NaDave Aussie: April 11/12 & 18/19

After our trip to New Zealand , we had the rest of April to spend around Melbourne & Geelong.  We had plans to explore each city a little more, collect some gifts & souvenirs, and catch some much-anticipated rugby & footy matches.  Even though we had only 1 month to go, we still had plenty to do!

April 11 & 12

After returning to Melbourne from NZ on Wednesday, the week ended quickly.  It was a pretty quiet weekend, mostly filled with unpacking, sorting, and resting up.  Autumn had begun to arrive, as the temperatures began to drop, and the time change shifted the sunset to before 6pm.  We also quickly realized how difficult it can be to get around via bike when it’s colder & darker.  The warmth and delight of summer had no doubt given way to the brisk grind of Fall.

On Sunday, we went to our 2nd of 3 rowing lessons at the nearby rowing club.  We were a little rusty since our first lesson in March, but it was a sunny morning, and enjoyed the challenge again.  We also came up with a plan for our last three weekends in the Melbourne area.  We purchased tickets for the local AFL ‘Footy’ Team (The Geelong Cats), and each of the Rugby teams in Melbourne…The Melbourne Storm and The Melbourne Rebels.  We also figured out our return flights back to the USA would be on May 12.  We were entering our last month in Australia…wow!

April 18 & 19

During the week, Nadine found out that the Melbourne Int’lComedy Festival was finishing up (one of the biggest in the world).  So with some planning on Thursday, we said “oh heck, lets do it!”.  We decided to meet in downtown Melbourne on Friday, catch two shows, and then hop a late train back to Geelong.  It was high-paced, but TOTALLY worth it.  We first saw a local Aussie, Dave Hughes, and we laughed our butts off with his Aussie accent and phrases.  Then we went across town to the theatre district to see Russell Kane, a young guy from the UK.  And get this, during the show he asked where the audience was from, and Nadine yelled “New York” and the comedian heard her!  Throughout the show, he kept referencing back to “Nadine from New York”, and we again laughed our faces off as the comedian made stereotype jokes about Brits, Aussies, & Americans alike.  It was a really neat experience to be ‘part’ of the show.  We then ran to catch the 11p train home (yes, literally ran), but made it!

Saturday morning we woke up early in Geelong and headed back into Melbourne for an action packed day of purchasing gifts/souvenirs we’d been talking about & then ending the evening with a Melbourne vs Sydney rugby match.  We bounced around from the Market to local stores, grabbing a bunch of goodies.  We took a slower pace, catching a coffee at a café and a drink at a pub.  Then it was off to the Rugby match.

The Melbourne Storm played the Sydney Roosters in a ‘National Rugby League (NRL)’ match (think Arena League Football in the States).  The teams are mostly located around Sydney, as NRL is the main sport in Northern AUS.  Well the rains came, and made it a sloshy match.  But it ended in thrilling fashion, as Melbourne converted a game winning kick in the last minute…final score 17-16!  We again caught a late train home, full of Melbourne pride.  (Think Boston vs NY…for Melbourne vs Syd).

Sunday we slept in and then headed to a yoga class to work out everything from Friday & Saturday.  Then after a relaxing, yummy home-cooked brunch, we biked over to the local AFL Footy match.  Footy is the main sport in southern Australia, and it was great to see the two sports back-to-back.  The Geelong Cats played the Gold Coast Suns on a chilly day with temps down in the 50s.  Good thing we brought our ponchos, as the skies did open up a few times.  The match was exciting, and it was also fun for Nadine to cheer for her ‘hometown team’.  Geelong fell behind early, but pulled out a late victory in the 4^th quarter….final score 105-96!  What a great weekend for sport…our teams went 2-0!

April 17 - Mel Comedy Festival -- Friday night schedule

April 17 - Nadine & Russel Kane

April 18 -  NaDave at Storm match

April 18 -  Panorama of Rugby Field

April 18 - Melbourne Storm in Purple with the ball

April 18 - Rain-soaked Rugby match!

April 19 - AFL 'Footy' match

April 19 - Footy Game play

April 19 - Geelong Cats!

April 19 - NaDave at AFL Footy

April 19 - Nadine's Ready for the Geelong match!

NaDave Aussie: NZ 7 & 8 (April 1-8)

Tues April 7 (Rob Roy Hike)

As we drove to the head of the Rob Roy hike, we started to understand why this wasn't a main stop for everyone.  The roads were bumpy dirt, and they were covered with roaming cows.  Also, we found out we had to 'Ford' 9 streams with our car.  And since we had an early 2000s Nissan for a rental car, you can understand why we were a little nervous!!  But we made it to the trail head before 9am, and the rain from the previous night had past, we were blue skies again!

