Airlie Beach-Whitsunday islands

After a bit of an annoyance in the Brisbane airport with regards to our luggage ( we may just have too many pieces!), we arrived at Airlie Beach where we are staying in a  sweet brand new bungalow with beautiful palm trees right at our door.  Carter just brought a coconut in and is determined to crack it open.  Lol! What on earth do we know about when coconuts are ripe?

At this time of year we are not allowed to swim at the Airlie beaches. Reason being, they are at the end if the high risk jellyfish season and they are considered to be poisoness and deadly. Luckily, with the days being so hot here there is a man made lagoon that is free to swim in.  It's quite large and beautiful and right next to the beach. We walked there on our first day here.  I had to laugh as we were by far the youngest (the boys) and oldest (Derek and I) there. It was obviously frequented mainly by backpackers but we didn't care.

While trying to choose which Great Barrier Reef excursion to go on, we finally decided to go ocean rafting. This combined two different snorkelling stops along the GBR, a lunch buffet at Whithaven beach, a hike to the Hill Inlet lookout for the most stunning view and a few hours to enjoy the silica sands and crystal clear water.  On top of these amazing things, we traveled with Sammy and Tim (our guides) on the "Jammin" zodiac so no seasickness on this trip! And we got to these places in record time so
More time to enjoy the sights.  Of course the boys wanted to sit in the front because that is where it is most bumpy.  They weren't strong enough to sit on the sides with just holding a rope ( they'd end up with the sharks after five minutes), so they did the next funnest thing. It was bumpy but tonnes of fun (sure feeling it today in my neck and upper back.  I wish I wasn't bracing myself so much).  We snorkelled with these sexy Lycra sea suit onesies on to protect us from the jellyfish.  As we had experienced such amazing snorkelling conditions a few weeks ago in Byron Bay, we were not wowed by the clarity of the waters here.  However, the coral is unbelievable.  It was alive and colourful.  Carter and I floated and watched the different soft coral breathe in and out.  He loved the fish, big and small but wanted to be close to me.  The coral and sponges were all different colours and textures.  Carter had a good laugh at one we spotted as it resembled a bare bum sticking up at us!   Derek was able to snorkel deeper in the coral and to the darker depths of the water.  He took some amazing pics of life down there. Braden enjoyed the first snorkelling spot but as we were about to jump in at the second spot, Tim tossed fish food overboard and hundreds of fish came jumping out of the water, including one really large grouper (?) that was larger than Carter.  That freaked him out (even though he loved swimming with sharks and other big fish in Byron Bay).  He was in the water for a bit  but eventually decided to watch the fish from the boat.

Once we got to Whithaven  island we were amazed with how beautiful the scenery was.  It was exactly how the postcards and books portrayed it.  Fifty shades of blue and pure white silica sands.  Plus a few lemon sharks and rays swimmin about where we were walking in the shallow waters. Once again, we feel
We have found paradise.

We are in the last few days of this wonderful experience Derek had planned for us and what a
positive one it has been. He should be very proud of what he has accomplished and what wonderful family memories we have made.  Way to go Derek! You should make travel planning your new hobby or profession.  Maybe you could write for the Lonely Planet.  Although we are excited to see everything about "home", we will miss what we have had these last three months. I can't wait to look at all our videos and pictures! Homebound, it is!

Rainbow beach- sand surfing

Rainbow beach is considered one of the top 10 beaches in the world and we are here enjoying everything about it.  It got it's name because the sand that surrounds the beach is all different colours (yellow, white, orange, purple, blue, red).  Above the beach are the Carlo Blow Sand dunes where we enjoyed sand boarding and sledding as well as the quiet sunsets and sand trekking.  Derek and I have agreed that we have never seen such a place before.  We first stumbled across it a few mornings ago.  We put the first footsteps on the dunes that day.  It was absolutely breathtaking (and scorching hot).  It was like we were walking in the desert until we reached the cliff and saw the water. So close yet so far away as you are prohibited to access the beach via the dunes.

Rainbow beach appears to be a hub for backpackers.  However, it is very quaint, clean and easy to take in. We went to Fraser Island for the day via ferry and safari truck.  The boys loved this as we got to drive on the beaches.  It's amazing. Braden even got to sit in the front seat with the driver to act as co-polite.  There were 15 of us with the tour  guide.  Cameron explained to us that the beach was considered a highway and the speed limit was 80 km/h in the deep sands and water.  Scary stuff! At one point, carter and I were feeling a tad car sick but it eventually passed :-)

On this adventure, we saw a dugong swimming in the water, only one dingo and a monitor lizard.  We swam in lake Mackenzie which is pristine rain fed lake (soft, silky rain water: crystal clear water and white sandy bottoms).  You can see the bottom on the other side of the lake! We also did some tubing in the river which was especially fun for Carter. Lastly, we hiked through a sub tropical rainforest.  The vegetation was spectacular. The size of the trees were enormous. We learned that the top 7 deadliness snakes live on Fraser Island ( but we didn't see any). The ocean waters are not swimmable because great white sharks, bull and tiger sharks frequent them (but we did not see any! Even tho the fisherman did the days before).

Today, which is our last day in Rainbow beach started with an early departure to go feed the dolphins at the pier.  This is not a tour and if you are lucky you can buy a fish at the docks for $5 and get close and personal with the somewhat resident dolphins. There is a pod that comes every morning between 530-8 looking for fish.  They have been doing this for years .  Sometimes up to eight swim in but today we saw only two.  The boys each got to feed them and were so thrilled. We ran into a lady afterwards that recognized us from the morning and she said she was admiring how excited the kids were.

We were all exhausted from the early mornings of the past few days so we went back to the resort and had a nap as Derek went to the Anzac day celebrations.   This year marked the 100 year anniversary - it is considered the time when both Australia and New Zealand became nations.  It is celebrated similar to our Remembrance Day, but it's more specific to one eight month battle that was considered a huge military failure.  Derek went to the parade and then to listen to few speakers.    It appeared to him that it was more celebrated than ours at home, with many more young people and families.  

