Back to Kiwiland

On the way home from Australia, I stopped in New Zealand again for a nine day layover.  The trip plan worked nicely...stopping in NZ broke up the journey, taking three hours off the transpacific flights in both directions.  I spent a total of three weeks in Oz, two weeks in NZ.  Both places are beautiful, friendly, and much more relaxed than the US at this time in history.  I really enjoyed the jaunt and plan to do it frequently as long as I can.  This is the Waikato River between Auckland and Hamilton.  It was a warm Saturday, and a rowing regatta was in progress.  Blow up the pic for a better view.

I stayed a couple days in New Plymouth, on the western tip of the North Island.  Hadn't been here before.  Mount Taranaki towers over the city, much like Hood and Rainier do over Portland and Seattle/Tacoma, respectively.  

A lighthouse near Taranaki.

I'm traveling eastward across the wild interior of the North Island.  Lots of sheep and few people in these parts.

The road was narrow and lightly traveled, even unpaved in one stretch.  This one lane tunnel was interesting.

I wound up the day at a bach...a cozy holiday house...at a resort on Lake Taupo.  This vast volcanic lake is right in the center of the North Island.  The scene reminded me a bit of Lake Tahoe...the lakes are about the same size, each surrounded by mountains.  Lake Taupo is a world famous trout fishing spot...the owner of the resort caught a couple of large fish and cooked one up for me...totally tender!  Fine Kiwi hospitality again. 

Sunset at Lake Taupo.

Huka Falls, just NE of the city of Taupo.  The lake is the source of the Waikato River, which pours in a torrent over the falls on its way to Hamilton, thence to the Tasman Sea.

Here's a video of Huka Falls...it really is quite impressive.

Critters, The Bush, and a Deluxe Apartment in the Sky

The Big Prawn has been rehabbed!  The longtime iconic crustacean in Ballina had fallen into disrepair when I last visited in 2013, and was sitting forlornly in a vacant lot, possibly awaiting demolition.  But the Prawn was rebuilt, fancied up, and remounted in front of a Bunnings home appliance store.  It has resumed its proud place on the Ballina landscape.  The Lizards were impressed.

We stayed in Yamba for a couple days.  I had a fine swim in the oceanfront pool shown here.  Many New South Wales beach towns have these.  They're free, and replenished by the surf every day at high tide.  Waves were washing into this one as we swam.  In 2013 this area had had a series of storms with massive surf, and the pool was closed, with large logs in it.  Yamba is another of my favorite beach towns and it was very nice to hang out here for a couple days.

Yamba, like numerous beach towns on the east coast of Oz, has a large river running into the ocean at the townsite.  You can go surfing and waterskiing on the same day.  Yamba has a working fishing fleet, some of which is visible in the background...blow up the pic for a better look.  You'll also see much of the local pelican squadron, roosting on the pier.

A cool tree in the rainforest at O'Reillly's, a great resort high in the mountains of SE Queensland.

Two of the local residents at O'Reilly's are the regent bowerbird, on the left, and the crimson rosella to the right.  The bowerbird is the resort logo.  The rosellas are more numerous and swoop around, bludging goodies from the guests.  They and the king parrots will even land on your head!

A massive tree in the rainforest, with buttressed roots and strangler figs.

We went to the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary near Brisbane.  Rhonda and Loreen got their pictures taken holding a koala.  There were a lot of other critters there, too.  These red kangaroos are native to the interior...you have to go close to the Outback to see them in the wild.  They and many gray kangaroos were in an enclosure you could enter...you can buy roo goodies and hand feed them.

This cassowary cannot be hand fed.  They are rather surly and have massive claws on their feet; they've been known to disembowel folks who hassle them.

This goanna just roams around the grounds at Lone Pine, bludging tucker from the tourons.  There are quite a lot of these blokes around.

A shy koala.

After our Lone Pine visit, we drove to our lodgings in Brisbane.  We had a three bedroom apartment at Meriton Suites, on the 70th floor!  I was reading an old diary from a trip I made here in 1988 and I was talking about having a room in the sky at a luxury hotel...on the 16th floor.  That was about as high as you could go back then, but the Brisbane CBD has grown big time since then, to say the least.

At night the view was stunning!  The black void on the lower left is the Brisbane River, coursing through the city far below.

Back in Oz

After a pleasant layover in New Zealand, I continued on to Brisbane.  I stayed for three days on Bribie Island, about 40 km to the north, and had a nice apartment right on the beach.  Here's the sunrise, coming up over Moreton Island.

Inland from Bribie and the Sunshine Coast are the Glass House Mountains, ancient volcanic plugs rising out of the rainforest.

I proceeded on to Noosa...a favorite spot since 1985.  This is the beach at Tea Tree Bay, in Noosa National Park.  

Looking back in the other direction along the coastal trail, toward Noosa Heads and the main beach. The water is always a gorgeous turquoise color here.

