We were warmly welcomed on Saturday morning at the beautiful Yarra Valley home of Robyn Reid and Ćhris Hall. Those are Robyn’s roses on the table.

Above, Ćhris Hall with Jay, Lily and Eli, touring the not so little piece of heaven he and Robyn Reid call home.

Robyn (with some help from Ćhris) has created a paradise of spectacular flowers, fruit trees, herbs, and honeybees.

In response to Lily and Eli’s request, we headed out to see koalas and kangaroos – and numerous other creatures – at the Healesville animal sanctuary.

Chris takes a break from photographing the family and other wildlife

We had a close encounter with the koalas

Saturday night, lots of amazing food and lots of laughs. Best sleepover ever.

On Sunday morning, the best Eggs Benedict 😋. Then, off for more food touring!

Chocolate world

Followed by artisanal gin and a visit to Moët Chandon.

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Above, on the gourmet trail.

After Thanksgiving pizza and beer on Thursday night, we settled into our lodging near the Apostles.  On Friday we embarked on a food tour under the direction of Eli and Lily. Here they are planning the day.

Along the way

First stop: cheese!

Next, a tasting and a tasty lunch

On to Berry World

Inside Berry World

By now we had room left for nothing except ice cream

….and fudge.

And then, back to Melbourne we went.

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Eli arrived on Tuesday afternoon and was miraculously awake, so we went out for drinks and snacks. I had been invited to speak at the evening board meeting of the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement (the organization sponsoring me here) so we parted ways for a few hours. Lily and Eli hung out and we met up later for dinner.

Before heading out the following day we stopped at the Kit Kat Store, a Mecca for chocolate lovers, where Lily and Eli created a custom confection.

 

Mission complete, we hit the Great Ocean Road.

A late afternoon lunch stop

These guys are everywhere. We liked them, but they are not popular with the locals.

On the beach at Aireys Inlet after lunch

 

 

 

Above, a dog on the beach. Below, a dog at breakfast the following morning.

Post breakfast walk on the beach, then on to the Twelve Apostles, a formation  of rock slabs carved by the waves.

 

Thanksgiving dinner 🙂 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Above, the view from our apartment: home for the next two months!! Below, our neighborhood..

Love this city, and our wonderful friends Ćhris Hall and Robyn Reid, who picked us up at the airport – with groceries! – and after a fabulous dinner, delivered us to our digs.

The biggest news: Lily is arriving soon for a visit and Eli will be here next week!!! ❤️❤️❤️

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A trip to Federation Square and the Australian Centre for the Moving Image, where we saw a fantastic exhibit on Wallace and Grommet ❤️

Below, the plane from Chicken Run, a personal favorite.

Love love love having my girl here.

Yesterday, I gave a workshop in Melbourne, and will do another in Sydney in two weeks.

But first! Eli is arriving today and tomorrow we hit the Great Ocean Road!!

We drove for five hours to get from Franz Joseph to Queenstown. Even in the rain, this part of New Zealand is spectacular.

We checked into our hotel, a charming recreation of  what was long ago a dairy market.

We started the following day in Arrowtown, a historic gold mining town on the banks of the Arrow River.

This was the scene that greeted us.

We had coffee at Dudley’s Cottage, one  of many restored and repurposed buildings in town.

We strolled, shopped and had lunch before heading back to the car.

Passing the lake we spotted this guy

these three (a deer, a pig and a sheep)

and a llama.

In the afternoon we took what is reputed to be one of the most beautiful drives in New Zealand, the waterfront road to Glenarchy.

Stopping for a walk on the shore

Approaching Glenarchy

When we got to Glenarchy we walked down to the dock and arrived just in time to see a wedding photographer throw a handful of birdseed, prompting a flurry of activity around the bride and groom.

After another coffee in another scenic cafe we headed back to Queenstown.

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A birthday visit to the Glow worm Caves 😊

Big plans today!

We rose on November 9th 🎂 eager to depart for Te Anau and our tour of the Glow Worm cave. FYI,  “Glow worm” is a bit of a marketing ploy; they are not actually worms, but the larvae of a certain type of fly. But doesn’t “glow worm” sound so much more fun?

