Any umbrellas, any umbrellas to fix to day?...

If yours needed fixing you might, as they say, be in a fix, because the predicted storm appeared again today - but at 3 o’clock like yesterday rather than Simon’s 4pm!
It didn’t stop us enjoying ourselves though, as we’d planned an earlyish start, and a visit to the Botanic Gardens. The Orchid Garden that we visited briefly before is there too and I for one intended a longer visit! 100 pictures of orchids? Not enough!! Well, maybe not 100 but quite a few!
The gardens are extensive, with beautifully landscaped areas for different types of plant –bamboos, ferns, a sun garden (cacti) water lilies etc. There was a Ginger garden which we found very interesting – did you know that Turmeric was a type of ginger? Nope, neither did we! The other one Ron enjoyed was the spice garden. Using as many as we both do in cooking, it was fascinating to see what they looked like “in the flesh” so to speak. Most of the Botanic gardens was free to enter, just the orchid part attracted a small charge..made less by the fact that Ron has his bus pass! It was really worth it to see so many beautiful flowers in as near their natural environment as could be achieved; sorry Jules, I didn’t smuggle any out for you this time, either!
We’ve come back to the hotel for a rest, a shower and a change of clothes as we’re out on the town tonight! We’re going to Clarke Quay for a river cruise and supper, followed by a visit to Raffles, where we intend to sample the atmosphere, if not the Singapore Sling! I tried one on the plane on the way here and whilst the flavour was very pleasant and the idea of 4 or 5 shots of different spirits in one glass might sound like a good idea, I’m not so sure! Might have to settle for a nice safe G & T!
Oh yes, Singapore is, as we have said, a vivid multi cultural place, but we weren’t too sure quite what was intended when we saw the street sign above...or the “basah” that was being advertised!!!

....thunder bolts and lightning, very, very, fright’ning; mama mia, mama mia....

We are off on a “round the city” tour with a guide to see most of the other areas we want to visit, and to get some of the local knowledge. We will be visiting China Town, Little India, and the Orchid Collection among other sights. My son Simon told me how busy the roads could be and suggested we use the MRT or Mass Rapid Transit rail system to get around. Good advice for getting quickly from A-B and you can purchase a tourist ticket which allows multi trips. He also told us that it rains normally around 4 o’clock each day. Well, we haven’t seen any rain yet!
We are taken on our tour into a Buddhist temple in China Town. We inadvertently went in without a couple of the ladies covering their shoulders. An usher quickly grabbed cloths to cover them up. Unfortunately, one of these ladies was Margery! She normally carries a pashmina for such occasions but didn’t have it with her today!
We grab a bite in one of the China Town street shops for breakfast, having skipped dinner last night and breakfast this morning. It was` a Very good lunch! The bus has a no food or drink policy. It helps keep cockroaches and ants at bay, not that we have seen any! We are told about the two meanings of the word fine. Fine can describe the weather, or it can be levied for a plethora of mis-deeds. It seems that this very safe city comes at a price if you break the rules on litter, driving, speeding, jay-walking, etc. We don’t want to be accosted by the “Bill” so listen intently and thereafter mind our p’s and q’s!
After our trip to the rare orchids we decide to top up water bottles etc and get something to eat for lunch before exploring some more this time towards Clarkes Quay. During our trip this morning, the guide gave a message to those travelling to Sentosa (a small island to the south of Singapore reached by bridge) that “do not worry, come rain or shine, thunder and lightning the tour would go on.” We had been watching the clouds building and so thought this was a bit like the warning given by the soothsayer in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar to “beware the ides of March”. So brolly in backpack we set off in a very light rain. We get to Clarkes Quay and purchase an ice cream as the mother of all thunderstorms struck with monsoon force but without any wind fortunately. The sound of the rain drumming on the roof covering was like a tube train rushing through a tunnel, and the rain was bouncing up by at least 4” and water was cascading down steps and off roof’s. OK Simon, you were right and Dad was lucky to have another guardian angel to stop us getting wet!
Fortunately, my navigation was impeccable as always, and we were within a short walk from the only micro brewery in Singapore. Well, what else do you do on a wet afternoon, in a strange city, in a shopping mall a mile from the hotel? We sampled the local wares after 4pm as it was “happy hour” and BOGOF! Philias and Wattlie enjoyed the experience as you can see. After the first pint we had to order some “blotting paper” as we really aren’t used to drinking! We decided to sample the India Pale Ale but sensibly went for the 300ml option rather than the 500ml (pint). Good plan as the latter is 6.2% alcohol.
I wandered of the talk with the master brewer Scott who was a very interesting American who has been brewing at the Pump Room for the last two years. I got a guided “free tour “ to boot. We talked about the brewing process and some of the ideas I floated with him he may take up, including the “polypin” which he hadn’t come across. When I got back some 30 minutes later, the rain was still raining, and the spicy wedges were getting cool. Food takes a long time to get cold in this climate.
Braving the improving weather we walked to China Town and then got some supper after shopping in the air-conditioned malls. The food is very different from UK Chinese food which is possibly because of the fusion of cultures here. We had marinated cucumber and marinated edible fungus (definitely not conventional mushrooms), asparagus with prawns and sliced roast duck. Very scrummy, but you would be lost if you didn’t or couldn’t eat spicy food. (I suppose you could go to McDonalds, KFC or Burger King).

..then all the world will see how great, how great is our God.

