Onwards to Adelaide and Brisbane

Hello chucks! I thought I would catch up in Adelaide but Easter was fast and furious at the Strong household. Then I thought I'd catch up in Brisbane, but'for reasons which will become obvious, twas not to be, so here beginneth a mammoth blog....

We left Apollo Bay and headed round the coast but unfortunately the weather changed and by the time we reached the 12 (or now 10) Apostles, we were dodging heavy showers. The views were still spectacular, as you can see here




but we had to dash out of the car, few quick snaps and dash back. No mean feat for yours truly, I can tell you! Hopalong Cassidy has nothing on me these days!

The following day found us at Mount Gambier, spectacular in its own way. It is built on the sides (literally) of a volcano and we had a trip down to the water's edge at the Blue Lake, many metres down from the top of the volcano's rim.




Another wonderful shot is of this cave, which is actually under the town - the railings at the top are at street level.




Which brings us to Adelaide (with much better weather) and a wonderful welcome from the usual suspects - Anne, Paul, Mharianne and Callum as well as Mags and Bill - not forgetting the incomparable Angela, sometimes Mharianne's boyfriend (dangerous) Dave and the scrap also known as Eversleigh.


We had a great time out and about visiting the McLaren Vale and Barossa wineries, having an Easter egg hunt in the garden and I had a lunch date with some wonderful ladies from my craft group. It was a real whirlwind of a visit so here are some highlights.

Firstly, here are the craft ladies who very kindly organised a lunch for us. We all got on splendidly and it was a real pleasure to put faces to names.



On Saturday evening, Mharianne and I were treated to an early (for her) and a belated (for me) birthday treat at a wonderful restaurant high on a hill above Adelaide. Here we all are




And here are the birthday girls




Easter morning and Paul was up early to hide Easter eggs around the garden. Even Mike gave up his camera to join in and because he is....well, older shall we say, he bagged the lion's share. He did hand over his stash later......




We went to McLaren Vale for our first winery tour and here we are at one of our several stops.



Next day finds us off in a different direction, to the Barossa valley for more wine tours and a lovely picnic under the trees



Mags, Bill Ang and I rounded off the day with a dip in the hot tub



Time to set off again on our way to Brisbane where Stephen and Sarah made our next few days thoroughly enjoyable. The first 2 days when S&S were working, we went with Catherine on a couple of trips and although you will enjoy the forthcoming pictures, I'm very sorry to say we didn't get any family pictures. Sorry, guys - we'll just need to come back.....

We had a trip down the coast and found ourselves in a lovely spot called Cabarita beach - it would have taken very little tempting to just stay there....



Stephen took us to Redcliffe the following day - quite near Brisbane but like a step back in time. We watched the kite surfers on the beach and no doubt Stephen and Catherine will be back for lessons!

The following day, Stephen and I went to Mount Coot-tha where there is a fantastic panoramic view over Adelaide.



So as you can see, there was precious little time for blogging........

Monday and it's moving-on day again, back to Sydney before we set off for Bangkok tomorrow. Things seem to have settled down there and nothing has been cancelled although we will be careful where we go.

This is probably my penultimate blog and I don't know when I'll get back online. But it's only au revoir........we'll be home before this time next week!!

Wodonga to the Great Ocean Road

I bet you are all thinking we have driven over the edge of the world..........mais non, mes petits, it's much less remarkable than that. Poor Kirklington has been driving for days (bless) and considering he is the "designated" driver, he is remarkably sangiune. When we have been with family/friends, there is always so much to catch up with that t'Internet takes second place.

Another complicating factor is the distinct lack of Internet access - apparently, the Golden Arches offer free access but can you imaginge the noise?? I need peace and calm to compose this blog.

Anyway, I left you in Wodonga - here I am with Mags, Bill, Haggis and Neeps.

We had a great day visiting the Rutherglen wineries with Mags then a great day with Bill visiting the Mount Buffalo region - very different to the low-lying areas we have seen. This is the view from the top.

It was altogether a great few days - thanks guys!

Off we set, then, for Melbourne. We drove through some of the areas affected by the bush fires recently. Luckily we didn't need to drive through the worst areas although it was scary seeing the road signs blackened by the fires and the trees burnt on either side of the highway.

Melbourne was where the tropics ended and very familiar weather took over........brrrrr - a chilly 15 degrees! And the rain!!! We had a trip on the City Circle tram, went to see Docklands and saw a demonstration. Don't think we are swanning about. Oh no!

