About that fly...

Ooops--forgot to share the fly story--actually there are two Annie stories to mention.  There are these tiny little flies here--about half the size of a house fly--and they love to land on you--especially your face--and they don’t necessarily fly off when that body part is moved.  They are extremely annoying.  Well, Annie had one flying in front of her face and it flew into her mouth.  She was unable to keep from swallowing it.  So, of course, we had to tease her about it.  We kept reciting parts of the Old Lady that Swallowed a Fly story.  Driving Annie crazy. : )    Annie’s other incident was “losing” her retainer.  We were in the car a few days ago (at Yulara) and Annie suddenly said, “Oh no, I think I left my retainer on the airplane!”  Well, we were calm and said not to worry about it, because she was just terribly upset about it.  We said that it was fine, we’d get a replacement when we got home, that she would be fine until then--it’s only three weeks.  Then, less than three minutes later, Annie said “Oh, I found it!”  She remembered that she had been playing with it with her tongue in the grocery store because it is a little loose and when she got out to the car, she took it off and put it in the little space in the door--it was inches from her!  Oh Anneliese! 


                                               

Our accommodations have been interesting since arriving in Australia.  In Sydney, there were two bedrooms--each with a double bed.  Joshua slept in the third double bed in the attic which was accessed through a panel in the ceiling of one of the bedrooms--complete with a drop down ladder.   In Yulara (by Uluru--Ayers Rock), we had two bedrooms, one with a double bed, the other with two sets of bunk beds.  The rooms were separated by a room big enough for a small table and with a “kitchen” on one wall--dorm fridge, cooktop, and microwave.  There was no heater in that cabin--it was so cold!!!  In Kings Canyon, we had a double bed and three single beds.  There were also mice everywhere!!  Several were running around in the cafe (it’s doors are open to the outside), a few were in the bathrooms, several were scurrying around the paths at night and we had a few in our room!!!!!!!  They were tiny little black ones.  We chased out a few of them by sliding the beds around and opening the door, but they kept coming in somewhere.  One stayed with us all night.  When we stopped at a cattle station for gas and snacks, they had a sign that said that there was a mice plague, so forgive the smell (dead mice?).   We saw one running around.  Maybe they need to temporarily import some cats or owls.  At least our Kings Canyon room had a small heater on the wall that we ran at night before falling asleep that kept it somewhat warm.  Although the early morning trip to the bathroom was still cold.  And the shower was freezing (it is open to the outside by wide doors); any part of your body that was not being touched by the hot water was very cold!  

                                            


Also about King’s Canyon--they have signs all over about the wild dingoes.  Don’t feed them and what to do if you encounter one (back away and yell for help).  “The dingo ate your baby!”  (sorry, Elaine from Seinfeld--that line just keeps popping into my head.).  The bathroom had gates to open and then close behind you to keep the dingoes out.  The kangaroos and wallabies are nocturnal which is why we haven’t seen them yet.  We saw wild camels today!  They were imported a while ago and now live in the wild in the Outback.  


                                                 

This morning we went on the King’s Canyon rim walk--very exhausting!!  It is only 6+ kilometers long, but much is climbing rock.  You have to watch your every step, so it is hard to look around as you walk.  You need to stop to look around.  The trail was very well marked and most was very beautiful.  It is not very long, but still took us almost three hours.  Some of the walk was a bit dicey--hopping over crevasses and jumping down rocks, but it was doable.  We just had to stop every so often to catch our breath!  The beginning was difficult over 100 meters up a steep rock staircase.  There were also short little trails off the main one to check out for more views. 


                                       

We are now in Alice Springs--in a YHA Hostel in a medium-sized town with a great grocery store!!  They had fresh fruit and real food to make.  We made dinner in the small kitchen along with several other people.  Meatballs in barbecue sauce, pasta, and fresh fruit.  

We’ll try photos tonight! 

We Don’t Know Why She Swallowed the Fly!

Today we woke early and went to Uluru (Ayers Rock).  We had been planning to go see the sunrise, but it was very, very cold and we stayed in bed too late.  It gets very cold here at night!  It went from 27degrees to about 7 last night  (that’s about 80 and 44 Farenheit).  It was very cold going to the bathroom in the middle of the night!  Especially since the bathroom was about a block away from our cabin!   Most of us skipped the cold trek to take showers in a building that was open to the outside air.

Ayers Rock was orange and against the bright blue sky, just beautiful.  The rock itself is huge and covered with scars and caves.  The original Aborigine tribes have stories about each of it’s clefts and marks, but won’t share the stories with the uninitiated.  We saw some cave drawings and went on two short walks--one of which ended at a water hole.  The color against the bright blue of the sky was what kept drawing me.  Randy wanted to walk up the hill, but that was closed because of high winds and because over 30 people have died climbing up.  The aborigines ask that no one walk up because it is sacred to them.  There are many sacred spots for both men and women.  

We do not have internet that supports uploading photos, so my photos for yesterday and today remain not online--I will add them when we get a better internet connection.  

Then we drove for several hours and stopped for gas and lunch (we brought food to have foccacia sandwiches, fruit, chips, and water).  We stopped at a small little place called Curtin Cattle Station for gas and ate at one of their outdoor tables.  Very friendly people--they also had an emu and several large cages with birds to look at for free.  The  cattle station reminded me of the movie Australia which was supposedly filmed in this general area.  

