Tazmania (it’s in Australia!) and Russell Falls

 

We started our big Australia/New Zealand trip in Tasmania and most of our fellow travellers actually started a few days later in Melbourne or Sydney.  One natural feature that caught our attention in our Australia literature was Russell Falls in Tasmania….so we decided to go there.  the falls are about 2 hours from Hobart, where we were staying for a couple of nights. So we rented a car---and the trip almost ended right there!  They drive on the “wrong” side of the road—and live to tell about it.  It was a very long two hours to the falls and back, but we made it and captured a few photos.  I offer these two photos in case you are interested.  I worked so hard to get them, and I couldn’t resist sharing..

Russell Falls in Tasmania—February 15, 2014—It was a nice hike to get to, but well worth it. Since this was at the end of Summer there, I imagine that water flow was about at its lowest.  I can just imagine these beautiful falls with more water!

Horseshoe Falls in Tasmania—February 15, 2014 – This smaller falls is just up from Russell falls and feeds into it.  There is actually a third falls up further but water flow was low enough to make that one uninteresting—so I took no pictures of it. But Horseshoe Falls was flowing nicely but showing the effect of low water, like Russell Falls. 

Australia and New Zealand are beautiful and very picturesque, as I hope this blog points out.  More to come!

Alan

Ayers Rock and the Olgas at Sunset and Sunrise

 

I love reliving trips by going back through the photos and touching them up for printing and/or sending to friends!  I plan to relive our trip to Australia and New Zealand for as long as I can get away with it…or until we take another one with photos to play with..

Some local photographer in the Ayers Rock area had creatively put together a picture that was made of three photos showing the dramatic color changes of Ayers Rock as the sun either rose or set it (can’t remember which series he showed now).  I’d like to give the person credit—so I’ll have to give the accolades to a nameless person…and I’ll probably use this layout again, too. 

So, here it is—three pictures to remind you od the trip—these are in jpeg format since that was easy to put together for sending.  The collage was made in Word, so now the 3 photos on each page are not individual photos, but, as with anything else I send out, I freely offer the original digital photos or the Word document I made to get the 3 photo layout.  I don’t plan to copyright anything, so feel free to share these with your friends and family.

Ayers Rock at Sunset—February 20, 2014  ( just before we had that fine Barbeque under the stars)

 

Ayers Rock at Sunrise—February 21, 2014—Some of the people didn’t quite get up in time to make it to this one, so for them, this might be a new sight from the trip..

 

The Olgas at Sunset--February 21, 2014—Didn’t have to go far to get this set of photos since the Olgas are very close to Ayers Rock.

 

I apologize to the locals near the Rocks for not using the “real” names of the two features above…didn’t take me long to get back to my Idaho ways..

Ayers Rock—Uluru

The Olgas—Kata Tjuta

I hope everyone has recovered from the big trip—and busy planning the next one!!

Alan

Good Bye—for the moment, anyway..

March 12 and 13, 2014

Trip’s over, all our vouchers are used up and our supply of Fijian cash is gone…so we hop on Fiji Airways Flight 810, shown below in photo, and head for home…

Flowers of Fiji

Parting shots while we were waiting around for the guy to pick up our bags and take them to the lobby….and then wait and wait for the shuttle to the airport. Eventually, it all worked out.  These randomly selected flowers in no way represent the full range of plant life in Fiji!!

Next shot will probably be of our dog, Angus, and the 6-foot high weeds on our property. 

Visit to Fiji Village Nalebaleba

 

March 11, 2014

Today we took a jet boat ride up the Sigatoka River and ended up at a small Fijian Village of Nalebaleba (they add an “m” before each “b” when saying the word—Nalembalemba).  We had to designate a chief, similar to the village visit in New Zealand.  Based on age, Ralph was the lucky boy and became our chief.  He had the duty of presenting a gift from our group to the Village chief to gain acceptance for the village visit.  The gift of a Kava root was readily accepted and the Villagers shared a Kava drink with us to welcome us to their village.

The villagers are generally farmers who work in fields nearby.  For this special occasion, the farming stopped and all the villagers showed up to greet us and give us lunch—and share some more Kava drink, as shown in the first photo below.  After the lunch, we danced with the villagers and had a fun time.  Fijians are generally a fun-loving people (now that they have given up cannibalism…) and this event was typical of their openness and friendly nature.

       

This may be the end of the trip unless something jumps in front of me for a photo……

Blog by Alan and Anne Christie

rachristie@gmail.com

The Last Few Days of the Trip…..boohoo!!