Later in the day, we went for a walk along the beach, watching the four by fours plough across the sand.  To finish the day, we did some more sand sledding and watched the sunset for the sand dunes.   In the morning, we drove to Brisbane for our flight to Airlie Beach, where we will hopefully head out to the Great Barrier Reef In the days ahead.

Pythons and surfing in noosa

It was a beautiful day walking throughout the rainforest at Noosa national park. While Derek and Carter snuck down the pathway to explore the rocky beach, Braden and I enjoyed the scenic views up top.  That is where we came across yet another huge huntsman spider spinning a ginormous web right in front of our eyes.  We both stopped and admired it.  It was the size of a hand. Some of our friends asked why we didn't scream and run.  It actually never even crossed our minds.  Instead we couldn't wait to find Derek and Carter to show them! We also saw a koala in a tree.  Surprisingly to us, we didn't even take a photo of it as we have been blessed with seeing these creatures in the Otway national park. Interesting, there were many local Aussies showing excitement over this little koala and after talking to many of them, we found out it was the first time in their lives to see a koala in the wild.  We couldn't believe it. How fortunate we were to find so many just weeks before.  They said it is a known fact that the average Aussie sees a maximum of 6 koalas in their lifetime. Crazy!!!
As we were just thinking about heading to the beach, Carter announced that there are just two things left on our list of must do's.  The first seeing a snake and the second, hunting a salt water crocodile.  I particularly didn't really care if we saw either of these deadly creatures in the wild.  With that said, just moments later we were told to look up if we wanted to see a python. A PYTHON! It was huge! Well we thought it was.  It was coiled up on a branch so not quite as scary as one might think if seen slithering by ones feet. The boys knew right away that it was a carpet python as they had learned lots about these and brown snakes at Heidi's farm sanctuary. I think I took over forty photos of it.  Finally, we left for the beach and enjoyed the afternoon jumping waves at the Spit, the surfers beach.

It wasn't until today that I learned why there were so many buoys out in the water.  Can you guess what they were used for? They are shark nets.  These are positioned around the swimming areas to keep shark from entering.  But at this time of year, we don't have to worry about hungry sharks.  They have already moved to warmer waters:) or so they tell me!

"Keys" is a word that will soon be blacklisted from our vocabulary.  Today, for the third time....3! Derek lost the keys again.  Lost, not quite but dropped them by accident down the tiniest slot in the elevator. They were the room keys. Good thing we had two sets and good thing the manager didn't seem too bothered by it.  He said the technician would pull them out next maintenance.  Relieved ? Yes he was! Derek was thrilled this incident was not going to cost us an additional $500 to replace another darn key.

The boy showed off their surfing skills on their own today.  They did an amazing job.  The waves were not as spectacular in Noosa as they were in Byron but they managed to hang on and looked good. I guess those two lessons paid off for them.  Now in the other side, Derek and I failed miserably.  We honestly need to take private lessons because we were a gong how out there.  With no time to practice the four points Carter quickly told us, we got hit by the first wave, shoved over by the second and flipped in the third.  Serious thinking had to happen quickly. I took a break to regroup my thoughts:-) Derek continued on.  By the time I grabbed the board again, Derek was done. Carter and Braden were both there coaching me and giving me solid advice and encouragement to get up in a wave. I couldn't stop laughing, knowing I probably looked like a fool as my kids caught many waves.  I finally got up, briefly (not even time to capture a photo!) and nose dived getting a mouthful of sand (that I swallowed) and a nose full if salt water.  I can honestly say, that didn't feel good. The boys clapped and laughed with me but the best part of that whole experience was when Braden yelled out that I looked way better than Derek.  That is hilarious cuz I can't imagine that I looked like I was even surfing:-)   We took our boards back and enjoyed watching the boys enjoy their surfing for the rest of the afternoon.

Mooloolaba

We arrived at the Sunshine Coast after a somewhat sad good bye at Heidi's farm sanctuary.  We were sad to leave such a beautiful place with loving animals and wonderful people ( they liked the boys so much that they invited us to stay an extra night).  So we did! It's nice not have to be tied down to a set schedule:-).

We held a koala!!! We visited the currumbian zoo and were able to touch and hold many native Australian animals.  The boys were very excited to hold an alligator, a python, a python and a koala.  We watched a sheep shearing show which we couldn't decide if it was cruelty or not.  The koala was our most exciting part.  These little creatures are soft and cuddly.  It was like holding a new born.  They just cling right to you and would kiss your chin.  They were ever so sweet.  We didn't want to leave them.

We drove to Mooloolaba.  We giggle ever time we say that name.  We are at a beach resort that has a bit of a myrtle beach vibe (minus the touristy shops).  We spent two days at the beach taking it easy.  Just a 15 minute walk from us is Alexandria headlands where we were suppose to rent surfboards for the four days but there are some rips in the water there that made the boys a bit nervous so decided to stick to boogie boarding at our beach.  It's a perfect place to unwind.  We are keeping entertained by counting water dragons and blue lizards.

We were suppose to leave Mooloolaba tomorrow to head to Noosa but we decided to extend our stay here until Wednesday.  We have a few sights left to see here ( the Ginger house, the markets, waterfalls and hikes).  It is not quite surfers haven as Byron Bay was, but it is a beautiful sight.

In a few days we will be heading to rainbow beach where we will be touring Fraser Island.  We heard the dingos run ramped there!