Chris Tomlins words from “The splendour of the King” comes into my mind so often whilst we’ve been travelling and today we sang it in the 9am service in the Chapel For All Peoples, which is an annex to St Andrews Cathedral in Singapore, just across the square from our hotel.
I had asked when we arrived where the churches were located so that we could make a choice as to where we went today. This kinda drew a blank as the hotel staff were Hindu or Muslim, or maybe the fact that we wanted to go to church today was because we wanted to go to Mass. It seems that if you ask abpout church in a hotel it is assumed that you are Catholic (and obliged to go)!
Well, we found out by walking across to St Andrews that there were various times for services on Sundays. As the church buildings were then closed we opted for the 9 am service. We arrived and found the Cathedral full and the service of Holy Communion still some way from finishing. Another couple visiting were given some guidance as to where the 9am service was to be held, and then we were warmly greeted and shown the way, so to speak. Clutching our Holy Week services schedule we cross to a new building in the grounds and then go down in the lift to B2 level. WOW, what a church setting greeted us. Seating probably up to 1000 or more in a theatre style was the modern worship area being used for this service. Completed in 2005, the complex has quiet places as well as a state of the art sound system filling the auditorium, and we felt completely at home. The main cathedral was built on the site chosen by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1823, but the building erected on the site was twice struck by lightning and closed as unsafe in 1852. The present building dates from around 1862, when it was consecrated by the Bishop of Calcutta.
The 9am service structure was just like Live Out Loud or the service at Newquay where P & T worship, for those of you who don’t know it. Worship starts with corporate praise through modern worship songs and prayers which then leads on to the Word and a teaching sermon, closing with more upbeat worship to send people out fired up with the message of God’s love.
We were 2 of about 6 visitors in a congregation of approx 7-800, and were welcomed personally by one of the young stewards. The age profile was from 8-80 so we weren’t the oldest by any means. During the service one of the musicians introduced a song that he had penned back in 2004. It was sung during the service before the offertory. The musicians are producing a CD of music to be sold in aid of relief in the Philippines. I will try to get a copy when it is produced.
After a rather fine buffet lunch, (well it is Sunday after all) we get on a city hop on –off bus as part of our orientation in the city. Maps are fine, as are guide books but nothing we had gave any idea of scale, so being driven over the routes gave us just the steer we needed. We got off at the Botanic Gardens and also at the Asian Civilisations Centre, which was having a special weekend with additional events and activities. This was a cool place to go into, as the outside temperature was up around 30⁰C, and the exhibits on display had been on tour to UK, Paris, New York and now here. There was live music and dancing among other activities of the culinary and messy kids kind.
Further riverside wanderings took us past many of the must see sights including Raffles landing place. This is such a cultural meeting and melting pot of cultures that it is hard to see where, if at all, Raffles original demarcation lines occur.
After a swim we decided to crash as we have an early start tomorrow, and we still aren’t used to the 3 hour time difference from Aus waking up at 3 am instead of 6! Tomorrow as they say is another day!

What goes up, must come down...

..and hopefully the right way up as we took off upside down, downunder and, having crossed the Equator (just!) are now back in the northern hemisphere and hopefully back to normal!! Ok, ok, I know Ron and I can never be classed as normal!

Our plane left Melbourne half an hour late, as the one coming in was delayed, but it made up most of the time during the 8 hour flight. We had a good trip, (far too much scrummy food as usual!) arriving in Singapore at 4pm their time.

Margery made a big mistake tho.. well 2 big mistakes - firstly in the Lounge at Melbourne when I decided to have a tomato juice.. the bottle was wet and slipped out of my hand onto the tiled floor, with the inevitable results! Ooops! Fortunately I was wearing shorts and sandals, so the legs were easy to clean up - there were a few splashes on the shorts too, but they seem to have come off ok - phew! Mistake numer two was to watch a very weepy film about a beatulful dog "Hachi" (spelling?) His master died, and he spent the next 9 years living at the railway station where his master used to come home from work, waiting for him. Oh dear, with our boy so far away, I don't know quite what people thought of me sitting there with tears streaming down my face! What a wally! Mind you, Ron had chosen to watch it too - with similar effects! Not that we're missing our Simba, or anything!

Everyone has warned us that Singapore is very expensive - so far we've managed to find a very reasonably priced airport shuttle that took us right to our hotel (we can use this to go back as well) and the hotel has free internet!! Wahoo!! So far so good - we'll see what tomorrow brings!

Our first impressions are of an obviously enormous city, but a very pretty one too - even the motorway centers and crash barriers are covered in flowers! I'm not sure they'll help if you crash, but they do look lovely!

The city seems fairly busy today, but we have to remember it's a saturday..Monday could be a different matter!

We've checked into what has turned out to be a much nicer hotel than I anticipated - good old Expedia! So far all we've really done is to sort out some clothes (washing, ironing, boring!) and had a brief look at what we might do over the 6 days we're here. We got the impression from the tours booking desk that most people only stay here on brief stopovers, and don't have as much time as we have so hopefully we'll be able to see quite a lot.

We've just had a reply to our email to our hosts in South Africa -Keith and Gill are heavily involved with their local church in Pinewood including sorting things out ready for a 7am Easter Sunday Service - so it looks like Easter may be very similar to our ones at home as we've offered to help!! Nothing really changes, does it?

We've found out where our nearest church is here - just up the road fortunately, so after a cup of tea, we'll have a wander and find out what time the service is tomorrow. Couldn't really miss Palm Sunday could we?

Just one picture so far - to prove we're really here!

Oh, my name is Kenny and I’m a kangaroo, ‘garoo, ‘garoo...

We have been in Oz for 5 days and we still have not seen a koala bear or a kangaroo. I’m being to think that the only ones are on the road signs. So, just to prove they do exist Elizabeth is taking us to see some at a sanctuary near where the Jones live.
The journey is fairly short and we get there almost as the park opens. We are able to see all the mammals in Oz, I believe, including those elusive marsupials! We are invited to feed the ’ roos, with what for all intents is “cheerios”. Of course we don’t need to add milk or put the food in a bowl – this is not an AA Milne novel! We are fortunate to see joey’s in the pouch as well; quite ungainly with maybe a tail or leg sticking out. One lazy pup was feeding upside down whilst mum was waiting to be fed!
The Koalas are asleep. Well what’s new? They sleep for around 20 hours a day and feed solely on eucalyptus leaves. And only come down out of their trees when they are unwell, or changing trees. Everyone who wants has the opportunity to have their photo taken with the koala. Their fur is quite wiry, not as fluffy as you might imagine, and they are very tolerant. If they get stressed they just walk away.
We walk around and see the dingos. One of them decided to do a Simba circular run, which has obviously been done before as the track is clearly visible. After running round flat out it found the pond and flopped head above water to cool off! This display does nothing for our equilibrium, as you can imagine with 2 week to go until we get home. We didn’t really see possums and wombats because once again they are nocturnal and all we saw was their rear end in a burrow. We did however see an echidna feeding on ants. This is an strange animal like a large hedgehog but with a furry coat and spines like a porcupine. It has a long snout/beak ideally suited for digging out the ants and termites.
Well, it’s time to get the bags packed and make our way to Sydney airport. Elizabeth, making sure that we didn’t forget our visit, presents us with Forester, a baby koala friend for Philias and Wattlie. Apparently, aussies work fast and Forester is the result of their assignation – somehow I think that even Darwin would have a problem with this!
Well sitting waiting for the gate to be called “open” we see a lot of activity around the desk with a couple of compact video cameras being used, and goody bags for each passenger being prepared. OK, what’s so strange? Firstly our carrier Jetstar is a budget airline, and they don’t give goody bags, and secondly their normally is a ban on this type of photography in airports. Thirdly, some in the know are very anxious to get photos of some of the people at the check in desk. We have already checked in our luggage and not been asked to pay the expected Au$80, which our ticket info from Expedia stated! The reason becomes clear as we board the plane. Starting this week is the Melbourne comedy season and the bags are advertising for this. They contain cheese and biscuits, CDM (oz style not quite the UK taste), a soft drink, and some high quality mixed salted nuts. There is also a complete programme for whats on as well.
In addition to a very full flight, with Melbourne GP fans travelling , we had a stag party group and travellers like us. We are then told that there is an attempt to set a new Guiness Book of Records attempt at the highest stand up comedy event ever at 35000ft above sea level! We had 3 comedians entertaining us for about 30 minutes with it all being recorded, whilst the seat belt signs were switched off, of course. We didn’t take any photos, sorry!
On landing at Melbourne we see how much busier it is than the last time we were here. Fortunately, we are at an airport motel tonite, so we don’t have to battle the traffic into the city 23km away. We will be leaving Oz tomorrow and so need to get ourselves fully organised, and all the luggage closed. So, for now we will close.

