New Zealand -Marlborough - Kaikura

The south island has more land space and population compared with the north. Picton and Nelson are the cities on the north shore. The Tasman sea separates New Zealand on the west from Australia. We headed east towards Bleinhem and the Marlborough wine trail. The area has sea on one side and high hills on the other. A wind seems to run between the rows of vines and this may be the secret to the very successful wine industry. This area is known for excellent sauvignon blanc. Cloudy Bay, Oyster Bay, Montana and many more well known vineyards are settled between the hills, but the best vineyards are the small single owner cellar doors where you can taste the various harvests. Most of their releases sell out very quickly.

We stayed at a great place in the wine area called the Marlborough B&B. The hosts, Philip and Marilyn Cowe, had a beautiful renovated country home. Philip provided us with his expert advice on cellar doors and off we went on the wine trail. There were so many interesting wines it's difficult to capture them all, but i would say some of the best white wines I have ever tried were available. In particular the Rieslings and Sauvignon Blanc were featured in this area. It was a warm sunny day and the we had dinner in the garden with our hosts and it was a very pleasant evening.

Next day we headed south to Kaikura where the whales and seals enjoy the perfect conditions for a constant food source. The weather was coming from the south (Antarctic air) which really changed the temperature. Along the road we tried freshly caught crayfish which is like a lobster without front claws and incredibly large mussels called green bay mussels.

As the day progressed the weather cleared and suddenly the mountains appeared from the window of our bed and breakfast in Kaikura. As we walked along bay road to the seal colony where brown seals were enjoying the sun. The seals in this area tend to be males that failed to catch a mate. As we took their pictures with the other tourists one of the big males came up from the beach to challenge us. We found out later the best thing to do is duck so you do not appear larger than the challenging male and do not get between a seal and the water. The good thing is they can't run in those flippers. It's a bit like trying to run with swimming fins on - it really slows them down.

We saw interesting birds and tried some fish at the local stand. Across the road from the seal colony, there was sheep shearing and the ever present brown mountains.

New Zealand -Napier to Wellington

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After our Maori dinner we headed across the mountains to the east side of the north island to Hawkes Bay. The movie 'Whale Rider' was filmed here and the area produces a lot of fruits and vegetables and some very good wines (the rain seems to be following us, but today it was fine). We found our way to a little area outside of Napier along the winery trail. Mission Hill winery is still owned and run by the seminary owned by the Mariests. We tried some good wines and some fine dining. Mission Hill is one of the oldest vineyards in the Hawkes Bay area. We also tried one of their ice wines which they make by freezing the late harvest grapes- it tastes like cotton candy.

We explored Napier a town on Hawkes Bay with volcanic black sand beaches. This lovely town that was devastated by an earthquake in 1931 that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale which virtually destroyed the entire town. More than 150 people were killed by quake damage and ensuring fire. It gave the town a whole new beginning and they chose 'art deco' in the rebuild. The art deco buildings and palm trees are reminiscent of Miami or Los Angeles.

The popularity of art deco design can be seen all along the east coast of the north island from Napier through Masterson and Greytown. Much of the area is hilly sheep country with mountain on at least on side. At one point a sheep herd was crossing and the sheep dogs were characteristically jumping on the sheep's back to move them across the road. Sheep farms are everywhere in this hilly landscape. New Zealand had no mammals until the European settlers introduced them. Most of the introduced mammals were welcome visitors, but not the opossum that has multiplied and become a nuisance everywhere.

We reached Wellington late in the afternoon. Wellington is a charming port and gateway to the south island. The mountains surrounding make the setting of this busy capital city a captivating national capital surrounded by hills. The city comes alive with music and dance along Cuba Street in the heart of the city. The 70'a ban AC/DC were performing to crowds of 60,000. We ate at a little restaurant ion Cuba called Ernesto's that had a shrine devoted to Che Cavarra. The food was deliciious. We had an early morning sail to Picton on the south island

The ferry to Wellington is about 3 hours. The crossing was smooth, but the ferry was fully booked. We looked forward to our south island adventure.

