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Jayne Eckersall
Jayne Eckersall

Jayne Eckersall

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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....

    Car Trouble or not 🚗🤔

    1 de marzo de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    After breakfast, we had a stroll around Mount Gambia before getting in the car for our drive to Robe and our final destination on the Great Ocean Road. First, though, we stopped a couple of kilometres outside of Mount Gambia to look at the Blue Lake, which sits in a dormant volcano 🌋 that lasted erupted sometime between 4,000 and 28,000 years ago. Its depth is estimated to be about 75 metres or 246 feet deep. Moving on from there, we drove directly to Robe and got caught in the Australian weekend traffic, which meant we hardly saw another car 🚗 during our 90-minute drive, we probably saw 50 cars! Arriving at our accommodation, we noticed a leak coming from underneath the car, so we called the roadside assistance. After waiting in the sunshine, having a brew ☕️ , taking photographs 📸 and reading my book 📖 he finally showed up about 2 hours later. He said it's just water 💧 from the air-conditioning unit. All cars do it, he said, ....... well, I'm sure my car has never done it, and we haven't noticed a puddle of water underneath the car all the rest of the week .... but hey, he's the expert!! So we finally got to look around, Robe, and there isn't a lot to it . Fortunately, for Jayne, there were clothes shops, so she did he bit to help the local economy. As most places were shut or shutting, our only option was to buy takeaway fish 🐟 and chips 🍟 and take them away across the road to a wine bar with a garden and caravan wine stall. 🍷🤔👍👍Leer más

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    A result from a joke...😆

    28 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    After breakfast and check out, we had a little walk around Port Fairy, which turns out to be quite bigger than first thought. After dropping a fairly innocuous (but in my opinion) witty comment about eucalyptus spray attracting koala bears 🐨, we are soon driving up to Tower Hill Wildlife Reserve in search of Koala bears, wallabies and emu's. Unfortunately, we didn't see any wallabies or emu's, but we did see a wild koala bear asleep in a tree very near the car park. After leaving the park, we drove back through Port Fairy and onto Mount Gambia about a 2 hour drive away and through a time zone. Apparently, there is a 1/2 hour difference between the state of Victoria and New South Wales. Arriving at our accommodation for the night, we were both blown away. It's a large (massive) house with a shared kitchen and dining room and billiard 🎱 table in the attic. We even have our own small lounge to enjoy our complimentary Delgattie Shiraz. We were advised that most guests tsfke breakfast at the hotel a few yards away but under the same ownership. After booking our breakfast we also decided to eat there later that night. Walking 🚶‍♂️ into town, I came across the sink hole 🕳 and quite a few nice shops. I also claimed my 2nd first later in the evening when I elected to go for the oysters for a starter.Leer más

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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....

    The Great Ocean Road

    27 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    The Great Ocean Road isn't really that great when the weather is against you with low cloud and the occasional rain. In some parts of this journey, we didn't know if we were driving through a rain forest or driving through a forest in the rain???
    This journey wasn't what either of us was expecting, and the clue isn't in the name as we didn't see the Great Ocean that many times as we were drove up windy mountain roads and down again. It was getting that bad that talks of abandonment were broached, but fortunately, as we reached the Twelve Apostles, the sun came out. Driving the Great Ocean Road did make a long day even longer, and I'm sure it would have been far more enjoyable in the sunshine 🌞
    After checking in to our motel for our overnight stay, we headed out to the nearest place to eat, which turned out to be the oldest licenced hotel in Victoria dating back to 1844. Still it served drinks and food and also the clientele made both Jayne and myself look thin!!. But the food was good and plenty of it, some so that one local couldn't finish the salad that came with his meal!! 🤣    Leer más

