Queenstown to Fox Glacier December 24, 2006 After a night’s stop in Queenstown to do laundry and reclaim our luggage, we hit the road and headed west. We had to climb up out of the valley, and pushed our little rental car to it’s limit! We made it all the way out to the Tasman Sea in a couple of hours. We stopped briefly in Arrowtown, an old gold-mining town and then again in Wanaka. We followed river and lake valleys all the way out and the views were beautiful once again. That evening we checked into a very nice B&B [View Full Entry]

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Routeburn Track - Day 1 December 18, 2006 We were packed and ready to go… most of our luggage was stored at the hotel and the few belongings we were taking with us were packed and on our backs. We were picked up at our hotel and whisked by bus to the start of the Routeburn track. We enjoyed the views from the bus all along as we drove north along the banks of Lake Wakatipu. The mountains were stunning and the blue sky was promising. We started out over a swing bridge and into the “wilderness.” The day was beautiful [View Full Entry]

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We departed for Queenstown, NZ on the morning of December 16 when our luck was certainly with us. First, we knew we were way over on our luggage allowance for air New Zealand… that’s what happens when you’re returning from a year away and are restricted to a domestic luggage allowance. We were allowed 40 kg total and registered a massive 76 kg! We also needed to bring our didgeridoo with us (checked piece #5 with only 4 pieces allowed) as it would have been unbelievably expensive to ship it through the post or a courier. Our delightful Air New Zealand [View Full Entry]

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Now that our report cards are written and marking is pretty much finished, we took one of our last weekends and headed south-west to the best caves in the world. Our friends Carolyn and Terry organized the entire weekend and it was quite the treat to not worry about planning, driving or navigating! We left school at 3:30 on Friday afternoon and arrived at Caves House just in time for dinner. The only accommodation at the caves is Caves House, and it was terrific. We indulged and booked rooms that had ensuite baths. The hotel is 110 years old and must [View Full Entry]

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We spent our last few days in Tasmania centred in Hobart. Saturday’s Salamanca Markets lured us for most of the day where we made a few good purchases, and served as a good day of relaxation. Sunday was spent exploring the ruins of Port Arthur - Australia’s most renowned penal colony. We learned all about Australia’s convict past and the Port Arthur site in particular. With the aim of humanization and rehabilitation, the prison began as a logging camp in 1830 and developed into an industrial manufacturing prison over the following decades. Prisoner [View Full Entry]

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On our way to the east coast, we took a down day in Launceston where we relaxed at Cataract Gorge Park for the afternoon. After our day on Cradle Mountain, simply walking to the park from the car was an experience! We needed a full day just to stretch out our muscles. We intended to do a good walk at Freycinet National Park the following day, but our plans were delayed due to rain, wind and nearly zero visibility. We relaxed with a couple of DVDs at our B&B and headed back to the park the following morning. Once again, our [View Full Entry]

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Today we headed north toward Cradle Mountain. The weather was still cool and a little rainy, but we decided to brave a 10km Montezuma Falls walk. The track was along the side of a mountain with a river running far below - it was cut out of the rainforest in the 19th century an originally used for hauling timber and ore. We were quite thankful for the early morning rainfall, as it made the trek a little more interesting. Along the way, we passed 18 or more small falls or significant weeping walls of rock and moss. When we finally reached [View Full Entry]

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Although the heat in the centre of Australia was entirely manageable because of the low humidity, it was great to be greeted with cool, fresh air when we arrived in Tasmania. We enjoyed a relaxing night in town (with a real bed) and headed out the next morning toward Strahan on the west coast, stopping along the way for a few bushwalks. Our first stop was at Mount Field National Park - it lured us with advertisements of waterfalls and tall trees, and it did not disappoint. The main attraction was Russell Falls - a three-tiered, beautiful cascading waterfall. We decided [View Full Entry]

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Our final day of adventure in the red centre started with some unbelievable four-wheel driving into Palm Valley. We drove over huge boulders, through dry rocky riverbeds and deep sand. Palm valley is an oasis in the middle of the desert - a tiny bit of rainforest left over from when Australia was part of the large landmass called Gondwana. There were permanent waterholes and palm trees! In the desert! Our last stop was at Standley Chasm - a wondrous site just outside of Alice Springs. We had some fun climbing the rocks at the end of the chasm where the [View Full Entry]

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Our fourth day began with a helicopter ride over Glen Helen Gorge. We had tried to get the ride in at sunset the night before, but the helicopter had been overbooked. Debora stepped in and got us a 7am ride before departing this morning. We only paid for a 6 minute ride, but I know we got close to 10… and it seemed to last forever. We saw some beautiful sights - the rocks along the gorge were carved by erosion in such a way to form tall walls of rocks - the “organ pipes.” We also saw several wild horses [View Full Entry]

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