Then to Kings Canyon.  We stopped and Randy wanted to take the Rim Walk, but it is supposedly strenuous and they suggest not starting after 4, so we hiked the easier Kings stream walk and saved the rim walk until tomorrow morning.  Then we checked into our lodging.  Well, they said that the rooms only hold 4 so we had to book a room and an extra bed in another room.  We found that no one else was booked for the room for the extra person so we decided to have a girls room and boys room but then found out that one of the beds is a double bed, so it will sleep five.  The one room was stinky, so we went to the other which doesn’t have bed reading lights, just a dim light in the ceiling.  

They have a great scam going here to take money from tourists.  Each settlement serving tourists is a “resort” with many places for tourists to stay with different expense levels.   The Ayers Rock “resort” also had a bank, shop, grocery shop, etc.  The “resort” here says that it has a store (the only one in the area) so that you can make your own food, but it does not serve enough of anything to make a meal.  So unless you bring food in, you must eat at their cafe, which has personal size pizzas for $18--and that is the cheapest meal (and does not fill your tummy).   So we ate a non-satisfying, tasteless  dinner for 75 Australian dollars (which is almost $80US).  

One fruit we will miss is mandarin oranges--not those things in a can--I mean real oranges with skins that you peel.  The ones in New Zealand were fabulous--so sweet!  The ones here are less fabulous, but some are still good. 

Oh well, off to sleep for another early cold morning. 

Outback At Last

Here we are, in the Australian Outback!    We flew from Sydney to Uluru this morning (another early morning!).  We are near Ayers Rock.  We saw the Olgas this afternoon after we checked in.  We flew Qantas again--we could use self check-in and carried on our bags with no hassles.  We were served lunch--a cauliflower salad with chick peas and pumpkin in a strange sauce--not good at all.  We all picked at it.  Nothing else (except a drink).  While we were filling out forms for our rental car, Annie realized that she left her hat on the airplane under her seat.  She went to the desk and, being a very small airport, they found it right away.  We are staying at a campgound in a cabin--it is the only reasonable accommodation in the entire area.  After we checked in, I realized that the car rental person forgot to give me back my credit card, so we had to return to the airport!  Then to the grocery store for some snacks for a late lunch--a bunch of fruit and some chips to go with our water.  Then on to the Olgas (Kata Tjuta).  They are a group of rock formations in the state park here.  We went to the Laughing Horses and walked a few miles there to the first lookout, then to the Gorge and walked a few more miles there.  Then we went to the sunset lookout to watch the sunset which is supposed to be spectacular.  Well, it was quiet and serene when we got there--about 45 minutes before sunset; a few other people were there. Then a family with obnoxious children came and other people began arriving and setting up camera tripods, then the tour buses started arriving, setting up tables to serve paper glasses of wine and cups of trail mix.  All of those people stood in large groups talking loudly, once even singing, totally destroying the quiet and serenity of the moment.  Oh well, it’s a public space, I can’t dictate everyone else’s behavior.  (Oops--almost put a “u” in behavior!).   The Olgas were beautiful and slowly changed from orange to purple in the sunset (6:06).   Back to the grocery store to get food for dinner and breakfast and lunch tomorrow.  

Evidently Ayers Rock is best seen at sunrise (thats 7:30), so we will eat breakfast on the way there and make a lunch, because we leave right afterward for King’s Canyon.  Randy said that the walk around the base is 6 miles, then there is the walk up.  The children and I will probably skip the walk around and save our feet and energy for the steep climb up.  

The Outback is mostly desert with conifers and some deciduous trees--all very short.  Small tufts of grass grow in the red dirt.  The ground is all either red dirt or red rock; the plants shades of green and brown.  The children love it--love the colors and the different landscape.  Also--best of all--it’s warm and SUNNY!!!!!  We changed into capris and only put our sweatshirts back on when the sun went down (it got chilly quite quickly--we are glad we’re not sleeping in tents tonight!).    

Crabs and Shells and Sails

We are now in Sydney (for one night)!  We went to the airport this morning and the crabbiest desk clerk at Qantas.  She told us that we are only allowed one carry on and that our backpacks did not count as handbags (even though I told her that is what I use mine for).  Every other flight (including the Qantas flight from LA to Auckland)  allowed us a large carry on (as long as it fit size and weight requirements) to go in the upper bin and a small carry on that fit under the seat in front of us.  But she said (quite rudely) “this is New Zealand.”  Wouldn’t one think that the rules an airline uses would be the same for all of it’s flights, wherever they came from?  So we had to check our bags which is a hassle (and put up with a rude desk clerk who never smiled).  Then we passed through customs to leave New Zealand (that seemed weird to us too), then through Australian customs when we arrived in Sydney.  We had brought sandwiches and apples to eat on the plane, but they served us so much food we didn’t need them.  Well, we didn’t declare that we had food on our cards, but Joshua mentioned to the person that checks bags that he had a sandwich when she asked us.  So she ended up hand checking all 10 of our bags (every single pocket very carefully), thoroughly washing out Annie’s shells, and confiscating our sandwiches, apples, and a flower petal Annie was drying in a book.  Then she took us to task for not claiming those on our cards--we seriously didn’t think they were a problem, and pointed out where we should claim those things in the future.  

On the flight they offered us either penne pasta or lamb for lunch (with salad, bread, a mint, water, drink, and tea/coffee), then an ice cream bar, then offered glasses of juice, then brought around water.  All in a three hour flight!  

Once in Sydney (after we escaped the bio-police), we took the train and walked to our apartment to meet with the manager.  He agreed to allow us to stay here for one night for the deposit we already paid.  We then walked down to the harbor to look at the opera house, and the downtown skyline, take pictures, and generally walk around.  Elizabeth Street (after the Queen) is lined on one side with parks (including James park and Hyde Park (just like London!)--very pretty and nice to walk in.  Takeaway pizza for dinner and a trip to 7-11 to get cereal for breakfast.

