We left Fiona’s house in Auckland on a warm sunny morning and followed her to the airport for our flight home via Melbourne. The flight to Melbourne was uneventful and after a couple of hours there we boarded an Airbus A380B for the flight to London Heathrow. It was the first time for us to fly on this enormous aircraft and it’s smoothness and quietness were surprising, taking jet travel to a new level.

Following a 1 hour stop at Singapore we finally landed a shade early at 05:10 on Thursday 9th February at a freezing cold Heathrow. To say the words sub-zero is easy (unless you have just drunk a bottle of wine perhaps – no, I hadn’t!) but we were quite unprepared mentally or ‘wardrobely’ for the ferocity of the plunge in temperature. Our friendly taxi driver from Airport Cars (they have yet to be anything but totally efficient and charming) got us home almost 36 hours to the minute after our departure from Fiona’s house.

The window was broken in the computer room, seen immediately we entered the house but as there was no sign of entry or burglary we came to the conclusion having consulted neighbours that a deer had been tucking into our plants adjacent to the window in question and had somehow managed to break the glass with it’s antlers, perhaps having been startled by the reflection in the glass (must stop cleaning the windows). We saw Sally and Jim after lunch and reclaimed a fit and shiny looking Lucy the dog and there it is – all over.

We had a quiet day, filling the car with petrol and doing some last minute shopping in Howick in the morning. After lunch taken outside in the sunshine, we did some illicit sunbathing – Fiona was at work so wasn’t around to stop us!

We all stayed in for our dinner this evening, and had an early night before our travel back to the UK tomorrow.   No post tomorrow.

Fiona’s neighbours Ray and Barbara were prime movers in the restoration of the Island, Ray having been the last lighthouse keeper on the island. The substantially volunteer nature of the restoration has become a model for other projects of this nature.

Back home a little sunburned (!) we went for a very good spicy ‘Fusion’ Chinese meal, and so to bed.

More odd jobs followed after lunch and then we were off to Fiona’s sister’s house for dinner. Meredith and Geoff have a lovely big house on the outskirts of Auckland and Geoff is a keen Saloon Speedway racer, showing us videos of his latest spectacular crash. He also started up his car in the garage to remind the neighbours that he was still around!

We had a lovely meal and the normal group shot on the deck with Izzie their friendly dog in attendance.

We arrived back at Fiona’s house and spent the afternoon catching up with washing and trying to relocate her wi-fi equipment to a better location. Julia from next door and her two dogs came in and caused a bit of havoc fighting over a ‘woof-woof’.   No takeaway tonight for a change, just Fiona’s excellent home cooking, plenty of wine, and lots of chat.

Arriving just after midday at our motel we left our bags there and went to see the caves at Waitomo. There are three main caves and we chose the ones discovered by a Maori called Aramui while hunting with his dog which found a pig and chased it into a previously unknown cave. That was 1910 and it has been open to visitors ever since.

Home then for another takeaway, this time Chinese.

On then to book into the motel at Rotorua, and then to the recently opened Skyline Cableway and Luge run, up a mountain on the outskirts of Rotorua. If you are ever in Rotorua this is a must. You go up in a gondola, go down the mountain on a luge run (plastic trollies with rudimentary steering and breaks, on a concrete runway), returning to the top on a ski lift. The luge run is EXCELENT – if you elect to take two runs you start on a ‘nursery slope’, being promoted to a much faster track on the second run. It really is great fun!

Much more sedate was our guided tour of the hot springs and geysers of the Maori village on the hot springs site. Then back to the motel for take-away fish and chips.

Tauranga is a large bustling port and has grown enormously since we last visited 4 years ago. Needing a bit of exercise we circumnavigated Mount Maunganui at the head of Tauranga harbour, about a 5km flat walk with lovely views of the rocky coastline surrounding the mountain on a lovely hot, breezy afternoon.

After a hearty meal at the ‘Horny Bull’ overlooking the harbour, it was back to our comparatively luxurious unit at Macey’s Motor Inn.

These were the conditions on our departure from a very restful and quiet night at Thames for the drive north up the Pacific Highway. Forget dual carriageways, we are talking a winding narrow road hugging the rocky coastline more like a deserted Amalfi Drive in Italy. Round every bend there was a stunning view along the coast with steep cliff-like hillsides to the right (inland) and beautiful deserted coves to the left.

Arriving in Coromandel we headed to the Driving Creek Railway and Potteries. This is a gem of a place and apparently fast becoming New Zealand’s top tourist spot. Started by a disillusioned school science teacher in the 70s, he made pots and other art, and he built single handedly a lovely narrow gauge railway which has grown to the extent that it takes an hour for the round trip to the top and back, through stunning scenery and equally stunning civil engineering feats. Thoroughly recommended, and there is the town of Coromandel just down the road with its many eateries, ours was the Pepper Tree.