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    🎶We are sailing ⛴️🐬🎶

    26 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Another beautiful sunrise 🌅 as we wake up to say goodbye to this fabulous hotel and its friendly staff, and we make our way across the waters of Port Phillip Bay to our next stop, Geelong. We checked in for the 12:00 ferry at 11:30, only to be told to come back at 12:45 as there was only the one ferry ⛴️ operating today. Still, it gave us a chance to look around the lovely little town of Sorrento......again!
    At 1:00 p.m., we set off towards Queensferry and soon after accompanied by two dolphins 🐬 🐬 swimming alongside the ferry. When I say they weren't there for long, I mean I didn't have time to get Jayne and my camera 😪 Just 45 minutes later, we are waiting to drive off and continue on our 35-kilometre journey. At least the ferry delay has meant our room at the Rydges in Geelong is ready for us. Cases unloaded, and we went out to see what Geelong has to offer. We headed down to the Promenade and came across groups of wooden figures, a carousel 🎠 , a pier that looked shut, and a couple of cafe bars. So after supporting the local economy, we had a drink and a big pile of wedges as a light bite!! As the tour guide does mention; as I found out later, Geelong is good for hot air balloon rides, and it doesn't mention anything else. But we are only here, for 1 night.
    Footnote: 3 days after leaving Melbourne, we are still only a 59-minute drive or 73 kilometres away.    Leer más

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    Happy Birthday to you 🎂

    25 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    Happy birthday to you 🎶
    Happy birthday to you 🎶
    Happy birthday, dear Jayne 🎶
    Happy birthday to you 🎶

    After a 38 day build up during our travels, the big day is finally here.....
    It's Jayne's birthday. It's a rest and relaxation day for us both, starting with bucks fizz on the balcony watching the sun rise.
    Then it's downstairs for a leisurely breakfast and a single cup of coffee ☕️ .... with no refills 😥. After a little walk around the main street, it was back to the hotel and the Aurora Spa and Bathhouse for a nice relaxing couple of hours, having a massage 💆‍♀️ 💆‍♂️ and spa bathhouse ritual. Afterwards, Jayne carried on with her pamper day by going and having her nails 💅 done. Whilst I had a drive 🚗 up the road to the hotel, we had dinner at last night to take some more photos 📷 . Meeting back at the hotel, we had a lovely pizza 🍕 on our balcony moving around with the sunshine 🌞.

    Happy birthday, Jayne xx 🍾🥂    Leer más

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    No Cornetto 🇮🇹 in this Sorrento 🇦🇺

    24 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Last night, we eventually got to sleep despite the noise coming from a big flock of white cockatoos!! And it's raining 🌧 this morning, but it's still warm, so after breakfast on our shared verandah (walkway really - but we are the end room) outside our room, we packed the car 🚗 and made our way towards the main road (B420) off the island heading back in the direction of Melbourne, there is only 1 way in and the same way out here! Anyway, just a couple of hundred yards down the road was one of our friends last night - yes, a Kangaroo 🦘 had come to wave us off 😆
    After a bit of an uneventful drive, we arrived at our hotel 🏨 in Sorrento a couple of hours later.
    Unfortunately, our room wasn't ready, but the smiling desk clerk assured us we had been upgraded to a very (very) nice room on the top (4th) floor with a view of the sea 🌊. Sat having a coffee ☕️ we were given the key 🔑 to our room and went upstairs gull of intrigue and excitement.
    And, our upgrade didn't fail to disappoint, a corner room and corner balcony both offering 2 different views. Complimentary mini bar, chocolates 🍫 even the TV remote control is presented in a box.
    In the evening, we drove out to the Portsea Hotel a couple of miles down the road from our hotel on the recommendation of a lady we met in a shop. The views were lovely, as was the food and the sunset 🌇 (almost).
    When we got back to our hotel, it was all bits up and looked very inviting!!    Leer más

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    Another case for a holiday!!