Tomorrow we fly out bright and early for the Outback!

A pardon?

So far our flight is not yet cancelled (quick touch wood!).  Today we went to a cool museum called Kelly Tarlton's Arctic Encounter and Underwater World.  Way cool.  The children loved it!  First we got to see Ray Encounter--where we saw Manta Rays up close and learned about them from a museum worker who got into the pool with them.  Then we learned about penguins and went on a ride into the Penguin area--that was my favorite part--up close and personal with King and Gentoo penguins!  We went on the ride three times!!  You ride in a little car around a track and see the penguins in their faux Antarctic climate.  Finally we see penguins--not in the wild, but the next best thing!  Then we went through a tube while sharks, fish, and manta rays swam around us.  Then we went to the fish area to see cool fish and other creatures.  Very well done and fun.  Low-tech, but that's OK too.  My only wish is that the glass hadn't been between us and the penguins; I know they need it there for the idiots who might try something stupid and hurt the penguins, but I would have liked to see them without glass between us--they were beautiful!  Truly awe-inspiring.  About a week ago, an emporer penguin was found on a beach in Southeaster Wales--where we had been a few days before and couldn't go to the park and the beach because of the rain.  It swam there from Antarctica; they said that the last time that happened was about 50 years ago.  Emporer penguins are about 4 feet tall!!  That would have been awesome to see!  They are waiting for it to leave on its own and finally had to post a guard so that people would stay far enough away.  Penguins are very curious and the penguin kept going over to the people who would come too close.





After lunch we took a long walk around Auckland with the children.  They even got to go near the tree that almost  ate me!  They were safe because it only eats Mommies.  Annie and I held hands as we walked and that was nice.  Will she still want to do that in a few years?  As a mom, I treasure each moment I spend with my children--even having Shelby sitting here beside me reading a book as I type.

Maybe another game of hearts before bedtime tonight.  Then to return the car and go to the airport tomorrow--wish us luck!

Help! I'm being held against my will in New Zealand!

Well, still here (in Auckland).  *sigh*  We have been successful securing another night in this lovely hostel.  They have been very flexible and gracious in helping us (and many other stranded travelers) out.  All Qantas flights for tomorrow (Sunday) have been cancelled (it is Saturday here).  They have booked us for Monday mid-day.  Depending, of course, upon that ash cloud.  Darn Chilean volcano!!!!!!  If that works out, we will have the late afternoon and evening in Sydney, we are to fly out early the next morning for the Outback (Ayers rock).  We are thinking of trying to shorten our stay in the outback by a day or two and spending that time in Sydney.  That depends upon whether Qantas will allow us to change that part of our flight without a penalty.  Because everything in Australia that we want to see is so far apart, we have booked a multi-stop travel itinerary with Qantas to fly to each destination.  It is too far to drive to each area (especially with the terrain we would have to cover--there aren't always direct roads to where we want to go).  But we are going at this one step at a time.  Our hostel helped us to try to book a room in Sydney (we cancelled our apartment) but they required a non-refundable credit card payment; worst case scenario--if the evil ash cloud is still there, we pay for an expensive lodging we can't use.  So, we were advised to go to one of the eight IYH hostels in Sydney (one is just a few blocks from the main terminal that we come into from the airport) and if they don't have a room (they still have many available), they'll help us find one.  So, again, one day at a time.

We reserve our rooms here and our rental car, one day at a time.

The children are enjoying playing games and reading.  We played a killer game of Hearts last night!  The girls are teaching Joshua to play chess.  Joshua is finally enjoying reading a much more challenging book than the Secrets of Droon and Wimpy Kid books.  He is reading the Dragon Keeper--a book that his sisters brought along (after he read all six of his Secrets of Droon books in the first week).  Joshua and Shelby started playing a New Zealand version of Monopoly--very fun idea!  And, of course, we have iPod touches loaded with movies and game apps.  They can't go online with them, but most of  the games work without internet.

This morning we went to a beach about an hour away from Auckland--it was black sand again--very pretty.  The rocks were all covered with tiny little black shells.

So, again, one day at a time.....

The tree that tried to eat me

Today we were supposed to fly to Sydney--did you notice the word supposed?  The ash cloud caused our flight to be cancelled so we are here in Auckland, again.  We are supposedly scheduled for a flight tomorrow at 6--my fingers are crossed, I’m touching wood, etc.  We called the Auckland AYH from our EcoHostel (actually a hippie dump) and they assured us that they had a room for 5 available.  We walked down to the beach by our hostel--evidently a world-known surfer area--which was very pretty--black sand, but shells everywhere since the tide had just gone out.  It was about an hour--easy there, but uphill the whole way back!  Then to the hostel in Auckland.  They did not have a five-bed room--only three rooms could handle a roll-away cot and they were all filled.  So, they offered us 5 spaces in other rooms--2 and 3, which would probably be shared with others.  We asked the price of private rooms with 2 and 3 and she gave them to us for much less than they usually go for.  So we have a “boys” room and a “girls room” with a parent in each room.  OK, but not ideal.  Then out for lunch at a local cafe, groceries for dinner, then the children stayed at the hostel (Annie online and Joshua and Shelby playing board games in the lounge) and Randy and I went for a walk to the Albert Park and around the Auckland University.  At the park was the tree that tried to eat me!  Like the tree that tried to eat Pippin and Merry in “The Two Towers” from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy.  If you only watched the movie (instead of reading the books--shame, shame), it is only in the extended version.  That tree must be related to the one in the Albert Park here in Alberta.  It looked like I slipped on wet leaves and mud (it was sprinkling out), but it was actually the tree.  Anyway, those pants and sweatshirt are in the washing machine as I type this!  I barely escaped with my poor American life!  There was a statue of Queen Victoria in the park celebrating 60 years of her reign.  I remember in London the Victoria and Albert museum.  I can’t remember if they were married or had some other connection; but there is another connection in the park here in Auckland.  