Our billet tonight is a horrid little motel and backpackers (all that was left) in Whitianga, a bit like Ryanair or Jetstar without the luxuries; no wi-fi connection and NOT EVEN A BOTTLE OPENER for God’s sake.

I will send this courtesy of the Whitianga Library free wi-fi service.

The river Thames here is about 15 metres across and Thames the place is a very touristy but neat and tidy town with a hugely long straight main street with excellent shopping. The motel looks a bit like a Swiss lodge complex against the background of a steep wooded hillside.

The beach is just across the main Pacific Highway (not at all busy!) and a lovely sunset made the warm still evening special.

After a mending and fixing session, mainly involving Fiona’s outside security lights by yours truly, we took a startled Chloe the dog for another walk round Musick Point to see if there were any yachts assembling for tomorrow’s Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta, an annual event involving thousands of yachts from around Auckland Harbour, quite a sight by all accounts, though probably suffering today from a stiff breeze blowing across the water. A consolation ice cream was deemed necessary.   Dinner at home this evening.

We arrived at about mid-day and the afternoon was spent preparing for the evening when Fiona had invited old friends (well not old really but you know what I mean!) Erica and Nigel to share a meal with us. The BBQ was fired up and Nigel cooked some lovely lamb steaks and they went down well with the supporting vegetables and salad provided by the ladies.

After breakfasting out at a cafe in the Cobblestone Mall in Kerikeri we hit the road south and our first stop was at Kawakawa to visit the public toilets there, which have become something of a tourist attraction. The main reason is that they have been built and decorated with a selection of bottles, broken tiles and various other bits and pieces – see the photos – by an Austrian artist who goes by the name of Frederick Hundertwasser, so if you like spending a penny (or cent) to the sound of clicking shutters stop here!   Whangerei was the lunchtime stop and a very good salad(!) in a cafe in the basin.

On then to see Di’s cousin Anne at Oakleigh who lives in a bungalow overlooking Whangerei Harbour. She introduced us to her beguiling Retrieverdoodle (a cross between a Retriever and a Poodle) called Freya. We had a nice chat over tea and cake (oops, the diet is in danger again!) and then off again through pouring rain to Waipu and our bed for the night..

After a very nice lunch (including a flat white coffee complete with customary fern in the froth, see picture), at a nearby alley mall, we headed off to Waitangi, where the famous treaty was signed between the ruling Maori chiefs and representatives of The Crown. It is the location of The Treaty House which became the British Residency, the Maori Meeting House, and the boat shed housing the huge Ceremonial War Canoes; all something of a shrine to New Zealanders.

This was followed by a visit to the oldest wooden house in New Zealand (1822), and the oldest stone house (1836), built next to each other at Kerikeri, the site of one of the earliest landings of British settlers in New Zealand.

Home then and the evening saw us having a very good meal in a local eating house, more quality than quantity this time so the diet has begun (perhaps)!

We left Opononi without breakfast and arrived at the ferry (‘firry’ to any Kiwis here, Fiona!) with half an hour to spare before the next sailing. It looks like the Studland ferry but that is where the similarity ends. We were able to park the car in the queue, lock it , and go and have breakfast before the ferry arrived. We had been directed to the Boat Shed Cafe and sure enough they did a lovely breakfast and served it in time for us to eat it before the ferry arrived.

Having driven through the pretty, quiet, hilly, countryside, mainly farmland, we arrived in the early afternoon at the San Marino Motor Lodge at Cooper’s Beach, Manganui on Doubtless Bay. This is a lovely spot and the Motel unit we have is absolutely right on the beach, and we are lulled by the gentle shush of the waves onto the beach.

We went into town to get fish and chips for later and went home after being rebuffed at another salon, to eat it later. Yours truly went into the sea for a swim, cool at first but quite warm really, the first time in the sea for me since Worbarrow Bay in Dorset in August last year!!

And so to bed to the sound of the sea.   Oh,oh! A second world war air-raid siren has just gone off but I can’t hear the Dorniers yet.   Goodness knows what that means!

Having arrived early at the Lighthouse Motel at Opononi we explored the beach and surroundings having an excellent late lunch at the Schooner cafe high in the hills overlooking the bay.

After a quiet afternoon we repaired to the pub for enormous Pizzas. The diet starts in earnest again tomorrow!