Sad to say, the photos are on my camera and surprisingly we do not have a suitable USB cable to transfer them. Holy moly, I hear you shout! How many cables do those Kirkmans possess and they don't take the right one?? Don't worry, chaps, you'll see them later......

Off to Dandenong - to visit an old school friend -where we had a very interesting few days.

Kathleen had a few days off work as she had just had her 5th grandchild and she was our very informative guide to the Mornington Peninsula, south east of Melbourne. Here we are...

Kathleen was leaving for Brisbane on the Friday we left so we dropped her at the airport - during the most violent thunderstorm I have ever seen/heard. The rain was torrential and at one point I jumped in my seat as the thunder was directly overhead.

So, Great Ocean Road, here we come! Here is the first of many spectacular shots.

Our first overnight stop was Apollo Bay and although there seemed to be a scenic spot every 300m, we stopped at as many as we could manage. Here is the view from our bedroom...

We had a very welcome day "off" although the weather has been very changeable - sunny one minute then pouring the next. Plenty of rainforest to see, though, with some of the trees as tall as 60m. But the stars of the show are definitely the ocean and the landscape - this place is truly spectacular.

I'll leave you now, with us following the coast round towards Portland. We are having a quiet evening in on a great spot on the cliffs. Mike will download the piccies later so you can see them next time.

Catch you all again in the safe harbour of Adelaide...xx

New Zealand, Sydney and Wodonga

I left you pondering the mystery of the international date line. Well, two things happened. Firstly, we lost a day. Just like that. One day it was March 17th and the next day it was March 19th. Spooky. That was just about manageable until about a day later when we realised we hadn't actually reached 180 degrees from UK. So, sad sacks that we are, we sat watching the screen as the longitude seconds ticked by (I was ready to sing "Auld Lang Syne but was dissuaded...). As luck would have it, the screen flicked to something else at the crucial moment, so the best I have to show is this, seconds away from confusion. One second heading west, the next second, east.

Next stop was Auckland and what a lovely place that is. It was clean, bright and friendly - very refreshing - and we had a great trip to a winery and a brewery. Even managed to see a bit of an air show going on nearby. We had a bit of trouble finding somewhere to eat, even in the early evening. It seemed as if everyone was out on the streets. We were docked right in the middle of town again so here we are at night.

Next day, we arrived a little bit round the coast at Bay of Islands, famous because it is where the Waitangi treaty was signed between the Maoris and the Brits, giving the Brits sovereignty of their lands in return for recognition of their lands and rights. Needless to say, the Brits reneged although the Maori we met seemed strong and aware of preserving their culture and language. We had a tour of the lovely park and gardens in the treaty grounds then were treated to a show of singing and dancing by the local tribe, Ngapuhi.

Mike tried to get a pic of me with one of the scary young warriors but as you can see, he just looks a bit stunned. It's the Gaga effect......

We loved New Zealand and will definitely go back.

On to Sydney and the end of the cruise. Joy unbounded, we are free at last. We had an open-top bus trip round the city and saw places we hadn't seen before and other places from other angles.

It seemed amazingly busy after 3+ weeks at sea and it is just such a vibrant place. We went to the amazing Powerhouse museum where we saw everything fron the nose cone of the space shuttle to an iron lung. It was very interactive, even for us big kids. I risked life and limb in a zero gravity simulator but still don't know which way is up!

Bringing you all whizz-bang up to date, we arrived in Wodonga yesterday for our Oz tour. Mags was there to meet us though Bill had gone to the Melbourne Grand Prix. We heard it over the mobile........ Brrrrrrrm

We had a great day today - we went to the Hume Dam, which has lost 30% of its water

then on to some small local towns, Yacandanda and Beechworth. The buildings date from the late 19th century when there was a gold rush there.

In Beechworth, we saw the jail cell where Ned Kelly and his mum were held - men on the left, ladies in the right. Mags and I tried them for size but opted for the wide open spaces....

We also sent a real telegram to our two favourite little people, Ellis & Caitlin - you'll get it in the post at some stage!

We then visited a cheese tasting place - followed, of course, by a wine tasting place so guess what we are eating and drinking tonight!

Mags has just come back from walking Haggis & Neeps (the dogs) so I'll leave you now, mes petits chums. A bientot........

French Polynesia, 12th to 14th March

This time we only had to endure two days at sea before we reached Tahiti and docked right in the middle of the capital town, Papeete. It was great to see "civilisation" again, although we were less enthusiastic about the traffic. As befits French Polynesia, it is very........well, French. We could have been somewhere in the South of France. We went on a great off-road tour, not that we really left the road! The jeep needed 4WD just to manoeuvre the potholes. Here we are with the bay in the background.





