Auckland Airport
37°0′17″ S 174°46′58″ E

We were up early to take the shuttle back to the airport to pick up our rental car. Catherine came prepared with some high tech apparel to help her manage her anxiety while I was driving on the “wrong” side of the road & she had no steering wheel.

This new kit limited her vision & allowed her to hyperventilate in comfort & without embarrassment.

With all equipment in place & our destination programmed into the GPS we headed off confidently & promptly took a wrong turn coming out of the car rental parking lot. Not a great start – we were on a dead end road that was off limits to the general public but were able to turn around & make our escape without any further stress.

Thankfully the rest of the 3 1/2 hour drive to Paihia went off without incident. Although once we were out of the greater Auckland area the route was over very hilly & winding roads.

We arrived in Paihia around 1:00 & were very pleased to see the beautiful setting that our motel (BreakWater Motel) was in. We had a really clean & comfortable housekeeping unit with a great view of the bay.

We had a brief rest & then went for a walk along the harbourfront commercial area. Shortly after we got back to our room we were lucky enough to spot the Fa’afaite, a Maori double-hulled sailing canoe pass through the harbour.

This boat was sailed from Tahiti by a Maori woman & crew with no modern navigation aids as part of the Tuia 250 Celebrations. It has joined a flotilla of tall ships that are currently circumnavigating New Zealand.

You can read more about Tuia 250 by following this link to the official website: https://mch.govt.nz/tuia250

We hope to catch up with the tall ships tomorrow.

Cheers!

33°53′23″ S  151°16′31″ E
Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia

We were up at 5:00 am to see the sun come up and to catch the airport shuttle at 6:00. We had plenty of time to make our flight and had a light breakfast after checking in and going through security.

The Sydney airport is massive and full of luxury shops – Gucci, Rolex, Cartier, Versace – all of our favourite shopping spots (!) but also nice lounge areas with water features. It’s also a “quiet” airport so the only announcements are at the gates. All other public service and flight information is on the monitors so it is much quieter than most other airports we have been in.

It was a pleasant 2 hour flight on Air New Zealand. There is a 2 hour time difference between Australia & New Zealand so we left at 10:00 and got in at 2:00. We even had a tasty hot meal (instead of having to buy a crummy sandwich) and they changed our seats for free. Plus we had one free bag each to check, which arrived when we did! Air Canada, are you paying attention?

Going through New Zealand Customs & Immigration was very easy & efficient – very similar to our experience coming into Australia.

We stayed at a motel close to the airport. Good thing we had booked ahead as U2 was playing a huge concert in Auckland that night and a lot of hotels in the city were sold out. No concert for us, just dinner at a nearby Indian restaurant and bed. A big day tomorrow as we start the next phase of our adventure down under & we pick up the rental car.

Catherine is really looking forward to me driving on the opposite side of the road in a place we’ve never been before!

Hang on!

Today we were on a mission to explore the Bondi Beach & Bondi Junction areas with a few specific goals/stops in mind.

Catherine was up an hour before me & went for a walk on the beach at sunrise.

She was astonished by how many people were out at 6:00 am running, swimming, surfing, biking, yoga & pretty much all other forms of exercise. Of course the surroundings were pretty inspiring.

We started our adventure with another great breakfast at “Le Paris Go” cafe & then began our climb to Bondi Junction. While our walk was not nearly as challenging as our hike in Nepal we were very surprised to find how steep & hilly this part of Sydney really is.

It took us about an hour to reach the main commercial area – with a jumbo shopping mall, outdoor markets & apartment towers adjacent to quiet residential streets. These areas reminded us a lot of Vancouver.

Despite the 30 C weather the stores were all decked out in full Christmas marketing mode.

After resting & people watching for a while we continued on our mission to find the Bondi Junction Vet Hospital which was just a couple of blocks away from the main commercial area.

Catherine was really hoping to meet Dr. Chris Brown, the Bondi Vet from the tv show so she was constantly on the lookout for a stray kitten or an injured bird that she could take into the clinic. Alas, no luck there.

We found the clinic & contemplated going in but finally thought better of it & continued on our trek.

Next on our list was to explore Sydney’s Centennial Park. In typical Aussie fashion, this park is huge. Lots of open space for people to wander & picnic in & beautiful ornamental gardens.

We found a really nice cafe in the park & took a refreshment break before continuing on to our next destination – the Waverly Cemetery.

On our way out of the park we walked through a natural wooded area that hosted hundreds of fruit bats hanging upside down & sleeping high in the trees. Just like the park they were in, these bats are huge – each one easily the size of a cat. Even though these bats are no threat to people (they are vegetarians) we didn’t linger too long in this area.

Check out this website to find out more about the bats. They are fascinating: http://sydneybats.org.au/flying-foxes/

Waverly Cemetery is an historic site overlooking the ocean. We walked through the cemetery for a short while & saw many gravestones dated into the early 1800’s. There’s even a smartphone app that you can use to find out if you have any ancestors buried there.

We made our way down from the cemetery over to Bronte Beach.

From there it was a short walk to Tamarama Beach where we were close to the day before while checking out the Sculptures by the Sea Exhibition.

By the time we got back to Bondi Beach, the place was hopping with at least 10 times more people than we saw on our first day. We had walked almost 20 kilometers & were so tired that we bought some snacks and ate them on the balcony while watching the crowds on the street below & on the beach. The bowls of Honey Macadamia Nut ice cream completed the day.

Cheers!