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Trip over was relatively uneventful, but had its ups and downs.  Got to Austin Bergstrom airport and American Airlines decided to charge us for checking bags to LAX (bags from LAX to Australia no charge).  Went through TSA with no issues (having the GOES card does have its merits), but even the standard TSA line was not backed up.  Because we got through so fast, we still had a 2 hour wait for our flight to LAX.  In addition American Airlines would not let us check our bags direct to Sydney so had to get our bags at LAX and go through security a second time at LAX.  Anyway, no timing issues as we had a 6+ hour layover at LAX.  Had a nice meal and then just waited.  Flight from LAX to SYD was just over 14 hours.

Luckily we had upgraded to premium economy seats, but it was still a long flight – we couldn’t wait to get to the airport and just walk.  Australian security was not too much of a problem except that their automated computer system didn’t match Lynne to her passport picture.  But, but the time she got through waiting in line, our checked bags had just arrived.  The tour company was supposed to have someone pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel, but the pickup company had us on the wrong flight.  So, after an hour wait, we finally were off to the hotel.  Arrived at the Cambridge Sydney Hotel about 11:30 am, but they wouldn’t let us check in until 2pm.  Had lunch at an eclectic sandwich shop around the corner from the hotel and then did some walking.  We are in an older part of town and there are many signs about a lesbian/gay fair here this weekend.  China town is a short walk west of our hotel and late afternoon we walked that direction and had an early dinner.  Will hit the bed early tonight as we are very tired and our Sydney bus tour starts at 7:30am with a 10 minute walk ahead of that.  Our internet connection at the hotel is very slow and we have to spring extra to get a faster connection.  So, we may upload the blog in spurts every two or three days.  The people here seem to be very friendly and so far not much evidence of crime.

Feb 14:  Ahhh, it was good to get in 9+ hours of sleep last night.  But we still woke up slightly earlier than the alarm; got dressed, had a continental breakfast, and hoofed it over about 6 blocks where we met up with the bus for a ½ day city tour.    We first went to the area called the”Rocks” where we had a tour guide explain that this area was the first buildings built in Sydney when they started to send convicted criminals to Australia as punishment.   From there we went to peninsula east of the opera house peninsula to a park where we had a good view of the opera house and the bridge.  From there we went to Bondi Beach, one of about 35 beaches in the Sydney area.  The surf was quite strong.  Back from the beach, our bus dropped us off at the Opera House.  Our tour covered a tour of the inside of the Opera House.  We reserved a 2 pm tour leaving time to grab a quick lunch.  We had a great tour guide who showed us all the performance venues where we lucked into a sound check in the Studio Theater (a small multipurpose theatre in the round) and the concert hall and a set change in the opera hall.  The tour was so good, we signed up for a rock concert that night with Suzi Quatro (a rock star from the 70s & 80s).  Now we can say we have attended an event (thank heavens not an opera) at the Sydney Opera Center!

Feb 15:  Another early morning in order to get to the pick up spot for the bus.  Today we went to the Blue Mountains (north of Sydney).  They are called the Blue Mountains because there are a lot of eucalyptus trees which put off a fine mist of oil that look blue when the light hits it.  However today we didn't really see blue as it was quite overcast and foggy until almost noon.  In fact the first place we stopped to take pictures, you couldn't see much and it was quite chilly.  We each bought a sweatshirt in the gift shop since it was so cool (about low 60's) and damp.  We went next to an area called Scenic World. We took a cable car over to the main building while the bus drove around.  We then took the Scenic Railway--the steepest passenger train in the world.  Mike says it was actually a tram--but it was really steep.  This took us down into the valley which is an

ancient temperate rainforest.  There were elevated walkways thru the forest which we explored.  We then rode a different cable car back up to the top.  We ate lunch there, then left and went to Leura, a small town where we had free time to walk around and eat if we hadn't already.  Next we went to the Featherdale Wildlife Park where they have indigenous Australian wildlife.  Finally headed back at 4:30 and arrived back at our hotel around 6:30 pm--tired from all the walking and it had really warmed up this afternoon.  Ate supper in a nearby little Lebanese restaurant and back to hotel to rest (and bring our blog up to date)!