New Zealand -Norh Island

New Zealand is only about 3 hours from Sydney by plane, but the difference between the two countries is remarkable. They speak the same language, but the cultural divide is immense and they pronounce their vowels differently The climatic atmosphere in New Zealand is challenged by a break in the ozone layer, so they advise you to wear lots of sun block. The air is incredibly clear and fresh and absent any smog or pollution. It has been described as the the 'little green garden at the bottom of the world' and I think that suits this relative new comer to the world stage.

New Zealand is one country, but two islands divided by the Cook Straight. It take about 3 hours to cross over this divide by ferry. This land and the aboriginal people are, comparatively speaking, new comers to the world stage. We are told that the Maori people were originally from what is known as French Indonesia and they migrated due to what is believed was over population on their islands. Compared to the 'bommi' indigenous people of Australia who have a history of 53,000 years they are a recent civilization.

We spent some time getting out of Wellington. They measure travel distances in hours to drive rather than km to get somewhere. Wellington reminds me a little of Halifax. We drove to an area with a lake called Levin and discovered a small lake with many black swans. The black swans were a recurring theme we observed here -outliers. It seems fitting that black swans are predominate in this land - that is a result of volcanic eruption. The land parallels the 'black swan theory' - its very existence was the result of an occurrence of high-impact, hard-to-predict, and rare events that are beyond the realm of normal expectations.

It is the middle of summer here and the weather is a relief after the stifling heat in Sydney, but the rain followed us into the mountains. We visited the national park in Tongariro where we encountered heavy rain. The mountains are beautiful and wild in the national park. The volcanic base creates interesting features. the scilica river was interesting. This area is the land of 'Lord of the Rings'. Peter Jackson, the director of the trilogy, was from Wellington and shot the movie at various locations around New Zealand. They offer various tours of the remaining sets.

We took in a dinner/concert with the Maori in Rortorua which was very informative. The focus of their entertain displays their skills as fierce warriors and traditions of celebrating athletic rowers and swimmers. The country celebrates the signing of the treaties with 43 Maori chiefs as their national heritage day. They challenge all strangers with a fierce face grimace that is part of their cultural norm . They have modernized with gas and metal oven their traditional cooking style of making food by slow cooking with hot rocks and steam. This process, the 'Hangi', was used to cook a feast for the tribe. After visiting a number of geothermal sites today, you can imagine the Hangi was a naturally cooking method available due to the volcanic activity. In the area around Taupo and Rotorua there are 'hell pots' and steam troughs everywhere hissing and boiling the earth around them. This is a hot bed for volcanic and earthquake activity. Sitting on two of the earth's tectonic plates (Pacific and Asia) and joining the Pacific 'ring of fire', this land is changing and moving daily. The fresh lakes and warm thermal springs brought the polynesians and led to the first geothermal electric plant in 1958.

The New Zealand accent is slightly differnet from the Austrailian and they like to emphasize their differneces. This country is much smaller in geographical size and population compared to their Australian neighbors.

We pushed on to Napier and visited some of the Hawkes Bay wineries having dinner at the Mission Hill Estates. It's on the east coast with lovely beaches combined with rich farm land and fruit orchards.

Sydney Bridge, Blue Mountains, Aquarium

Australia's indigenous or 'bammi' people arrived in this country over 53,000 years ago. While the Italian and Dutch explorers passed by in the 1600s it wasn't until the 1770s that Captain James Cook discovered the Great Barrier Reef and laid claim for England. The 'Rocks' area of Sydney designates the first real settlement of convicts. The idea of of convict settlement became more pressing for the British when the American revolution shut down transport of convicts to the American colonies. There were over 1400 men, women and children who arrived in January 1788. They started in Botany Bay, but realized Sydney was a much better location. The Rocks neighourhood was a rough and ready harbour area with lot's of pubs and a street markets. A few of the original buildings survived.

