Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Nearly over

Well, our holiday is nearly over - tragedy!

We checked out of our accommodation a day early - Lynne and Kevan took our extra night. Although it was a very pretty location, it was swelteringly hot, and we struggled with no air-con in the bedroom at night. I didn’t mention earlier that Kevan had to jump to avoid a snake when they arrived, so that made me a bit nervous!

So now, we’re in Brisbane in a lovely hotel we found on Wotif. It’s such a pretty city, lovely architecture and lots of people around. We had a wonderful meal at the hotel restaurant - the food has been fantastic here, but this one was a real highlight for me.

Tuesday morning, and we are trying to fit everything in to our suitcases, before we leave. I have bought a few clothes, and Allan indulged at a music store and the occasional bookshop. Could be a mission!

We have had a great break, and it’s been nice to have a bit of time out on our own, before the Christmas rush.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Wedding Daze

Phew! We’ve been overcooked the last couple of days.

We woke up on Saturday morning to a cloudy but hot day. We had to pack for our move to our new accommodation. There seemed to be a little more than we came with!

We headed out to the hills to check in - the place is very picturesque, a huge area of trees and bushes as well as a equestrian centre and a few golf holes.

We were a bit late leaving for the wedding - and Kevan’s GPS took us on a tiki tour, so it was fortunate that Rosalie was very late arriving. The venue was not air-conditioned and it was a 34 degree day, so we struggled a bit.

The wedding went off really well and Rosalie looked lovely. They had arranged 3 acts to entertain us; an American lady who had the most glorious voice, Pete’s own band, which included his son, and an NXS cover band, so we danced a bit, although the heat made it challenging!

Today’s been hot as well. We went up Tambourine Mountain for lunch with the family - the place had amazing views of Surfers and the Coast. A thunderstorm rolled in on the horizon and we saw great sheets of lightning - it was pretty spectacular.


Off to dinner at the resort’s bistro shortly, then an early night I think!

The days in between

We’ve had a quiet few days since we last blogged. They’ve followed a pattern of: leisurely breakfast, wander down to Pacific Fair, shop a little, have lunch, wander back, have a nap, pre-dinner drinks and nibbles, then find a nice restaurant for dinner.

Allan has needed to go to Pac Fair for free internet access (he needs to keep an eye on his business emails) so I’ve had to shop to keep him company on his trips - a tough life!


We’ve had some lovely dinners and generally taken a stroll after eating to walk it off. It is very pleasant out in the late evening - cool enough to be comfortable.


We finally took possession of our rental car today - bit of a fraught process getting it delivered. We check out of here tomorrow and head out to the next accommodation - about 20 minutes out of town. The forecast for the wedding is 34 degrees and raining - could be sticky!

We met Rosalie’s fiancĂ©, Pete today, and spent time with Lynne and Kevan and the boys, as well as Gordon and Suzanne. Good to catch up with everyone.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Irish Experience

28 degrees today (Tuesday) - we are so thankful for the aircon in our apartment. There are units in the lounge and the bedroom, and we forget, until we leave the hotel, that it’s a scorcher outside. We walked back to Pacific Fair this morning - it’s only a 15 minute walk, but in the heat, it can be a challenge.

Our highlight for today was dinner and a show at the casino - it was an Irish Dancing show and really well done. The meal was Italian, and one of our best so far. It was just $20 extra on the show price, but $58 each on the menu prices, so we felt we’d got a bargain, especially since it was so nice.

It was lovely to walk back over the river at 9.30 pm and still be warm - and not too hot!

Taking it easy

We had a major sleep last night, but we were wide awake at 5 am. Managed to doze a little more, and with an afternoon Nana nap, we’ve almost overcome our sleep deficit.

Took it fairly quietly today, wandered down to Pacific Fair by the scenic route. Browsed a few shops, but not Myers yet - will need a full day for that! The river is very pretty, and there’s lots of greenery. Really felt the heat on the way back, although it had clouded over a bit.

I swam in one of the three pools here this afternoon - refreshing and relaxing, and my first swim of the summer. Haven’t been to the beach yet, but it’s pretty breezy so the pool might be the best bet in the meantime.

We found a little French CafĂ© for dinner. Although I went out craving steak (after all, we’ve been here two days!), I had a snapper crumble - very tasty. We were next door to a Tepanyaki restaurant, so we watched the show put on by the chefs there, from afar. Might have to try that restaurant later in our stay. The food is uniformly excellent, but more expensive than I remember from last time we were here.

Believe it or not, the kitchen utensil toilet key made another appearance tonight - I’m wondering if there is one toilet between six restaurants? Tonight’s choice was a block away from last night’s, so either it’s a Broadbeach thing, or they really do share toilets!

Monday, November 23, 2009

Gold Coast Entertainment

Well, here we are in sunny Gold Coast - a very long, but entertaining day getting here and getting settled.

The alarm went off at 2.55 am (aaaagh!). You might ask ‘why so early?’ As loyal AB fans, we felt we had to watch at least the first half of the rugby test! So, self inflicted sleep deprivation. We caught a taxi at half time and managed to watch the last 20 minutes at the airport after check in and before customs. The flight was a little bumpy but we both watched movies so the time passed quickly enough.

