Surfers' Paradise

We managed about 600kms in the last couple of days and have reached our first sunshine destination - Surfers' Paradise! A huge, long beach, gleaming tower blocks and a young, happening atmosphere...This region is where the big theme parks are located, our schedule for the next few days! For now, though, a well deserved afternoon on the beach...

Choco-heaven!

Nothing much to report today as we spent most of the day travelling from Newcastle to Ballina - on our way to the Gold Coast for some fun in the theme parks and then more animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary and Australia Zoo - it's all go! However, by way of a filler, here's a pic of Em enjoying a truly 'hot' chocolate in the cutest Chocolate Cafe in the Blue Mountains. You get what looks like an oil burner - complete with lit candle - in which you melt your chocolate buttons (like a mini fondue really) - then you pour in hot milk, stir and enjoy. And all this by an open log fire. Have I died and gone to heaven? ;0)

Australian Reptile Park

North of Sydney as we head up for Brisbane is the Australian Reptile Park. A massive treat, our first sighting of a Duck Billed Platypus!!! A real one!!! Most reptiles are behind glass so can't be photographed but here's a fab fibreglass model of a frilled lizard from the entrance, and a shot of the zoo keeper feeding a chicken dinner to Elvis the Crocodile.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Back to Sydney for a final day, we opted for the walk at road level over the Sydney Harbour Bridge, which gave us fabulous views of the city and the Opera House. From here we could see at close hand the people who'd opted for the "over" the bridge option - not for the faint-hearted!!!

Blue Mountains

We headed out of Sydney for a couple of days, west to the Blue Mountains. I guess the view was something like the grand canyon, but greener, vast and asolutely stunning. Here's Tim and Em in front of the Three Sisters.

Koala Fun

Featherdale Wildlife Park is about 40 mins west of Sydney and a great showcase for Ozzie wildlife. Kangaroos, Wallabies, Echidnas, Ibis, Dingos, and of course the hallmark Koala. Had a lovely day, Em got to stroke a Dingo puppy and we all got the chance to stroke a Koala and a Kangaroo. We feel like true Antipodeans, now, notice the upward inflection on the end of this sentence? It's all good, eh?

Sydney Tour

Today we took an open top bus tour of Sydney - here's just one of the amazing views - and visited the Maritime Museum. They have a replica of the ship used by Cpt Cook when he took his 3 year expedition to claim and map Australia (then called New Holland) and New Zealand. The replica has been equipped for modern-day sailing and has already been twice around the world. You'd need a strong stomach, though, it was rolling quite enough even just anchored in the harbour!

Hopped over to Oz

Well, after much thought and deliberation we decided to spend our final three weeks somewhere warm and sunny. So we've hopped over to eastern Australia for a roadtrip from Sydney to Brisbane - from Auckland it's the equivalent of going to Spain - 3.30mins flight at just over £100 each - bargain! We arrived to glorious sunshine and took a guided tour of the Opera House, all of us totally awestruck, it is so much better in the flesh!

We looked at the Sydney Harbour Bridge and saw ant-size groups on the top - people taking the over-bridge tour! Look closely you can see them...

Beware Trains!

On the way back down to Auckland, we passed a small town called Kawakawa. We thought nothing of the “beware, trains, 1km” sign, although the 1km puzzled us a bit. Alarmed or manual railway crossings are quite common here. But then, look what we saw coming down the high street of the town!!!

Giant Kauri

Thanks to the highly efficient logging industry in the 19th century, there are very few ancient Kauri trees left in the forests, so we took a detour to see the largest remaining living tree. It’s about 2000 years old and huge – Kauris are second only in size to the sequoia. If you look closely, you’ll see Tim and Emma just visible through the bush.

North of the North

The most northerly part of our tour is to Cape Reinga, a lighthouse and at the very tip the Pahutakawa Tree through which Maori souls are said to pass into the sea as they journey up Ninety Mile Beach.

This is the point at which the Tasmin Sea meets the Pacific Ocean, and the swell out to sea was testimony to this – on a stormy day it’s supposed to be quite something. We were treated to beautiful weather for this most northerly venture in New Zealand. Our friends told us we must get an ice-cream at this little shop up here – this, believe it or not is a single scoop for a whopping two dollars (about 80p).

