Down Under – 3/9/14 – Yanchep National Park, Perth, Western Australia

We sleep in at the Ocean Beach Hotel and then wander down to the beach for breakfast at a local eatery, Barchetta http://www.barchetta.com.au/  Great food and a wonderful location!

Cottesloe, the beach town outside of Perth, is where we are based.  It's the weekend and the place is packed with people and the cars are crawling along the streets...but it doesn't seem too crowded and we are enjoying the slow schedule.

We walk up the beach to the Cottesloe Sculpture by the Sea area.  Various artists from around the world have come here to build various sculptures on the beach...it's a competition and the winner earns $50,000...the individual sculptures are also sold to art lovers. http://www.sculpturebythesea.com/artists/cottesloe/exhibiting-artists.aspx

Sculpture by the Sea videos
http://youtu.be/PE5r4wScEsQ

http://youtu.be/j1681sE-EkU          Grand prize winner

In the early afternoon Vince met up with us and we headed north to visit Yanchep National Park...about 50km from Cottesloe.  While I am definitely getting the hang of driving here it surely takes a lot of concentration not to make a mistake...for instance making a right turn at a light always has me thinking so I don't go on the wrong side of the street.

Vince takes us on the scenic route, the equivalent of US1 on the coast of California.  We see all the cool houses being built facing the shore...multi-million dollar homes everywhere.

We arrive at Yanchep National Park. http://parks.dpaw.wa.gov.au/yanchep  We pull up to the guard booth to pay the entrance fee and I start to BS with the lady about a "Yankee discount" and eventually we discover she lived in Ballwin for several years!  It is a regular surprise how many people we meet who have lived in our fine city!

Our first stop is to visit the 10 Koala bears that they have here...they are incredibly difficult to find in the trees as they blend in so well.

Uh...this is a picture of a poster!

At the same time there are some very noisy birds flying overhead.

Parrots

Noisy parrots:  http://youtu.be/Rjit5kRmyjo

Next we piled back into the van to go to the golf course where Vince promised us BIG kangaroos...he wasn't lying!

Kangaroo golf video: http://youtu.be/1leki4c_z4A

Time for a drink and to watch the Kookaburra birds picking food off the plates left by others.

See the Kookaburra in the background?

Driving back to Cottesloe Vince had us detour to visit Kings Park which overlooks the city of Perth. http://www.bgpa.wa.gov.au/kings-park

Back to Vince's condo where he served us a wonderfully simple dinner...but delicious!

Down Under – 3/8/14 – Perth Arrival, Western Australia

Up at the crack of dawn once again, today we are flying Virgin Australia from Melbourne to Perth on the western shore of Australia.  We have a bit of trouble checking our bags in Melbourne as they deny us our 1 free checked bag claiming we didn't have the proper fare...I end up getting the fee waived but this will come back to bite us in the butt later!   We are finding out that many people in AU do not like Virgin Australia for all of their extra fees. 

    

As it turns out, the Australian TSA equivalent was quite abbreviated.  You put your stuff thru the x-ray machine and then walk thru the old style metal scanner…you keep your shoes/belt on and that’s it.  A few times I got selected for the bomb patch sniffer but that’s it, quite reasonable and fast.  

The main reason we are making this trek is to visit Becky’s friend and co-worker Vince Atrache who grew up in Perth but was originally from Cairo, Egypt.

We get on our plane in Melbourne and wait…and wait…equipment problem…and finally they ask us to leave while they get another plane.  As soon as we are all off miraculously the problem is fixed so they load us back on…a great confidence builder especially as one of the stewardesses tells me how much she dislikes this particular plane.  We take off two hours late...when we arrive in Perth the airplane is met by gun-toting police and we each get sniffed by two different drug dogs.

In Perth we have decided to rent a minivan for ourselves and I have volunteered to be the driver…on the wrong side of the road with a right-handed drive and without a GPS.  We decide to crowdsource our way to the hotel and off we go.

I have previously driven on the left before but it’s been quite a long time and requires a lot of focus on my part so I depend totally on the other 5 for the directions.  Every so often the left wheels of the van scrape the curb as it’s difficult to judge the distance…this always wakes up all the others in the van!  

We miss our turn and come thru Freemantle to Cottesloe and our hotel, the Ocean Beach Hotel.  http://obh.com.au/ We check in and relax a bit in our rooms overlooking the Indian Ocean.

Vince arrives shortly and I drive us to Freemantle to have “the best fish and chips” right by where all the fishing boats come in.  We walk around Freemantle, an historic maritime town and visit the local museum.  This place looks a lot like New Orleans.

We are here for 4 nights of relaxation!  Vince takes us to his condo for dessert and a tour of his wonderful art collection.  Vince was the Chief Scientist for the division of Biomeriux where Becky worked.  In addition to his microbiology knowledge he is a "foodie" and a wine lover!  

We crash at the hotel and get to sleep in.