 

March 7, 2014

The last blog ended with the early morning shot of Queenstown outside our hotel…and here is the photo again.  Later in the day, we took the Skippers Canyon tour and reminisced about some or our most ugly rugged back roads in Idaho.  The Skippers Canyon road beat anything we had been on before, but the view and destination were well worth the rough roads and steep dropoffs down to the river!  The area was the site of some early gold mining in the area---and the first commercial bungee jump site.  The jump was about a 103 meter drop (210 feet) to the river!!  The jump site had been closed for years and has been replaced by an even greater jump in another location.

 

March 8, 2014  -- This was a travel day aimed at getting us back to Christchurch for tomorrow’s flight out of the country.  About a 485 km trip—but we found a bunch of places to stop and enjoy the sights! One of the sights was Mt. Cook which we saw several times on our trips as we passed it going South and then North….couldn’t hardly miss the big peak, even though the cloud cover today made a full view impossible….

March 9,2014

Time to leave New Zealand!  At checkout, the desk clerk brought out a nice vest and handed it to me—someone had left it behind.  Marty, the Tour Guide, heard that it was mine. Since I was wearing mine at the time, we figured out that it actually belonged to Jim—the other guy on the tour with impeccable taste in travel clothes.  Marty modeled the vest to show how nice and functional it was…..

March 10, 2014

You talk about a change of pace and scenery—we traveled from the South end of New Zealand, South of their 45th parallel in cold country….and we ended up in Fiji where the weather was warm and HUMID!!!  Long pants came off in a hurry! We stayed at the Outrigger on the Lagoon right on the beach…very nice. First photo is us at the check-in station.  Second photo is a view of the resort from out in the water a few steps..

March 11, 2014

still working on it.

March 12, 2014

Not even started yet….

More Fine Adventures in New Zealand!

 

March 5, 2014

Today, we headed into Queenstown.  On the way, we stopped at the big Fox Glacier shown in the first photo.  It is hard to imagine a glacier in shirt-sleeve weather, but it happens.  Appparently, glaciers in this part of the country grow and recede considerably over the years—seems like a lot more change than we read about for the Northern Glaciers.  The next photo shows World Travelers at Lake Hawea, somewhere in New Zealand.

March 6, 2014

We spent this whole day in Queenstown—except that we really didn’t .  We went into “dawn-dark” mode and spent the entire day with the tour group going to the Fabulous Milford Sound which is part of the Fiordland National Parks.  The area appears to be much like the Fiords of Scandinavia—and best I can tell. The point is that Milford Sound is really Milford Fiord, but it was named a long time ago and no one wants to change it back now….it is still beautiful! 

The first photo shows what it is like to go on a tour in a 49-seat coach.  That seemed like a lot until we stopped for a potty break and encountered 7 more similar-sized coaches (2 not shown).  Mob scene of desperate travelers who had too much coffee for breakfast….

Then there is the Milford Bay photos which absolutely do not do justice the that beautiful place.  The first photo is one of many beautiful shots featuring peaks I didn’t get the name of.  The lake, of course, is Milford Sound (Piopiotahi to the locals )

On this day-trip, we crossed the 45th Parallel—South.  This sparked memories of the great wedding in 2005 at the 45th parallel—North.  Ah, sweet memories!!

March 7, 2014

We are just starting this day, so the next installment may have more good stuff including our tour of the countryside later.  Here is a photo of the lake (Laka Wikatipu) and mountains near our hotel.  Late summer here and it might have been as warm as 40 deg this morning…..

See you tomorrow!!

More Australian Adventures + New Zealand

 

Feb 26, 2014

We made it to Sydney and found it to be every bit as big as people said it was--4+ million people!!  The Sydney Opera House was a true highlight of the day—every bit the wonder it is described as being.  A true work of genius, in my opinion!  The Sydney bridge was another cool structure, although not quite the jaw-dropper of the Opera House. 

Feb 27, 2014

An old coal mine was closed many years ago and a amusement park took its place.

We rode this nearly vertical train up and own the hill—big thrill.  The park had this train, a monorail, and a glass bottom tram that went across the valley. It was so foggy that we didn’t get any really cool photos, so I offer the trees in the fog as proof.  That was a cooler site than it appears in the photo.

Feb 28, 2014

Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand at about 1 1/2 million peops.  We stayed downtown at the Sky City Grand Hotel which is connected to a big casino and the 52+ story tall tower.  We ate dinner on level 523 of the tower and enjoyed a full view of the city from the rotating deck..

March 1, 2014

Boatride around Auckland today—great way to see most of the city..  The Sky City Tower clearly shows up in about any photo taken of the city skyline.

March 2, 2014

Here we are at Rotorua first stopping at a Native Center that was located on top of an old volcano.  the steam in the photo is from the volcano caldera area where the mud baths bubbled at about boiling temperature….to hot to jump into.  Then we visited a Local  “Village” for dinner and a great exposure to New Zealand early culture.  The photo shows Susi learning a game of “drop the stick.”