90 Mile Beach

Our next stop is Ninety Mile Beach. As the road this far north is not all surfaced, the smoothest ride we’re told is driving up the beach itself, which is a highway and is patrolled by the police (the coach driver told us they keep their fishing rods on the roof!). Unless you have a knowledge of sands & tides and a 4x4, drivers are advised not to drive on the beach so we took a coach tour. We drove right up to the top of the beach, on such a huge scale that it doesn’t photograph at all well. Half way up we stopped to say hello to a Sealion (in NZ they call them Fur Seals) basking in the surf. At the top we drove up a creek to re-join the road, but not before we stopped to toboggan down the massive sand dunes – here’s Em on her way down! No, really!

Waitangi

On our penultimate excursion in New Zealand before the next leg of our journey, we took a 3 day tour of ‘Northland’ – the peninsula to the north of Auckland. Our first stop was Waitangi, a famous spot where treaties were signed between English and Maori representatives in the 19th century. Pictured is the elaborately carved interior of the ceremonial Maori Meeting House on the site.

Mount Maunganui

Close to the kiwi farm at Te Puke is an extinct volcanic cone called Mount Maunganui sitting on a peninsula at the end of the beach. A stunning location, we took the afternoon to walk the circumference with sea views from all sides. Had the weather been kinder we could have taken a boat trip out to White Island, the most active volcano in New Zealand.

Go Kiwi Fruit!

Since Emma had New Zealand Monopoly for her birthday, we’ve made it our mission to visit as many places on the board as we can. By the time we finish our trip, we will have completed all but three! This week we visited Kiwi 360 which is a farm park dedicated to the Kiwi Fruit. You never knew they were so interesting? Well here goes with some fascinating facts! Imported from China, the fruit used to be known as the Chinese Gooseberry. It needs a huge amount of water to bear fruit and when it does, it’s abundant. Did you know that the humble Kiwi has more vitamin C than an orange; more fibre than a bowl of bran flakes AND more potassium than a banana – they are of course promoting it as the world’s healthiest food. We had a tour of the orchards in a unique “kiwi-cart”; got to see kiwis growing on the vine; tasted the green and the golden fruit; sampled kiwi juice (not sure about that) and even kiwi wine! Hic!

Science Fun Day

To mark the start of the school winter holidays, Auckland University threw open its doors to children of all ages for a Science Discovery Day. Explosions, concoctions, illusions and creations! Here’s Emma demonstrating how the Van den Graff Generator can make your hair stand on end – she doesn’t look so sure about it though huh?

Botanical Gardens

In our search for interesting things to do in Auckland on a damp winter afternoon, we discovered the Botanical Gardens. Lots of interesting trees, plants and sculptures, this one we thought was worthy of a picture – in the vein of Gauguin’s Tahiti paintings. The odd thing about places like this – the exotic and tropical stuff is classed as normal, and plants we think are common (like roses) are treated as exotic!

Craters of the Moon

An area of ‘thermal activity’, the Craters of the Moon is an area of land where Fumeroles come to the surface – they’re vents for underground volcanic steam. Amazingly you can get really close to these things, mostly on wooden boardwalks, from small holes in the ground to massive craters, hence the name.

Hukka Falls

On the way back from Tongariro we stopped off at the Hukka Falls. You can hear the thunder of the water from half a mile away. The power of the water is tremendous as the river – wider on each side of this rock bottleneck – is forced through the narrow gap. And even on a dull day, the water is a stunning turquoise. The picture doesn’t really do it justice but you’ll just have to use your imagination on this one!

Tongariro National Park

This week we went in search of snow, and we weren't disappointed. Only 4 hours from Auckland there's a National Park with not one but three moutains (or rather volcanoes). During the summer you can walk across all three but it takes about 8 hours - and from the top of this snow-covered peak you can see both coasts on a clear day, apparently. Winter crossings require a guide, ice picks and axes. Perhaps not. Anyway, we were treated to the most stunning views and look forward to going back to try the Ski Resort at some point...

Here's where we are...

If you're wondering where we're staying now, here are some pictures of the house we're staying in. We've moved out of the one bedroom cottage in the grounds and are in the main house for 3 weeks. Tim and I have the single storey annex, and Emma is upstairs in the main house. The best thing is that when it gets chilly in the evening, we can put a log on the fire! Pictured: a view of the house, a view of the garden, and Emma sitting reading by the pond. How tranquil...