It was an overcast day, although the sun did appear later, accompanied by swarms (literally) of mosquitoes. Well protected by Boots pungent but effective deterrent, I was smugly untouched. It is a volcanic island and we went into the caldera of the volcano and it is quite spectacular. There were also lots of waterfalls to see. We later went into town and Mike had his favourite meal, steak tartare. As we anticipated, a welcome break from ship food. C'etait bon.

Next day and a completely diffrent experience. We went to Moorea, an island 12km ftom Papaeete where we had a snorkel trip. First we went to see Sting Rays which are very tame and used to humans and it was amazing. Then our guide fed the reef sharks and Mike got to try out his new underwater camera, with excellent results.





However, it was fairly disappointing as we then went on, supposedly to snorkel on the reef but as we were in a lagoon we had to wade quite a distance to get to the coral. The current was quite strong and as we weren't allowed to have fins, I found it difficult.

Next day - whew, three days ashore in a row! And if it's Saturday, it must be Bora Bora. This was the least interesting of the three. The island is only 17 miles in circumference and they managed to drag the tour out for 3 hours. It is also in a lagoon but the colours of the sea were the most dramatic sight. It was an American base during the war and was the inspiration for the book and film "South Pacific" (which was apparently shot in Hawaii). Nonetheless, some enterprising soul set up "Bloody Mary's Bar and Restaurant", all palm roofs, famous signatures and the ubiquitous t-shirt shop.

So a busy few days. But guess what? We head for Rarotonga and does the weather not decide it's time to make yours truly ill again? I was in bed by 5pm, wishing I could go home. Struggled up at 6am, showere and going out of the door when the announcement comes that as the swells are 2m high, the sea is very rough and they are expecting thunderstorms, Sunday is cancelled. Back to bed....

Monday was much the same but thankfully today we have sunshine although we still have the rockin' & rollin'. That means we have 5 days at sea (groan.....) We have an interesting day ahead tomorrow, or should I say we won't have a day tomottow as tomorrow we cross the Date Line and lose a day. Even Captain Kirkman can't quite work that one out. So tomorrow when you are having Wednesday, we will already be Thursday. Hmm, time for a lie down in a darkened room to ponder that one. Bye for now, mes amis xx

Easter and Pitcairn Islands

After another few days at sea, we reached Easter Island. Really looking forward to being on land again but what trial to get there!The ship anchored at sea and we had to get on a tender (one of the lifeboats). We were going up and down like a see-saw and risked life and especially limb to get on the bally thing. We had to go through huge waves to get through quite a rocky entrance to the harbour.

We visited several sites where the statues (or correctly, Moai) are. We had already had a talk about the history of the Island and how the natives had pretty much exhausted the land resources - there are very few trees even now. So it was very dry and dusty and as the bus was "air-cooled" we were soon rubbing dust from our eyes. It was a fascinating day and this is just one of the pictures of the Moai. I had to pass on a walk to a quarry where the biggest of the Moai (about 70ft high) is still in the rock, which was a pity.

Then we had another couple of days at sea to reach Pitcairn Island. Here is our first sight of it.

We knew we would not be going ashore and that the Islanders would be coming on board. The sea was very high again and they had to try both sides of the ship before they could board. Here they are coming round, just under our balcony.

The day before we watched the Mel Gibson/Antony Hopkins film "Mutiny on the Bounty" and one of Fletcher Christian's descendants (she looked nothing like our Mel...) gave us a talk on what life is like on the island, There are only 50 people on the tiny, rocky island, most of whom are directly descended from the mutineers. What is really fascinating is that they speak perfect English - on this speck in the ocean! They were very friendly and we felt quite emotional when they sailed off.

So apart from one day on Easter Island, we have been on board every day. Luckily, the weather has improved significantly and we have been sitting out on the deck. I even got in the pool yesterday!

We are looking forward to having quite a bit of time on Tahiti, where we actually get to dock. We don't leave until the following morning so after our tour we are going back into town - for a long-awaited change of menu!

Au revoir, mes braves (we are in French Polynesia now), a bientot.........

En Route to Easter Island, Tuesday 3rd March

Ay up, chucks,
Seems like a long time since we caught up.......so where we? Ah yes, crossing the Andes. The view was quite spectacular and as Santiago is in a valley, we had stunning views coming in to land. Here is one.......





Santiago was quite disappointing. We had a day to ourselves but discovered that excitement and travel had caught up with us so we gave in to lounging about by the (tiny) pool.

