phileasandfogg

2008-08-10T02:54:00.000-07:00

So we come to our final posting and as you can see we are still smiling and still together after 36 weeks and 4 days on the road! We have not stopped talking about our journey since we returned although we try to tone it down when other people are around. Comments like 'do you remember...', 'where were we when...', 'what was the name of....'? Memories return at unexpected moments, a taste, smell or noise can trigger off a thought and take us back months to a small town in the outback or a journey that we took. As we sort through paperwork, documents, souvenirs and photos we are constantly reminded of places and people. We are catching up with friends and family and we are asked similar questions in a variety of formats - 'what was our favourite place, which place/country would we want to return to, what did we miss the most, what have we learnt, how have we changed, what did we enjoy the most, what are our most vivid memories, what will we do next?' It is, of course, almost impossible to answer these questions with a single answer but we thought on this final post we would try.

The best thing in many ways about our journey were the people that we met. Everywhere we went people were interested to talk about what we were doing. Our accents often attracted attention, many not recognising that we were from the UK but assuming Australia/New Zealand as our country of origin! Some thought that we were ex-pats living abroad as we were in places where tourists from the UK were not often met. After journeys by coach, ferry, train and plane we have exchanged e mail addresses and passed on our blog address to fellow travellers. We have heard from a number of these people already and through meeting them we have learnt a little about their countries and lives. We have been reminded of the kindness and generosity of strangers; help when we arrived late at our first RV park and a warm welcome from fellow campers, hospitality from people we had only ever spoken to over the phone but who had received a recommendation from family and friends about these two English travellers who would certainly make good house guests!

As for the places, how can you distinguish between Canada and Vietnam, forests of Douglas Fir or Tingle trees, Sydney and New York? If Phileas had to chose a place it would be New Zealand, but then we did spend the longest time there; for Fogg it would be a small village on the banks of the Mekong River in Laos or the town of Riverton in South Island, New Zealand. But there again what about Halong Bay, the farm, Devonport, Western Australia, The Flinders, Tasmania, Vancouver Island, Kangaroo Island, Yosemite.............? The list is endless or we can look at it a different way. How about the beaches, the trees, the wildlife, the food, coffee and wine, the softness of the water!! Or the things we did; train journeys, Fogg's wonderful sail on NZ 41 an America's Cup yacht, the helicopter ride over the NZ glaciers, the seaplane flight in BC, the overnight trip on Doubtful Sound, albatrosses on the Otago Penninsula or the close encounters with these amazing birds off Kaikoura; don't forget the whales and the dolphins oh! and of course the sea otters! Shall I go on?

What did we miss? Family and friends at home, decent TV (thank goodness for the BBC!!), the English countryside. Of course we didn't realise how much they were missed until we returned! Food is universal, Vegemite is a great substitute for Marmite but hey, we wanted to try local food as much as possible although we both drew the line at barbequed rats in Laos!!

So what did we learn? Well, a cliche we know, but people are basically the same the whole world over. It doesn't matter what colour their skin is, what God they worship, how much money they have. People are good and kind and the one's that aren't are in the minority. This is a very small and fragile planet and the concerns of one country (environment, cost of housing, education, human rights, politicians etc) are universal. We now know that our knowledge of world history is very poor as is our understanding of key issues in post colonial New Zealand, Australia and Canada. This gap in our knowledge can be rectified and it will be all the more interesting to learn about the history of places now that we have visited them. We have also been reminded of how lucky we are.

The future? In the short term Phileas is back in the classroom and Fogg is a full time painter/printmaker with some teaching too. We have friends and family to catch up with, letters to write, a home and garden to look after, 'stuff' to deal with. Longer term, who knows. Fogg already has itchy feet and we are both remembering fondly the simplicity of life on the road. Another long journey? We think not but we are both keen to continue travelling, we only touched a very small part of the world.

How have we changed? Again hard to say but I think that we will look at life in a more relaxed way, realising now that what is important for us is people and that if something is urgent it will get done and if it doesn't, well the world won't come to an end. It is difficult though not to fall into old habits of worrying about a bit of paper or a dusty corner!

Would we recommend what we have done? Yes, unreservedly. This journey has been one of the most amazing experiences of our lives and we have memories to last a lifetime.

We hope that you have enjoyed reading our blog, thank you to all of you who have commented on it. We leave you with our best wishes.

Phileas and Fogg

The Big Apple part 2

2008-07-26T08:49:00.000-07:00

Here she is posing with her Tiffany purchases, what a happy bunny!!!
We leave you with some images and we feel that they speak for themselves. The Chrysler Building (Phileas' favourite).

The United Nations General Assembly, despite its critics a wonderful organisation.

Times Square where we went to see the Broadway production of 'Legally Blonde - the musical'!!

Fogg particularly likes this final image. There are some wonderful Victorian buildings with ornate decoration and fascinating fire escapes. This in Little Italy our favourite place for dinner.

We fly home today and will post a final 'thoughts' blog on our return.

Thank you for reading and your comments, we are glad you have enjoyed our postings.

Best wishes from Phileas and Fogg.

Farewell Canada, hi to The Big Apple (part 1)

2008-07-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

Well, we are now in New York on the final day of our journey and so we are posting our final two blogs. We loved Canada, a beautiful country and wonderful people not least Fogg's cousin John and his wife Faith and my mum's cousin Sally and her husband Russell. We have been reminded on our travels of the importance of family and it has been brilliant to explore New York with our youngest daughter Hannah.
Anyway back to Canada and Ottawa a delightful capital city with the UNESCO World Heritage Rideau Canal and locks. We had a gentle trip on the canal learning a little of the history of this part of Canada. It made us realise how little we know of North American history, must rectify that on our return.
Fogg here. It is worthy of note that the Rideau Canal is frozen solid for about two months in the winter and is used for recreational skating on a regular basis. It was originally built to move armaments during the war with the Americans in 1812 but it was never used for that purpose. The locks pictured here (seven in total) convey pleasure boats at about six at a time up the steep rise from the Ottawa river. My cousin John and his wife Faith were brilliant tour guides and amongst other things introduced us to the delights of Timmy Hortons, a wonderful chain of coffee shops that sold awesome doughnuts! So our time in Canada came to a close all too soon and we flew to the 'Big Apple' to meet Hannah!
We found a diner and planned our visit. There are so many icons in New York and so little time we have merely scratched the surface and visited a 'few' shops! Central Park is wonderful and it was great to walk there in the shade in the very hot and humid city. Walking past the Dakota building we joined many others at the plaque to John Lennon and also watched turtles in a lake which Phileas, particularly, found exciting. Fogg thought he had escaped more wildlife watching!
Grand Central station is a wonderful building . Phileas commented she thought it was like a Cathedral. So over to her for more commentary.
The Guggenheim was one of the most exciting buildings that we have seen, some great Kandinsky's but Hannah was not too keen on the Louise Bourgeois (some debate here on the spelling!!) and I did find them quite uncomfortable.
We have seen and done so much here that we will post a second New York blog. Suffice to say that this is a crazy, exciting city and we love it!!
Best wishes
Phileas and Fogg

Across Canada, which holds 50% of the world's freshwater!!

2008-07-17T07:52:00.000-07:00

Having travelled for 3 nights across Australia by train we had assumed that the Canadian journey would take less time. How wrong we were, we had not taken into account mountain ranges and lakes that had to be circumnavigated as well as the massive distance across the second largest country in the world, after Russia. This was an awesome journey through high mountain ranges and across water logged plains. Our travelling companions came from many countries and we spent some time talking about politics, art, teaching and shared experiences. The train has dome cars with seats set high under glass roofs which allow wonderful views of the surrounding countryside. The photo shows how long the train was and also that it needed three engines to pull it. The Rockies were absolutely stunning, many still carrying much of their winter snows, their peaks sharp and jagged.
They gave way to the Prairies, not as large and broad as I had imagined but covered with yellow and blue fields of oil seed rape (canola, as it is known here) and flax. These gave way to water, lakes and ponds, rivers and streams all surrounded by miles of forest, silver birch, aspen and of course fir. I was reminded of the Girl Guide song 'Land of the Silver Birch, Home of the Beaver', but Fogg would not let me sing it!! I was delighted to see Beaver lodges but unfortunately no sight of their elusive builders. Fogg is champing at the bit so I will just briefly mention Toronto and Niagara. The former is a great city, full of charm where modern glass edifices jostle with great Victorian architecture. As you can see Fogg has enjoyed himself here. We both had a
wonderful day at Niagara Falls and got wonderfully soaked on the 'Maid of the Mist'. But oh dear what a tacky place!
OK Fogg here you are, best wishes from me, Phileas.
Hi Fogg here at last! Note the 'ear' in the bottom right hand corner of the 'Rockies' photo, probably belonging to Phileas as she was trying to sing Land of the Silver Birch etc.... down mine! Toronto was hosting a Caribbean festival and we came upon a square full of beautiful people celebrating in wondeful costumes. In another square people were beginning to take their places for a free showing of the film Romeo and Juliet and all around there were street entertainers and artists plying their wares.
An exciting, vibrant and proud city which we will continue to explore today. Niagra Falls was crazy. We all got incredibly wet as the photo shows exactly where we were. All aboard were given waterproofs which merely enhanced the humidity already at about 60%!. We all looked very glamourous in our blue plastic bags. On our return to Toronto we stopped to taste some local wine at a winery that specialises in 'Ice wine'. Over to Phileas to explain and to sign off. So goodbye from Fogg for now.
Canada produces about 80% of the world's ice wine and this winery produces 20% of that. The grapes are picked at 2am in January and of course are totally frozen. Crushed immediately the only liquid from each grape is a drop of very sweet nectar. This wine, a dessert wine is fabulous and also very expensive.

So Canada is proving to be a pretty special place as some of our friends at home already know. We havn't finished here yet but must close now. Best wishes from us both, Phileas.

Vancouver Island part 2

2008-07-11T11:49:00.000-07:00

We are ready for our trip from Vancouver to Toronto on the train and so we have time to tell you more about our memories of Vancouver Island. I think that the first thing I want to say is that our previous blog did not do justice to this beautiful island. So two more photographs showing firstly the extraordinary but very common sight of logs on the beaches and secondly a typical view this time taken on the ferry as we returned to the mainland. The logs are either escapees from the massive log barges that float from the forests to the sawmills or they are mature trees that have fallen and been carried down rivers to the sea. Both have been washed or
in some cases thrown onto the beach and the rocks by the winter storms. The wood is weathered and apparently tumbled like pebbles on the beach. It seems mostly just to be left, the sea water making the timber unusable. Some is used by the locals to create dramatic sculptures at the entrance to homes or in gardens. Unfortunately it is too heavy for these travellers!!! I will hand over to Fogg now but I will return later to talk about the Orcas.
Hi. The flying Fogg here!! In Victoria I fullfilled a boyhood dream and we flew in a six seater sea plane. A wonderful experience taking off from the water and cruising over beautiful beaches and
islands whilst looking at the snow capped Olympic mountains in the distance. We wobbled and dipped our way around the tree covered hills north of the city before landing smoothly back in the harbour. This photo shows Phileas alighting daintily from the craft wiping the palms of her hands!!!!!!!!!!! We had amazing views as we were both right by the window and Fogg was sitting right behind the pilot. It was a beautiful day and as ever Phileas was up for more adventures on the water not being content with a relaxing afternoon we were soon back on a boat run by the 'Prince of Whales' company looking for Killer Whales. Phileas has told me to say how much I loved the trip. Actually she does not need to tell me. It was Awesome. We came across a 'super pod' seen only about two or three times a year and we spotted at least twenty. Some in small pods as this photo shows and some 'breaching' but too far away for photos. On a completely different subject I would also like to mention how interesting it has been to learn a little about the North American First Nations peoples and the parallels that can be drawn between them and the Aborigines of Australia a subject I will be following up on our return to England. A brief comment about Victoria. Named after our illustrious Queen it is the capital of British Columbia and in some ways tries to be more British than Britain. It was quite bizarre to see Route Master buses and English pubs lining the streets but it is a wonderful place alive with street performers and 'artists' and a super harbour which was somewhere between Padstow/Hornfleur and Sydney in character. We found an excellent restaurant with harbourside seats from which we could see the parliament building lit up with fairy lights!. (Why don't we do that in London!) I know that Phileas is now champing at the bit to have her say so I wish you all well, Fogg.
Victoria was lovely and I think that as it only had the legislature and not all the commercial buildings it was able to keep a small town feel.
I was a bit nervous about the flight but in fact it was absolutely no problem despite Fogg's comment. The take off and landing were so smooth (it was a very calm day) and we were able to get wonderful views down onto the water and over to the islands and mountains. As for the whales, well that was very special and for me a real privilege. These animals are enormous, the dorsal fin of a fully grown male reaching up to two metres in length. They also swim very fast which made filming difficult and I have a lot of footage of water! At one point a large male came right towards the boat but submerged just as I got him in the view finder. He was identified by his large floppy fin which gave him the name 'Ruffles'! He is a film star having been used as a 'wild extra' in Free Willy!! The small pods were made up of either a male with a couple of 'ladies' or two or three generations of females; all were following the salmon.
We leave Vancouver having only had a short time to explore. This is a very exciting city which needs a revisit, sometime. Until then more adventures to come with a three day train ride across the Rockies and the Prairies to Toronto.

With best wishes, Phileas.

Vancouver Island part 1, in which our intrepid travellers meet a bear!

2008-07-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

We are back after a short intermission, but fear not we have been busy and would like to share with you some of our experiences on Vancouver Island. One key memory for me of this place will be trees, big fir trees like the Douglas Fir but also the Arbutus and the Maple. The logging industry is going through difficult times here but we were still able to see great rafts of logs being floated down the rivers and in the sea to the sawmills. Another abiding memory will be the mountains and the wood clad islands. Even in the middle of summer snow clings to the higher slopes, the image made stronger by the blue sea and sky.
We have also experienced rain especially on the
west coast; we stayed for a few days in Tofino where the rain forest grows down to the sea. Rain forests are best explored in the rain and we were not disappointed. Nor were we disappointed by the wildlife and poor old Fogg was once again dragged off to see the local fauna. We took a wonderful trip to watch black bears, in the wild, feeding at low tide on crabs which they revealed by rolling over the rocks on the beach. We also saw grey whales, Stellar Sealions and much to my delight and suprise sea otters and humming birds (obviously not at the same time nor in the same place!!!). The Bald Eagle, symbol of the USA, lives and thrives around the waters
of the Island. We were very privileged to see a young eagle in the nest stretching its wings whilst being watched by a proud parent. These birds were flying around us and taking off from low branches as the mist was covering the tops of the trees. We have again met some wonderful people here including a number of Fogg's relatives who have been so kind to us and have looked after us when we were feeling very tired. Also Mindy, a lively Schnauzer, who finally decided that we were ok and even allowed herself to sit on our laps for a short while! So all from me now; Fogg will relate the story of the bear although it was me who saw it first! I will never poopoo warning
leaflets about wildlife again, you never know what you might meet round the corner.
Fogg here. I would like to amplify what Phileas has said. My cousin Joan and her partner Keith have been wonderful. They have enhanced our trip here through their generosity and time. Phileas has forgotten to mention the wonderful beaches and the trees and driftwood on the sand. Also the shells and sand dollars exposed by the low tide.
Now, the bear. Whilst having a snooze in a remote and empty car park on the road from Tofino to Nanaimo I was woken sharply by Phileas claiming there was a bear in the car park. Without a thought for his personal safety Phileas forced Fogg to retrieve the cameras from the back of the car whilst the bear sauntered past at some distance (yeah right!!) . Hurrying back to
the driver's seat ( the bear having decided to change direction) Phileas and Fogg both armed with only a camera hid and cunningly snapped and filmed whilst the bear, now called Albear, who thankfully totally ignored us. A wonderful moment. So this is a lucky Fogg who escaped by a gnat's whisker from the jaws of a black bear. As my cousin Joan remarked this morning I always seem to have one foot on the stage. Although I may have embellished this slightly this in fact is a true story! This is Fogg wishing you all well.

