"Everytime you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing." ~Mother Teresa

Mar. 11, 2007 - Notes From Australia

Here is the latest update from my parents & my son, William. They are now in Australia. Actually, they left on a 6 day backpacking trip through Tasmania yesterday! As you read keep in mind that my parents are 63 and my dad has heart disease.

Blessings, Lisa

Hi --

I wasn't able to get to a computer terminal as soon as I thought when I wrote the following below. Anyway, we now have been in The Land of Oz for about four days and it has been quite wonderful. We did not expect the beauty or the pleasant tropical climate we got. Anyway, please forgive the delay and I hope all is well back home. We miss you. Now, here is what I wrote a couple of days ago
. . .

I just finished changing the clock on my computer back to 10:04 a.m. from 1:04 p.m. That’s because we now are at Cairns , Australia , where we arrived yesterday afternoon after more than five hours of flying and many more hours than that of scrambling for cabs, buses, and trains and a connecting flight from Brisbane . We got up at 5 a.m. New Zealand time and by the time we got to bed at our hotel last night, it was the equivalent of 3:30 a.m. the next day. We were tired and we all slept solidly.

Right now Kristina, William, and Jeff are off sightseeing and checking out book stores for a Lonely Planet Guidebook to Australia to help us plan the next four weeks. We came to Cairns , which is in the tropics on the east coast, with the hopes of chartering a sailboat and seeing the Great Barrier Reef . The charter didn’t materialize, but a two-day overnighter on a tour boat with 10 passengers has and we leave tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. for a sail to the reef and two days of snorkeling and diving. We hope to do some motor bike touring this afternoon, since the bicycles all are packed up for a flight to Sydney in a few days, on March 5, where I think we will start a ride on the Great Ocean Road, but that is not definite. In fact, nothing is definite, which is both disconcerting and adventurous.

Our plans are subject to change at a whim and we are whimming a lot these days because there are so many options. We tried to see all of New Zealand , and very nearly did, but that cannot happen here in Australia . The country is simply too big and our time with Jeff too short. I think I can say we have seen and experienced more of the country than 99 per cent of the population. We rode the North Island extensively from the northern most tip to within a few kilometers of Wellington before having to hop a bus back to Auckland and greet Jeff, who arrived January 28. In all, I think we rode about a thousand of the steepest, hilliest miles of my life. Same for Kristina and William.

Jeff rented a van and we retraced some of our route north to show him the giant Kauri trees, then drove the fabled scenic East Cape area before ending up in what we think is the North Island ’s premier city, Wellington . Auckland is nice, but Wellington stands out as almost breathtaking in its charm, beauty and civility. We took a ferry from there to the South Island and continued the tour at a near break-neck pace. We rode only the three Southern Alpine passes. Lewis was the easiest. We had serious expectations for Haast, but it surprisingly ended just as I thought it was starting. We rode the fabled Arthur’s pass both from east and the west. The signs said the western ascent was a 16 per cent grade, but Jeff’s averaging altimeter put it at 17 per cent. We made all three rides without loads and it was, in relative terms, not too difficult at all. I, of course, stopped quite often to catch my breath and rest. My strength seriously declines on steep climbs. I’m quite strong on anything 8 per cent or more, though, with the emphasis on less.

William’s progress has been not unexpected. He had his 15^th birthday on the road and by the time we climbed Arthur’s Pass, he was quite strong, and handily beat me and even, on a rare occasion, finished before Kristina who spent quite a bit of time waiting on me. William even climbed what is reputed to be the steepest city street in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, in Dunedin , which was said to be a 36 per cent grade. He zigzagged a lot and stopped several times, but he made it on his second try. He had mechanical problems with the bike the first time and had to come down for a quick repair. Jeff and Kristina were impressed, but they said they would not be truly impressed until he rode the long 34 per cent Baxter and Fargo streets where they grew up in Los Angeles . William was justifiably proud of his accomplishment.