February 16:  Slept in to 7:30 this am as we didn’t have to meet a tour bus.  Ate breakfast and Mike worked a little on his presentation for Saturday.  Around 11 we left and walked a different route in our hotel’s neighborhood stopping for a sandwich lunch along the way.  Came back to the room, regrouped, then headed out for some sightseeing on our own.  We first went to the Australian Museum where they have many displays on the indigenous aboriginal peoples that have lived in this area for 60,000 years.  We then walked on to St Mary’s church named for Australia’s saint, St Mary of the Cross.  Another block further we went to Hyde Park Barracks.  Australia was populated in late 1770’s until about 1830 by criminals that England sentenced to be sent to Australia in lieu of the death penalty.  Hyde Park Barracks were built to house the convicts when they arrived until they could be placed in a working situation.  The men slept in hammocks hung in rows down each room – the building was meant to house 600 of the convicts.  We then walked by St James Church, an Anglican church, oldest church in Sydney.  It was not open, so we headed home walking thru Hyde Park.  Stopped for a drink and supper on the way back to hotel.  Weather today was  warm and very comfortable to sit outside at the restaurant.  Mike's notes:  Had my first Australian dark beer and merlot (wine) tonight and both were very good.  People here are very friendly; I almost think I am back in Texas except for them driving on the left side of the road.  McDonald's is everywhere and they have Costco and K-Mart with Walmart opening soon in the country.  Living costs here in Sydney are comparable to southern California -- except the people are not so self-centered.  Still looking forward to having Kangaroo and mutton for supper!

Feb 17: Not as much to tell today.  We slept in again til 7:30, ate breakfast, then washed two loads of clothes in the hotel laundromat.  Well Lynne sat with the clothes, Mike did some consulting work via slow internet.  Frustrating!  We left about 11:30 and rode the bus to the Rocks area.  Wanted to see the Rocks Discovery Museum that our guide had pointed out on Tuesday.  Learned more info on the aboriginal tribes that lived here before the white men came as well as early history of Sydney.  Ate lunch in the Rocks area and had an ice cream later, then rode bus back to the hotel.  Getting ready to leave to go to railway station to ride the train over the harbor bridge to an area called Kirribilli where the SQL Saturday speakers dinner is being held.

Feb 18:  Mike got up before Lynne and made his way (walking) to the SQL Saturday event.  He attended several good sessions and his presentation went very well also.  It is just reassuring when 10+ attendees come up to you afterwards and say what a good job you did and that you gave them a new insight on the topic.  Mike also found that the locals are very friendly; in fact, made the statement that being there was like being back in Texas (except they drive on the wrong side of the road).  After the event he had a few beers with the presenters and as long as we stayed away from US politics all went well (Trump is not well received in Australia). 

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Meanwhile Lynne slept in and took it easy, then got ready and headed out around noon to go to the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens, walking both ways.  We have really gotten walking exercise in Sydney.  Turned out they had a Tomato Festival going in the Gardens too.  After seeing everything in the Gardens, headed back to the hotel and waited for Mike to get back.  Afterwards we went back to a Peruvian restaurant we had found a couple days earlier.  Of course we had to have the Pisco Sours.

Feb 19:  Up early today as our shuttle to the airport picked us up at 8:00 am.  We flew to Ayers Rock landing about noon (Australia is much bigger than I thought; 3 hour flight to just get half way (north) through the continent).  A short shuttle ride had us at the hotel, the Outback Pioneer Hotel, where luckily our room was ready so we got checked right in.  The Ayers Rock Resort is made up of several hotels and a campground area.  They have a ‘town square’, a police dept., fire dept., hospital, and a housing area for the workers. The ‘town square’ is virtually a few little shops (book shop, dress shop, souvenirs shop, and a small supermarket).  The whole resort is laid out in a circle and a shuttle runs every 20 minutes so you are welcome to visit and eat at any of the hotel restaurants.  There are a number of free activities offered, so we quickly checked that list and took the shuttle to the art museum where we went to two activities---one on astronomy (studies of the universe being done in Australia) and the other on ecology of the area by an aboriginal guide.  We left there in time to see Putitja Dancers at the town square area.  Putitja means “bush dances”.  Mike took video of the dances which you can see at https://youtu.be/DVYJ2LDdrdg.  We had supper at our hotel trying two Australian delicacies; Mike had the kangaroo and has been hopping around ever since.