The trail started along a river, then across a swingbridge, and then ducked back into the woods.  After ~1 hr we got a small peak at what would be a amazing place.  When we got the end...our jaws dropped.  The Rob Roy Glacier sat up on the mountain, and with all the melting water, there were waterfalls everywhere.  One was ~1000 ft high, while others were massive and loud.  This place looked like it was out of a movie.  We just kept saying "wow", and wished we could stay there all day.

But we headed back, then crossed the 9 streams again in our little Nissan, and made it back to Wanaka ~2pm.  We then headed to a local place called Puzzling World.  Nadine had spotted it the day before, and we spent ~1 hr being little kids again, trying to solve tabletop puzzles and looking at illusions.  An odd spot for an awesome place!  

We then hit the road, as we again needed to put miles behind us.  We whisked through the mountains again, and traveled up along the West Coast.  We stopped at a small town cafe for some "whitebait" cuisine, then ate it while overlooking Knights Point.  As the sun went down, we cruised all the way to just outside of Fox Glacier.  In fact, we camped at a spot that was covered by the glacier in the 1750s!

View from the swingbriddge along Rob Roy hike

Sneak Peak (reminds Dave of Yosemite Valley!)

Rob Roy Panorama

Puzzling World in Wanaka

Sunset Dinner at Knight's Point

Wed April 8 (Fox Glacier, Arthurs Pass, Fly back to Mel)

We were up early for our final day in NZ.  We drove to Fox Glacier hike, and after a short walk, were greeted with an up close view!  Nadine was seeing glaciers from every angle!

We then started over drive up the West Coast, with supposed scenic views along the coast & mountains.  However, the rain rolled in, and all we really saw was a blanket of white clouds.  We did stop for lunch in Hokitika & had maybe the best seafood pizza ever (or we were just that tired of Peanut Butter & bread for the whole trip)

We then headed due East into the mountains.  The clouds eventually parted at Arthurs Pass, which was a crazy drive!  The road was super steep & twisty.  We also saw the world's only alpine Parrot (who likes to welcome travelers!), and then ventured onto Devils Punchbowl Falls.

As we left Arthurs Pass, heading towards Christchurch, the skies cleared, and the scenery opened up for one final appreciation of the unbelievable beauty.  We stayed a bit quieter in the car, and just soaked it all in.  Our NZ trip was coming to a close, but we had no complaints.  Our only regret was that we only had 7 days!

We rolled into Christchurch tired, stinky, but happy.  We browsed through the Duty Free...and the ridiculous prices on alcohol!   We flew out at 830pm, arrived into Mel at 1030p, and then each got back to our houses that night.  Another great NaDave trip.  Wow, we are blessed to have our trips go so well, and the hiccups we have are minor & solvable.  We certainly prep with lots of planning, but we also fortunate to avoid major setbacks.

Fox Glacier - up close!

Luckily she survived!

The most amazing seafood pizza

Epic alpine parrot picture at Arthur's Pass

Steep Arthur's Pass

Not to be confused with any old John Walker

The next time we're on a plane, it'll be headed for the States.  Less than one month to go in Australia....but of course there's still plenty to do around Melbourne :-)!!  

NaDave Aussie: NZ 5 & 6 (April 1-8)

Sun April 5 (Doubtful Sound/Glowworm)

Our cruise left the dock at 8am, and it was forecasted to be a clear day!  We boated across Lake Manapouri & then drove up to Wilmot Pass.  And here is where Doubtful Sound made its first appearance.  Amazing!  We then drove down to the boat, and boarded the shortest 3 hr cruise we've ever taken.  It went by so fast.  I'll let the pictures describe the scenery.  But we saw ocean seals out in the Tasman Sea, and were also visited by wild dolphins, who live in Doubtful Sound.  There was a nature guide on the cruise, which helped spot & describe everything we saw.  Even though the skies stayed clear, it certainly was brisk standing outside on a moving boat.  

One of the best parts of the cruise, was when they pulled into a cove, and then shut off everything to let everyone just listen to the quiet for 5 mins.  A moment that caused self-reflection by everybody.  Afterwards, the guide said "imagine this place in winter, with snow falling and everything covered in white..." (now that image is unreal).

And then, sadly, it was time to hop off the boat and head back.  We got back about 4pm, and then zoomed up to the city of Te Anau.  We grabbed some souvenirs, setup camp, and then ate dinner overlooking the lake.  At 7pm, we boarded the boat to our Glowworm Cave tour.  WOW!  HOLY COW, WOW!  The cave was magical.  No pictures were allowed in the caves, to preserve the glowworms.  It felt like Disney World ride...but it was for real!