    23 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    As we leave Melbourne, it is now 3 in 3 - 3 new cases🧳🎒🧳 in 3 new countries ( Singapore 🇸🇬 New Zealand 🇳🇿 Australia 🇦🇺). We bought another new case to replace the one broken on the Tranzalpine train. We left Melbourne in our 3rd and final hire car 🚗 to make our way to Adelaide along the Great Ocean Road. Ist stop on this next chapter is Phillip Island, a little holiday town, some 150 km from Melbourne. Arriving in Phillip Island, we were greeted with chocolates, wine, and a greeting card all in support of Jayne's birthday celebrations, after which we headed into town for brunch and to see the beach ⛱️ .
    After a chill out by the small pool on the holiday complex, we headed out to the end of the island to watch the sunset 🌇 near what is called the Nobbies, where we saw literally 100's of Kangaroos 🦘🦘🦘🦘    Leer más

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    It's all Greek to me 🤪

    22 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    After heading back to the 🏨 for Jayne, we went to look for a Greek festival I had stumbled upon walking back from the Gaol.
    Apparently, there are more Greeks living in Melbourne than any other city outside of Greece. So after walking around, enjoying the food and atmosphere, we headed back into downtown Melbourne before heading back to pack for tomorrow we leave.......Leer más

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    Go straight to Gaol, do not collect £200

    22 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 31 °C

    After breakfast this morning, I walked down the road and, after catching a tram, arrived at my destination, Melbourne Gaol. One of the more famous prisoners to stay there (and not leaving) was a certain Mr Edward Kelly or Ned as he was more commonly known. He was one of the last Australian bush rangers / outlaws in the 1800’s. Famous for wearing a suit of 6 millimetres, thick steel armour, he was finally captured after a shoot-out at Glenrowan and paid the price for his crimes; at the age of 25, in Melbourne Gaol in 1880.Leer más

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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....
    1

    Melbourne in 25,000 steps👣👣

    21 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    First day in Melben (as they say here in Melbourne). After breakfast in the hotel, we ventured out to see what this city has to offer. Apart from people and traffic, both lots of, not much else; but (hopefully) we could be wrong. We went out walking to check on where Avis Hire Car 🚗 was located after getting sidetracked in the market, about a 30-minute 🚶‍♀️ 🚶‍♂️. After which we caught the vintage tram for the free circular tour around the outer ring of the city centre. Unlike the usual tourist tram, it was packed when we got on with standing 🧍‍♀️🧍‍♂️ room only. Getting off at the Victoria Harbour ferries berth expecting to see a bustling harbour esplanade and boat trips up and down the Yarra River. There was nothing apart from some modern sculpture depicting a cow 🐄 upside down in a tree 🌳. So we waited for a tram 🚊 to take us back to civilisation and people. Getting off the tram 🚊 at Flinders Street Station, we wondered by the river, taking in the hustle and bustle, the bars and the cafés, we walked 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️ back into the city centre.Leer más

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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....
    1

    Train Day..... 🚆

    20 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Up before the larks this morning (do they have larks in Australia 🇦🇺) anyway it was early 05:00 am, to get our train 🚅 to Melbourne. By 07:15, our bags 🎒 are checked in with no weight issues - thankfully 😅 and we are sat in our luxurious 1st class carriage; 1st class means comfier seats and extra legroom 🦵 🦵. Ist class does NOT mean available Wi-Fi, electrical charging points, and / or complimentary refreshments or alcoholic or even nonalcoholic drinks. Anyway, it's not as if we are here all day, only for 10 of the 24 hours a day has 🤣. To be fair to NSW TrainLink, the timetable said departs at 07:40, and that is the time we left 🚆
    As the day and our journey continued, it quickly became apparent that today is a good day to travel with only the rare glimpse of blue skies through the low clouds ☁️ that kept the morning damp. The day did brighten up when, after 2 hours of staring 👀 👀 out of the train window, we spotted our first wild kangaroos 🦘🦘🦘 jumping through the countryside.
    Stopping at Goulburn station, there were dozens of white cockatoos.
    The day brightened up shortly before 12 midday, not because the train staff started taking orders for the hot lunches available, but the sun also came out 🌞
    Around about a dozen or so kangaroos later and some 60 minutes after first seeing the Melbourne skyline, we finally arrived at Melbournes Southern Cross Station and our destination at 19:00 some 30 minutes later with no delay - repay available 😭😂 But hey during our stoppage we got to see a dozen or so kangaroos 🦘🦘🦘🦘    Leer más

