First Month of 2013

Hard to imagine all I have done, and all the places I've been this month. Started the New Year with a rooftop party in Melbourne and spectacular fireworks all around the city. And now I am settled into a sunny apartment in Honolulu with some new art supplies just waiting for me to finish this blog post. But first recalling my month with so many highlights: the trip down the Great Ocean Road to the southern most point of Australia where the Pacific and Indian oceans meet - you really could see a change. My helicopter ride over the rock formations in the surf called the Twelve Apostles, now nine. Shakespeare in  the park at the beautiful Melbourne Botanical Gardens: Romeo and Juliet and flying foxes. Lots of art there and in Sydney from Aboriginal (Koorie is a word that was adopted by Victoria's First Peoples as an alternative to the word Aboriginal) to Anish Kapoor. In Australia I also stayed in Sorrento on the coast where there was a total power outage so I got to see a true dark sky, with Milky Way, the Southern Cross and Orion head-over-heels in the southern sky, my compass was also upside down. Also saw the "Penguin Parade", and three days up in the Blue Mountains at Katoomba. Then finally after two months in Australia I flew to New Zealand. Such a magical place and grand scenery, I would like to go back; finishing it off with a tandem para-sail from Coronet Peak. So three months (plus an extra "leap day" gained crossing the international date-line) from when I left Newport I arrived in Hawai'i. Very happy with my apartment, housemates and location. And for the third time in a row have a fabulous land-person; he is a landlord, but first two were landladies. How to be politically correct with this term?
So this is my Trip Blog. Aloha.

Para-sailing

Well, I managed to get photos uploaded to Picassia, but blogspot doesn't seem to "see" that ap. There is an edit in Picassa that says move to DropBox which blogspot does support. So I hit move button and photo disappeared, but it hasn't shown up in DropBox. So now what? Well, finally I got picture into photoeditor, resized and saved and at last I have ability to post my pictures. Whew. But that doesn't tell anything about the flight. My flight partner is named Angus and we flew off Coronet Peak outside Queenstown New Zealand. He reminded me of my nephew Craig, had same great smile and confident manner of outdoorsman. All we had to do was run off edge of cliff and the sail lifted us - it wasn't a falling sensation at all. We just sailed around, circling like a hawk, went over one ridge looking for mountain goats that live in the area, but didn't see any. We were up about 20 minutes, then when we landed I just kept my feet up and we landed on our butts. As you can see the swingseat I was sitting in was well padded. The whole experience was easy, fun and memorable for sure. Great way to end my holiday abroad.

New Zealand

Just a short, intense (in the very best sense) visit to Queenstown in the heart of South Island. Much cooler here than Australia, pleasant and dramatic with rapid changes of weather because it is so close to the South Pole. I did a long day trip to the Milford Sound, which is really a fjord. So lovely, mysterious and with the low clouds and mist that day it was exactly my image of sailing up the Yangtze River - just like old Chinese brush paintings. Today I did a tandem parasail flight! Yes, I ran off the edge of a cliff and flew like a bird. It was fantastic,  I'll do it again if I get a chance. I did get pictures from the company than ran it, and will post some when I figure out how to get them transferred onto my tablet. These photos show the sound and sights around Queenstown, I like the leaf sculpture at entrance to native plant garden, a hiking/treking map showing a stop named Howden. This afternoon I will fly to Auckland on the North Island for a overnight stop then on to Honolulu and completion of holiday. I will look for work and place to live for rest of winter there.

NSW Sydney And Around

Flew back into Sydney from Melbourne - so much quicker & easier than the bus. Went to Bondi Beach and walked part of Oxford Street in Woollahra, where I found a Dr. Seuss Gallery, only two others in the world I was told. Dr. Seuss created magic with philosophy. Here's one of his quotes that speaks to me:
"You've got brains in your head. You've got feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you chose." From 'Oh, the Places You'll Go'
Nothing explains my travels better. So today I am in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains; only a couple of hours by train from Sydney. Staying at lovely old hostel, art nouveaux. Took scenic skyway tram over a gorge to view Katoomba Falls, then rode an historic rail line, steepest in the world. Then a bit of walk about in rainforest. Friday night in Sydney I went to the evening program at the observatory - saw Jupiter and four of it's moons and Orion, who is upside down with Betelgeuse on the bottom and the sword on top. But we couldn't see the Southern Cross because tall buildings were in the way - the observatory had been built when Sydney was just a small settlement. But it was way cool to star gaze with an antique telescope in a small dome.

More Views of Melbourne

This is a lovely city, lots of art, from grafitti to monuments. Here are some random photos.

Victoria

Travels around the Melbourne area have been exceptionally beautiful. First I took a day trip out The Great Ocean Road, down the coast to Cape Patton, the southern-most spot in Australia where the Pacific and Indian Oceans meet. Picture of me was taken  there.Then on to the Twelve Apostles, three of which have washed away - they are sandstone pillars along the coast. I took a helicopter flight over them. That was a great thrill for me, a first, something I've always wanted to do. I sat in front seat with windows down to the floor and just marveled at the water as well as the cliffs. Then another day trip to Phillip Island and the "Penguin Parade". Saw lots of wild wallaby on the island and I got one lucky photo of one with a joey. At dark the penguins return from the sea to feed their young left in burrows along the shore. A federal park protects them by building a grandstand and walkways through the area so people can view them up-close. And there were thousands of people as this is high tourist season - summer vacation  time, school's out. But it was all so orderly. No photography was allowed and generally folks were pretty quiet.  These  were Little Penguins (their name as well as their size); and very timid about leaving  the surf to cross the beach. It seemed they needed a group concensus before they took off waddling as quick as they could in groups of maybe two dozen at a time. Then I had a three day stay in Sorrento, way out on the peninsula. Melbourne is actually quite far inland. It is a little tourist town with beaches on both the bay side and the Pacific. But they were equally calm, great for little kids. So this was a family type resort, the surfers go were the action is - saw many the day I went out the Great Ocean Road. The first day there was a power failure all over town so got to see a clear night sky with Milky Way and a pass over by the space station. The next day I took the ferry across the mouth of the bay to Queenscliff, another modest tourist town where I happened on an exhibit of tea cozies at a church hall. They were delightful, whimsical, and totally serious. The town had five or six independent book stores. There are many more book stores around both the cities and small towns. I have not seen a chain-style bookstore in Australia.