The Final Blog......

Our last day in Sydney started out early to catch the train into town for our Sydney Harbour Bridge climb. We have had many "firsts" on this trip, but did not anticipate that the number of trains on the track would actually cause our train to go to the stations on the circular route in reverse order, when we were midway through our journey!! This meant that we had to cross town on foot at breakneck speed to get to our "training" session on time...we were late, but they are just as relaxed as the Kiwis here, so no worries mate!

The climb was a great experience and the views were spectacular - it's a given that they will be at 137m above the water, on a brilliantly sunny day. Sydney is a beautiful city and you certainly get to appreciate it from up top. The whole climb lasted about 2 hours , so we were pretty hot by the end of it. There are some extremely strict rules, so we were unable to bring our own cameras with us, so this photo is all we have of the experience...note the rather fetching grey suits we had to wear.















After our climb we dashed off to catch the ferry to Many Beach for Errin's 2 hour surf lesson - a passion she is sure to follow up on in Calgary. Surfing is not an easy sport and is very exhausting - I felt quite tired watching them all floundering out in the water!!

Errin did very well for her first time, but also swallowed a lot of sea water in the process....and she was one tired puppy by the end of it all.


From the belly up onto the knees...yes, yes, you can do it!!














Look Ma, no hands! Is she up? Is she actually surfing??














Nope! The sea got the better of her this time. But like a trooper, she paddled out there numerous times to try and get up on the board. Not to worry, the sand and surf will be here for an awful long time...waiting for her......









Many thanks to Carmel for being our host for the past few days - we are looking forward to repaying in kind when you come over for the Stampede.

And that brings our adventure to a close. We leave for Auckland tomorrow morning, spend a day there and then fly back to Calgary (and winter) on the 31st.

But before we go - feast your eyes on this.....you can't beat a beach in the middle of winter!!

See ya!

With love,

Errin & Joan

xxx

The Australian Edition

Yes, blog fans, it has been a while since we last updated our blog.....but here it is, the long awaited Aussie Edition!

We had to leave for the airport at the ungodly hour of 4.00 am to catch our flight to Sydney - not fun. And our luggage (I'm sure it was mine...that extra suitcase I've had to purchase...) was 14 kgs over weight, but the girl didn't charge us and hopefully we will get an equally nice person checking our bags on Tuesday. The Australians have always been rather guarded as to what is brought into their fair country, so your bags get x-rayed on the way out of the airport.....poor Errin was stopped and had her wrists slapped for not declaring some honey she had bought as a gift. They missed the rather large bottle of mango/chilli sauce I had in my case!

We rented a car and hightailed it out of Sydney, heading north to Horsfield Bay and Henry Towers - we didn't even see the Opera House or the Harbour Bridge as we left the city, so it didn't feel real that we were actually in Australia! However, here is a rather good night shot Errin took of the Opera House...no, she had not been drinking.....

This part of the country has been in a drought situation for a long time, and there have been many bush fires - the freeway we were driving along had just opened up after being closed for 2 days because of them. So, what did it do? It rained for 2 of the 3 days we stayed in Horsfield Bay!!

We were amazed at all the colourful birds that frequented the deck at Eric and Jaqui's place - we felt like we were in an aviary...and the noise was incredible! We had a most enjoyable visit and spent a few hours wandering around the Australian Reptile Park.



Everyone knows these characters - but bet you didn't know that kangaroos have really soft fur!

One of the highlights for me was meeting my cousin, Caroline, and her two daughters. We spent a most enjoyable day with Caroline - thanks, it was great!

And here are our hosts - Eric and Jacqui, plus their two cats. It was a lovely break and we thank you very much for putting up with us!

Ahhh, Australia Day. What can we say about that day? Except that the drinking started waaay too early and went on waaay too long!! Needless to say, there are some parts of the evening that will remain a mystery...but my dear friends have filled in the details. Hmmm.

In order to celebrate the Big Day, one has to get into the spirit of the thing and here we are, with our delightful hostess with the mostess, Carmel, in our newly acquired Aussie togs.

The fireworks in the evening were spectacular and Carmel was a genius when she parked us in the bar right by Darling Harbour where the display was going to take place.....it did mean that we had to drink to keep our excellent spot. All downhill from there.

The next day, which was not a great morning for one of us, we went on a trip to the Blue Mountains, so called because of the hue the eucalyptus, and are actually older than the Grand Canyon. The drive out there was not the most comfortable for me....hangover, hot, sitting in the back......I know of one bush in Leura that has been "watered" recently....and that's all that is being said.

