On Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:37:29 -0600, Janet Wilder
wrote:
>We have just returned from our 3 week cruise-tour of Australia and New
>Zealand. We found the people to be very friendly and helpful. We tasted
>Vegamite (not as bad as it looks), ate quite a lot of yummy lamb and got
>to see some awesome scenery and lots of sheep and cows :-)
>
>In Australia we visited Ularu and did the Sounds of Silence dinner which
>was a wonderful experience. I snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef, too.
>One interesting thing I learned is that Australians don't drink that
>awful Foster's beer. They just export it :-) If they made it here, I'd
>export it, too. I did taste some of the local brews and found them to be
>very nice. The wines of both countries were fabulous, but that goes
>without saying.
>
>Sidney is a big city. It has some interesting architecture, like the
>opera house, but urban is urban, no matter where. Melbourne was a little
>more interesting. My impression was that the financial institutions were
>more grand than the churches, which led us to believe that money was
>definitely more important to the founders of the city than religion. Or
>perhaps money was their religion?
>
>The Olgas and Ularu are awe-inspiring. I have just managed to clean the
>red earth stains from my white walking shoes. The laces are permanently
>stained and will have to be trashed. We did a Liru walk with two
>Aborigine gents and an interpretor and learned quite a bit from them
>about how they managed to survive in the desert. We got to pet a live
>koala and saw fields-full of kangaroo. They seem to adore the sports
>fields as a habitat. We saw some crocs, too, not to mention tasting them
>and "skippy" meat as well.
>
>Our ship sailed through the fjords of the South Island of NZ and the
>scenery was breath-taking. It had rained for several days before we came
>so we were treated to a myriad of waterfalls. We took the scenic train
>in Dunedin through the gorge and I got the best souvenir ever on the
>train. It's a little purse that is made of lambskin and looks like a
>lamb's face. I had it on the ship and it was so unique that I was taped
>with it for the DVD that the cruise line sells as a rememberence of the
>voyage.
>
>We also went to Rotorua and the Maori village, the Gloworm caves at
>Waitomo (awesome!) and did some touring around in Christchurch and
>Wellington. Unfortunately the ship had a mechanical problem and we
>couldn't put in at Napier. We were in Wellington on the open visit to
>Parliament day so we took a tour of the government buildings. You Kiwis
>who haven't been should go next year. The library is very pretty. The
>"Beehive" in my opinion, was quite ugly.
>
>We looked at all the stuff that tourists are supposed to purchase but
>I'm not fond of opals so there wasn't much in Oz to tempt me. In NZ, the
>woolens were lovely but very expensive. The thought of possum fur being
>in some of the wool goods turned my stomach. To me possum is road kill.
>Ugh! The other gift shop stuff was exactly the same in every place we
>visited and it was too tourist-tacky to consider. I did get post cards
>of a kiwi and that wonderful tree fern. We did get to see live Kiwis on
>one of our excursions to the center where they are raising them. I also
>did the Antarctic place, but the Te Papa museum was the best. What a
>treasure you Kiwis have in that museum!
>
>Thanks to all of you for your hospitality. It was much appreciated and I
>hope that any of you who are visiting way-the-heck-south Texas will
>email me so that I can return the kindness.
>
>Kia Ora and G'Day,
>
>Janet
Thanks for the trip report. It's always interesting to see
how others see us.
Frame the shoelaces and hang them on the wall as a
memento:-)
Possums here are actually a totally different animal and a
bloody nuisance if you get them in your roof-space. The most
common road-kill is roos.
Cheers, Alan, Australia
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