http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Oceania en-us Sun, 26 May 2013 01:03:56 +0000 Sun, 26 May 2013 01:03:56 +0000 Quelques photos de l39anniversaire de Fleur o nous avons mang avec ses meilleurs amis. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/South-Province/Grand-Terre/blog-787789.html On Thursday 16th Di and I flew to Christchurch met Amy and Jeremyno kids rented a car and drove to Hanmer Springs to celebrate nephew Pauls wedding to Kelly. I hadn39t been to Hanmer for a long time so was surprised to see how it has grown. Beautiful area and surroundings. As usual a large contingent of the Phillips family arrived and the greetings eating and drinking the telling of tales http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/South-Island/Hanmer-Springs/blog-787786.html Comme promis pour la fte des mres je mets quelques photos en ligne et promets d39essayer d39en mettre plus rgulirement.Bonne fte Maman.Gros bisous de toute la famille. http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Caledonia/South-Province/Noumea/blog-787783.html 192Our bus arrived around midnight and we all waited to get checked on and store our luggage. There was a strange lady who was trying to talk to us but she seemed a little dodgy asking us if we were going to sleep on the bus so we tried to avoid her. Luckily we were given seat allocations and we were opposite ends of the bus We left on time 00.25 and started our long journey. The bus driver http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Whitsundays/blog-787771.html Surfing on Wave Rock Its early when we leave Cape Le Grande the sun was beautiful coming up over the water but we dont see any kangaroos on the edges of the road like we did yesterday when we went into town. Today is like every other we never know where we are going to be sleeping tonight. When we get to Ravensthorpe we go to the servo to get petrol and see someone come out with hot chip http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Western-Australia/Hyden/blog-787746.html New Zealand last stop. Also my longest stop though so I39m not nearing home just yet. Actually Glastonbury was supposed to be my last stop but the good people of Qantas decided I wasn39t allowed to stop in London on the way home even though my flights go through Heathrow. New Zealand has been accused of being a bit of a backwards place I found myself agreeing with this earlier today after http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/New-Zealand/North-Island/Auckland/Ponsonby/blog-787719.html The owner said the ATV is typically locked in the shed but was left outside because repairs were being made on it. Someone broke into the Exxon service station on Delsea Drive on Dec. 6 by neighbor39s the lock off. Revolution Action Celine Bag Movement preferred to be heard while using fires The smashed windows Damaged properly. Maybe it might like Dr. King39s toughest fears To be killed http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Nauru/Yaren/blog-787715.html Spent the last five days discovering Adelaide. I am staying in Glenelg which is a suburb of Adelaide with a couple Hans and Gerda who came originally from Switzerland but have lived in Australia for about thirty years. Explored the city by catching the local tram very easy from where I am staying. Adelaide is not a huge city and is very easy to get around. Some of the Victorian architecture has b http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/South-Australia/Adelaide/Glenelg/blog-787714.html 162We got up and checked our of our hotel then walked to the sky bus to get to the airport. We hadn39t walked with our rucksacks for a while it was got work but luckily it wasn39t too far to walk. It took about half an hour to get to the airport and we checked in for our flight and had a McDonald39s for our lunch. McDonald39s monopoly in Oz yay.our flight went fine but it wa http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Queensland/Cairns/Cairns-City/blog-787698.html We woke to a wet day today. We had a long drive ahead of us as we wanted to reach Broken Hill by tonight. First stop was Cobar to get petrol and then we drove for quite some time. We stopped at a rest area to have a break and a nice hot cuppa. There were lots and lots of wild goats roaming along the roadside. Surprisingly we hardly saw any kangaroos although there were a lot of emus.We dove on http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Broken-Hill/blog-787553.html Today was a long day of driving. We set off from Dubbo and drove to Narromine and then on to Trangie and to Nyngan. We stopped at Nyngan and had lunch at a lovely rest area which was situated beside the Darling River. After lunch we continued on to a free camp ground called the Florida rest area. We stopped here for the night. This is the first time that we have camped without access to water http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/Cobar/blog-787550.html Last day in Katherine before heading off tomorrow to Howard springs about 30ks short of Darwin.Woke up this morning to a more acceptable temperature and the humidity has decreased .Went to a live cattle auction on the edge of townhave a look at the video the auctioneers really do talk fast.Followed this up with a visit to the museum what a great place to visit and explore Katherine39s pastp http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Katherine/blog-787511.html New Zealand is the land of diverse landscapes. As we drove our way from Christchurch New Zealand39s garden city and traveled south to Queenstown the country greeted and welcome us with open arms. Melbourne Australia has been awarded the title The most liveable city in the world a few times but New Zealand really impressed us. It was different and unique. We found a very close intimacy wit http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-787510.html 112We got up early and walked to Flinders Street for the Neighbours tour we had booked for this morning. We bought a snack and drink from a little shop and found our way to Bunyip39s office and waited for the tour. We all left on a little Neighbours bus with our crazy Irish guide called Gerry giving us a lot of facts and figures about the beauty that is Neighbours Neither of us had watched i http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/CBD/blog-787489.html Have you ever wondered how to crack an coconut open Well here is a guide on how to do it. First you need the nut itself. On these islands they are lying around all over the place. We just stopped an picked one up along the road.Then you39ll need a sharp stick. We found a steel bar used in concrete structures lying on the parking lot. That will do it Stick the bar in the ground and use it to http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-787457.html So you would think that in our 3 years in Sydney we would have seen quite a bit of NSW and the east coast...well no But we still managed to see quite a bit.... Hunter Valley AugustOct 2010 Nov 2011...and I swear there was another time in early 2011...We originally went here for our anniversary in April 2010 but this became favourite place with Jeremy and Laura as they loved going there t http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/New-South-Wales/blog-787406.html Lessons in LanguageAs I mentioned in one of my earlier posts the main language in PNG is Tok Pisin which literally means to talk like a bird. This language was developed from a mixture of English Spanish German and a few other languages. I39ve been working with four native guys who don39t speak much English so this has provided me with the opportunity to learn some Tok Pisin. The fo http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Papua-New-Guinea/Western-Highlands/blog-787404.html This week we are on the beautiful island of Rarotonga. Our bungalow is named Magic Reef and that is all true. Right down from our beach there is the reef about 40 metres wide with all its corals shells and small crustaceans every time you find a beautiful shell it is already claimed. Not to forget the uncountable sea cucumbers.Beyond this the dark blue ocean contiguously smashes its energy a http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Cook-Islands/Rarotonga/blog-787368.html Left Mataranka and headed to Katherine a place we visited some time ago with friends on a quick tour of the top end flying in and hiring a car and using CP and chalets for accommodation.This time we can spend a bit more time here and explore at a slower pacebooked into a big 4 park and ended up parked next to a couple we had met along the way who had recommended this CP.Katherine is a fair size http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/blog-787341.html This is a test to see that it works ok http://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Victoria/Melbourne/blog-787279.html