Freemantle harbor

Ballast in a sunken ship...rebuilt

Freemantle looks like New Orleans

John goes in the Indian ocean

The Round House

From the Round House

Wedding

Shore in front of Ocean Beach Hotel

Ocean Beach Hotel

Down Under – 3/6/14 – Meet new family -Melbourne, Australia

At O-dark-hundred we get up to fly from Auckland to Melbourne for two nights.  I think it’s time to share a bit about airport security in NZ/Australia.  We first noticed the difference when we flew from Queensland to Rotorua…the security was actually non-existent!  No screening whatsoever, you simply got your boarding pass and went to the gate!  When I asked someone they said if you were able to get into the country then that was good enough!  I was hesitant to write about this since low security could attract problems...but hey, they seem proud of it!

So we arrive in Melbourne and head to our hotel, another Langham, right off the water.  We dump our bags and stroll down to find ourselves some lunch. 

The train station

Look at the hopping bar under the bridge

The Langham Hotel

Like Sydney this place is hopping with activity and full of young people partying!

We learn there is a free tram system that rings the center of the city so we find it and go for a ride.

It’s a big square loop that brings us to various areas of the city.

Anne and I have made arrangements to meet Maureen and Melvyn Klotz who moved from South Africa almost 15 years ago.  They are relatives of mine; however, I have not been able to document the exact connection.

It's an interesting story as to how I discovered them.  Shortly before my mom suddenly passed away I had been working on genealogy records.  I was going thru some of her papers and discovered a newspaper clipping about my aunt Jean, who in the '50s had to get out of Israel because of an impending war, and went to South Africa to stay with relatives!

Also in her papers was a picture of a family inscribed with a lot of first names...with this information I began to search the internet for South African records.  At one point I reached someone who offered to post the picture in an online Jewish newspaper...shortly after that I received an email from Melvyn Klotz who was able to identify all the people as his family.  He recalled my Aunt Jean visiting and at a later time, Dave Klasson.  I don't know yet how these Klotz's are related to the US Klotz's…I just need to dig up the historical paperwork which is either in Lithuania or the Ukraine!

They take us to a wonderful local Greek restaurant where we have an excellent meal and get to know these newly discovered family members.  BTW, their son Julian lives and works in LA...Anne and I met him last year when we got together with some newly discovered Bader's in Laguna.

Melvyn Klotz

Maureen Klotz

We sleep in the next morning while the rest of the group goes on a boat ride.  In the afternoon the women go off on a shopping expedition and the guys decide to go to the top of the nearby 88 story Eureka Skydeck building to experience an alleged “cheating death” ride at the top.  https://www.eurekaskydeck.com.au/

The consensus is that it was somewhat of a bust! However, it provides some great views.

Dinner was in Chinatown at a place called Bamboo House http://www.bamboohouse.com.au/.  We signed up for set meal and the food started coming and coming until we could not push another morsel in.  

A long walk back to the hotel felt great and again we got to see this hopping city at night.  Any young person should consider Melbourne or Sydney if looking for an exciting place to live.

Another early morning as tomorrow we are flying clear across the country to Perth on the west coast.

Down Under 3/4/14 - Harbor town, Maritime museum - Auckland, New Zealand

The Sofitel hotel is right on the harbor and that night we enjoy a nice walk ogling all the yachts and then dinner at a restaurant close to the water.  http://www.sofitel.com/gb/hotel-8577-sofitel-auckland-viaduct-harbour/index.shtml

Pool inside the lobby

This hotel had a shallow pool inside the lobby that you could easily walk into...we wondered how many drunks stumbled into it.

The next day we are up for breakfast at the Pita Pit across the street where Anne & I share a breakfast pita.  There is a local girl who engages us in conversation and tells us how she is going to travel to the US to visit Los Angeles and Las Vegas!

Becky takes a rest day in the room, still fighting off the severe cold that seems to be passing from one person to another.

We head for the harbor again and this time we spy what looks like a small maritime museum so we head in to check it out…it turns out this is place is quite a gem and much larger than it appeared. 

Voyager, the New Zealand Maritime Museum is very well funded. http://www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/ 

We have a docent named Greta who emigrated here from the UK 50 years ago.  Greta definitely had an idea for a museum pace and she pushed us along...at her pace.  Some of us wandered away but Anne was the good tourist and stuck with Greta consistently.

The museum presents a maritime history starting with the Maori progressing thru the Dutch, French, British with a variety of real artifacts, models and the history of emigration to New Zealand…for instance there are some cool recreations of ship holds showing the living conditions of the passengers. 

 

Then the museum changes focus to famous NZ captains who competed in the various Americas Cup challenges and Peter Blake in particular…he seems to be revered here and for good reason.  

An Americas Cup winner

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Blake_(yachtsman)

We have lunch next to the water.  The afternoon is spent walking around the city visiting some parks, the old synagogue and a university.  One cool thing about this place…whenever we stopped to look at our map a local would stop and offer to help…and I mean every time we stopped.  It's quite unusual to be in a place where people don't avoid eye contact and reach out to help.