Feb. 20:  After breakfast, we walked over to another hotel where they were having a ‘garden walk’ of local plants.  Turned out we were only ones there, so we had a private tour—by a native of aboriginal descent.  He showed us many of the plants that they used for eating or for medicinal uses as well as how they built temporary shelters (they were nomadic people).  They made use of everything and did not waste.  Came back to the room, ate a snack and got ready to meet the bus at 3:30 for our sunset tour to Uluru (what everyone refers to as Ayers Rock).  We went to the national park and first drove to a lookout point where we could get good pictures of the whole rock.  Then we went to the cultural center where the displays told about the aboriginal people of that area and some of their sacred stories.  Before the white man came to Australia, it is estimated that there were about 250 different groups of aboriginal peoples in Australia and all were different in their language, customs, beliefs, etc.  It must have made it very hard to communicate when tribes around you all spoke different languages.  From the cultural center, we went to an area on the south side where we could walk up to the location of a waterhole.  They have had more rain than usual in past year and already had 3 times normal amount of rain in January, so the waterhole was full (in drought years it is dry).  We also saw rock drawings along the way and much vegetation.  Later we drove to the west side and also walked up to another waterhole.  I think the two things we took away from this visit is how large the rock is (and that we could get right up to it) and secondly, how much vegetation there is around the rock (we thought it would be like desert right up to the rock).  Our last stop was at a higher vista spot where we had some drinks and “nibbles” and watched the sun set---awesome view.  Got back to hotel at 8:30, grabbed a quick snack so we can pack and clean up as we have to be out at front of hotel at 5:15 am for a sunrise tour to the other large rock area, Kata Tjuta.  (Tomorrow after lunch we are off to Cairns.)

Feb 21:  Up at 4:10 this morning to catch our tour at 5:15am to see the sunrise for Ayers Rock (Uluru) and Kata Tjuta – actually way too early for each of us.  Since we are essentially in the desert, the morning was cool (probably about 15C), but the sky was absolutely clear as the photos will attest.  Watched the sun come up just to the right of Ayers Rock and since Kata Tjuta was just to our left watched the sun highlight that mountain outcrop.  Afterwards we drove about half-way towards Kata Tjuta and had a picnic continental breakfast.  Then we drove on over to Kata Tjuta and walked up a canyon.  Footing was tricky (similar to when we walked on the lava flows in the Galapagos).  Interestingly, the rock is a conglomeration of rock and sediment from being underseas millions of years ago (unlike Ayers Rock which was sandstone and our paths were sand). We then returned to the hotel (but were already checked out) and cleaned up in one of their common rooms.  Went back over to the Town Square and had (finally) a fairly good lunch.  Then back to the hotel where we finally got last night’s blog in.  The airport shuttle picked us up about 1:30 for a 3pm takeoff to Cairns.  A shuttle was waiting for us and we made our way to The Hotel Cairns.  After getting settled in we walked downtown for supper and had (surprisingly) fairly good hamburgers, fries and onion rings.  On the way back to the hotel Mike had to get an ice cream cone.  {The internet connection in our hotel (Hotel Cairns) is extremely poor; so not sure how we are going to get the blog in the next couple days.} 

