Tues, June 25

We were squashed together quite tight in the middle of the central row of four seats, and the position of the seat legs meant that we couldn't both have our bags in front of us, but we slept for most of the flight anyway. They served us three meals spaced about four hours apart — the last of which was breakfast — and Jessie and I made a point of ordering different things so we could share.

Although we did not go through customs in Sydney, we had to go through security a second time before boarding the Qantas flight to Auckland, but we made our connection in plenty of time. They served breakfast again, which Jessie pointed out was our "second breakfast!" We got our first taste of the wooden utensils that are provided with takeaway food in NZ, where single-use plastics have been outlawed.

We arrived in Auckland around 2pm and went through customs, which was mostly biosecurity. I had filled out the declaration after packing my hiking boots with dirt on the soles, so they had to clean the boots before giving them back to me.

Our hotel, Oakwood Manor, had an airport shuttle but not much nearby. We walked to the "town centre" which turned out to be an outdoor mall that was just closing. We attempted to get dinner at an Asian BBQ takeaway, but we were confused by their system of ordering and ended up with a rather small meal to share. So we then went to Maccas (as the locals call McDonald's, and the chain has embraced the nickname) and shared a chicken sandwich as well as the takeaway. Their burger offerings were a bit higher quality than in the US. Then we stopped at Countdown, a grocery store chain run by Woolworth's, to get some provisions.

Although I had planned to dress in layers, I forgot to bring any long-sleeved shirts, just a light jacket, so I was pretty chilly. We took an Uber back to the hotel rather than walking back in the cold.

Weds, June 26

We checked out of the hotel and took another Uber to the Jucy campervan rental where I had reserved a van for the remainder of our time in NZ, thinking that we would see the countryside before returning to Auckland. We each took a turn driving on our way to the Hobbiton movie set. We had a very nice tour and took lots of photos. 

When the set was initially built for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was just façades propped up on the hillsides, and some of them were burned down to film the prophecy scene, and all of them were removed after filming. But fans discovered the location and pestered the farmers so much that when the crew returned to film the Hobbit trilogy, they asked that the set be made permanent so that tourists would have something to see. So now it is the largest permanent movie set in the world, complete with the busiest pub in all of New Zealand. Most of the hobbit holes are still just façades, but last spring (November) two interiors were built at human scale so that tourists can walk through.

Then we drove to Rotorua, where the "thermal holiday park" promised a hot soak. It was not as hot as some hot tubs, but we got nicely warmed up before facing the night in the camper. The camper turned out to be quite drafty, especially by the side door, so we needed another soak in the morning!

Thurs, June 27

Jessie was not ready to leave Rotorua without seeing more of the geothermal attractions, so we went to Whakarewarewa, which has been a tourist attraction since before colonization and is now a "living Māori village," meaning that people live there to learn and teach pre-colonial customs. We did not tour the village, but we had a lovely scenic walk on the trails past steaming and bubbling pools.

Next we drove back to Hamilton (which we had passed through on the highway the day before) to tour Hamilton Gardens. The docents were quick to point out that it is not a botanical garden but a museum of gardening styles from around the world. We enjoyed strolling around and taking pictures, but I would have learned more - particularly in the New Zealand native garden - had there been more signage. The only garden with identifying signs was the one showcasing plants that colonists had brought with them from Europe, and I already knew most of those!

I was eager to try "freedom camping" since it was the main reason we had gotten a self-contained campervan, and we bought more groceries with the intention of continuing to camp for three more nights as planned. The place we found to park overnight in Hamilton was a stadium parking lot, which was fine - I got a good look at the southern sky, and we even got some passable photos of the stars. We decided to see if the top bunk was warmer than the bottom one, and it was, but very confining, and the bed was too firm for either of us to sleep well.

Fri, June, 28

We woke tired and sore and were unable to get the stove to light and decided over breakfast to return the campervan early and get a hotel. There was no refund, but it was worth it to have a comfortable place to rest! Jessie booked us at the Roomie Apartment Hotel, which was very roomy — although there were only dishes for two in the kitchen, there were three sinks! While unpacking my boots, Jessie made a joke about how we'd brought them halfway around the world to get them cleaned.

Friday was Matariki, the Māori new year and in its third year as a national 3-day-weekend holiday. We had been invited via a Facebook group to attend the holiday celebration at Earthsong Eco-Neighborhood, but the expat who invited us let us know that many people in the neighborhood had come down with something, including his daughter who seemed to have chicken pox, so after he gave us a tour and tea on the veranda, we excused ourselves. The ecovillage is 20 years old and has many edible and useful plants that are as old, and native trees that are much older. 