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    Sydney Opera House

    19 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    A slow start to the day as we only had 2 things of note 📝 in our calendar 📅 14:45 Tour around the Sydney Opera House and 18:00 Dinner 🍽 ETC.
    Late morning after packing and checking that the suitcase weighs less than 20kg, we ventured out along our usual route to the harbour area, stopping off at the occasional retail outlet to window shop. Walking around the outside of the opera house makes you appreciate the vastness of it and the tremendous engineering skills involved not only with its design by Danish architect Jørn Utzonfor the more famous outside structure and Australian architect Peter Hall who designed the internal features, but also it construction over the 14 years it took to complete.
    Our tour took us inside the two main theatres. The 1st and main theatre blows your mind as you sit down and gaze around the incredible auditorium, with its perfect acoustics.
    When the tour finished, we walked back into the city via the Royal Botanical Gardens and back to our hotel for a quick freshen up and change of clothes before heading out for our evening meal of Butter poached Cowra pork cutlet and Potato Gnocchi with feta, basil pesto, pinenut, tomberry and pecorino.    Leer más

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    1

    Back to the Future

    18 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Today was a very special day for me as we were catching the ferry ⛴️ from Sydney's Circular Quay out to Manly Bay, just 20 minutes along the waters edge. It's special because in 1912, two of my Great Uncles emigrated here from Preston, and if you look at the photos below, you can probably understand why they did!! 🏄‍♂️🏄‍♀️🏖🌞 😂
    We spent quite a few hours in Manly (not as many as we will on the train to Melbourne) as the main downtown area only consists of several streets with shops, bars, cafes and ice cream 🍦 parlours. We had a pleasant stroll along the sea front watching 👀 the surfers 🏄‍♀️ 🏄‍♂️ and the surf 🌊. Further on, we came across a group of divers preparing to explore beneath the sea. We carried on walking to another little beach ⛱️ full of sun worshippers and swimmers 🏊‍♂️. On the way back towards the town along the same pathway we watched a group of school 🏫 children having a lesson......surfing ..... ain't life a beach!
    On the ferry back to Sydney just as on the way out, we were treated to fabulous views of Sydney's Opera House and Harbour Bridge.
    Back at the hotel, we checked into our new and hopefully fully functioning room where all the lights don't turn themselves off, and you have to go and open the bedroom door to reactivate the lighting 🤞🤞    Leer más

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    Blue (Monday) Mountains ⛰️

