Journeying from Melbourne to Sydney (Sorry cannot get the pics to work.) We traveled in a newish Territory from Hertz overland to Sydney via some lovely small towns in upstate Victoria. I kept wondering why they were talking about Victorian issues when I thought that they were a century away. The penny dropped eventually. We stayed in Bright and Bentwood which are delightful towns full of gold mining history and the subsequent importance of wool now surpassed by beef and other products. We lost our way a few times ending up in the high country where there we real signs of the terrible fires in 2003 when Lesley was in the state last time. The regrowth is present everywhere. This gave us an understanding of the importance of fire which the Aborigines had worked out a ... read more

Staying with Grant and Linda Melbourne is full of preparations and now activity concerned with the Commonwealth Games. It is very impressive. And exciting. We watched the opening ceremony from Grant and Linda's home. (Grant is Lesley's brother.) We were in town just before, visiting art galleries and shops and stuff. Thousands of people all over the place. Saw the Queen's baton being carried through the city. Wow! Also saw the fish in the Yarra with the nation's flags between them as you may have seen on the tele on Wednesday 15 March. Next day we took Kristen and Emily, G & L's children, to Scienceworks, another museum at the end of a ferry ride down the Yarra. A main concern is getting the bike boxes off our hands and accommodation in Queensland. More time on ... read more

From Kaihu Farm to Opononi and Mangonui From Dargaville we struggled up the big hill (300m) to Kaihu Farm backpackers. The weather is not as we hoped with cloud and cool. We walked down to a stream after dark to view the glow worms. Impressive except the torch failed on us. My those forests are dark at night just like the stories. While there we managed to play our Johnny Cash record we bought after our viewing of Walk The Line. The German couple of youngsters asked us to play it again and they did and did through the evening. On into the Kauri forest where we met up with the God of the Forest and the Lord of the Forest. Amazing trees of 2,000 years. This forest is all up and down. Happily, although the ... read more

Picton On our last evening we looked up two friends of Joanne's from Scoraigh(?) and had a good time. Lovely evening. Next morning started brilliantly and we got off on the 10am ferry into the Tory Channel of the Sounds. Half way across the Cook Strait we hit a storm which made the ferry bend over and everyone scuttle inside. It went up and down a bit then. What a change! I'm not sure about this North Island. Wellington Luckily when we prepared the bike and ourselves for the ride into Wellington centre the rain stopped. It was still cool though. However, weather has now improved. We saw Les Arts Sauts on Friday night, The Producers on Saturday night. Visited Te Papa, their wonderful national museum opened fairly recently and right up to date with its ... read more

Blue Lagoon On the Blue Lagoon with Ed and Jutta, a homestay for six people which is a boat moving about the Pelorus Sounds. A naturist idyll. No need for clothes for three days taking in kayaking, swimming in some amazingly warm waters, walking the Nydia Track (to meet new people who were joining us for a night) and eating some good food. Ed looks like a big giant Kiwi in his photos just returned from shooting some wild pigs and collecting 10kg snapper from the sound. However, he plays the outdoor man for what it is worth but he is a great host with a nice line in jokes and good humour making everyone like him a lot. He also took us to collect fresh mussels and oysters from the edge of the shore where ... read more