On the way we stopped at the Kauri Museum at Matakohe.   Karis are huge trees which used to be common in this area and apart from being prized for their exceptionally durable and attractive timber (there are planks here from trunks buried for 46,000 years), they also excrete a gum which sets like resin from pines, was used widely in Lino, paint and varnishes and was found in dead forests underground.   This amber like resin was mined by Gum Diggers which have passed into New Zealand folklore.

The evening meal was a huge Chinese Takeaway. The new diet stars in earnest tomorrow.

The weather was improving fast by now and in warm humid conditions we took a 4km walk alongside the estuary before heading for home via the beach at Cockle Bay, just down the road  from home, and a BBQ where yours truly singed the steaks as usual.

The star of the show is, however, Fiona’s other lodger, Harri(et) the baby hedgehog.

Diana’s cousin Fiona was there to meet us and we followed her home to Howick in our hire car. After a pleasant evening over one of her delicious Thai curries we collapased thankfully into bed.

Sorry, no pictures until tomorrow.

After that we got home to do our packing before going out for a Chinese meal to meet some of their RAAF friends followed by an early night.

Lanyon heritage homestead was next on the agenda. It is a on the outskirts of Canberra but when it was first built it was out in the middle of nowhere, close to the Murrumbidgee river. At that time it was in NSW and on the extreme edge of surveyed land from Sydney. Different occupiers over the years have left their mark but the house and outbuildings have been restored to the state they were in when originally occupied. It was a very peaceful place in a lovely location.

After lunch at the homestead, we went to the Canberra Botanical Gardens – lots of stern warnings about snakes but we were, after all, experienced with snakes now and their presence was treated with some disdain! I am not sure that this attitude would have been maintained should a snake have been seen.

On the way ‘hime’ we went to the posh suburb of Red Hill to the lookout which gives a good view over Canberra.

Phil is currently burning some more meat on the BBQ for our dinner ( It’s OK Phil, only joking) while watching the Eastern Rosella parrots feeding in the garden.

Sally took us to the Court House, Aboriginal exhibits in the National Gallery and we had lunch near the Sculpture Garden.

On the way back home we looked in at a Bag shop, Canberra baggage handlers having managed to break the wheels on my suitcase. We left with a case which turned out to be too small – will return it tomorrow and swap for a bigger one.

In the evening we all got together for a BBQ accompanied by a spectacular sun-set during the evening.

For Ken; I’m afraid Phil’s reply is unprintable, suffice to say that you should just look at the photos to see summer in Canberra!!

We went for a walk along the river grabbing a bite to eat on the way, then returned to the B&B to prepare for our flight to Canberra tomorrow and await Doris who joined us for a convivial dinner under umbrellas in the rain (see the photo below).

We persuaded Don to show us the house he had looked at in Mountain Creek, but on the way a snack from a sandwich bar run by an friendly Essex Girl provided lunch (The propeller is from a ship wrecked here which gave it’s name to Dicky Beach – the Dicky bit, that is!). We found ‘Don’s House’ and photographic evidence is provided below. On the way back we called in on Don’s brother and his wife, Peter and Esme, at Pelican Waters for a chat over a coffee and cake (a diet is becoming necessary). Just after the arrival back ‘hime’ the heavens opened.

We arrived at Maroochydore to meet Don, now on his own, at the apartment we had booked for the two nights here. After catching up we went for a walk on the beach before going to the Surf Club, and a pub type meal in cacophonous surroundings!

Bunderberg however is our location tonight and a walk round the city centre reveals a neat, leafy, busy town with lots of the traditional architecture associated with 19th century prosperity.

Just over the road is an Italian restaurant which provided this evening’s meal finished off with an espresso, but it was agreed that a short black as per the menu was the equivalent, accompanied (Mark – see comments) by a Bundaberg rum – a combination I can recommend!

The following is a selection of views of the city.

We set off at  9:45 for the five and a half hour drive to Yeppoon, east of Rockhampton. The drive was easy and with hardly any traffic on what is the main north/south road on the east coast. On several occasions I could see for miles in front and behind with not a vehicle in sight.

The motel is right on the sea front at Yeppoon, a laid back holiday area reminiscent of Maloolaba some years ago. After a Thai meal in the restaurant next door (bring your own grog) it is off tomorrow to Bundaberg.

Below are a few pictures of the motel and the adjacent beach, and some old tramp encountered on the beach.

After a little early morning rain (the first we have had since coming to Australia) the humidity has increased and according to wilting locals, made it the hottest day they can remember up here. I don’t know the altitude here but it is normally cooler than this (currently about 35 degrees).