More Byron Bay

Wow!  It's hard to believe that we are in our last three weeks.   It'll be sad to leave, but nice to get back home in May.   The "back to reality" comment has come up from time to time - to be honest, I don't really care for it, right now this is my reality and we continue to soak up all the opportunities we can.  Kerri wrote about our early adventures in Byron and it has continued to be a great place to be,   Our hosts, Heidi, James and Jodi have been fantastic, giving us all kinds of suggestions and contacts in the area.   I'm grateful to Brenna for putting us in touch.  The boys love it hear, and continue to play with all the animals as much as they can without getting in the way.  Our hosts seem to have really take it the boys, I think they were invited back next year. We have decided to add one more night on to our stay until we head up the coast to Mooloolaba and then Noosa, from which we will head out of Fraser Island. Before that though, a little review of the last couple of days.

Three days ago, the boys took their first surf lesson with Gaz and Travis.   They were recommended by James and they didn't disappoint.  They were witty, fun, and the boys took them easily.   After a bit of an introduction to the basics of surfing, off they went in the misty rain, nervous mother watching, dad snapping pictures away.    Both boys got up with some success almost immediately and loved every minute.  They had no problems telling you how good they were and how big the waves were or all the things you need to do while surfing.  They prayed to the surfing gods "Hughie" for good waves and were called "gurus" by Gaz, much to their delight.  Afterwards, we went to Minyin Falls for a quick hike.

The next day, we went snorkelling with SunDive, again suggested by James.  The trip started around ten and we were to dive around the Julian Rocks, considered by some to be better than the Great Barrier Reef.   We were hoping to see leopard sharks, tasseled wobbegongs, turtles and rays.   It was truly amazing!  The water was warm, the visibility was fantastic, and although we didn't see any rays, it was a great experience.  We all spent over an hour in the water, and although braden may have gotten a little jelly fish sting, it was all good.  On the way back, we even saw a pod of dolphins off shore.   From there, we went for a short walk on the ridge to the lighthouse over looking sharp cliffs down to the water we had just recently snorkeled near.   We were blessed again!   We saw numerous Rays, turtles, a dolphin, sea eagles, a small shark and what has been debated as either a tiger or bull shark.  The best was when the small shark went on a feeding frenzy and was fighting over its  food with a sea bird.  Not seeing a ray up close was a bit of disappointment, but the rest was an event to remember. After I dropped everyone off, I snuck down to the Billinudgel Pub for a few drinks.  I hung out with some locals and despite the fact I understood little of what they said, I was truly entertained. 

Today was another day at the beach, with some surf lessons for the boys with Gaz and Trav.   Braden and Carter are getting better and better and are looking forward to heading up the coast where they'll probably pass their time on a board.  With a few souvenirs for some friends now packed away, we can look forward to our remaining days.  Can't wait. 

Byron bay

Arrived in the dark in Billinudgel.  It was a 2 km rickety drive along a dark gravel pathway, crossing two bridges (that is loosely said) and finally reaching our residence.  Derek says it reminded him of the shining until we saw our Taj Mahal.  Gorgeous ! We are situated on 40 acres of beautiful lush farmland.  Well more like a private resort in the islands.  Palm trees, birds of paradise , ponds, free range chooks, dogs and horses.  After meeting James , aka Granny (surf name) and Matthew, aka Miff (surf name) we were so happy to have booked this place for the week.  The weather has proven to be worth the wait.

James  gave us the load down of it being snake season and that they are hungry if they  haven't already began hibernating.  What kind of snakes I ask... Carpet Diamond pythons. I laughed.  He told us to wear shoes in the long  grass and always go in pairs just incase.  These snakes Are constrictors not poisinous!!!! No need to worry! Lol what ever!!!  He also casually mentioned that because the property is a rescue farm, the animals roam about but are very friendly and to be sure to close the screen door or they will walk right in to our flat.  Sounds interesting.  Off to bed we went. I didn't sleep a wink. I wondered about these snakes all night. Crystal, not sure you could have stayed here after hearing that. Lol

In the morning, my nerves were put to rest with a friendly hello from one of the  horses nosing our screen door.  We gave it a carrot and enjoyed his presence.  Soon after, the dogs arrived and the boys spent the next little while playing and chasing these creatures.  Then the chooks came a clucking and jumped up on our table.  It was so cool.  We love this place. It is definitely a five star Levicks:-)

We enjoyed a day at Byron bay, hippi capital of Australia.  We beached it and boogie boarded all day long at Watago Beach. The water was warm, much like Cuba/Dominican. We booked our surf lessons to start tomorrow at nine! Watch out!!

Have you heard of the huntsman spiders of Australia? Check them out on you tube.  We were lucky to see our second one this trip.  Braden spotted it first as it was crawling up the wall.  Carter said he's catch it as mom and dad and Braden were screaming and dancing around like three little school girls.  But I would not allow that.  Told Derek he had to get it.  With the tea towel and a long  arm, he snatched it and ran to the door. Making sure he released it outside. Surprisingly to all of us, I had no problems falling a sleep after that.

Today, we visited with the animals before heading out to the surf.  As the Kiwis say" good surf today!".  Yes t'was. We are getting quite used to this after two days hitting the waves.  Braden ran in the water the second we got to Captains Beach and we insisted he come out at 5:00 to dry off before going to buy them a wet suit. Braden looks great out there.  The waves are totally his friend.. Carter enjoys them as well and paddles out just as far as his big brother but due to his size, either I or Derek feel most comfortable alongside him when those big waves roll in.

We bought an Australian cricket set for the beach and played it for a few hours. Surprisingly, it's a lot of fun.  The boys understand all the rules and are teaching us.  Braden was shocked with my batting skills.  I told him it came from my baseball years as a youth! Thanks dad for being such a great coach:-).

