ozblog | kiwiblog

(Or, in keeping with the "Finding Nemo" theme of the Australian leg of the trip: "Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming…")

We left sunny Sydney Saturday morning for Cairns, where it was forecast to rain, but fortunately was sunny with the occasional large cumulus cloud. The pilot said it was 32 degrees in Cairns, but when we got off the plane it didn't seem at all like the 32 degrees I remember from the beginning of the trip back in Boston! (Maybe "Celsius" isn't just an Aussie variant of "Farenheit" -- the way raisins are "sultanas", Rice Krispies are "Rice Bubbles" and Burger King is "Hungry Jack’s"?)

Anyway, Marj found a beautiful resort -- our one real splurge of the trip -- at the end of the Esplanade in central Cairns.

Update: Here's the view from our room (on the first and only sunny day):



We all spent the afternoon in the three pools, then had a snack and went for a walk down the Esplanade. Just at the end of our parking lot (er, "carpark") was a public swimming pool called the Lagoon, and the kids as well as Marj jumped in again. They got out just in time to avoid a torrential tropical downpour -- intense, but over quickly.

Update: Marj and kids frolicking in the "lagoon":

Sorry that we haven't had reliable Internet access to upload photos (most recent posts have been from kiosks) but when you read about our day at the zoo in Sydney you knew that we'd put up a picture of the Opera House:



and the Harbour Bridge:



and Marj so close to a koala she could pet it (but didn't!)



Mad props to my Aussie mate Anthony for giving us the Taronga Zoo tip, and our apologies to him (and his dad) that we skipped his hometown of Townsville in favor of Cairns to explore the Great Barrier Reef.

The Haynors are still in New Zealand. We are hanging out in Hamilton with old friends from our time here. We have had barbecues and have generally been trying to avoid the bad weather. Fortunately the cyclone is supposed to pass through before our plane departs tomorrow.

We are staying just south of a town called Ngaruawahia. We remember how to spell this word with the following phrase "Nine Girls Are Running Under A Wharf And Here I Am" (pronounced Nair-O- Wa-He-uh). Our friend Rosie is Queen Bee at the golf club there. She was the first woman to ever play in the New Zealand Golf Open!!! We have been staying with Rosie and her dog Smudge.

We were given a couple of books by some friends and Toby and Harrison are excited about sharing these Kiwi books with their friends from class.

Our time here has been grand.... but now it is time to fly back and get back to the grindstone. We'll see you back home next week.

Signing off from Aotearoa - the land of the long white cloud.

When I pass away.... If I go to heaven, it will look like the Tongariro river on the south end of Lake Taupo.

The first day I was casting into gale force winds and my lure landed at my feet as often as not. I learned a new casting technique called Spey roll casting which is kind of a double pump roll cast which is very effective for getting distance when you are standing with a cliff behind you. It was necessary for fishing in the hydro pool of the Tongariro.

We connected with a big brown trout... I thought about 7 pounds but my guide and another guide down the river that saw the fish said it was probably 9 pounds. It ran downstream, then upstream and we thought we had it. Then the fish took off taking all of my fly line and all of my backing. I had to run down the river about 300 yards crossing side inlet streams while trying to hold onto the fish.

The fish finally got into a rapids and broke off but I reckon it was the most fun I have ever had chasing a fish. Even my guide was exhilarated and usually guides don't get that excited about catching a fish because they do it every day.

We caught about a dozen fish the first day but nothing with much size to it. The second day we got shut out but it was still better than doing emails at the office.

(Pictures and movie to follow...) Just to put this whole trip into perspective Marjorie got hooked on koalas at age four after receiving a stuffed animal gift from a friend of her father's. Since then it has been a true love affair with the original koala still residing at home with us. Today we went to the Taronga Zoo on our true pilgrimage with Marjorie hoping beyond hope to see the real thing in its natural habitat.

The ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Zoo departs Sydney Harbor right between the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge. Delivered right to the zoo we took a skytram to the top and immediately had our photos taken with some sleepy koalas and then went walkabout. We saw echidna, wallaby, kangaroo, emu and whole host of other animals. Ben loved the red pandas the best. Rachel's favorite was the koala too. Jason liked the echidna. When we got to the koala habitat all five darlings were asleep, but Marjorie was still happy to be that close to them. Just when we about to head out a few of the koala awoke, jumped from branch to branch and generally lolled about the trees. They really do look drunk.