California part 2, in which Fogg has some scarey driving moments!

2008-06-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well folks we are safely back in LA after 10 days , well 7, in a small van that took us over 1400 miles along some of the most scarey roads either of us have ever driven on. They were also some of the most beautiful and they took us into two of America's most iconic National Parks, Yosemite and Kings Canyon/Sequoia. Photo one shows El Capitan an enormous hunk of granite that rises several thousand feet above the valley. Yosemite was in the true sense of the word, awesome. Despite the crowds and the traffic and the soaring temperatures (100F) we explored shady meadows, the 5th highest waterfall in the world and deep valleys towered over by huge granite cliffs.
The remaining photos are taken in Sequioa/ Kings Canyon where we marvelled at the giant trees, some of the largest living things on earth. This is the base of the General Grant, the Sherman tree was too big to get in a picture. The GG is also known as the American Christmas tree and is the 3rd largest tree in the world, allegedly!!

Kings Canyon was approached as the afternoon wore on, should we go as it was getting late and we had a long drive back to the campsite? We are so glad that we did as this place was like no other we had seen before. We entered at 7000 feet and the road fell to 4000 feet on some of the steepest
and narrowest inclines that himself has driven on. But it was all worth it and I am sure that the pictures give an indication of the beauty and majesty of this place.
Best wishes from Phileas

Hi from Fogg . I have little to add to this. Phileas' powers of persuasion are formidable as are her map reading skills. The journey we took was fantastic despite the fact we drove through a fire fighting exercise in the middle of Kings Canyon and for a short while visibility was down to a short distance. In this photo the smoke can be seen rising into the mountains.
On our return journey the setting sun was in our eyes and Phileas was on the drop side of the mountain!!!!!!!!!! At one moment Fogg lost all sense of where he was and had to rely on Phileas' screams to help with the navigation! We made it though and it was worth every sweat, scream and gasp. So we are now back in LA having spent the last night of our adventure in the RV camp at Pomona. Here we met some more kind, generous Americans, Dick and Cay. They were both very interesting people with a great love of English literature and travel amongst other things. As the water system on our RV broke down it was comforting to have camp neighbours who offered
help and advice.

This last photgraph was high up in Kings Canyon and shows the kind of road we travelled on but in this case the road had a small stone barrier to avoid the drop, which was the exception rather than the rule.

So, this is Fogg, tired but happy having conquered not only this road but the Los Angeles six lane freeways!!!, wishing you well.

2008-06-18T13:09:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks
Phileas and Fogg outside their R.V having driven from Los Angeles to Santa Margarita Lake . The R.V ( camper Van ) is 25 foot long, 10 feet wide and 12.5 feet high and it took 3 .5 hours to get out of L.A and another 3 to get to S.M.L. But we made it and at this camp site met the most wonderful and generous and kind people. Americans Brad and Suzanne and German Michael and his Finnish wife Linnear. It was just such a pleasure to be in the company of these folks after what had been quite a stressful day. Shortly after our arrival the wine flowed and we talked well into the hours of the early morning. The next day Brad lent us his Ute to go to the local town thereby preventing the need of us unplugging our RV. A beautiful camp site for a day and we were sad to leave these folks but time pressed and we set off on the ocean road to Santa Cruz travelling to the Big Sur. Over to Phileas. I might be back!!

This is cosy travelling and we have to be very organised as we have limited space for storage. But it is fun and it is so good to be able to talk to other travellers to find out how to do the technical stuff like 'dumping'. No more on that!! We were so pleased to meet up with wonderful people at our first campsite as we were both very tired and it was very late and dark. So thank you all, you know who you are! Again I must pay tribute to my fellow traveller and in this case driver, Fogg is the man. This is not easy driving and he has been awesome. So the ocean road, what a beautiful drive along a windy, narrow road that was carved out of the cliffs above the ocean. These guys are elephant seal adolescents practising for being grown ups! They were so huge that they could hardly haul themselves up the beach and after a few minutes of posturing and growling at each other had to lie down for a rest!!!
This is a good view of the road taken from one of the many view points along the way. Again it was a long drive to the campsite but we arrived in daylight and by now we were experts!! I was particularly taken by the wild flowers growing along the side of the raod and of course the wonderful natural scenery of cliffs and mountains. Now as you can see we are in San Francisco and what an amazing city it is, I love it. We are doing all the tourist things, a coach tour of the sights, a boat trip round the bay and a cable car ride. Such fun and in glorious weather too. Over to Fogg now to round this off. Best wishes from Phileas (who unfortunately has no flowers in her hair!!!!!!!!!!!!)
We had booked a hotel in S.F. thinking we could bring our RV into the city. How foolish this idea was so we have left it at an out of town RV park and we are very happily exploring this wonderful city. We are staying in Fisherman's Wharf, an exciting and vibrant area with cafes and shops to explore and enjoy. The Golden Gate Bridge is awesome. We have driven over it and been on a boat under it. Having 'done' one of the many icons of S.F. we went on another in the form of a cable car when Fogg travelled standing up on the running board. Of course Phileas was there as ever to look after me and I take this opportunity to pay tribute to her map reading skills which are as equally awesome if not more than my driving!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We loved the cable car and as I write this we are at the top of Powell- Mason Line. Looking forward to going down the hill which is past the 'Crookedest' Street in the world, allegedly. We are about half way through our Californian adventure so we will be sending another blog when we have visited Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks, where we will be back in our RV and enjoying the open road again.
So this is Fogg wishing you all well.

Ia ora na, nana

2008-06-10T13:24:00.000-07:00

The title of this blog is hello, good morning in in Tahitian! I could say bonjour as we are also practising our French here in French Polynesia. Phileas here and a very hot person she is, this place is very warm even at night and she is finding it quite hard. However, air conditioning and a breeze has helped. Different layout today, hope it all makes sense. First photo is the village opposite our hotel on Bora Bora. Classic south Pacific island, white sand, palm fringed beaches and beautiful islanders who really do wear flowers in their hair and have the most wonderful smiles.
We were able to snorkel over the local coral reef where we spotted a range of tropical fish. Fogg much better than me at this. I was delighted to spot Frigate birds and a range of terns as well as the local dove that wandered around the dining room clearing up the crumbs. Bora Bora was a real treat; I won't go into too much detail about how special it was just to say it was very special. We had three nights there and we are now back in Tahiti staying just outside the capital Papeete. Here the sand is volcanic black and we are facing out into the Pacific not onto a reef fringed lagoon. The weather is less breezy and so far no repeat of the torrential downpours experienced on Bora Bora. People are just as wonderful and I am enjoying the pool and the latest Alexander McCall Smith. Over to Fogg now for his take. From me Phileas Parahi, nana
The people here are beautiful. They radiate calm and tranquility. No wonder Gaugin came here to paint. I have been reminded of a novel about Gaugin and his life here called 'The Gold of their bodies' which I read years ago. I am not going to fall into the trap of trying to paint Gaugin lookalikes! The photo above is of our twin engined propellor plane and the man in front is our pilot casually walking towards it minutes before take off! A small 30 seater which bumped and wobbled its way to and from Bora Bora. A wonderful 45 minutes trip. I loved the fact that we walked through a garden to reach the plane.
On our back to Tahiti we flew over some more islands. This is Huahine. All of them had similar shapes and the lagoon edging them with the most stunning blues and the waves breaking on the coral reef. As you can see we were only a couple of thousand feet above sea level so the view was awesome. We are now back in Tahiti for a couple of days before heading off to Los Angeles when we are back on the road again. This is when we pick up the camper van and more challenges await us. I used to ridicule Phileas when she said we would need a break between Oz and North America but she was right!! We are having a wonderful rest and the image below reflects that.This is Fogg wishing you all well.

Farewell from Australia

2008-06-04T21:43:00.001-07:00

Hi folks. We are currently in Sydney sorting ourselves out for our flight to Tahiti. So this our farewell blog from Australia. We have had the most wondeful time here. Different to New Zealand but no less exciting and interesting.We have seen so much. The diversity of the landscape is amazing. We have driven in the very remote and hot outback where we did feel seriously challenged and have nearly been blown off mountains when it was extremely cold. A country of extremes and yet nearly all the people we have met have always greeted us with 'Hello and how are you today' and we really do believe that they mean it. We have learnt alot about the European Settlers and have tried to understand a little about the Aboriginal peoples.
A truly fascinating country, very young and yet so very old.

So our next blog will be from the Northern Hemisphere. Best wishes to you all

Fogg and Phileas

Cradle Mountain, a real wilderness

2008-06-04T21:04:00.000-07:00

BeforeI start telling you about our visit to Cradle Mountain I must take this opportunity to acknowledge Fogg's wonderful photographs. I have not taken many preferring to use my camcorder, but he has always snapped at anything that took my eye and the results I think you will agree are brilliant.

Cradle Mountain is in a large National Park that extends through the middle of Tasmania. It is a World Heritage site because it is so pristine and special. It really is a true wilderness and has many plants and animals not found elsewhere. I will describe the area as Alpine. When we were
there it was very cold but sunny and the air was so clean it was almost intoxicating. On the morning that we left there was a hard frost.
We stayed in a wonderful resort called Cradle Mountain Lodge which has won many awards for tourism. We had a cabin set up high in the hills and with a wood burning stove we were snug and cosy. It felt a little bit like Christmas as we sat in front of a roaring fire with a glass of port!
Cradle Mountain is very distinctive and can be seen for miles around. In front of it in the photo lies Dove Lake a beautiful place for walking. We know that living in the lake are duck-billed platypus but unfortunately we did not see any on
our visit. We did however see some other wonderful animals who were completely unphased by our presence and just carried on doing their thing. On our balcony sat a Bennett's wallaby. Up above him on the hill were pademelons (an Aboriginal name, they are tiny wallabies) and a wombat wandered across my path as I walked to the Lodge for a bit of pampering! We went on a night spotlight tour and saw two pairs of brushtail possums, mums with their babies.
As always it was the trees and plants that took my breath away. Because the air is so clean and there is plenty of water the trees are covered with mosses, ferns and lichens. There is a primeval feel as if we had stepped back several million years in time. The air was cold and clear and it was absolutely silent. It was a very special place and we are very privileged to have seen it.

With best wishes
Phileas

Fogg's take on Tasmania

2008-06-03T18:19:00.001-07:00

Hi Folks

Fogg here. I hope you enjoy Phileas' Blog. I have a slightly diiferent take on Tasmania although I have to say I agree with all of Phileas' comments. We have had a wonderful time here. It is a well kept secret of the Aussies. Very beautiful and some stunningly majestic scenery. It also has a very significant history surrounding the European settlers and Aboriginee peoples.
We landed in Hobart and were very taken with this town. On the left is a building that took my eye. It is converted grain store in to residential flats. A wonderful 1930s use of old buildings.
We were also very surprised and delighted to see how wonderfully clear the water in the

harbour was. In fact we saw many starfishes in the harbour which itself was surrounded by old warehouses . This area is named Salamanca Place. This is as you may know is also a large University town in the middle of Spain and we were intrigued to know why it is named that.
Surrounding Hobart are two towering mountains. Mount Nelson and Mount Wellington. We drove to the top of Mount Wellington, 4000 feet. It was very windy indeed and cold. About 5 degrees although with the wind chill factor it felt like minus 10. This photo was taken from the top but it was difficult to do due to the very high winds and cold. Phileas stayed in an enclosed lookout point and filmed Fogg battling with the elements.

After a couple of days in Hobart we drove to Freycinet. A wonderful lodge resort where we explored some more. The photo left is of Wine Glass bay. A beautiful spot and it seems to be self evident why it is called that due to its shape. However it gets darker when one realises the wine was red . The red was from the blood of the dead whales that used to be hauled in here to be butchered on the beach. Happily now this industry no longer takes place in Australia.

We are now in Launceston in the north of Tasmania. A delightfull place with some wonderful Victorian, Edwardian and Art Deco buildings and the last photo is of one of the latter.

As you may have detected , this Blog and the arrangement of the photographs is all over the shop but I am sure you will be able to sort them out. Phileas has just reminded me that I have not mentioned Cradle Mountain. A great place and Phileas will be doing a blog on it soon.

So, this is Fogg wishing you all well. We will be sending a farewell Australia blog soon too.

Fogg

Tasmania part 1, devils and wombats

2008-06-03T17:37:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Tasmania, Phileas here and I should straight away say that this blog carries a warning that some of the photos may offend those of a sensitive nature. Fogg will not be inputing into this posting and he was not at all sure that photos of wombat and devil poo would interest many of our readers but I would disagree and so I would like to spend a little while telling you about these fascinating creatures.

We did not see Tasmanian Devils in the wild. They are very shy creatures, tend to be nocturnal and their numbers have been devastated in the last few years by a cancer which is apparently spread by contact and for which there is no known cure. These animals are now on the endangered list and if no cure is found could be extinct in the wild in the next 15 years. This would be a tragedy as they are the most fascinating animals and have an important role to play in clearing up all the roadkill left on the side of the road every night!! There are animals on the west of the island who appear to have resistance to the disease and so much research is being done into identifying genes and cross breeding to try to incorporate this resistance into the rest of the population. The papers here have been running the story of Cedric, a west coast devil who appears to have this immunity and who could hold the key to eradicating the disease or at least halting its progress. We visited an excellent conservation park near Hobart where there is a successful breeding programme in place and where it is possible to watch the extraordinary behaviour of these iconic animals. They were called devils because the early settlers thought that they were possessed by the devil. This idea was caused by the bloodcurdling sound they make when they are competing for food with other devils. I have captured this on my camcorder and it is a sound I have never heard before. I suppose it could be called a cross between a scream and a growl and it is accompanied by apparently aggressive biting and chasing at high speed in circles!! These animals have a mouth full of very sharp teeth capable of cutting through fur, skin and bone all of which is swallowed. We were told that their jaws are as strong as those of a crocodile. Having said all this they were very endearing and we thoroughly enjoyed our meeting with them!
This is a photograph of a wombat called Rebecca and as her face shows she is a close relative of the koala. Like the devil the wombat is a marsupial but because it digs burrows its pouch faces backwards. We saw a large number of these wonderful animals in the wild when we were staying at Cradle Mountain. They are suprisingly large, Rebecca, the resident old lady at the Lodge was a metre long, and apparently they are the fastest marsupial apart from the red kangaroo. They can reach speeds of up to 40km/hr over 150 metres which is faster than an olympic sprinter apparently!! They were quite oblivious to us and just carried on munching only turning their rear end towards us as if to say if I can't see you you can't see me!
They have very few predators but if any try to get into their burrow they block its entrance with their bottom. It contains a flat bony plate which they use to crush the predator's head against the roof of the burrow. Not so cute now eh?!! They have three sphincters below the plate which they sort of pump up to get the necessary pressure to push the plate upwards. So here is a wombat burrow entrance which will lead into a series of chambers. Unlike the badger which is a name given to them here they are solitary and do not live in family groups. The devil may take over the burrow and the wombat will just move away and dig another one, a very pragmatic animal.
Now to the last two pictures which I make no apology for including. An animal's droppings can tell a lot about the life of that animal, think about owl pellets and the contents of the Iceman's gut. The first is devil poo and the wombat fur that it consumed is clearly visible. We also saw partially digested dish clothes and apparently they will eat their way through tents and trainers as well as proper food!!
The second is wombat and its shape is so distinctive, it even looks like a wombat!! The reason, that arrangement of rectal sphincters used to produce pressure to squash prey will also produce 'square' poo!