Coorang penninsula

A quick update on our whereabouts since we left Auburn, Clare valley.  We were told to stop in Goolwa which is part of the scenic Coorang National Park.  We did not make previous reservations as it was a last minute decision but went anyways.  You can just guess where this story is going.  We pulled up to an I-site to make reservations.  The town and Main Street looked quite nice, filled with fish markets, little shops and coffee shops.  I had good vibes about it until Derek walked out of the information center with an odd look on his face. "Oh geez boys, we may be in trouble." I said to them.  Derek smiled and announced that the ladies in the I-site shook there heads when he asked what hotels were available on the eve before Good Friday.  They sadly told him everything was booked solid except for this one hotel that was being renovated into a retirement complex. He booked two nights and off we went.  And..... Back in the car we went after I quickly did the bed check and saw one bug in the kids bed and a spider in ours.  Gross!!!! That was a first. I ran to reception and demanded our money back.  No problem at all and off to the next city for the night.  This was Victor harbour which is where we had been previously and loved it.  We were able to stay in this brand new holiday home called T'is Bliss.  And it was all that the name declared. Thank goodness.  The boys said this was top rated and were so excited.  It was lovely.  So glad we didn't have to tough it out in the buggy room in Goowla.  Fiona, I was visions of Chris' Quebec story. In Victor Harbour we spent our days hiking  and watching dolphins playing in the water right off shore.

Happy Easter! We just drove 10 hours back to Melbourne so we could spend Easter with the Smith and Aldous families before flying to Brisbane.  Marie and Ian were waiting for us and we were happy to see them.  They are such sweet people.

The Easter bilby and bunny arrived Sunday morning and Derek and I made Easter dinner for all of us.  It was a wonderful evening. We took the boys into Melbourne city to check out the national museum of sports and do a little shopping.  We saw some beautiful gardens and captain cooks cottage.  The boys friends Matthew and Grace dropped in to play who Braden And Carter for a few hours before we headed to the airport.  It was sad for them to say good bye.  Maybe one day we will all meet up again in the USA or Canada or even AUS.  We just never know.

TheTrip By Numers

I don't know how many people are still reading this after almost eight weeks, we hope many but we expect the crowd to be dwindling significantly.  Please encourage everyone you know to read these beautiful posts Kerri has been thoughtfully writing.   As Kerri continues to do the lion's share of the work with regards to blogging, I though I would include a few other bits of information that has little to do with our daily adventures, but more on the numbers side of the trip.  Also, a few tidbits of insight.

Numbers through 52 Days

52 - days of having ice cream
7 - different airports we will have been in by the end of the trip
9000 - approximate kilometers we have driven so far (oddly, it doesn't seem so many)
17 - different places we have stayed
18 - plus one if you include the airplane
28 - beds, floors, couches I've slept in/on
0 - dollars spent on our best day on budget
520 - dollars spent on worst day on budget (not including the following)
500 - dollars spent to replace car key in Auckland
90 - dollars spent to get key out trunk
2.10 - most expensive gas
1.25 - cheapest gas
33 - cost for a case of 30 Coke
3 - pairs of sunglasses Kerri has gone through
25 - length of Shotover jet in minutes
1 - inappropriate words leaving Kerri's mouth heard by the boys on Shotover jet
3 - clothing items lost
15 - parking ticket cost in Rotorua
1 - times random people have come up to Braden and took his picture (he'll be big in Japan by now)
37 - koalas seen in the wild
10 - cockatoos i had coffee with in Halls Gap on our porch
6 - fantastic families we've met
25 - percent of school work we had hoped to accomplish
150+ - kangaroos seen in wild
11.5 - kilometers of Ben Lamond hike
13 - number of yellow penguin seen in wild
121 - number of blue penguins seen in Oamaru
2 - times caught off guard by waves resulting in wet clothes
1 - family from Cobourg we met
5 - new sports boys have gotten into (rugby, footie, cricket, boogie board, surf)
0 - times we have been seriously lost
4 - caves we've been
2 - days of seeing dolphins

I'm running out of room and must head into the city on public transit, this could be scary!  All the best to everyone back home.

The Grampians

The next part of our adventure begins in the Grampians.  We were told it was not a common stop for international tourists but was highly recommended by one of our newly acquired Aussie friends (also by the research Derek came across). We landed in Halls Gap which appeared to be a lively little village. Quaint with a few cafés and ice cream parlours. The boys are equating the quality of the villages/towns by the quantity of ice cream they get!  I'm not sure if they have gone a day without a scoop or two and when the little ladies meet them, they are quick to offer them more:-)


As we entered Halls Gap, we see a footy field filled with 20-30 Roos lazing around in the afternoon sun.   This got our excitement started after the four hour drive we just experienced. We made way to the  Kookaburra cottage only to find a dozen cockatoos sitting on our front porch. Braden, being the bird whisperer, exited from the car in a stealth manner and began talking to these beautiful white birds.  All of a sudden, 2 beautiful rosella birds joined them. He was so excited and so was I.  We had a lovely cottage.  As we settled in, Carter found roo poop right outside his window and door.  He was super excited and announced that maybe he will wake up to a roo staring at him through the window.  Well that was pretty close to the truth.  We had wallabies and Roos in our yard at all times of the day and evening. We even saw wild emus walking around as well as all these different birds, including Braden's favourite new bird the laughing kookaburras .  We considered this a real treat.

We spent the next few days hiking along the Pinnacles which were like canyons and gorges. We squeezed through tiny crevices and jumped along many rocks and boulders.  The boys tried a little rock climbing in spots but mostly they charged ahead of us and called for us to try and keep the pace!  As we passed other hikers, many made note that we were falling behind the boys! Oh to be young and resilient:-)

We figured Halls Gap was the roo capital of Australia. They were everywhere.  Young and old, big and small, popping out of bushes as we walked along the trails.  They even hung out at the playground as the kids ran around.  They seemed to not mind people but we were warned they can give a good kick if we got to close to them.

We decided to make our way to Adelaide to visit Elle Noack in Gawler which is part of the Barossa Valley wine region. This was a 7 hour drive through the flatlands or wastelands as Derek called them.  It wasn't the most scenic route at the beginning.  The boys couldn't believe that when they looked out their window they could see nothing but dry, brown dirt for miles, with the odd tumbleweed rolling around. Derek and I mentioned that at times it reminded us of old ghost towns, which in hindsight may not have been the best thing to say as it spooked the kids for a minute or two:-)

As we neared Elle's, the land got a bit more green and hilly.  We arrived at this beautiful large farm house which we had heard a lot about from Judy and Evan back home.  It reminded me of the Spanish villas we stayed at in Europe.  Elle greeted us at her door with open arms and a dinner awaiting us.  Once again, we have been blessed with meeting wonderful and gracious people in our travels.

