Blogs from Oceania - page 6

I had a solid sleep last night. I think that knowing that the bugs have been exterminated, and that I have complete suitcase organisation, has cleared my mind affording me a restful night. It’s the little things in my life that maintain my happiness! I was awake just before my alarm set off this morning, at about 6:20! I just had to put a couple of final bits into my suitcase, get a shower, then I’m good to go. Today for breakfast I had Vegemite on toast. I love it! I do eat marmite at home, it’s very similar. I had a coffee with my breakfast, then another one after too. The whole group were up and around, making good time for the leave at 7:45. We have a long journey today. We are driving about ... read more

o first, and foremost, my room is getting sprayed today! Hopefully, they will exterminate the beetle/cockroach thing, and also get the couple of lizards that are also squatting in my space! So my sleep was ok, but intermittent! The rain was crazy overnight! i heard it beating on everything it landed on! I got up to check my washing, but it was all good as it is well sheltered in the covered in balcony. I woke up to my alarm at 7:15, got a quick shower, arranged my handbag, and I was off for the day. I had pre-arranged breakfast with Angelika to meet at 7:45. Perfect timing, we met on our way into the restaurant area. I had a simple continental breakfast today. Just changing things up from eggs! I was amazed to see the ... read more

Hallo zusammen, bevor noch mehr Zeit ins Land geht, möchte ich doch den nächsten Blogpost präsentieren. Wie schon zwischendrin angekündigt geht die Reise diesmal auf die Spitze oder den Gipfel des Mount Karangahake. Normalerweise wäre ich morgens früh los über den Rail Trail von Paeroa zum Parkplatz der Gorge gelaufen, aber das hätte mich schon mindestens 90 Minuten gekostet und dann von da zum eigentlichen Startpunkt bestimmt noch mal 90 Minuten. Deshalb hat John mich mit dem Auto morgens um 9 Uhr rum zu einem anderen Parkplatz gefahren, der schon etwas weiter im Gelände liegt und dadurch hab ich viel Zeit gespart und konnte somit mehr Zeit in neuem Gelände verbringen. Der Startpunkt, von dem es da los ging heißt „Dickie Flat carpark“ und liegt eigentlich mitten im Busch. Außerdem ist es ein Platz, an ... read more

Our first destination this morning was Eagles Heritage established in 1988 to meet an overwhelming need to protect and conserve birds of prey. The centre aims to educate the public and rehabilitate sick, injured and orphaned raptors. Millions of Wedge-tailed eagles were killed in Australia between 1920 and 1973, many because farmers blamed them for killing their newborn lambs. In fact, less than one percent of lambs eaten by Wedge-tailed eagles are alive when preyed upon, most are already dead or dying. So, they rarely, if ever, kill lambs BUT a pair of Wedge-tailed eagles can kill over 800 rabbits each and can help keep feral cat and fox populations down. Hundreds of birds of prey are still shot and killed each year in Australia with 99 percent dead before they are three years old. With ... read more

Our first stop today was at Jewell Cave arriving just in time to pay our $22.50/head to book onto the 9.30am tour. Jewell Cave is the largest show cave in Western Australia with lofty, cathedral-like proportions. Our guide, Georgia, led us through the cave’s three vast caverns pointing out the huge stalactites, flowstone and shawls adorning the caverns. She showed us the original entry to the cave which was discovered relatively recently in January 1957. The original explorers slithered down a twelve-metre, narrow hole in the earth suspended on the end of a rope! Wanting to share the cave with visitors unable, or just disinclined, to enter via a rope, efforts were then started to raise funds to make the cave accessible. At the end of 1958 the Government agreed to provide $10,000. With nine Augusta ... read more