We got back to camp around 10pm and passed out quickly once again.  We needed sleep for all of our wine tasting planned for Monday!

Wilmot Pass (hard to get a good pic bc of the haze)

Doubtful Sound

Doubtful Sound 2

Look how still the water is!

The boat was coooold

Dinner before the glowworm tour

Glowworm info!

Mon April 6 (Wine tasting & Wanaka)

We were on the road by 7am, and arrived back into Queenstown ~930am.  We made a few souvenir purchases, then drove onto Gibbston Valley for some wine tasting.  We had plans to rent bikes & ride to each winery...but when we got there ~11am, they were all out of bikes!  So instead we drove along the winery trail, taking some extra time to be careful.  We even made a quick lunch stop to watch some more bungy jumpers plunge off a of bridge!

All the wines were delicious, especially the Pinot Noirs.  In fact, we bought a bottle at our last winery, and the proceeds went to a wildlife preserve, supporting an endangered beetle in the area. 

We then drove ~1 hr to Wanaka for dinner, and this town took us by surprise.  This was maybe our favorite city along the trip.  We grabbed dinner at arestaurant along the lake overlooking the mountains, and then wandered over a local pub, to again watch some rugby, as well as a surfing competition.  When it was time to go, we walked outside ~9pm to a steady rain.  We drove to our freedom campsite & quickly setup.  We fell asleep to the sound of wind, rain, and very vocal 'mooing' cows.

Tomorrow was the very secluded Rob Roy Glacier Hike!

Gibbston Valley

Chard Farm Winery

Lunchtime Bungy jumper

NaDave Aussie: NZ 3 & 4 (April 1-8)

Fri April 3 (Mt Cook/Hooker Valley Hike)

We awoke to an amazing sunrise!...but also to a bent tent pole (ut oh).  We surveyed the damage, but had to quickly pack up to keep on schedule.  As we drove towards Mt Cook, the farmland landscape gave way to rolling hills, and the sun-kissed snowcapped peaks began to get bigger and bigger!

We arrived to our hike around 10am, and it was a clear blue day!  Perfect weather for Nadine to see her first glacier!  We set out on a 4 hour hike, and it was fantastic...glacial runoff lakes, swingbridges over rushing rivers, green lush valleys, and all the while looking up at snow-topped peaks.  When we got the end of the hike (Hooker Lake), the glacier was about 1 mile away.  We pulled out the binoculars, and looked all around the valley.  The neatest thing was watching the clouds creep over the ridge line, trying to fill the valley.

It was then time to head back on the same trail.  We got back to the car, and then drove over to a shorter hike to see the Tasman Glacier & Lake.  We got to Tasman Lake to see a small group of floating icebergs (and hear Nadine say "Iceberg, Straight Ahead!")  The Tasman glacier had also melted back pretty far up the valley, so it appeared small in our camera lenses.  But there were also boats on this lake doing tours around the icebergs, and they appeared even smaller!  We watched a few small icebergs fall apart in the summer sun, and then got back to the car ~5pm.  We had 3 hrs of driving ahead of us to Queenstown, our destination for Saturday.

We cruised past beautiful scenery and watched the sunset low on a spectacular Day 2.  We got into Queenstown and setup our tent in the dark (at a freedom campground again).  We popped up the tent to find that the tent pole was indeed broken.  With some engineering skills, we came up with a one-night fix.  However we were still nervous bc it was forecasted to rain overnight.  We then drove into Qtown for some real food (fergburger), and see the small resort town at night.  The burgers we had were delicious, and the scene around town was happening!  But it was quickly to bed, as Day 3 had an early start as well.

Amazing sunrise!

1st swingbridge along Hooker Valley trail

Mueller Lake along Hooker Valley

Clouds creeping into Hooker Valley (Dave's favorite thing on the hike!)

Dave at the end of Hooker Lake...looking at the distant glacier

Icebergs in Tasman Lake!

Look how small the boat is!

Sat April 4 (Glenorchy/Queenstown)

We awoke to find that the tent had held!...but also that it was raining (boo).  So we quickly packed up a wet tent, and headed straight to a gas station in town.  We grabbed a coffee to warm up & also used their bathrooms.  We then started our epicly scenic drive to Glenorchy (also near where Lord of the Rings was filmed).  We drove through mixes of rain, clouds, and sun...which meant we saw some rainbows!  Since we didn't have a 4-wheel drive, we could only go so far before the dirt roads appeared, so we turned back and drove back into Qtown.