    17 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 17 °C

    A very early start this morning, 05:30, so that we could be down in the lobby for our eat-in takeaway breakfast box 📦 which was a real waste of time and money 💰 (a small croissant, a small pot of yogurt, pear 🍐 and an apple 🍎). Little did we know this was how our day was going to pan out........ 😕😩😭
    We were the first ones at the Hilton Hotel, and funnily enough, also on our tour were 4 Americans who we had seen at our hotel in Hokitika, New Zealand 🇳🇿. By 07:30, we are off with just 2 more pick-ups to do before leaving Sydney for the Blue Mountains. An hour later we were at our 1st stop; Featherdale Wildlife Park, where we would have the chance to feed a Kangaroo; if only the Chinese hadn't fed them by the time we got there and hold a Koala bear and have a photograph again if only the Chinese hadn't got there first and tired the Koalas out first!! But hey, 35 minutes queueing up, and we had our photograph and then had to run around the park to try and see as much as possible; Tasmanian Devil and the Blue Penguins 🐧 (others we didn't get to see) in the remaining 20 minutes at the park. We then drove off into the Blue Mountains, stopping again just over an hour later at Wentworth Falls. After 20 minutes or so, we stopped again at Jamison Lookout before stopping again at the Three Sisters. After that we had 45 minute lunch stop at A small town called Leura; which truly isn't long enough when you don't know where to go what to eat and when you do order, they bring you the wrong food!! We then drove onto Mount Blackheath, which overlooked grassy farmlands that really would make ideal golf courses. Talking of which Australia has the most golf courses per person than anywhere else in the world. After this last stop, we went in search of wild Kangaroos, finding 3 🦘 of them. After stopping off at a service station for 20 minutes to buy water, we headed back to Sydney, arriving back at the Hilton shortly before 18:30.
    It was a very enjoyable day if sitting for hours on a cramped coach being tossed about on shoddy suspension is your thing. In a nutshell, too much was crammed into the day, and not enough time allowed for seeing (& having a photo with) Koalas and lunch. 👎    Leer más

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    11

    Sydney Walkabout 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️

    16 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    First full day in Sidney 🇦🇺. After breakfast, we did the usual walk 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️ to get our bearings and find out where the Hilton Hotel is ready for our early start in the morning. 10 minutes walking, so that's OK 👍. Carrying on walking down the street from the Hilton is Westfield shopping centre. So in we went, just to see how it compares with the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, London. Apart from top of the range designer shops such as Prada, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, etc, there is also the Sydney Tower Eye. So after a shortish wait and even shorter lift ride, we were soon in the 19th floor Observation Deck, 309 metres above the ground. The 360-degree viewing platform offered fabulous views around and across the city.
    After literally coming down from our breathtaking view, we walked along Pitt Street and onto the harbour for another fabulous view of the Sydney Opera House across the harbour.
    Walking back to the hotel to get freshened up, we headed out to Chinatown for a good healthy meal, as Jayne would say. But first, I wanted to see the award winning Squashed Brown Paper Bag building before we ate our Pork Stir Fry in Oyster Sauce and Chicken Pad Thai. 😋😋    Leer más

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    1

    Ka kite New Zealand & G'day Oz

    15 de febrero de 2025, Australia ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After checking out of the hotel 🏨 and a healthy breakfast at the local cafe, history began repeating itself as today; we say goodbye (or Ka kite) to New Zealand, we have only gone and bought another bag 🎒 a lovely red one that should hopefully alleviate our problem when leaving Sydney for Melbourne on the train 🚆 and any single bag cannot weigh more than 20kgs, so we need another bag to decant and distribute some weight.
    History carried on repeating itself at Christchurch Airport as our flight ✈️ was delayed again but fortunately only by 30 mins and by 5:00 pm we were taxiing down the runway. After a smooth flight over the Tasman Sea 🌊 we flew over Sydney Harbour and treated to our first sights of both the harbour bridge 🌉 and Sydney Opera House. After some time getting through passport control, immigration and collecting our cases, we were met by our driver to take us to our hotel in Sydney's Darling Harbour in his Tesla Model X and it's Falcon wing doors. Boy, did we feel special, sat on elegant single leather seats arriving outside our hotel, and the doors open upwards!!!    Leer más

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    Happy Valentine's Day 🥰

    14 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    What to do on Valentine's Day when you are away on holiday 🤔
    First, go out for a nice breakfast or brunch something healthy or something delicious, decisions, decisions???
    Secondly, there is present shopping and wives love a new bag to go with each different outfit so off we went looking for a bag 🎒 to match a holiday outfit. Of course, the bigger the bag, the more can be taken on that special occasion, but we didn't get one!! Cakes were another alternative, but no! So we just did a bit more sightseeing around Christchurch and once again visited the cathedral that they can't afford to rebuild and restore.
    Later that afternoon, we went to church ⛪️ again, although, the pizza 🍕 wasn't that heavenly this time, and the duet who were providing background music were a bit ..... boring, to be honest. So we left, along with a third of the pizza 🍕 and half a bowl of the chips 🍟.    Leer más

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    2

    Going to church ⛪️

    13 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    Later in the afternoon in Christchurch, we 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️ decided to go to church ⛪️, and we were so glad we did. We had one of the best times in New Zealand 🇳🇿 and definitely the best pizza 🍕 we had ever tasted anywhere.Leer más

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    Ssssh..........