Errin and Carmel with the Blue Mountains behind and below are the Three Sisters.

Interesting art work outside the Tourist Centre, and I'm sure I could have done something more interesting...but there were too many people around!

It's always fun to meet up with people you know from home, and here is John "surfer dude" Hurlbert. He's heading back to Calgary on Tuesday and will have to get a haircut before he goes back to work!!

We had a fun day at Manly Beach, where Errin is going to get a surfing lesson tomorrow (should be worth a few photos!).

See you in Calgary John!

Manly Beach, a great place to surf...and we both agreed that the cute guy count was off the chart!!

The Opera House, as if you didn't know.

Sydney is such a beautiful city we felt that it deserved one of these........

Since we are climbing the Harbour Bridge tomorrow, and Errin is surfing, it looks like there will be one more blog - stay tuned!

Ciao,

Errin & Joan

Harere Mai

A picture paints a thousand words, and so we would like to share some of our memories with you as we cannot adequately put into words what we think and feel about New Zealand.

Enjoy!





Venus the Van

Just one of the many interesting signs.......

Pearce and Kurt...cool kids!

Choppy crossing, Cooke Strait.

Guess what - the Split Rock!


A friendly bird - Weka - unlike those bloody Oyster Catchers....

Kayaking at Abel Tasman - quite stunning.

Delicious little lamb.......mint sauce......yummy....mean joan he is so cute how could you eat him?????

A few of the fly boys - Brian, JP & Chad.

Farewell Spit - the top of the South Island

A Christmas Tree...Kiwi style

See what I mean about (bad) dance moves???

Basket of Dreams, Queenstown. More like Basket of Dreamers!

The Remarkables - the ski area, not us.

And finally, taking an Escape Van to places the insurance did not cover.......we found out after the fact!

We hope you have enjoyed our New Zealand blog as much as we have enjoyed writing it (well, Errin isn't too happy with some of it...snigger).

See you in Sydney!

Harere ta!

Errin, the best navigator and friend in the world & Joan, well 5km/hr never felt so safe....love and kisses to all of you,

The End

PS And there were cute guys in the South Island.....okay, so a lot of them were tourists....but they were cute!!!!

Our Last Stop - Christchurch

All good things must come to an end, and so it was with sad hearts that we bade farewell to one of the members of our team - good old Venus. A sad moment indeed, but we are over it! No more odours of socks and hiking shoes......no more digging under our beds for clothes....no more sleeping together!!!!



A short journey from Kaikoura and we were in the nation's 2nd largest city, and perhaps our favourite one (not including Queenstown, of course!!). It has lots of character and the buildings are reminiscent of Jolly Old. Our visit has also coincided with the World Busker Festival, which is proving to be very entertaining. Errin is also picking up more (bad) dance moves - so look out Calgary! (She's not happy about being the brunt of the jokes...but hey, I'm in charge of the keyboard!!).




This is New Regent Street, our preferred spot for breakfast. The trams go by on a regular basis as they wind their way around 2.5 km of the city centre, a nice wee trip.



Once again we were fortunate enough to meet some fun people and last night was no exception. We met Thomas (from Germany) and Axel (from Austria). They are currently touring a bunch of people around NZ on motorcycles (BMWs no less) - hopefully the fine weather we are experiencing will continue for them.

And we have decided on our next trip - a beginner motorcycle tour around Europe!! See you then guys!

We are staying at a backpackers not that far from the city centre - it's not Venus, but it'll do at a pinch. Surprisingly enough, we adpated pretty quickly to having our own beds, standing room to get changed, en suite.......luxury.

Today we are going to watch the buskers, no doubt eat some more, drink a wee bit and heaven forbid, buy more stuff!!

Ciao,

Joan & Errin

xxxx

PS. I may not have been in charge of the keyboard, but I got some fab pics for those who want the real dirt......ha ha ha ha Errin

Whatever........j

Maverick, Goose - who needs them?

Especially when there happens to be Skate, Spider, Rhino, Claw and Fuse hanging around! Yes folks, we had our own wee Top Gun happening in Queenstown, but we are quite disappointed that the boys did not sing That Song for us. Anyway, we spent two fun filled evenings with the US fighter pilots on leave from Korea - thanks boys, it was a blast!