Feb 22:  Got up early once again to take a Great Barrier Reef excursion.  Got on the bus about 8:05 and we were off to Port Douglas (about a 40km drive).  Got on the Quicksilver VIII and off we went.  It is an interesting boat – a tri-hull (probably about 120 passengers), but the center hull does not normally touch the water.  In the outer pontoons it has two diesel motors driving two impellers like a jet ski.  Today we were averaging 32-34 knots going out and back.  Had coffee, tea, and biscuits (cookies) on the way out arriving to a pre-staged platform about 11:30am.  We then had a 20 minute submersible ride of the reef, followed by lunch and then we went snorkeling.  We got the “stinger” suits to prevent possible jelly fish reactions (See picture of Mike).  Luckily we spotted and watched two green tortoises and in both cases there was a sucker fish attached.  The coral was great and unlike the dead reefs we saw at Cozumel.  Lynne tired out a little early so we just cleaned up and relaxed on the boat having coffee and biscuits again on the trip back.  After getting back to the hotel we found we had a brief connection to the hotel internet so we got the last two days’ blogs uploaded.  Walked down to the esplanade (by the water) here in Cairns and eventually stopped at a Greek restaurant for supper.  Tonight we both had ice cream on the way back to the hotel.  Tomorrow we are up and early again for a bus tour to the Daintree rain forest for an all day excursion. 

 

Feb. 23:  Picked up by our bus (which really looked like a small truck front and a bus back). Picked up other tourists and headed out to the north.  First stop was for tea (coffee or tea and biscuits) and then boarded open air boat for an hour ride on the Daintree river.  Saw two crocodiles (one large and one small), fruit bats (noisy), and several other small creatures.  Luckily no snakes (a python was a possibility).  Our guide met us down river and first took us to a lookout spot for a good view of the Daintree river emptying into the ocean.  Along the way she pointed out many types of ferns.  The Daintree rain forest is the oldest rain forest in the world and comes right down to the ocean.  The barrier reef starts out from this area and goes south at least 1300 miles. We next drove to a restaurant in the forest and had a nice lunch on their veranda---very lush greenery and a cool creek running by.  As we left lunch, we lucked into seeing a cassowary (bird) right by the side of the road.  Our guide said this was a rare occurrence—we couldn’t get out of bus so had to take pictures thru the window.  We then drove to a beach named Cape Tribulation by Capt Cook in the 1700’s.  Lovely beach but couldn’t walk in the water as during the summer there are ‘stingers’ (small jellyfish)---apparently if they sting you it is quite painful.  Driving back we had to take the auto ferry across the Daintree river, then drove to Mossman Gorge.  Here we once again had tea, this time with coffee or tea and scones.  After a short talk by a native aboriginal we took a shuttle to the gorge.  We walked up to the bridge that crosses the gorge, then headed back to the bus and headed back to Cairns.  Arriving back at the hotel around 6:30, we headed out for a small supper and came back to get ourselves packed to leave in the morning.

Feb. 24:  We lucked out the last two days as it was pouring rain when we left for the airport.  This was a travel day; not much to report.  We left Cairns about noon and flew to Brisbane with a 3 hour layover then on to Auckland arriving at our hotel about midnight.

Feb. 25:  Slept in til 8 since we got to hotel so late.  Checked out at 10 and had to walk couple blocks to the car rental place which took a while as there were several others ahead of us.  Finally on the road and had to get south to Matamata to the Hobbiton Movie Set Tour (we had 2 pm reservations).  Because car rental took so long, we got there right at 2 as our bus left---but they got us on a bus about 20 minutes later.  They drive you into the area and then you get off the bus and walk with the guide all around Hobbiton—used to film the Lord of the Rings movies as well as the prequel The Hobbiton Trilogy.  Since we haven’t seen all of the movies, we will have to watch them when we get home!  The director of the movies flew over this area by helicopter looking for a place that would work for the setting of the movies.  When he saw this area, he thought it was perfect.  The owners of the land have 1250 acres and raise 13,000 sheep and 4000 cattle.  Once the movies were over, they decided to keep the sets and have tours.  It was interesting to see and hear how they made things look old, or work for the hobbits which were supposed to be shorter than humans, etc.  Once we finished the tour, we drove to Rotorua where we will spend tonight and tomorrow night.  Ate supper down the road and came right back to room as we are both tired.