My friends and I went exploring in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, home to exotic plants and birds.

A swimming hole in the bush, maybe 50 km inland from the coast.

Now I've traveled about 300 kilometers south, to Byron Bay.  This is Tallow Beach, another of my old hangouts.  In fact, I reckon this is my favorite beach in all the world.  This picture is taken from...

The lighthouse at Cape Byron.  This is the easternmost point on the Australian mainland.

Later in the day, the clouds start billowing.  Thunderstorms and heavy rain followed.  I experienced thunderstorms on four days during the trip...three in Oz and one in NZ.  After a rainless summer and early fall in Cali, the rain was welcome.

A Green and Pleasant Land

Last November I traveled to New Zealand.  I stayed at two very pleasant vacation rentals on the North Island, the first actually on Waiheke Island, near Auckland but rather quiet, since access is only by ferry or plane. On the island I came upon this huge pohutukawa tree, hundreds of years old.  It's been a Maori meeting place for a long time.

Waiheke has a blend of vacation homes, beaches, and forest.  On weekends it's busy with holidaying Aucklanders, but during the week it's much quieter.

Rangitoa Island from the ferry, heading back to Auckland.

Auckland CBD from the ferry.

After my island visit, I drove across the Coromandel peninsula to Hahei.  I had been here in 2000 and loved it.  Didn't stay overnight, but always wanted to.  I finally made it, 18 years later.  This is the view from my rental house.  I had very friendly hosts both on Waiheke and in Hahei.  Of all the places I've been, New Zealand's people are the friendliest. They're relaxed, down to earth, welcoming, and unpretentious.

I had a fair amount of rain while in Hahei, but...no problem.  It's a beautiful place no matter what the weather is doing.

At times, rain obscured the bay.

On the first Hahei picture (the sunny one) you can see a headland on the right edge of the scene.  I hiked up there and got an awesome view of the town beach.

The drive back to Auckland across the Coromandel featured blue skies, sunshine, an azure sea, and verdant countryside.  It is most pleasant in Kiwiland.

Visting the Colonies

Last month I traveled to Virginia, and soaked up some early American history.  This looks like a weather picture, and indeed there are some nice towering cumulus.  But the field in the foreground is near Yorktown; it's the spot where Cornwallis surrendered to Washington, effectively ending the Revolutionary War.  

This is the courthouse in Colonial Williamsburg, where the Virginia House of Burgesses met in the 18th century and decided to rebel against the British.  People like Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry hung out here.

This is the Governor's house in Williamsburg.  The British governor ran VIrginia from here, til he was forced out at the beginning of the Revolution.  Seems he had a thing for firearms.  How American!

An elegant reception room in the Governor's house.  Dancing was done here.  Imagine doing a minuet in several layers of clothes, in sweltering summer heat, without fans much less A/C, having not had a proper bath in a while.  No?  I can't either.  Even the rich folks had it hard compared to most of us today.  

A portrait of James Madison, painted from life around 1804 by Gilbert Stuart, who painted the picture of Washington on the dollar bill.  Shoutout to my old high school in Portland!

A famous Charles Willson Peale portrait of Washington during the Revolution.  This and the pic of Madison are in a museum at Williamsburg.

The museum also has a lot of other artwork, like this porcelain plate.

This is Rock Creek, in the heart of DC only about three miles from the US Capitol.  It's in a vast, peaceful park of the same name, with a similar vibe to the West Hills parks in Portland.

The Governor's house in Williamsburg.  Like most of the buildings here, it's a reconstruction done during the 1930s.

Fabulous Southern Utah

Last month I drove home from Denver during my favorite time of year...late September.  It took only a couple of hours until I reached the Colorado Rockies and splendid fall colors near Copper Mountain on a 31 degree morning.,

Downtown Leadville, CO...America's highest city at 10,200 feet.

Red aspen at Monarch Pass.

Curecanti Reservoir near Gunnnison.  Sage, water, badlands, sky.

A rugged canyon in SE Utah.

The Colorado River at Hite.

Desert varnish.  The shapes and colors of rocks in southern Utah are surreal...fascinating and beautiful.

Eroded sandstone just east of Capitol Reef NP.

Blazing aspen on Utah route 12, in the mountains between Torrey and Boulder. 

Just south of Boulder, route 12 courses along a narrow ridge of slickrock, with fabulous views on both sides.

Bryce.  Partly cloudy skies made for good light.  There were lots of tourons here on a late September Sunday.  Many were foreigners; most of the rest were from my demographic, retired Americans.  I reckon both groups have discovered Bryce after the school holidays end.  But the result is that September has become an extension of the summer high season...it's not very shouldery anymore.  I saw the same phenomenon in New Zealand in February, 2013.

The hoodoos are endlessly fascinating and scenic.

A tree flouts fall colors in the canyon.

The Saurians always enjoy Bryce!

Landforms mingle with sun, shadows, and forest.