Post 8 - Antipodean Adventures 1 - Sydney and NZ

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Leg two of my round the world trip takes me at the end of February 2010 across the wide, wide Pacific ocean, across the international date line, to New Zealand and Australia. My core schedule is a month in New Zealand and then two months in Australia, though with an initial week in Sydney to co-incide with the city's annual Mardi Gras fest.

Missing the huge Chilean earthquake by just three days I was in fact a day ahead of myself thanks to Lan Chile changing my flight, meaning I arrived in Auckland a day early and got Flight Centre to agree to paying for the subsequent change to my onward flight to Sydney.. which meant I arrived in Sydney a day early, so needing a hotel room for one extra night - my week's stay in Sydney being booked months ago in London. This being Mardi Gras week in Sydney, hotel rooms are hard to come by - the choice at the airport hotel help desk coming down to a basic hostel share room at an exorbitant price or a v. plush serviced appartment in a prime position overlooking the opera house and the harbour bridge.. no guesses required which option I went with then.. and it was for just one night.. and it did prove a very lovely introduction to this most breathtakingly positioned city..

My serviced appartment was on the 17th floor of the Quay West Tower, with only the Shangri La Hotel next door enjoying the same view.. and what a view - the floor to ceiling windows in both the spacious living room and bedroom looking straight down over both the immense Sydney Harbour Bridge and that most famous of architectural landmarks, the Sydney Opera House... lots of wows and skipping around the living room ensued.. and my first 24 hours in the city not venturing far at all .. at that room rate I was also determined to get value for money..!

The down side to such an introduction to Sydney hit home the following day, with the adjustment to my more humble surroundings of the serviced appartment (a very popular concept in Sydney) which was pre-booked for my week's stay in Sydney - located around the harbour, close to Darling Harbour, though with no water side view this time .. just the busy sights and smells of Sydney's own China town. It proved a good enough base anyway for exploring what is in fact a very compact city centre, with good transport links out to the beaches and other must see points around the harbour.

Coming from South America, Sydney feels very clean, ordered, civilised and small, all wrapped up in the most stunning urban landscape around the entirely natural wonder of Sydney harbour itself. Down town Sydney is all gleaming new tower blocks housing all the usual global brands, all mixed very seemlessly with spruced up Victorian era buildings. The towers get taller the closer to the harbour, though with a protected area around the opera house itself with the lovely botantical gardens providing a much needed green lung and contrast to all that glass and metal.

You really get to appreciate Sydney and its stunning location best by getting out on the water of its wonderful harbour, and when the sun decided to shine (almost every other day as it turned out) then that is where I was to be found .. on various trips - to the beach at Bondi (of course!), and also out to Manly, on the North Shore (Bondi being on the South Shore). Manly is reached by a ferry out towards the ocean entrance to the harbour and then north, just inside the protection of the harbour still. With it own ocean side beach front, parks and forests and excellent cycle tracks, hiring a bike for the day was the obvious way to get around, and an hour after arriving, on a lovely hot sunny day, I was a top North Point - the hill on the northern tip of the harbour, commanding simply stunning views back over the city.

There were also the distractions of Mardi Gras itself of course, with the big street parade on the Saturday evening .. the dykes on bikes were the most entertainment value, after meeting up with lovely Lisa up from Melbourne with some chums that was .. The one party I did ensure I had a ticket for was the open air Harbour Party, the day following - though the weather didn't oblige it being cold and wet.. it would have taken more than that though to spoil the unique experience of dancing away on the waters edge, in the immediate surroundings of the botanical gardens and with the city towers, opera house and harbour bridge all providing the most stunning urban backdrop.

After a full week of Sydney and Mardi Gras it was time to pack away the party hats and get back into world traveller mode for the 3 hour flight back to Auckland and the start of a month's tour of both islands. For the first week I arranged B&B homestays around the North Island. With good roads and not much on them this is the place to drive and before starting my two week pre-arranged motorbike tour of the South Island I hired a set of four wheels from the airport to get me motoring around the North Island.

Driving in New Zealand is a breeze, especially after five months of the stresses and strains of South American roads and traffic. Auckland itself feels small by the standards of the mega cities like Buenos Aires I've been used to.. and this is of course by far the largest city in NZ..! I get a really good feeling for Auckland in fact, its hilly suburbs and rather wonderful Sky Tower. It has a huge harbour too, although its bridge is no match for Sydney's. The harbour also features a rather lovely island called Waheke, just a thirty minute ferry ride from the centre of town, and a day trip here takes up my first full day in the city. It was a stunningly clear sunny day and on arrival on the island I hired a moped so to see as much of the island as possible, and a dress rehearsal for my biking tour of the south island.