Feb. 26:  Slept in to 8:30 this morning. Had tickets for Te Puia, a thermal reserve here in Rotorua.  We got checked in and got to our tour at 11 am.  Our tour guide, Terina, is a native Maori of the local tribe.  Most of the people working in the park are also members of this tribe and live nearby.  She first took us to the Pohutu geyser as it was erupting.  It cycles about every 1 ½ hrs.  Quite impressive.  She took us to see the female kiwi bird they have on display.  No pictures were allowed as they are nocturnal birds and the light would bother it.  Once your eyes adjusted to the dark, we did see her.  Outside again, along the way we saw mud pools and steam vents all over.  She pointed out buildings like they would have been built in earlier times.  She also pointed out the carving school and the weaving school where Maori students can come for a 3 year course to learn the old ways of creating their native arts. As a non-profit organization, all the moneys collected go to support these schools, maintaining the park, and preserving and perpetuating their culture.  When the tour was over, a native dance show was scheduled, but you had to have tickets for it.  We didn’t, but we watched the welcome ceremony held outside the meeting house.  Went to their café for lunch, then walked around to revisit what we had seen on the tour and a few things we hadn’t seen.  Mike sat in café while Lynne went in gift shop and then we headed back to the hotel.  Mike made (and put together several videos) he took today at the park.  It can be found at https://youtu.be/4oMI_QbXCmY  Drove into center of Rotorua.  Walked by the lake for a short while, then looked for a place to eat.  They have a neat concept called Eat Streat---a block long of restaurants on both sides with awning cover over the whole area.  Had dinner then got ice cream at a shop near our car.  We have found good ice cream/gelato shops all over both Australia and New Zealand.

Feb. 27:  Checked out of our hotel at 9:30 and drove to the western side of the north island to the Waitomo area.  We had tickets to the Waitomo Glow Worm Cave at noon. It was a typical limestone cave with stalactites and stalagmites—but with steps and flooring built in which made walking in the low light much easier.  After we worked our way down to the river level, we were in total darkness as we got into the boat and moved thru the cave.  The glow worms are the larva stage of a fly that sends out a string like a spider web (that hangs down like tiny crystal strings).  The larva glows to attract insects to eat.  We couldn’t take photos as light bothers them.  You can see what it looked like in the picture of us that they put in front of a picture of the cave interior.  We left and ate lunch at a little town called Otorohanga. We had a meat pie each for lunch—a seemingly typical lunch food (we never see it on the menu at dinner time) here and in Australia.  Looking for restaurants for lunch or dinner, most are other nationality foods (i.e.,—Italian, middle eastern, oriental of many types, hamburgers—their kind, fish and chips, pizza, etc.) or our typical fast foods (McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Wendy, KFC, etc.).  Driving to the caves and then back to Auckland in the countryside, we tried to take some sample pictures of landscape and sights we have seen in New Zealand.  Arrived back in Auckland and somehow Siri took us to wrong address even though she had it right when we started her navigating!  Plus, she was determined to “interpret” what we were saying into a completely different set of words.  Finally over-rode her by typing in the address.  After finally arriving at the hotel we rested and had our happy hour.  We then walked around the downtown area and found a restaurant for dinner—Orleans, a Louisiana themed restaurant in New Zealand!  Mike's thoughts:  Driving on the left side of the road was not as bad as I recollect driving in England years ago.  The round-abouts make it a lot easier.  But Lynne was consistently on my case because I kept easing to the left (shoulder).  This old dog has too many years just driving on the right side of the road!  So far, only once was I driving on the right (incorrect) side and that was on a residential street with no center-line.  Lynne and I still are having some difficulties looking the correct direction (as a pedestrian) when crossing the street.  I've had to grab her a few times to keep us from being run over.