It was too early to check in to the apartment (Queensland is 3 hours behind NZ so we landed at 7 am local time). It was nearly 9.30 am when we got to the Phoenician to drop our bags. They promised to put priority on getting it ready, and they phoned at 11am to say we could come in, so that was great. We have lovely views of the river and hills, it’s very sunny and spacious, so we’re set. The hotel is brilliantly located, minutes walk from everything, including dozens of restaurants (therein lies a story - to come!)


We’d wandered over to the Oasis Shopping Centre while we waited for our room - do NOT ask me how it happened but we got roped in to attending a (sort of) time share presentation at midday - only 90 minutes of your time and you’re guaranteed to win a LCD TV, a holiday or $2000 cash - yeah right! It was actually not a bad concept and we could have been interested if we had been contemplating a big overseas holiday. Our friendly little salesgirl called the manager in to help close the deal - what an oaf! He did not like our questions and got quite aggressive. I (Sue) was smoking - it’s not like me to get mad with strangers, but I wasn’t letting him get away with not answering valid, due diligence type questions. In the end, he commented that we were probably quite interested until he sat down to talk to us, and I emphatically agreed with him! We laughed about it afterwards - but we have won a week in a resort (mostly in GC) for only a $199 booking fee. Maybe we’ll take it, maybe we wont! Can’t believe we let ourselves be conned in to giving up 2 hours of hour first day here!

We went to a lovely restaurant across the road for dinner - I love the al fresco dining you can do in in these warmer climates. I noticed a whole lot of people walking through the restaurant (one at a time) and onto the street carrying kitchen implements. They seem to go around the corner and then come back. I was puzzled to the point of wanting to flag down the waiter to ask why - it was so bizarre! Fortunately, the penny dropped (before I embarrassed myself) when I realised that all the men carried a whisk, and the women a ladle - the toilet keys were attached to the devices, presumably so people wouldn’t put the keys in their pocket and take them home! Mind you, I was further perplexed when I then saw men with the ladle and ladies with the whisk - best not ask!!

So, a lot of laughs on our first day on Oz.

Back to the apartment for the Australian Idol final - doesn’t screen in NZ until Friday, so I won’t say who won, but off to bed at 9.30 pm, after a 21 and a half hour day.

Tired but happy to be here at last!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Back home

We're now back home via Sydney airport, with very pleasant memories of Adelaide. The last couple of blog posts and photos didn't upload properly, so here are a few random photos of Adelaide artwork to finish.




Saturday, September 5, 2009

Glenelg, finally

Well, we finally made it to Glenelg. What a pretty spot! It is to the south-west of the city but with a westerly aspect, so there was a beautiful sunset view. Bitterly, bitterly cold breeze though – straight from the Antarctic. It must be glorious in the summer.


We all went intending to have genuine Aussie fish and chips for dinner, since we were beside the sea. But the restaurant was a steak bar and their steaks were spectacular, so the girls had to succumb to temptation. They had a 1 kilo rump challenge, in which you got your meal for half price and a free tee shirt if you could knock it off in 30 minutes. I am sure I would have been up for the challenge on another day, but I ordered the more delicate serving of porterhouse instead. It was a tasty meal and a bit easier on the pocket than the night before!

Earlier in the day, Janet and I went on a tour of the Haighs chocolate factory. It was interesting to watch everything being hand made and decorated (and to sample of course!) There are Haighs shops everywhere in Adelaide.

While we were there, Allan did the museum and Phil took a train ride. Allan had earlier walked up to 'Light's Vision Lookout' with views overlooking the city and Adelaide Oval.


I’ve mentioned before how friendly the locals are – it is amazing how welcoming and willing to go out of their way they are. It will be a lasting memory of Adelaide for me.


The other memorable thing is the structure of the town, with the four terraces around the city centre and then parks all around. There is the free tram across from the North to the South Terrace, and a free bus that goes around the big square, so they have made it really easy for tourists to get around. There are statues and art works all around the city so it’s a lovely place to visit, although I’d probably say that a week is enough to see most of the things you would want to see.

Friday, September 4, 2009

Private Fashion Show

A bit damp this morning – I think we brought the rain with us, as South Australia is actually the driest state in Australia.


We pottered around the shops again in the morning, and then met up for lunch. After that we visited the Migrants Museum.


Adelaide is different to Melbourne and Sydney in that you don’t see a lot of Italians and Greeks, nowhere near as cosmopolitan as the other bigger cities. The amazing thing we saw at the Museum was the criteria that immigrants had to meet until around 1960 – you had to be a white European for a start. They made potential immigrants do a dictation test, and the language was up to the officers – could be Hungarian, Spanish, never mind that the immigrant didn’t speak that language.