Waheke is an absolute delight - green hills, stunning views, pretty villages and vine yards everywhere, all so close to the city too. It was a hippy hangout apparently back in the '70's, but no more, and many very Des' Res' new builds are springing up all over the island. Lunch is on the balcony of the most idyllically located vineyard imagineable, drinking some very good local Rose as well as the views over a yacht studded turqouise bay, surrounded by the greenest of hills and the bluest of skies .. bliss ..

Saving the city tour of Auckland for the end of my stay in NZ, I head north the following morning in my little hire car, and through lovely countryside up to the very beautiful Bay of Islands in Northland. I'm staying in a B&B just outside of KeriKeri and soon have boat trips arranged out in the bay to really appreciate the sublime surroundings. The first is on a tall ship - the RJ Tucker Thompson, a day out on board this lovely old sailing boat, and the opportunity to climb the rigging for the best possible view out over the island studded bay. After a swim to a pristine white sand beach and lunch on board, the wind picks up enough for the sails to be fully unfurled and the engine to be turned off so we get to genuinely sail back to the little village of Russell, across the bay from the main Bay of Islands town of Paihia.

I stay in Russell for a mooch around this charming village and its white colonial style homes set on forest clad hills all around the bay, and a walk up to the highest point with wonderful 360 degree views around the whole bay. A supper of freshly landed oysters and fish in a little beach side restaurant completes a lovely day out on the water.

Another full day in the area takes me out on the water again, in a faster boat and out to the famous Hole in the Rock which the boat manages (just) to squeeze through, then its back to Paihia again and a short drive to a different B&B for the night - the tres moderne and extremely Des' Res' of Stan and Steve.

The following morning and its the beginning of a long road journey south, right down to the southern tip of the North Island, to Wellington, NZ's capital city. I break the journey in Hamilton, an hour south of Auckland and have my first experience of staying in a NZ motel.. All NZ towns have a string of these on the primary access roads into town - most look pretty dated and my chosen one is no exception .. though with a huge wall mounted flat screen TV to claim modern ammenities and justify the nightly rate .. convenient though and relatively cheap, and fine for a night's stopover on my way south. The town itself (one of the largest in fact outside of the main cities), is pretty soul-less of an evening so its a quick supper and an early night.

The following morning is bright and sunny and it's a very pleasant drive heading further south, through Cambridge (very small and sleepy), past a huge lake where a rowing regatta is already well underway at 10 in the morning, and a further six or so hours of driving until I reach the city of Wellington. Another Antipodean city enjoying a wonderful natural harbour setting, Wellington has the feeling of a quaint small town, its commercial heart of office towers, government buildings and main shopping and restaurant areas being around the port itself, with the numerous steep hills all around studded with the city's residential areas, reached by a seemingly endless network of tiny hairpin turning roads. It is all incredibly pretty anyway, all be it quite a challenge to find my arranged B&B for the next few nights - an architect designed modern house located atop one of the many green hills overlooking the city, in the area of Highgate - yet more familiar London place names..! The three owners are away, though have a volunteer garden helper staying who lets me in .. I'm staying in the main guest room which is effectively a glass bubble seemingly overhanging the wooded valley below with amazing views down over the city, the bay and the mountains on the far side of the bay - all very spectacular.. and enjoyed all the more from the open air bath tub (complete with hot running water) located in a prime position in the garden above the house..

I have four days in Wellington, so enough to get a good feel for the city. Before returning the hire car here I get to drive around the stunning coast line all around the bay and ocean side of the city, and take in a local beach on Sunday afternoon .. certainly bracing with the strong wind that Wellington is famous for. I finally get a long awaited culture fix in Wellington too as my stay here co-incided with the biennial international arts festival staged in this most arty of NZ cities. One contemporary dance piece 'Good Morning Mr Gershwin' by the French based Compagnie Montalvo-Hervieu proved to be an entertaining, highly energized interpretation of Gershwin's music, though perhaps slightly over produced in parts and painful when interpreting Gershwin's lyrics wih speech .. A dip into the visual arts offerings of the festval took me to see three installations at the City Gallery including 'The Forty-Part Motet' by Janet Cardiff, 40 seperately recorded voices singing Thomas Tallis wonderfully haunting Spem in Alium and played back through 40 speakers placed in a large circle around the exhibiting gallery.