The money here is odd.   They use New Zealand dollars (being in New Zealand, that makes sense).  The bills: 5, 10, 20, 50 (that is as high as we have had) have two little areas “cut out” and covered with a special see through paper with the number of the amount as a holograph in one; the other is the leaf that is their national symbol.   Then the coins--10¢, 20¢, 50¢, $1, $2.  Most countries we’ve been to have their currency--dollars, kroner, pounds, etc. in one and two increments in coinage--not bills as we have.  Our country keeps trying to introduce one dollar coins, but people collect them as oddities and put them in boxes and prefer to use bills.  The treasury says that they could save a lot of money by having the coins and not needing to print the bills, but if given a choice, people will stick with what they are familiar with--in the this case using dollar bills over the coins.  I think we need to not give them the choice--just print the coins, and either stop printing the bills or collect bills from the banks and give them coins instead.  Then people would be forced to change and after a year or so they would be used to it (even the older folks).   I also know that our treasury said that it is expensive to continue printing pennies.  Partially because, again, people don’t spend them.  They put them in a jar until they have enough to take to the bank.  They aren’t worth much.  The way that New Zealand has solved that problem is, the smallest coin is 10¢.  At stores and businesses, they round the price to the nearest 10--either up or down and either you take the loss or they do and it evens out in the end.  It makes sense and saves a lot  of money in printing coins (ie:  pennies, nickels) that aren’t used often.  Just another way of doing things.  Not better or worse, just different.  

Randy keeps checking the Qantas website to find out the latest and we are hoping that tomorrow night we will be in Sydney.  We have an apartment booked there.  At this hostel we don’t have an en suite bathroom so we have  to go down the hall to the toilets and showers.  Oh well.  I keep telling myself I can’t do anything about it, to just take it as it comes.  Hoping the next blog is from Sydney!

Two Days Worth

Our accommodation had horrible wi-fi, it was hard to upload anything so I waited to do two days at once.  Yesterday we went to the Waka Falls.  A very short falls, but the gorge it flowed through was narrow and the water churned its way through, turning pretty aqua blue colors.  After that, we went to the Craters of the Moon.  It was actually a geothermal field caused by the magma below heating the water to cause fumaroles, craters, and mud holes.  It began in the 50s or 60s when a geothermal plant was opened and took a bunch of the water.  Since there was less water, the water that was left was heated hotter.  There was steam rising up from little holes and craters in the ground everywhere.  It was kind of freaky.  We walked around this for 45 minutes.  The mud pit was very weird--bubbling, spurting mud.  We made dinner and played hearts with the girls that night.  

Today we rose early, checked out, and drove to Hobbiton.  It was very cool--especially if you have read the books and/or seen the movies.  Until recently, it had been taken apart, though they had tours.  But now it is set up as a movie set for the upcoming Hobbit movies.  We were allowed to walk around parts of the set--even right up to Bag End.  There are no interiors, of course; but there are very windows and doors.  We were able to take pictures (we took a ton!!!), but we are not allowed to place them on the internet.  We can look at them and show them to others, but had to sign a  non-disclosure agreement to not put the photos on Facebook, blogs, etc. until after the second Hobbit movie comes out.  They will be continuing filming there in March (their late spring).  After that, they sheared a sheep for us to watch (Hobbiton is set up at a sheep station) and the children fed lambs.  Then on to our hostel--it is an eco-retreat.  Not plush, and very cold!  Some of the rooms are in old train cars on the property; we have one of two cabins with an weak space heater.  They don't seem to understand that being Eco does not mean denying oneself basic comforts such as heat.  They did bring us hot water bottles!   We went into town to eat at a pizza place.  We have found out that the ash cloud is back again; it has gone all the way around the southern hemisphere and is back again.  We were supposed to fly to Sidney tomorrow--our flight is cancelled.  We have tried to call Qantas to find out what we should do, but they don't answer the phone. We will have to just return our rental car and go to the airport to find out what is what.  They haven't cancelled the later flights yet.  I think they have to find accommodation for us.  Hopefully all will work out for the best.  I figure, I can't get all upset and stressed, because there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.  We just have to wait and see--however difficult that is.

Darkness and Playgrounds

Today is a short entry.  The day started out as a quiet day and ended as a potentially scary one.  We started out after breakfast and checking out of our hostel, driving up to the botanical gardens at the top of the hillside.  We began with the cable car museum which was very cute, with the history of the cable cars in Wellington starting at the turn of the century.  It also had two old cable cars--one that could be climbed on.  The tracks for the cable cars were developed because all of the flat space in the area and the lower hillside had been filled in and they wanted to develop the hillside.  To do that, they had to provide a convenient way to get up and down the hill to lure people to live there.  It worked very well and eventually the college (now university) was located there as well.  