The cave system in Te Anau is one of several in New Zealand that are home to these tiny bioluminescent larvae. To see them, you make your way through the dark and twisting cave, past gushing water that eventually flows into an underground river.

No photography allowed in the cave, so I’m relying on web images.

You  board a small boat, and continue deeper into the cave until all at once you’re surrounded by what seem like constellations of tiny blue stars.

It was unlike anything on earth, and I could have stayed for a long time in this underground galaxy.

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One of our most anticipated activities in NZ has been the helicopter flight we booked to Franz Joseph Glacier. Originally  planned for Monday, the flight was cancelled due rain, evidently not an uncommon occurrence. We rescheduled for today, and when we headed into town for breakfast it was under blue skies.

Heading out

The ride over snow and ice was thrillingly beautiful

Then we were down!

We trudged around in the snow, gasped at our surroundings, stared at each other in disbelief, and then boarded for the return trip.

Later in the day we drove to Lake Matheson, and after an excellent lunch by the water, took a walk along the rainforest trail, stopping along the way to enjoy the views.

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We traveled by train from Christchurch to Greymouth along with a lot of other photo-mad tourists.

Late in the afternoon we checked into our inn, welcomed by another of what must be the friendliest people on earth. It was a blustery, grey day, which our innkeeper assured us was the perfect weather for a walk around Paparoa National Park, where we could see the world famous Pancake Rocks.

Gorgeous.

The winding path through the rocks

Now add the smell of the sea and the sound of the waves.

Magic.

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As part of our ongoing commitment to Extreme Vacationing, we traveled from Siem Reap, Cambodia to Christchurch, New Zealand by way of Bangkok and Sydney. After 28 hours of travel, we napped, had dinner, and went back to sleep.

After breakfast the following morning, we  did a bit of exploring in Christchurch, a city that was virtually leveled by a 2011 earthquake. A lot of work has been done, much more remains, and many buildings are propped up and awaiting repair.

An iconic stone church in the center of the   city. 

Steel beams provide support

All new construction must be built to earthquake – resistant standards. Below, one of many earthquake related artworks: a house of glass, beautiful and fragile, its roof a pile of broken wood.

We visited the recently reopened Christchurch Art Gallery. Some beautiful paintings, but our favorite part was an exhibit of kinetic sculptures by Len Lye. Impossible to capture, but this will give you an idea of what these pieces did for us.

Doesn’t look like much until it starts vibrating, banging and clanging for several minutes. Then suddenly it’s still until it’s next thrilling performance.

By early afternoon it was time to head to Akaroa, and a nature area a couple of hours from Christchurch. This was, in fact, the reason for our coming to this particular area.

We came for the penguins.

On land they have farmed for 45 years, a couple, aided by a small staff and very little outside support have been caring for a couple of hundred small blue penguins that inhabit the surrounding waters. Each night, the penguins swim to shore, clamoring up the rocks en masse. Parents return to nests, bringing food to their young. If there is an egg in the nest, mom and dad take turns sitting on it.

At 6:00pm, we met up with Ben, a young Frenchman who came to New Zealand five years ago. We gathered up some gear and headed out of town as he talked about what we would be seeing.

First stop, the farm. Ben’s call brought a small stampede.

I helped feed the lambs.

Then it was time to check on the nests. Normally these penguins dig holes in the ground, but conditions here make that difficult. The answer was to build hundreds of simple boxes and hope that the penguins would find them to their liking, which they did.

Here’s one that a male has prepared in hopes of attracting a mate.

Ben keeps track of which boxes have been occupied. We peeked in with him on this mama and her egg.

With daylight starting to fade we moved out to a viewing point and waited. Along with the blue penguins, there was a chance we would also catch a glimpse of a white penguin, this one larger and with yellow eyes.

Here, a group make their way up the rocks.

And here, the elusive yellow eyed penguin, who stood for several minutes on the rocks, to Ben’s surprise and our appreciative delight.

By 10:00 we were back in our Akaroa lodgings. The next day it was back to Christchurch, where we prepared for the next leg of our travels in New Zealand.

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