Tuesday March 26. We were up early to catch a flight from Melbourne to Alice Springs, a two hour flight but a 1 1/2 hour clock change. Yep, they have half hour time zones here. Alice Springs is virtually dead center in Australia, in the Outback, with hills and vegetation much like New Mexico. Normally it gets about 12 inches of rain a year but the last three years have been much wetter so there was green all around. It was the heart of the book by Neville Shute',s A Town Like Alice, that was made into a memorable PBS series a long time ago.

The population of the Springs is around 28,000. It exists because it is virtually the center of social life for folks living in the interior of Australia. The telegraph line that linked the rest of the world to Australia went through the Springs and a key relay was located here. Roads intersected here. Railroads terminated here. And tourists came here because of the book. It is a sprawling town, with shopping and monuments and cultural features.

So we landed around 1030 and dashed to a hilltop commemorating WWII veterans and offering a good view of the town. We then went to our hotel, the Plaza Resort in Alice Springs. Simply gorgeous. Well landscaped, big blue pool, friendly staff. After settling in, we congregated and went to the Desert Park, where we saw a well-maintained collection of desert fauna, a demonstration of the training of eagles, buzzards, and other big carnivore birds, and a movie about the creation of the Australian desert. I got to ride an electric buggy all around the paths.

Finally we went on a barbecue that lasted from 6 until 10pm. There was a boomerang demonstration, with most of the group trying their hand at throwing one. Then a demonstration of making bread on a cattle ranch in the field, and finally a good steak dinner. The only trouble was that Reba had a bad tummy that lasted all evening causing considerable concern as to what it was (don't know) and how long (gone by the next morning).

How's that for a vacation day?

Wednesday March 27. Our final day in Alice Springs and the lightest day for the next week, we are told. This morning we took a ride out to the old telegraph station -- not much to see besides some old buildings, a camel, and the site of the springs for which the town was named. However, the Aborigine guide made the day with his stories of the early days when teletype was the main connection for world news, and his life among the Caucasians and the aborigines -- he was a half blood. The Australian government had a series of policies involving the native population who possessed the continent for 30,000 years before John Cook claimed the land for Great Britain. The aborigines were regarded as dirty, primitive, and lazy, and this is still the view of much of the population of Australia, including a white cowhand last night and our Telegraph guide today. So the government adopted a policy of pulling aborigine children out of their families and bringing them up as whites, more or less. This was what happened to our guide and he approved of it.

After the telegraph we went to the School of the Air where a whole elementary school program is operated interactively for all of the children of the outback, using radio, mentors, and an annual get together. This is a poor population so TV and computers are just beginning to be experimentally added to the program. It costs twice as much to education these 150 or so children this way as opposed to classic classrooms but we are talking about a population spread over thousands of miles. And it appears that the program works well -- kids go to college and have enhanced listening skills.

Dinner is "at our leisure" which means we can eat where we want and pay for it. Most of us are going to a seafood buffet at a casino a short distance from the hotel. It should be good but there is too much to do to get ready for the next leg of the trip to gamble at the casino. Dinner, as usual in a hotel, sounded better than it tasted. The "shrimp" was ocean crayfish, which was not very tasty, etc.

The weather has been nothing short of perfect -- mostly sunny and temperatures in the 70's and 80's. We are leading a charmed life.

end of Report #3

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Thursday March 28.  Today we climbed aboard our trusty coach and drove 3 1/2 hours from Alice Springs to Ayers Rock.  The rock itself, called Uluru by the aborigines, is a mammoth  mesa with generally smooth sides and a red color.  It is sacred to the aborigines and the Australian government has passed administration of it to the tribes.  It is considered a wonder of  the world.

We got to our hotel around 1pm.  Once again we were impressed by the accommodations. 

Friday March 29

We set out for a companion set of red rocks called Kata Tjuta.  Impressive.  Then lunch.  Then to the airport to fly to Cairns on the East Coast  where we will stay 4 days in the same hotel, something we are looking forward to.  We haven't unpacked our suitcases once yet and look forward to it.

end of report #4

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March 30.  This has been the nicest day of the trip so far.  It started with the whole coach full of fellow travelers singing happy birthday to Reba and her being presented with a marvelous little Koala. 

We then went to the Rain Forest and Wildlife Preserve.  There were kangaroos to pet and feed, Koalas to ooh over and pet, a crocodile to stay clear of, birds of all sizes and colors -- we needed more time to get the full flavor.

