A Disclaimer

These are vacation pictures. You know what that means: Proceed at Your Own Risk. Do not expect Fine Art, Social Meaning or Cultural Enlightnment. Do expect A Lot of Pictures! Compared to how many pictures I shot, this is really a Few Pictures, but I don't expect you to share that perspective. Also, there is whining. To be candid, it's pretty egocentric. You may be facing Utter and Consuming Boredom. However, if you are fond of me and/or Pat or are interested in Australia and New Zealand, you might find a little pleasure here. So, Dear Viewer, if you choose to forge bravely on, I hope you find something to amuse or entertain or please you. If not, hey, jump off. Nobody's forcing you. Oh yeah, if you want to comment, try to be nice. I'm a fragile flower.

The Other Australia

Our main purpose in going to Australia was to dive the Great Barrier Reef. You aren't allowed to dive any less than two days after air travel, so we had time to sightsee before finally getting to dive. This view is of the Barron River from Captain Cook Highway enroute from Cairns to Cape Tribulation. It's completely different from the Outback, which has always been my inner vision of Australia.

I've Only Got Eyes For You

Look at the amazing eyes on this cool lizard.

Here Be Crocodiles

At last! A crocodile in the wild. It looks harmless enough, but there are crocodile warnings posted all along the river, so I suppose they are as dangerous as their reputations.

Scenic Kuranda Railway

Travel by train transports one back into the past as well as to your actual destination. This beautiful ride goes from sea level up to the former gold fields in Kuranda. The literature paints the railroad story in admiring terms of heroism & ingenuity, but to me it spoke more to the incredible power of greed. The construction cost the lives of at least 23 men & untold hardships. For the modern traveller it's a very pleasant journey from the hot tropical coast up into the cool mountains in restored railroad cars.

Feeding the Animals in Karunda

Since we didn't go anywhere near true kangaroo habitat, we had to content ourselves with kangaroos in captivity. These guys are really spoilt and lazy. They're appealing anyway. The female kangaroo (inset) has a joey in her pouch which never even peeked out. The animals at the Koala Gardens are so tame they will eat our of your hands. It's fun for everyone. Pat is feeding a wallaby and I am feeding a very lazy kangaroo.

Koalas are Real Huggie Bears

The background is fake but the koala is real--if somewhat sleepy. Koalas like being cuddled and we loved cuddling this cute fellow. Corny as it sounds, it really was a high point in the trip for both of us.

Inside a Strangler Fig Tree

This tree started out as another kind of tree altogether. Then a strangler fig landed in the its crown and started growing down around the host tree. Eventually the strangler fig kills the host, and the original trunk rots away,leaving this interesting lattice-like structure. Pretty cool, eh! This is in the Daintree Rainforest, a World Heritage site.

Rainforest Canopy from the Ground

Palms grow in basket-like thingies high in the treetops. Our guide told us all about it. Sadly, I don't remember any of the technical stuff - but they do look extremely cool.

Skyrail

Skyrail is one tourist attraction that actually lives up to its hype. Constructed by heliocopter with painstaking care to avoid damage to the rainforest, it's a 4.5 mile gondola ride down the mountains, with stops along the way where you can walk around in the forest & view dramatic gorges & waterfalls. A fabulous ride & so quiet you can clearly hear the birds & animals in the forest below you.

As you can see by the picture, it's very inobtrusive. You have to look carefully to see the towers & gondolas.

Daintree Rainforest Canopy

Seeing the rainforest from above after after having spent a whole day trekking through it on the ground was just thrilling. It was like floating over the rainforest. It even conquered my famous fear of heights. Magical.

Farms & Cane Fields from Skyrail

As we descended from the mountain on Skyrail, rainforest canopy gave way to magnificent vistas of cane fields & farms with the ocean in the distance. An etheral sky voyage.

Tropical Chapel in Port Douglas

This little chapel looks like it would be at home in New England . . . until you get inside and notice there's no glass the big window behind the pulpit.

Cairns

Strangely for a major gateway city to the Great Barrier Reef, on a continent famous for its beaches, Cairns doesn't have a decent beach--just mud flats. The beautiful man-made municipal lagoon on the Esplanade is free and open to all and substitutes for a real beach. It's lovely and well-used.

Girl in Orange Hat & Green Shoes

This young lady is striding confidently alongside the Cairns lagoon, which swarms with sunworshipers all day long.