The early convicts had a difficult time surviving. The farming had to be moved to another area (Paramatta) and plants they brought didn't survive partly because the seasons were reversed. The Blue Mountains to the west served as a natural barrier against escape. It took until 1813 before an explorer was able to cross the mountain on top of the ridges. Among the original convicts sent to work in this land were 100 Frenchmen from Quebec conquest. While free settlers started to arrive in the 1790s, it continued to primarily worked and populated by convicts. These men and women may even have been sentenced to death for stealing food in England and were sent to the colony as a solution to their penal problems. It took 1.5 years to arrive.

Captain Bligh of the 'Mutiny on the Bounty' fame was one of the first governors sent in 1806 to quash the trading in 'rum' which they used as currency. This led to the 'Rum Rebellion' and Captain Bligh being held under house arrest for 18 months by the NSW Corps.

Sydney has come a long way from the struggling convict community. The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a landmark that people climb to get the quintessentially perfect shot of the city and the opera house. We walked across the bridge, but left the climbing to those more adventurous. Instead we visited the Sydney Aquarium which had the most incredible array of aquatic life in huge tanks that swim all around you. You feel like you are in the fish tank because all four ceiling, walls and floor are water with sharks and stingrays moving around you.

The trip to the Blue Mountains was interesting. The mountains were cool relief to the sticky heat of Sydney. The mountains are blue because the air is full of euculyptus oil from the trees. It is very beautiful in the mountains. Jim our guide was originally from a tea plantation in Sri Lanka and had some interesting stories about the age of British imperialism and life in another colony.

Well, we were sad to leave Sydney on Australia Day (we didn't realize at the time that it was a national holiday). The party certainly started the night before when we went out for dinner at the Cockle Wharf area and saw them practicing for the next night;s party. It would have been fun to stay, but we are off to another interesting, but very different country - New Zealand.

Sydney: the opera, Manly Beach

Nothing prepares you for the magnificence of Sydney harbor. Coming from a country with great harbors like Vancouver, Halifax and St. Johns we (Canadians) have high standards, but Sydney is in a class of it's own! This city really is the "Emerald City' of the Southern Hemisphere. There are many, many, bays, coves, beaches and points around the inner and outer harbor that provide wharves, beaches, and beautiful shore line for the residents to enjoy.

We were lucky to book the Sheraton on Elizabeth Street on priceline. It is next to St. James Cathedral and Hyde Park. It connects with the Botanical Gardens and leads to the Sydney Opera House. The botanical gardens are tropical and subtropical plants and wildlife that we just love to explore. Curiously, as the seasons change, the trees lose their bark here instead of their leaves. There were more of the huge bats just hanging around and large Ibis wondering in the heat (it was something like 39C today). There is water watch on so the plants were at the end of there season and looking a little wilted, but the Blue Ginger and the Daylillies were still blooming.

We had a serendipity moment when we met up with our new friends from our reef cruise who were also in Sydney. We ran into each other at the botanical gardens. Philippa and Don had climbed Sydney Harbor bridge the day before and were spending a few final hours in Sydney before departing for New Zealand by cruise ship. We hope to meet up with the in NZ during one of their ports of call.

We were able to get some tickets for a modern version of 'Tosca' with Rosario in the lead. It was a moving performance. They had almost a sold out performance despite the heat (the average age of the opera audience has to be 75).

We headed out to Manly Beach on a ferry after the performance and the weather changed dramatically. Suddenly it was much cooler and the wind whipped the waves in the outer harbor so that the surfers and sailors had to lower their sails and come into to shore. We were told that bottle head shark attacks occur in the harbor and swimming is not always safe. It certainly didn't scare off the crowds at Manly Beach. This beach meets the city streets, but is more like a street in Cabbage Town than Queens Quay. We had a nice stroll over to Shelly Beach along the rocky shoreline where the iguana shares the rocks with the humans. Manly was a great place for a fresh fish dinner and some good Hunter Valley Australian wine.