31 July 2006
Bye, bye, Woronora
Hey, we went for another holiday after New Zealand! "Woronoraland"! Walter, Audrey, Nicola and Joshua have been our wonderful hosts, and we are sure they are now enjoying a bit of tranquility at home after all these late nights and too much action going on with us there, invading not only one room but also part of their living room and their garage with all our boxes, suitcases and hundreds of small bags that we haven't fully organised yet... When will we learn!!!
We have had so much fun, a wonderful time. Just being there is an experience, as if we were in the bush: no traffic, no noise... Birds, trees, the river. Definitely a holiday. Every single day has been great, but Saturday night was just amazing. To make it even more special, our hosts "sent us out" for a couple of hours (yes, they kicked us out!). But of course... it was for a good reason! When we returned we couldn't believe that so much could be done in a couple of hours... They had set a beautiful table with candles, flowers, first-class cutlery and crockery. They had printed the menus in bright matching colours, following the "theme" of the handmade greeting card by Nicola (in the photo). Joshua had made a wooden showpiece with our initials, they were all dressed up and the ambience music was on... Soon after, the rest of the guests arrived: Gus, Vanu and Rohan (our hosts before New Zealand, remember?)
A glass of sparkling Shiraz was the kickstart for a gastronomic journey (to say that we had just dinner would be a sin!). We will be good and, to avoid making all of you too jealous, we won't give details of the whole menu (just imagine a 6... or it was 7??? course menu with the best of the best, with one -or 2- matching wines for EACH dish...) Well, as we said, we won't make you jealous by giving more details. The night was long (or was the morning that arrived too early?), we went to bed after 3:00 AM, but we could have stayed longer! Great company... Let's not think of how we will miss you! :(
26 July 2006
End of Act 1, Scene 1
That was NZ! All that we expected, and more. Actually a bit sad that it is over already, but hey, there's more to come elsewhere.Since our last post, on arrival at Christchurch, we headed once again into the mountains to the nearby thermal pools at Hanmer Springs where we soaked ourselves in pools of varying temperatures and mineral composition. Very relaxing and healthy, so we have been told. What took our breath away was the whole concept of soaking in these pools against the backdrop of the snowclad peaks.
And then back to Christchurh for a wander around the city that is modelled on a mix of Oxford and Cambridge interspersed with parkland and heritage architecture. Later that afternoon, we set off to a Wildlife reserve where we were treated to a Maori cultural performance including the "Haka" which we had the opportunity to learn and try. Great recreations of a Maori tribal dwelling and the whole process of (noisily) challenging and then welcoming strangers, followed by some really good folk music. This was followed by a night crawl around the reserve to view the quintessential Kiwi bird and few other local residents in what was a dark and bone chilling night. A perfect final night in NZ nevertheless.
The next day we packed our bags and afer some more last minute city walking and window shopping made our way to the airport for our flight back to Sydney.
If you haven't been to NZ yet, highly recommended and not to be missed.
23 July 2006
6 degrees in Christchurch... This is hot!
We've reached our last destination, Christchurch. It's been a long day, but, once again, the car trip was worth it! Beautiful landscape, snowy peaks on one side, the sea on the other...
As we were driving North, the temperature went up and up... First, the heater was not necessary anymore. Then... scarf, gloves, jacket off! When we reached 16 degrees we were feeling too hot. It's amazing how quickly one gets used to cold weather!
We still have two days to go. Tomorrow we'll go to Hanmer Springs to relax on the thermal pools... Great! Also, we need to see Christchurch, as we got here in the evening and haven't done much.
We hope you enjoyed the photos we put on the blog yesterday. Unfortunately we haven't been able to add more (most public internet places don't allow you to do it) so we'll post more once we are in Sydney.
More soon!
22 July 2006
Some photos from our coast to coast drive
20 July 2006
This is it... our next home?
Our first entry from NZ. This is just awesome! It has been a series of "wows" and "clicks" ever since we hit the tarmac; from Queenstown airport where we first arrived to Te Anau where we are now. We have been covering the scenic Southlands and Fjordlands by road... the only way to do it.Queenstown, despite its ski-holiday town hub-bub was a pleasant start with its cafes, pubs and fairly busy streets. Kicked off with a Guiness at the local Irish pub, a ritual that will probably continue till we explore the world all the way to Dublin... someday. Next we explored the quaint neighbouring Arrowtown, and then set off southwards to Te Anau.
In Te Anau, we made full use of the evening, exploring the glow worm caves (Anna, Fred, we finally did it!) well into in the night in an underground limestone cave awash with a mountain stream that carved it in the first place many (thousand) moons ago.
Next day (today) an early start, waking up to stunning views of the alpine skyline as we pour warm water over the frosted windshield, we headed off to Milford Sound via one of the most picturesque routes we have ever been on. Plenty of snaps, stops to admire the views and staring at the temperature panel disbelievingly as the mercury hit -2 C before noon.