A highlight for me was visiting Invercargill, at what I called the bottom of the world. At the southernmost edge of the South Island , it was where the fabled Burt Munro, object of the movie The World’s Fastest Indian, lived and worked. It was an amazing town that has yet to cash in on the booming tourist business of the rest of the country. Get the film and watch it if you have not already done so. It is wonderful and, according to persons we met who had ties to him, was quite accurately done with only a couple of bits of dramatic license taken. If you’re not familiar with the story, it is that of an elderly man who took a motorcycle – a 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle – with a small engine and made it go more than 200 miles per hour at the Bonneville Salt Flats in America . I know it sounds simplistic, but take my word that it is a fun and inspiring film with much humor. Anthony Hopkins plays Burt Munro and he does a wonderful job. His pedicure scene alone is worth the price of the rental.

The only real difficulty we had was when we got to Christchurch . I called it the land of No Vacancy , because there was not a single room in the entire city available and I do mean that literally. Not only were we there at the very peak of the summer season, but it seemed the WWF – World Wrestling Federation – was in town from America for the first time ever and everyone came out of the woodwork to see the spectacle. Also in town was the PGA for a golf tournament . . . along with a couple of other major events. We spent three and a half hours trying to find a room and ended nearly 30 miles out of town for one night, then at a campground back in the city – the only place we could get for Saturday night. A big population left Sunday, so we were able to rent a nice two-bedroom motel unit at the campground to prepare for our flight yesterday.

Christchurch was the only city I did not like. We had taken a couple of tour cruises – Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound – about 10 days ago and while there we met a woman who described Christchurch as “. . . the Los Angeles of New Zealand”. It was an apt description. Kristina, Jeff and William reported there was about a two square block section of the city that qualified as charming. The rest was suburban tract sprawl with very poor traffic planning.

The people of New Zealand are terrific and for the most part overwhelmingly polite. We had no fewer than eight invitations to stay as house guests, two of which we accepted. As with we Americans, though, many of them turn into monsters once behind the wheel of their automobile. Too many gave little or no quarter to the cyclists and we came to classify New Zealand’s roads as the most dangerous cycling roads we have ever ridden, and that includes a lot of territory. Of course, that was only for the North Island , since we did not have that much experience on the ever more popular South Island . More than once, however, I was quoted a claim that New Zealand had the highest per capita highway death rate than any country in the world. I doubt it is true, but I may be wrong. They drive at amazingly dangerous speeds on shoulderless two lane roads.

It seems we saw a hundred cycle tourists spanning all ages and generations, 90 per cent of whom were riding the South Island . That may be an exaggeration, but not by much. There are hills and the Alps to cross on the South Island , but there also are long flat or gently undulating lands between, and the Canterbury Plains are a big flat treat. The beauty of the South Island simply must be seen.

The most memorable experience of my New Zealand ride was not a ride at all, but a trek. Jeff, who has made countless treks, escorted us on a three-day 55 kilometer Alpine backpack across the Keplar Track. It was a first for Kristina, William and me and a thrill. We carried all our food for the three days, including an extra day . . . just in case. It was difficult. We gained a little over 4,000 feet in five or six kilometers the first day (Kristina and Jeff did about 5,000 feet because of a side trip to the top of Mt. Luxmore ). The second day was along the ridge of the Alps and it went up and down and up and then down, down, down in what turned out to be the most difficult of the trek. The last day covered a mostly down and level 22 kilometers. Let me tell you, I hobbled for the following two days, but it was such a thrill, we all want to do more and are considering a five-day trek in Tasmania. The only problem is that the season is getting late and Tasmania is a long, long way south. That means cold. Old and cold don’t go together, except for Jeff who has done that sort of stuff for days at a time in the snow.

We now look forward to our Australian experience and will let you know what we do just as soon as we know. In the meantime, do know we miss everyone, but not the weather, which I understand is less than hospitable right now. Here at Cairns , the pilot yesterday said it was a very pleasant early autumn day with the temperature at about 26 degrees, which I think translates to about 83 Fahrenheit or so.

Do take care and we would love to hear from you.

Hugs to all,

Wayne

And Kristina, William and Jeff

Comments