Sorry that we have not been on the blog for a while - lack of technology is mostly to blame, and from the photos, you will see why. Once we left Queenstown (and that was a sad move) we headed into Glenorchy (land of Lord of the Rings) for a 3 hours horse trek. We have a new appreciation for horse riders after that....took several days for the inner thighs to recover from that little outing! The scenery was fantastic and we had a great time.

After that we headed back down the road toward Dunedin. The countryside here is quite varied and while we were driving through hot wine country, something flew in the driver's side window and headed straight for Errin, who was minding her own business. Next thing I knew, she was shrieking and fighting for her life! What on earth was happening, you ask. A bee had flown in and in its panic managed to sting poor Errin on her butt!! It is amazing how quickly it swells up - and that's all I'll say! The next few miles were focused on whether she was having an allergic reaction and if I had to get out the old bic pen to open her airway......

Thankfully, she survived and is still here to tell the tale (which will get bigger as time goes on). We stopped off at the round rocks of a place beginning with "M" - neither of us can remember the place name at this particular moment. Very strange, and they come from the cliff, like eggs being hatched. Aliens work, we think. And in true form, we had to do something stupid on them.



We stayed the night beside a river in a place called Beaumont - no idea where it is, but it was a pleasant spot to beak up the drive to Oamarau where we watched the little blue penguins come back to their nesting place at dusk. That's its claim to fame. It was actually quite interesting and they are really cute - only 10 inches tall.

Our next destination was Mount Cook, or Aoraki (Moari). What at beautiful place that is, and we enjoyed a short hike - very hot. We decided to "park up" again and this was the view from our camper van.....


Hard to beat. We have been so lucky with the weather, despite the fact the natives are complaining about it being their worst summer in 60 years.





This church has to be one of the most photographed in the country - The Church of the Good Shepherd at Lake Tekapo. So we just had to take a photo too...baaa

Hanmer Springs was our next stop - the lure of hot springs and they were much needed, plus the massage I got. The old back needed that big time. Very relaxing....

And that brings us up to where we are at the moment - Kaikoura, the whale watching capital of the South Island. We just got back having enjoyed watching 6 or 7 sperm whales sleep! Seems we hit siesta time at sea. No tails to be had, so this is as good as it gets.

So this is our last night in Venus the Van - what are we going to do?? Can we adjust to sleeping in proper beds and not together....oh I think so....Errin is tired of me coughing and spluttering, not to mention the fact that I can't sleep beyond 7.30 am (okay, so this morning it was 4.30 am).

It has been a great 38 days but we are ready to pack up our things and enjoy the final leg of our journey.......look out Christchurch and Sydney, here we come!!

Lots of love,

Errin & Joan

Ho Hum...just another day....

When you wake up and it is still raining from the night before, the dilema is - what to do, what to do? We thought that it would be fun to go for a nice swing, reliving our childhood, that sort of thing.


This swing, however, is slightly different from the ones in the local park......here are the details.




Just for those of you who still think in feet - 60m is about 200 ft!!!



To say that we were scared you know what, is an understatment!! And it wasn't just a simple swing, you had to decide by which method you would leave the platform - many choices.....forwards, backwards, cutaway, the Elvis, pindrop.....and all were rated from "scary" to "very, very, very scary".



Errin decided that she need to be cut away from the platform, otherwise she may not have left it. The guys tried to talk her out of it, but she was determined.....so as you can see, her starting point was not actually on the platform.

The deal was, Nick would release her on the count of three. Well, when he counted to three, nothing happened, so Errin was fixing her hair when they very deviously released her before she knew what was happening!



Once she got her breath back (half way down - so about 100 ft) she was so excited she didn't even scream (and no swearing either!). What a rush - and she came up smiling from ear to ear.





Then it was my turn. I watched a couple more in our group go, which is always smart because it just makes you more nervous. And then it was time. I decided to go with the pindrop - stepping off the platform feet first (hey Mum, at least you didn't know BEFORE we did this!). They didn't listen to me when I said I didn't think I could do it (the nerve), and it was really tough moving my left foot to get to the edge of the platform for the photo....

My legs were shaking and I was terrified, and thought I should have done the same as Errin and got them to release me. But then I just jumped.......and screamed all the way down!!

It was an amazing experience for both of us, and we are very glad we did it, survived and have the DVD!

That's about it from us for the moment....we're off to change our underwear!

Lots of love,

Joan & Errin

xox