Then we walked and walked and walked and eventually found Little Italy where we had a very nice lunch. And then we walked back to Fisherman's wharf to our hotel. Here's a picture I took when we went on the tour bus thingy of the iconic houses in San Francisco - they call them the Painted Ladies.

At 8pm we left for our night trip on the Coast Starlight Train to Seattle. We caught a bus from the San Francisco Ferry Port to Emeryville where we got on the train. Thankfully we had booked a sleeper so we had our own little room with a tiny bathroom. It was surprisingly comfortable.