Three cheers for New Zealand and Australia

exbrnxgrl

Ladies,

Have just returned from your beautiful lands and am overwhelmed by the natural beauty, wonderful people, culture, food, wine and wildlife. I am very well traveled but your two countries just moved to the top of my favorites list. I can't stop gushing over how wonderful things were. How lucky you are to live there.

Caryn

Trisha-Anne

Hello Caryn

I'm so happy you loved our countries - we think they are the best in the world, but ... we are biased lol.

Did you get to do the Harbour Bridge climb? Pics?

Trish

xoxo

exbrnxgrl

Trisha,

Yes, we did the Bridge Climb! It was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. Will try to get some photos posted soon.

Caryn

Ariom

Exbrnxgrl! I thought you may have been home by now. So glad you had a wonderful time.

What was your most memorable experience?

exbrnxgrl

Ariom,

It would be far too difficult to pick a single most memorable experience. I was enthralled by just about everything! Here are some highlights:

NZ:

Auckland, big city, small town feel. A great starting point, wonderful people and lovely museum.

Tauranga, cute resort town.Kiwi vines, who knew they grew on vines? Golden kiwi, yum! I've only seen the green ones in the US. Manuka honey, beautiful flavor.

Rotorua, I have never seen so much geo-thermal activity in my life! Hot springs, bubbling mud pools and geysers. Loved the Maori village around the springs and the delicious hangi pies as well as the fierce Hakka dance. It was also a pleasure to soak my tired feet in the hot springs foot bath at the public park, smack in the middle of Rotorua. As a side note, I fell in love with the big plastic tomato shaped ketchup dispensers I saw in many casual restaurants and bought one in Akaroa. Nope, we don't have them in the US. Kitschy but cute.

Akaroa,sweet and picturesque with a French flair. Lovely little museum and good sea shell collecting.

Dunedin, one word: Cadbury! Great factory tour including lots of samples. The train station was gorgeous and I loved the Settler's Museum

Fiordlands National Park, just breathtaking, especially Milford Sound. I saw some amazing waterfalls and despite the cold and the wind (though clear and sunny), could not pull myself off of the ship's deck. Majestic!

Crossing the Tasman sea was rough. There was a storm that the captain tried to go around but it was a wild night. It sounded and felt as if the ship was being pummeled by a battering ram. I didn't get sick, but didn't sleep much either.

Australia

Hobart, I am in love with you. The yachts were in the harbor for the Sydney to Hobart race AND the Taste of Tasmania Festival was in full swing. Possum confit, wallaby burritos, scallop pie, licorice ice cream and great wine. I really liked the Salamanca area too. Also visited Richmond and the Bonorong Wildlife Sancturay. Those Tasmanian Devils are cute, but vicious things. Most importantly, I bought my first vintage Glomesh purse. I collect vintage and antique mesh purses but have never had a Glomesh. This is definitely a place where I could live.

Melbourne, as I love open air markets, I spent the morning at the Queen Victoria Market. The fresh produce was remarkable. I wish I could have brought it all home with me. Spent the afternoon wandering around the city. Great architecture, especially liked the Flinders St. Train Station.

Sydney, the grand finale! What can I say about climbing the Harbour Bridge? There are simply no words to describe standing at the summit and looking down on Sydney Harbour, not to mention how triumphant I felt at the accomplishment. Me! A woman who is not crazy about heights and has stage IV bc actually climbed that beautiful bridge. I was exhausted by the afternoon and wandered (hobbled) about Sydney in a bit of a daze. Off to the airport in the evening,tired but happy and hoping to return one day.

The only thing I didn't like? Vegemite. I suppose one has to grow up on it

Caryn

Racy

exbrnxgrl, so glad you enjoyed your trip! I have been to most of the places you mentioned. Just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

A friend has recently been to NYC and loved it.

So many great places in the world to visit!

Australia and NZ have a very close relationship, shared history and similar cultures.

I follow and enjoy your posts .

Racy

Three cheers in Australia is 'Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oii, Oii, Oii!' (pronouned oy, oy, oy). In NZ, they have the Haka Maori war dance!

chrissyb

Caryn sounds like your trip was just fantastic!  Australia is way bigger than most people think and extremely diverse in the scenery and wildlife.........it's great when we hear that a visitor has fallen in love with our wide brown land!  So glad you accomplished all that you set out to do and enjoyed the doing with all your heart.