Elle had arranged that we begin our next day traveling to Victor Harbour, in the Fleurieu peninsula.  Here we visited with her friends, Janet and Tino who put on a lovely roast of lamb luncheon for us.  Braden said that was the best meat he has ever had! Tino is a musician and plays many instruments.  He took Braden into his recording studio and plugged him in to some pretty cool electric guitars.  Braden was super excited.  They jammed, playing and singing, for two hours.  We left and enjoyed a relaxing walk along Granite island before heading back to Gawler that evening.  Before bed, the boys insisted that they feed Elle's 40+ Year old cockatoo and the 20 year old tortoise that resided in her tranquil backyard. They took a fine liking to these pets and talked and played with them throughout our stay. Carter even drew a picture of the tortoise to go along with the one he drew of the cricket player earlier on this trip.

Elle planned another amazing day for us.  After a tasty breakfast, we went to the whispering wall which is a reservoir with amazing acoustic qualities. It is 150 meters long.  Braden would stand at one end and whisper to Carter at the other and they could hear each other loud and clear.  How is this possible? The curve of the wall allowed for this to be possible. Everyone was quite intrigued by this architectural design.

It was now one for some adult fun.  We drove to Jacob's Creek winery for lunch where Elle and I enjoyed some wine tasting before settling on a bottle to go with lunch.  We had a beautiful view overlooking the vineyards while enjoying the sun on the patio. Once we got back to Elle's, we had a visit from her nephew Thomas whose hobby involves racing cars.  He recently broke the Australian speed record In his class ( about 320 km/h). He brought his race car over to show the boys which were amazed with how fast he drives.

The next day we travelled to Auburn in the Clare Valley to visit Elle's sister Miriam which is where we stayed for the next few days. Miriam greeted us     like a great aunt whom we hadn't seen in a million years (very warm and welcoming). She arranged for us to visit the O'Leary Walker winery for lunch.  Another wine tasting before we agreed to a bottle of sparkling red.  It was so delicious. It is amazing to see the price of all my favourite Australian wines that I buy back home in these wine stores.  I could buy three bottles of the best for the price on one back home. Crazy!

A little exercise was in order after all the wines and good food we had been experiencing so we decided to rent bikes for the day. The four of us went  on a 30 km ride along the Riesling bike trails.  To note, Derek heroically pulling Carter on the trail bike across this unforgiving land. It was stunningly beautiful as we rode between vineyards. The first 15 km had a steady incline with the wind blowing in our faces.  It was a slower pace than Derek originally thought but we were happy and didn't complain. However, the decent back reminded me why I hate riding a bicycle. Even though I didn't have to do much peddling with the wind at our backs, my buttocks was screaming a different story.  I announced that when we do this again,  I'm buying myself a pair of sexy bike shorts beforehand.

When we got back to Miriam's, she had champagne, cheese and olives waiting for us.  Mmm. What a treat after a fun afternoon.  The boys wanted to go mini putting and since Miriam had never done this, we asked her to join us.  What a hoot! I got a hole in one, but she was the strength in our team and the boys still won by a lot.

After dinner we sat outside enjoying some red until Derek calmly told me not to move. Not to move?? What on earth does that mean???  I immediately thought of the large brown snakes and jumped up off my chair plummaging through he and Miriam. She froze, I screamed and Derek started dancing around.  He truly did or atleast that is what it looked like.  Lol!  It wasn't a snake but instead a huge Huntsman spider (which she called it a Daddy Longlegs but it is nothing like the daddy Longlegs we know!) It appeared to be jumping as it ran across the patio. GROSS!!!! That was it. The party moved inside:)

Apollo bay

Would you have thought that Australia would smell like eucalyptus ? Well it sure does and I love it. These trees outline every road and park.  They are not only the favourite trees that koalas sit in and eat from but they are also unique in the way their bark strips off of them.  I catch myself singing "kookaburras sit in the old gum tree" numerous times a day and the funny thing is that I probably haven't sung that song since I was a very little girl in Explorers. Lol.  I have a hard time believing it is politically correct these days.

We are making our way to the wine regions of Australia with a few stops in between.  First we head to Apollo Bay but have to stop off in Torquay. This is a big surf town with dozens of surf shops and outlets.  It is the surf headquarters of quicksilver, roxy and billabong. The boys really wanted some rashas to surf in next week.  They got them (thanks Lynda and les for the Aussie money!!!).  We continued along the great ocean road, admiring the stunning views of the coast.  As we near our destination and I almost falling into a deep sleep, Derek pipes up and announced he thought he just saw a koala perched high above the road in a gum tree.  Groggy as I was, I grabbed our camera and jumped out to see.  How on earth did he spot this cute fur ball, we are not sure.  But excited he did. I needed my big zoom lens to get a good look at it.  That's how high up it was!

While in Apollo Bay, we were told that we must go to the Otway national park for its' picturesque drive and guaranteed sightings of wild koalas.  We decided to hit the road one morning and drive along the infamous Lighthouse Road.  The four of us stopped counting these adorable grey puff balls, aka koalas when we spotted our 37th koala.  Most of these koalas were perched on branches and looked half asleep.  Did you know that these creatures sleep about 20 hours a day? We saw two very active koalas jumping from limb to limb, climbing up and down tree trunks and thought they were truly putting on a show for us (feeling pretty privileged) but then... Out of no where there was one sitting happily on a lower branch eating the eucalyptus leaves at arms length to us. We could have reached out and held it but as I have said before, it is illegal to touch them and we wouldn't chance that.  Instead we took many pics and sadly said good bye to him. 

