Blogs from Oceania - page 6581

So, finally I'm able to start the recap of our 'Round the World in 80 days'.... After a fabulous family Christmas in the Byrnes of Riverdale (thanks again!) and a way to brief visit home in Albany, i headed off carrying only my 80L pack on my back (ONLY!). First stop was LA, where i picked up my partner in crime, Dr. Katie Loftus. After a lovely dinner in LAX and classfully knocking back a sneaky bottle of champagne, (a pressie from Siobhan and Scott - thanks a mil!) we flew off into the sunset on New Year's Eve. On the long haul flight, we were pleasantly surprised to find ourselves enjoying a generous helping of more champagne and some not-so-generous renditions of Auld Lang Syne, courtesy of Air New Zealand. We arrived early (and hungover/jetlagged/cracked) ... read more

Apparently Rotorua has the nickname "Fartopolis". This is not due to the flatulent locals but due to the numerous boiling mud pits and thermal pools in the area, emitting a lovely sulphurous egg smell. We stayed at the Kiwi Paka YHA which is an excellent hostel (although the staff were a bit grumpy) with a couple of tent sites for us to park our bus in for a few nights. They also, unexpectedly, had a hot tub full of naturally heated eggy water. Bonus! First things first, we jumped in making up for the lack of available hot water for us at hot water beach earlier that day. Its been customary for us in the past to visit an Indian restaurant on new years day so we were pleased to see the 'Tandoori Palace' when we ... read more

After a late night we opted for a late morning and again met Stu about midday. We'd decided to have a relatively easy day with a visit to Bondi Beach with a short walk to another beach. The weather was fantastic - sunny and warm. The tube ride was busy and the bus to Bondi Beach was crammed; it seemed everyone else had the same idea as us! Bondi Beach certainly was very nice but it was also very busy so we decided to walk along the cliff top path hoping to escape some of the crowds. We didn't - it was busy everywhere! On our return to Bondi Beach we stumbled across a nightclub called Bondi Icebergs - outside where lots of people and paparatzi. Music was booming from the club and a continuous stream ... read more

On a decide de passer le reveillon de nouvel an a Monganui (Doubtless Bay) - encore un endroit joli avec de super bons "fish and chips" et un repas de soir qui nous a surpris en etant delicieux! Pas trop de photos du sejour dans ce coin (peut-etre grace a l'alcool...) mais on a promene au Rangikapiti Pa pour avoir une belle vue de la baie.... read more

New Years Day went for a walk round Dundedin botanic gardens, As its supposed to be summer here everythings in bloom (otherwise it wiould pass for a dull November day back home. Aprt from the flowers more huge trees both native and foreign and the usual plethora of birds. Saw a family of fantails (a little grey bird about the size of a chaffinch but with this ridiculously extravagant white fannned tail). Spent the evening watching part 2 of Lord of the Rings on TV. Tuesday headed up east coast intending to stop somewhere by the coast but weather still pretty dull so only made a brief stop to see Moeraki Boulders. Numerous huge near perfectly spherical boulders up to 5 or 6ft in diameter (concretions according to the information board) which have been loosened from ... read more