roadquill1

Hello dear family and friends. 
As you might have guessed, things have been busy for us as we tried to pack in as much as possible in our last days in Australia, then catch our flight to Auckland and begin to sort out our explorations there.

As an aside…I have been trying to get photos to post into WordPress, but with the size of the photos that my 12 megapixel camera takes, I have not had a great time shrinking them to easily upload. I did manage to get photos ready, but then I have had little time left to upload and share these images from our travels. Since many of the images from earlier blog postings from this trip have been posted on Facebook, and Instagram, I won’t post those again in WordPress. Instead, I hope to be able to show pics beginning from travels at Lakes Entrance…however, not this time! We are currently in a very remote rural setting once again, with no cell signal. There is wifi, but it is a bit slow, so to get on with the tale…

Day 21: Tuesday, February 21

A cab took us to the Canberra airport, and we caught our flight to Brisbane. At the airport, we caught the commuter train and headed into Brisbane where Sandy’s cousin, Cindy Henderson, met us at the South Brisbane station. From there, we walked the 6 or 7 blocks to the apartment hotel that she had booked for us. (We carry large backpacks on our backs, and small backpacks in front. It works well, and my total pack weight is 13.5 kg, while Sandy’s is about 12 kg.)

Our hotel was beautiful with gorgeous views of the Brisbane city out one set of windows, and a fantastic sunset out the opposite side. A short hike to supper at a street diner, and then this day was done!

Day 22 – Day 23: Wednesday – Thursday, February 22 – 23

We hiked into the city centre, and then hiked, and then hiked and then hiked some more until my feet threatened to file abuse charges. Cindy was a fantastic guide, (like Nicki, and Gabe and Ursula in earlier days), and we saw just about everything in walking distance in the next 2 days! (My walking app showed about 13 – 16 km each day!) This would be a good thing since our very wonderful dining had to be burned off. Our activities included jumping on and off of a free river commuter ferry and riding it through town, seeing street performances (a gold-painted performer hanging onto a staff, who would raise his feet to his butt while hanging onto the top of the staff, and then remain in a seated lotus position with his body about a meter off the ground), riding to the top of the bell-tower in city hall and getting a free history lesson on its existence, admiring the beautiful architectures of modern and historical buildings, touring through the Botanical Gardens, taking a guided tour of the Roma Gardens, and finally, Cindy and I took the climb to the top of the Story Bridge at dusk on Thursday evening while Sanderella did our laundry. (Actually, Sandy was doing what she wanted to, as were we!) The bridge is 80 meters high – about the same as the trestle over Summerland Creek – and Sandy and I have walked over that, pushing bikes on the railway ties – before it had railings or was made safe for hikers!

Cindy had to leave on Friday for Adelaide, so Sandy and I walked some more, saw more stuff, ate some more food, and then, packed up on Saturday and caught the express commuter train to community of Currumbin, in the highly popular Gold Coast area. 

Day 25 – 26: Saturday – Sunday

My cousin, Gus Whitmore, and his wife, June, met us at the Varsity Lakes station having invited us to their lovely apartment at Currumbin Sands (where they book a 2 month stay every year in order to spend time with their son, daughter-in-law, and 2 lovely grandchildren). For the next 2 days, they gave us the royal treatment and showed us some spectacular sites. On Saturday, a beautiful sunny day with strong winds, as we made our way towards the apartment, they took us on a tour of beach areas south of the major centre of Surfers’ Paradise. The place is aptly named, with surfers everywhere! In the evening, we were able to catch a view of the Southern Cross, with the help of an App on our iPads called Star Walk. On Sunday they took us on a trip over the mountains into the volcanic valley of Murwillumbah where we stopped for coffee at a converted railway car – the Red Rattler, visited a pottery shop in Chillingham, and then toured the art gallery (where we also had a great lunch). Back at Currumbin in the evening, we watched the buildup of a thunderstorm off the Pacific. Our weather App showed its progress and, true to form, showed a continuation of the rainy weather pattern into the next few days.

Day 27: Monday

On a showery morning, with umbrellas handy, Gus dropped us off at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Beginning with a feeding of the Lorikeets, we had a fabulous time in a very beautiful setting of local wildlife and presentations. Much of the work and help is handled by volunteers. Sandy’s joy at hand-feeding lorikeets, and kangaroos (both with specially provided foods) was fun to watch! Later, I opted to watch a reptile presentation (480 species of snakes in Oz, and more being discovered all the time), while she chose a sheep-shearing demonstration. 

The afternoon was cool and wet, but the younger members of the Whitemore clan joined us for supper at the Surf Club. It was the first time that I had met my cousins (twice removed) – Tom (10) and Sophie (8) two very accomplished sabot sailors.

Day 28: Tuesday, February 28

This was our last day in Australia, as Gus and June dropped us back at the train station for our run to the airport, and our flight to Auckland at 11:20. We landed at 5:30, and quickly made our way through customs. Waiting for us were Lynn and Philip Chatfield. Lynn (formerly Lynn Schoop of Nanaimo) has been a long-time friend of Sandy, and was a teaching colleague when she lived in Nanaimo. Philip then drove through heavy Auckland rush-hour traffic to show us some city highlights – volcano hills – Mount Eden, and Mount Victoria, and vistas of the sprawling beautiful city with its many bays and inlets. We found a lovely restaurant in the community of Davenport, and then headed out to their stunningly beautiful property in Coatesville. (Auckland encompasses a large number of suburbs under its jurisdiction. It would be like Vancouver council having authority of all the communities out past Abbotsford!) The day had been beautiful, and we were able to see the beauty of Auckland under clear skies!

It is past time to close this too long entry! I apologize for the delay in communications and hope that a few of you are still following us.

Much love and best wishes to all and as we think of the chilly, wet, and frequently snowy weather we are missing, and…we are not!

Sandy, (the Quilter) and Tony (the Quill)

PS We are continually grateful to many folks who continue to make our trip a wonderful experience by sharing their time and knowledge of the areas with us. I will close the chapters on Australia by once again thanking Nicki Vance, for tours of Sydney, Tuross, and Canberra, Gabe Gajdatsy and Ursula Wall for sharing the Eden area with us, Cindy Henderson for her thorough research into places to visit in the Brisbane area, and to cousins Gus and June Whitmore for introducing us to the Gold Coast and Currumbin area. More about our NZ hosts and advisors soon.