Kaikoura, there she (doesn’t) blow

We take the train to Kaikoura today. We arrive at the station in Kaikoura and there is no uber and no regular taxis. There is only one guy with a passenger van who will give rides from the train station. He has a business card but doesn’t seem to be always available for rides. I arrange a ride in the morning to the dock for my whale watching boat (at the time I didn’t realize it is in walking distance from my hotel). Anyway, it is hard to get around here without a car unless you don’t mind walking a while.

The ride to Kaikoura is beautiful with an open air observation car at the back of the train (think cattle car).

The observation train while going through a tunnel

Hotel in Kaikoura – Lobster Inn Motor Lodge

My aunt has a sunset kayak tour scheduled for the evening. We originally thought I would be joining her but I have done some damage to my shoulders while traveling. I am pretty sure ocean kayaking is not in the cards for me at this time. Unfortunately due to rough seas her tour gets cancelled for the evening. She hopes to do a paddle tomorrow sometime during the day instead.

We arrive early enough for lunch. We visit the cafe across the street where I get to try green-lipped mussels. They are large and quite tasty.

Green-lip mussels at Chiwis Cafe and Takeaway

I go to bed early because I have an early morning boat ticket for whale watching tomorrow. Kaikoura is supposed to be a magnificent place to see whales and other sea animals.

There is a 6:45 arrival time for my tour, the first tour of the day. My driver drops me off on time at the office. Once I arrive I come to find out that both my cruise and the cruise scheduled immediately after is cancelled due to rough seas. There are people in line already to reschedule for a later time but most of the other times this morning are already booked. The only time I can reschedule is for the afternoon but doing so would make me miss our train ride that we have booked back to Christchurch. I am disappointed. I usually schedul multiple days in a location in case something like this happens but in this case I did not.

My aunt goes on her kayaking tour this morning as scheduled. I plan to meet up with her later in town. I decide to walk back to the motel from the whale office instead of trying to find the one taxi guy in town. It is a nice walk along the beach.

I spend a couple hours making some phone calls that are much needed to the USA. I have a short window to take care of business by phone since our days are their nights and vice-versa.

After I take care of things I walk down to town. It is a cute little town. I see signs for crayfish everywhere but I am too cheap to order it so instead I end up getting a huge fried flounder and chips at Strawberry Tree Kaikoura. While the fish below is quite tasty, I regret passing up the crayfish because later when I get serious about trying it before I leave New Zealand I end up paying even more for it and end up disappointed. It is probably much fresher in Kaikoura.

My aunt finally meets up with me and helps me finish the fish. She has a photo of the bones and asked if I wanted to post it but it isn’t pretty so I’ll forgo the photo.

We have a little more time to kill before we pick up our luggage so we visit the local museum Kaikōura Museum. It gives a little taste of the history of the area. There is a good exhibit that talks about the major earthquake that occurred in 2016. A great deal of damage had been done to the coast, roads and tunnels. It is said to have pushed the south island 5km closer to the north island.

We head back to get our luggage and then to the train. We are heading back to Christchurch to overnight before our day trip to Arthur’s Pass tomorrow.

Kaikoura is beautiful and I am very sad I didn’t get to see whales during my visit. If I ever make it back to New Zealand it is definitely on my list again – next time for more days.

Video of train ride to Kaikoura

Christchurch

I have arrived in Christchurch New Zealand to begin a couple day tour with my aunt and then a multi-week tour in a campervan by myself. I am excited about New Zealand because everyone who has visited before me boasts of its beauty.

We stop in Christchurch for the evening before taking the train to Kaikoura tomorrow.

After we check into the motel I suggest we go walk to dinner nearby at Dux Dine. It is a cute restaurant built in what looks like a former house. I order one of the fish dishes. I am also tempted to try Pavlova, a New Zealand sweet dessert. I order another glass of wine to enjoy with the dessert. I’ll be a while so my aunt leaves before me to walk back to the hotel.

Walking back toward the hotel I come across a walking trail with some wall art.

Brockworth Street Art Gallery

I head back to the hotel where I again meet up with my aunt. She has gone for a walk and discovered the nearby botanical garden where a corpse flower has begun to bloom. She knows I have been awaiting corpse flowers to bloom all over the USA and just seem to miss them. This is my chance to see one in action. The admission is free at the Christchurch Botanic Gardens.

We walk to the botanic garden which is not far from the motel (Aalton Motel). The path to the conservatory contains many interesting looking pines.

The corpse flower or titan arum is fun to catch in action because it only blooms every 7-10 years.

As we wait in the line for the plant I can start to smell the signature smell, a smell some compare to rotting corpse stench. But the smell doesn’t bother me too much; perhaps because I am not catching it at full bloom.

The conservatory is open until late tonight so I could come back to try to catch it at a fuller bloom but I choose to just be satisfied with my viewing.

We catch some roses on our way out. A great way to cleanse the nose palate.

Our visit to Christchurch is short but we will be back in a day or so. In that time I will learn more about the effect the earthquakes of year 2011 caused on the south island. The effects of that earthquake are felt far and wide, including the destination we head to tomorrow, Kaikoura.

More Sydney

In Sydney our hotel isn’t too far from the Royal Botanic Gardens so we end up walking past it a few times during our visit. We finally take the time to book a garden tour. I do love being introduced to new types of plants. The climate in Sydney seems to be similar to Florida so it makes sense that I see some of the same sorts of plants I have seen back home. The garden has some fun and different ones as well that are native to Australia only.

When you have just given up collection in the bookstore #forevercatlady

Hard to see but this tree is full of parrots.

Manly Beach

Another day we take the ferry out to Manly Beach. We must be taking the slower ferry because we see the fast ferry pass us by.