So now you know all about devils and wombats.

I hope that you have found this interesting and have not been offended.

Best wishes from Phileas.

Bonus blog

2008-05-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

Excuse the flurry of Blogs but we are just about to leave mainland Oz and fly to Tasmania and we wanted to include one briefly about Melbourne coupled with the fact that the Victoria National Gallery of Art (International) was closed gives us a little 'spare' time. However the Victoria National gallery of Art ( Australia) was open and we saw the most wonderful exhibition of Aboriginal painting and artefacts. We were given an unexpected free guided tour by one of the gallery staff. Very good show which gave us an insight into what the paintings were about and how they
done.

The top photo shows our hotel. Very plush and comfy with a good view over Melbourne and the river Yarra. It is an open city and seemingly very relaxed and at one with itself. Very eclectic and a facinating range of architectural styles that have been built around the early Victorian buildings as evidenced by the photos.

The photo below is part of a bigger complex which houses a television company and also the Australian Art gallery. Super building and amazing inside although there was a tendency to
feel a little unsteady.

The last photograph is of the inside of the tram we travelled in. Probably built in the 1930s it is part of the main form of public transport and highly efficient.
So, briefly from Oz best wishes from Fogg.

Actually, the tram we were on was free and we could travel round the city centre getting off at the main tourist sites - excellent idea and one we saw in Perth too. The funky building is part of Federation Square and is amazing. A number of buildings all considered,wierd and wonderful shapes based on the triangle and inside you are not sure what is level!

We liked Melbourne very much and would recommend it as a destination. There was a lot more we could have seen and done. We now have a better understanding of indigenous art and culture and some of the issues surrounding the settlers and the Aborigine.

Will close now, best wishes from me, Phileas

The Great Ocean Road part 2

2008-05-25T17:16:00.000-07:00

We spent two nights in a good motel in Apollo Bay which seemed to be the half way point geologically speaking of the GOR. The first photo was taken from the top of the lighthouse at Cape Otway and Phileas bravely climbed out onto the balcony despite feeling very wobbly! The cliffs here are less marked and once past Apollo Bay the trees come right down to the sea. We took a wonderful walk at Mait's Rest where Fogg snapped these wonderful tree ferns. The rainforest here is full of them and massive myrtle beech trees. The whole place seemed primordial and we expected a dinosaur to appear from around every corner!! The road leading to the
lighthouse was lined with these wonderful eucalyptus trees (gums). The penultimate photo shows the difference in the coastline as we headed towards Torquay, there were sandy beaches and plenty of places where it was possible to walk down onto the sand. The final photo shows a memorial recently erected to the 3,000 'diggers' (ex-servicemen) who were employed on their return from WW1 to build the GOR. They only had hand tools and it took about 12 years to completion. This really was an example of Occupational Therapy as this was not slave labour and the men had good living conditions and the continued camaradarie of their
fellow soldiers. I found the monument very poignant and the understanding that the road itself was the memorial.
Enough from me, over to Fogg. Best wishes, Phileas.
Hi from Fogg.As a footnote to this I found it very interesting to discover that in percentage terms the Australians lost 64% of their men in the First World War which was more than any other nation involved.
We also dicovered on this beach some of the wreck of the Barque W.B. Godfrey travelling from San Francisco to Melbourne in 1891. Another moving moment which bought to mind the

hardship people endured at that time. Happily in this case there was no loss of life. The GOR is a wonderful journey and probably more fun than the journey of the Mars probe that we have just been reading about in Melbourne where we currently are in a fab hotel in the centre of the city.

So our journey continues very well. We will be travelling to Tasmania in a couple of days when we send another blog which will be the last from the Southern hemisphere!

This is Fogg wishing you all well

The Great Ocean Road part 1

2008-05-23T18:48:00.000-07:00

OK, here we go again! This is Fogg in his new wet suit and look at the size of the waves!!!! Actually these guys were pretty awesome and the waves were massive. This shot was taken off the coast at Port Fairy and the sea is the Southern Ocean. Port Fairy is a charming town full of wonderful early wooden buildings and situated both on the River Moyne and the Southern Ocean. We enjoyed our two night stay in a delightful cottage before heading off to this icon of Victoria, The Great Ocean Road. It does not start particularly auspiciously but once it meets the coast the views are amazing. These photos show the first half, so to speak, between Peterborough and Apollo Bay
where we are presently based. They are called The Grotto, London Bridge and the last two are the Twelve Apostles and the coast close by. A geologists delight and visually very exciting. The sea was relaltively calm but even so we could see clearly how it undercut the cliffs and how soon many of them would slide into the sea.

I will pass over to my surfing chum, Fogg, so farewell from me, Phileas.

As you can see, London Bridge is now without the bridge. In 1990 two people were out on the far sea edge and the whole of the centre span,
without any warning crashed into the sea leaving the two stranded. One can only imagine how scared they were. Eventually they were lifted off by helicopter. The photograph does not truly convey the size of the rocks or the tempestuous nature of the sea which was considerable even on the relativly quiet day we were here. Having seen this we proceeded with great care!
The next photo is of the 'Twelve Apostles' Actually according to some there are only seven, but I counted thirteen! Whatever the number they are truly impressive. However they are reducing in height by about two centimetres a year.
The cliff edges seem cut rather than eroded and the last photo conveys that quality. On our way to Apollo Bay where we are based for a couple of days we drove through some magnificent gum/beech forests. They are tall trees and create a wonderul cooling atmosphere.

We are exploring the second half of the Ocean Road tomorrow on our way to Melbourne and our next blog will reflect that.

So this is Fogg saying goodbye for now. Very best wishes to you all.

Kangaroo Island

2008-05-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again and this time we would like to tell you about our trip to Kangaroo Island. As its name suggests there are a lot of kangaroos on the island and we were able to spot lots along with wallabies. The house (pictured) where we stayed was very isolated and the garden would swarm with roos and wallabies in the evening but also during the day. They did not seem phased by our presence and would just hop off into the scrub until we had gone away. We watched many of them feeding by the side of the road which can of course be a problem for both the animals and the drivers. Enough said.

We were delighted to be able to spot a number of koalas as well and this was a real treat as these animals can be very elusive and difficult to spot. They sit up in the gums sometimes on the thinnest of branches and seem to be asleep. They sometimes deign to look at you with their charming little faces and then turn back to sleep. They can be quite nimble clawing their way up and down the trunks and we saw a number of signs warning that they might be crossing the road. They were introduced to KI and now number some 27,000.
Apart from the wildlife I have been delighted by the trees and have taken a particular liking to
these Yacca or grass trees. They are either male or female depending on their 'skirts' and you should be able to see a flower rising up to attract pollinators. There were dreadful bush fires on the island last year which devastated 21% of the island's National Park. It was amazing to see how quickly regeneration was taking place and as it was raining a lot while we were there the process should continue. But my favourites remain the gums whose trunks are beautifully coloured and whose branches create the most amazing shapes. Many of them line the roads forming wonderful arches spanning the space. We were very lucky to be staying in a truly delightful house set up in the
hills with outlooks over the sea.

Over to Fogg now. Best wishes from Phileas

We went to Kangaroo Island with our Oz friends Doug and Mary. On our second night there Doug spotted about 50 Roos partying outside the front of the house and even the next morning there were plenty still jumping around. Probably celebrating the incredible downpour we had the night before. We collected wood from the land and in the evening sat round a blazing fire sipping local wine.
We of course explored a great deal too and two
places are of particular note. The 'Remarkable Rocks' and 'Admirals Arch'. The latter is illustrated here. It was pouring with rain when we visited. I imagined constructing a stage across this opening and using the natural proscenium arch it would make a wonderful setting for 'The Tempest' or some such. It began to blow very hard as we were leaving and the sea became very dramatic. Nearby here was a massive colony of New Zealand Seals. The best yet and very smelly!!
So a wonderful time was had on this beautiful Island. We crossed back to the mainland on a night time ferry. Very best wishes to you all. Fogg

Shadows in the Flinders

2008-05-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks
Having spent a few great days in Perth we flew to Adelaide to stay with our friends Doug and Mary Fletcher in Basket Range in the hills of Adelaide. They allowed us to use them as a base and we travelled to the Flinders Ranges about 300 miles north. This area is serious outback. Very harsh.Very dry and the people who live out here just about eek out a living from grazing sheep but mostly these days tourists are the main source of income. On our way we stopped at Terowie. See photo on left. This is the main street. This town is pretty well as it was when it was built in the late 19th century. It was used as a staging post for the
army years ago but now is struggling but the locals are very hardy and are trying to make a go of it. A brief visit and onwards to the Flinders. We stayed in a small town (pop 220) called Hawker. It is right in the middle of very basic scrub land and is surrounded by desert and the most awe inspiring range of hills and mountains that make up the Flinders Ranges. As you can see from the photo on the left we are shadows of our former selves shown by the strong and hot sunlight. It is a stunning area. The most beautiful of colours. Magical shapes and textures. Altogether awesome. Sorry to use that word again, but it was.

We hired a local guide for a day by the name of Derek and he took us to the ranges and gave us a lesson on the geology and the flora and fauna of the area. We saw many kangaroos including a red which was huge and majestic and a very rare yellow footed rock wallaby with a joey in her pouch. Anyway we are under pressure here and Phileas wants a word so over to her. So very best wishes to you all. Fogg.

The Flinders is well worth pulling up on google earth as the shapes and colours make it one of the most beautiful and interesting places that we have visited. In the Brachina Gorge we were able to walk through a geological timeline as the mountain was lying on its side so to speak. The photo
here shows how dry it is and as the air was still the dust trails hang in the air for a long time. We enjoyed very much watching the sun rise at 6.30am and set at 5.30pm bringing up the most extraordinary palette of colours. The rocks are full of iron and the iron oxide on the surface glows in the dying and rising rays of the sun.
Our trip back to Adelaide took us through more dry country until we reached the wine region of Clare. Even here the land was parched. In the Adelaide Hills the difference was amazing. The area is very lush almost like a rain forest and it is hard to believe that SA is the driest state in the driest continent in the world.
Basket Range sits up high above Adelaide and a drive down to the city in the evening affords the most wonderful sparkly view of the City. The trees in the area are mainly eucalyptus (gum) and are absolutely beautiful and majestic. The trees are full of birds and we were in capable hands with Doug who can tell most from their song and can see a tiny bird hidden to most.
Their local koalas who live in their churchyard were very 'cute' and we had some good roo spots too.

I will leave talk of roos and koalas until our next blog from Kangaroo Island.
Until then, best wishes from us both
Phileas

More from Western Australia

2008-05-15T18:52:00.000-07:00

Hi from Perth
We arrived in Perth from Dunsborough where we enjoyed a few days of 'rest'. We visited hairdresser and barber and generally collected ourselves and our thoughts together before setting off to Perth, or more strictly speaking to Cottesloe which is between Fremantle and Perth. We were staying with the parents of Phileases cousins wife (if that makes sense!). They had never met us, knew nothing about us but opened their doors to us for three days and showed us the sights. They were so kind and generous, which we have found to be typical of the people we have met in Australia.

Of course we visited Perth. (See above.) It is a beautiful city. Very open and exciting with beautiful vistas across the Swan river which has its famed Black swans. (See left). Cottesloe is on the Indian Ocean and Fogg went swimming with some locals early one morning. It was exhilerating, particularly so when he was told that sharks were in the area sometimes and yes a man had bee attacked but hey he survived to tell the tale! It was a wonderful swim and exciting to be in the Indian Ocean too.
So this is Fogg signing out and wishing you all well. Over to Phileas.

Of all the amazing things that we have done since we have been away, sitting by the ocean has to be a highlight. This is a picture of Cottesloe Beach taken on our final evening. Obviously taken by Fogg, it is chiascura (light on one side, dark on the other!!!). Whatever, it was another beautiful beach as were those we found at Dunsborough on Geographe Bay. That's all from WA. Keep reading for our next blog from South Australia and our trip to the Flinders.

Best wishes for now

Phileas

Giants

2008-04-30T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

We are about to leave Nornalup a small settlement (Pop 50) on the south west corner of Oz. We have had a great time here and again have met wonderful people. However the main focus of this Blog is to show the scale of some of the things we have seen. The truck or road train as they are known can tow up to four trailers. In this particular case there are two, the containers are holding liquid fertiliser which is being delivered to farms in the outback. The driver, a huge gentle giant of a man, had his wife and two daughters with him and the cab is big enough to sleep them all. This road train is part of a fleet but it is not uncommon for trucks to be owned by individuals and the trucks are their home as well.
Just outside Nornalup there is a huge forest of Tingle trees. These are giants and we were able to climb a tree top walkway ( a little scary) and this is where Fogg took the attached photo. It was taken from a height of 40 metres and there was a lot more tree above the walkway so you may be able to imagine how tall these trees are. Phileas of course in second heaven. She understands trees. The other photograph was taken looking up from inside a Tingle tree that had been hollowed out by fire, insects etc.... The biggest tree we saw was 16 metres in circumference. Beautiful majestic soft wood trees, the wood is not suitable for building thank goodness so did not meet the same fate as the Kauri trees in New Zealand.
Nornalup is near the Southern Ocean so a brief trip to the beach here revealed a most beautuful and magical place where Phileas and I sat and marvelled at the huge waves that were crashing in . As we looked out there was nothing but sea between us and the Antarctic. Also we were the only people for miles. As always the photograph is not able to tell the whole story but it was a wonderful place. The beach is adjacent to a place called Conspicuous Cliffs.

Our last evening here, Fogg indulged himself with Scallops followed by Marron, a type of crayfish/lobster/langoustine mix. Whatever, it was delicious. So this is Fogg wishing you all well. Over to Phileas.

Hi, Phileas here and as you can see from the photos in tree and beach heaven. This really is all I ask, a place where I can see both. This is that place, just too far away!
The restaurant we ate in last night was in the village and was the best place we have eaten in since we arrived in Australia. That includes Sydney, where I have to say the service was not good and the food mediocre. I had smoked (to order) salmon and a rather excellent local Shiraz (or two!). Tingle trees are a type of eucalyptus, the name is Aboriginal (the meaning has slipped my mind temporarily, must be the Shiraz! I must also tell our readers about Brenda who works in the local tourist site in Walpole, our local town. We have an Aus. mobile but have no coverage here and the local phone booth was not working. She lent us her mobile so that we could phone ahead to book accomodation. Quite a star!