Then we looked at the botanical gardens.  When Wellington was first being planned, they included a “belt” of green space surrounding the city (similar to the ring of park that surrounds the city of Minneapolis).  The botanical gardens were planned for one part of that space even then.  The first commissioner of the gardens began with a large hillside of bush and eventually cleared paths and roads and planted gardens and grassy areas.  We even found a playground that the children (and parents!) had fun playing at. They had an area of native plants that are becoming rare to find in the wild.  They are becoming lost due to the loss of bushland and the introduction of non-native plants and animals.  Very similar to our loss of prairie in Minnesota.  I have planted mostly natives in my own garden (they help prevent erosion and the loss of topsoil, filter the water before it reaches the river or groundwater supply, promotes beneficial insects, and provides nectar and host plants for butterflies, bees, hummingbirds, and other wildlife).  The gardens were pretty, despite the fact that it is early winter here (the hydrangeas were definitely at the end of their flowering season!).  

We then drove to Turangi, a small town near Lake Taupo (which is a resort area).  There are inactive volcanoes and mountains to climb, as well as many nice trails.  After arriving at our lodge (it is actually a fishing lodge, but many people stay here to walk the many trails), we decided to take a short hike.  Our cottage is “semi-detached”, meaning that it is attached to another cottage on one side.  It has two bedrooms, bathroom, living/dining area, and kitchen.  Very nice for two nights.  Our hike was to be short (since night comes soon in the winter).  We hiked along along a trout stream that is at the one edge of the lodge property.  We crossed a swing bridge over the stream and walked back along the other side.  It was not particularly pretty (we’ve seen way better) but it was OK--we took a picture under a weeping cherry tree.  Then we reached an area that appeared to have been very recently logged.  It was clear cut and full of pine branches and the trail was full of muddy ruts from the trucks.  It took us longer than it should have to get around all the mud and debris and found ourselves still trying to make our way out as the sun set.  Then we had to make our way down the hillside trail in the dark, cross the bridge, and walk dark, unfamiliar streets to make our way back to our accomodations.  We finally made it, but it was a little worrying--especially on the hill in the dark with a steep drop off on one side.  

Then for a trip to the grocery store to get food to make dinner and breakfast in the morning.  Probably a game of cards tonight before bed.  

The Wetas and the Papas

Today we woke up early to move the car and partake of the free bagel breakfast the hostel was providing; they do a bagel breakfast every Monday.  Simple stuff--just big baskets of bagels, cream cheese, jam, and OJ (only the bagels were in the baskets, not the OJ and spreads).   We found out that the hostel has another kitchen attached to the other dining area--this kitchen is much larger.  Here is how the kitchens in the YHAs work.  There is a communal kitchen (in this case, two) which has several ranges, microwaves, and sinks.  The private one we stayed in (non-YHA) also had a convection oven (which we used to bake new potatoes).  Anyway, there are also many sets of differently-sized plates, glasses, mugs, cookware, silverware, and utensils.  As well as rice steamers, cheese graters, colanders, cutting boards, etc.  You use what you need to to make your meal (some meals are much more elaborate than others).  Then you use the plates, etc. that you need and when you are done, you wash, dry and put away whatever you used.  They have many sinks with dish soap, sponges, brushes, and tea towels; some even have scrubbing pads.  Some kitches offer things such as plastic wrap, salt, spices, others don’t.  All have large refrigerators and cubby spaces (kind of like your elementary classroom mailbox, but way bigger (our private hostel had big plastic tubs with lids.  Each of the cubbies is available for you to store your food and the refrigerators are open.  They have bright stickers available that you write your name, room number and date of departure on. Most hostels also have a “free” or give-away shelf in the cubby area or in the refrigerator for members to leave extra food, or things such as olive oil or spices.  That way less goes to waste.  Each kitchen also has several composting buckets and many recycling buckets.  The refrigerators are cleared out often (thus the need for your date of departure).  Many YHAs are very environmentally concious and remind you with signs everywhere to conserve, recycle, etc.  Every light switch has a sticker to turn off lights (oooops, I forgot to turn off my bed light--hang on a sec.)  Anyway, posters tell you to take short showers (5 minutes), half-flushes (for number 1, full is for the other), reduce/reuse/recycle, don’t smoke, compost, share with others what you cannot use (don’t waste), shop locally,  and the list goes on!  Private hostels don’t have the guilt signs : ).  Our current hostel even has a diagram on the door of how to use the two sheets and comforter (!).  We didn’t feel the need for a diagram--there is even a drawing of where your body goes in there also!  The beds have a mattress pad and fitted sheet.  You put a flat sheet on top of the mattress, then the other top sheet and comforter (with duvet) goes on top of you. Too difficult to figure out on your own?  Way better than sleep sacks, though.  The hostels are great though.  You meed other travelers in the lounges and while you cook.  The people at the desk are knowledgeable and friendly and can tell you where the cheapest places to eat or the best clubs are.  Our hostel even had a bulletin board of 100 free things to do in Wellington.  Well, on to what we did in Wellington!