Next day we set off for a city tour, the highlight of which was really the political background – Chile had a military government until fairly recently. Our guide was quite informative and said that while in Argentina we shouldn’t mention the Malvinas (we did, but I think we got away with it :-)), in Chile we shouldn’t talk politics. Senor Pinochet, of immortal memory, might be listening in....

The day after that was much more interesting – I had always wanted to go to Valparaiso and boy, I was not disappointed. It was the main port for Chile until the capital was moved to Santiago and it is a very shabby, down at heel old lady (yes, I know, I can hear you – a bit like me!!) but there was a surprise round every corner. The houses are all painted in different, vibrant colours and it is built on a hill on a large bay.




We boarded the ship and the highlight of the trip so far was the view over a darkened Valparaiso. I am really disappointed we stayed in Santiago rather than go there.

So now we are aboard....after taking full advantage of the (free?) drinky poos, we go to bed tired but happy. During the night, a distinctly uncomfortable feeling nudges my fuzzy brain. What’s this? Some sort of funfair ride? Oh no, chums........the Pacific had decided to do an Atlantic and while not up to the QM’s 100ft waves, it was trying its best. All I can say is that the next day or so has been spent trying to keep my eyes on the horizon, drinking ginger ale. I had to get some seasickness pills. Horrible.

But today is sunny with only a slight side-to-side swell so that’s better. Other slight problem is that we expected sub-tropical temperatures and packed accordingly. Guess what? I have 1 pair of jeans and 1 cardigan – yesterday was 16 degrees, today about 20. I have cranked the heating up, much to the scorn of ‘im indoors.

Yesterday, we stopped at Robinson Crusoe island and despite my debilitated state, I struggled up, ready to go out and face the pirates. However, the weather was so bad they wouldn’t let us go ashore so the pirates came to us. (Thinks – if it’s too dangerous for us, how can they do it? Ah yes, the yankee dollar) Cynical? Moi?

We went to a very interesting talk today – Jean-Michel Cousteau on the effects of devastation on the Pacific islands by global pollution – on one beach they found debris from 52 different countries and seabirds dead from eating fishing nets, bottle caps etc. Heartbreaking......

Well, that’s it for now, mes braves. Trivia @ 4:30 – we have been head-hunted for a team we were sitting next to yesterday. They begged Mike to join but you all know who has the brains in this outfit :-) Hasta luego......

Santiago, Wednesday 25th February

As I was saying before a flight interrupted me, BA was full of amazing contrasts. They just love their monuments and we saw a mini Big Ben (donated by the Brits) and a marble confection (donated by France) and of course one of the sainted Evita. She seems to have been BA's answer to Robin Hood....

Our lovely guide Alex took us to the most famous coffee house in BA - this is where we could have been in one of the Art Deco districts in Paris.........

Sorry folks but drinks beckon so will need to catch up with you all again tomorrow - we have a free day.

I'll also download the pictures I took crossing the Andes - spectacular!

Buenos noches, queridos/queridas xx

Buenos Aires, Wednesday 25th February

Just a quick update now as we are in the airport ready to jet off to Chile.

We had a packed few days in BA and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is a very interesting mix of European culture and architecture and as we went around on our city tour, we could have been in Paris or Rome or Madrid. We went to see a little church biult in the 1640s, Spanish colonial style.

As a complete contrast, we then went to visit a very colourful area called La Boca - had a drink and watched the tango dancers.

As you can see from the photos, I haven't quite mastered the insertion technique!

More later, from Chile!

Buenos Aires, Monday 23rd February

Here we go! The flight was not as bad as we expected – both of us managed to sleep for most of the 10+ hours to Sao Paulo. We stopped there for about 30 minutes but weren’t allowed off the plane. Arrived in BA to be met with rain! It did clear later.

I was very brave and had my hair cut - no mean feat when the hairdresser's command of English was limited to one word - "fine?" Luckily I am still recognisable.....

While I was in the hairdresser's, Mike had a look round the local restaurants and was fascinated by one that seemed to sell every part of a bull/cow going – from the testicles to a 1.25 kg steak............ but we settled for Sushi. Everything seems cheap here - a bottle of wine is about £7.

Now, it’s Monday (Feb 23rd) and we have a whole week of enjoying to do. This morning will be spent in the back of a car, being shown the sights of BA with Alex as a our guide. Yesterday there was virtually no traffic but today from our hotel room window, it's like a scene from the Grand Prix.

Apparently there are a lot of Italian influences here, including Italian driving skills!

Hope to get some pictures of BA to show........