On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:37:29 -0600, Janet Wilder
wrote:
We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New
Zealand. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. We tasted
Vegamite (not as bad as it looks), ate quite a lot of yummy lamb and got
to see some awesome scenery and lots of sheep and cows :-)
In Australia we visited Ularu and did the Sounds of Silence dinner which
was a wonderful experience. I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, too.
One interesting thing I learned is that Australians don't drink that
awful Foster's beer. They just export it :-) If they made it here, I'd
export it, too. I did taste some of the local brews and found them to be
very nice. The wines of both countries were fabulous, but that goes
without saying.
Sidney is a big city. It has some interesting architecture, like the
opera house, but urban is urban, no matter where. Melbourne was a little
more interesting. My impression was that the financial institutions were
more grand than the churches, which led us to believe that money was
definitely more important to the founders of the city than religion. Or
perhaps money was their religion?
The Olgas and Ularu are awe-inspiring. I have just managed to clean the
red earth stains from my white walking shoes. The laces are permanently
stained and will have to be trashed. We did a Liru walk with two
Aborigine gents and an interpretor and learned quite a bit from them
about how they managed to survive in the desert. We got to pet a live
koala and saw fields-full of kangaroo. They seem to adore the sports
fields as a habitat. We saw some crocs, too, not to mention tasting them
and "skippy" meat as well.
Our ship sailed through the fjords of the South Island of NZ and the
scenery was breath-taking. It had rained for several days before we came
so we were treated to a myriad of waterfalls. We took the scenic train
in Dunedin through the gorge and I got the best souvenir ever on the
train. It's a little purse that is made of lambskin and looks like a
lamb's face. I had it on the ship and it was so unique that I was taped
with it for the DVD that the cruise line sells as a rememberence of the
voyage.
We also went to Rotorua and the Maori village, the Gloworm caves at
Waitomo (awesome!) and did some touring around in Christchurch and
Wellington. Unfortunately the ship had a mechanical problem and we
couldn't put in at Napier. We were in Wellington on the open visit to
Parliament day so we took a tour of the government buildings. You Kiwis
who haven't been should go next year. The library is very pretty. The
"Beehive" in my opinion, was quite ugly.
We looked at all the stuff that tourists are supposed to purchase but
I'm not fond of opals so there wasn't much in Oz to tempt me. In NZ, the
woolens were lovely but very expensive. The thought of possum fur being
in some of the wool goods turned my stomach. To me possum is road kill.
Ugh! The other gift shop stuff was exactly the same in every place we
visited and it was too tourist-tacky to consider. I did get post cards
of a kiwi and that wonderful tree fern. We did get to see live Kiwis on
one of our excursions to the center where they are raising them. I also
did the Antarctic place, but the Te Papa museum was the best. What a
treasure you Kiwis have in that museum!
Thanks to all of you for your hospitality. It was much appreciated and I
hope that any of you who are visiting way-the-heck-south Texas will
email me so that I can return the kindness.
Kia Ora and G'Day,
Janet
Thanks for the trip report. It's always interesting to see
how others see us.
Frame the shoelaces and hang them on the wall as a
memento:-)
Possums here are actually a totally different animal and a
bloody nuisance if you get them in your roof-space. The most
common road-kill is roos.
Cheers, Alan, Australia
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