Highlight of the day of course was the cruise in Milford Sound amidst towering fjords and gushing waterfalls on a picture perfect afternoon. Internet in these remote motels do not permit uploads of pics so will have to leave it till we reach some major town. For now we continue our road trip across the Southlands to Dunedin, the Edinburgh of the southern hemisphere.
Could this be home? Will tell you after our next Guinness ;-)
18 July 2006
Checking in!
First leg of our journey. This is a practice session for us because, at the end of the day, we are still travelling with a return ticket and after 8 days we'll be back in Oz... But still: we're flying, it'll be freezing, we'll be living out of a suitcase...
We are writing this at Sydney International Airport. It's a bit too early to check in (yes, we are THAT type of travellers...)
The day has started with a flavour of adventure: Last night we "checked-in" at Walter and Audrey's house and had some wonderful crab curry that we are still digesting (yes, we ate that much!) and this morning, at 5:10am, when Karthik had just started his shower... Electricity went off!!! An electrical storm has made our last minute packing quite challenging, finding passports and all by touch and the help of candles. Fun anyway... It seems we have all the essentials with us... so far.
More from Queenstown!
16 July 2006
Eternal guests
No home anymore. Boxes are stored, house is empty. Tomorrow we give the keys to the landlord. Done.
Now that this is getting "serious", it is when we think about all those things we hadn't considered before: Yeah, we're on holidays... But where are we going AFTER the holidays??? A bit scary, really, but let's just think that we are young enough and that this is the time to do it!
On Friday our furniture had gone, there was no way to stay at home anymore and we booked a room in a local B&B. It was a bit sad, we must admit. But we were so tired that there was no time for sorrow.
Now we have started our phase of "permanent guests". First stop, at Gus and Vanu's place. A 8-star hotel, we must say, according to the "service" we are receiving... And don't forget that Gus is a professional chef, so dining here is also luxury. Last night we has a seafood feast which deserves a separate post! Mmmm!!! And from one chef to another... tomorrow we "occupy" Walter and Audrey's place for one night, before departing for our "freezing" New Zealand trip. By Tuesday we will hopefully know where all our things are, and we may even have access to the cable to download photos on the computer (we still have some "unfinished miscellaneous boxes and bags"). We will publish some pics here.
Until then, take care... and leave your comments!
12 July 2006
Bubble-wrap, boxes... and social life!
The next time we post anything on the blog it will be from an internet-cafe or from a friend's PC, as the next box to pack will contain this computer... Snif, snif! There is not much left.
But we must say... apart from packing, we are having a nice social life these days! On Monday Darren and Leigh invited us to their place for a lovely dinner (so yummy stuffed eggplant!). Yesterday we tried an Indian restaurant in North Strathfield we wish we had known of before: "Abhi's", highly recommended! We went with Mohan and Seema and had a real banquet... Wonderful food! Tonight we are going to the theatre to see "The Woman in Black". And tomorrow we'll have dinner in Paddington with Elissa and friends...
We cannot complain. No TV, no music system... but definitely no lack of entertainment!
11 July 2006
Wonderful winter sun!
Now that the "moment of truth" (i.e. the departure day) is close, we cannot stop adding places, views, memories... to the list of all those things we will miss so much. One of them will be the wonderful views that we get during our morning walks, just next to our place. This morning we decided to play tourists in our own suburb and took the camera with us. This view is just one of the thousands of beautiful ones we get around here. And, in the middle of the winter, what about this wonderful sunny day! If only we could take it all with us...
09 July 2006
Quiet home
The house is still messy... and now it is also quiet! The TV, the DVD player and the music system are gone!!! So, apart from the washing machine, the diswasher and the exhaust fan... there is not much noise. Also, it's quite chilly, as we have sold the heater as well! Just when the temperature is going down. A good opportunity to test the thermal clothes we bought for the New Zealand trip!There are only five items still for sale: the coffee-table, a study desk, a wardrobe, the old printer and a small dining table. A Hungarian couple came home yesterday and they bought most of the stuff available (including the ironing board and the iron, so our shirts will be permanently wrinkled from now on).
We have packed 13 boxes and there is not much left, which is a relief! We have left the kitchen utensils, pans and pots, crockery, glassware and cutlery for the end... We may be cold, poorly dressed and barely entertained... but NEVER HUNGRY!!!
04 July 2006
Messy home
Work in progress!!! As you can see, the chaos has started and our home is a real mess... as it should be!
For those who still don't know what all this is about... WE ARE MOVING!!! We are moving from Australia, ...what we don't know is where to. Towards the West... Somewhere in Europe... To the Northern Hemisphere... Well, enough for now, isn't it?
Knowing other cultures, meeting people, trying different cuisines... We think this would be the best way to help us make a final decision about a place. That's why, while we think about it, we will travel a bit around New Zealand, Malaysia, India and Spain...
So, once our house looks a bit more organised than it does on the photos... that is, once our house is EMPTY, we will be homeless people in search of our destiny. Whatever we discover will be shared with you via this blog.
Wherever you are, we may see you... "one day"! Bye for now.