    13 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    It wasn't too early in the morning when we left Kaikoura for our journey back to Christchurch, but we still felt we had to be quiet leaving town for fear of waking the local residents apart from of-course the early birds; Oystercatchers and white-faced Heron, oh! and of course, the young pups!!. We drove back the same route as we had arrived up and down windy mountain roads, only this time the drive was far nicer in the blazing sunshine. About halfway, we stopped for a coffee ☕️ and cake 🧁 break (well coffee ☕️ and pie 🥧 break for me) in a small town called Cheviot. Arriving back in Christchurch, we checked back into our 1st hotel 🏨 here; Rydges Latimer, after dropping all our luggage 🧳 off, I returned the car 🚗 to the rental company and my driving in New Zealand was complete with a total of 1,528 km or or 955 miles driven during our 17 days of car hire.Leer más

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    Downtown Kaikoura

    12 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    After the whale watching I met up with Jayne and after dropping the car off at our accommodation The White Morph Motel we walked back along the coast into Kaikoura; through a lovely memorial garden, to look for something for lunch. We found a little cafe on the other side of town that was just closing, so we managed to get a takeaway of buttered date scones and coffee and ate them in the cafe garden.
    Walking back to the motel a little while later we walked along the pebble beach where perched on rocks were scores of seagulls and the odd Shag or Cormorant as they are commonly known in the UK and a lone fur seal resting on it's own rock.
    We then returned to the never-ending queues at the bar of the Strawberry Tree for another meal of Bar-B-Q'd Brisket for me and a Crayfish Omelette for Jayne.    Leer más

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    A Whale of a Time.

    12 de febrero de 2025, South Pacific Ocean ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    The meeting time was 10:45 for my 11:15 whale 🐋 watching 👀 excursion, and the sole reason we have driven to Kaikoura is that I really really hope I see one 🙏 🤞🤞.
    At 11:15, we all piled onto the bus for our short drive down to the harbour and the whale watching boat 🚢. We were soon off and racing to the point that a couple of Sperm Whales were last seen. Just as we arrived, I glimpsed the whale dive down and saw his tail in the air ever so briefly before it disappeared.
    Whilst circling around waiting for the whale to surface, we were entertained by a couple of Albatross doing fly pasts. Then, the Sperm whale reappeared and stayed on the surface or just below for quite a while. Then, we were informed that the Sperm whale had been joined by a couple of Orcas or killer whales. Needless to say, the whole boat was excited by this unexpected treat. And then we spotted their dorsal fins. The time was quickly getting to the point when our excursion was coming to an end and if by rehearsal the Sperm Whale arched it's back and performed a deep dive providing us all with the iconic tail photograph 📸 📷.    Leer más

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    Back on the road again...🚘

