Kia Ora - a Maori greeting from New Zealand. We arrived in Queenstown eight days ago and have primarily spent our time touring the southern part of the South Island and have enjoyed it immensely! While New Zealand is only a (relatively) short flight from Australia there is a 'world of difference' in terms of the pace of life and variation in landscape. Being the adaptable pair that we are we have adjusted quite nicely to the lifestyle and scenery. If you are a Lo...

Happy New Year everyone! The Christmas season has gone very well for us here in Australia. Given the hospitality of Jenny, a long time family friend, and members of her family we have been very well fed and entertained over the holiday period. Christmas day was spent with the Eckman family at their home overlooking Lake Macquarie - a gorgeous setting. There were several children present so that added to the fun. On Boxing Day we headed to another nieces of Jenny'...

It's only a few days until Christmas. Given that we don't have the "usual rush" of shopping, baking, etc., plus the fact that its warmer than we are accustomed to, make it harder for us to get fully into "the spirit". However that isn't from lack of trying on the part of Australians. They love Christmas and there are many decorations and wonderful Christmas light displays. We've added a few photos to a Christmas album so have a look. We'll update it with more as ...

As Henry Wadsworth Longfellow said "into each life a little rain must fall", and as luck would have it, (good or bad?) we experienced Uluru like no other European!! They have had more rain at Ayers Rock this season than any time in recorded (European) history! We arrived under clear sky's but by evening the rains had set in. There was about 20% more ground cover than usual and it was greener than the sandy color you see in all the photos. In spite of (or because ...

Ahhhh, Melbourne. We've had a wonderful week here. Melbourne is noted as one of the worlds most livable cities and it's easy to see why! The city has both river and ocean with lots of public spaces along them for all to enjoy. It's a very clean city that is easy to navigate with it's trams, buses and trains. It's also known as a food lovers Mecca and any of the restaurants we visited were outstanding. Even the meals we cooked benefited from the abundant fresh fru...