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MAY 27, 2008 - OUR "DOWN UNDER" ADVENTURE
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What can I say, the trip was awesome. We are so glad we finally got to go to Australia and New Zealand. Just a few highlights of where we went on our 21 day adventure. The flight to Melbourne Australia was long -- a 15 hour non-stop flight from L.A. with a 5 hour flight from Dulles (DC) to L.A. plus a L.A. layover made for a LONG couple days. You also even lost a day going over so Roger kept asking, “When am I to take my medicine?” Barbara, my sister, and her husband, Larry took this trip with us also. Once we arrived at Melbourne we were part of an escorted tour group with Collette Tours. We meet so many nice people! We stayed in Melbourne for 3 nights. It is a pretty big city but very clean and people are very friendly and helpful. We saw Fitzoy gardens and the Shrine of Remembrance. But the best in Melbourne was when we traveled to the coast to the home of world’s largest colony of Little Penguins. We watched the incredible little penguins’ parade as hundreds waddle out from the sea and cross the beach to their burrows in the dunes. We could not take any video or photos but it was a sight to see.
Then we flew to Alice Springs, the so called “outback” where we stayed for 2 nights. It was very dry and hot. We went to a cookout and entertainment under the stars. Got to see the Southern Cross, rode a camel (Roger didn’t want to do that), ate or at least tried camel steak, kangaroo sausage, and I even tried kangaroo tail. We learned a lot about the beliefs and customs of the Aboriginal people.
Next we took the bus to Ayers Rock, Uluru, and stayed 1 night there at a resort. You are out in the middle of nowhere. The land is very flat and dry. The sandy soil is bright orange. Uluru, this formation is huge and created through process of upheaval and erosion. Uluru and the Kata Tjuta formation which is 12 miles away have religious significance to the Aboriginal culture. We toured both these rock formations and even watched Uluru change color at sunset.
We flew next to Cairns, the gateway to the Great Barrier Reef where we stayed 2 nights right on the coast. We took a boat ride to Green Island and spent most of the day. We explored the reef with a ride on a glass-bottom boat. The island was like a small village with shops, restaurants, and even a swimming pool. I went snorkeling and the fish were incredible and the water was great too. The next day near Cairns we did a sky rail tour. Where Alice Springs was so barren and dry; Cairns was very lush and green. We explored the rainforest canopy and tropical forest.
That afternoon we flew to Sydney. Sydney is one of the biggest cities in the world. We rode the monorail around part of the city. We were there for their holiday ANZAC DAY which is like our Memorial Day. Most of the stores and shops were closed for the parade and what a parade! It went on for hours of marching soldiers, young and old. Bagpiper bands were awesome. We toured the Sydney Opera House and even enjoyed a performance in their biggest auditorium. Another night in Sydney we did a dinner cruise around the Harbor. There was a lot to see in Sydney.
Next we flew to New Zealand and landed at Christchurch, a very English city with the Avon River running through it. We were only there 1 night but we did see some gardens and parks. The next day we took a train to Arthur’s Pass. We passed by beautiful river gorges and rugged mountain scenery. At Arthur’s Pass we boarded the bus again to go to Franz Josef Glacier region. We stayed one night near the glacier. It was beautiful. The weather in New Zealand was definitely colder and that day so cloudy and overcast the flight sightseeing tour was canceled. We saw many striking snow covered mountain tops which are called the Southern Alps on our ride to Queenstown. At Queenstown there were the Remarkables. They are a unique range of mountains. One morning we woke up to a fresh snow fall and freezing temperatures with sleet and snow falling.
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After leaving the beautiful town of Queenstown, we headed toward Mt. Cook through the town of Arrowtown (a gold rush town) crossing through Lindis Pass. On the way we had a New Zealand traffic jam. Look at the pictures for that. On this ride we passed elegant views of glacial lakes, forest full of autumn colors of gold and red. We were kept busy taking pictures at every turn. Mt. Cook was not a disappointment either. We were there for just 1 night but for a few minutes the clouds cleared and we could see the top of Mt. Cook.
We were off again the next day working our way back to Christchurch. All through New Zealand you would see fields of sheep,deer, and elk. Also new are the many vineyards that they now have. We stopped at an operating farm (a small farm of only 1200 acres). Dairy farms are a big business now there too.
That night we were in Christchurch again having dinner in restored mansion learning about the history of the first settlers of Christchurch. This was our last night with the many friends we had made on this tour. We would head home tomorrow all going our separate ways. BUT we had another adventure. We got to meet some of our relatives. With the help of my brother, Don, we got hold of an email of a cousin, Kevin Clark. I had emailed him earlier in our trip to see if we could get together with him over coffee. Well, he went to work and called other cousins. My grandfather, Donation Libeau with his brother Alex came to America from New Zealand but he had 24 other siblings left in N.Z. So we have a lot of cousins around. Anyway Kevin and his brother, Bruce picked us up at the hotel with our luggage and went back to Bruce’s house. On the way we stopped at the grave site of my Grandfather’s Mother. After we arrived at Bruce’s house, cousins started to arrive with food. All of them were so welcoming and made us feel right at home. We got to visit for about 3 ½ hours and then they delivered us to the airport in plenty of time for our flight home. The whole trip was a great experience but meeting some of our relatives was “icing on the cake”!
Our flight home from Auckland NZ was a little shorter to L.A. We had a good tail wind so it was only 12 hours and of course we gained back that day we lost 3 weeks ago.
It took us over a week to get back to a normal routine but it all was worth it and I would do it again.