After that, we started on a trail of events to get us to dinner at Glenelg (by the sea). Talk about best laid plans! We got on a tram for what should have been a 45 minute ride - we’d booked dinner and planned a walk along the beach first. Well, we got one block of our tram ride before it stopped because of an accident at the next intersection. No problem, we thought, we’ll pop back to the hotel for a pre-dinner drink and try again later. So off we went at 5.15. The guy at the tram stop told us we could pick up a tram on the other side of the accident site – a few blocks up. Got there to be told the tram would be along in a few minutes. Half an hour later – no tram, but Janet had got talking to a lady on the platform who’d given her the lowdown on the local restaurants. She recommended one called Auge, which was nearby so we changed plans and went there. It was to die for – Italian food, lovely surroundings and supreme service, and the blokes nearly had a heart attack when they saw the bill too! Anyway, it was a wonderful night.


We ambled home via a ‘lantern’ – a building lit up in changing colours which was quite stunning. Then back down Rundle Mall, and we stumbled upon a dress rehearsal for a fashion show opening in the Mall on Friday. So there we are standing in the rain watching these slinky models strutting their stuff.

All in all, not your usual night out, but a lot of fun was had by all.

The Rocking Horse

Forgot to mention we ran across the biggest rocking horse in the world somewhere in the Adelaide hills. Didn't do any rocking, but we did find out it was 3265 km back to Wellington!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Adelaide Hills

We found a gorgeous Italian restaurant last night – very authentic, fantastic food and pretty expensive, but a wonderful dining experience. This holiday will have to be the last hurrah as far as eating up large is concerned!

Today (Wednesday) we hired a rental car and went up into the Adelaide Hills – the weather was pretty good and the location quite pretty – quite small hills by Wellington standards, but picturesque.


There is a lot of german history here, which we didn’t know, so there was sauerkraut and kranski for lunch. We also found a lookout with views over the city to the sea, although the rain and a cool wind had set in by then.


We arrived back to rush hour traffic – nothing like Wellington’s, but since there are no motorways in Adelaide, the traffic lights made it a slow trip.

All in all, four tired travellers tonight, but we’ll recover in time for tomorrow’s expeditions.

Barossa Valley

It was a very early start today (Tuesday) as we joined a bus tour of the Barossa Valley. There were 15 of us – the rest were all Aussies, but we’ve had a great time. We visited 5 vineyards, all quite different, but all interesting. We went to Wolf Blass where the other three all sampled shirazes that sell for $350 per bottle. We had lunch at a lovely place which would make an exquisite wedding venue, and another highlight was the Langmeil vineyard, which had some vines which were 160 years old.



The predominant wines here are reds, which suited Janet and Phil and Allan, but I tried some lovely Rieslings. It is a lovely area and our tour guide was friendly and knowledgeable, so all in all, a great day. And the weather held!

Monday a shopping day

Yet another showery day – shame! No choice but to go shopping really! Janet and I left the boys behind and hit Rundle Mall. I did really well and managed to get my summer wardrobe well under way, but Janet did better – 3 hours in one shop and 14 pieces added to the collection! The blokes arrived for a bit of lunch and then we headed back for our Nana Naps!

Later in the afternoon, we jumped on the free ‘loop’ bus and toured the town. It really is very pretty, there are four streets (north, east, south and west) each a mile long in a square with the city inside and parks and greenery surrounding the square.

We ate Thai food for dinner – a little spicy but very tasty. There is a free tram that runs across the square, so we came and
went for free.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Rundle Street Market

Much refreshed after a good night’s sleep. The hotel is great – spacious and modern, with two bedrooms and two bathrooms – and views to die for (Not!!!!! Have a look at the pictures!) Brilliant location also, so we’re happy with our choice.


We’ve been to the market today – quite a food emphasis there too. We sampled Dutch baby pancakes, nougat, fudge and some clever battered and fried spiral cut potatoes (see photo). Didn’t really need lunch, but we had some anyway!



Also had a lovely walk along the river bank – it is a very pretty city, and the walk was very pleasant – until it rained again!

Saturday - where we lose our duty-free

We’re here!! A very early start – a 3.30am wake up for a 6 am flight, all in a gusty Wellington wind. The rock and rolling started on the runway, but apart from another bumpy patch towards the end of the Sydney leg, it soon calmed down.

The day was most memorable for an encounter with Aussie border control. Even though we were completing customs at Adelaide, with just a transit stopover in Sydney, we had to go through security to re-board. Of course the ‘no liquids’ policy was enforced – if only someone had told us before we bought our duty free refreshments at Wellington airport! So each couple had to forfeit a bottle to the Border Control Christmas Party stash! Gutted! Luckily, I was allowed to keep my two bottles of perfume.

It was raining when we landed at Adelaide so we headed straight to our hotel, checked in and then grabbed some lunch – some indulged in some very sweet treats (but not me, of course!) Then it was back for a nana nap – it had been a long day!

We found a little French Bistro down the road for dinner – fairly rustic, and they had run out of a lot of our choices from the menu, but friendly and cheerful.

We're off to Adelaide tomorrow

We’ll it’s been 15 months since we last journeyed overseas so it is definitely time! We are off to Adelaide tomorrow (Saturday) with our friends Phil and Janet. It’s the first time there for three of us, so looking forward to new experiences and sights.