Kids and Kevin completed the day by visiting the Sky Tower, Marj went opal shopping instead. That's OK because Marj is afraid of heights and Kevin is afraid of jewelry. The kids once again dined royally and even Ben got into the act by trying some kangaroo and emu. Jason and Rachel tried camel and emu. We really enjoyed watching the many bats flying around Sydney in the evening. It's quite a fantastic sight.

Off today for Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.....

Went to the Sydney Aquarium to find Nemo (along with every other school child in Sydney). Underwater tunnels allow you to walk among the seals and sharks and the glass floor allows you to see them as they swim below you. We saw a preview of Great Barrier Reef as well. The Aquarium is at Darling Harbor which is a port development with outdoor restaurants and shops. Jason surprised us all by expanding his menu to include kangaroo skewers, calamar and prawns (with the head and eyes still on!). Rachel tried an oyster but remains unconvinced. And Ben ate bread with butter (routine is important.)

The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney's Museum of Science and Technology, had an exhibit about Aussie sports legends with the focus on the 2000 Olympics. There was a soccer simulation as well as an Olympic diving simulation. These were very cool and we all enjoyed the day very much. After a short swim on the hotel roof we ordered Thai and Domino's Pizza (!) take-away and watched Finding Nemo back at the hotel.

To all of my classmates (as well as Rachel's)... We plan to give a test on Australia and New Zealand when we return. Study up on geography and zoology (animals).
Jason

Jason, Rachel and Benjamin would like to hear from their friends and classmates. Click on the "Comments" link (in gray below this post) to leave them a message.

Hi all... we're in Sydney, so you'll notice the title of the blog has changed. I also decided that even over dialup we could deal with larger pictures so I scaled everything up a little bit to make it easier to see. (Old posts have been updated as well.) Don't forget to leave comments -- sometimes they go away but try again later.

(As they so quaintly describe flying across the Tasman Sea from NZ to Australia or vice versa...)

Before we start the Andresens' Australian adventure, let's wrap up our New Zealand tour. For those with fast internet access, here's a QuickTime movie of the mudpools at Rotorua. What looks like rain (or hail) falling is actually boiling mud bubbling up from the pool:

Bubbling mud pools at Rotorua [1.6 MB download!]

We had a short driving tour of Auckland Wednesday morning before our flight. In some ways, it resembles San Francisco, with a skyline over the water, a busy marina and even Victorian homes (as well as the same congested freeways/motorways!)

Evan and Brianna- we didn't bungy jump yet because Harrison is too young and his mom chickened out. We did have fun watching someone jump who screamed all the way down and up again.
Andy- the airplane rides are fun and my favorite one is the international one because we get head sets to watch movies and play playstation games on the head rest in front of us.
Haley- classroom in kiwi is classroom ,however, first grade is considered first year.
taylor- yes I am having a good time here in NZ. I still like the jet boat ride the best.
Hannah-We have met the children of our parents friends and they are my brother Tobys age and younger.
I am still eating chips and crisps and liking them heaps.
Cheers, Harrison

Harrison's mom typing here with Harrison to his classmates. After saying goodbye to the Andresen family and safe travels for the remainder of our seperate trips, we the Haynors traveled down to Lake Taupo. We saw the spectacular Huka Falls on our way. We had great fun throwing pumice rocks in Lake Taupo in Kinlock. Pumice rocks are so fun because they are made of volcanic ash and they are so light that they float.

We continue to see heaps of sheep, but no sharks. In Rotorua we saw two more kiwi birds along with an active geyser and a Maori cultural performance at the Whakarewarewa thermal village. The Maori warriors told us about their Mere (spear) and performed a dance with it. It was very cool. The Mere had kiwi feathers and dog fur on it which is wiggled to distract the prey. On its tip is a detailed carving of a face and the Maori never throw their spears.

Harrison's dad is fishing in the rivers today and we will join him tomorrow. Then we head back to Hamilton and explore the northern parts of the North island before we depart. All continues to be fun and exciting and we are thinking of Mrs. Gaffer and classmates.

