Goodbye Australia, hello NZ

Yesterday we left Tasmania, our last stop in Australia. It was sad to end this part of our trip. There are a few reflections I want to make about the place and the people, while they are fresh in my mind (the memory has a best before date these days).
Even though we saw only a small part of Aussie land I was really struck by the diversity we found. The landscape changes so dramatically from place to place. The climate can change in just a short distance, going from desert to rain forest. The animals and birds are so exotic. Even ones that the locals consider pests, like the wallabies who eat the young rose bushes, or the lorikeets who attack the fruit of the plum trees, are special and magnificent to us. And the flowers!! If I could have such a garden I would be thrilled.
But the people are the best part of Australia. Everyone is so friendly, "How's it going then?" from strangers you met anywhere. They love to shorten the names of things, so Tasmania is Tazzie, McDonalds is Mackers and one night Dave ordered stroganoff and the guy called strogie. It sometimes makes it hard to know what they are talking about, but is quite funny. Their sense of humour reminds me of Britiish television, irreverent, quirky and slightly off the wall. The Green family would fit right in with their love of puns. So goodbye Aussie land and thank you for making us feel so welcome.
We arrived late last night in Auckland and this morning drove to the Coromandel Penninsula. Everything is so green here, and the views are stupendous... Rocky cliffs, bluish-green water and dark green trees. On our way to Whitianga we drove around much of the Penninsula and marvelled at the scenery. Then we got to our hotel and our room looks out on the water with a patio to sit and sip our wine and watch the sailboats go by. The owner of the small hotel was walking by and stopped to chat, then got himself a beer and came back for another half-hour. Looks like friendliness is rampant here too. The first pics are from lookouts on the way here and the last one is the view from our patio.Read more