Feb 28a:  Mike made a massive foopah today – he misread the takeoff time for Tahiti and we missed our flight; will fly out tomorrow morning at 9:55am.  But otherwise it was a really good day.  We got up, had a quick breakfast and went on an all-day Auckland Tour through Grey Lines.  The morning was essentially a tour about the city on a bus.  Early afternoon we boarded a cruise boat for a 90 minute tour of the harbor.  Then we walked over to the Sky Tower for a breath-taking view; had drinks in its bar with an Australian couple we met on the morning tour.  We didn’t realize Mike had made a mistake until we arrived at the airport (about 19:30pm) and it was pointed out our original takeoff was 17:10.  Ooops!  So not only did we get to buy new tickets to get to Tahiti, but also had to check into the hotel (Microtel) next to the airport.  Our credit card has taken a real hit!

Feb 28b/Mar 1:  Since we stayed in Auckland last night, it was Mar 1 when we woke up.  However, when we arrived at Papette (Tahiti) it was still Feb 28th.  Anyway, after a quick Mickey D breakfast at the airport we boarded an Air New Zealand flight on a Boeing 787.  First time in a long time we boarded an airplane that was only about 65% full.  There were empty seats and rows everywhere around us.  The Le Meridien resort is very nice.  We walked around looking at the man-made sand pool and the beach, followed by tropical drinks and Tapas.  We split a decadent chocolate dessert and ended up in the room by 8pm (then to work on last two days blogs).  Mike’s notes:  In all three countries I’ve noticed a fairly significant lack of vegetables served with the meals.  Don’t know if it is their custom; could be that I am a southerner used to eating more vegetables.

Mar 1:  Had continental breakfast here at the hotel---not covered in our tour and very pricey!  Met with our tour guide in front of hotel at nine.  We joined two other guys on the tour (from New Zealand), and Tracy (our tour guide and originally from England) described what we would be seeing today.  Stopped first to see local fisherman bringing in their catch---a variety similar to sardines but larger.  They bag them and then sell them beside the road.  From there we went to a Catholic church—the oldest on the island though more here are Protestants because Protestant missionaries came here first.  We then stopped at a little market run by a Chinese couple that sells fruits and vegetables (and provides same to the cruise ships that come into Papeete).  She cut up several unusual (at least to us) fruits for all of us to sample.  Tracy then took us to the botanical gardens where they have a ‘marae’ which was the sacred area for the Polynesians here before they converted to Christianity—they went there mostly to ‘speak’ with their departed ancestors.  Further back in the gardens was a waterfall from the mountains (all of Tahiti is mountainous).  Tahiti is actually two islands connected at the very south part—Tahiti Nui (larger) and Tahiti Iti (smaller).  A reef about ¼ mile to 1 mile out from the coast runs all the way down the west coast making a barrier to the coast.  At the far southwest part of Tahiti-Iti is Teahupoo—a sleepy little village all year except for 3 weeks of the year when it becomes a surfing mecca (championships are held here).  She took us to see it though you can’t see the big waves from the shore (they are beyond the reef).  Back up the coast of Tahiti Iti we ate at a little restaurant frequented only by locals – even Mike ate fish!  After lunch, on the way back, we drove up a small narrow road to a high spot on Tahiti Iti to have a view of both the west coast, the east coast, and the area where the two islands are connected. Heading back to Papeete, we stopped at a small river fed by springs where many locals were swimming.  The water was cool and clear, so Lynne waded while the two guys with us took a quick dip.  We didn’t bring swimsuits with us.  Further back we also stopped at a grotto where locals were also swimming---the guys again took a quick dip here.  After getting back to the hotel we went to the hotel beach and Mike immediately got stung by eels or sea snakes.  Not bad, but definitely a red rash on his legs.  We then went into the hotel swimming pool (fresh water with a sandy bottom).  Had tropical drinks and Tapas for supper and then back to the hotel room (to work on this blog).  Tomorrow will be a long day for us and we are not sure we will get to publish tomorrow’s activities until we get back to Texas.  We depart here at 23:59 for LAX, followed by another hop to Austin arriving late afternoon Friday.