We decide to have a light dinner in the hotel and turn in early as we have to leave the hotel at 3:55AM the next morning to catch our plane to Melbourne, Australia.  These early mornings are killers and really impact the day.

Down Under – 3/2/14 – Maori show, Geysers, Caves-Rotorura, New Zealand

We leave Wellington as it’s time to head to Rotorura, the center of Maori culture.  We are met at the airport by Roy, our driver for the next few days.  This place is instantly different as the smell of rotten eggs permeates the air…this is an active geothermal area and it has had some gigantic volcanic incidents over recorded time with thousands killed.

There are thermal vents all over the place and each is surrounded by a simple wooden fence.  We learn from Roy that each year 5-10 people die from unintentional interactions with a clear pool of boiling water, mostly kids.  They are quite beautiful to watch…some bubble up through mud and the plopping sounds are quiet warnings to stay away.

This area is also known for the hot baths that have always existed here, we plan to take advantage of them before we leave.

A short ride brings us the the Black Swan Inn  http://blackswanhotel.co.nz/ on the shores of Lake Rotorua. 

It is an intriguing property with an interesting style that is kitschy and gaudy but definitely attractive.  Gretchen, the manager, was a real joy and made our stay wonderful.

We dropped our bags and headed into town for lunch…we meet people from the US all over the place, many as waiter/waitresses.  There is an easy to obtain work visa for people under 30 who can come over for up to a year and work/play…these visa holders are everywhere.

We take time to visit the Rotorua Museum http://www.rotoruamuseum.co.nz/ and it’s a real gem. 

We start off with a movie which is a history of the area.  When it covers the volcanic explosion in the mid-1800s the seats actually start moving around simulating the many earthquakes!  We spend an hour viewing the exhibits which we notice seem much better than the Te Pappa in Wellington.

In the evening we head to MiTai http://www.mitai.co.nz/ for the Maori cultural show and dinner.  While it is pretty commercialized it is a showcase for some of the traditional Maori dances and songs.  There is a strong movement to pass on the culture to the next generations so there are various competitions that are held. 

John giving me a last minute pep-talk

I get nominated by John to be the “chief” and I must give greetings to a real Maori chief.  As reward/retribution I nominate John to sing a song for the chief.

The pictures speak for themselves! 

Here are some videos from the cultural show:
http://youtu.be/a9YdZg1pTe4

http://youtu.be/KAddmR3m5ns

http://youtu.be/MzOMzn_NWnQ

http://youtu.be/b2kv2avSduI

Putting the offering down for the chief

Giving a "hongi" which is the nose kiss

the chief

He was very proud of his tats

After the show and dinner we take a brief tour in the woods where glowworms are visible in the dark.  We skip the Kiwi tour and head back.

In the morning Roy picks us up for a half day tour.  We start off with a tour of a working sheep farm where we learn about the various types of sheep, shearing and sheepdog herding.

Who knew there were so many different sheep

He was very focused

 We head to the Te Puia  http://www.tepuia.com/ thermal area to visit some of the geysers, mud pools and hot springs…again the pics are better than words.

http://youtu.be/degX46m1iSI Bubbling mud pit

http://youtu.be/fhpFKEGNZgs This geyser shoots 2-3 times per hour

Cooking reeds in a thermal pool

Crafts

This was about 5' tall

There are also authentic craftspeople working on carvings and weavings.

Roy drops us in town and we end up at the Polynesian Spa for a restful afternoon in the hot pools.  here 4 different pools, progressively hotter ending at 107F.  

Exhausted by the heat we catch a cab back to the Black Swan and have some local pizza delivered.

We check out of the Black Swan Inn and Roy picks us up as we are driving to Aukland.  He is taking the scenic route and we drive through rolling hills some farmed and most fenced for cattle or sheep.

Before lunch we arrive at the Waitomo Cave system http://www.waitomo.com/waitomo-glowworm-caves.aspx.  We are scheduled to take a 1-hour tour of this limestone cave which also has glowworms.  

This cave system was the subject of a vigorous “cheating death” debate the night before as there are several tube floats through the cave system.  In the end we didn’t do it because of time constraints and our desire NOT to be confined in some tight spots for extended periods of time, hmmmm. http://www.waitomo.com/black-water-rafting.aspx

The tour was actually interesting, led by a Maori who must have been Danny DaVito’s brother.  Earl/Lannis, the cave system was good but you would have been annoyed by some of the things they did to the cave to make it safer for the tourists…fyi, they put pavers on the cave floor to make it a level surface to walk.

We had a very forgettable lunch at the Roseland Café.  One of the few downsides of using a tour company is that set you up for some places that are absolutely focused on the tourist trade and this was one of them.

Time to head to Auckland and its heavy traffic.  We arrive at the Sofitel shortly before dinner.