After lunch we took a flat-bottom river boat in search of crocodiles but didn't see any.  The trip was fun anyway--this isn't the first time we have come looking for wildlife and not finding it. 

We then took a long ride up a mountainous road to a working cattle station (ranch).  The 25 square mile ranch is run by one woman in her 50's with her two dogs and some well-trained horses.  She really runs this station by herself.  More than that, she runs her own 5 sq mile ranch.  That is a lot of terrain to breed and raise 600 head of cattle before she sells them off to feed farms that fatten the cattle for market.  Her cattle are cross breeds with Brahmins, gorgeous beasts.  Her horses are Arabian stallions which she says are a little better than US  quarter horses for running cattle.

After she had given us a fascinating talk and demonstrated how she, the dogs, and the horse maneuver 10 big cows/bulls, we had dinner on the station--very good.  An adequate western-style guitar playing singer played all evening, concluding with some songs from the 40's and 50's that we knew all to well.  And wrapping the day up was another happy birthday to Reba and a small cake with two candles.

March 31.  This was the day for viewing the Great Barrier Reef.  We took a boat to two islands and looked at the Coral Sea through a glass bottom boat (good) and a semi-submersible (not as clear).  Others went snorkeling and enjoyed the spectacular coral and fish.  It was hot and humid, taking the starch out of us.

When we got back we attended an hour long lecture by a linguist who was trying to salvage the language of one of the dying  tribes of aborigines.  He was excellent, providing a perspective on why many of these people refuse the help of whites.   He has had considerable success, it seems, but it still may be too late.

If you are enjoying these reports, drop me a line to let me know -- and any questions you may have.  If you would like to be dropped from the list, let me know that too.


end of Report 5

==============================

Monday, April 1.  Today was another busy one.  We started off by going to the Tjapukai Aboriginal Cultural Park.  The Tjapukai are a tribe of a few thousand among the 350,000 or so remaining aboriginals.  But they have a written language and formal training in their native language, thanks to the linguist who talked to us last night.  Moreover, there are brains in the organization somewhere -- the films and life presentations were interesting and engaged the audience.  Instead of starting with tribal beliefs,  they started with tribal history, right through to recent years.  All in all, decidedly worth while.

After a morning with the Tjapukai, we took a ride on the Sky Rail that went for several miles from Cairns to Kuranda, giving an interesting view of the rain forest.  After poking in a lot of little shops in Kuranda, we took a train back to Cairns, with our group having its own private car.

Tuesday, April 2.  This is moving day.  We packed up everything and got ready to fly to Sydney.  First we had a fascinating visit to the Royal Flying Doctors, an organization flying small planes into remote areas for both routine and emergency health service delivery.  The routine scheduled health service delivery is probably the more important of the missions, but the emergency flights are the more glamorous.  Flying in and out of very short dirt runways in small turboprop aircraft is hazardous business but they have an excellent safety record. And communications by radio is still the primary means of maintaining contact with the outback.

We then flew to Sydney, about a 2 1/2 hour flight (this is a BIG country).  After we got to our hotel, the gorgeous Le Meridien, we had a lecture on sights of Sydney and then a fairly long walk to see some of the sights at night.  Our bags hadn't reached our rooms by the time we had to go so we went as we came -- fortunately the weather has remained "fine".  We ate in a hole-in-the-wall pizza place that had been recommended to us with an interesting menu.  The crust wasn't crisp and I am sure it wasn't supposed to be.  And you can't get red pepper flakes to go on the pizza, as is common in the US.  On the whole, though, it was a good, cheap, and reasonably fast dinner.

Then we went searching for David LaMotte.  We knew he was going to be in Australia about this time and his web page showed where and when -- only it was wrong.  Reba looked at the city music newspaper which had him at the Iguana.  A second cab ride got us there and shortly he came in and was appropriately surprised to see us.  After his gig we chatted for a while and headed home.  It was a long day.

End Report 6

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Wednesday, April 3.  Another wonderful day in OZ.  We started off with a half-day coach trip around down-town Sydney, including a visit to the Opera House.  The Opera House is similar in many respects to the Kennedy Center in DC--multiple theaters for concerts, opera, and plays.  It is almost 50 years old now and has become the center of cultural life in Sydney.  It is a good thing -- it cost over $60 million US to build and has had a $50 million upgrade.  The concert hall is splendid, but the opera house lacks hip-room and many of the seats (INCLUDING THE BOXES)  have obscured vision.  The white "puffy cloud" roofs are really ceramic tile and are designed to prevent Cyclone damage, making them both functional and engaging.  We would love to see a play there but it isn't possible.