I’m on the top of the world, looking down on creation....

We have a trip to the Blue Mountains today which requires an early start and 5 hours of train journeys. This meant leaving with Martin at 06:30 and then travelling west from Sydney. The train to Mt Victoria will stop at Katoomba, where we will get off, and then a trip to the Three Sisters and the rainforest is planned, although today we definitely won’t be seeing any rain!
The township of Katoomba was settled in the late 19th century after mineral deposits, including kerosene (paraffin) shales and coal were discovered. The sandstone rock is quite soft and has been lifted and eroded over millions of years to form a smaller version of the Grand Canyon, but unlike the GC it is very heavily forested with gum trees, tree ferns, turpentine trees etc. So, after a skyway ride across the steep sided valley we take the cableway down into the forest to explore. To protect the forest floor there is a boardwalk which allows light from the canopy 75 metres above to penetrate where it should.
We were fortunate to have the cableway ride with 50 school kids from Lawson School who were on a trip. They were very excited and when the car plunged down the side of the rock there was the predicted screams of mock fear! Great fun!
We didn’t want to get too tangled up with them whilst we were exploring so let them go ahead. As a result we quickly saw lyrebirds. These look a bit like small grey pheasants with their long tails and seem to make their living out of scrabbling around under leaves and around rocks and tree roots. Hopefully the picture gives you the idea.
Part of our trip will include a train ride said to be the steepest in the world. It runs at 55⁰ to the horizontal and brings us back to the top of the canyon in short order. The railway was formerly used to transport coal but when this operation ceased another form of revenue was needed!
We travel around Katoomba and Leura on an ex -London Transport double deck bus (Atlantean) around the rim of the canyon and beyond. This would otherwise be a 10 hour walk would be needed to see everything. As it is we could have spent three days here and not done every walk, and the museum.
As some of you know M is planning a patchwork using fabrics from around the world. Well that was the excuse she gave when she headed off for the Fudge shop, (I have the photographic evidence). The fact that it also sold fabric was a lame excuse as I’m sure you will agree despite her anticipated protestations!
Hang on a minute, I’m not having that! I didn’t even see the fudge sign until I got near the door..I was following the patchwork one! AND before we have any more fudge nonsense, all I came out with was 2 small pieces of fabric and 1 skein of embroidery silk...NO FUDGE!!
We are seeking the shade as much as we can as the temperature is in the high 20’s and will be making our way back to Sydney for dinner with Martin, Elizabeth and Ryan this evening. Even Philias is cultivating marsupial tendencies to keep out of the sun. He doesn’t want his fur bleached or to have highlights!
We have again been watched very closely by scavenging birds. This time the bird is about the size of a magpie and very vocal. It’s called a koolagong or similar. I shall have to look it up!! They seem especially partial to potato chips, but before you even think it, they weren’t ours!
Back in Sydney we meet up with Martin before travelling across to Manley for supper. Ryan and Elizabeth are travelling from home with Ryan navigating, whilst we are taking a leisurely ferry crossing to the east coast. We haven’t seen this part of Sydney yet and certainly not the heads of the harbour. We see a regatta of yachts racing in the harbour under a setting sun with bronze shades on the water as we land at the quay. We are going tomeet E & R near the restaurant and suddenly see Ryan running full pelt towards us in his England football shirt and sporting a new hair cut, very pleased to see us.
After our supper, Ryan decided that ice creams where required by all. But first we were required to run the gauntlet of the vertical water jets. Adrenaline pumped we take it in turns to traverse the 6 water fountains each with probably a dozen spouts. These rise and fall in random order and the result of getting caught is a wet BTM and a soggy ride home. Fortunately, Martin and Elizabeth’s car remained dry. Wet car smells almost as bad as wet dog, so that was a result.

What a day for a daydream, what a day for a daydreaming.....