We made our way to the Apostles which are large rock formations pertruding out of the ocean. Originally there were 12 but due to erosion there are only eight left.  

The boys are enjoying all of the playgrounds, pools, beaches and animals that we have seen so far.  They hope to find more kangaroos in the upcoming days. Carter and I have a long list of animals that we want to see before heading home.  Each of the boys bought a new book on Australian mammals (carter) and Australian birds (Braden).  They carry them everywhere and tick off the ones we see.  I think Braden is going to be the next David Attenborough.  He says he is a bird whisperer and wants to go to Papua New Guinea to study the birds of paradise there. Carter wants to be like a vet who saves special or rare animals like Hope for Wildlife does,  He wants to go to Nova Scotia to meet Hope to see what she does. This has all stemmed from the interest in the wildlife during our travels in NZ and AUS. 

The wifi in Australia has been very touch and go, hence the slow posts. We will continue our blogging soon. 

So...to continue on with Kerri's story, after we raced to the airport and dropped two days budget on lost keys, we checked into our flight to Melbourne.   For this short 3.5 hour flight, we were on one of the biggest planes in the Emirate fleet.   The leg room was extra, the in flight entertainment was exceptional, and the food was actually quite good (to guard against the usual food, we hooked the boys up with some Subway). I told the boys this was as close to first class they would be getting for some time.   I tried to keep my spirits up on the flight, but was still pretty bummed out by the keys.   We landed on time despite the fact that there was a fire in the control tower a few hours earlier - maybe that summed up our day because we weren't quite done with the bad luck yet.    

At Customs, we were required to submit the name and address of our first location in the country in case we needed to be contacted if someone who came down with a dyer infection was sitting near us on the plane (I exaggerate slightly).   This was a problem.   Why you might wonder (or not)?   Well, we were staying with someone I'd met once in passing, whose last name was Smith and whose address I had no idea.   Finally, after being sent off to the side to solve our problem on our own, we found in the depths of Kerri's iPhone, a long deleted message containing the address.  We were saved.  The process took so much time that when we got to the luggage claim, four lone suitcases were rounding the machine, long separated from their traveling companions.  Now it was time to meet Mr. Smith. 

Who was Mr. Smith?  Well, about 12 years ago, a family friend was getting married in Grafton.   They have a large family and my parents, who often offer their house to friends in similar circumstances, had this Australian couple (family of the bride) stay at their house for a number of days.   Kerri was sure we had met them in passing at mom and dad's or at the wedding, but I had no recollection (maybe it was one of those weddings where my memory gets a little foggy).   When we were literally on the way to the airport in Toronto, my dad inquired as to whether or not we had been in contact with this family to which I responded that I had no idea who he was talking about.   I quickly took down their contact information, firing them an email from Richmond Hill and by the time we landed in Queenstown, we had heard back from them and we were invited to stay with them when we got to Melbourne.   We re-organized our travel plans from NZ and now we were on our way to stay with them - now we would be finding out if our contacts in Australia would be as positive as they were in NZ.    I'm pleased to say they were. 

Ian and Marie (pronounced Marr-e) were/are/have bee wonderful hosts.   Despite being quite late in the evening when we arrived, she was up and waiting, giving us hugs and taking us in as though she had known us all her life.   She doted over the boys and made sure we were all taken care of.   With a two hour time difference, our internal clocks were not quite ready to stay up as we did, but it was well worth it to get to know these two.   Ian is originally from England, Marie from Northern Ireland with accents to match.   Over the next four days, we heard stories of their immigration, their families here and there, and we got to be toured around as though we were family.   For something that very nearly didn't happen, we were so glad it did.   

The morning after we arrived, the Smith's daughter picked us up around 9:30 and all seven of us went Healesville Sanctuary north of the city.   It has all the main Australian animals in one spot.  The boys were super excited and Kerri was in heaven taking pictures of everything in site, particularly the koalas (we were told they weren't bears).  We were able to get up close and personal with the kangaroos, wallabies, and numerous birds.   Braden was so smitten with the birds he changed his Instagram name to birdman_geenzer.   The next day, the boys and I went to an Aussie Rules Football game with Ian's son in law and grandson, Matthew,to cheer on the North Melbourne Kangaroos (if you're wondering if everything is named after Australian things, they were playing the Tigers).  Both boys were happy to hang out with someone other than us for a day.  Footy as they call it is an amazing game, with an oval field 180m long by 120m wide.    I've never seen such fit athletes.   That evening, we went to see Matthews basketball finals.  He's an amazing young talent - he scored 20 points to help his team win and is one of the youngest on the team.   The Smiths volunteered to take the boys the next day to give us what they assured was the only chance we would get on our trip, and we happily took it.   It also meant the boys would hang out more with Matthew.    While we hung out in downtown Melbourne,  walking the streets, the boys played cricket, basketball, and went swimming with their new friend.  It was probably pretty good for the boys to get a break from their parents and vice versa.   Melbourne as a city is pretty neat, with the downtown core focussed into about a square kilometer.    There is a real artsy feel downtown and numerous old arcades and lanes (note here to the younger crowd, not the video game type arcades).    It was fun to just wander about people watching and looking for some souvenirs.   We were invited back to the Matthew's house for a barbecue which was a perfect end to the day.   Afterwards, we headed back to the Smith house to pack for our first Aussie road trip, the Great Ocean Road.   To have met another collection of such wonderful people has been very fortuitous.   We have been invited back which is a good sign and it looks as though we will spend Easter there before we fly north to Brisbane.   Hopefully my driving in Australia has no locked or lost keys.   I'm sure Kerri will keep you posted.  