From culture fix to adrenalin fix .. a hop and a skip south from Wellington, courtesy of Air New Zealand takes me to Christchurch - the most English of all NZ cities, and the start of my two week motorbike tour - a circle around the main sites of the South Island, then the ferry back to the North Island and return up to Auckland. My itinerary is all set and programmed into the GPS by the wonderfully organised and aptly named Paradise Motorcycle tours, together with all the B&B homestay accomodation for the tour, so I just have to link up with my shiny new red BMW 650 touring bike, and re-arrange just enough clothes that will fit into the three small bike panniers. And then after a quick introduction to the bike and a hearty full English breakfast, it's into the supplied protective jacket, trousers, boots, gloves and helmet and off I go..

My route takes me from Christchurch to Twizel on day one, with the morning on flat straight roads to build up some confidence with the bike (the first one I've ridden since selling my Yamaha Fazer I had in London some six years ago!)

Although the entire route is programmed into the GPS I soon found it's not advisable to follow this too slavishly .. a lunchtime stop by the stunning turquoise waters of Lake Tekapo and the GPS is sending me back to Christchurch instead of onwards to Mount Cook.. luckily there is only one road and Mout Cook's snow capped peak glistening against a crystal clear blue sky soon beckons me back in the right direction and so learning to ignore the constant 'Make a U Turn' messages from the GPS .. the wonders of modern technology.. A wonderful afternoon of biking followed, following the wonderfully windy road along the shore of Lake Pukaki closer towards Mount Cook itself and then back again, then on to my first B&B stop over of the route, in the village of Twizel.

Day two took me on a shorter journey further south through central Otago to Cromwell, and then the Lindis Pass and the river Kawarau towards the adrenalin capital of New Zealand, Queenstown.. Before I even reached the town I drove past the bridge from where the craze of bungy jumping first started.. a bridge high over the river Kawarau gorge.. A quick U turn to investigate further and watch a couple of jumpers and before you know it I've booked myself on the next available jump.. in 20 minutes.. just time to change out of my motorbike gear and into some shorts, then I'm weighed, paid, disclaimer signed, and on the bridge with a long nylon rope tied securely to my ankles.. then its 3,2,1 and jump! and a dunking in the icy river water far below and a few bobs up and down before being released into the waiting dinghy ... an amazing thrill..!

I have two nights in Queenstown, in a lovely house overlooking the stunning lake on which the town sits. Having had such an adrenalin fueled introduction here though just leaves me wanting to find a bigger thrill - and there is plenty on offer.. from jet boating to para-gliding, to the ultimate in 'Fear Facing' .. the Sky Dive.. that being a jump from 12,000 feet from a small plane, with the first part a free fall (attached to a professional of course!) before para gliding down to earth .. I decide to sleep on it, and with the encouragement of my B&B host I'm signed up over breakfast the following morning, and am disclaiming my life away again by 10.20 am Sunday morning.

A bus takes me and my fellow jumpers from the town out to the airstrip, close to the craggy Remarkables mountains. Watching the parachutes coming down every few minutes, with the single photographers making much more daringly fast descents than the coupled amateur jumper and pro's that I will be soon is good for calming the nerves - they ALL make perfect landings and all the jumpers are whooping with joy afterwards so it must all be OK right..?!? Soon enough I get to find out for myself - paired up with my professional jumping partner, and into the parachute harness, and then aboard the tiny little plane, together with my photographer + two other jumping pairs and their photographers. The ascent to 12,000 feet in such a tiny plane would be quite a scary and exciting experience in itself, if it weren't for the knowledge that at that altitude the very large door on the side of this tiny plane is to open and we are all to jump out..! The moment is soon upon us, and I am second out - there is just a moment really of blind fear when literally perched outside the flying plane and looking down to the earth below.. then we are out of the plane and free falling .. the most incredible experience.. the photographer is freefalling in front of me encouraging me to wave.. then some 45 seconds later there is a lurch upwards as my pro jumping partner I'm very securely attached to opens the chute.. the most disconcerting thing is that the photographer continues to free fall - its just for a few more seconds, but its only at this moment that I get any appreciation of the sheer speed we are plummeting towards the earth, as I watch him disappear into a tiny spec beneath us before his chute also opens. It is then a different but equally incredible sensation of gliding still high up in the sky, with the mountains, lakes and green valleys below, gradually getting larger and more clear as we desend, in around 10 further minutes, to make our own perfect landing in the small strip of grass exactly where we took off from.. Much whooping and back slapping follows as the excitement, relief and adrenalin all kick in together. The rest of the morning is a bit of a blur, of ambling around the town and not quite believing what I've just done. I take a wonderful ride on the motorbike in the afternoon ..along the shore of the lake some 50 km, and just the best of winding and mainly empty roads, to the incredibly pretty spot of Glenorchy and a stop for photographs and afternoon tea before returning by the same route back to town and to collect the photographs of my morning's adventure.