March 3, 2014

Local economy is supported by farming, mainly raising sheep and selling the wool…. Local farmers  teamed up to do daily shows to display sheep and show how the sheep dogs work.  This photo shows the dogs actually standing up on the sheep as a stunt..  Very funny….

March 4, 2014

Christchurch was hit by several major earthquakes a couple of years ago.  Many of the buildings were over 100 years old and couldn’t withstand the force of the earthquake so they crumbled.  The old Anglican Church in the photo is an example of some of the earthquake damage—and there were examples that were far worse….

Later today, we rode the Tranz Alpine Train to the foot of the Franz Foseph glacier.  We are in an area considered similar to the German Alps—even though on a smaller scale.  Pretty cool for the outdoor folks that we are….

March 5, 2014

We made it to Queenstown today—pictures to follow.  Saw two big glaciers and some awesome mountains—we are in what is called the “Southern Alps” and for good reason.  …..

Lots of extreme sports, like bungee jumping, and other breath-robbing sports…and, a bunch of young people hanging around with all their gear, ready to go…..

More Australian Trip photos

Greetings Group.. I'm finally getting around to posting a few pictures of our trip with Ralph and Susi  to Australia and nearby.  At this point, we are on the 15th day of the trip--Feb 25--and still have 15 to go--plus air travel to here and back home.

Day 1--Feb 12

This first pic is of a set of Rocks in Pirate Bay near Port Arthur.The very Skinny rock to the left of the left-most two rocks is called Candlestick Rock,according to someone in our tour group.

 

 

Here is an Emu feeding and getting some help from his :friends."  This was at a Wildlife refuge--not out in the wild..

 

Next two shots are of the very mild mannered Tasmanian Devil at the same refuge.  The animal trainer actually was able to pick the Devils up and lit us pet them--gingerly..

 

You can probably guess what this is--one of many varieties of Kangaroo.  This is one of the smaller varieties and we haven't seen the really big boys yet....

 

Day 2--Feb 13th

We spent this day wandering around Port Arthur and taking a scenic trip out into the countryside.

This photo is the Tasman Arch, the middle arch in a group of 3.  The first arch is very small--just getting started--and the third arch is actually crumbled in since it finally got too big to support itself..

 

This is a pic of Tessellated Pavement where sea action and other effects have cracked the flat surface rocks and added some deposits to emphasize the straight lines in the rocks...

We hiked back into Wineglass Bay to get this photo.  Quite a hike!!

Day 3—Feb 14

 

Here is a shot of Remarkable Cave from the Inlet side and the Cave Outlet side.  It is a big hole blasted in the rock from years of ocean action. 

Port Arthur was one of the early areas in Australia that housed colonies of prisoners.  Here is a photo of the old prison and surrounding buildings.  The prison was closed about 100 years ago but the town of Port Arthur kept going.

Russell Falls—and Horseshoe Falls

An unidentified micromarsupial near Russell Falls..   Note the big hind legs – and it hoped like a kangaroo…

This is a view of the Melbourne Skyline.  We visited a local rain forest park and took this shot from up above the city..

Downtown Melbourne at the Train Station.  Old building that occupied most of a city block

Koalas at the Melbourne Zoo.  This was our first chance to see Koalas in Australia, but we had several chances as the trip went on.

 

Alice Springs in the Northern Territory (North Central Australia) is near Ayers rock and the real Outback area….The first photo is the Veterans Memorial in the city—typical of the genuine respect shown for military participation all over the country.    The second photo is of the Gallah bird which is considered a real junk bird in the area.  A term of huge disrespect for any person is to call them a Gallah—like “stupid”  or “idiot” in our country…

On the way to Ayers Rock, we stopped for a little amusement and rest at an Aborigine roadside stop.  the offered Camel rides and here is a photo of what the camel thought of being ridden…..

Here are three photos of the Iconic Ayers rock and its companion rock, the Olgas…The first picture is Ayers Rock at sunset—beautiful color.  The second photo is Ayers Rock at sunrise with the beautiful color of the early light.  The third picure is the Olgas at sunset….

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This is the day we went to the Great Barrier Reef.  You can see the complex coral formation—and realize that there are many (!) more different configurations of coral in this huge area.

Grammy gets a first-hand didgeridoo lesson and lives to tell about it.  Second photo came from downtown Cairns—some local advice to shoppers….

Attention Ernie—here is a photo of the Papayan Frogmouth Owl..a really cute little thing that you might like to snuggle with….

This is a brief summary of photos through 2/25—and I hope there will be more to follow. 

One or two a day—I hope that is enough to give you an idea of what’s going on with us….