I'll close now as we have a long journey today. Best wishes
Phileas

wheatfields, wasteland and wave rocks and a roo!

2008-04-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

Hello to all our readers from the southern forests of WA and a small town called Walpole. We have been moving over the last few days, two nights here and two nights there. So we have seen a huge range of landscapes and had an opportunity to look at some very interesting parts of WA. We started about a week ago in a town called York and the first picture shows our cottage. It is built of tin and was the old barn for the house. It was wonderfully snug and comfortable with a claw foot bath and open fire. The owners keep alpacacas and sheep as well as a range of farm birds and a tame roo called Katie. She and I bonded over a banana skin and she held my hand with her front paws as she took the delicacy from me!!
York is a National Trust town as its buildings are architecturally so important. We, as they say here, 'gave it a good go' with a walk that took us to the very edge and the bush. It is fascinating to see how the towns and villages literally stop and the the bush starts. York is in a region called the wheatfields and as the name suggests is an enormous agricultural area. In order for farming to take place the forests were cleared and this has had a devastating effect on the land. This clearing coupled with climate and the underlying geology has created massive salt 'lakes' whose salinity has killed all the plants that were growing there. The photo shows the typical devastation. While it had a certain surreal beauty the farmers are struggling to stop the process - the equivalent of ten football pitches a day becoming unusable. The science is complicated, but basically the trees took up so much water that they kept the water table (and therefore the salt) deep. Take away the trees, the wheat uses less water and so the water table rises bringing the salt with it. Trees you see are so important. If the early settlers had only been to one of my lessons they would have known that!!
We moved on from York to Hyden to visit the Wave Rock. Again the area was virtually a wasteland in the middle of which were great granite outcrops. The edges had been eroded by the water running over them creating these wonderful wave shapes. We stayed in a resort again right 'on the edge'. Pretty bleak, however as you can see from the photo we got some pretty amazing sunsets which we could watch from our verandah. Very little wildlife here but we did find lots of roo tracks crisscrossing the sandy paths around the houses. We left this rather bleak area nad drove to Katanning a largish (5000) town on the edge of the wheatfields. Is was meant to be stopping off point as it was ANZAC weekend but because of that everything was closed and we stayed for two nights. An excellent B&B with the comfiest bed in WA!

We are now in the Southern Forests and the area could not be more different. Tall trees as far as the eye can see and the coast just beyond. We will blog more from here once we have explored. Just for now here is a visitor spotted last night just a few feet from our cottage. We are in a wildlife paradise at the Riverside Retreat, in a cottage whose verandah gives us wonderful vistaa over the trees down to the Frankland River. The place is called Nornalup and is about 8kms from Walpole. Enough from me now, here is Fogg. Best wishes from me, Phileas

Hi. Fogg here. Stunning photographs again. Of course, as ever photographs do not do justice to the sights we have seen. I did not even attempt to take the wheatfields. They are so vast but beautiful and quite breathtaking. We are exploring such a small area of Australia and yet the distances between towns is immense and our driving has been challenging. We stop on the way by the roadside and marvel at where we are. We know how incredibly lucky we are.

So my very best wishes to you all. Fogg x

Suplimentary to Fogg surfing and stuff

2008-04-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

Hi folks
These are additional images we meant to include in the previous blog which we hope you enjoyed!
These are the 'Pinnacles' at Cervantes. There are thousands of them covering many acres. We travelled about 4 km to circumnavigate them whilst stopping on the way to go in and explore them on foot. They became strangely eerie as the sun went down.

Best wishes to you all. Fogg and Phileas

Fogg surfing? and other stuff!

2008-04-21T20:16:00.001-07:00

Hi Fogg here
I would like to tell you about my surfing exploits as evidenced by the photograph of a beardless and slimmer Fogg to the left. A fantastic experience which I will not forget. I hung 10 with the best of them and waited for the ultimate 'rip and curl'. As you can see not only have I honed my skills I have learnt the lingo too!

We stayed on Brighton beach at Scarborough (it's true!) on the west coast. A wonderful beach for surfing and watching sunsets, before heading north to Cervantes. This is a small settlement of about 750 named after an American whaling

ship that ran aground off shore in 1840. All the street names are Spanish too when in fact the whole area has nothing to do with Spain! Nearby Cervantes there are the 'Pinnacles', limestone outcrops that developed around the roots of trees. They are in desert conditions and are all set in sand. As you can see there are some strange markings which we found in a straight line in the sand heading towards the 'bush' . A prize for the first correct identification of the attached photo. So over to Phileas and this is Fogg sending you very best wishes x

Hi Phileas here, a second photo for identification
too, answers next time! The clue is it's very old and involves cyno - bacteria (blue green algae).
Enough of this, we loved the beach at Cervantes as well. The sand was white and the sea turquoise and emerald green. Had some good bird spots as you can see from the emu photo; also pelicans, ospreys, willie wagtails (seriously, they are a feisty bird, well they'd have to be with a name like that!!), cockatoos and parakeets and galahs. Just as the sun was setting we also glimpsed three grey kangaroos but they were too far away to 'snap'.

Yesterday we drove from Cervantes to York where we are staying for a few days. On the way we passed through the small settlement of New Norcia which is a Spanish Benedictine town dominated by a monastery, convents and associated buildings all dating from the 1840s. Strangely nothing to do with Cervantes. We browsed their extensive collection of European and WA religious art and had a good lunch at the Hotel before heading off again to our present destination, York. I'll talk about York later when we have taken some photographs. Suffice to say that we are staying in a converted tin barn - very comfy!!

Best wishes
Phileasxx

The Indian Pacific

2008-04-14T19:13:00.000-07:00

G'day from Perth, Western Australia. Phileas here and some wonderful photos of our trip on the Indian Pacific. The first is obviously the train, the second shows the main street in Broken Hill, the third the view from the main street in Cook (popn. 4) and finally a typical view as we crossed the Nullarbor Plain.

This was an amazing trip, 3 days and nights in a tiny cabin travelling through some of the most desolute and unpopulated areas of Australia. We met some very interesting people from all over the world as we sat and drank G&T in the lounge before dinner, or whilst eating breakfast, lunch or dinner in the dining car. The food was delicious and we feel very full!!! There is not much room to move, so we took walks up and down the train. There were however, opportunities to get off the train to explore some of the remotest settlements in Australia. Broken Hill has been a familiar name to us for many years through friends who worked there and it was great to see this very singular town and learn about its mining history. Cook was a busy railway town until privatisation. Now just 4 people live there and it is a rest area for train drivers and crew. Last night we had a moonlight tour of Kalgoorlie and its historic buildings, brothels and the largest gold mine in the world, the Super Pit!!!!

The scenery was stunning, the colours almost indescribable although I am sure that Fogg will have a go. Disappointed to only see one grey kangaroo, but did spot two dingoes, many magnificent wedge tailed eagles, galahs and cockatoos. The gum trees are of course my favourite, brilliant trees that can survive the most extreme conditions.

Over to Fogg now, best wishes from me Phileas.

Hi folks

A wonderful journey. Broken Hill was fascinating although its future seems to be fragile. There is a little mining done here but this is rapidly coming to an end and about 12000 people have left the town in the last ten years. The youth tend to leave for the big cities and old folks homes are springing up which is in itself pushing house prices up . It is hoped to make Broken Hill a heritage site and it will become a tourist destination although the disused and broken down mines will probably have limited appeal. But I did learn about '2Up' a gambling game which is illegal in Australia except on ANZAC day, but Broken Hill which seems to a law unto itself play it on a regular basis legally on a Friday night although our coach driver pointed out that nobody checked.

Cook is an extra ordinary place. The remotest place I had ever been to. It had its own unique beauty. It did have a population of 300 but almost depleted now. It did have a hospital, golf course and school once and those buildings are still there but are slowly being eroded away by the wind, occasional rain and blistering heat in the summer. A ghost town.

The views from the train were fantastic. Whilst it seemed to be endless it was in fact fascinating to see the subtle changes as we travelled. (The light brought the rocks into sharp relief and accentuated the colours) Phileases words!!

Some of the people we met were very interesting and were travelling to Perth for a variety of reasons one of which was to compete in or support competitors in the 'Masters' swimming event. One of our travelling companions who was involved is a 74 year old back stroke specialist and the American couple we met from Connecticut were supporting their 40 year old daughter in the 200 metres freestyle. Others were there for holiday or big family reunions . It was so interesting to meet so many types of people and hear their stories.

So this is Fogg signing off. Best wishes to you all.

Goodbye New Zealand, hello Australia!

2008-04-09T22:27:00.000-07:00

Hi Folks

We are now in Sydney having left New Zealand on the 6th April. We had a fantastic time in NZ which we hope we have conveyed in our previous blogs from there. So many happy memories, not least is the people we met. Everybody has been so kind. Complete strangers who invited us to their house to eat. Old friends and colleagues and new friends. They have all been wonderful and there is no doubt that we will keep in touch with many of them. Of course the scenery and wildlife have been outstanding. Too much to mention here but a real favourite was the Pukeko featured to the left. A wonderful and delicate bird with real attitude, apparently much loathed by the locals but as a foreigner I have the luxury of not having to deal with them on a day to day basis. The food and wine have also been a real treat and the wine of course is cheap compared to prices of the same in UK. Fruit and fresh veg very tasty. It is an amazing country with so many positive aspects to it. The cultural diversity is exciting and its history, whilst short, is facinating. We have learnt so much from so many people. So whilst we were sorry to say good bye to New Zealand we are excited by what lies ahead in Australia and beyond. Over to Phileas now.

I was very sad to say goodbye to a country that has felt like home for the last 4 months. My newly discovered cousin Jude was in Auckland on the day we left and came to wave us goodbye, or as her husband Alan put it 'to make sure they left' !! Typical!! As Fogg has said we have left behind many new friends and also have caught up with old ones. But it wasn't just friends and relatives who were so wonderful, all the people we met in shops and restaurants seemed genuinely pleased to serve us. For me the wildlife and trees were absolutely fantastic, an 'A' Level biology lesson round every corner! So thank you to everyone we have met, I can't name you all, you have reinforced for me the importance of family and friends.

Now we are in a very exciting city as you can see from Fogg's photos. Apparently the population of Sydney is the same as the whole of NZ. So this is a very different experience. However no less interesting; sharp eyed Fogg spotted a fruit bat last night and we have had two sightings of Ibis in the park by the harbour. As always we have hit the streets running and are exhausted but exhilerated (and slightly sunburnt). Very excited at getting hold of tickets for Swan Lake at The Opera House (what an amazing building), more on that later. Brilliant cruise round the Harbour this morning in the most glorious and hot sunshine.

Enough from me now, Fogg champing at the bit. Thank you NZ, we love you.

Phileas

The Opera House is fantastic. Allegedly inspired by the architect peeling an orange one day it is all it is cracked up to be. As we were cruising in the harbour I noticed that the span of the bridge echoed the shapes of the OH, hence the photo above to illustrate that. Sydney is a very exciting city and we are lucky enough to be in a hotel right in the middle. Eighteen stories high with a swimming pool on the 19th! I am trying to encourage Phileas to take a dip! On Saturday we take the Indian Pacific train to Perth on the west coast. So this is Fogg signing off. My love and very best wishes to you all Fogg xx

Back on the road again!!!!

2008-03-27T14:36:00.000-07:00

Greetings to all our readers, it has been a month since we last blogged and we just wanted to let you know that we haven't gone away.

To catch your attention two icons to enjoy. The white furry one is Phoebe our youngest daughter's new cat. She is a real cutie (the cat that is!!!!!) and just right for our classy daughter! Other daughter (also classy) is impressed and of course quoted ''evil does not wear a bonnet' from one of their favourite films 'Cats and Dogs''.

Rangitoto you will remember is one of our favourite places.The beach opposite Rangitoto is where we swam on Christmas day so this whole area holds many happy memories We have climbed it and photographed it and just enjoyed looking at it and when we returned to Devonport seeing it made us feel welcomed back.

We have just flown round the world and so are both still feeling pretty tired. Looked after for a few days by our wonderful friends Wendy, Jim and Tom and now exploring the Coromandel Peninsula. We leave NZ in a few days and so may not blog until we get to Sydney.

Very best wishes to you all

Fogg and Phileas
x x

.

Whale I'll be blowed another albatross!

2008-02-24T15:16:00.002-08:00

As you can see from our very witty title we have been whalewatching in the 'whale watching capital of NZ', Kaikoura. This is a lovely seaside town on the east coast about 150km north of CHCH. We have come here to whalewatch, have some r and r and to meet up with our neighbours from the village, Sue and Jim Bryce. Anyway, back to the whalewatching. On a clear, sunny morning we set out on a very fast catamaran to the deep water which is not far off the coast. We were very lucky to see four large, male sperm whales swimming on the surface and then diving down showing the classic tail fluke. We were able to get quite close and I managed to get some good video footage. We also saw some beautiful dusky dolphins and a range of beautiful sea birds including a young albatross which was just sitting on the surface too full of fish to fly and not in the least bit concerned by our presence. An amazing morning for me Phileas and now over to Fogg.

Hi, Fogg here. We really did see all the attached images. These sperm whales are majestic creatures. The water round Kaikora is deep and these whales dive about 800 metres for about 40/50 minutes holding their breath. Apparently the record dive for one of these whales is 3.5 km for about two hours but this was recorded in Sri Lanka. The dusky dolphins are amazing. They swim faster than our boat which itself was travelling at about 60km per hour. They seem to put so little effort into it! And the water was so clear. All quite wonderful. Very best wishes to you all. Fogg. x

Down on the farm

2008-02-24T15:16:00.001-08:00

Well readers, this is the blog about farmer workers Phileas and Fogg! Here are the action shots taken on the farm with Jude and Alan Phileases cousins. What an amazing time we had, most of all getting to know them and meeting up again with Lorrane, Dorothy, Dean, Dana and the children. A whole new family for us. We worked for our suppers and thoroughly enjoyed being out on the farm helping with the milking and moving the stock. The farm is itself really beautiful, steep hills and gullies of native timber, birds and trees. We collected mushrooms which we had for breakfast from the hills above the farm and pulled turnips for the cattle. The highlight for Fogg was of course the milking and he will tell you all about that. We also spent 2 nights with Jude and Alan in Hanmer Springs where Phileas learnt to fly fish, good technique but alas no results! Photo shows Fogg, spinning. We were high up in the mountains fishing the Clarence river on the Molesworth Station, the largest in NZ. One of the remotest places we have been to so far and yet only an hour out of Rangiora. Also one of the most beautiful and we have seen some seriously beautiful places. In the late afternoon we relaxed in the hot mineral springs that the resort is famous for, really wonderful and a very social place - a bit like the Romans!!

I could wax lyrical for hours but will pass onto Fogg now. I had an e mail from a colleague this morning which confirmed that keeping in touch with friends is so important. So I hope that you enjoy reading our blog, we certainly enjoy writing it and of course it is for us too, a memory for our return.