The onward journey from Queenstown the following day takes me along the shore of beautiful Lake Wakatipu and to my southern most point of the South Island, and the edge of the remotest and wildest region of these Islands .. Fiordland. Staying close to the small town of Te Anau, this is my base to explore the famous Milford Sound .. a fiord accessed by a long road up the valley from the town .. except that my luck with the weather has finally changed, it now being wet and wild, and a storm the previous day has caused several landslips along this road causing it to be closed. A different option is offered though by the very calm and organised travel agency in town - to Doubtful Sound (so named by James Cook no less who was doubtful he could navigate out again!) .. a longer and more remote fiord to the south, and only accessible by a boat journey across Lake Manapori to the site of a huge underground power station, and then a coach journey across the pass on an isolated road built during the construction phase of the power station, to the head of Doubtful Sound, Deep Cove. The journey starts at 6am in the pitch blackness of pre-dawn and in pouring rain for a 20 minute ride on the bike down the lake side ferry departure point .. all most definitely worth it though by the time the cruise on Doubtful Sound itself begins around 9am .. The advantage to all the rain is the amazing array of waterfalls bursting from the steep wooded hills and mountains surrounding this most beautiful of waterways ..quite incredible ..

After lunch on board and a tour of the underground power station, its a return across the lake and back on the bike and a ride up the valley towards Milford Sound, the road that is closed, to venture as far as I can .. some half way in fact through the most stunning scenery, though with plenty of evidence of fallen trees only just cleared from the roadway itself. At the furthest point I can drive to there is a helicopter ferrying the trampers off the track they were walking on when the storm hit leaving them stranded. The vastness of the landscape only becomes clear as I watch the helicopter disappear into a tiny white dot and it is not half way up the far mountain side of this immense valley.

The following morning I'm packed and back on the bike by around 9.30 am and a lull in the rain for a drive north and initially east, to escape the worst of the heavy rainclouds hugging the west coast, through lovely green rolling hills, and eventually back via Queenstown and then on to Wanaka. The road from Queenstown to Wanaka is one (of many in NZ) motorbike dream rides.. high over the Crown Range, on endlessly twisting and turning and many hairpin bend roads .. with stunning views back down over Queenstown ..

I arrive in Wanaka in the late afternoon, just in time to see the sun going down behind the snow capped mountains ringing the beautiful lake on which this small town sits ..I immediately get a really good feeling for this place - much quieter than its bigger and more famous neighbour Queenstown, and all the more charming for it. My B&B homestay is on the edge of town and the following morning is bright and clear so I decide to swap the motobike for a mountainbike for the morning and take off for a cycle around the lake - the combination of the fresh mountain air, idyllic setting and the wonderful early autumn colours - bright yellow leaves contrasting with the vivid blues of the lake and the clear sky are just an absolute joy.. and the lake side cycle tracks are fantastic too ..

Back in my protective motorbike gear and boots though after lunch for the ride back to and up the West Coast, and so back into the chillier and cloudier climes.. and up into Glacier country.. to Fox and then to Franz Josef.. the two glaciers on this part of the West coast of the South Island. These glaciers have in fact retreated significantly over the last few hundred years, although are currently stable and edging forward again slightly.. they are no match for the wonders of the Perito Moreno glacier I was trekking on just a few weeks ago in Patagonia though..! The constant low cloud here on the South Island means that all helicopter flights are grounded so the only opportunity to see the glacier up close is the walk to the terminal wall, which I do the following morning.

It is then back on the bike for a ride along more wonderfully winding twisting and almost deserted west coast roads further north, through the arts and crafts town of Hokitake where I make a few purchases in the glass blowers shop (to be shipped home), and then up to Greymouth, and to my wonderfully situated homestay for the night - called Breakers, right on the beach with a stunning view from the bedroom terrace down over the windswept beach below and the craggy wave smashed rocks jutting out of the water in dramatic fashion. I enjoy a great walk on the beach before a simple supper of home cooked lasagne on the terrace overlooking the ocean at the homestay, and then after breakfast and some interesting stories from the other local guests its a long ride further up the coast, with a stop to view the incredible pancake rocks, and finally away from the cold and wet climate which has dogged me for the last few days, and up into the much warmer and blissfully sunny micro climate enjoyed by Nelson.. a small arty town up in the north west corner of the South Island.

