Mar 20, 2013 - "Home Again, Home Again..."

So, we're at 33,000 ft and have only 7123 miles left until Vancouver and about 13 more hours. Lots of time to reflect. What have I learned about travel in the last 5 1/2 weeks? First of all, I brought too much stuff - I always do, no matter how hard I try not to. I could have left one pair of shoes and my flip flops at home because all I wore were my sandals and running shoes. I brought a skirt and nice top and didn't take either out of my suitcase and a sweater I could have done without. I brought a pair of long pants which I left in some...

Mar 19, 2013 - Sydney Day 7

Not a lot to write about today, our last day in Oz and the Southern Hemisphere. I was all set to go for a big walk today from Bondi Beach to another beach, the name of which I've forgotten, but Walter was extremely reluctant; actually, he refused. His back is holding up just fine but his feet have given out. He says it's all my fault, that I've walked them to death. What a wuss! Instead, we took the free bus to Circular Quay because we decided that we would go to Birkenhead Point, the factory outlet shopping centre, and the lady at the...

Mar 18, 2013 - Sydney Day 6

It's the morning of the 19th and I'm writing this in the hotel lobby drinking a cup of flat white - I left Walter in the room sleeping and it's very weird not having him with me. We've been joined at the hip for almost 6 weeks and this feels really strange, not a bad feeling, just strange. We spent all day yesterday on a trip to the Blue Mountains which was a really good experience. It was nice to be out of the city and it was also nice to sit in a bus and rest our weary feet. The bus picked us up at the hotel just after 8 and we didn't get...

Mar 17, 2013 - Sydney Day 5

Another full-on day. We left the hotel at 8:30 this morning to meet Tammy Kaneen, her significant other, Cam, and their little guy Lachlan for breakfast. Tammy gave us good directions but we got lost for a short time after leaving the hotel - there are about three roads that come together outside our hotel and we get screwed up at least once a day. We sorted things out pretty fast and made our way to a new to us part of the city, called Glebe, which reminded me of the Commercial Street neighbourhood in Vancouver. It was great to meet...

Mar 16, 2013 - Sydney Day 4

We were rudely wakened last night at 1:30 by the noisy girls in the room next door. They were only having fun but they were so loud that it seemed like they were in the hall right outside our room. We found out later that they are in the next room and we heard them so clearly because our rooms have an adjoining door and it's definitely not soundproof. We also found out that they are checking out tomorrow so we figure we can handle one more night if need be. We were smarter today than we were yesterday because we did a lot of walking until...

Mar 15, 2013 - Sydney Day 3

We awoke to a really overcast morning but we had been expecting that because the forecast predicted thunderstorms for today, but we didn't let the weather stop us. Before we left the hotel, I put our plastic ponchos (that Ross and Colleen had given us a couple of years ago as a joke) in the packsack. I think we walked farther and longer today than we have yet on this trip, although the day did get off to a rocky start because Walter moved the wrong way as he was getting dressed and began to feel ominous twinges in his back. After breakfast...

Mar 14, 2013 - Sydney Day 2

I don't really feel like doing my homework tonight, I'd rather finish my book. I did think about leaving this entry until tomorrow but obsession overcame reluctance so here I go. My legs and feet are so sore tonight - we didn't do any more walking than usual but it must be because all our walking was done on pavement. We woke to the first overcast day we've had in ages. When we went out we didn't need jackets but it wasn't the glorious hot weather we've become accustomed to. I didn't wear my ball cap today - a first in days. We decided that...

Mar 13, 2013 - Sydney, Australia

It's interesting the effect that environment has on one's state of mind, on mine, anyhow. I was so miserable last night in the room we'd been given at the hotel, the noise of the road works right outside our window was one thing, but just as bad was the fact that I hated the room. I hardly slept at all and I woke up really early and spent about an hour surfing the net looking for hotels in Sydney but didn't find any that were in our price range. Walter was really good and this morning we decided that if we weren't able to change our room...

Mar 12, 2013 - Farewell New Zealand

Well, I guess it's only appropriate that we left Auckland in similar fashion to how we arrived - I'm talking about getting and being lost! We checked out of our hotel at 10 but didn't have to take the car back to the rental place until 2:00 so we decided to go to the shopping centre close to the airport for breakfast at the coffee shop that has free WiFi - yes, I know, my life is ruled by my iPad! Oh well, there are worse vices, I think. Off we set, made a wrong turn and had no idea where we were. We drove around for about 20 minutes, going...

Mar 11, 2013 - Auckland

Well, so ends our last full day in New Zealand. We've had a great time here and will be sad to leave. Walter was really nervous about driving to Auckland centre this morning but he did a great job and we had no trouble at all, other than missing one turn into a parking lot down town which was easy to fix by going around the block. When doing that, though, he almost turned into the right lane instead of the left and scared a poor pedestrian silly. We parked in the Civic Parking Lot which is very close to the Sky Tower (or whatever it's...

Mar 10, 2013 - Waihi Beach to Auckland

I did not have a very good night last night and either did Walter - I think it has to do with not being totally comfortable in a place where we don't have our own space. The B & B filled up last night and we had to share bathroom and living room with another couple (whom we didn't even meet). We had a good breakfast, though, and a really nice visit with a New Zealand couple who had a room upstairs in the house. They were probably about 10 years younger than us and had done a lot of travelling and we had a lot to talk about. I wish we'd had...

Mar 9, 2013 - Tauranga to Waihi Beach

Up at our usual time and checked out of our very comfortable motel just after 9. Our first stop was the i-Site which was right across the street from the motel. It has such a convenient location, this fancy motel, less than a block from the beach and the centre of town. We got a brochure and I bought a really nice NZ t-shirt for myself. Then we went to the library which is almost next door to the i-Site and I had my WiFi fix and finally booked us a hotel in Sydney. Hopefully it will be okay - it's a 3 1/2 star, is just over $100 CAD, and...