Martin had suggested that as we hadn’t seen the QVB or the Botanic Gardens that it might be a good plan to spent a second day in the city and then depending on how the time went, take a ferry to Parramata. This sounded a plan and also gave us an excuse to be Daytrippers – Sunday driver –No!
The cheapest way to do Sydney travel is to get a weekend ticket for $2.50 each and to travel wherever you want on the trains and buses. Sadly today being Wednesday we were too early! Our Daytripper ticket cost us $18 each and gave us the freedom to travel all day as we chose on the spur of the moment on trains buses or ferry’s.
But before leaving home let’s see if we can contact one of my Cubs from Vigo Hawks Cub Pack.
We managed to call his home number but unfortunately for us Richard was in Melbourne for a two day course and he wasn’t getting back home until around 10:30pm on Thursday. He did suggest we meet up at Manley Quay for kayaking, which he does most mornings, I believe. Trouble is Manley is at least 1½ hours away, and he starts at 06:30. Hmm, perhaps not!
We head off for Central on the Northern Line and see a whole different aspect of Sydney. Being the railway area it is slightly seedy as all city railway centres are. I’m not sure why this is other than it being a melting and meeting pot for society in all its guises.
Sydney has the oldest street in Oz called George Street and this is the one we need to walk down to get to the Victorian area of the city where the Queen Victoria Building and the Town Hall are magnificent edifices to the opulent excessive of that age. QVB is a magnificent trading place which the mercantile forefathers went to town on. Today it is a bijou shopping mall with time on its hands for all those who want to indulge.
We had iced coffee and then took a trip up the old elevator lift to explore further. Convenient facilities are located on the 1st floor. This is where Margery lost her camera! Doh! She left it hanging in the loo! “Oh dear what a calamity poor old camera is lost in the lavatory”! We only realised when about to take a photo of an incredible clock a couple of minutes later.
You can tell by the levity that this story has a happy ending! I wouldn’t be joking if it was still lost! We managed to find security and reported the loss frankly not expecting to see it again, but as it happened it got home before we did courtesy of another guardian angel who handed it in and Martin for very kindly collecting it.
Rather cheesed off, M and I carried on with our day as planned, by first visiting Hyde Park. The Catholic Cathedral St Mary’s is located in the Park and it leads through into the Botanic Gardens where we see flying foxes (biggest variety of bats): hundreds of them hanging out in the trees trying to keep cool and complaining noisily about the heat and the humans (school parties etc) below!
Having exhausted the Botanical gardens – including Ron sampling all the edible herbs! – we made the most of our day tripper tickets and took the ferry round to Darling Harbour. This is part of the main Sydney waterway, but a separate part with swish cafes and restaurants around it as well as a wildlife centre, aquarium, Imax cinema, beautiful fountains..oh yes, and a huge Macdonalds! Needless to say we give this one a miss! It would, however, have been very rude to pass the Italian ice cream parlour, as we’re sure you’d agree!
This Harbour is very much a commuter port as people use the many ferries that leave from here to travel home from work – sometimes to collect a car further out of the city, but many with bicycles that come onto the ferry with them. We join the commuters to try a different way home – across the harbour and up the Paramatta river to Olympic Park. This is where much of the Sydney 2000 Olympics were held, and is still almost in constant use – the Aussies being sport mad, of course! It’s a spectacular set of stadia set on the riverside with parkland including some Mangrove swamps around it. It’s also conveniently 20 mins from where Martin and Elizabeth live! Even more convenient when you realise that Elizabeth has just been recognised as an athletics official in oz, so spends a great deal of time here!!
On the way home we stop to pick up Ryan from Cubs. The scene is similar to those around the world, I imagine with parents waiting outside ready to take charge once again of their offspring. Curiously we were all invited in as there was a message for the parents. Baloo was going back to the UK, and Akela was away on work business 3 weeks out of 4. The Wednesday cubs will close unless a female leader and another leader are found. Coincidentally, Martin (Wood Badge, ex Akela and 10 year service) has been having some problems getting the Group to accept him as a trained leader. The equivalent of their GSL wants him to do all his training again and this situation, not only being ludicrous, has gone on for the last 18 months with Martin saying he wasn’t going to do it, which in the circumstances you can’t really blame him for!
That’s not the end of the story, Martin being Martin has written to NSW HQ and has very recently had a reply which sounds promising. What is being proposed is a personal profile interview and then picking up on any specific needs. Common sense at last. We hope everything progresses smoothly for Martin and all the young people who would miss out on Scouting in the event of closure of this Cub pack. It was interesting seeing the similarities and differences in the closing ceremony. It shouldn’t take Martin any time to lick them into shape!
Oh well, early to bed as we have an early start tomorrow.

The Harbour lights are shining..

As we start to explore Sydney.
We arrived at Sydney airport 15 minutes early and were waiting to collect our luggage, as a rather surprised Martin found us. He was very pleased to see that we were “travelling light” (1 case and the rucksack being in left luggage in Melbourne) ...there were some comments about sister-in-laws and kitchen sinks? !
An interesting drive across the city and out to the north as Martin hadn’t driven it recently, and wasn’t too sure where he was going..or so he said! It looked remarkably competent to us!
Elizabeth was waiting up for us (a night owl like her sister, Tricia) and we sat up chatting until gone 1! Not good after several late nights/early mornings, but what the heck!
Two very excited children greeted us over breakfast...and all the big hugs have been passed on, Tricia! (Ryan’s was a ‘virtual’ hug, as he’s far too big for real ones these days!) I have some to return next time I see you.
It was great to have that sort of reaction from Ryan and Emily – we haven’t seen them for over 2 years so that was a bit special. Mind you, we’d forgotten how many intense questions intelligent 9 year olds ask!
The family have their normal schedule, so we’re going to “do our own thing” during the day, and meet up with them in the evening. We’d been debating about hiring another car for some of the time, but we certainly don’t need it in Sydney itself. It turns out that the rail service is relatively economic and has a reasonable timetable, so we decide to use that instead.
9.30 Tuesday morning, Elizabeth drops us off at Pennant Hills Station, and we do the 1 hour commute into Sydney city centre. Martin described the rail service as ‘slow’ (He works for Railcorp!) but it certainly isn’t too bad, and we get a good view of the suburbs as we make our way in.
So, where do you start in Sydney? The Opera House, of course!
Now, I knew the shape of it – it’s an Aussie Icon...or so I thought. ‘The’ Opera House is actually 3 separate buildings housing 2 different performance type specific (opera, orchestral, ballet) concert halls and about 6 other performance spaces of varying size. There are also two rather posh restaurants and hundreds and hundreds of red granite steps....no I’m not joking and I think we walked up or down most of them! We book ourselves onto the “essential” tour (we avoid the extra $120 for the backstage one!) which proves to be very interesting and well worth doing. It’s certainly a fascinating building and very cutting edge in design even today – so much so at the time they were building it, it nearly didn’t get built at all, as the engineers struggled to find a way to put the architects design ideas into reality.
After the tour and taking LOADS of photos, it’s an outdoor lunch overlooking the harbour and bridge, followed by a walk through circular quay to the older part of the city – known as The Rocks. Sadly we’re not here at the w/e as the Rocks hosts street markets that are well worth a visit. We have to be satisfied with the quiet village atmosphere and the interesting architecture, as we work our way up to yet more steps leading the Bridge walkway. Well, it had to be done, didn’t it?
It’s been a very hot day, and walking the bridge with no real shade was not the most comfortable place to be, but the views were amazing. Philias and Wattlie decided they needed a portrait right in the middle of the bridge, under the Australian flag..but also under the watchful eye of the security guard, and right beside the sign that said “No unauthorised climbing” ! Bears! Fortunately the security guy had a good sense of humour..either that or he was humouring two very sad poms!
We arrived on the north side of the bridge at Millsom’s Point, where there just happens to be a station on the correct line...good planning! So we poodle off up the line to meet Elizabeth as arranged, only to find that Martin is on the same train, one carriage in front of us! Sadly he has to cycle home from the station, we go back by car for a sumptuous Aussie Barbeque. Excellent! We’re glad we spent some time with Emily today, as we won’t see her again before we go – she’s off for 3 days activity camp with school.
We discover that the hills area where we’re staying is 15 mins away from the enormous Hillsongs church – Martin says it has over 5000 people in it’s congregations..a bit big for us!