Street Scene

My favorite picture of the entire trip. Why? Because of these elements: The bright red letter box. The relationship of the hand holding the red ball to the white logo & the red box. The mysterious figure on the left brings to mind the exclusion of the aboriginal people from their own land & culture (he's only halfway in the frame) - the tension between colonists and colonized. I really love this picture.

Cairns Marlin Marina--Gateway to the Great Barrier Reef

The first thing we did upon arriving in Cairns ("canes") was to go to the harbour to find out where to go for our dive trip on the Great Barrier Reef. Cairns is one of the major ports of embarcation to the GBR, which is several miles offshore.

Diving the Great Barrier Reef

At last we're on our way to the Great Barrier Reef for our scuba adventure--the whole reason we came to Australia. Ah ha! Photographic proof that I actually scuba-dived at the Great Barrier Reef. I also have a certificate, should you think this is just a Photoshop illusion. Taken by my scuba instructor. Masks & Snorkels jumbled together after a long day of diving. They will be cleaned & disinfected by the crew for the next day's divers.

Underwater

Scuba diving is magical. Snorkling was my only previous diving experience, so the freedom of scuba diving was exhilirating. It was a lot harder than I thought--but then I only had about an hour of training before going underwater, and I was surprisingly (to me) inept. Sadly, diving conditions weren't ideal & this is the best my little throwaway underwater camera could do. You'll see fish if you look carefully! All I really cared about was seeing sea turtles & happily this fellow hung around our group. Ok--the guide took the closeup for me 'cause I was too spastic underwater to do it myself . . . I was enthralled just looking. Swimming like mad I shot a rear view of our turtle mascot before it swam away.

Manly Beach (In a Manly Country)

Yeh--that's the real name of the town. Manly Beach is one of the most famous beaches in Australia. Someone told us the best & least expensive way to tour Sydney harbour was to take the ferry to Manly. Great advice. The ride is just the right length, and at the end--there you are in the charming resort town of Manly. A five minute walk takes one from the ferry landing to the Norfolk-pine ringed beach & the Pacific Ocean. It's just gorgeous. It rained most of the time we were there. Sigh. We waited out the squall having dinner in a seafood restaurant and by the time we were through, the rain had stopped. Of course, rain doesn't deter surfers, so there were plenty around for local color.

Sandcastle & Surfer

Somehow this charming sandcastle was unscathed by the rainstorm.

Manly Cove at Magic Hour

A lovely place to wait for the return ferry to Sydney. The cove side of Manly is almost as pretty as the beach side. Manly is in the curious position of being surrounded by water on 3 sides & has been a favorite resort area for many years.

World-Famous Sydney Opera House

It's embarrassing to confess that, unlike the rest of the world, Pat & I didn't watch the Sydney Olympics on tv, so we were utterly unprepared for how totally cool Sydney is. (I mean, Sydney--what kind of name is that?) After almost 3 weeks in the bush it was great fun to be in a vibrant, cosmopolitan city.

Robin on the Quay

The Sydney Opera House is a camera magnet, just as the Golden Gate Bridge is in San Francisco. The esplanade (quay) & harbor are lively day and night. We arrived on a Saturday to the splendid sight of thousands of sailboats in the harbor. Sydney Harbor is immense. Sydney Cove, behind me, is just one of hundreds of coves around the harbor.

Birds on the Quay

People watching is the most fascinating activity of all.

Grand Staircase of the Sydny Opera House.

The Opera House is actually a cultural complex with 5 theatres & an exhibition hall. It houses the Opera, the Symphony, the Australian Ballet & various theatre companies. Although it is now an international icon, its revolutionary design was bitterly controversial at the time it was built.

Jogging in The Rocks

The Rocks is a chi chi area by the Circular Quay in the heart of Sydney. It has a great deal of charm. This scene is a couple of blocks from our modest little B&B. I liked the view with the bridge in the background.

Sydney Ferry & Harbour Bridge

Aussies consider their Sydney Harbour Bridge to be one of the most beautiful bridges in the world. It has a unique attraction called BridgeClimb, a 3-1/2 hour hike to the highest point of the bridge. My sister Kim did BridgeClimb when she was in Sydney a year earlier, but I was too chicken. However, I did climb to the top of the tower on the left hand side of the bridge, which has a dramatic view also. Not the same, but it worked for me.

Sydney Opera House at Night

The ride back from Manly on the ferry was incredibly romantic, starting at magic hour and deepening into full night time. Pulling into Sydney Cove with the Opera House, Harbour Bridge & Sydney skyline ablaze with light was thrilling beyond description. We lingered on the Quay in the balmy evening. Music filled the air as street musicians plyed their seductive trade. An enchanting ending to the day.