Rotorua

Rotorua is surprisingly quite a large city with many ethnic cafes and shops. Derek was extremely excited to order a real coffee.  We ate lunch in a sweet little cafe which had been awarded the best coffee on the island for the past three years.  Well, after Derek chatted it up with the waitress, and awaited the delivery of his promised tall coffee (guaranteed to be what he was craving), turned out to be 'just okay!'.  It is difficult to find a good perculated coffee as everything is espresso or instant.  Rotorua turned out to be yet another amazing experience despite the rotten egg smell throughout the entire city.  Rotorua is known for its thermal geysers, hence the sulphur scent.  We walked through waitopu thermal wonderland and viewed many colorful pools, geysers and bubbling mud pools.

Next stop was a leisurely walk through the giant redwood forest.  Again, another stunning sight to see on the north island.  The boys wanted to check out this hotspot because they remembered that their teachers talked about the redwood trees in California.  These trees were not as large in diameter as Grandpa Capilano in Vancouver but they sure were some of the tallest trees we've ever seen.

From here we went caving in Waitomo.  We toured in the glow worm caves by foot and boat. Studied stalagmites and stalactites.  We learned that it is almost unheard of to find cave art beyond the entrances of caves in NZ because the Maori people would only go as far into the cave as long as they could see natural light glowing.  Once it was dark, they believed their soul would be taken and would not go any further because they considered this a sacred area.  We continued on to have a guided tour through the Ruakuri cave which was unbelievably spectacular.  We were lucky to get up close and personal with the glow worms and learned about their life cycle and how they glow.  Braden answered every question correctly that the guide asked so I guess he is learning something on this trip!!!  I took the boys into the glow worm museum  while Derek had a rest in the car before heading back to Piha. 

Piha....definitely a favorite spot that we will miss greatly. We were invited to spend our last night in NZ with Jackie and John.  We had hoped to get some surf in but the weather was spotty.  Our last few hours in NZ should have been carefree and relaxing.  The laundry was done, the bags were packed, we said our goodbyes and we were getting into the car to leave when.......................
Derek asks me, "Kerri do you have the keys?".  ME!!! I haven't touched the keys this whole trip. I replied "ummmm, No." Right there, We knew we had a problem.  Derek did not have the keys.  We unpacked the car, which is a talent as we have soooooooo many bags!!!! Too many to say the least.  No keys.  Derek started retracing his steps and I unpacked every bag we had.  Then he double checked them. The Cassidy's tore their house apart. We looked through the garbages and still nothing.  I think derek was about to cry as we were now getting close to our flight time and we had no way of returning the rental car. We called the car rental company and told them what has happened. They suggested we be fined $500 to replace the key and pay for a tow truck to tow it back (minimum $500/way) Ugh! John, being the kind man that he is, came up with a suggestion that he'd drive us to the airport so we didn't miss the flight to Australia and we'd add him to our rental contract, pick up the extra key at the airport and he'd return the car the next day.  Can you believe it? Sad to have to take his offer but relieved and ever so appreciative of his kind heartedness.  So, off we went. Got the spare key for $500 and made our flight. This is where our next adventure begins but I'm running out of steam to write so it will have to wait till tomorrow.  Stay tuned...the story gets even better!

Whangamata

We ended up having a lovely day after cyclone Pam made her way past NZ. We woke up to it still raining so we decided to spend one more night in our beautiful hotel room just in case Pam was hanging around a bit longer.  This put a little damper into our plans but we managed to fill the day nicely once the sun came out at 11:00am.  We had a bocce tournament and I'm happy to say that I am the proud champion. We played some tennis to which I can honestly say I need to take lessons.  Then we enjoyed a hike to the Wentworth falls and ended our day with a donut and some shopping. The surf was too rough from the storm so we could not enjoy the beach but it was fun just watching the waves crash against each other.  We are on our way to rotorua tomorrow.

As we wind down our stay in NZ I thought I'd share my top 10 funniest things that have happened thus far.

1- losing my bikini bottoms while boogie boarding with Braden. Good thing they were around my ankles because I'm sure he wouldn't have helped me look for them!!!

2- seeing blue penguins waddling under the cars in the parking lot.

3- witnessing a New Zealand traffic jam... Sheep jumping over cars and running to the next pasture.

4- the first two weeks watching Derek walk around the car because he forgot which side the steering wheel is on.

5- seeing the windshield wipers go on and it was not even raining...again, Derek trying to signal but instead turning on the wipers.

6- walking along the beach and wondering if the boys noticed this beautiful young woman take her bikini top off before jumping in the water.... You bet they did! They waited to react until we were passed her.  One of them asked; " mom, why would she do that? Why would she do that in front of her boyfriend?" We laughed and laughed.

7-  Mud head! The name given after someone locked the car keys in the trunk.

8- Me yelling the /s/ word on the shotover jet ride but only after warning the kids that mommy may say a bad word if she is scared. They thought that was super funny.

9- This is one up than a tent! Is what we named our one night accommodation in Hahei vacation resort.  Literally it was a garden shed with a bunk bed and double bed in it.  Not what we thought we booked but we laughed and made the most out of it. The boys agreed that mom and dad weren't ready to camp in a tent yet.

10- I almost stepped on a seal! I screamed and pushed carter out of the way. The three boys said I over reacted but I'm happy I didn't say that /s/ word again:-)

And one more, 11- Thea calling me her Canadian mama. Ever so sweet!!!!


Carter has a new email if you want to contact him thru FaceTime or mail.  Cartergeens9@gmail.com

Coromandel, Whangamata, and Cyclone Pam

Well, it has been the better part of three weeks since I wrote anything on the blog and I've been getting a little bit from Kerri to pull up my socks and do something on here.   Truth is, she's been doing such a good job, that I haven't seen the point of trying to better her efforts.  However, I'm sure once word gets out that I've actually done something, we'll have an immense number of views, the Brighton Independent will likely call me and ask that I submit a weekly article.   It might even replace news about our local council that gets so much space (mind you, with the number of errors I make on the iPad and the number of autocorrects, I may not be contacted as quickly as I might think).   Anyway, enough about me (my favorite topic), and on to some adventures and insight into time on the road (as it turns out, I wasn't able to put this in and the blog ends quite abruptly - maybe in the  next post where I'll try and explain how Whangamata is pronounced Fang-i-ma-tah and no one ever knows what I'm talking about, it's like living in Switzerland again).