Another lovely homestay here - a beautiful heritage home close to the town centre and to a wooded hill, the top of which marks the middle point of NZ as a nation. To the top I climb then to mark the point and enjoy the views down over the town and out to the surrounding bays and ocean. After a local dinner in this really charming town and a good night's sleep, its down to a feast of fresh fruit and eggs for breakfast and off on the bike again, all too soon, for my last ride on the wonderful South Island roads, up around the edge of the Marlborough Sound, to Picton, and an incredible drive up and down and round and round a whole series of tightly cornering road, the Queen Charlotte Drive, and to the InterIslander ferry which will ferry me and the bike up through the Sound, across the Cook Strait and back to the North Island and a return to Wellington, and an overnight stay here.

From Wellington it is a long four+ hour drive north east, to the lovely wine country of Hawke Bay, Hastings and Napier.. a town completely rebuilt after a devestating earthquake in the 1930's, and the best example of art deco architecture in the Southern Hemisphere, so the guide books tell me .. There is indeed plenty of art deco around, although far too much of it is obscured by protruding modern shop fronts which really detract from the heritage feel of the place. The best examples are the remaining original office buidlings of local insurance and newspaper offices together with the iconic frontage of the Tobacco factory.

After staying the night in a small hotel this time in Napier it is then on to Lake Taupo - the vast lake in the middle of the North Island, then a brief stop at the famous Hukka Falls where vast gallons of pristine clear turquoise water are channelled through a narrow rock gorge with the inevitable jet boats attempting to get their passangers as close and as wet as possible (I pass on this), and then on the town of Rotorua. I'm staying two nights here in a lovely heritage house refurbished by John Ballard who moved over from the UK to take on the job a few years ago. The town itself is pretty drab and modern, though surrounded by geysers and boiling mud pools, this being the geo-thermal centre of NZ. It is also home to the largest percentage (around 30% I think) of Mauris in NZ and an evening Maori cultural show and Hangi (meal cooked underground) is included in my tour..This is the one low point of my NZ experience I'm afraid - while I'm interested to visit a Maori village and learn more about their traditions and ceremonies, this visit turns out to be the kind of mass tourist experience I always avoid like the plague. Two large marquees accomodate the 400 tourists who are brought here every evening, so inevitably there is as much more time spent shepherding the crowds in and out and keeping the children amused rather than actually having any genuine interaction with our Maori hosts. I grit my teeth and bear it anyway, and at least some elements of the welcoming ceremony are of interest.

It is then the final day of my motorbike tour, and the ride back up to Auckland where I leave the bike. I opt for the scenic route, up and around the first part of the beautiful Cormandel Penninsula. This so happens to be Maundy Thursday so the other side of the road is a endless stream of cars and trailers and campavans streaming south out of Auckland city for the long Easter break. It's funny how persepctive changes so quickly - arriving in Auckland a month ago from the mega cities of South America, Auckland felt very small and provincial - after four weeks of travelling around NZ though, especially on the empty roads of the South Island, the city now feels more like a huge daunting metropolis..!!

I deliver the bike back to its owners right on schedule and without a scratch and climb out of the bike gear for the last time.. all in all I've clocked up some 3,500 kilometres with an overall average speed of 75 km per hour which is apparently very fast indeed .. ! I'm then re-acquainted with the rest of my luggage which has been stored for me and its then into the back of a taxi for the ride back into central Auckland, and the Easter weekend at a humble central hostel style lodging in a single room with shared bathroom - quite a comedown from the B&B homestay luxury I've become used to throughout NZ, but some essential budget saving is now the order of the day... !

My remaining time in NZ until my flight up to Brisbane early on Easter Monday morning is then spent getting to know the city of Auckland a little better than my one day in the city allowed a month ago when I first arrived. I take the short ferry ride across the Harbour on Good Friday to lovely old Devenport and enjoy a lovely sunny afternoon up on North Point watching the constant flow of small pleasure boats making their way around the Harbour with volcanic peaks, and distant mountains and the wonderful skyline of Auckland as the framing views. Saturday is a trip around the interesting inner suburbs of the city - Parnell with its small boutiques, jewellery and antique stores, then Auckland Domain and the city Museum, then on to trendy Ponsonby with its long line of boutiques, cafes and restaurants.. all very civilized. I'm also of course taking the opportunity to catching up on emails, the blogging (never ending!) down loading the hundreds of photographs I've taken throughout my travels around NZ and arranging my onward travel plans - at least arranging a suitably cheap and cheerful hostel for my first few days in Brisbane anyway.