Hi. Farmhand Fogg here. I enjoyed every minute on the farm . Alan and Jude were so kind and Alan was very long suffering of me in the milking shed. He is a natural teacher. He showed me

what to do and then left me to make mistakes and sort it out myself. I do think I improved my milking skills over the few days I did it. The cows were very long suffering too. However Alan did play a few jokes. A bull appeared in the milking shed. Why wasn't I milking the cow with one udder! Helping feed the calves was a delight and I always enjoyed driving the 4x4 with Flynn, the farm dog sitting by my side in the cab occasionally licking my face! The mustering and driving the cattle onto fresh pastures was great and Phileas really got going with that and seemed to have control over a bunch of bullocks. Her pastoral care skills really came into play then. One shout from her and they did what they were told! Turnip pulling was surprisingly easy. The cows loved them. Fishing up in the mountain streams was fantastic. I was 'spinning'. Whilst I did not catch anything I loved the whole experience. It was a wonderful place to be, surrounded by beautiful mountains on all sides with only the sound of the fast running water of the stream.
I felt really happy on the farm.

So this is Farmhand Fogg saying goodbye.

Best wishes from us both

Phileas and Fogg

Sun, sea and sky (oh! and birds that eat cars)!!

2008-02-16T15:05:00.001-08:00

Well, what a country of contrasts. Yesterday Fogg and I ate our sandwiches (cheese and tomato, of course - Fogg's favourite) watching snow falling in the Southern Alps. This morning we have had our morning coffee (large latte and a long black today) in hot sunshine in CHCH. A friend has said that NZ is a pocket handkerchief of the world and it is so. Between Hokitika on the West Coast and CHCH on the east we travelled through the aforementioned Alps, the Flow Country (of NE Scotland), a rain forest and the prairie. Back to the photos they show some of the things that we have seen during our time on the West Coast. We sat on this beach which was just beside our log cabin in Hokitika. On our last evening the wind was from the south and the waves crashing on to the beach were stupendous as was the light and the sunset. We had been staying in a log cabin in a holiday park - 'The Shining Star', highly recommended, just outside the town of Hokitika. Whilst there we drove about 100km north to the Pancake Rocks - quite extraordinary limestone rocks and their associated blow holes.

The Maori call New Zealand Aotearoa, the land of the long white cloud. On our journey yesterday we saw what they meant, long strings of white cloud decorating the green mountains like tinsel on a christmas tree. Before I finish I must mention this crazy bird, the Kea. It is an alpine parrot which is crazy in itself!! They are inveterate flirts and love having their photos taken. They also pick at stuff and pull it to pieces. Some friends tell the story of leaving their bikes outside and unprotected overnight in the mountains, in the morning the seats had been shredded to pieces by the Keas. The birds also love nibbling at the trim on cars and if you are not careful will have pulled the trim off in a matter of seconds. In their defence they are very beautiful and when they fly show a brilliant orange colour under the wing.
Hi Fogg here at last! Phileas has failed to mention the stunning photos of course. The drive from the west coast to east was, despite the weather, marvellous. We came through Arthur's Pass when we saw the snow above 1500 metres and sat in the valley in warm rain. The clouds that Phileas has mentioned go on for miles. The photos, depite my best efforts do not really show the grandeur of it all. The beach at Hokitika was also quite extraordinary. The sea is magnificent. Sadly too much to swim in and the beach was littered with beautiful pieces of wood. Some almost complete trees whilst others were exquisitely formed small bits which of course we have collected and will send back to UK. All these pieces of wood were bleached and were very sculptural. On arriving back in Sumner we went to stay with Nikki and Mark Wallace-Bell. Nikki is an ex Art teaching colleague from Redborne Upper School. It was great to see them and Mark cooked us a wonderful meal. He has restored my faith in Green Lipped Mussels!!! A good evening with them and now we are on our way to stay in Rangiora on Phileases cousins farm.

So, our journey continues to go very well. This is Fogg and Phileas wishing you all very best wishes
xx

whirlibirds

2008-02-12T14:20:00.000-08:00

Hello from a slightly damp Franz Josef, Fogg and I are on the move again today but wanted to share with our readers 2 wonderful experiences that we have had in the past few days. We firstly visited the Whataroa White Heron Sanctuary which was just up the road from where we staying. After a short mini bus ride we hopped onto a jet boat for a very exhilerating ride to the hide from which we could view white herons and Royal spoonbills. To get to the hide we had a 500m walk on a boardwalk through native rainforest. Absolutely wonderful, tall white pine trees dominated but there were others and tree ferns. Also these beautiful tree orchids just coming into flower. The hide gave wonderful views of the herons who only ever nest on this particular bend on this particular river and nowhere else in New Zealand. In with them were Royal spoonbills and little shags. It was brilliant to be able to watch these wonderful birds and they did not seem at all bothered by our presence. They were all coming to the end of their breeding seasons and the young herons were practising their flying skills.

All in all a brilliant experience which also gave us a brief glimpse of some of this regions wonderful wood strewn beaches. We visited another one at Okarito which despite the sandflies is one of the most beautiful beaches that we have seen. The title of this post does not refer totally to real birds but to 2 new fliers P and F and I will leave Fogg to tell you all about this.

Best wishes
Phileas

Hi Fogg here.

What Phileas is referring to is our Helicopter flight! It has rained a great deal here and that combined with low clouds means that the helicopters do not fly so we woke on Tuesday morning hoping for clear skies and no rain. We are again very lucky people as this is just how it turned out to be. To Franz Josef to pick up our small ( six seater ) copter. We were both apprehensive but as soon as we took off and left ourselves in the capable hands of Jules,our pilot, all fears were dispersed. It is difficult to describe this experience. We flew over the Franz Josef glacier which is massive and very deep, about 30 metres with huge chasms in the surface. It advances and retreats which it has done over many thousands of years. It eminates from the neve, which is the collecting point for the snow high in the mountains where the snow gets compacted and then travels slowly downhill. It is strange to see a glacier from high up with rain forests below in high temperatures all near the sea, but the glacier never gets there. We set down on the neve and left the copter to take photos and play ice balls ( carefully!) It was just the most truly awesome moments of our trip so far. Expensive, but worth it. Back on the copter we flew round Mount Tasman and Mount Cook and marvelled at the scenery. We then flew down the Fox glacier back to Franz.It was a small 'mosquito' type helicopter and it was very manouverable and we flew very close to the mountain sides. Also large windows which gave us sideways as well as downwards views. All in all absolutely wonderful. I wanted to stay up there. Our travelling companions were from Australia and obviously felt the same. Phileas has just reminded me that we in fact flew through the mountains first and then set down (whatever!)

I am sure that Phileas would like to add her bit here, but I would just like to add to her comments about Spoonbills. The adults have feathers on their heads which to me are very similar to the rota blades on our helicopter so 'Whirlibirds' refers to them both!

So back to Phileas, and this is Fogg signing off with very best wishes to you all.

Nothing else from me except to say that it doesn't matter which way round it was, it was awesome and also very moving and those who know me well will know how I reacted!!

On a lighter note I must put on record how ingenious the NZ people are. We are using the internet in a converted red bus, sitting on reclaimed coach seats!

Phileas

Sun, sciatica, serendipity and moving house!

2008-02-06T18:48:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon from a very hot Wanaka, it is nearly a month since we have experienced temperatures in the mid 20s. It is wonderful but does make sleep a bit difficult. We are in this lovely town in Central Otago for 3 days having travelled here yesterday from Dunedin. The journey was wonderful, through some very beautiful counrtyside, past fruit orchards and vinyards (wineries here). We were also driving through the area that experienced New Zealand's gold rush in the mid 19th century. Fogg will explain the sciatica; but I mention it here because it was while I was waiting for him that something very serendipitous happened which once again drew me to the wonderful poem of Robert Frost 'The Road not Taken' It was as I have said very hot and after exploring a while I decided to rest in the shade of a cafe umbrella. I chose the cafe for no other reason that it had a table in the shade. I ordered an iced coffee and settled down to catch up with my journal. I looked up as a man and woman on bikes stopped at the cafe and the woman came up to me and asked what it was that I was drinking. We struck up a conversation and to cut a long story short when Mike caught up with me we were invited to a meal with them at their house in the town. Heather and John Walker are typical of so many of the people that we have met here - generous and interested in people. We had a lovely meal at their beautiful house and met Mavis, John's mum. It is so important to both of us to meet and talk to people who live and work in the countries that we are visiting. It's through this sort of contact and reading the local paper and watching the news that we really feel as if we are developing an understanding of NZ and its people. It is also fantastic to meet new people and to add them to our e mail contacts and to encourage them to read our blog!

Now as our regular readers will know one of my favourite things is watching wildlife and I realised that I had not shown you the picture of the first penguin that we saw in NZ. Totally out of place, sitting on a piece of wood in the middle of a muddy creek in Oamaru.

Our regular readers will also know that we have seen a church that was moved across the road (the scene of Sir Ed's funeral) and have stayed in a school house that was moved up the road some 5km. What we hadn't seen was the process in action so we were delighted when we saw this on the road from Kaka Point to Dunedin.

I will close now and pass over to Fogg.

Best wishes to you all. Phileas

Fogg here. Actually Phileas is quite wrong about the house. We have bought this one and are having sent back to the UK. We love them so much. They are marvellous. Mostly with porches and decks. The decks are essential, unlike in England where they tend to be a fashion accessory, that is not to say I do not like them. We could be tempted when we get back to UK. Phileas also wants me to paint our 'Garden House' white to remind her of NZ.

Kate has mentioned our chance meeting with Heather and John Walker. I was going to say it has been a long time since I was picked up in a cafe but perhaps I should refrain. We had a wonderful evening with them and it was interesting to hear a Kiwi view of the English. Apparently one perception is that a large number of us have dogs. Also our accent is much liked, particularly the ones which might be described as 'home counties' John and Heather in turn tended to be a little critical of their own NZ accent. But vive la difference!!

Kate had met these people before me as I, Fogg was in the local physio surgery having massaging, crunching and acupuncture. For those of you who do not yet know I damaged myself whilst working on a farm owned by relatives of Phileases. I was helping feed calves and part of the job was to transfer large buckets of milk from the milking parlour to a truck. I twisted my back and trapped my sciatic nerve. I have done something similar in the past but this time it did not right itself. So, a lot of discomfort for Fogg who at one time a couple of weeks ago could barely walk it was so painful. But physio, drugs and alcohol seem to be helping and whilst I am not right I am able to get around a lot better but a little slower that I would like. The amazing thing is because the first physio I saw in Te Anau said it was an industrial injury I was eligible for free treatment and here in Wanaka the physio is only going to charge me for the acupuncture needles! Usually treatment costs about 45 dollars for half an hour.

So things are begining to look up again for Fogg who is determined to stay on track even if he does chunter along a little more slowly.

This is a marvellous part of the world. It is as I type on Thursday 7th Feb about 30 degrees and yet as I look over towards the mountains I can see great tracks of snow on the peaks. This area becomes a winter sports haven in May/June/July time and yet at the moment it is all water sports and para gliding in and around the mountains.

So, all continues to go well on our adventure.

Fogg signing out too with my love and very best wishes to you all.

Albatrosses

2008-02-03T15:06:00.000-08:00

Greetings from The Otago Peninsula the home of the only land based colony of albatrosses in mainland NZ. We spent an hour watching these amazing birds on a high cliff right at the end of the peninsula and as you can see Fogg has once again captured the moment. For those of you not familiar with the life of the albatross (how do I know you!!), the top photo shows 2 things. First a bird flying, and you must take my word for it that its wing span was over 3 metres!! You will also notice that there is not a feather out of place despite a force gale wind blowing. At the bottom of the picture you can see the 'youth' who have been out all day flying and fishing. They are now back at the end of the day socialising, having a 'party' and beginning to form relationships for later years. The second picture shows 2 birds, a pair and under the front bird is a chick. We watched the parent feed and preen the chick and welcome home her mate. She gave him a few bits of grass which he accepted! He then took over sitting on the chick and feeding it while she literally walked off the edge of the cliff into the wind and flew away.

I will say no more except to say that this was one if not the best thing I have seen so far. I have been looking forward to it so much and it was as good as I hoped. Fogg was pretty impressed too despite being wildlifed out!!

Watch out for a new blog soon on moving house in NZ.

Till then best wishes from me

Phileas

Hi Fogg here. This is going to brief as the site closes in a few minutes. These birds are seriously clever. They go out flying for most of their life. About 90 per cent of it. They go out singly. Not with their life long partner but they all go back to the same colony at about the same time sometimes within hours of each other. How do they know? They cirlcle the southern seas fishing and never touch land for all of that time. Amazing.

The guide we had, Jane was great. We were the only two on our ' tour ' She has a degree in Fine Art. Why did I not think of that as a career move! A lovely girl who really seemed to enjoy her job. It is pretty fantastic. As far as the visuals are concerned theartist who sprang to mind when I watched these magnificent birds soaring above in the sky was Escher. For those of you who do not know his work look him up. He must have known about Albatrosses. Lots of clever tesselations.

Anyway we are being kicked out know, so must quickly go.

Lots of love to you all from

Fogg

From Bluff to the Catlins - a wildlife paradise!!

2008-01-29T13:21:00.000-08:00

Well, what a wonderful few days we have had travelling from Bluff through the Catlins to Balclutha, a small but important town where we have found an excellent i-Site. It has good internet access and will allow us to use our gadgets to download photos.

Bluff is right down at the bottom of South Island, the ferry point for Stewart Island. We found wonderful accomodation with Roy and Robyn at the Lazy Fish and spent 24 hours exploring this very interesting town. There is a well signposted Heritage Trail which took us to tiny churches, ship graveyards, the Maritime Museum, Bluff Hill and a wonderful walk around the peninsula from Stirling Point to Lookout Point. Wonderful views, excellent information boards and stunning cliff scenery. The kelp which hangs onto the rocks is absolutely fantastic, it has evolved to swirl around the jagged rocks without being damaged.

We were very pleased to have been able to visit Bluff, somewhere that should not just be used as a transit point. Also Invercargill, the local city; it was very quiet even though it was Saturday something which we still find strange. It has a good little museum and Art Gallery and just out of town the Anderson Art Gallery which has a good collection of NZ art.

Then we started our exploration of the Catlins. This is an area stretching from Fortrose to Balclutha a distance of some 160kms. The scenery changes from green pasture to forest covered hills, open valleys to winding forest roads. It is really beautiful but its real jewel is its coast. The beaches are awesome, long stretches of golden sand completely undisturbed except by the local sealion population. On the beaches where the flax and othe native plants come down to a rocky rim before the sand the very rare yellow eyed penguins can be seen waddling up the beach at the end of a long fishing day to feed their chicks. There are headlands and wonderfully strange geology - pebbles trapped in layers of sandstone and petrified trees on Curio Bay. I can feel myself wandering off so I'll get back to the point!

We stayed in a wonderful house just outside Fortrose, The Garden House, owned by Chris and Colin McKenzie. It is the old schoolhouse from Fortrose transported to its present site by lorry (a common occurence here - they even move churches!!!). A wonderful setting protected by trees and overlooking rolling fields.

Here we are at Slope Point which is officially the southernmost point on mainland New Zealand.