I was struck by how all the native trees and imported tropical trees keep right on growing and producing during the winter, while the imported temperate trees drop all their leaves and go dormant! It's disorienting to see bananas and oranges thriving while an apple tree is totally bare. The valuable sunny real estate of their bark is thickly covered with mosses and lichens and epiphytes.

Back at the hotel, we ordered a pizza and enjoyed the Māori channel, including a movie named Matariki which strives to capture the new-beginnings spirit of the holiday through the intertwined lives of 7 characters.

Sat, June 29

Feeling much better rested on Saturday morning, we took a bus to the Auckland Zoo. There we saw native wildlife, including a kiwi and a kea, and some Australian animals as well, finishing around noon. Afterward we decided to split up for the day and meet up back at the hotel in the evening.

Jessie took a car downtown and toured the Wētā Workshop Unleashed! and the Auckland Art Gallery. The workshop holds a 90 minute tour of the storyboards, sets, costumes and special effects for three imaginary movies (fantasy, sci-fi, and horror) to show how different effects are done. Jessie learned that the founders of Wētā Workshop quite like guinea pigs and are building their guinea pigs a mini Lord of the Rings set. At the Auckland gallery, she made a point to see indigenous and other New Zealand art, as we have plenty of European and Asian art at home!

I walked to Kelmarna Community Farm to take a look around, and then I took a bus to the Auckland Domain, which is like Boston Common. I was particularly impressed by the Fernz Fernery. Then I went to the War Memorial Museum (also in the Domain) and did not tour the war exhibits, but I did learn a lot about the natural history of NZ and Māori history. The museum really brought home that although Australia has been inhabited for 50,000 years, New Zealand has only been populated for 800 years.

Back at the hotel, we ate our leftovers from the night before and I nailed down plans for the coming week in Australia. In the process I discovered that the rental car office where our car was booked would likely be closed before we could get there.

Sun, June 30

First thing Sunday morning, we packed up to leave the hotel and could not find my hiking boots anywhere. Since we both remembered the joke she made while unpacking them, it's a mystery... I guess they were made for walking!

We took a car with our luggage for breakfast at the home of my college friend Jonathan Shearer, who lives with his wife Stacey and two sons in a neighborhood near the airport that he described as one of the two worst neighborhoods in NZ — by way of pointing out how high NZ standards are! The two of them are elementary science teachers, and their kids are attending a Māori immersion school that has them all quite fluent in the language. They have planted many edible and native trees around the place.

Jonathan dropped us at the airport. Our flight back to Sydney was uneventful. I got a SIM for the week so I wouldn't have to keep relying on wi-fi. While I did that, Jessie was able to change our reservation with Hertz to the airport location, though we had to upgrade to a larger car and pay a bit more. The rental agent apologized that it was “quite a large SUV” — but clearly Aussies have different definitions, since it was hardly larger than our Nissan Leaf at home.

We had some trouble finding the Southern Cross Hotel, which is on a very busy intersection where both roads are divided, so you can only approach from one direction. The room we got faced away from the street and had no exterior window, which was quieter than being on the street but also gave no clue as to day or night! We had dinner in the pub that the restaurant is known for and went right to bed, since we'd just gained two hours and it felt very late.

Mon, July 1

After a few false starts we found a place to have breakfast, and then we drove out west to Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park. Honestly this place was worth the trip all on its own. We got to feed and pet kangaroos, wallabies, and quokkas, and we saw lots of koalas and Tasmanian devils and wombats and spectacular native birds from all over the continent. Many of the species were not at all endangered where they live, but you'd have to travel all over to see them in the wild... for example, this is the only place outside Western Australia where you can see a quokka. Anyone who likes exotic animals should put this place on their list. Birdwatchers should probably plan on multiple days.

In the afternoon we had some time to kill and knew we wouldn't make it back to the western suburbs again, so we tried to hike the Gabrugal Yana trail in Western Sydney Parklands, but when that was too muddy we went to Olympic Park for a quick look around and dinner.

Our reason for staying in the western suburbs all afternoon was so that I could attend the 7pm meeting of Permaculture Sydney West, one of half a dozen regional clubs in the metro area and the only one meeting during our visit. Prior to COVID their monthly meetings attracted some 300 members, but now they are closer to 50, which still impressed me very much! The structure of the meeting reminded me of the Emporia Garden Club. The guest speaker talked about preparing for disasters as the climate changes, and she shared some hair-raising stories. I had some good conversations during the social time after.