I’m sitting on a railway station, got a ticket for my destination

Well, today we are going to travel on a train, car and taxi, coach and a plane. So far as we are aware we are not going on a boat. That’s why we didn’t use the other song title which we could have used! Which one? Why “Trains and boats and planes took me away...” of course.
We saw the train yesterday and we also saw Thomas Oz style! But today we are travelling on The Puffing Billy. It was built as a branch line for the owner of a specialist horticulturist to transport his wares to Melbourne for home and export sales. It was closed down in 1953 after a landslip and it was opened about 5 years later by volunteers and enthusiasts and continues to run trains each day. The trains are steam hauled with exception of during very high fire risk as the possibility of sparks setting light to the bush is too high.
The trip we took was only part one way and we alighted at Emerald Lakeside(8.25 miles) which was the end of the line up to 1998 when the extension to Gembrook was restored. Emerald township is the highest part of the line and is 1045 ft above sea level and 6 miles from Belgrave where we started our journey. Here the engine takes on water before proceeding for a further 6.75 miles to the terminus.
Our engine was very well turned out and worked hard up the 1:30 Emerald Bank before cruising down to our morning tea stop by the lake. Well, M had seen a kookaburra by the side of the road yesterday, but was delighted when one came and sat on a branch right where we were sitting. We also had attentive pukeko and ducks and a whole flock of sulphur crested cockatoo! Something about food, I would say!
We had to get the compulsory DVD and “T” shirt. Good job we have a generous luggage allowance on this trip!
We have a fantastic seafood lunch before being whisked off to Southern Star Rail/Bus station to catch our transfer to Avalon airport to catch the flight to Sydney. The traffic jam we experienced is the first since leaving the UK, and to be in such a big city has really landed us down to earth with a big bump. This is probably as well, as Sydney will be bigger and more crowded, I expect. We pass Albert Park where preparations for Sunday’s Australian GP are in full flow. Simply Red are playing in Melbourne on Sunday evening as well. How come we will be in Singapore? At least we should be able to watch it on TV.
We are looking forward to seeing and staying with Elizabeth, Martin, Ryan and Emily, and exploring Sydney.

Now I’ve found that the world is round...

Wednesday Morning (+3), 5am (apologies to Paul Simon) and we are getting ready to leave our hotel room in Christchurch with the Aussies all over NZ Blackcaps in the First Test at Wellington. The overnight score was NZ 4 down with a very steep hill to climb to avoid the follow on. Today, we are crossing the” Ditch”, and we will arrive in Melbourne around breakfast time.
Despite protestations I was relieved of $NZ 50 to “allow” us to leave! OK, I know that they should have been paying me, but when you’re “down under” everything is upside down! We are the only people in business class and so have a choice of 8 seats. The thought of playing musical chairs with two MP3 players came to mind but even better having to fight for a seat when the announcements are made over the PA. Let’s go with it!
Our host asks “Would we like to have sparkling wine” at 06:30am. Not wishing to offend, but thinking more of our own fragile state we opt for orange juice, or in my case orange juice and water. The man knows how to live the highlife. Margery is quite pleased with the apologetic of broccoli and pumpkin etc for the cooked part of her breakfast. It appears that ”v” stands for vegetarian and vegan in these parts AND I was the cat that got the butter and M got the marg! The poor stewardess couldn’t really understand that I was more than happy with the breakfast – so often the veggie option is just a salad or a few vegetables, so I end up starving! ..this one was great as there were pulses and cereal bits as well as potatoes – so I definitely wasn’t hungry!
We take off in darkness and so see the sunrise for over 2 hours as we are flying westwards. I adjust my watch backwards by 2 hours. We are now making up for lost time, so to speak.
Melbourne’s urban sprawl lies beneath us as we fly in making NZ cites seem Lilliputian by comparison. We touch down in a new continent and one neither of us has ever dreamed we would visit. At least we are going the wrong way so they can’t accuse us of being convicts!
Arrivals was fine except the 90 minute wait to check our presents through AQIS (Quarantine) all for a few bits of wood, some shells and our camping bits. See what we go through thinking of you!!! No, it was really only the walking boots and the trekking poles which might have been a potential problem, and an X-Ray of the rucksack seemed to satisfy” them with a job to do”, and the we finally get the all clear to meet Alick and Mandy waiting patiently at the arrivals gate.
Emerald, where Alick and Mandy live is about 1 hours drive from Melbourne Tullamarine International Airport, and they had left at around 7 am to pick us up. Poor things, they thought that they had missed us when we didn’t emerge for such a long time. It is the first time that we had met Mandy but within minutes you’d have thought that we were family. We were soon talking about everything under the sun and Alick was normal. He can talk for Australia, and he hasn’t lost the nack!
We were able to leave 2 bags at the international airport, which will make life a little easier and cheaper as we fly up to Sydney.
It was great to get to Lawson Drive where we were to stay for the next 36 hours, because to be honest, the musical chairs game had left us both a bit jaded. Well, we had some lunch and then the chance to stretch legs properly around A & M’s beautiful garden and then the nearby reservoir, which was formed from a natural valley and a concrete / stone dam. I know it is the end of the summer, but the water level was shockingly low, especially as yesterday was the first day of the autumn for them. Remember, that it was only two weeks ago that golf ball size hail and flooding had hit Melbourne. We get to understand pretty quickly that Oz is very much a land of extremes, and that whilst it wasn’t always this way in living memory, today you can so easily have 4 seasons in one day.
We saw signs for Kangaroo feeding, but to be honest we were there about 1 hour early and we still had to get back before dinner. We did see Sulphur crested cockatoo and rosella (a red, blue and green parrot), as well as the ubiquitous Australian magpies!
After a very pleasant evening it was for us an early bedtime as we ware on our way to travel the railway tomorrow. “Train whistle blowing, makes a sleepy noise; underneath the blankets lie all the girls and boys.” zzzzzzzzz

We come along on Saturday morning, greeting everybody with a smile!