As you can see we are still enjoying wonderful sunshine!! The Catlins would be good to look at on google earth and for geologists the rocks here and at nearby Waipapa Point are fascinating. Talking of Waipapa, it was here that we saw our first sealions. They lie out on the sand enjoying the sun and flicking sand onto their bodies to keep cool. They look up when you are near but generally just lie down again. They are quite dangerous though and can attack if they feel threatened. At nearby Curio Bay we marvelled at the petrified Jurassic forest and at the yellow eyed penguins.

Fogg's photos are as always brilliant!! The penguins walked quite close by and at this beach seemed unconcerned about our presence.

We then travelled on through the Catlins to Surat Bay, another massive stretch of sand on which were sunbathing up to 10 sealions. We were really pleased to watch a very large male haul himself upright and 'walk' down to the sea for a cooling swim. At Nugget Point we walked out to the lighthouse on the way spotting more penguins and fur seal pups playing in the kelp on the water's edge and sunbathing on the rocks. We have overnighted at Kaka Point and watched the sun go down on a good surfing beach. Poor Fogg, he is wildlifed out so we will just chill for the next few days on the Otago Peninsula before going to the Albatross Colony.

Best wishes from a very happyily wildlifed Phileas!!

Hi, Fogg here.

What can I say. It is continuing to be awesome. Sorry to keep using this word, commonly used over here, but that is what it has been. The sights , sounds and people are all quite wonderful. I must just mention Roy and Robyn from the Lazy Fish at Bluff again. We spent a happy evening with them chatting and drinking wine and they made us feel very welcome. Christine McKenzie was equally welcoming and she extended her hospitality and we spent a couple of times with her and husband Colin drinking coffee and talking Science and Art both of which she had considerable interest in. Their cottage 'The Garden House' was wonderful and a real joy to be in. A magnificent view from the end of the garden which I painted. I had a couple of hours off from 'Nature Watch with Kate!'

Having had the luxury of hotels in South East Asia we are now truly winging it. We have accomodation booked up for the next week but do not know where we will be after that although we have a rough idea of the area. We are aiming for the Franz Joseph Glacier which I am particularly looking forward to.

South Island is fantastic, that is not to say that North Island wasn't. It is also, but, South Island is so quiet. There are less people in South Island than there are in the whole of Auckland. Invergargill, which Phileas has mentioned appeared to be almost deserted. Wide roads with the occasional car and a few people and an interesting place with lots to do and to see. The driving in our Ford focus is however somewhat hair raising as I am more interested in the views than keeping my eyes on the road. Phileas is an amazing map reader and under her guidance and my driving we have been to some amazing places.

NZ seem to be so relaxed. I am sitting in an i site and can see our car. It is parked under a sign that says ' one hour max' Don't move it I am told, we don't have any traffic wardens here. No worries.

What with the sun tan, the greying hair and a Maori Green stone on a thong around my neck I seem to be 'Going local.'

I'm loving it here.

All love and best wishes to you all

Fogg xxxxxxxx

Posting from Fiordland

2008-01-20T14:55:00.000-08:00

Hi to all our readers, Phileas here. We are sending this blog from a small town called Te Anau which is on the very edge of one of the most beautiful places in the world, Fiordland. We are staying just up the road in Tui View Cottage, Lake Manapauri but there are no facilities there so we have driven here to blog and e and shop. Anyway, back to the Fiords or Sounds as they are called here. For geographers out there they are technically fiords but when they were found by the early explorers they called them sounds because they didn't know what a fiord was!!!

As you can see this is a Fogg photo of a pair of bottle nose dolphins which were one of the many beautiful things that we saw on our recent overnight trip to one of the fiords, Doubtful Sound. It was so named by our favourite navigator James 'Thomas' Cook who when he saw it back in the 1770s was doubtful that he would sail out of it if he ventured in. He missed a treat but he was probably very sensible.

This is the Fiordland Navigator, the boat on which we travelled through Doubtful Sound. We had a cabin with en suite facilities and along with 70 or so other people discovered this extraordinarily beautiful place. I find it difficult to find the words to describe what we saw and most importantly the emotions that this place engendered. We will put some more photos in which will I hope give you an idea of the majesty and power of the Sound. All I can really say from a biologists point of view is that here was a unique ecosystem full of endemic plants and birds that is as it was when Cook and previously the Maori first saw it. Totally virgin rain forest full of mosses, ferns, mountain beech, rimu, kiwi and other endangered birds and just for a moment we were able to be part of it. This photo was taken when we left the boat and went out in a small tender which allowed us to really see up close the plant life which grows without soil directly onto the bare rock. If you read back to my blog on Rangitoto this will be fully explained as it is no different here on the granite to the lava of Rangitoto.

The trees hung to the sides of the fiord and created a beautiful texture of shapes and colours, a textile artist's dream ( Fogg says!!). They are virtually all evergreen and, despite living on such a difficult surface, big.

We did not see many birds as a number of them are either nocturnal or ground dwelling (flightless) but we could hear their calls which in many ways was more moving if somewhat tantalising. There is of course the issue of introduced predators such as stoats, rats etc which feed on these ground dwelling birds. This is a real problem in many parts of NZ but here as in the north small islands are being cleared of predators and endangered birds are being reintroduced.

In places the trees can no longer maintain their grip on the rock and they fall down the side of the Sound taking other trees and plants with them. This is known as a tree avalanche and it leaves great scars like this one. Fortunately this does allow us to see the regeneration process, secondary succession, taking place as mosses and then ferns start to recolonise the scar. This photo also shows the steepness of the walls of the Sound.

I am going to pass over to Fogg now so I hope that all our readers are well and send you all my best wishes.

I have to tell you that Phileas (Kate) is making a video as we go along and I (Mike / Fogg ) am making the still photos of which I have to say I am pretty proud although the ones of the Dolphin took about twenty or so goes until I got what I wanted. The time lapse of a digital camera is irritating at times like these. Second guessing the movements of a Dolphin is tricky. Doubtful Sound is the most beautiful place I have slept in. truly awe inspiring. How to cope with it artistically. I have no idea but I think I will attempt when I get back to UK.

We stopped in the Sound and all the machinery/engines on the boat including the generator were switched off and we were asked to keep quiet. No photos. Nothing. The silence at first was deafening and slowly the sound of the small waterfalls and birdsong started to gently emerge and we were completely surrounded by only the sounds of nature and the visual majesty of the great walls of the fiord mountains rising above us on all sides. It was a moment of complete wonder and something I do not think either of us will ever forget. The crew were marvelous and the magic of the place was revealed to us through their sensibility and care. Now we are in a bach (small house) on our own and we are truly 'winging it'. It is and still remains an incredible journey.

So this is now Fogg signing out until our next installment. Very best wishes to you all
x

we are back!!

2008-01-16T18:58:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a Hectors dolphin swimming under the bow of our boat on a dolphin spotting trip when we were in Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula. These are beautiful little dolphins and are seriously endangered by fishing nets and recreational boating so we were very pleased to see several pods. This was a wonderful trip taking us out of Akaroa Harbour and along the coast where we also saw fur seals with their pups and spotted shags.

Here is a another wonderful photo by Fogg of a fur seal. They were resting up on the rocks and the pups had a small rock pool in which to learn to swim.

Whilst in CHCH we also visited Phileas' mother's cousin Judith and her husband Alan. They live on a farm just north of Rangiora in a very beautiful valley. They made us very welcome and we stayed with them overnight. We took a wonderful walk up into the hills above the farm which gave us a 360 degree view of the countryside over to the coast and to CHCH. After a great evening meal with the family we drove back up into the hills to watch the stars. Of course in this part of NZ there is virtually no light pollution and so we were able to see millions of stars and most specially the Milky Way.

One of the highlights of our visit to the farm was feeding the calves. They have milk straight from the cow but delivered by a wonderful gadget which is basically a giant semi circular bucket with a row of teats attached!!

We moved South on Monday to stay with an old colleague of Fogg's. She and her husband live just outside the small town of Oamaru. It is a very interesting town for lots of reasons but particularly because it is full of relatives of Phileas' whose parents came to NZ in the 1920s to find a better life. It has been a very interesting journey to meet them and to hear about their lives out here.

Before I sign out and pass over to Fogg I must just record that we have seen our first 'in the wild' penguins. The nature of their life is that at this time of year they can only be seen at night when they return from a day's fishing to feed their chicks. So at 10.30pm last night we sat on a cliff top and watched 3 of the world's smallest penguins, the Little Blue, return to their chicks with tummies full of fish, probably whitebait to regurgitate - I am so glad I am not a penguin!!!

This is just a thumbnail from me, best wishes to all

Phileas

Hi. Fogg here.

I had the most wonderful time at the Fleming farm at Rangiora. Apart from their great hospitality it was also wonderful to be encouraged to get involved in the workings of the farm. Feeding the calves was great and I was able to help by loading the great buckets of 'fresh from the cow' milk on to the four wheel drive truck and drive it to the many fields around the farm where the calves were. No photographic evidence yet but we have been invited back to stay for some days so I am hoping to get more involved then. Our walk on the farm was awesome. We got to the perimeter. It is well over a thousand acres in size so it was quite a walk up the steep hills. In fact I am still feeling the effects!!. That, coupled with my sand dune exploits that some of you may have read about have both been very physically challenging for me.

It has been very interesting for me too, to meet Phileas' rellies. They have been so generous in their hospitality and very welcoming. We are meeting some more tonight for high tea in a house in Oamaru. This is where we have been staying with my old colleague Andrina from Sixth Form College days. She runs a Victorian/Edwardian costume hire organisation here and is responsible for collection of and making the clothes as well as all their maintenance. It is particularly relevant here as Oamaru has a very interesting history of Victorian times and there are many Victorian buildings here, built of white Oamaru limestone, which are being restored and put to good use. The townsfolk also celebrate their Victorian heritage with fairs and events where they all dress up in period costume. Andrina I guess is particularly busy then!

As well as visiting the Penguins last night we also saw the Moeraki Boulders.

Another amazing photograph by Fogg as you can see (left). They are Septarian Concretions. I will leave you to look that up for yourself. Answers to our email please. (Jules, Please note!)

So, our journey continues to go very well. We are off tomorrow to Lake Manapouri in Fiord Land. We have rented a Bach and have already booked an overnight trip on the Fiordland Navigator to Doubtful Sound. Very excited!!!!!!!!

A Bach by the way is a small house usually used as holiday accomodation. They were originally used by batchelors as a hideaway, hence the name. In South Island they are called Cribs.

So,this is Fogg signing off and sending you all my very best wishes.

Fogg xxx

Greetings from South Island

2008-01-07T19:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from us both!
This is Phileas and Fogg celebrating the New Year in true NZ style with yummy wine and excellent food. Oh and of course we were eating al fresco!!

Anyway 'enough of this frivolity' our readers will be shouting 'give us news, we don't want to see pictures of you enjoying yourselves!!'

Fogg sent our last posting which was from Devonport on the North Island. We have now moved our base to Christchurch on South Island, a quite different place. Much quieter, even less people and mountains! We flew over snow covered peaks and we expect to be playing snowballs before we leave SI.

As you can see I have perfected the art of putting pictures on the blog, well I have found an awesome Internet place called e Blah Blah which has all the technology I need. Unfortunately it is only in CHCH so they may be the last for some time!! This is a picture taken on the Banks Peninsula. It is worth Google Earthing as it is quite awesome, as infact the whole area is. This is the crater of a volcano, one of 2 next to each other. It was found by Captain Cook and named after the great botanist Joseph Banks. Around the harbour are small villages including one called Akaroa. It is a beautiful little town, originally settled by French as well as British and so has a slightly French air. It has some of the best preserved Victorian buildings in the whole of NZ. It is backed by the mountains of the crater and so is very sheltered. We are back there soon to go Hector dolphin and White flipper penguin watching.

We now have a hire car and so we are free to explore. Driving is good as the roads are quiet; however standards of driving in NZ are varied and there are some seriously aggressive drivers just as in UK. Fogg has been doing all the driving as he is a diffident map reader and this has led to some scary moments for Phileas as the roads are very windy in places and the views are spectacular and Fogg wants to look as well as drive!! As we drove to Akaroa we were stopping every few minutes to take in the view and then round the corner was another, equally amazing.

When we first arrived in SI we stayed in a B & B in Sumner a suburb of CHCH. This is the view from the deck of our room and is typical of the views from the house. The sea is the Pacific Ocean, we could hear the water from our bedroom and it lulled us to sleep. All around here there are houses built on the sides of the volcanic hills with spectacular views down over the sea or the city. Getting to these properties is quite exciting and on foot exhausting. The roads are switchbacks and mad cyclists career down them. We are now staying further up the valley in Sumner in the house of an ex-colleagues of Fogg's. It is quite beautiful and looks over a small valley which reminds us very much of Scotland and The Lake District. There are massive birds of prey flying overhead and the light on the hills is everchanging. It is so peaceful and beautiful.

CHCH is a lovely city, very small and unthreatening. There is a very good Art Gallery and an Arts Centre which houses working artists, exhibitions, shops and a range of cafes. A model for any town in UK.

Will now hand over to Fogg. Best wishes to all our readers
Phileas.

The landscape here is awesome. The photos just give an idea. They do not really do it justice. It is just endless beauty.

The Art Gallery in Christchurch is excellent with a fantastic range of very good contemporary and historical paintings and prints. All housed in a very impressive modern glass building. Many of the paintings evoked the Scottish colour painters of the turn of the 19th/ 20th Century. It is very interesting to see works that had also been bought over by boat in the mid 19th Century by the early European settlers.

On the matter of Back Packers. (Largely for Mr'T' and Mrs 'T''s ex students). Unlike our day, it is now a 'doddle.' They (the backpackers) just swan from one venue to another in cars or buses and then crash out in their ready made hostel beds. The only backpacking they do is from the car to their room!!!!!!!!! Then it is a spit from there to the ready made bar where they practice for when they are back in England and at Uni!!!!!!!! I am not envious or anything.

SO STUDENTS. IF YOU GET THE OPPORTUNITY. GO FOR IT.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS AS THEY SAY AWESOME.