I round off my final evening, Easter Sunday, in NZ with a choral concert in the city's Town Hall - the Out and Loud choral festival bringing an array of lesbian and gay choirs from around NZ and Australia - all from cities I have, or will be visiting, and even one from the US, singing as a massed choir and on their own - not all perfect though some very inspirational (the Sydney choir being particularily brilliant) with the backing of the venue's newly restored organ and a rousing rendition of Anthem from Chess by the massed choir again and the organ at full pelt as the finale, and so sending me off in some style..!

All in all I have absolutely loved New Zealand and can totally understand why people are prepared to uproute and move here, all be it so far away from everywhere else. Anyone saying that NZ is just Scotland but with sandflies just can't have been here .. the climate is totally different for starters, and the sheer variety of stunning landscapes on both the North and the South Islands makes it a totally unique and very special part of the world. Added to this the fact that there are only 4 million inhabitants, the familiarity and charm of the people and how they live (often referred to as being the UK a generation ago). Just one tiny observation - everywhere I have been throughout NZ I have eaten superbly.. whether its a quick stop on the bike for lunch in small town or road side cafe or an evening meal somewhere, it has all been good - always quality, fresh, well prepared ingredients with fabulous wines and coffee too..! The flat white is the most delicious coffee - available everywhere throughout NZ (and Australia) - always good, and knocking the socks off our London Latte fixation. It is quiet yes, but hey.. what's wrong with quiet ... OMG - its official - I must now be middle aged as I'm yearning for the guaranteed peace and quiet of NZ..!

My final thoughts as I prepare to leave and start my next adventure in Australia is that a plot of land on Waheke Island which I visited at the start of my trip here, just half an hour on a ferry from the centre of Auckland and an inspired architect could deliver an absolutely dream location to relocate to .. should the peace and quiet continue to appeal once my global jaunt is complete...!

Over and out for now..

LOL

Your still intrepid, though perhaps slightly mellower mooded traveller

Simon XX

ps Not all 58 pics will fit on this page, so click Next at top for the rest...!

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Photos

Dawn view of the Harbour Bridge
.. from my night one Quay West pad ..

Sydney Harbour Bridge Climb..
in very fetchinig official jump suit..

My room with a view ..
For one night only mind..!

Sydney Opera House
with docked cruise ship in foreground ..

Mardi Gras crowd
..A balcony throng enjoying the spectacle ..

Mardi Gras show
.. in full swing ..

Sydney Opera House
Up close and the magic of the ceramic tiled surface is clear to see ..

Bondi
View of Sydney's Bondi beach ..

Sydney skyline
.. the stunning city view from North Head..

Sydney Opera House
by night ..

Bungy..!
About to jump ..

Comments

[Karen Manger]

Great Blog
Really enjoyed reading the next stage of your adventure Simon - so pleased Jane (Shaw) sent me the link to follow your travels. Australia and NZ is somewhere that has never really appealed to me to visit but after reading this, I have changed my mind. Maybe this is my next big trip and it sounds a bit more civilised than South America! Take care and enjoy. Best wishes. Karen. (Jane Shaw's ex Sister in law!)

[Susan dunkley]

You are my hero!!!!
Simon, I am running out of wows for what you're up to - it's just fantastic. The pics of Sydney Opera House and the harbour sure brought back some memories for moi. I closed my eyes at the hang gliding and I try not to think about some of the more dangerous exploits ( we really don't want you home in a matchbox!) but you must by now be feeling invincible - a Titan of global grooving. Good on ya cobber - go for it every inch of the way. Luv SDunks xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Catherine]

Stunning
Simon, Just stunning photoes - really beautiful. Great commentary to go with it - really get a feel for what you have been doing.

[sdunks]

Adelaide here you come!
Hello Dwalin' wonderful pics and news. Give my love to Adelaide, where i lived for 4 years - working for the State Theatre at the Adelaide Festival Theatre Centre. We did the trip to Alice - and the Birdsville Track - where we got bogged for 4 days at Coopers Creek - just me and me man and a lot of Galahs and Rosellas - So good luck and luv SD xxx