Diamond Head

Diamond head rises above Waikiki & you can walk up it an about 45 minutes. It isn't an arduous climb, but it takes some doing. The crater of the extinct volcano (above) is the start point of the climb.

 The view from the top of Diamond head is pretty spectacular. That is Gotham city (Waikiki) in the background & Pearl harbour is in the distance behind.

Pearl Harbour & Dole Plantation

Hawaii is very touristy, to say the least, & the Pearl Harbour Memorial is the epitome of just that. The folks from the US of A lap it up. But I was very unimpressed.

First you watch a half hour film about the Pearl Harbour attack. It didn't tell me anything that I hadn't already seen on the History Channel. Then they take you out to the wreck of the USS Arizona, where there is a memorial to those who died that day. The memorial itself is actually quite ugly, to be honest (below). They tell you that the oil droplets on the surface under the memorial are from the ship's fuel stores, but rumour has it that the yanks leak it intentionally for the tourists.

Lucky it was free, because I would have felt cheated otherwise.

While we were waiting for the memorial, we went next door to the USS Bowfin, a WWII submarine. It was much more interesting than the memorial. They give out a headset that gives you a self guided audio tour of the vessel.

The highlight was the active amphibious assault ship (AAS) coming into port at the time. (see left of picture below). They look a bit like an aircraft carrier but only accommodate helicopters, Osprey and other S.T.O.L. aircraft, not jets.
The battleship USS Missouri was pretty impressive. Battleships have given way to Carrier groups these days.

Dole Pineapple Plantation

This is the most touristy thing on Oahu. The Dole Plantation. It was OK, but was seriously corny! For those who have been to the Big Pineapple in Queensland, the train was like that, except the narration was corny and the plantation was a bit unkempt. We do these things to tick the box and say we've done it. Having said that, the pineapple sorbet in the waffle cones were awesome!

The new room doesn't have the view, but it is heaps quieter and the view at night is better.

Flight to Hawaii

Our trip from Christchurch to Hawaii started pretty well. Kerri, her Nanna and me, all boarded the trusty 737 for the short flight up to Auckland. We even arrived on time (more or less).

After a fairly brisk maneuver from Auckland domestic airport to the international terminal, we just cleared customs in time to get on the flight. We even taxied and powered up to take off. We got about 100m before the pilot shut the engines down and headed back to the terminal. Four hours later the plane was fixed and we were off again.

This is about the only highlight of our horrible travel day. The photo below was taken as we were flying past Fiji.

We finally arrived in Honolulu at about 1.30am instead of the 9.30pm as originally planned. To make things worse, the customs officials in trying to speed things up, shafted us big time! We were about mid pack in the line and ended up being the last through the customs gate. Our suit cases were already off the carousel and being looked at as abandoned baggage. It was 3.30am before we turned the light out at the hotel.
We didn't surface until 9.30am and this is the view from our hotel room. It overlooks the entire Waikiki strip.

Unfortunately we had to let it go. The wall next to our heads backed onto the lift well. It meant that we thought there were road works in progress down on the street. We figured that we weren't going to be in the hotel much and a good night sleep was more important than the view.

Hamner Springs

In with the Relatives

It pays to be on your best behaviour when spending time with your partner's family. I didn't really follow my own theory much at all & still managed to get in the good books.

Check my form with a monster piece of Kerri's Mum's Pavlova. It was a good one too! Not as good as my own mother's Pavs of course! Gee it was a good one though.

Here is a nice family portrait, but it isn't my family (yet)! Pictured left to right:- back row - Yours truly, Pat Barrott (Kerri's Dad); front row - Kerri, Iris Stevenson (Kerri's grandmother), Jeanette Barrott (Kerri's Mum).

A spot of mini golf before heading back to Christchurch.

This photo is of Frog Rock (can you see it?) You see it along on the road to Hanmer Springs. The rock even has its own railway station!

Hamner Springs

Kerri's parents took us up to Hanmer Springs for two nights. Hanmer Springs is about an hour and a half's drive north of Christchurch. Apparently it has become a bit touristy these days (it has a bit of a Queenstown feel to it).
Geothermal activity brings hot water to the surface from the water table. They filter it and pipe it into man made pools.

There are about a dozen pools of varying temperatures. The coldest are about 28 deg C & the hottest are 39. You can go pool hopping or just stay there & turn into a prune. It is really quite nice on a cold day (or night).

Hanmer Springs sits at the foot of conical hill. It's not a huge mountain, but it takes about 45 mins casual walk to get up there. The view's not bad.

This bridge/ravine is the focus of yet another NZ adrenaline sports centre. You can Bungee jump, jet boat, white water raft, quad bike or off road go cart. The river in picture is the Hanmer River.

Noah (below) is Kerri's Mum's dog. He's the dog you have when you don't really have a dog. I have copped a bunch of abuse for taking the piss out of the mop, but it has been so worth it!

Ashburton

We spent 2 days (well 2 half days) down at Ashburton visiting Kerri's Grandmother. Ashburton is about an hour's drive from Christchurch. It's a farming hub for the mid Canterbury region. I also met a few more of Kerri's relatives.

Below is the Ashburton Domain. It's a big public park & is really quite pretty in autumn.

Rakaia

Rakaia is a small town a short drive north of Ashburton. It appears to be a big time fishing hub. Check out the 20 ft salmon.

Christchurch Gondola and Scarborough

Christchurch Gondola

Today was all about a ride in the gondola up to the top of the same hill we had driven up the night before. Great views, but it was blowing a gale at the top. I managed to take a few nice shots.

Kerri's Mum, Jeanette, came up with us.