We also saw the skyline of Sydney from many directions, including the impressive space needle.  We also saw Bondi Beach, a beautiful sandy beach close to the city.  We were told afterwards that part of the beach is topless but that part  is hard to get to. <g>

After a Malaysian lunch and a visit to a nearby book store we came back to the room for a brief rest.  Reba went to an Opal lecture/sales pitch while I wrote the last trip report.  At 6pm we headed out again for a very nice dinner and a strenuous guided tour of the Sydney Aquarium.  It featured crocodiles, stingrays, sharks, and other aquatic life of Australia.  The master exhibit featured highlights from the Great Barrier Reef.  Nicely done.

We got back to the hotel a little before 10pm.  This is a fast-paced tour.

Thursday, April 4.  Finally a day of leisure, almost.   It was intended to be filled with optional tours but we opted out.  Did some shopping and rested.  In the evening we saw the Pirates  of Penzance at a theater downtown. It was done very broadly and it was fun.

End of Report #7

==========================

Friday, April 5.  Last day in Australia.  We spent the morning (a delicious 75 or so) aboard a cruise ship showing us the sights of Sydney Harbour.  We started in Circular Quay (pronounced Circular KEY) and spent 4 hours exploring the multitudinous coves of the coast.  There are some magnificent houses, some very large, some fascinating architecture, built on the steep slopes leading up hundreds of   feet from the shoreline.  A significant number of homes are worth millions.  We have seen many  harbors but this was the most impressive -- both daytime and at night.

We hadn't intended to have lunch but we were told that Doyle's was a place not to be missed and it's principal location was a half mile or so from the boat dock.  So we walked down and checked out the menu.  They had an appetizer of jumbo prawns stuffed with spinach and nuts and other goodies, breaded and deep fried.  We couldn't pass that up.  Nor could we ignore the Australian Live Lobster with big tails and insignificant claws.  We split the two dishes and left totally satisfied.  A bit pricey but well worth the cost.

Then we went back to the hotel and started to repack the suitcases.  This tiresome procedure is surprisingly time consuming because the suitcases are packed to bursting each time. 

We wound up with a cocktail party and dinner put on by the Grand Circle Travel people in Sydney.  The GCT administrative people came out in force to get a reading on what we liked and didn't like about the tour.  Of course,  Reba and I weren't the least bit hungry so we nibbled a bit and left the rest which wasn't cooked as requested anyway.   It was a friendly social occasion and we appreciated the opportunity to just smooze.

We had a request from a reader of this report to elaborate on the folk music gig we attended earlier in the week.  As you might have expected, it was a fairly smoky bar.  Their was a note posted requesting silence during performances but without anyone to enforce it, there was considerable noise during the acts before and after David LaMotte's portion.  It was fascinating to see how a pro can quiet an audience.  There was a steady crowd of 25 or  so people in the audience all evening.  There was no cover and no payment -- this was for exposure only. 

Saturday, April 6.  Can you believe a 4:30am wake-up call?  We had to have bags outside the door by 5am, a box breakfast at 5:30 and then a coach ride to the airport at 6am.  Good-bye Australia, hello New Zealand.  Anyway, we arrived in Christchurch at 2pm and immediately set out for the Antarctic Exhibition Centre.  There were some fascinating presentations about exploration of Antarctica and its animals and flora.  It is amazing that anything can survive with wind-chill factors of 130 degrees below zero  Fahrenheit.

I came back to the hotel and stayed.  Reba joined one of Pam's city hikes and sized up the place for  45 minutes or so. .  Then we ate in the hotel dining room.  We had oysters prepared 4 different ways  and a giant rack of lamb that was as tender and as tasty as anything we've ever had. 

Now we are heading for a little reading and an early bedtime.  Night all.

End of Report 8.

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April 7, Sunday.  I don't know when you will get this.  We had no trouble using AOLnet in Australia but we sadly discovered that we need AOLGlobal Net Plus to function in New 'Zealand and that  nothing appears to work in Fiji. I'll keep writing and trying to get these reports through.

Today we visited the Botanical Gardens for an hour in the morning.  It was a walking tour of some interesting flowers and trees but we are beginning to get an automatic "oh no" reaction to these walking tours.  'This is a group of 60 and 70 year olds and the  most agile of them still is not used to the stresses and strains of a trip like this.