This is Fogg (Mr 'T') signing off

xx

Leaving Devonport

2008-01-02T19:03:00.002-08:00

Hi All
Phileas is being pampered at the moment so this is Fogg taking the opportunity to send you some thoughts as we are about to leave Devonport for South Island. Devonport is a super place. It is in many ways like walking into the past and yet with all the modern trappings that we have become used to. (Like this for example)It is beautiful, with majestic trees, wonderful views across to Auckland, friendly people, good bars and cafes. In fact we have really been thoroughly spoilt, but have enjoyed every minute. As we have become accustomed to being here we have ventured further. As you probably know we toured the top end of North Island which was awesome but also latterly we have also explored more locally, like climbing both extinct volcanoes which boarder two sides of Devonport. In fact the whole town is built on a larva flow. The walks have revealed something of a mystery to us. On both 'hills' or Pas(they have been used as such in the past) which is a Maori word for a fortified hill, are gun emplacements. In fact there are still large guns up there dating from the late 19th Century. They of course are inopperative but were placed there in about 1890 to protect this area and New Zealand from a supposed Russian threat! Apart from the signs on the hills telling us this we have been able to find out little of this time in history. Very intriguing since the Russian revolution was still just a twinkle in a Bolshiviks eye at that time! Any thoughts anyone? We have also taken to walking on the local 'Cheltenham' beach and have watched many Gannets diving for fish and of course enjoying the view of Rangitoto, our local ex volcanic island which has become something of an Icon for us. It is a super shape and I would love to incorporate it in to a painting or print at some time in the future when we get home. I have managed to do some drawing and am coming up with some ideas. My work seems to be taking an even more abstract quality. The shapes and patterns and textures are too good an opportunity to miss. There is so much to see. Thinking back to South East Asia I was completely visually boggled by the amount of Temples and Buddhist symbolism and the poverty I am having difficulty sorting out what I can/should/would like to do in terms of Art. (Back to NZ.) Forgive me if this is a bit rambling. It is hot today and humid too which for me makes it difficult to concentrate. We are leaving Devonport tomorrow the 4th Jan and are flying to Christchurch and hence on to Sumner where we have booked into a B and B before moving in to an ex collegues (from Redborne Upper School) house for ten days . Then on to Omaru when we stay for about a week with another ex colleague from Luton days. After that we are on our own, probably hiring a car or camper van and heading out and doing some serious exploring without the comfort of a 'permanent' home. So, at last we are begining to do what we always said we would, that that is 'winging it' . Excited? Yes. Of course. But we will miss the pool that we have become used to at the house in Devonport! We are having an amazing time. We are learning so much about places and people and have met some wonderful people too. It is also great to hear from you as well and keep us in touch with what is going on at home. So, the adventure continues. Keeping in touch may be a little more difficult from now on although we assured there are Internet cafes everywhere in NZ! We were in the Post Office in Devonport the other day filling in some forms which had our address on them. A woman who happened to look over Phileases shoulder said . Oh hello I'm from Bedford too. I was a student at St Thomas More. Small world. It seems there are at least four families from Bedford that have come to this part of NZ! So, farewell Devonport, hello South Island.
Until our next Blog.
Lots of love and Best wishes to you all.
Fogg x

Leaving DevonportHi All

2008-01-02T19:03:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year

2007-12-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

Greetings from a hot and sunny NZ and we send best wishes to all readers for a very happy and peaceful 2008. We celebrated the turning of the year at one of our favourite restaurants 'Mecca' with yummy prawns, chargrilled salmon and pan fried snapper. We supped on a very excellent Hawke's Bay 'Church Road'. Then down to the beach with the rest of Devonport to watch the fireworks from Auckland's Sky City - great fun and warm!!!

So best wishes from us both

Phileas and Fogg

Trying with photos again!!

2007-12-28T16:43:00.000-08:00

Hi from Phileas

I am experimenting again in the Library at Devonport with my new gadget, the card reader. I managed to lose a whole load of Fogg's photos when I posted them from our house so I thought I'd try this way. OK I can't the computer won't let me. I'll have to try a different Internet place.

Anyway while I am here I will tell you what we have been up to recently. Well actually what Fogg has been up to. Yesterday he sailed on NZ 40 which was one of the boats that was entered in the Americas Cup when it was held in San Diego in 1995. It was a beautiful boat and maybe I'll be able to put some pictures up later. I'll leave him to tell you all about it.

I decided not to go with him so I sat on the harbour wall and filmed the boat and took some photos. Then I succumbed to a rather good blueberry icecream and my latest Barbara Trapido novel. What a pleasant way to spend an afternoon!

Today we have been back to Rangitoto to take pictures for my colleagues in England (see previous blog on succession). Brilliant walk to the top, exhausting but well worth it for the views and satisfaction. Heading off now to the pool so over to Fogg.

Hi. A brief note from me. Fogg. Yesterdays trip on NZL40 was awesome. I was involved in the sailing of the boat. I manned the 'grinders'. A kind of winch that pulls the ropes attached to the sails. 'Painters' I think the ropes are called. I took the helm and put the boat about. 'Tacking' for those that don't know the language! A large sailing boat. We had 350 square metrs of sail flying. A spinacker when the wind was behind us. That increased the sail area a lot. The boat weighed 27 tons and the keel alone weighed 18 of those. The hull was made of carbon fibre. There were five professional crew on board and the rest was made up of people who just bought into the trip. It takes about 20 people to sail one of these so you may imagine that most were kept busy. It was fantastic and I want to go again. There is a n opportunity to engage in a race as there are two ex America Cup boats in the harbour. who knows? So, an excited Fogg who realised yesterday had not lost the call of the sea and the ability to handle a boat although the technology is much different that when I last sailed. Loved it. Lots of unused miscles used yesterday. Today I climbed a Volcanoo. Wow! So lots of love and best wishes to you all.
Fogg

xx

2007-12-26T14:59:00.000-08:00

Hi
This is Fogg. You will have received a Blog from Phileas. My turn whilst Phileas is out booking a trip to another local Island. Forgive me if I repeat anything. Christmas is now over . It was strange being on a beach eating breakfast on Christmas day and swimming in the Pacific but a wonderful experience. We watched Gannets diving for fish and looked across to Rangitoto an extinct Volcanic Island that we have visited. Prior to Christmas we travelled to the top of North Island for three days and stayed in a backpackers hostel, which was quite an experience in itself. Some time since I did that. About 40 years. The whole trip was wonderful. At the very top end. A very sacred place for the Maori. We watched the Tasman and Pacific oceans meet. A quite extraordinary sight seeing two great seas crash against each other. The landscape as we travelled was just stunning. Great hills punctuated with trees and ferns which created great areas of beautiful textures and colours. A textile artist's delight. We also visited one of the three remaining Kauri tree forests and saw the 'Biggest' tree in New Zealand. It was massive and majestic. Visiting the Kauri tree museum was a plus and gave us an insight into the historyof this magnificent tree. The Europeans and Maoris were very keen on it and logged, seemingly at will, until only 3% of the original coverage of New Zealand remains. I did not believe a tree museum could be so interesting! Whilst back at our hostel eating at a local restaurant one night we spotted Johnathon Porritt (past president of Friends of the Earth. Other highlights for me were a trip along '90 mile' beach on our coach. Driving at high speed along a deserted beach sounds odd but it was fantastic with marvellous views both out to sea and inland. We stopped occasionally and at one we dug for Tua Tua shells which we cracked open and ate the contents. A bit like mussels and a little slimy but I liked them. Phileas did not try! I also attempted to 'surf' a sand dune. This dune was well over 300 feet high and very steep. I was carrying a board to slide down on. I have to report I did not make it to the top as my legs just would not carry me. But I did manage a short slide down from about half way up. It was seriously difficult. But I am glad I had a go. I have to say I felt a bit knackered for the rest of the day! Tomorrow I take a trip on a large racing sailing boat which was used by NZ in the Americas Cup a few years ago. I shall report on that when I have done it. How excited am I? So after a very relaxed Christmas and Boxing day we are begining to get going again and have some serious experiences. We only have another week at Devonport and then fly to South Island on the 4th Jan where we will be staying at an ex colleagues house for ten days and then we are completely on our own, but hope to visit friends and relatives of Phileas whilst there. So our adventure continues. I have even managed to do some drawing maybe to illustrate our words when we get back? So this is Fogg signing out and I wish you all a very happy New Year.

Well that was Christmas!!!

2007-12-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

Hi from a warm, but breezy Devonport. It's December 27th and as far as I can see for New Zealanders Christmas is over. We had a very low key Christmas as you can imagine, but nonthe less enjoyed ourselves enormously. We had received some cards from the UK which was wonderful and I had been anticipating the Day through the Advent calendar that my dear aunt and godmother had sent me.

We had decided, Fogg and I, that we did not need any gifts to each other and so we woke on a bright sunny Christmas morning to a much greater gift, a beach. We took a breakfast picnic to one of our local beaches, Cheltenham, which is a 10 minute walk away. It was quiet with only a few people out cycling or walking but there were one or two families already on the sand with their boogie boards and picnics.

The sea was warm and we had the most wonderful swim followed by croissants, cherries and strawberries!! What more could you wish for?

Back at the house we set about getting ready for our bbq lunch of prawns and salmon with a rather nice bottle of NZ fizz. We had timed it just right as soon after we finished eating the heavens opened (as forecast) and we had to move indoors. Doctor Who back to back through the afternoon kept us amused and we phoned home to the UK to speak to family and friends as the light was fading. By 10pm it had stopped raining and so Fogg had a quick swim in the pool before bed!

Boxing Day in NZ is no different to the UK. The sales start and in Auckland there was horse racing and one day cricket - the Black Caps against Bangladesh. The Black Caps are not doing very well at the moment but seemed to be coping with the opposition quite well. We have become afficiendos of NZ sport as it is often the lead story on the 6pm news. We took a short swim in the pool and then set off for a walk up one of our local volcanoes, Mt Victoria. It was an important Maori site and since the arrival of the Europeans a lookuot and communications point. There is a gun embedded in the top of the volcano which was placed there because of the Russian threat in 1899! This fortunately did not materialise but the gun is still there. As are stunning 360o views of Auckland, the Islands and Devonport. Back down to the village for a coffee and home for fizz and smoked salmon. The evening was warm and sunny so we walked back to Cheltenham beach where we watched the gannets diving and the rainbow growing as the rain moved in! Boy can it rain in NZ, but we found a pukutakawa tree and sheltered until it passed.

My 30 minutes at the library is nearly over so I will sign off. Fogg will be on later when another computer is available.

With very best wishes

Phileas

Where two oceans meet

2007-12-23T14:00:00.000-08:00

Greetings from a hot and sunny Devonport. Fogg and I have just returned from a short break to the top of New Zealand where we learnt a lot about Maori culture, the Kauri tree and life as a backpacker. We would like to tell you all about these things but have to use an internet cafe so time is limited.

Suffice to say at this stage that we have met some wonderful Maori people, listened to some beautiful stories about Maori myths and legends and some evocative songs.

The Kauri tree was very important to the economic life of New Zealand but it was over forested and now is only found in a few small forests. I did manage a good hug of one!! It is related to the Redwood, is a soft and suprisingly light wood and has an enormous number of uses.

Backpacking in NZ is very well organised. We travelled with a company called Magic and stayed in a very clean hostel in Paihia on the Bay of Islands. We met some lovely young people and we may well try another one later, hostel that is not young people!!!

Time is running out so seasons greetings to you all.

Phileas and Fogg

thoughts

2007-12-17T22:51:00.000-08:00

Some people might be pleased to know that it has been raining quite heavily today. Luckily we had not planned a major outdoor event, just a shopping trip to our local town Takapuna.

We took the bus, the 813, that runs between Devonport and Takapuna every half hour. It is a well used service, particularly by older people and the young. It winds its way through the residential areas which are not quite as charming as Devonport. The area up to Takapuna has been developed in the last 40 years or so and the architecture relies more on brick and concrete rather than wood as we have in Devonport. Takapuna is a busy town with a small shopping centre housing all manner of small shops and Body Shop and Crabtree and Evelyn! We find the local art suppliers where Fogg stocks up and a Trade Aid shop that has excellent Fair Trade chocolate.

It is strange being in a country where familiar brands and shops are common. We have Coronation Street on the TV and the Christmas TV guide has the Coronation Street panto advertised on the front. NZ television seems to be based on UK and USA programmes. I watched Doc Martin last night and Michael Palin the night before. Yet the local news is totally unlike the BBC or ITV. Auckland news is first and it's usually politics/crime or sport. International news gets a small mention and there are adverts all the way through. I have to log onto the BBC news site on the web to find out what is happening in the world.

For me the most confusing thing is Christmas/December with temperatures in the mid 70s. The gardens here are full of English flowers - geraniums, marigolds, nasturtiums, summer jasmine and roses. There are sparrows, blackbirds, starlings, kingfishers - kingfishers? - yes, sitting on a telegraph wire completely unphased by the traffic and people passing it by and mynah birds. Unlike Singapore the Christmas decorations are muted, this is the main holiday period and most families are concentrating on their summer break. There are trees in windows and lights strung round verandas but for the date you really would hardly think that it was nearly Christmas day.

Ab Fab has just started!! so I'll say goodbye.

Best wishes

Phileas

islands,succession and competition

2007-12-15T18:39:00.000-08:00

I am, as you can imagine, quite excited about the fact that I have uploaded 5 images from our recent island journeys. What of course I should have done and will remember to do next time is to put one up at a time and that way I will be able to title them all!

The first 3 are of Rangitoto Island which is very close to us. In fact when we are on Cheltenham Beach we could almost swim to it. The last 2 are of Tiritiri Matangi which is about an hour by ferry from Auckland.

I have been so excited by these 2 islands and my Biology and Geography colleagues will understand why. On a personal level they were both incredibly beautiful and visually exciting but for someone who teaches succession, speciation, competition, transpiration etc they were a living classroom.

You can see from the pictures that they are very different and Fogg has described their history briefly I think. Rangitoto is hot and unforgiving, the black lava is hard and dry and it would be hard to imagine anything living on it let alone the massive pohutukawa tree. Yet over time (geologically and biologically a very short 400 years) mosses and lichens have covered the lava and when they died their remains have filled the nooks and crannies between the lumps of lava. This has provided a foothold for ferns and grasses, whose spores and seeds have blown in from neighbouring islands. The roots of the grasses have held the embryonic soil and allowed larger flowering plans and shrubs to get a foothold. Finally there has been soil enough for the trees which now cover an enormous percentage of the island. In places, however, the succession is still in its early stages and the only organisms visible are mosses or grasses. There is no water on the island, the lava is very porous and the rain water runs straight through to form a freshwater reservoir on top of the seawater under the island. On these open areas of lava temperatures rise as the black rock absorbs the sun's energy and so there is very little animal life except small birds which can shelter in the undergrowth and feed on the seeds and the few insects that are available. The survival of the pohutukawa also depended on the eradication of the possums and wallabies that had been introduced to the island in the 1880s.

Tiritiri Matangi is not a volcanic island and has plenty of running water. It has supported both Maori settlements (Kawerau and later Ngati Paoa) and European farmers and all of this occupation and farming resulted in most of the original bush being lost. When it was made into a sanctuary a massive amount of work had to be done to replant and reintroduce birds who could breed and survive without predation by possum, rats, cats, stoats etc. This has now happened and the rules about entering the island are very strict to ensure that no stray predators get back. The same applies to seeds of plants (weeds) that would compete too strongly with the indigenous plants. The plant life on the island is lush and green and allows the visitor to walk through shady tracks and boardwalks and listen to the birdsong and spot some of the most endangered species of birds in New Zealand. It is a magical place as you can see from the pictures and the birds are beautiful. Some special ones to mention are the Stitch Bird, The North Island Saddleback, The North Island Robin, The Whitehead, The Tui and of course the Takahe and The Kokako. Unfortunately we did not see the latter or the Blue Penguins which nest on the coast but we were so pleased to have spent such a wonderful day that it did not matter.

I leave you with this picture (as with all I must credit Fogg) of Greg. He is not the prettiest bird in the world, but because he is a Takahe one of the most endangered and therefore one of the most significant that we saw on Tiritiri.