At Rotorua, the Andresens and the Haynors parted ways after an incredible week together. The Haynors headed down to Lake Taupo and will stay in New Zealand for the rest of the week. We headed back to Hamilton; tomorrow morning we tour Auckland, then fly to Sydney for the "Oz" part of our adventure.

The kids (and the parents) got along famously and had a great time. We hope to see more posts and comments from their part of the trip!



[Update: I changed the picture on this post because I realized there were none of the adults. To see the original picture of the kids waiting to see the glow worms, click here.]

Day 3 (the rest): Went on a little cruise on the TSS Earnslaw across Lake Wakatipu, then went to a Kiwi + Birdlife park. We saw lots of interesting birds, the kiwis looked so funny when they ran. After that, we went to an indoor golf place called Caddyshack City. Every hole had a model and some of them actually worked!

Day 4: Today was the Milford Sound rainout. We planned on going to Milford Sound, a body of water that Rudyard Kipling called the eighth wonder of the world. It rained so hard that the tour operators had to cancel the boats. It was the first time in about ten years that this happened. However, we did see waterfalls that had been created from the rain.

Day 5: Drove to the Fox Glacier Inn, went to see the Fox Glacier. We didn’t walk on the glacier, but I’m glad because the glacier was huge! On the way back, we saw some Keas in the parking lot. Keas are really smart, and kind of like parrots. So we were actually a little bit scared of them.



Day 6: We drove through Arthur’s Pass today on the rainiest day in February in the rainiest place in NZ. We saw waterfalls over a tunnel. And then we flew to Auckland. The hotel made a really big mistake when they gave us the key to a room that already had someone in it.

Day 7: We played mini-golf at Treasure Island (like Pirate’s Cove) and then we went to Hobbiton. Hobbiton is really Matamata NZ where the Shire from the Lord of the Rings was filmed. The set is on the Alexander farm.



In Matamata they had hobbit holes painted on the windows of stores. We drove to Hamilton and went to a Barbie (BBQ) at the Haynor’s friends’ house.



Day 8: We went to the Glowworm caves in Waitomo. What was so cool about the Glowworms was their feeding lines. When light was shined on them you could see what just looked like millions of threads hanging down from the ceiling of the cave. We saw a pillar, which is when stalactite (down from the ceiling) and a stalagmite (up from the ground) are joined. And our guide said that this took 200,000 years to happen. That’s actually not a very big number compared to how old the whole cave was. The Glowworms, hence their name, really glowed and we saw them by floating through a dark cave in a boat.

Day 9: We went to the Rotorua thermal preserve. It is really called Te Whakarewarewatangaoteopetauaawahiao. This park was filled with mud pools that bubble and splash. There was also a geyser, that instead of going on for five minutes went on for around fifteen minutes.



We saw two kiwi birds that were fighting. And we saw a Maori ceremony in the Maori meeting house. After that we were like Ring Wraiths searching for the Ring of Power from The Lord of the Rings and we finally found one at a jewelry shop in Rotorua. You may think that it would be easy to find a ring like that in NZ but they were actually extremely rare. The jewelry shop we found it in had only samples left, and if it hadn’t been for me being a kid, then I never would have gotten one. The lady just didn’t want to disappoint a kid so she let me buy the sample.

Scroll down to look at the posts from last Wednesday and Friday -- now properly illustrated. Stay tuned for another update from Jason, including the Andresens' tour of the Lord of the Rings Hobbiton movie set.

This is Harrison's dad typing for Harrison.

Today we are in Hamilton, NZ - which is the hometown of my classmate Travis Palmer. Last night we had a barbecue (Barbie) with some of my Dad's friends.

Today we are going to Waitomo caves to see worms that glow in the dark. They are called - glow worms. They are in a town called Te Awamutu.

Tomorrow we are going to Rotorua to see the hot pools and geysers. Hopefully we can post some photos from there.

I learned to play 'Petanque' (pronounced Pee - Tank) where you throw a little wooden ball called a jack and then everyone rolls heavy metal balls and tries to get closest to the jack. You can knock someone elses ball out of the way if you want. It was fun.

Please send us some comments from Class. We look forward to reading them.

Harrison