Mt. Cook From Lake Pukaki

We decided to go to New Zealand because it was one of the few places on Earth where Pat has never been and I'd wanted to go there since I was about 15 and read a book about New Zealand called Green Dolphin Street. Then, of course, there's the scenery--the biggest lure of all. We stopped by Lake Pukaki (poo-cake-ee)on our way to Twizel to admire this splendid view of Mt. Cook.

The Christchurch Gondola & the Fight Against Jet Lag

We arrived in Christchurch at 5 am after a 14-hour flight from San Francisco via Auckland. Riding the gondola to the summit of Mt. Cavandish was a key component in our strategy to fight jet lag by staying up all day until a reasonable bedtime. Cold, brisk winds & a staggering 360-degree view were the wake-up payoff. It's a preview of the great scenery to come--harbours, rolling foothills, mighty mountains.
Actually, the most harrowing part of this excursion was driving there--it was our first experience driving on the "wrong" side of the road. Talk about thrill rides. No matter who drove, both passenger & driver were in abject terror. It got better when we got out of the city & had a chance to practice driving with fewer vehicles on the road. But this was our first day & our faculties were definitely impaired from the trip.

Peacock Fountain in the Botanical Gardens

Christchurch is a city of gardens & the Botanical Gardens are magnificent. The Peacock Fountain, on the other hand, well, what can I say. Somebody must have thought it was a good idea.

Worcester St. Bridge & the Avon River

The Avon River winds through the heart of Christchurch. Tourists can enjoy the gentle pleasure of being propelled by straw-hatted punters. One feels transported in time & space to an archetypal English university town.

Crafts Fair in Cathedral Square

Cathedral Square is the physical and metaphysical heart of the city. There's always a kalidoscope of activity from office workers enjoying the sun to religious fanatics to buskers & hucksters swarming in front of the gothic revival cathedral. And yes, we climbed the 134-step spire to enjoy the view from above.

Carpet of Flowers in the Cathedral

Even the Cathedral participates in the annual Festival of Flowers & Romance. The dazzling carpet in the foreground is made of fresh flowers. Splendid floral displays filled every alcove & nook & cranny in the chapel.

Scenes at Town Centre

Cathedral Square Busker Buskers keep Cathedral Square lively. This guy keeps up a constant outrageous patter as he prepares to juggle knives while standing atop a ladder held by two "volunteers." He went from one outrageous stunt to another & was a big crowd favorite.
Christchurch Tram Christchurst tramway is the lovliest way to explore the inner city. After purchasing a ticket you can hop off and on at any stop that catches your fancy. The lovingly restored 1905 tram cars were decorated with bunting & flowers for the annual Festival of Flowers & Romance. The conductors are pretty cool looking, too.

Scenes at Christchurch Art Center

These young ladies are dancing to raise money for their Girl Guides troop. The crowd loved them. I bet they raised a lot of money.
This fresh-faced lass was an irresistible subject. I bought a pastry in payment for taking her picture.

Mt Cook From Tasman Downs Station

This is the magnificent view enjoyed daily from the dining room at Tasman Downs Station, owned by Bruce & Linda Hayman a pioneering family. They have a pretty hard life & supplement their income by running a charming B&B in their rambling farmhouse. We shared three bathrooms with two English ladies travelling together. One bathroom had only a toilet; one was a full bath with a tub; and the farthest bathroom (down the hall and around a corner) had a shower. Meals with the Haymans & the other guests were extremely entertaining, as they were all fiercely conservative, loathed Tony Blair and are devoted to the late Princess Diana. Their antipathy to Tony Blair mirrored ours for Bush, which quite surprised us because in our view, Blair is a towering intellect compared to Bush. Our conversations were lively indeed. It was enormous fun. The Haymans are very gracious hosts who made us feel like genuine (as opposed to paying) guests.

Cattle Drive at Tasman Downs Station

The Hayman's oldest son, Ian, took us on a farm tour. In a scene right out of the Old West, we herded cattle from one pasture to another--in a Jeep Cherokee. For some reason we found this unbearably funny. Maybe we were still jet-lagged.
The Haymans used to raise sheep at Tasman Downs Station, but sheep became too labor-intensive for 87-yr-old Bruce Hayman & his son, so now they raise cattle. If you had to clean the dirty butts of several thousand sheep & shear them all by hand, you might make the same decision. Bruce is a remarkable craftsman, making everything from farm machinery to furniture by hand. The extraordinary setting of their farm is enhanced by the Hayman's intelligent use of the land.