Tues, July 2

We drove into downtown in the morning to have brunch with Asabi Goodman. She is in town playing Matron "Mama" Morton in Chicago the Musical. We last crossed paths with her when the touring company of Hairspray passed through Omaha last year.

After brunch we walked to the Australian Museum whose collection of taxidermied/reconstructed animals has seen better days, but whose mineral and gem collection rivals that of the American Museum of Natural History. As in Auckland, most of the indigenous artifacts were made in the past 100 years, because they are biodegradable!

After a snack at the museum, Jessie and I parted ways again so she could go to the New South Wales Art Gallery and I could see the Royal Botanical Garden Sydney before it closed at 5pm (winter hours). The botanical garden is enormous, and I'm sure I only saw half of it, but I enjoyed seeing the massive, mature trees. Jessie again made a point to see indigenous and Australian art due to limited time. She also happened upon a Hayou Kusama piece that was in a sculpture garden — a highlight for her as she teaches clients about her, as Kusama has schizophrenia and is a very successful artist.

We met up at the Sydney Opera House at dusk for a stroll around before finding an Italian restaurant near where our car was parked. Italian food always reminds us of our honeymoon! The restaurant had top notch tiramisu, something we always look for, nearly as good at that at Caffe Duomo in Florence.

Weds, July 3

We took the train into downtown again to have breakfast with Nathan Menser, who is doing community relations for public works projects. He and his wife have two daughters age 13 and 16; the older one is looking at colleges, so she's about where Nathan and I were when we met! Nathan says the Supercomputer Honors Program did not affect his career path at all as it did mine, but the social connections helped him a lot.

Afterward we were passing a shop that had a 50% off sale on outdoor gear, so I wound up buying another pair of hiking boots to replace the lost ones. Then we went to Chinatown and found some great deals on souvenirs before taking the train back to our hotel.

We left town around noon and headed south on the same highway that runs past the hotel. I arranged the route so we drove down the coast and stopped at a couple of beaches. Between the two, Jessie hit a storm drain and popped a tire, so we spent the rest of the trip driving on the compact spare.

I mistakenly set the GPS to navigate us to Budderoo National Park instead of specifying the Minnamurra Rainforest Centre, so we went way up on top of a mountain before we realized our mistake, but we got some good photos up there, so it was worth the trip. It meant though that by the time we got to Minnamurra, the waterfall walk was closed for the day and we had to settle for the shorter Lyrebird walk. It was lovely and plenty long.

I had been in touch by email with April Sampson-Kelly at Permaculture Visions about visiting her 30-year-old site, Silk Farm, near Wollongong, but I hadn't put together that she had been the guest speaker at the meeting on Monday night! So we had already met, and she invited us to join her and her friend Samantha for dinner at a nearby pub after a quick tour of the farm. We had a very nice dinner and then drove back to Sydney. We got back to our hotel around 8:30.

Thurs, July 4

We went for breakfast first thing at an artisan coffee place near our hotel, then checked out and returned the rental car. Our flight from Sydney to Melbourne was via the international terminals at both airports because it was bound for Phuket next; this meant that we (and many other domestic passengers) had to go through lots of extra checkpoints, but fortunately we weren't in a hurry!

I was struck by how attractive the buildings are in Melbourne. I didn't see any brutalism or any ugly, purely functional-looking buildings. It reminded me of a less extravagant Singapore.

We rode the SkyBus from the Melbourne airport into downtown, ate some lunch at a food court, and then had our first experience with the free tram (streetcar) system in downtown before checking into our Airbnb. The Little World of Ice and Snow is a tiny studio apartment — cozy for a hotel room — that has been decorated to look like an ice cave. It's very neat. We had been looking forward to doing laundry immediately upon arriving but had not planned ahead by getting change or detergent, so we had to get that sorted out before we could start a load.

We took the tram again to meet Nick, the husband of Jessie's art therapy colleague Teresa, where he had just gotten off work as an immigration attorney. He drove us out to an "inauthentic pizza" restaurant called Moor Head, where Teresa and their two kids were waiting. The pizza place was on Thornbury Street, recently named the “trendiest street” in the world (whatever that means). We had a very nice dinner and conversation, and then Nick drove us back to the hotel.

Fri, July 5

Jessie and I got a leisurely start on the day and then went to the National Gallery of Victoria. After perusing the artwork together, we split up around noon so that she could meet Teresa at the Latrobe University campus and I could walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. The day was thoroughly overcast and I got quite lost but eventually found all the plantings I was looking for!