This is our last day in NZ and we are going to make the best of it. We missed Lyttelton when we went to Akaroa as they had a fete on and we wanted to avoid any possibility of a traffic jam. Lytteleton has many reasons to be mentioned as it was the place where the first 4 ships bringing emigrants from Gravesend landed in December 1850. It is also the port from where the Antarctic vessels sail to the USA and NZ bases.
The best vantage point for seeing the City of Christchurch, the plains of Canterbury and the Southern Alps and North to Kaikoura is at the summit of Mt Cavendish (945 metres high) which is part of the volcano that formed these hills or mountains. The drive up by car was breathtaking with incredible views, but why would you cycle to the top? That’s what I call breathtaking!!
We hadn’t enough time yesterday to see everything we wanted, and so decided to visit the museum, and art centre in between riding the trams again. The weather was just perfect for doing this as it was cloudy and warm, so we didn’t feel we were missing out on that last minute opportunity to top up the tan. Sorry everyone for mentioning the sun! I lost Margery in the museum as it was quite easy to dip into an exhibit and mean while I went to another. Well if lost we always said to the Beavers, Cubs and Scouts we will meet you at the entrance. Well it worked!
We decided that with carrying souvenirs we needed to reduce weight of our cases. So, we took pieces of clothing which we felt were surplus and donated them. We also got rid of our last bits and pieces of cutlery etc as we won’t be having picnics here after our lunch today. Also we are returning Scooby  which has been our wheels for the last 25 days. We did 2800 km in Scooby and still aren’t always sure what side the indicators are! Doh!
We have an early morning wake up call for 3:30 am and are getting cases and “stuff” sorted so that we can get an easy in to Oz bearing in mind we must have everything clean (boots, trekking poles etc) and we can’t take in any food of any sort. So as we don’t want a $1000 fine we are double checking everything.
Just discovered we both have a $NZ 25 exit tax to pay. Humm... wot if we haven’t got it. Will they make us stay?
Sadly, we think not but tomorrows another day!

Ding, ding, ding went the trolley, clang, clang, clang went the bell....

As we rode on the Christchurch trams! Today was a semi-lazy day exploring Christchurch. As we’ve said previously, it wasn’t really on our original itinerary, but having dropped into the city a couple of times while we were doing the train trips, it became obvious that we were going to have to spend more time here. Most big cities have a common aspect which means that having seen one in detail it is unlikely that the next will be that much different. Well, we were wrong, and we can’t agree with one comment we saw “if it wasn’t for the hills behind Christchurch it would be very boring”.
Yes, there is a Starbucks and a McDonalds ...but the character is similar to Cambridge in England, with about half the people. It is no longer a university city in the same way as Durham or Oxford but it is a fun city with such a lot to see. The university is out of the main centre these days, and so some of the less sociable issues surrounding studentville are absent. Many of the original buildings have been retained and put to new use appropriate to their architecture. An arts and craft complex uses the original University of Canterbury and Christchurch Girls and Boys High School in 1874. The current usage doesn’t seem incongruous in any way.
Christ’s College is the city’s most elite private school and the first to be built in New Zealand. This is next to the museum. It was established on the same lines as Eton and Harrow. We sat by the river in the centre of the city and had a picnic lunch and watched punts leisurely passing by. Then went to the Botanic Gardens next door and feasted our eyes on the fabulous rose garden and begonias in the conservatories. Surprisingly the roses were still in full bloom, compared with those in Dunedin further south.
We mentioned previously that we hoped to meet up with Andrew, whom we had met on Brownsea Island last August. Well, we got a call that he had taken the afternoon of work, and met up with him at a microbrewery called Dux de Lux which was obviously the place to be on a warm Friday afternoon. After a couple of beers we went for Tea and caught up on his and our travels, and present day Scouting in NZ. Andrew is part of the NZ Scouts National Executive and also a Venturer Leader among other activities, and so we had a lot to talk about, as all Scouters do when they get together!!
Oh yes, the trams. These were withdrawn from service in 1954, as were the trams in London, as being old fashioned and out dated. They were re-introduced in 1995 as a tourist attraction and they are currently extending the present loop to add new destinations as we write. The trams are “previously used” and not new as those in Sheffield and Croydon, but like those in San Francisco. The one we rode on was from Melbourne and I’m not sure whether the rest are also from the same stable, but they were all decorated with flowers as Christchurch version of the Chelsea Flower Show has just taken place in Hagley Park. We did also see one tram with a bicycle and a buggy on the front! I hope they were being carried legitimately, and not as a result of some bizarre accident!
Oh No! Margery has seen an arctophilists heaven. Bears on the walls, bears up the stairs, even bears trying to make a break for it out of an upstairs window! I can bearly believe it. Philias wanted a girl friend and he has chosen an Aussie named Wattlie. Poor Tanner looks like his nose has really been put out of joint! I hope there are no fights as bear fist fighting is not a pretty sight!
OK, OK, no more bear jokes!

Now as I start along my chosen way....

After two nights of not sleeping very well I slept right through last night. We have a nice room with a balcony overlooking the park, it’s not too hot, and we can open the windows. Because it is not usual to have double glazing the noise level can sometimes be a problem in the city, but we are by the River Avon and the only noise we get is from the ducks.
Don’t recognise the words of the blog title? – these were penned by Ralph Reader and are the first words of the Scout Hymn. Today, after being in NZ for nearly 9 weeks we meet the archivists and current curators of the National Scout Museum at Blue Skies Scout camp site. Their names are Peter and Valerie Henwood, and are a really lovely couple. Those who are interested can see items on the following website www.nzmuseums.co.nz under the national scout museum.
We were blown away by the exhibits and the skill, sensitivity and detail of the work of love that we saw, not only in the main public areas but behind the scenes. And it is not just a static display, it is also a living history. We saw copies of so many books published covering Scouting that are from all round the world, including a copy of the Hackney Scouts Song Book (the same as I have at home)! Truly a must for anyone interested in Scouting and what has and is being done in the community, in the Antarctic etc... Fortunately we’d brought some Brownsea Badges with us, including one showing the new centre buildings, so we were able to present the museum with something interesting...I owe them a copy of “Why Brownsea” – they were really interested in it when we talked about it, so we’ll be sending them a copy when we get home.
We also managed to contact Andy Kenny a Scout Leader we met on Brownsea Island last September, and we are having Tea with him tomorrow, before he dashes off to Ashburton for his evening activities.
Well, we said good bye to our camping equipment which has kept us warm and dry for 2/3 of the time we have been in NZ. This investment allowed us to spend more on activities, and tours as we weren’t being stung for expensive hotel and motel costs. We were so lucky with the weather as those regulars to the blog will know, but maybe we were being looked after by yet another of those guardian angels! The camping gear was left at Blue Skies Scout Campsite, so they have some much needed spare equipment for the regional and national Jamborees that the site hosts. Apparently they are always scrabbling round for spare tents, sleeping bags etc and the stuff we’ve left will get good use. Valerie and Peter were amazed that we just wanted to give it away...but this had always been our intention, which is why we were careful not to spend megabucks on it in the first place.
We have also decided that our backpacking days are over! We had some very strange looks as we backpacked up to Kaikoura! Maybe old fogies like us don’t do that here! In any case, my knees don’t appreciate carrying rucksacks anymore, so we donated Ron’s big rucksack as well – hopefully the scout that gets to use it will have as much fun with it as we have had. My rucksack is coming home with us –we’re hoping to leave some of the gear in left luggage at Melbourne airport when we go up to Sydney, so we’ll use that for the stuff we’re going to leave in store.