    11 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 15 °C

    After an enforced slow morning due to trying to complain to Kiwi Rail about our damaged suitcase we finally got around to sorting ourselves with a revised schedule for the final few days of our New Zealand trip now gone to pot. After breakfast we checked out of the Distinction Hotel in Cathedral Square and walked the short distance to pick up our Hire Car. Expecting it to be a Mitsubishi, we were given another but newer Toyota RAV4 Hybrid with less than 10,000 kilometres on the clock. After driving back to the hotel, we made our way out of the city and onto the SH1 towards Kaikoura. Crossing the Waimakariri River we drove through many small town, up narrow windy roads with the occasional look out positions but as today was rainy 🌧 with low cloud ☁️ it wasn't worth stopping to check so we ventured on arriving shortly before 2:00 pm just 3 hours later at our accommodation where fortunately our room was ready for us, and just up 1 flight of stairs! After opening our suitcases; we no longer bother to unpack or pack now. We strolled into town for a look around. Again, it's only a small seaside town (by England standards), but there appears to be plenty of shops, bars, and restaurants. After stopping for a coffee ☕️ we went back to the hotel 🏨 to get the car and see where I had to be tomorrow morning for my whale 🐋 watching 👀 excursion. We then returned to the hotel before walking back into town for something to eat at The Strawberry 🍓 Tree. Where unusual for Jayne and I, we both chose the Catch of the Day, some local fish 🐟 that really was delicious 😋.Leer más

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    All Aboard but Overweight...🚂

    10 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    After breakfast, we took our time checking out and loading up the car for the last time ........ until tomorrow morning. We are in Greymouth, hire car 🚗 returned, bags 🎒 checked in; with a minor disruption when we had to lose 1kg out of one of the bags to meet the 23kg limit. Australia 🇦🇺 🪃 is going to be fun with only 20 kg each on the Sidney to Melbourne train 🚆.
    After having got a coffee following the train check-in, we had a walk around the town of Greymouth, and just a few minutes later, we were back where we started in the cafe and had another drink. Safe to say, the only thing here in Greymouth is the Tranzalpine train 🚆 out of here.
    We had a quite enjoyable 5 hour rail trip through the mountains rising from sea level up to around 920 metres. The journey listed as the 6th best in the world 🌎 is probably far better on a sunny day and not on a day that is grey with lots of low overcast clouds passes through 19 tunnels and over 4 viaducts. As the journey started to flatten out and we hit the plains of Canterbury as we came to the end of our pleasant 224 kilometre journey. As a journey it is so well organised, as we pulled into Christchurch there was an announcement that all checked in bags could be collected from the front of the train as it came down a conveyor belt after being unloaded from the baggage car. We found a number of Christchurch Touring Company representatives who were picking up numerous passengers. After collecting our luggage 🧳 we headed over to them and then into their minibus and headed to various city hotels. When we arrived at our hotel at the Distinction Hotel we then discovered our new 19 day old suitcase was damaged!!    Leer más

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    Happy in Hokitika......

    9 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    A massive shout out to our hard-working travel company who have swiftly got us out of the hell hole in Fox Glacier into a beach front view hotel 🏨 in Hokitika. We left Fox Glacier in a cloud but relieved; Fox Glacier is probably alright if you like hiking 🚶‍♂️ 🚶‍♀️, but not really for sun worshipping tourists like us. Not such a pretty drive as other parts of the South island as we travelled through dense bush with scattered milling and farming settlements. There were quite a few photo opportunities with lake reflections, and as we approached Hokitika, the landscape began to open out. Hokitika is a small seaside town; population 3,250, on the West Coast region of New Zealand's South Island, 40 kilometres (25 mi) south of Greymouth, and close to the mouth of the Hokitika River. It was established as the result of gold mining in 1864. It was a centre of the West Coast gold rush and grew very quickly. Hokitika' pebbly beach leads you into the Tasman Sea, which is part of the Pacific Ocean. The beach is strewn with driftwood, many of which have been collected and sculptured together. We had a lovely walk along the beach towards what looks to be a ship, but it's only false ant the only thing real is the anchor ⚓️ which belonged to a ship called the Tambo which ran aground here in 1866. There are numerous shops here, including a lovely glass blowing shop that allows you to watch the glass blower at work during the week. We bought a couple of souvenirs of our trip, a blue penguin and a Kiwi. Heading back to the hotel, we sat in the balcony with a glass of wine just listening to the waves crashing a shore. Rested and hungry, we changed and went for dinner, Salmon for Jayne and I went for a lovely local white fish called Hoki. Afterwards, there was almost a lovely sunset before we went back to the hotel and fell asleep 😴 to the sound of waves of the Pacific OceanLeer más

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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....
    1

    No, we don't Wanaka leave !!