Currently, it is Sunday late afternoon in NZ, which means it is just before midnight in Brighton.  This concept has continued to entertain both the boys, their friends and our friends.    The international date line is a concept that is hard to grasp for many - that on a Sunday morning here I already know that the Leafs have lost even before they've played is truly amazing (or entirely predictable).   

We have been in the town of Whangamata, just on the edge of Coromandel Peninsula, for the last couple of days.   We arrived yesterday early afternoon, leaving Hahei and making the ones hour drive down without incident.  The Kiwis must be amongst the finest in the world at making roads that aren't straight.   A simple 60 km drive always seems to take at least an hour, without any traffic or street lights to interfere with driving time.   At this point in our trip, it feels as though I've travelled up every mountain, through every gorge and valley on this island.   Unfortunately, I often don't even get a chance to take in the views as I'm white knuckling it on the wheel.    

In Coromandel, we went to a number of beaches that are amongst the best in NZ.   We started by hiking to New Chums Beach (which is just fun to say), a beach which once made a top ten beaches in the world.  This claim might be a bit of stretch, but we had the whole 1.5 km to ourselves for about thirty minutes and the boys loved the isolation and solitude.  Our pictures are starting to gets repetitive with beaches, white sand and waves, but its a good problem to have.   From there, we went to Hahei, where the Cathedral Cove is located.   We had hoped to do some snorkelling on the way there, but big waves got in the way.   The Cove is truly breathtaking, and the boys quickly found that the conditions for wave jumping were too good to pass up.   An hour or two of our time was dedicated to what is quickly becoming our daily gym schedule.  Back at our "resort", a word they use here perhaps differently than we might, we settled into our simple room (beds, bunk beds, fridge) and left for yet one more beach, Hot Water Beach.  This one was suppose to be a different though.   In theory, you arrive at low tide, walk across the beach barefoot toward some old (I mean really old) rocks until your feet start to get warm, the dig a hole and let the geysers under them ground heat up the water.  Unfortunately, every tourist within 50km seemed to be there so finding space was somewhat limited.   That, and the strong waves prevented any success.  At one point, when we had fortified our chosen sight and felt sure the marines couldn't break through, nature decided to do what it can do.  A wave crashed onto shore, flooding our impenetrable fort, knocking Braden over without problems and destroying our hard work.   Braden soon after abandoned ship, and Carter stuck and I stuck it out a little longer before joining Kerri and Braden.  It was certainly a bit of a lunch bag let down.  In the morning, we left for our present location.   If you can imagine, the beach here is just as nice and we spent a hours body surfing and wave jumping.    It's amazing that this never gets old.   We checked into our hotel where we intended to stay low until this cyclone blows through.  Currently, we are in the second hour of the storm, but it should be gone through by lunch tomorrow.   I did get in a great hike this morning at the Karangahake Gorge, an old mining town not far from here.  That's been about the extent of the excitement.  The boys have spent the day catching up with friends on line -  in ways it has been the perfect day.   Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will head to Rotorua, apparently, the smelliest town in NZ.   It should be interesting.  

Some other points of interest 

North island

Can't believe it's been almost a week since I last posted something.  Since then we said goodbye to our favourite Queenstown family and made our way to the North island.

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Our last few days on the South Island included Derek hiking to the top of Ben Lomond  ( 1750 meters) and got in a golf game with Dax. The kids and I ( including Thea) went to an indoor water park/pool and made a 2 hour hike on the Wakatipu trail,  which ended with a treat at the golf course club house:-) .  Thea has nicknamed me her Canadian mom and the boys as her boys! So cute.  We took out the Richards for dinner to say a special thanks for all their wonderful hospitality. We surely will miss them and hope that one day we can return the generosity and meet up with them again.  The next day the Geens family hiked up Ben Lemond to 850 meters.  At the top, we treated the boys with a double decker ice cream and some luging.  The boys ran up the mountain without concern and waited for us.  The advance track luging was fun but short. We agreed that luging  in mont Tremblant is still by far the best.  Derek had to take the gondola down as his knee was hurting but the boys and I ran down it quickly.  So proud of their accomplishments that day!

On Monday, we caught our flight to Auckland. Picked up our car, Corolla, and made way to Jackie and John Cassidy's ( these are the parents of Linda Richards).  We noticed that the North island is not mountainous like the South.  It is very green, lush, and hilly. The roads continue to be just as windy and Derek is doing a great job maneuvering around on them. Still not sure how he does it but He continues to get us to our next destination without getting lost or using a map.  We arrived in Piha late afternoon.  This is where we stayed for three nights with the Cassidy's.  Their home is breathtaking.  Overlooking the North beach, with stunning views of the water and vibrant parakeets flying around. The boys had fun exploring in the brush, swinging in the trees and feeding the horses and sheep.  We walked to waterfalls and up along the Hilary trail.  The highlight for the boys was body surfing and boogie boarding on the south beach.  There is a strong under tow so we had to abide the lifeguards requests.  I was very happy that they had lifeguards out. But John and Jackie did show us how to tell where it was safe to swim.  We always knew Braden looked like a surfer with his tanned body but now he has proved it.  He's looking forward to his surf lessons:-).  Today we said goodbye to the ever-so-kind Cassidy family and made way to Coromandel.  We are expecting some rein in the upcoming days so will plan our days accordingly.  Today we explored Waterworks which reminded us of Mr. Magorium wonder emporium.  We loved it! We are trying to balance the things Derek and I want to do with these silly things the kids choose.  So far it has all worked out well.

At this point I am getting a little bored with my wardrobe! And do have a few food cravings:-)  but the scenery makes up for this. I guess our friends back home will be getting ready for the March break so enjoy.  Safe travels and warm temps everyone!