Walking in a winter wonderland...

To day started early..about 2am for Ron, and about 3am for me. Hmmm not quite what we had in mind, but the promised storm arrived on schedule. The rain wasn’t a problem; our Oztrail did it’s stuff and kept us dry, the wind, however, was another matter. Our high dome tent we have at home (and all the ones on Brownsea) have a double guy line on each of the flexi poles. The two fixing points keep the pole bent in the correct convex position in windy conditions. Our Oztrail only has the guy lines fixed in one place, so, when the wind blows hard enough, the poles will quite happily flex from convex to concave. Not a problem? That depends on whether you’re trying to sleep inside the tent – it proves a little difficult when the whole back wall of the tent bends inwards across your face!
We dozed in between wind gusts – it was supposed to be blowing at about 80kph – probably more than our little tent was designed to cope with. At 7 we gave up trying to sleep, got up, got dressed and took the tent down before it blew itself apart. That was interesting in itself – trying to hang onto the canvas as we took it down, It took us almost twice our record time of 9 mins, but it was down dry (thanks to the wind) even if folding it up was a challenge!
Once the tent was down safely, it was time for showers and breakfast..before we hit the road for Christchurch. I know we’ll have loads more to see as we travel on, but it made us both feel sad as we left the NZ mountains behind us.
Now, where was the “Winter Wonderland”? It was the International Antarctic Centre in Christchurch. A museum, of sorts, but very much an interactive one. A “Zoo” of sorts – but one for the best of reasons. It is also a real adrenaline buzz as well...but more of that later! Christchurch is the main “jumping off point” for scientists and technicians working at the US, NZ and Italian Antarctic Bases. The Aircraft they use are based here, as are their storage/clothing depots. Their pre-Antarctic training is done here as well. So the Centre is a goldmine of information about all things to do with Antarctic exploration – transport, survival, supplies, experiments, wildlife, geology, climate and mapping.
So, Zoo? The Antarctic Centre holds the only captive group of rare NZ little blue penguins These are all birds that have met with disaster – collisions with boats, being caught in fishing line, shark attack all of which has left them unable to be returned to the wild. So the group of 25 live in ultimate luxury – being fed three times a day, living in a purpose built enclosure with their own personal swimming pool, and burrows specially constructed for them. Those with sight problems (one, Elvis, is completely blind) are assisted to find their burrows by a line of rubber matting set into the floor! These birds are also carefully fed by hand on the “beach” as they could not find fish in the water. They seem to have adapted well to the “time change” – unlike their wild compatriots who are active at night, these guys go to bed by 7!! It was great to see them so close and so obviously contented. None of them would have lasted 5 minutes in the wild.
Now , adrenaline rush? Well, you have 2 choices – going into the “Snow Room” where a”normal Antarctic day is simulated most of the time...then every 20 minutes the simulation goes into an Anarctic storm – wind, snow are wild chill down to -38⁰C ! There was an igloo to hide in, an ice slide to go down (no, I didn’t try it!) a skidoo to ride on and of course real snow! 50 tons of it...as if we hadn’t had enough of that before we left home! They do provide you with extra warm jackets and overshoes!
So that the first option – yes, we did it, we also did the second one...a Haggelund ride round what is basically an extreme off road course! What’s a Haggelund? You can see the picture, but it’s a Swedish vehicle specifically designed for Arctic conditions and now used at both poles. It’s a superb off-roader, watertight and floats! It can carry it’s own weight in people or stores and has a top speed of 55kph. It will function in temperatures from +50⁰C down to -125⁰C. In water it’s tracks act as paddles but it can only do about 3 kph in water. No Jen, you can’t have one – they cost NZ$55,000 just for a knackered one used for spares!
The course was said to test them up to 75% of their capabilities, and involved huge 35⁰ hills, ponds where they were swimming and sections where they where tilting over at an alarming angle...all done as fast as they driver could go! At one point the tracks were over a 1 ½ metre gap to simulate a crevasse – it just rolled straight over like a tank! FUN, but not good for dodgy necks...what the heck, I did it anyway!
The advertising said allow 2 -3 hours for you visit...Ron and I spent over 6 hours there, although that did include a coffee and lunch!
We’ve just checked into our hotel for the next 3 nights – quite near the centre and with the bonus of a free shuttle into the city. Tomorrow we’re going to see the National Scout Museum at “Blue Skies”, a big Scout Centre, so our UK scarves have been fished out of the bottom of the cases...that’s an ironing job for the morning.
Horribly expensive internet here, so we’ll try and find an internet cafe tomorrow if we get the chance. Here’s hoping we get a bit more sleep than last night..at least the walls won’t move!

....early in the morning, just as the day is dawning, he picks up all the mail bags in his van.

Today’s Tuesday;..... Tuesday’s soup! Is everybody happy? You bet your life we are! Sorry about that I just saw some new scaffold this morning and wanted to share it with you! Sorry! Scaffold was a group in the 60’s with Roger McGoff, and Paul Mc Cartney’s brother whose name escapes me. Sorry! Yet another senior moment. Where did I put those pills?
Probably in your left hand shorts pocket – with the lens cover you’re always losing..that’s where we usually find that! Have a look...got them? OK, take two now and then carry on....
We are booked on the Eastern Bays mail run. This post bus is licensed to carry and delivery post for NZ Postal Service and for the likes of DHL. It also acts as a School Bus, which is why it runs from town at 9:00am and not before. Robin (sorry once again, not Pat) is our driver and guide and he hates cats with a passion, hence we do not have a black and white cat aboard.
NZ as you may have already heard from us does not have any native land mammals except two small bats (the table tennis bat and the slightly larger cricket bat).

GROAN!

