earthquake city...

Friday, Feb 24, 2017
Christchurch

typical oldstyle building

We had a bit of a sleep-in, even though we went to bed early and had that 2 hour time change, but no big deal, we are on holiday! I made breakfast - I had bought a bag of old-fashioned oatmeal on the first day in Sydney and still have some left. I also brought from home, little ziplock bags of dates, figs and some almonds - all part of my emergency rations - don't tell the customs people - actually when we were flying into Sydney, the landing card you have to fill out asked if you had any seeds, fruit, nuts, etc and warned of a $400 fine if you were caught lying, so I ticked the box, admitting it, figuring they'd confiscate them. When we were going through the entry customs line-up, the guy told me I had to go over here, in another direction than Jan, who had nothing to declare, was going. When I got to that side, the next guy asked me what I had and I explained that I had some dates and nuts as snacks and he said, 'ah, get out of here, you're ok!

So, anyway, I chopped up a few dates and figs and cooked them in the oatmeal. We also had coffee to make so we were good to head out and explore.

peacock fountain

Sydney streets are very narrow and everything is close and jammed together. Here in Christchurch it's like they knew they had a bit more room, it's still close but not quite so much. The evidence of the earthquakes of five years ago is still all around and where we are staying, right close to downtown seems to be right in the centre of it. Lots of the sidewalks are blocked off where crews are rebuilding and there are many temporary structures, made out of containers, you know, those storage bins or the big metal boxes they load on rail cars. They even put doors and windows in them and made them into temporary stores. There is a tram car system running in a couple of loops through this downtown area - it's a hop on/ hop off all day deal and we get on to get a look-see and establish our bearings. The main square is filled with cute little food trucks. After a full loop, we decide to see the botanic gardens - free, again and very lovely. In the gift shop, Jan finds this beautiful cloche-style hat made by a local business, Agnes Foss, a real one-of-a-kind! The saleslady  tells us about the lady who makes them, apparently inspired by Downton Abbey fashions.

It was a bit pricey but so pretty and it suits her so why not!  I think it is a type of needle felting and is merino wool.
The weather is much cooler, thankfully, more like my Thunder Bay early-fall of 20C, quite nice for walking and exerting a bit of energy. For lunch, back to Francesca's - it was so good, Jan wants to try again. Not so lucky this time, but oh well, you can't win 'em all! Most of the restaurants seem to have gluten-free and vegetarian options and it seems to be quite easy to eat fresh and healthy! We then head for a grocery store several blocks away, dodging construction. The traffic is not exactly pedestrian friendly, you really have to watch out for yourself!
I had a nice conversation on the tram with an older couple from the North Island. The accents are so varied over here, it's almost impossible to tell who's from where.The service industry in Sydney is quite ethnically diverse and we really didn't get to talk to any real Aussies to figure out their speech traits but we've had three different 'kiwi'/local tram drivers giving their spiel as they manoeuvre through and they do something strange with the vowels - to me, they make an 'e' sound like an 'i' so 'seven' comes out 'sivan'. The lady asks where we are from and I say Canada of course and she says oh, I didn't think you were American with that soft-vowelled voice! My head swelled with pride and I thanked her!
Back home for an early night and a homemade salad of greens and roast chicken from the grocery store, a quiet and perfect end to another lovely day!
Fitbit, 11.5 km; MA, disqualified - left gizmo in room...

emirates flight...