First we went to the WETA cave (not the same weta as the insects).  This is the group that does the great animation, makeup, props, etc. for many of your favorite movies including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the Water Horse, Chronicles of Narnia movies, King Kong, Avatar, District 9, Doctor Who, and others that must be just New Zealand movies and TV shows.  They show a short behind-the-scenes video of the WETA workshops and have really cool collectibles of most of the shows they’ve done.  The collectibles are handmade by the craftspeople that made the originals so they are brilliant.  That unfortunately also makes them very expensive.  The one thing that Annie wanted was a Lord of the Rings ring--with the elvish writing.  But, it was $530 NZ which would still have been over $400 American which is way over her souvenir budget.  We allow each of the children $100 dollars to spend however they want on souvenirs.  Over the years, they have learned to save the money for something they truly want that will remind them of their trip instead of cheap little plastic things made in China.  Joshua always buys models of buildings that he falls in love with and Annie always buys these glass blocks with etchings inside of things such as the Eiffel Tower, penguins, Viking Ships, etc. (they go on a little lighted base that she also has to make them glow).  Well, she couldn’t afford that, and Joshua couldn’t afford the $500 and up miniatures from the movie either.  So, Annie got a cool hat that says WETA on it and Shelby bought a New Zealand stone with the Gondor insignia etched on it in a LOTR leather bag.  We all took pictures with a model of Gollum and took photos of our favorite miniatures of the settings (I especially loved Rivendell and Hobbiton).  

After the WETA Cave, we went to the Te Papa museum.  It is based on Maori culture, but also has many things about New Zealand.  It talks about the Tectonic Plates with a cool exhibit on Volcanoes and Earthquakes and other exhibits on sea and land animals, the loss of land by the Maori people (guess it wasn’t as peaceful as I thought!), the environmental and ecological changes brought about by people living here (such as the loss of plants, wildlife, bush, etc)--the Maori as well as the English settlers.  Also, there was a squid, some contemporary art and children’s discovery rooms.    All of the exhibits were interactive with many cool things to do.  There was a program going on called Let’s Shake which we came upon which is about bringing people of different cultures together--reconciliation.  They were having people that did not know each other sit across from eachother and hold hands with plaster in between.  They hold hands until the plaster dries and talk to eachother.  They plaster casts then were put into containers with the two people’s names written on them.  Then they had a photographer taking a picture of each participant holding their hand out as is to shake hands--often with a funny pose.  They were also recording some of the plastering handshakes and sound bites.  I was with a  woman named Laura from Australia, Randy was with her friend so we all talked.  The children participated too--we convinced Annie to get the email address of the high-school girl that she was paired with.  It will be on a web site and the plaster casts will be put together into an art piece which will tour museums--including the US.  It was fun being part of that!  

Travel Day

Today (Sunday here) was a boring day.  We rose early and ate breakfast, then headed to Picton (a Northern point on the South island) to take the three+ hour ferry to Wellington (the capital of New Zealand).  We got to our hostel and, after reminding them that we needed a cot and asking them to replace the bathroom light that had burned out, Randy walked to Dominos for pizzas for dinner (combined with the fruit we bought earlier).  Wellington is known for Lord of the Rings sites because many of the scenes were filmed near here (though Hobbiton is near Aukland where they are casting and doing preproduction for The Hobbit).  Also, the WETA workshop is here; we will go to the WETA Cave tomorrow--it has displays of some of their movies and has a gift shop--Annie is hoping to get a ring--a copy of The Ring.  

The ferry is quite large with eight floors with many lounges, several cafes, a cinema, a nightclub, and a children’s playground.  Also, many decks for cars and semis.  Some of the lounges are “reclining lounges” which seem to have old airplane seats that recline when you pull a lever.  I want a foot rest too!  Give me a Barcalounger to recline in! 

New Zealand is an interesting mixture of English and Maori culture and other mixtures as well.  I’ve mentioned the topography and differences in climate; but it also shows up in names;  The cities of Westport and Summerlea are next to the cities of Waimangaroa and Ngakawau.  The Maori people and their culture seems to be accepted and celebrated here, unlike the native peoples of most other countries when they were invaded and settled by others (most noticeably the English).   In one small town we saw a monument to commemorate the coronation of Richard II in England.    There are sheep grazing everywhere and there are cows as well.  Much of the island is owned by the Parks Department.  They are very well maintained and laid out.  Everything retains its Maori name with signs explaining some of the Maori stories associated with the areas as well as translations of the names they have given the area and some of the features and animals and plants. 

Our current hostel is quite large but has a small kitchen so there is not much hope of coming up with creative meals with so many other people trying to do the same thing.  The hostel in Franz Josef Glacier had a very large workable kitchen as did our last hostel in Mapua (though it was just us in the space!).  The children have explored the hostel and found the games room, the movie room, and the laundry as well as the Terrace lounge on the sixth floor.  No real photos today--mostly a driving and ferry day. 

WOW/fish

WOW--that is the World of Wearable Art museum in Nelson.  That is where we went to day.  It is raining, raining, raining.  So the hiking trip to Tasman Park was out, indoor destinations in.  The WOW is a contest/show done each year.  We saw a video at the museum of last year's show--it was quite the visual extravaganza.  The winners are displayed at the museum.  Inexplicably, there is also a classic car gallery at the museum.  We don't know why.  Maybe for the stereotypic guys.  One of the galleries was filled with black lights an the costumes all glowed--very cool.  Many of the costumes displayed explained the artist's conception and all told what materials were used in construction  Some were more like normal clothes, most were not.  In the children's division in fact, were two costumes with books--one had a dragon coming through the pages of a book and another had a witch in between the pages who could put down the book and walk out--the witch's face was most of the costume.  Very cool.

We also went to a tiny aquarium in a nearby town--very cute.  There were signs that you were allowed to touch the animals, but to be careful of the eels--they would bite your fingers!  We followed the directions to use a fist and that worked.  We also touched anemones, starfish, and other creatures.  We saw octopus and other strange creatures in tanks.