I quite like the photo below. It has a whole bunch of different features. Note the sun reflection on the other gondola, the road below us, the ridge running across the shot & the landscape in the background.

Lyttleton Harbour

This was one side of the view from the top of the gondola. I stitched two pictures together for this one. Christchurch was actually started from this harbour until it became too big for itself & city was founded on the other side of the ridge.

The photo below was taken on the other side of the ridge to the one above. It is by no means all of Christchurch, but it is the prettier part by the ocean. The other shots just didn't come out too well because of the haze.

Scarborough Beach

This is one of the other Scarborough beaches around the world. Not a nice as the Perth version as far as beach goes, but quite nice all the same.

There is a clock tower at the beach for some reason. Interesting with the cliffs & houses in the backdrop.

Christchurch City Tour

Today we did a little sight seeing tour of Christchurch. There wasn't a huge amount to see, but we kept ourselves amused for the day. The most noticeable thing was the lack of high rise buildings. It must be the only CBD I've seen that doesn't have a bunch of sky scrapers. I think it's a good thing.

We bought a hop on hop off tram ticket for the day and Kerri did the tour guide thing around the city. The trams only run a loop around the city. They were phased out way back.

The most interesting thing was the little café area (above) that is covered where the tram actually drives through the building. (Well I thought it was interesting anyway.) Notice the egg above the tram.

On the ½ hour the egg opens like a cuckoo clock & has odd little animated scenes with Moa birds, Maori hunters, rugby players and bungee jumpers. There is also a voice over with music.

A very strange tourist attraction, but worth a giggle.

They really love their rugby over here!

This is a talking point around Christchurch for all the wrong reasons (See left of the picture above). It is meant to be a chalice representing something to do with the native flora. Unfortunately the leaves all look like wacky weed & the chalice looks like a cone. No wonder everyone thinks the city of Christchurch is on drugs!

One of the places we did go was to the Museum. It was OK. There seemed to be a big emphasis on the Moa bird and the New Zealand Antarctic mission. There was also a Penny Farthing bicycle that you could hop on (above).

After dinner, Kerri's dad, Pat, drove us up into the the hills above the city. Cities always look better at night. The view was great, but the wind was howling & it was very cold. We tended to stay inside the car as much as possible.

The cold wind that had been at it all day kept us rugged up and huddled together during our sightseeing tour.

Away at last!!!

I finally feel like I'm on Holidays! After a hectic week in Perth & a week in Brisbane (and a couple of days Tannum Sands not mentioned on this blog that wasn't much more relaxing).
After we cleared Australian customs, we had a 2 hour wait for the flight. Luckily the airport in Brisbane has free wireless internet. Bonus! So I spent the time updating the blog site that I hadn't been able to get to as we were too busy. All the hotels we have booked in North America have free high speed wireless internet which will be great.

Northern New South Wales

So after a bunch of big cat diary entries, on to more of the trip.
After the day at Dreamworld, we stayed down at Kingscliffe. Nice part of the world. Great beaches & it hasn't been used & abused like the Gotham City (Surfer's Paradise). We stayed in a nice hotel (Mantra on Salt) for a discount rate. Nice place.
The next morning we had breakfast with Kerri's Auntie Susan. It was the second time I had met her, having spent time at the Art Gallery a couple of days previous. After that we took the coast road down as far as Cabarita then headed to Susan's place. One of those catch up with relative things that we seem to have done lots of recently.
After a bit of a catch up session, we headed up the valley into the Border Ranges. Really pretty part of the world. Lush & green, and interesting. (I guess you miss that kind of thing living in Perth for a while).
We were in Brisbane just in time to have dinner with friends of mine that I hadn't seen for a year & a half. Caught up with a bunch of others on Thursday night at a pizza shop in Park rd Milton (delicious & cheap!) & a few more at the Royal Exchange Hotel in Toowong.

Dreamworld

We hit Dreamworld for the day. Great fun, but not really conducive to taking photos except for the Tigers. I haven't been there since a physics excursion in grade 11, so it was like going to a new theme park. The most terrifying ride. The Giant Drop. 110m straight down. Nice view from the top, but then it all goes ridiculous. It is as close to the 134m Bungee jump I did in NZ in 2000. (That one was truly terrifying). way scarier than any of the similar rides at the royal shows around the country. Most fun ride. Probably the Wipe Out. Heaps of fun without being scared out of your skin. (The Cyclone Roller Coaster was close behind). Most disappointing. The Tower of Terror. Long line up, and not even close to being as scary as the Giant Drop. Still a good ride, but a bit over rated. Most wet. The Wild Rapids. Not that much of a thrill, but Kerri got 100% soaked & I was only marginally better off.

Dreamworld is mainly about kick arse rides, (which it has plenty of) but it also has a bunch of Bengal Tigers. They have 3 or 4 displays a day with some tricks & a bit of an info talk. See the photo above & the couple in later blog entries.

Anyone who thinks you are safe up a tree from a tiger, think again!

Dreamworld are part of a tiger breeding program & have a couple of 8 week old cubs. They are very cute & very popular. Kez wanted to take one to Canada with us. The photo tells the story.

These tigers don't look at all stressed from their jobs. They do one or maybe two shows a day & get heaps of treats for doing not much. The only one that looked a bit stuffed was the one down the back of this shot. He is involved in the breeding program. It's a tough job!

Even the Bengal Tigers that are from the tropics think that Brisbane is hot. Not too often you see a cat voluntarily sit in water.

Here is a lesson in stuff in Canada.
Dreamworld/tiger island also have a couple of female Cougars. They are magnificent animals but you don't want to cross them. Part of the demonstration was a jump. For a small animal, they have incredible jumping skills. Can't wait until I see some wild animals in Canada.