It was supposed to be a day for a long walk but after considering the temperature and lack of correct footware it was felt that a more sedate 3 km walk through the forest might be in order. There are several short walks which were done consecutively to make a longer total. The forest is very dense, tropical and loud and at almost every step something scuttles away into the leaf litter alongside. On one of these occasions there was what I thought was a large lizard disappearing off the path but it made a lot of loud rustling and suddenly shot across the path 6 inches in front of my sandaled feet into the litter on the other side. It was a large snake, about 3-4 feet long, slate grey in colour and when we talked to a ranger later he said it was almost certainly a Coastal Taipan which are renowned for being perhaps Australia’s most venomous snake and third most poisonous in the world!! Perhaps the longer walk would have been better after all.

Back to the cabin for a soothing drink and housekeeping. Tonight the plan is to go and see the platypuses but …yawn!… who hasn’t seen one of them?. Later …. More platypuses were seen but the session was terminated when a big thunderstorm arrived!

Today we said goodbye to the Jensens but not before taking a picture of their first hens egg from the three birds that they have in the garden. It is perhaps a bit small but it is perfectly formed – early days yet, plenty of time for them to get bigger.
It is always sad saying goodbye and we shall always be grateful for their hospitality over the last few days (and thank you Anna for giving up your bed for us – it was very comfy).

The journey from Townsville was uneventful (but the road house where we stopped for lunch at Guthalungra did the finest ham and egg sandwiches I have ever tasted) and we arrived 6 hours later tired and hungry so the plan now is to have dinner on site and chill out with a few drinks on the deck accompanied by cicadas and birds.

After lunch we headed off to Ravenswood, a town once busy but now passed by but being restored with some lovely old pubs and houses and a huge working gold mine on its doorstep. We paused at the cemetery to find that only a few people lived beyond 60 and several died as infants.

It was all thirsty work and we stopped at the Imperial Hotel for a welcome cold beer or two chatting to the landlady Di who was kind enough to show us some of the old bedrooms which haven’t changed since the 19th century.

Home then and out to a local pub (it’s all pubs!) for a good meal and an early night ready for our onward journey to Eungella National Park tomorrow.

After lunch on the deck we packed up and left, winding our way down the hill and away from Paluma, leaving the relative coolness behind (Paluma is almost 3000 feet above sea level) to once again reach sea level and the humid heat which is summer in Townsville.

The evening was spent at a BBQ with Judith’s and Geoff’s relatives.

There are walks through the forest to the sound of constant bird song and piercingly loud rasping ringing of the cicadas but all around is debris from damage caused by cyclone Yasi of 2011. Many of the trees are damaged but there is a great deal of growth in the understory as new trees appear. Judith an Geoff took us on a couple of bush walks after lunch at the pub.

The trip South was via the waterfalls of Millaa Millaa, Zillie and Ellinjaa  and then to Rainforrest Canopy Walkway at Mamu. Following a stop at Cardwell for a meat pie and a cup of tea at the beach we reached Townsville (so good they named it twice!) where Judith and Geoff greeted us for a pleasant evening of catching up joined later later by their daughter Anna.

The lake is a great place for water sports and fishing and the rivers (creeks) around it are said to abound with Platypuses (but … yawn!… who hasn’t seen them?).

The afternoon was spent (1) watching Michael Clark get his 300 runs against India, (2) chilling out and (3) repacking suit cases ready for a quick getaway in the morning as Townsville is tomorrow’s destination.

The last picture is of Jane’s and Ken’s Brown Falcon which hunts on their land.

Today was nominated Museum Day – so we went Herberton Historic Village where historic buildings from the locality have been moved complete, or dismantled and re-erected, all on a 2-3 acre site west of Atherton. It was really fascinating and each building represented a different aspect of the complete village, from a country pub moved on the back of a low loader, to very rudimentary station hands’ accommodation. Several shop premises were represented as well as a school and a vicar’s house.

The Mining Museum was next and then home to focus on the main event -
Platypus hunting – which was finally successful. The cute little chap paraded up and down in front of lots of excited Japanese tourists and more phlegmatic locals. See the pictures to prove it!!

Ken and Jane are as usual wonderful hosts and are spoiling us rotten. Jane, having seen Platypuses at a particular place on the previous two evenings, took us  along with high expectations to try again but with no success – we decided that they were having a day off due to the New Year public holiday, so we will try again tomorrow night. They took us to see two Cathedral Fig trees in the rain forest near them .

I have attached several photos taken on a walk round Cairns; if you are looking for a Didgeridoo you could do worse than try ‘Didgeridoos R Us’ in Shield Street.

Off shortly for Cairns.

Sent from my HTC

Watch this space in the new year!