The ferry drops us off and we walk through a district with shopping and restaurants to get to the beach.

We view Manly beach but walk on to another beach

We end up at another beach called Shelly Beach. The sand is basically broken shells and they are beautiful. The water is very cold but I love it. I walk out cautiously so I don’t slip on the shelf of rocks.

We don’t stay long since we aren’t much for sunbathing and the water is a little too cold for my family. We walk back towards the ferry and see a fun lizard on the way.

Before hopping on our ferry back we stop at Betty’s Burgers for a yummy burger and some fries.

The next day we take an Aboriginal walking tour. For some reason I put down my camera during the tour but the guide, an aboriginal guide, takes us on a tour of the area near the Rocks and informs us of history and customs of his people. He shows medicinal uses of local plants. We learn about totems, a natural object, plant or animal that is inherited by members of a clan or family as their spiritual emblem. They are tasked with protecting that totem. We are told about how it is a rite of passage for a boy to carve a canoe out of a tree. It is a great tour.

Our last day is spent lazily. We could have left town for the day to view the mountains but the brushfires have made those activities dangerous at this time. We wander around some of Sydney. I check out some street markets.

I leave Australia tomorrow for some time in New Zealand. My aunt will be joining me for a couple days of exploring. We are both excited about visiting what we think will be a beautiful country.

I say goodbye to my cousins hoping to see them soon when they make a trip to the USA next summer. Note: They are not able to visit USA this year (2020) due to covid outbreak. Unfortunately we’ll have to wait longer to see them in person again.

New Year in Sydney

It is new year’s day in Sydney Australia. We get a late start today because we were up late. Luckily I am not hungover from last night’s celebrations.

After visiting both Melbourne and Sydney I decide Melbourne is more my style but I think I would like Sydney more if I didn’t visit in the middle of their darn summer! It is quite warm here – as is most of my travels lately. However it is nice to be with family though. It is also nice to travel with someone who is compatible with my travel style right now. Prior to my sabbatical I would take 2 week or shorter trips where I would book every moment moment possible with stuff to do. I cannot do that type of travel on this trip or I will burn out. It helps to travel with someone who has already been to Sydney and doesn’t have an urge to see everything that can be seen.

We didn’t just sit around during our visit though: We crossed off a bucket list item by booking tickets for show at the Sydney Opera house on New Years Day. We witnessed great performers singing opera hits.

What an experience!

Bondi to Coogee

Easily accessible by train and bus we took the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk. It is a beautiful and warm day and the views of the coast are great.

Along our walk we see Sydney ocean pools some of which were constructed in the late 1800’s. They are a very interesting concept. I enjoy looking at them and the different rock formations along the coast.

Still in Sydney for a couple more days. I’ll talk more about my visit in one more post!

Arriving in Sydney

I have just arrived in Sydney Australia where I am going to spend about a week. For this visit I will be with family. My cousin and his partner live in Sydney and I am meeting up with them and my aunt who will be joining me from the USA. I’ve been away from family & friends so long so it is nice to break up my solo travel with some family time.

My aunt has arrived before me and secured our shared hotel room. I travel from the airport to our hotel by using public transportation instead of uber or taxi to save some money. There is a train from the airport but I must do a switch at one of the stations. The travel isn’t too bad except it is a little confusing finding my next train with the construction at Central station – I find myself walking back and forth a couple times to find the correct platform. I do finally find my train and arrive to my destination station at Kings Cross in the Potts Point neighborhood. The map shows a short walk to my hotel but 75% of it is completely uphill. Not so much fun with my heavy backpack on a warm day.

Potts point seems like a safe area. Many things are in walking distance and there are some nice cafes nearby. Most importantly we can walk to my cousin’s place from Potts point if we desire.

My first day in Sydney is low key. I get to see my cousin’s apartment in the city. It is in a great location with some good views.

The next morning I wake up and read the news before I start getting ready to walk around town with my aunt and cousin. While I am checking the news I come across an article on the Australian fires, an activity that is normal for me during the last couple weeks. The fires have been quite terrible but in the latest news I read about a fire tornado. A truck has flipped over and a volunteer firefighter from Victoria has died. Shocking as that news is to read it is even more shocking when I realize I recognize the name of the firefighter. A year and a half earlier I traveled to Peru on a tour with him and his wife. During that trip they were celebrating their honeymoon and now they were expecting their first child. I am heartbroken to read the news. Unfortunately I had not kept in touch with the couple directly but we had a Facebook group that was created to facilitate the sharing of group photos. I take some time to pause and reach out to some other tour members to let them know what I had learned. These fires are horrible and are really taking their toll on the country. It leaves me conflicted because I am now in Sydney and today is new years eve. Sydney is known for their fireworks displays. Despite the horrible fire conditions the fireworks are going on as planned. I would not blame Sydney if they cancelled them. A cancelled firework display after I have traveled this far would be disappointing but understandable. The government decides the activity seems low risk since Sydney is sort of protected by the city. The show goes on I guess…

Once we meet up with my cousin we wander around the city a bit today.

We walk across the Sydney harbor bridge. I notice the setup for the fireworks show. The bridge will close later in preparation for the fireworks display.

View of brutalism building . People say it’s ugly but I sort of like it.

We stop at a historic pub for a pint. There is supposed to be a trap door. We have fun looking for it.

Walking through the Royal Botanical Gardens.

My aunt and I head back to our hotel to clean up and grab some snacks and drinks for the evening celebration.

Once at my cousin’s we snack and enjoy the view, patiently waiting for midnight.

We head to the roof and soon the fireworks start.

What a fun once in a lifetime (maybe) experience!

My aunt and I walk back to our hotel since there is no way we’ll be able to pay for surge prices on uber. Luckily there are lots of people out late so it is pretty safe.

Good night!