Thurs feb 23
Flight to New Zealand, we're at the airport!
They want to make sure you're leaving! Checking in for our flight, the first thing they ask is how and when are you returning. I'm laughing because my sister-in-law Irmgard says she would be going on a one way ticket - nope! Oh, funny, I just sent a message to brother, Patrick who responds, she'll just tear up the return ticket! Kind of fun to have some immediate reaction from home - I just had a little back and forth with son Derek, friends Cathy and Donna and daugher-in-law, Agnieszka as well! That 18 hour time difference is rather hard to figure out!
Jan gives me news from her twitter feed that one of the new rockets (the bombardier streetcar) has derailed in downtown Toronto!
We are on an Emirates flight and I briefly wonder if Jennifer Aniston is going to show up but we have been delayed and it's a long wait...I don't think I told you, but always be prepared. I pack a few snacks for times just like this. We were intending to have breakfast at the airport before our flight but, as we were checking in, Jan asked and the guy said we would be fed a full breakfast as soon as we were in the air - it's a three hour flight and we lose two hours - more time zones! So, we decide to wait. I had one leftover banana and an apple that I put in my backpack and from home, I always start out with a supply of several snack/granola bars. Also, pack a few ziplock bags - they'll come in handy - I had sliced the apple and put it into a baggy - easier to eat and share that way. We ate the apple and banana right away and after the second twenty minute delay was announced, I dug out a couple of the bars. Actually a good thing we ate the fruit because New Zealand doesn't allow you to bring in any thing like that as well as honey, seeds or various other items and they actually have sniffer dogs at the baggage claim in case you lied, so be warned! Our 8:30 departure turns out to be 11:30 - the plane is massive! We are in row 63 (10 across and again we are in the middle of the middle) but these seats are a bit wider and there is more leg room. And sure enough there is an upstairs for first class but the flight attendant effectively blocks my way!
I feel bad for the flight attendants because they have the ugliest uniforms I've ever seen. Red pillbox style hats, with an ivory scarf attached to one side that falls down to their shoulder and then drapes around the neck. The suit itself is a drab beige colour with a very fine red pinstripe, not so bad until you get to the skirt which has big box pleats at the bottom with solid red fabric inside the pleats which seem so old-fashioned! Fortunately they get to remove the hats once the flight is underway.
The woman on my left is wearing a tee shirt that says Shitbox Rally and I can't resist asking her about it - Google it, it's pretty cool! They are the pit crew for a team from Australia - the point is to have an old crappy car and drive it around New Zealand's South Island in about a week and they get pledges to raise money for cancer. Sounds like a whole lot of fun!
Breakfast finally comes and it's a bit dicey but it is food, something to tide us over.
We get to Christchurch finally and they actually x-ray your luggage before letting you through! Take no chances, be honest! We get a cab to take us to our lodging - a one bedroom suite, fifth floor, balcony, fully furnished and well equipped - we'll be fine even though it is well past time to check in as some nice lady helps us open the lobby door and find our keys and instructions to the suite. It's about 6 pm and we want to go out and get dinner before it gets too dark to see - I googled what time it gets dark and we have until about 8:30-9pm. Should be okay but another thing I forgot to tell you to pack was a flashlight - it'll come in handy! Also googled where to eat and we head out, walking. Find Francesca's Italian Kitchen, it was really good. a side kale salad, $12, duck breast with risotto, $35, chocolate mousse cake, $16 and glass each of their house red (Italian). We shared, though the portions are not very big. $79, no tip. A 4 block walk back home with a quick stop at a nearby convenience store for a banana and a yogurt for the morning.
Fitbit, 5.7 km; MA, nothing because I didn't think it would be worth worrying about...

there's an app for that...

Wednesday, February 22, 2017
After the long day yesterday, we are planning an 'easy' day and it's going to be fairly warm, like 27C plus. this is our last day in Sydney ( we are coming back after the NZ part for another week) traveling to New Zealand tomorrow and we have to be to the airport pretty early. My plantoday is to take the ferry (we love the ferries!) to Circular Quay and take in the Botanical Gardens and maybe a tour of the Sydney Opera house.
Over in the Botanical Gardens, it is really lovely and it's free! Unbelievable that they had the foresight back in the mid 1800s to set this land aside for such a beautiful project. Even though it is quite warm, there is a good breeze coming off the water to keep us cool enough to enjoy a couple of hours here. Closer to noon, we've already decided this will require/deserve another visit. We head toward the Opera house for something to eat and then do a tour.