Reba then visited a street arts and crafts fair.  She got some earrings made from  coins.  Other than that, not exciting.

We had a totally fascinating presentation by Margaret Copland, Storyteller, who did a one-person act representing two founders of the town of Canterbury NZ.  In dialect she presented the "autobiographies" giving everything in balanced perspective.  She later answered questions about the founding of New Zealand.  Excellent.

Shortly thereafter, we went to a local pub to see the Christchurch Folk Club.  While I was paying the cabbie, Reba stuck her nose in the pub and was welcomed with open arms, by name.  After we got over the shock, it turned out that David LaMotte had emailed the club and said we might show up.  So we were welcomed as a friend of David's. 

The pub did not serve food, strictly a bar.  I thought a moment about how to get fed and suggested that we order a pizza delivered to the club.  And that's what we did.  Pretty good pizza except the crust wasn't crisp.

The club runs much like most in the states -- a cover of $5 or 6, an opening act of 20 minutes or so, a headliner doing 2 sets, and a drawing.  The sound system was adequate but the room was boxy with a high ceiling so that there was too much reverb all evening.

End of Report #9.

==================================

Monday, April 8.  Eleven hours on a bus from ChristChurch to Queenstown.   The redeeming virtue is that we saw Mt Cook and some of the most gorgeous mountains and lakes in the world.  The skies were deep blue and many of the mountains snow covered.  We also saw the bungee-jumping bridge, the one Judy jumped from, but no one on our coach was included to jump off a 100 foot high bridge with only some rubber bands to catch him/her.

Tuesday, April 9.  We slept late.  You would think we are on vacation!  The only thing on the schedule is a late morning boat trip to Walter Peak Sheep Station where we got a shearing demonstration and have afternoon tea.  The day turned out to be delicious with blue skies and warm temperatures.  Even the 45 minute boat ride wasn't too chilly.  The shearing was interesting -- the sheep didn't put up much of a struggle. 

We discovered that raising deer for venison is a big operation here, beginning to rival cattle raising.  There are an enormous number of deer on former sheep stations.

After a brief rest back at the hotel, we had a lecture on "Maoris, European Settlement & the Gold Rush Days."  The Maoris were the native population of New Zealand before the English came.  The were better organized than the Australian aborigines.  They got decimated by disease, as did all native populations, but they did a better job of negotiating land sales, bought guns and ammunition to protect themselves, and they put a higher value on education.  Moreover the British did not segregate the Maoris so that they shared the same education facilities as the whites.  As a result, the Maoris have become well integrated into New Zealand life and there are very few pure blooded Maoris left.

The Gold Rush days of California were matched by similar rushes in Australia and New Zealand.  The search for gold was a major factor in the growth of population down under.

Dinner was in the hotel restaurant. -- beef or fish.  The provided meals aren't very good.  If it wasn't for the socializing that these meals provide, they could be deleted.

End Report 10.

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Wednesday, April 10.  This was a long day.  We took the coach for 4 hours from Queenstown to Milford Sound, and then took a boat ride around the fjord.  The terrain reminded us of the Canadian Rockies -- sharp sheer outcroppings of rock and clear deep water.  We even saw a couple of baby sea lions.  There were three  major active waterfalls, falling hundreds of feet. 

After the boat ride we climbed aboard the small 6 passenger airplanes and flew back to Queenstown -- 35 minutes and an interesting view.  Sure beat taking the coach back again.

We ate in the hotel bar since the dining room was full.  I had fish and chips, Bluefish and excellent French fries and enjoyed by meal immensely.  Reba had a salmon and brie pizza; she liked it.

Thursday, April 11.  This is Day 21 of the official trip out of 28 days.  The clock is ticking.

Some interesting twists today.  We  took an aerial gondola up Bob's Peak.  The gondola rose something like 1200 feet over a space of about 1800 feet -- a very sharp incline.  The weather was perfect, bright, sunny and blue, so the paragliding  was beautiful to watch, and there were a lot of people gliding too.  I'm not attracted to doing it myself but I'm not adverse to seeing knowledgeable people show off a bit.

We then boarded the coach and went to Arrowtown.  It reminded Reba of Annapolis Maryland. Arrowtown must have a claim to fame but all we could see was an attempt to make it look like a gold rush town.  Beyond that, it had ice cream made from fresh fruit and a machine that made a whipped mixture that tasted out of this world.  Never saw a machine like that.