With very best wishes

Phileas

2007-12-14T14:58:00.000-08:00

Its Saturday 15th December and Phileas and Fogg have been exploring. We have been to two of the islands off the east coast of North Island, Rangitoto and TiriTiri. Both amazing . Rangitoto is an extinct Volcano and it only stopped erupting 400 years ago. (It started 600 years ago and took 200 hundred to form itself into the island.) so there is a lot of cascades of larva interspersed with trees and foliage and lichens which very much excited Phileas from the scientific point of view. Visually I have never seen anything like it. We took a tractor to near the top and climbed to the summit and hence we walked round the rim of the crater. The views were magnificent over the isthmus and towards Auckland. The second island was TiriTiri an ecological masterpiece with the most amazing range of birds. We saw all manner which I will not list here. Suffice it to say it was very exciting. The views were again spectacular. The trees were fantastic. The colours textures and shapes were inspiring. I have got to get drawing. We are doing so much I have not really had time. It was a hot day yesterday on TiriTiri and we got back late (6pm) and went straight into the pool followed by a really good glass of Chardonnay. What bliss. Our 'hosts' go to England today so from now on we are on our own, really for the first time since we have been away. We have done more than an 8th of our journey already! Having walked round our adopted home of Devonport for a month this morning I have seen people in Father Christmas costumes, girls with antlers, Christmas lights and trees in peoples front rooms, all in bright sunshine. All very surreal. We are going to the Bay of Islands at the end of next week and will be staying away for a couple of nights. We have joined a backpacker's group and will be spending a couple of nights in a 'hostel' although they have let us 'old folks' have the studio so we do not have to share a dormitory! More about that later on. So this is Fogg signing out and sending you all my love and best wishes.

I'm just practising!!

2007-12-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

This is a purely random photograph that I am using to practise putting photos on our blog. As you can see it is a picture of a scooter with 2 pigs in a cage on the back. This was a very common sight in Vietnam, we saw horizontal pigs (not sure whether they were alive or dead); ducks; chickens; wardrobes and assorted vegetables. How on earth they balanced I will never know!!

Phileas

In Auckland

2007-12-08T20:36:00.001-08:00

Hello all

I have now just about woken up since arriving in Auckland and am getting my bearings. Phileas is sitting and chatting with our new hosts and since it is now raining very hard is a good opportunity for me to 'Blog'. I mention the rain since I do not want you to think it is wall to wall sunshine. I have even got a jumper on! Phileas and I however braved the elements and went for a good walk round Devonport where we will be based for the next month. It is a delightful place. As a friend who lives on south island observed Devonport is very 'Anne of Green Gables'. Phileas's comment as we were walking round was that it is almost too good to be true. Very clean and healthy. It is a small place with a range of shops and good bars and restaurants. We have tried a couple already! The people are very friendly and helpful. The youth seem to be happy and there is very little crime. Unemployment is about 2%. There are two ways of getting here. Over a large road bridge situated some distance away from Devonport or over by the ferry. If a crime is committed here the police just close the bridge or wait for the ferry to dock. Of course boats could be used but they are not. The beaches are clean and safe and when the weather clears we will be down there with the locals swimming, although the pool at the house is great. Phileas has had a dip! The pool takes up most of the garden which has a border of trees and shrubs with a huge gas fired Bar-b-q in the corner. We had a Bar-b-q yesterday with our hosts Jim and Wendy and Wendy's children. Very pleasant indeed. Having just about recovered from jetlag we are now looking to go exploring further afield to the north of north island where there is wildlife in abundance to see. So Phileas and Fogg's big adventure is well underway. It seems a width of beach measuring a 'Chain' (22yards) (about 7 metres) known I think as the Queens chain goes all round both islands. It is 'owned' by our very own QE 2. It is a way of ensuring that people who have properties overlooking the beach here do not claim rights down to the waters edge and that beach use is available to all. Property here is lovely. Most are raised off the ground and a large storage space is created underneath. Cars are kept on an adjacent driveway. All houses have a ground floor outside terrace. Its the kind of terrace one sees on the films with 'old folks' sitting on in a slowly rocking 'rocking chair'. I must have a go! We saw a poster today for candle light carol singing on the 13th. We shall go to that and try a little to 'integrate' with the local community.
So, until the next Blog this is Fogg signing off . Thank you to those who are sending us emails. It is good to hear from you.
Fogg. x

On the kindness of strangers

2007-12-06T20:26:00.000-08:00

Fogg and I flew into Auckland yesterday and having adjusted our watches twice by 3 and then 2 hours forward felt totally zapped. Despite having flat bed seats on the plane we had only had time for a few hours sleep and had been constantly disturbed by turbulence and some fluid snoring from down the aisle! Our hotel had harbour views and we were delighted to be able to sit on our balcony on what was a balmy evening watching some serious yachts come into the marina. Auckland is the biggest city in NZ and amazingly is home to early a third of the population. We will certainly spend some time exploring the city, today just time to find the bank, somewhere to eat and enjoy watching the boats.

For the next four weeks we shall be based in Devonport, across the water from the city and easily reached by a 10 minute ride on the ferry. We are met by Wendy whose house we will be living in. She takes us on a brief tour of what is a delightful settlement, the feel of a village with the facilities of a town. Charming turn of the century clapperboard villas, a range of restaurants, cafes and shops, a beach just down the road. From just about every turn their are views of the sea and the surrounding hills and beaches. These are particularly good from the viewpoint of the 2 extinct volcanoes North Head and Mount Victoria. Our host and her partner Jim have made us so welcome. We will spend the next few days recovering and then explore Devonport before taking short sortees into the North of North Island. We shall of course have to sit guard over the swimming pool and check the temperature of the water occasionally whilst savouring the bouquet of a rather nice and pleasantly inexpensive New Zealand wine!!

Fogg is fast asleep on the reclining chair so he will post later.

With best wishes from Phileas

Hi. Actually not asleep. Merely resting eyes.

Fogg.

Singapore and pedicures

2007-12-04T21:46:00.000-08:00

Hi again

We have been in Singapore for the last three days. What a place. A whole country which seems just like a city crammed into about 26 miles by 12 miles, much of it including our hotel on re-claimed land. Such a huge contrast to where we have been in Indo-China which was for the most part is so poor compared to this country, which for the most part is so rich. It is however a fascinating place and we have visited in our short visit some wonderful places including the famed Raffles Hotel where we of course had a Singapore Sling in a blistering 32 degrees on December 5th surrounded by Christmas decorations and santas and fake snow, and as phileas has just reminded me Christmas carols. Not bad for a country which is mostly Buddhist and does not often go below about 25 degrees, ever! We fly today to Sydney and a quick transfer and hence on to Auckland when we will Blog again. It is proving already to be an outstanding venture although from Foggs point of view will be quite happy to chill for a short while to catch breath and break out the sketch book!. I have however already taken about 400 photographs. Mostly in Indo-China. So, this is Fogg signing out. Very best wishes to you all. Will be in touch again soon.

Three cheers for tourist buses which show you the main sights when you are only in a city for a short space of time. I am hanging on to our ticket which will give us a discount at when we next want to ride in Great Yarmouth or Sydney or Los Angeles!!

The ride took us to the Botanic Gardens, much recommended to us by our fellow travellers in IndoChina. They were right, a beautiful place, not cool unfortunately, but great to be away from the noise and shops. A beautiful Orchid collection too, an extraordinary range of plants.

On then to Orchard Road, Singapore's equivalent of Oxford Street. Great for the air conditioning!! No purchases.

In Hoi An I had a pedicure from a tiny Vietnamese girl called Ha. She was from the country and have moved to the town to be near her fiancee. It was lovely to talk to her and hear about her wedding plans - no party, they want a honeymoon if his parents will allow. It wasn't a brilliant pedicure so today I took myself off to the hotel spa where I was pampered (reflected in price). My girl this time was from the Philipines and had been in Singapore for 6 years. Work is hard to find at home and so she works to send money home to her family. She only sees them 2/3 times a year, but she is paying for her son to go through college. I had told her about our journey but I told her too that I thought that she was much braver than me. I could go home whenever I wanted.

So we leave this amazing part of the world this afternoon. We are sorry to say goodbye to some delightful people but are looking forward to completely unpacking our suitcases at least for a few days!!

Phileas

farewell to IndoChina

2007-12-01T02:46:00.000-08:00

Well, after a whistlestop tour we leave this amazing area tomorrow and fly off to Singapore. I hope to come back to talk more about the places that we have visited and the things that we have seen. For now just some brief memories.

The people, there are lots of them, particularly in Vietnam. A population at the end of the war of 40 million has grown to 84million. A lot of young people. The charming way in which the people that we have met have interacted with us; courtesy and time taken makes such a difference. Wonderful smiles.

The poverty of so many, particularly in Cambodia. Yet we have been staying in luxury.

The noise of the motorbikes and scooters - over 40 million in Vietnam.

The food, what a range of fruit and vegetables. Vietnamese food is very subtle, not heavily spiced like food from Laos and Thailand.

The history and culture, so many beautiful buildings capped today by Angkor Wat which is definitely one of the 7 Wonders of the World.

We finish this evening with a meal for all the members of our group and our guide Harry.

Au revoir from Siem Reap

Phileas and Fogg

Thoughts from Hoi An

2007-11-24T18:33:00.000-08:00

Hi from Mike and Kate

This is the first time we have had to sit time and write a Blog. The tour we are on is fantastic in so many ways and it has been pretty well non stop. We have been to some amazing places and seen so many extraordinary things. Laos was quite stunningly beautiful. Luang Prabang lived up to my expectations and exceeded them. The contrasts are of course very marked. There is extreme poverty in Laos and in Vietnam, where we are now and it is hard to see much of the population living in such conditions whilst we are in luxury in hotels serviced by the very people that we see on our travels. However they are so calm and nice and seem genuinely pleased to have us in their country, particularly if you are English. I am fairly certain that the Americans are not so popular given their recent history in this area. We see people with limbs missing and can only assume that ordnance left by the U.S.A is largely responsible. Our guide often refers to the 'American' war and talks with passion about it. Despite all this and the French and Japanese occupations the people are lovely and forgiving. Buddism is very strong in Laos and Vietnam, and we have seen many monks around and have learnt a lot about their living. I could go on but time again is not on our side and I will now hand over to Phileas. So this is Fogg signing out with best wishes to you all.

Hoi An is about 2/3rds way down the Vietnamese coast. It is a UNESCO town as are a number of sites in Indo China. We are due to leave this morning and head on down to Saigon. Our guide, Harry, is from Vietnam and he is able to give us a very thorough understanding of the country and its history. He has given us several talks about the religion and history and at every place we visit goes into great detail about the function or significance of the architecture for example. Despite coming from the South of Vietnam and having been appallingly affected by the war he is never judgmental, only factual. The group as a whole have a great respect and affection for him.

Laos is a beautiful country and we fell in love with the simplicity of life in Luang Prabang. Our trip up the Mekong River took us past small villages of stilt houses perched above the bank. The 'beach' was the market garden of the village and at this time of the year planted with vegetables. Moored alongside were boats for fishing. The food market was a revelation selling an enormous range of fruit and vegetables as well as meat, fish, bullfrogs (alive or barbecued), rats (barbecued) and snack food such as stir fried vegetables wrapped in banana leaves. An photographer's dream! Vientiane was less attractive but no less interesting and as the capital had some serious architecture of buddist and communist styles. Vietnam is a socialist republic but in the early 1980s had a more communist regime. Now the free market is allowed and people are able to buy land and property and run their own businesses.

More soon

With love Phileas and Fogg

In Bangkok

2007-11-16T05:11:00.000-08:00

Hi all

Having 'recovered' from our flight,we spent today exploring some sites of Bangkok. We hired our own personal guide and transport which proved to be an inspired idea of Kates. It has been a stunning day in so many respects. The sights, sounds,smells have been fantastic and the weather has been wonderful. Today 35 degrees. Loads of photos already. The people are so kind and friendly and beautiful. I have started a diary in the journal my ex students gave me.(thank you guys) and as soon as we get to Laos I hope to start drawing. We are though still very tired and an early night beckons, so I will say au revoir and hand over to Kate.
Mike xxxx

Qantas Business comes highly recommended, beds quite comfy, you can lie out flat and the food was excellent.

Bangkok has been a revelation, It is extraordinary and quite exhausting. Not sure I can remember everything we have seen but would direct you to www.palaces.thai.net to see images of the Grand Palace, one of our destinations today. Also on the tour - the Golden Buddha, the Reclining Buddha and lessons in how to greet people in Thailand. I think the Buddist philosophy could have something to teach us.

Piano Bar and supper calls.

With best wishes

Phileas and Fogg

friends and e mail addresses

2007-11-09T15:44:00.000-08:00

Until recently I knew exactly who I was. Now I have so many user IDs, passwords, memorable information that I find myself shouting at the screen where in red letters I am informed that I have given the wrong password, I am not recognised etc.

So I am in now; just wanted to say that I am so pleased to have spent the evening with Mark Rutherford Science dept and friends. I miss working with them very much and seeing most of them tonight was very special.

With love

Phileas

We are still here!

2007-11-08T03:33:00.000-08:00

Literally and metaphorically that is. Havn't posted recently - not sure that anyone would be interested in lists! Not panicking that we havn't got our tickets yet, we have great confidence in Trailfinders, Cambridge.

I had planned to describe how we set about this journey so that anyone coming along behind could pick up useful tips and avoid pitfalls. Hadn't taken into account how long everything takes and how complex this whole thing has turned out to be. It hasn't been helped by the additional features of dealing with the Teacher's Pensions Agency and sorting out mum's estate. But we musn't complain.

We are enjoying the process of au revoirs with numbers of friends and relatives. Humbled that we have 93 contacts and rising in our travelling e mail account.

We are ready to go, drugs (prescription) collected, jabs received, malaria tablets ready to be chewed! Guide books and copius notes made. Not sure that there will be any room left to pack clothes! Major decisions to make e.g. do I take a hairdryer, what quality of shower gel do they have in hotels in Laos? At present reckoning we will be staying in 32 different hotels (those are booked) so I should be able to publish a short paper on afforementioned shower gel on our return!

I should imagine that our next post will be from Bangkok, so till then

Best wishes

Phileas and Fogg

test photo

2007-10-21T03:54:00.000-07:00

We are in Padstow, testing that we can do this away from the comfort of home and that we can post photos. The picture will be quite random assuming that I manage it!!!! OK can't find the right button will try again later.

Sun is shining the tide is in.

All the best Kate and Mike

2007-10-16T01:53:00.000-07:00

Hi again

Having had some teething problems we think that this might be it. So you can access our blog or email us by sending us a comment and when we get to Internet cafes we will endevour to reply to your message. Not being the worlds best I.T. merchants we may occasionally get into a bit of a pickle, so please bear with us.

The next thing we have to do is work out how to download photos onto our Blog. I think Kate seems to have the measure on that so I might leave that to her!

Only about four weeks to go before departure and we are very excited if not a little nervous but I am sure everything will be fine.

So. I will close now and get onto the Blog (assuming I know what to do next time I feel moved to write) in a a few days time and send more messeges.

Best wishes to all who access this

Mike and Kate

2007-10-15T06:02:00.000-07:00

Hi

This is Kate and Mike celebrating the birth of their Blog.

What more can we say except we are thrilled!

Will be in touch

Mike and Kate

xx