We got into town, and checked out 2-3 outdoor shops to see if they had replacement tent poles.  They all said no, and so we figured the hardware store was where we needed to go to fix the tent.  We couldn't go another night without a fix.  We saw that the store stayed open until late, so we decided to do our hike first.

We headed up to the Ben Lomond hike, via a short Gondola ride with awesome views of the city.  We had plans to make it to the top of the mountain, but the weather kept us off the summit.  We still had some great views, and really experienced the quickly changing alpine weather.  After our 3-4 hr hike, we returned to the gondola, and watched a few crazy soles bungy jump & scream into oblivion (we have one guy screaming on video!)

It was then time to head to the store to fix the pole.  After a solid hour of conversations, measuring tapes, and scouring for fixes, we crafted our solution...and it held!  Although the true test would be in Manapouri, where we would setup camp for the night.  

We drove for ~2 hrs through unbelievable scenery again...and arrived at a quaint place (like a camping hostel) with showers & a pub nearby.  NaDavecleaned up, ate dinner & chatted with other travelers in the common area, then headed over to watch rugby in a small-town NZ pub (it was awesome!).  There was also a local band, and after a few beers, even we danced a little bit.

We arrived back to our tent to find it still standing!  And the moon was so bright you didn't even need a flashlight.  We were super excited, as the major bookings of the trip were tomorrow...,a Doubtful Sound cruise & a Glowworm Tour!

View along Glenorchy Road

Rainbows during Ben Lomond Hike

Nadine loving the Ben Lomond Hike

Careful!... broken tent pole ahead (but fixed!)

View of Queenstown from Lomond Hike

NaDave Aussie: NZ 1 & 2 (April 1-8)

After wishing Dave's parents a safe trip back to the States on Sunday (3/29) evening, NaDave had 3 days to get fully ready for their biggest trip while in Australia...a 7-day driving/camping/hiking trip around the southern half of New Zealand's South Island!  This will be our last major trip while Down Under, and with 3 days off for Easter Break, we took full advantage!

Wed April 1 (Fly out!)

We booked a red-eye flight that left Wed at 1130pm Melbourne time & (was supposed to) arrive into Christchurch 5am on Thurs.  We wanted to work a full day on Wed, then land in NZ early on Thurs morning, to help us get a full day on Thurs in NZ.  (This flight also helped us save some money).

NaDave met at the Melbourne airport ~9pm, Nadine took the bus while Dave got a ride from his housemate.  The line for International flights was, as Nadine said, "the longest line at the airport I've ever seen".  It was all the Easter Holiday travelers!...but luckily we got there early enough so we did not stress.  We got settled in easily to our seats & each fell asleep as the plane took off on time...we would wake up in NZ!

Thurs April 2 (Christchurch)

Well, mid-way through the flight (~3am) the captain came on to tell us the Christchurch airport was closed due to Fog.  And we were being re-directed to Auckland.  So while we, in fact, landed in NZ at 5am, we were stranded on the North Island!  We stayed in the plane on the tarmac for 3 hrs, then finally took off for Christchurch.  We landed ~10am, and by the time we got our rental car it was after 11am.  We were finally there...after 8+ hrs in a plane (yuck!)

We originally had plans to drive out to the Banks Peninsula along the East Coast to watch the sunrise for our first morning in NZ, but instead our day had been truncated.  Rather we drove straight into town, got a SIM card for Nadine's phone, and then picked up groceries (& wine!).  Since Dave hadn't eaten since Melbourne, he was a little loopy, and was kindly informed by a store clerk that eating from the bulk foods is stealing (oops!).

We headed to the Botanical Gardens for a quick picnic lunch & walkabout.  We then had about 3-4 hrs to see the city.  As advertised, the city is still rebuidling from the devastation of the 2011 earthquakes.  NaDave visited the Quake City Museum, and loved it!  We saw raw footage from the quakes & learned more about it all.  We then skipped around to the main spots in town...the Cardboard Cathedral, RE-start mall, 183 chairs memorial & still-to-be-repaired Christ Church (for which the city was named).

On the way out of town, we stopped at a local pub, and had a few local brews.  But we couldn't stay long as we needed to get some miles behind us....it was 4 hrs to our Friday destination...hiking the Hooker Valley trail in the shadow of NZ's highest mountain (Mt Cook).  We were able to drive for 2 hrs, then we found a 'freedom campground' along the side of road.  We setup camp, and then looked up at the stars....we were in New Zealand!

Massive tree in botanical gardens

Christ Church still destroyed

183 charis memorial (for those that died in the 2011 quakes)

RE:Start Mall

Cardboard Cathedral