The place we are staying deserves a description.  It is a private hostel--Eden's Edge.  Only three years old.  It is comprised of three buildings and a storage building.  One building has rooms with bunks, toilets, and showers.  The middle building are the common rooms.  A large, well-equipped kitchen, large dining room table, a lounge with many couches, chairs, and tables, with shelves of books and games as well as a large chess set that we have made good use of.  There is also a separate room with a TV and DVD player and couches.  Beyond the kitchen is a laundry room with coin operated washer and dryer and a bathroom (not coin-operated!).  The lounge has a heater so it is the warmest area.  The media room and laundry are separate rooms, the rest have an open floor plan.  The third building has a reception desk with a shelf of DVDs to borrow, the owner's apartment, and three bedrooms for rent.  They have an outdoor swimming pool and landscaping that they are currently improving.  The rooms are separate with paths connecting them.  We have been using umbrellas to get from one to the next today!  They are currently closed because this is the slow season and they have landscaping projects that they wanted to work on that they can't during the busy season (their summer).  It is unseasonable cold and rainy--the owner's said that it is usually warm enough here during the winter for a t-shirt during the day and sunny most of the time.

We are doing a Lord of the Rings marathon now.  Our previous rule had been that you had to read the books before seeing the movies (so that the violence has some context).  Annie did that and Shelby tried in fourth grade but didn't make it through The Hobbit.  But with an upcoming trip to New Zealand (where the movies were filmed), we let the children watch the movies without reading the books.  And so we are letting them watch again with a stretch break in between.  Since we are the owner's only guests (we're not sure why they let us stay here--when I asked, it seemed that they were willing to take the time to do the cleaning for a family of five, where they would need to put in the same amount of time prepping for one person.  So they earn the amount for a family of five with the same amount of prep time.  I think.

I'm still having trouble loading photos, so I will end for now--our 24 hours of internet that we paid for are almost over!

pancakes and wekas

Today we woke up early and drove to Panakaiki to see the pancake rocks and the blow holes.  Pancake rocks are formed when horizontal fissures are washed away and look like stacks of pancakes.   The blow holes are holes in the rocks that the ocean (Tasman Sea) blows through and makes sounds like dinosaurs.  The walk was very easy; the area was covered in flax plants as well.   At the car park we had two Wekas (birds) dodging around our car with us taking many photos hoping that they were Kiwis!  

Then on to the longest swing bridge in New Zealand.  It was a bit dicey walking across, especially in the middle.  Hold on tightly to the cables!  

Then on to our hostel with a stop for fish and chips on the way.  It is not a youth hostel, it is a private hostel.  We are the only guests so we have the building with the common areas to ourselves.  It seems very nice, except that it is very cold and we have to go outside to go anywhere--including to the shower and toilet!  And from the common area building to the building with our room.   We shopped for groceries, washed clothes, had dinner, and watched a movie together.   A shower tomorrow morning should be interesting.  

We had planned to walk around the Tasman National Park tomorrow, but the forecast is for rain--we’ll have to play it by ear!  

Every vacation I again wonder why our country can’t adopt the metric system.  Instead of this half-way thing of the banks displaying both celcius and farenheit and the rulers having both inches and centimeters, we need to just switch over.  All weather forecasts in celcius--it won’t take people long to figure out what 12 degrees feels like.  Also, give all distances in kilometers.  Oh well, enough of my rant.  It just hits me every time I leave the US!  

Ooops--problems with the website, it won't let me upload my photos--I'll try again tomorrow!

Glaciers--not a new DQ treat

We saw two glaciers today!  We went to Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Glacier.  Walked through the rainforest (yes, walking through rainforest to get to a glacier) for 30 minutes the first one and 45 minutes for the second one.  Annie thought that it felt colder as we got closer to the glaciers.  The first one was earlier in the morning and it was very chilly out--three layers required.  By the time we got to the second glacier it was a bit warmer, so we could unzip our jackets and take our hands out of our pockets.  We took silly pictures with the picture of the forest service person (he warns you not to go any further and of all of the ways you could die from the glacier if you are stupid and go beyond the barricade).  They have signs (even in the bathroom stalls) warning you not to go beyond the viewing area--it doesn't matter if you came all of this way to touch a glacier (it tells you to ask the parents of the people that have died if it was worth it!).  So we didn't get to touch the glaciers but we got very close after walking through the rocky valley that the glacier had carved.  We got to see by markers how much the glacier had receded through the last three hundred years (it is a lot!).  The differing shades of green in the rainforest is amazing.  It also amazes me how moss and vines cover every available surface so that everything is green!  Today I saw little tiny vines with red berries trailing all over a rock wall--very beautiful!  Then, after walking through every imaginable shade of green, you step out into a valley of rock.  Gray, black, white, blue, dark purple, and orange.  We even had to walk across rocks to cross streams (another thing the forest guy warns about--the stream can change in several hours from almost dry to flooding--several feet high).   We came back to the hostel for a late lunch (after making our "donation" to the community at the local grocery store).  Then the children decided that they would like to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening hanging out at the hostel playing games, reading, etc.  Last night we spent a nice evening in front of the fire in the common room eating a pizza and and fish and chips we picked up in town, then playing New Zealand Pictionary.

