Eurokiwis
The Kiwis are off again! We're now travelling through Europe, starting in Spain, Portugal, Morocco, then to the UK... flying kiwis
Travel Blog Posts
May 15th 2012
We got talking with two Austrian girls in a restaurant in Lisbon (we were the only diners and yes, people think they are Australian and ask them if they have kangaroos in their garden). They made an interesting comment about their country’s approach to the recession – that Austrians more-or-less expect bad things to happen and had accepted life would be grim for a while. (They also said people still celebrate Hitler’s birthday, which was more disconcerting than any recession stats.) In Lisbon the recession is clearly visible. The city is undoubtedly beautiful – set on the broad Tagus river estuary, full of lush green parks and impressive columnar statues glorifying kings and statesmen like the Marquis of Pombal who oversaw the reconstruction of the city after the devastating earthquake in 1755. The central city was ... read more
April 24th 2012
Gibraltar is an anomaly. Geographically it’s in Spain, and they’d really like it back, but for now it’s British - from the pics you can see even the weather is British – I imagine an isolated cold front hovering over it permanently while the sun blazes over the rest of Spain. We went there with Pat and Ann, who you met in the last blog, (thanks again for the tour guys!) and who relished being able to light up in the ‘oldest pub in Gibraltar’ while enjoying a decent fish and chip lunch. You can’t smoke in pubs anymore in the UK, so Gibraltar really is more English than England. The shops are full of Union Jack tea towels and teapots and tourists, but the Rock itself is wonderful – huge, sudden, imposing, white even in ... read more
March 29th 2012
We walked out of the train station in Valencia right into the middle of Las Fallas - the biggest fiesta in the region - which, from the four hours we were there, seemed to be about eating, (mainly paella and chocolate coated churros) drinking, spontaneous loud and fast brass band music on street corners, very loud fireworks and huge cartoon-like satirical sculptures on every available plaza. I'd read that effigies are set alight on the last day of the week long fiesta - but these giant tableaux were so artfully and professionally constructed - surely they wouldn't meet a firey destruction days after they were errected? We found out through the local TV channel that this was the case - we watched (without understanding a word of the commentary of course) as dozens of Disney-styled 3D ... read more
March 22nd 2012
Kiwis have to fly. And a long way if we want to get to exciting and exotic places. So our Europe Odyssey begins in Dubai, about half-way to half-way round the world, in an attempt to stave off jet lag and jet legs. We also hoped that flying Emirates would ease the pain...and it was a great travel experience - friendly staff, delicious food (resolutions not to eat too much went out the window before transit in Sydney)...HOT TOWELS (note to Air NZ...you should never have got rid of those). But 15 hours in cattle class is 15 hours in cattle class and quieter engines mean not a jot if there’s a baby screaming all the way in the seat behind you. So movies are the answer. I watched five new releases and Crazy Stupid Love ... read more
A Stationary Travel Blog
Published: July 6th 2011Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Coromandel Peninsula
July 6th 2011
This is a stationary travel blog to let everyone on both sides of the Tasman know what we’ve been up to since we came back from Oz at the end of last year, but mostly it’s to show off wedding photos from Torin’s marriage to Andrea here in Matarangi. The blog was a monthly addiction for two and half years while we were in Oz. Now settled back in the Shaky Isles I’m amazed that half a year has gone so quickly while busy doing amazingly little. After visiting family & friends and checking they’d been behaving themselves while we were away, we found it disconcertingly easy to find work in the tiny (around 250 permanent residents) beach settlement of Matarangi. The golf club desperately needed cleaners over the Christmas holidays. Only when we turned up ... read more
SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE FISH
Published: November 25th 2010Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Caloundra
November 25th 2010
It's a weird thing to do - load your belongings into a large tin container and drag it behind you as you drive around another country. But when the country is as big as Australia, it’s the best way of seeing it as a traveler rather than a tourist. Over the last two and a half years we’ve tried to avoid being tourists. We wanted to see Australia and meet Australians, rather than be herded around by hyperbolic money-making businesses. While some of our best experiences have been on tours when that was the only way to get there, e.g. the Bungle Bungles, Undara Lava Tubes and Lake Eyre in flood, we’ve got a greater sense of satisfaction by getting out into the bush ourselves and being more Dora the Explorer than I ever imagined. ... read more
Craters, Cassowaries and the Cretaceous Period
Published: September 27th 2010Oceania » Australia » Queensland » Sapphire
September 26th 2010
If anywhere in Australia has reminded us of New Zealand and the Waikato, it’s the Atherton Tablelands. With rolling hills, volcanic origins, pockets of rainforest, dairying, waterfalls and rivers that run all year round, it also doesn’t have the humidity of Cairns, 70km the other side of the coastal ranges. With only slight protestations from Rhys, we did the waterfall circuit, taking delightful short bush walks to seven waterfalls cascading over basalt ridges. Even he of the jaundiced “not-another-gorge/scenic lookout/waterfall/etc” admitted they all had their individual beauty and character. In Yungaburra we walked alongside Peterson Creek and watched half a dozen platypus (platypie? platypussies??) ducking and diving - we’ve seen a few now, but it’s always a thrill to watch them in their natural habitat. We were not so lucky looking for a Lumholtz tr ... read more
August 30th 2010
Cairns is a well known holiday destination for Kiwis, many make it their permanent home on retirement. We’ve been here three times before and each trip was a week of clear blue skies and warm tropical weather. So we arrived in the middle of June keenly anticipating a couple of months sunny R&R after our busy schedule making sure we see as much of the West Island as possible. Days lazing by the pool, punctuated by strolls beside blue oceans or emerald rainforests. Our time in Cairns has certainly been relaxing, but mainly because the rain which creates the luxurious rainforest had forgotten to abate for the dry season and we’ve often been confined to the van or under the awning, watching clouds swirling round the valleys above us. When you live in a rainforest everything ... read more
July 18th 2010
Living in another country does strange things to your head. When we were making regular trips to Britain for work and pleasure I kept saying, “Back in England...” instead of “Back in New Zealand...” because I lived in England for my first 12 years. I sometimes do the same here; “In England we...um...I mean in NZ...where are we?...who am I???” Flying back to Cairns after two weeks NZ to see family felt like flying home - our home on wheels was waiting here for us. Australia feels like home right now, and there are places we’d love to live in, but financially we know we’ll be better off back in godzone so will be flying back in December. Cuzzies Iona and Murray have been enviously reading this blog back in the Waikato and after visiting us ... read more
May 26th 2010
MMMmmmmmm - fresh pineapple! Nothing like a warm, astringent mouthful to let you know you’re in the tropics. In the Mackay markets we buy fresh local pineapple, ginger and ocean barramundi to taste the tropical coast again. After five weeks going up through central NSW and into Queensland, with warm days but very chilly nights and mornings, it’s glorious to sit outside without jackets and beanies - although we still have to be covered up to counter aggressive mozzies. We’re constantly surprised by how crap the weather can be in Oz - I’ve vowed never to complain about New Zealand weather again. In Bathurst to spend a week with Torin and Andrea, we had rain and cold that would put Hamilton to shame. (They saved the scaredy old parents from having to drag the van over ... read more
Tot: 0.086s; Tpl: 0.003s; cc: 19; qc: 68; dbt: 0.0571s; 1; s:notus w:www (50.28.61.183); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.6mb