We visited a vineyard and tasted several varieties of its wines.  The visit was brief and a bit more commercial than educational in my view -- we've visited vineyards in Israel and on  Long Island and they both were more interesting than this one.  Nevertheless, free wine tasting is hard to turn down.

Then on to the famous bungee jumping bridge.  This is the original bungee jumping spot.  Judy and our friend Annie Wenz have actually bungee jumped from this very bridge.  Reba bought postcards and sent them to Judy and Annie.  One of our group, Henry, did actually bungee jump and has a video, pictures and a t-shirt to prove it.  We all watched him from the viewing platform next to the bridge.  Henry told us you get a controlled stopping --- it wasn't a sharp jerk as you might expect.  He said it was much less stressful than met the eye. 

We finally got back to the hotel around 4:30 and were picked up almost immediately by local New Zealanders who were going to feed and house us for the night.  Ray and Sandra Drayton were our hosts.  They have a beautiful home on the slopes overlooking Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.  We couldn't have asked for nicer hosts.  Ray did the cooking and took us outside after dinner to see the Southern Cross, clearly visible in the dark sky.  Ray is retired while Sandra still works as a nurse.  They have hosted some 2000 people over the last five years.

The house was comfortable as long as the wood was burning in the wood stove.  Then it got downright chilly.  We were able to sleep well with sheets, blankets, and an extra-heavy quilt but it still was cold.

End Report #11.
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Friday, April 12.  The day started off with a two hour flight from Queenstown on the South Island to Rotorua on the North;  This is the center of Maori culture and the home of the thermal volcanic activity.  Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble.  The mud areas spout steam and continuously bubble up and release the sulfur dioxide gasses;  we've smelled worse.  Then on to the Maori Cultural Center where we spent about an hour and a half on a tour of the thermal springs and Maori buildings and activities ending up seeing how their carvings were made.  It reminded us of the carvings we saw being done by native Alaskans.
  At the end of the trail there was a Maori Arts & Crafts Center (there is always a gift shop at the end of these things -- and gift and shop are both four letter words.  Enough already).

We got back to the hotel by 4pm or so and an hour later headed out to a Maori ceremonial concert and dinner.  The lamb and chicken were cooked in the thermal area, in a manner similar to a New England clam bake.  The ceremonial dances and panorama were hokey but moderately enjoyable and mercifully short -- we were back in the hotel by 8:30pm.

Saturday, April 13.  A day of travel -- from Rotorua to Auckland.  We spent the whole day on the bus, stopping occasionally for photo ops and rest room breaks.  The highlight of the day was lunch at the Crosshills farm, featuring Kiwi cooking of lamb and meat loaf. 

After we checked in, Pam led another of her famous marches around the hotel area as a familiarization activity.  Reba and I went as far as a good Internet cafe to get our email and hopefully get a connection established to hook up my laptop.  The owner said yes but they close today at 6pm.  Hopefully tomorrow we can send these reports and get you all caught up.

End Report #12.


================================================

Sunday, April `14th. This is the last full day in New Zealand. We spend the morning in the coach, soaking up the sights of Auckland. Like all of the port cities we have seen on this trip, there is a massive display of wealth in the houses surrounding the slopes of the fjord. Everybody in Auckland is not rich but a lot of people are.!

We also stopped at the crater of an extinct volcano, or at least it has been quiescent for almost 600 years. It is hard to imagine the steepness of the inner cone or picture its greenness. An amusing sidelight is that people have gathered rocks at the center of the crater and have written names and "I love you" messages. We are used to this kind of writing on walls and trees, but not on the insides of volcanoes.

After the tour we lugged the laptop to a Internet cafe and hooked the laptop to their network -- then it was a 10 second operation to get the laptop up and running. Trip reports 9-12 went out lickety split, and we downloaded around 300 messages. In an hour we were completely caught up for $5NZ. What a bargain.

Then it was time again to assemble for a 1 hour harbor boat ride. This ride was different -- we were put on two sail boats and made a racetrack run around the harbor. Everybody had a turn at steering; for some reason I got the lion's share of steering time.

We had dinner together and went off to await a 2:30am wake up call. NZ is a pretty, friendly, laid-back country well-worth visiting. However 8 days hardly does it justice. I suspect there is no way to fully enjoy it except by devoting an entire trip to NZ alone.
Monday, April 15.