No Penguins

Still a little sore from yesterday’s hiking!  My toes are only a little sore, but my quads and calves make me feel like an old woman!  44 is not old, is it?   Today we left Queenstown and drove to a small, cute little town--Arrowtown.  Very picturesque.  Then up the western coast toward Franz Joseph Glacier.  That’s the name of the town and the glacier.  The scenery was beautiful!!  Different shades of browns and some greens, a lot of vineyards.  Being winter, the browns were predominant, with some red berries in trees as well.  The “towns” we drove through were almost nonexistent--some were a cluster of a few houses, some had a few shops or a gas station, and for some there was nothing at all.  Driving through mountains with varying shades of brown, then through the Haast Pass and green everywhere!  We went from the east side of the mountains to the west side--next to the Ocean (actually the Tasman Sea).  And we drove into the rainforest!  I’ve never been in a rainforest before!  It was so green and lush--moss and vines covered everything!  We walked through the rainforest a short way to see the Thunder Creek Falls.  Very pretty (see the photo).  Then along the coast, we stopped to see the ocean a few times.  The first was windy and very dramatic.  We were so taken with it, we even had our sandwich lunch at a picnic table on the edge of the beach.  Then we took a longer walk through the rainforest to the Munro Beach (45 minutes each way).  That was very fun--a suspension bridge and having to navigate several huge puddles (with no way around).  Annie went through three pair of socks today!  The beach is the breeding grounds for the Fjordland Crested penguin which I very much wanted to see!!!  They are breeding in New Zealand June through December but evidently hadn’t gotten there yet.  Annie and I were crushed.  But life goes on and we had fun looking for rocks and taking pictures.  We drove through more picturesque mountains and vineyards (again on the East side of the mountains).  And arrived at our Youth Hostel in Franz Joseph.  Where we could only find dinner for, $8 for fish and chips, $28 for a “large” pizza, or $20 for a hamburger!!  And at the grocery store, $8 for a box of cereal or $4 for a muffin.  How do people here eat?   They can’t just bleed the tourists, the locals have to eat too.  Well, tomorrow, off to see the glacier! 

Anneliese wants to add that she has a cold and is very unhappy about the shower here at our hostel.  Our last one was great, this one was cold but with adequate water pressure.  Poor Annie.  

Queenstown

It took us two days to get here, but we did--at 9:55--five minutes before the front desk closed!  They were out of regular rooms, so we had to take the apartment.  Very posh (for a youth hostel!).  We have two bedrooms, a kitchen, and an en suite bathroom (which means that we don't have to go down the hallway to shower or use the toilet!  Very nice.  Today we hiked to the top of the mountain and luged up there.  We liked the luging we did in Germany last summer better!  Wow was that hike strenuous!  And the walk down was tough too--several hours later and my toes still hurt (they pushed down into the toes of my shoes).  The luging was very cold!!  Down in the valley it is chilly, but up on top we wished that we had mittens!  Our hands were frozen!  It is winter here, so I wore jeans, a turtleneck, thick hoodie, and waterproof jacket.  (the snowman is from Annie)

Hi there! This is Anneliese! I am super tired right now from the super long hike today. Yikes. It was hard going up. Though it was really fun on the luge however. :) Then we hiked back down and then drove for a while. Now we're back, and I am glad because it was getting very cold out. It is just wrong that we left Minnesota, which was 103 degrees and then we come here for summer vacation and it's really cold here. Brrrrrr! (Refer to the snowman) See ya guys later!

Auckland to Queenstown

In Auckland we went to a very nice museum--it reminded me of the Bell Museum.  It had some cool displays, especially the volcano exhibit and seeing live Wetas (Annie really loved the volcanoes).  Joshua learned that a kiwi is a fruit, a bird, and a person!  Auckland has many restaurants and grocery stores with Asian food:  Malaysian, Indonesian, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc.  Auckland has many palm trees--very tropical looking!  This morning (Sunday), we got to the airport in Auckland to fly to Queenstown.  Then we found out that an ash cloud from a Chilean volcano was in our airline’s fly space and our flight was cancelled and that sometimes the clouds last several days!  We could take a flight from another airline which would have charged us $450 instead of the $100 we originally paid!  We reviewed our possibilities and eventually called the rental car company that we were renting from in Queenstown and arranged to pick up a car in Auckland instead.  Then we cancelled our lodging booking in Queenstown and started to drive.  We got all the way to Wellington City to take the ferry first thing in the morning.  (And all of this with no cell phone!).  We’re in the Wellington Youth Hostel now getting ready for bed.  Too much time in the car!  And just for the record, Chile is in the western hemisphere!  Not near here!

Oh, and Annie has decided to do a video blog with her new video camera she purchased with birthday and babysitting money so she might not post anything on this--I’ll keep on her to try anyway!    

4+7+14

That’s how many hours it took us to get to Aukland!  We’re here--it’s beautiful weather for ducks and we negotiated the public transit system so that we only had to walk a mile to our lodging--Verandah’s Backpacker Inn.  The first leg was Sun Country from Minneapolis to Los Angeles; ordinary with friendly flight attendants.  Then a seven hour layover--very long.  But we found a mobile recharging station in our gate area to charge our iPods.  Then Qantas to New Zealand.  Qantas was refreshingly accomodating!  They realized that happy customers are fed customers on a 14 hour flight and fed us (Iceland Air stopped doing that a few years ago).  Dinner, breakfast and a bag of snacks.  The two dinner selections included wine or soft drinks and several courses.  A blanket and pillow were provided.  Also, a little bag with a toothbrush, toothpaste, and an “eye mask” to sleep.  The crew encouraged us to eat dinner and then sleep to help reset our body clocks and turned out the lights after the dinner service.  Randy took Joshua this time and I slept!  Several hours at a stretch!  We took a nap when we got to our lodging and took in the sights.  It’s winter here so the days are short.  It’s not too cold, just very wet!  We left Minneapolis Wednesday morning and arrived in New Zealand Friday morning.  Maybe I slept longer than I thought!