Australia/New Zealand Trip

[DaleG]

Australia / New Zealand trip

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just got back from 40 days in Australia and New Zealand. A 35 day cruise is too long; having said that there were folks doing this cruise that had just finished a 90 day 'round the world cruise (just stayed on the ship...I can't even imagine). Went river-rafting, snorkeling on the Great Barrier reef (and a helicopter ride over a small part of it). Saw "salties", wife Deb held a koala (they are very heavy), and saw lots of great stuff. New Zealand is just beautiful - no other word for it.

At the tail-end of our trip, spent 3 days in Sydney, where we were met by an Australian Cobra Club member, "Baz" (Barry Hayston). I've never met Barry before, just posted on the other forum that I was coming and would like to sit in a right hand drive cobra. Barry responded and I gave him our hotel name and dates we would be in Sydney. I figured he would drive his replica, take me for a ride, we'd have a beer and chat a while, what else? Boy was I wrong! Had a message waiting for us at the hotel saying he would pick us up at 1PM the day of our arrival. Barry, his wife Martha and daughter Louise picked us up that Friday afternoon, we went to their house in Engedine for lunch; had a long ride in Barry's Replica Motor Cars roadster, including a stop at his friend's (Nick Street) house to see his cobra. Then it was a tour around greater Sydney; the day ended with wonderful seafood dinner at a Marina they belong to, returned us to the hotel at 9:30PM. They picked us up at 9:30AM on Saturday for a Sydney beach tour; hit all the famous beaches, took several ferries getting to all sides of Sydney Harbor, and more. Ended the day at a real good German restaurant, after which we were dropped at the hotel at 9:30PM. We were picked up at 10:30 AM Sunday and went to the Blue Mountains, Katoomba, and other places way out there; saw lots of Kangaroos in the wild. Ended the day at a great Chinese restaurant, and back at the hotel at 9:30PM. Sure saw a lot more than the normal tourist: It was WAY over the top! THANKS, BARRY!!!! I love Aussies; very friendly; most on our cruise, including our six dinner mates were from Oz. Our countries have so much in common, except your dollar goes a lot farther here than ours does there. Oiy! I'll be back.

Flew back home Monday and got here before we left there, same day (international dateline, ugh). Just about recovered.

Cheers, Dale

[Towmaster]

Glad you enjoyed it and Good work Baz!

[Donunder]

Glad you enjoyed yourself down here Dale, and you've timed it well, getting out just before the sticky heat of summer arrives.

New Zealand is stunning, as you say, and we have some pretty decent scenery up here in Queensland too but we grudgingly have to admit that Sydney Harbour is quite simply one of the world's spectacular waterways.

Come again, and nice work Baz!

[DaleG]

Agree about QLD. Spent a day on the Brisbane River with a couple we met on a previous cruise. Unfortunately, did not get to see too much except from the water taxis that we took from the port to the Museum area where we met our friends. Nice looking city. Gee, I hope not confusing Brisbane with somewhere else? Lone Pine Koala park, right? And I love the walks along the river in town, with the swimming areas. Magic!

[Donunder]

Originally Posted by DaleG

Agree about QLD. Spent a day on the Brisbane River with a couple we met on a previous cruise. Unfortunately, did not get to see too much except from the water taxis that we took from the port to the Museum area where we met our friends. Nice looking city. Gee, I hope not confusing Brisbane with somewhere else? Lone Pine Koala park, right? And I love the walks along the river in town, with the swimming areas. Magic!

Yep, that's our Brissie! The River City.

[Baz]

Thanks for the kind words Dale. It was a real pleasure to meet you and Deb and to show you our beautiful city and the Blue Mountains. It's a shame you weren't here a few weeks earlier so you could have attended the Nationals.

Over the three days that we had to show Dale and Debbie around, we did over 900 kilometres so we didn't miss much. As stated, we picked them up at 1pm on the Friday, took them home for lunch, took Dale for a run in the Cobra, met up with our Cobra Club's Vice President, Neil Streeting then drove down to Bulli Tops Lookout to show them the view over Wollongong. We then went down Bulli Pass and travelled north along the coast road, over the Sea Cliff Bridge and through Royal National Park. We ended up at the St. George Motor Boat Club where we enjoyed 2 x three tiered Seafood Platters with lobster. We dropped them back at their hotel in Potts Point at about 9.30pm.

On Saturday, we picked them up at 9am and drove into the city. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot right down at the Quay. It was like winning the lottery. We took them to Manly on the ferry, walked around Manly, returned to Circular Quay then caught another ferry around to Darling Harbour. We then drove out to the Gap at Watson's Bay and travelled along the coast through all the Eastern Suburbs beaches like Bronte, Clovelly, Bondi, Coogee, Maroubra and Cronulla. We then went to our favourite German Restaurant, the Rhinedorf at Beverly Hills for dinner before dropping them back to Potts Point.

On Sunday, we picked them up at 9.30am and took them up to Echo Point at Katoomba in the Blue mountains on the Sunday. It was a prick of a day with light showers and heavy mist in the Jamieson Valley. When we arrived, you couldn't see your hand in front of your face for fog, so we drove down Victoria Pass into Hartley, had a look around there for a few hours, saw a few herds of wild roos in the wild which our visitors really loved. When we returned to Katoomba, the fog and mist suddenly lifted over the Three Sisters and Jamieson Valley so Dale and Deb could take photos before it settled back in again. Everything went perfectly during their stay.

Besides getting to meet a great couple, it was thoroughly enjoyable for my family as well.

Baz

[DaleG]

Dang! I knew I'd get Neil's name wrong. Anyone know a Nick Street?

[Wazza]

Wrote a reply to tell you it was Neil Streeting...before I read it a bit closer....
sorry.

(Edit out the post)