    8 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    We reluctantly left Wanaka on a lovely sunny morning to begin our drive to Fox Glacier. After driving about 45 mins we stopped off for breakfast at Lake Hawea. It's a good job we did as we didn't really notice any other options for food etc during the remaining 250km!!
    Quite a pleasant drive up stopping for the photo opportunity along the Lake Hawea Road. As drove on up into the Haast Pass stopping a couple of more times to view the waterfalls, the first being Fantail Falls and slightly further on Thunder Creek Falls. It was after this stop that the weather changed for the worst with driving rain 🌧 making the drive less than enjoyable. We finally arrived in Fox Glacier around 15:30, where our day got decidedly worse. We checked into our hotel the Heartlands Hotel of which there are 2 both called the same and run by the same people. Hand on heart can't say for sure but our hotel looked the worst!! Built in 1928 and Restored in 2007, the hotel states it proudly continues its tradition, with modern comforts. Call me picky but I would argue against that statement!! So here we are in an unattractive hotel which if you said was basic would be a compliment. In fact im sure the receptionist smirked when she saw our suitcase and said your on the 1st floor ...... and we don't have a lift!! After heaving the case upstairs we went gor a walk around town to see what delights would behold for the next 3 nights. 5 minutes later we were back we had seen the pub, all 4 hotels, a grocery store, petrol station and 3 buildings selling helicopter flights. Anyway after an SOS call to our in-country agent we are only staying 1 night and moving on to Hokitika FIRST thing in the morning    Leer más

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  • Greatest Adventure Yet....
    111

    Wanaka Wandering

    7 de febrero de 2025, Nueva Zelanda ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Woke up this morning to a slightly cloudy but warm day. After a lazy hotel breakfast, we took the 20-minute walk into the town of Wanaka. A small town with 12,400 residents wrapped around the edge of Roy's Bay on Lake Wanaka. There is evidence of early Maori settlements here well before the invasion of Europeans who claimed the land for farming. Speaking of Europeans, Jayne and I aren't the first tourists here as early tourism can be traced as far back as 1881, when a paddle steamer started trips to the head of the lake Wanaka is now a destination hot-spot for year-round recreational activities, on land, on water, and / or in the air summer or winter.
    We walked 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️ along the dirt track foot path alongside the lake, doing our best to avoid the mountain biker's 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️, whilst gazing across the lake at the snow-capped mountains 🏔. We took a photo stop at the Wanaka tree, which is the nickname of a willow tree located at the southern end of Lake Wānaka. The tree grows alone in the water and is a popular destination for tourists, especially those from the far east; whose mantra seems to be why take one photo when you can take a dozen!!!! Anyway, I managed to get a couple of quiet times and a nice couple even took our photograph 📸. As we carried on into town, the sun 🌞 came out, and we came across a pathway documenting the history of New Zealand and major world events up until 2000. Unfortunately, there isn't really a lot to see, unless you want to hire mountain bikes 🚲 or buy expensive clothes 👚💰, so after a coffee, we ambled back to the hotel. But not before having another quiet moment beside the Wanaka Tree for a photo 📷. We also saw a proposal beside the Wanaka Tree. After he had finished and hugged her, we all applauded and assumed she said YES. After some light refreshments on the patio bar at the Edgewater hotel, including a coffee for Jayne in a disposable cup (you ate it when you had finished your coffee ☕️). We walked back into Wannaka for a meal of pumpkin salad 🥗 for Jayne and grilled Mediterranean Blue Cod 🐟 for me before walking back to Edgewater, some 20,585 steps later. 🚶‍♂️🚶‍♀️    Leer más

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