I continued walking all the way to St. Kilda Beach, where I had thought we might get one last good look at the southern sky before we leave, but it was too overcast.

Jessie and I met back up at the hotel and walked to Mabu Mabu Big Esso, an indigenous-owned and operated fancy restaurant serving dishes inspired by aboriginal cuisine. We ate some fancy food for our final night (but not nearly as fancy as the Opera house restaurant!).

Sat, July 6

Our return trip was uneventful. Although our JetStar flight from Melbourne to Sydney was delayed by both the plane and crew being swapped out at the last minute, and we got shaken down ($75!) to check our carry-on bag even though we hadn't had to do so on the way out on the same airline, we still had a four hour layover before we left for Dallas. The Quantas economy class was much nicer than the American Airlines one on the outbound trip: the seats were comfier and the food was better quality. They did such a good job of adjusting us to the time change that I didn't experience any jetlag to speak of.

We had a six hour layover in Dallas because it was strangely the quickest way home. I had thought we'd need time to get through customs based on our past experiences, but US customs is a shadow of its former self, and they just waved us through with a cursory question — no paper form, no computer kiosk, and no shoe cleaning. We arrived home around midnight, and Josh and a very excited Kooper drove us home.

• Aside from Canada, this was our first time traveling to foreign countries where English is the primary language. It's a very different experience, and it allowed us the option to go on separate adventures.
• No tipping! The service charge is either built into the price or added automatically. I've always been annoyed by tipping, even more so in Europe than at home, so this was a load off.
• No sales tax on food! While this is the case in some US states, it's not always noticeable because the prices are down to the penny. It feels strangely civilized to see a $2 candy bar and be able to just pay for it with a $2 coin.
• The 240-volt, type I electrical outlets are very nice. An electric kettle boils much faster at 2400 W than at 1800 W, and it explains why folks in British and Australian shows are always ready to make tea at a moment's notice! At least in hotels, there is typically a switch by each outlet so you can shut any plugged in devices completely off without unplugging them, and without a power strip. And although GFCI outlets do not appear to be a thing in AU & NZ yet, I feel safer knowing the plug can only go in one way, unlike the type C outlets in Europe. And unlike our polarized plugs, there's no fumbling to figure out which way is the correct way.
• Downtown Sydney and Auckland look pretty much like any other big city, but downtown Melbourne is beautiful. I don't know what the reason is, but there don't seem to be any ugly buildings in Melbourne.
• Contactless payments ("tap and go") are everywhere down under, except on public transit in Auckland and Melbourne. There we had to buy fare cards, with a substantial fee up front ($5-7). Sydney allowed us to just boop our credit cards (or phones) like we can for Omaha buses. For the convenience of occasional transit riders, this can't be beat. Unfortunately the rental bikes and scooters require custom smartphone apps that have access to all the sensors and data on your phone.
• One thing the folks down under could learn from the US is to consistently make the dividing line between bi-directional traffic yellow rather than white. On two-lane streets, the center line is the same dashed white line as on a one-way street, making it unclear whether or not you should expect oncoming traffic in the right lane. In New Zealand many lanes are marked with directional arrows at the intersections, which we found very helpful as we were learning to drive on the left!
• We were surprised by the lack of price gouging at concessions, for example cafes and gift shops in airports and museums. We're so resigned to paying higher prices in those places, it felt kind of weird to pay the same as at any corner cafe or shop.
• New Zealand has a ban on single-use plastics, and everybody's making it work, including American companies. So when they say that a ban would put them out of business, that's a total lie.
• Drip coffee is not the institution it is in the US. In a hotel you get packets of instant coffee and tea bags with your electric kettle. Everywhere else, it's espresso drinks, with "flat whites" and "tall blacks" particularly popular. In the commercial districts, you can find multiple baristas on every block, and not Starbucks either, independent cafes. While this was the case in Europe, last time we went (2016) most of the baristas had been replaced by automatic machines that can produce half a dozen (barista quality) drinks at the touch of a button. We didn't see those on this trip, and yet the prices were quite low compared to the US.
• Locals were scandalized to learn that we came all that way for just two weeks, since they typically spend 4-6 weeks overseas. Jessie explained that if she took 4 weeks vacation she would lose her job, and then we would lose our health insurance. They were unsympathetic to this plight. In any case, we felt 2 weeks was sufficient time out of our lives!