Blogs from Oceania

After having been busy with Christmas, New Year, a bit of travel and spending all of our time with the family, we are now getting back into the routine of life at home. We have had a wonderful time right through the festive season with Chris's and Amy's families and then, during the last of the school holidays spending time in Hastings and Taupo with the odd couple of days at home in Wellington. Now back to reality. Hawkes Bay was extremely hot over the last few weeks so energy levels were not high and motivation to go fishing, nil. Long walks on Ocean Beach, wonderful, and climbs up Te Mata peak, exhausting, swimming as much as possible and keeping in the shade. As it should be in holiday time. Idilic days in Taupo with Amy, ... read more

well the cyclone is still messing with our itinerary. we are now in sydney harbour and were supposed to stay for only 2 days, and now it as been changed to 4. captain cook announced the cyclone is now in brisbane, exactly where we were headed. so we are staying sheltered in sydney harbour until it passes. i am still not sure which ports we will be making over he next week. it could all be changed. the cyclones name is cyclone Oma, which is funny because Oma is german for grandmother. my first day in sydney i was booked on a 2 and a half hour walking tour around the city and harbour. the first night we were anchored out in the bay, and had to use a tender to get to shore. i am ... read more

Doubtful Sound, named by Captain Cook as a doubtful harbour. The westerly roaring forties would have taken him in, but he wasn't sure he'd get any wind to take him out. The Maori name is Patea, meaning ‘place of silence’ and it was, when the skipper of the 36 metre catamaran, switched off everything and asked us all to be quiet and listen to the silence. It was certainly a wilderness full of moss, ferns and undergrowth clinging to the perpendicular rock faces. Yesterday's rain meant the waterfalls were all running and today's sunshine made everything gleam. New Zealand is the cleanest place I have ever been to, and there was no litter anywhere. The flotsam in Doubtful Sound consisted of organic matter only - leaves, twigs and branches from the tree avalanches. Wilmott Pass, the ... read more

arrived in australia early this morning. after leaving fiji we had a few very rough days at sea again. i guess we caught the tail end of the cyclone. arrived in noumea on the 16th, a day earlier. the cruise into noumea was sheltered by lots of small islands. very scenic and much calmer. the hills are reddish brown in colour because of the nickel. nickel mining is their main industry here. third in the world, canada being number 1. noumea is the capital of new caledonia, a french overseas territory. french is the spoken language here and they use french francs. i booked a tour to the local aquarium. it was small but nice. lots of colourful fish and sea turtles. all the turtles at the aquarium are rescued and rehabilitated there. then when they ... read more

img=https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/hqSCs7SlwV5P7ui2G1Yg0kuzBK-QcaFmm7OZKAWvbEmb5h9T4TkAt3CifITfcquREN-PPwKcd4inOYV1djl493SJqxfHwN22QcvYQc8HGOmVSv_bvf4oBLLs0kIPucjmdMm34-3k Every camping or hiking trip will have its own list of essentials. While the size, style, and condition of those essentials will vary, the list itself is non-negotiable. If you are new to hiking and looking for a simple and straightforward guide on essentials for typical Australian conditions, here it is. First Aid Kit Camping and hiking involves a fair degree of risk. It may only be a splinter, a grazed knee or a cut. But, this is especially true if you are taking the kids, you can guarantee a few war wounds, bites and scrapes. A first-aid kit is essential. It should be a complete kit able to help you take care of bleeding, breaks, and bites. Matchboxes Where possible, add m... read more