As a result the native birds don’t fly as they had no need to. When the Maori first came to Aotearoa (spelling might not be quite right; must do better) they brought with them the Polynesian rat and dogs. These found the native birds very easy game and so the Moa and Kiwi etc who for millions of years had inhabited these islands suddenly were up against predators including man and because they had no fear were easy picking. OK, it’s not bash the Maori day the Europeans did no better introducing rabbits and hare and deer and...do I really need to go on? So the rabbits get out of hand so the stoats are introduced. These are smart creatures! They were introduced to kill the over population of rabbits, but found the birds didn’t run, let alone fly off. As Robin, who worked for 25 years in DOC (Department of Conservation) puts it,” since man came to these islands everything’s turned to custard”.
Where was I? Oh yes, the tablets. No I’ve done that bit! This is why Robin hates cats.
The trip is scheduled to take 5 hours and will be delivering and collecting mail, over a distance of 120km. We will access remote bays and hillsides often on gravel or un-metalled roads. We are to see some stunning scenery once again and drive on the narrowest two tracks road without crash barriers (except in the worst situations 2x2 wooden posts with No 8 wire) and a precipitous drop that you can only imagine in your dreams! To be fair, until 1948 (when the mail boats stopped running), there weren’t the tracks which later became roads.
The Banks Peninsular was formed from volcanic activity. Wind and rain erosion over 10 million years has reduced the height of the mountains and we will be driving around the rim with Akaroa Bay the caldera. So the roads are hugging the side of the old volcano or the flows all the way. It is spectacular, if rather desolate of trees, leading to more erosion. And guess who cleared the trees? The Europeans! Well the natural bush is being allowed to grow back in some areas, so there is hope, but the cloud forest climate has for the moment been lost and along with it much of the flora and fauna.
We stop in a bay for “Morning Tea”. This is like evening tea but less sumptuous. Remember the green lipped mussels and the kayaking – that was morning tea. Today we have tea, tomato and pesto sandwiches, cheese and biscuits with cucumber and pineapple relish, or tomato chutney and plum cake, all made and hampered up by Robin’s wife. And guess what, she puts in a mug with cats on it which Robin some how gets!
We call at a number of places and this gives a chance to stretch legs and talk to the people where we stop. One such place was a stone Anglican church built single handed by John Menzie with some incredible stone and wood carving. When you try to imagine the toil required it makes you humble.
In a similar vein a Russian Orthodox church is being finished in Le Bons bay by a family who actually live in Christchurch. However, labour from Russia has been brought in to cut the wood in the traditional fashion for a 15th century Russian Church. There are apparently no nails being used in the construction.
We return to Akaroa at about 2:25pm, a little later than planned, but having had a fascinating insight to life in this tiny community of 2000 people covering 100,000 hectares.
A high tea was called for since we needed to have a drink, and some food in the shape of sea food chowder, and spicy wedges with cream cheese also arrived to share. We really couldn’t have managed one each.
Margery is sunbathing and also sewing just to prove she is still capable of multitasking, whilst I am sitting here exercising my grey cells and blogging. Tonight is our 41st night in a tent and we are expecting a fresh south easterly with rain to hit after sunset. Wind speeds are predicted to be in the gale force region so I hope our little tent survives. If not, there is a car and a TV room which will both be a respectable port in a storm. We’ll see! It is reasonably calm at the moment and the cloud is building in the south-west, so......”It’s good night from me”, and it’s “ goodnight from her”.
Oh yes, the washings almost dried. Sorry, I can’t tell you what the censored paragraph was that prefaced this statement, but Margery has a silly grin on her face when she thinks about wot I rit.
Mmmm..definitely not for public consumption!
Philias says he has had no input in this blog and is getting sidelined. He does not look very happy. In fact he looks like a bear with a sore head. That will teach him not to go budgie jumping!
Perhaps it will also teach him not to try and “jump ship” like he did yesterday..personally I think he might have been after a NZ lady bear...but I’m not sure that the nose dive onto a concrete wharf did him any good. Many thanks to the kind Kiwi guy who saw his efforts and returned him to us...leave the ladies alone, Philias!
No, Margery, that’s unkind! Philias doesn’t look like Pudsey, and you can see you’ve really upset him now after you said that nothing would be said about bear assignations.

With her red top sails set she sails the ocean....

Pete this one is for you. The town of Akaroa has a very chequered history and is truly at the heart of pioneering colonialism. Cook named the peninsula after Sir Joseph Banks 68 years before Jean Langlois captain of the French whaling ship Cachalot negotiated with the local Maori inhabitants to purchase the land. This was in 1838. On his return to France he formed the Nanto-Bordelaise Company which organised for 57 emigrants to sail to NZ and claim it for France. The British arrived 2 weeks before the warship L’Aube captained by Charles Lavaud and planted their flag as claim, weeks after the signing of the TREATY. So when the French arrived an unusual alliance was formed with the French building part of the town and the English the other. Guess which end the British chose? The most advantageous strategically – a good gun platform to guard the port!
Anyway, enough of history for the moment, the French flavour to the township is still very much in evidence, as it was the first part built. Hopefully the couple of pictures we have put on the blog give a taster.
Our campsite is 113 steps up from the town on a ten minute walk, and M was glad of her trekking pole on the way down. Non, je ne regret rien. It was a very picturesque walk and at the bottom of the walk we came across two tiny kiddies bikes, which were padlocked to a tree. Sensibly, Mum and Dad probably said no to taking them up the hill even though I am certain that there would have been protests from tiny’s!
We wandered past the recreation ground with a petanque court, croquet club, cricket pitch and a bowls club. Opposite was the main street Rue Lavaud with its very French style housing, including an old peoples hospital which was evacuated recently when the tsunami hit the coast of NZ. Fortunately, with a low tide and little wind the effect was minimal and certainly no more than for a high Spring tide.
Sign saying fresh bread at the boulangerie and deli – result! - followed by disappointment as it was closed! Of course, France closes on a Monday, doesn’t it! So we are forced to continue on to the English bakery to purchase our bread for lunch. But not until after we purchase tickets for the Fox II, and the Eastern Bays mail run and a stamp for Margery’s mums Mothering Sunday card, from the I-Site.
We are blessed with good weather and so M is tempted to apply sunscreen, as well as wearing sunglasses! The last time she did this we ended up taking refuge in a 41⁰C sulphurous spa to escape the hail stones. Oh well, maybe the boat we are about to board will have indoor accommodation!
The Fox II is a sailing boat with motors and runs harbour cruises, and to see the wildlife, including blue penguins, royal albatross, and NZ fur seals. In addition, Hectors dolphins, the rarest dolphins in the world are known to inhabit these waters. We see all the above on a 3+hour trip including passing the “heads” into the Pacific Ocean and riding a 4-5 metre swell. Sadly no photos of the dolphins this time, as their 3 visits were quite brief, and we needed to hold onto the rail with both hands to cope with the swell!!
Akaroa harbour was formed from the crater of a giant volcanic event some 10 million years ago, with the entrance since eroded by wave action to open it up to the sea and form the harbour we travelled through today.