Mar 2-3:  We signed up for a snorkeling tour and they picked us up at 7am.  Went out with a Japanese couple (she didn’t snorkle) in a boat.  On way to snorkeling area we stopped and watched about 50 dolphins playing – didn’t get any pictures, but actually some a couple doing back flips.  Continued on to the snorkeling area (a fairly shallow reef that was actually only about ½ mile from our hotel).  There were many fish of different types and colors.  Mike was last one in the water and probably would have stayed longer if the boat wasn’t leaving.  The hotel had given us a late checkout, so when we returned we cleaned up and decided to go into Papeete.  Took a taxi to a restaurant called the Blue Banana where we each had a steak dinner.  Then took a taxi on to Papeete just to walk around the town.  It was interesting, but hot and steamy.  We did see a crafts exhibit with many objects (hats, baskets, etc.) made out of banana and other plant leaves.  Took a taxi back to the hotel where they had a “relaxation” room where we could clean up, etc. while waiting for our ride to the airport.  We were picked up at 9:15 for a 23:59 takeoff, but upon arrival at the airport found out that the airplane was running about 40 minutes late.  Finally got airborne (from Tahiti) about 12:45am.  We both passed out on the airplane arriving at LAX also 40 minutes late.  Luckily for us we both have GOES cards and quickly got through customs and baggage check to arrive at our gate just in time in find out that our airplane was broken.  They replaced it with another arriving from Boston and we were about 90 minutes late departing LAX.  Trip home was uneventful and our friends, the Melchers, picked us up.  We stopped for dinner in Marble Falls and were back in our house about 10pm – thus ending our adventure.  It was really good to get back into our own bed.  (No pictures these days)

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Mike’s Musings:

These comments are not to be construed in any order or priority or bias; they just came to me as the trip progressed.  If you would like to discuss further, please email me and we’ll continue the dialogue.

1.      Never did think of Australia and New Zealand as tourist countries, but they are.  The Chinese and India Indians are the majority tourist groups.  I think I met more Europeans than Americans so we are down on the totem pole.

2.      The Chinese, for the most part, have no queue etiquette.  They crowd to the front of the line in almost every instance. 

3.      When I was growing up, my Mother told me many times to clean my plate because of the poor Chinese kids starving over there.  Well, that is not what I observed in Australia or New Zealand – if anything their kids are quite healthy and some even on the heavy side.  Obviously the income in China is such that many of the middle class can now travel.

4.      Australia is a really big continent.  It was a 3 hour plane flight from Sydney to Ayers Rock and a 2.5 hour flight from Ayers Rock to Cairns.  Pretty big place for only 21.5 million people.  Sydney is 5 million – so 1/5th of the Australian population is in Sydney.

5.      It may be just me, but I saw many Australian and New Zealand women near my height or taller. 

6.      Lynne and I observed that while there are many restaurants, there are few that seem to be native to either Australia or New Zealand.  Most we saw were Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Italian, and even Argentinian.  Of course there are the typical American fast-foods, but for restaurants, there just didn’t seem to be many with “native” cuisine.

7.      Just doesn’t seem to be many vegetables (at least at the restaurants) in Australia or New Zealand.  Salads were fairly common, but even when served vegetables as a side dish the portions were small.  I did get opportunities to eat kangaroo and lamb, but they were usually in the list of meat/fish servings. 

8.      I really like the Australians and New Zealanders; all seemed to be super friendly, helpful, and courteous.  Sydney is fairly liberal (at times I felt like I was in Seattle or Austin) and those I talked with there were very nice unless we started talking about Trump.  I really tried to stir away from those conversations – felt just like I was talking to the liberals in the US – they wouldn’t listen and they were, of course, right!

9.      Don’t know if we will ever get back that direction, but if we do I would like to spend about 2 weeks in New Zealand and at least one week in Southern Australia (their wine country). 

10.     It was interesting listening to the Australian news – the politicians in the western part of the country sure did sound like they wanted to secede.  There are refugee issues in Australia also and they are not sure how to cope with it – at least that is my impression listening to the news. 

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