Love n hugs.    Chrissy

midnight1327

Caryn, you taught me  something about my own country that i did realise,  had always been under the impression that the cadbury  factory was in  christchurch, and its in Dunedin, wow see, takes a visitor to teach us about our  country lol. , glad you had a magificant time visiting  our countries.  Did you see any bunjie jumping of the bridges while you were in south island.? that is some thing i would never have the courage to do. take care xx

Fitzy

Fabulous overview of your trip Caryn. Glad you loved east Coast Oz, I agree Tasmania is amazing! Good tips on NZ for me, as I'm going with my youngest son next week, flying into Queenstown and then onto Christchurch, Wellington, Taupo, Rotorua, Hobbiton & finally Auckland, a big LOTR/Hobbit focus for us. Off to eat my vegemite toast for morning tea! 

midnight1327

Fitzy,  i got to enjoy vegemite when the factory got destroyed in Christchurch that our marmite was disitributed from with the big earth quake they had  down there,  believe me marmite was gold and they were selling it on  trade me, like your ebay, for heaps as they knew how people liked it, like 25 bucks for a small jar,out rages, i  got two jars that cost 15 bucks for two and  postage,,but after that, i just started with the vegemite and really got to like that too. marmite is fav in nz,  and people knew how ro capitalise on it whe it was in short supply, actually no supply for some time. over a year anyway. i am pleased i can eat both, marmite and vegemite.with out a  problem.

exbrnxgrl

Fun to read thoughts on Vegemite vs. Marmite. These are truly foreign foods to the average American! My SIL's sister was having breakfast with us one morning and had a plate with a croissant on it and a large dark mound of some sort of spread. When I asked her what it was, she said it was chocolate. "Um, no, I told her. I think it's Vegemite." She insisted it was chocolate and slathered a large amount on her croissant, took a huge bite and screamed. It was, indeed, Vegemite! I did get to taste the legendary Timtams. Yummy cocoa flavor, enjoyed by all. Here's an interesting food fact. KinderSurprise eggs are illegal in the US. Fine for bringing even one in can be up to $2,500 USD. I believe the US is the only country that has this ban. My SIL's brother took this as some sort of challenge and purchased a half dozen which he successfully smuggled in. Even gets even funnier. My older dd, who did not go on this trip with us, just told me that there is a man who runs a shawarma shop near her office. Apparently, he sells them illegally and she is planning to buy some from him later this week. Imagine, an illegal KinderSutprise dealer!

Lastly, I heard the Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi chant a lot. The majority of passengers were Aussies, followed by Kiwis. Less than 500 Americans on board. Lovely company to be amongst.

Ariom

What a great update Caryn! I am so thrilled that you loved it so much and it seems all went smoothly for you.

I too, love the harbor in Tasmania, and having lived most of my life in Melbourne, the "Vic Market", as it is affectionately known was always the fave for weekend shopping. It sells everything and the cafe's are really great too.

I have a Vegemite story for you...my Husband and all of his family eat Vegemite on Coffee Scrolls, they are called Cinnamon buns, I think, in the US, yes the ones with icing sugar frosting on top, definitely sweet, not savory, and they pile it on thick! I still shake my head when he asks for one of those.

Let me know if there is a style of Glowmesh or Oroton that you are looking for. I come across them in our local Opp Shops quite often, so could easily send to you.

Thanks again for the great rundown, so glad it was everything you wanted it to be!

Racy

Caryn, reading posts from you and your North American sisters, I know we have a lot in common despite our various cultural ideosyncrasies (sp?)!

I'm sure I would enjoy visiting US as much as you have 'down under'. I hope to one day.

midnight1327

just adding a little bit more to the marmite and vegemite, my DH fav sammy is  potatoe chips and marmite and also  a fav of  my Bil, my sis husband.  plain chippies and marmite between bread. be salty to me, . i prefer the salad sammys with red  oinion and ham. and bean sprouts. cucumber yummy.

Trisha-Anne

Well I'm an Aussie that has never liked Vegemite!! 

Why on earth are KinderSurprise illegal in the US?  Do they have some sort of drug in them? Lol.

I meant to say Caryn, when I read about your Glomesh collecting, it reminded me that I think I have a purse tucked away in a dressing table drawer somewhere.  I'll have to have a look and see if I still have it.  If I do it's yours!

Trish

xoxox

exbrnxgrl

Apparently, the Food and Drug Aministration, FDA, does not allow non-functional, non-food items to be embedded in a food item. Hence, the stick in a lollipop or ice cream bar is alright as it has a function but the plastic egg/ toy in in KinderSurprise is not. As I've come to understand , there is small but thriving black market economy for KinderSurprise Eggs! The thought of some of these transactions resembling a drug deal, crack me up.

Trisha-Anne, thanks for thinking of me and Glomesh. For the most part, my collection is Whiting&Davis and Mandalian, which were both US made. I was excited to buy my first Glomesh in Richmond.

Caryn