The tour seems a little pricey, at $37 per head but Jan reminds me that we (Canadians, specifically Toronto) charge around $60 for the CN tower. After paying and going to the allotted meeting place for the 2 pm tour, we are lined up and a young Asian girl quickly places each couple/group in front of an ugly grey wall and takes our photo - she checks her screen and retakes ours a couple of times. We are given headphones (Jan declines because they do not have a hearing loop and she won't be able to use it) and our tour guide is Blandine, a French woman who's been in Australia for 20 years (I asked because her accent was quite different). Jan had checked out the performances at the Opera House but thought there was nothing of real interest to either of us but now that we've decided to come back here for our final week, there may be another opportunity. There are 6 halls/performance venues, each of varying size. We find that there is a Canadian performance, 'Barbu' from Quebec. B explains it as 'the bearded man' and it's a

circus act, playing here in one of the smaller halls (300 seats) and we are shown the set up which has two small circular stages, connected by a short, narrow runway. It is running through to March 4. The sign outside the doors  catches my attention and that of several others in our group, with a bit of laughing and photo taking - our Canadian reputation! The tour was pretty good, we saw the two larger venues, including the opera stage with the gigantic organ built into the back wall. At the end we are escorted down to the lower level and find that busy elves have put our personal photos into a booklet and photoshopped them so it looks like we were photoed in front
of the stage of the opera hall and in front of the outside of the building and, along with some literature of the opera house, we can purchase this little memento for a mere $40. Even though I've never seen a better picture of Jan and I together, we quickly decline and it looks like most everyone else has as well. Back out into the sunshine, we find a nice outdoor cafe nearby and have a cappuccino each and a sweet to share ($20), no tip. Actually, it's good here because the price on the menu is what you pay, there are no added taxes, so when it says it adds up to $20, you don't have to figure on it being another 15% or whatever.
By now, it's 4:30 and we take the ferry back to our home stop, walk the 1.5 km to our apartment to get ready to repack for traveling to Christchurch tomorrow. It's about 6 pm. Giacomo, our Italian/Aussie, retired, surfer-dude landlord comes by to check and see if there is anything he can do for us and offers some suggestions for things to do when we come back to Sydney  although we won't be staying with him - he was booked already.
We have to be at the airport for around 6:30am for our 8:30 flight and he assures us that the cab ride should be about a half hour. He recommends Uber but Jan has no app for that and doesn't really approve of it - she did try it once and had a bad experience. He recommends Silver Services taxi. We thank him and he leaves. We want to pre-order the taxi and fortunately attempt to do this now. An hour later, after trying to book online on both my iPad and Jan's tablet and trying futilely to call a taxi with her blackberry...Jan is alternating between googling how to use her blackberry and trying to book online and none of their apps are blackberry-friendly. I don't have a cell phone, don't really know how to use one, especially a blackberry but I finally manage to call Giacomo on the blackberry, using the number he left us, without trying to add any overseas codes or whatever. Amazingly, I manage to get through to him and he kindly offers to take care of it and even comes back up to reassure us that he's taken care of it, giving us the reservation code. Poor man, he's probably thinking we should never have left home!
Relieved, we go out and walk 1.5 km to the same restaurant as last night and have a really nice dinner, having 'barramundi' which is a local freshwater fish and a much needed glass of Shiraz from the Hunter Valley but not from one of the wineries we visited!
Fitbit 12.4km, MA, 12.9 km - go figure!

a pleasant day at Hunter valley...

Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Going on a tour to the Hunter Valley today - it includes a 'wildlife walkabout', three wine tastings, a cheese tasting and a chocolate tasting. I had booked it on the internet about a month ago, paid and had my printout in hand as required. We had to be up early and back downtown to be picked up at 8 am. There were 3 options for pickup and I had googlemapped out the closest/easiest last option on the list. We left early, to make  sure we had enough time for error and took the same bus back downtown and got off at the last stop. I asked the busdriver where was Stand F so we'd know for the way home and he had no idea what I was talking about but asked where we were going just then and he pointed us in the right direction. Googlemaps tells you to head east on York St but who knows where east is when you are surrounded with skyrises! Walk 3 or 4 blocks and find what we think is the address but the supposed 'Hotel Menzies' has been closed for 6 months according to google and the street is full of construction. We are there with plenty of time to spare but there is no indication of a tour meeting. I was expecting some, at least, small signage, but nothing. I spotted a young couple who looked like they were looking for something as well and asked them if they were going to Hunter Valley. They were and felt as confused as we did. A few minutes later a guy came along the street calling their name - they were off with a different company than we had booked with. Almost on the verge of anger/panic, I heard someone calling 'Mary Anne' and see a youngish woman waving her hand. She confirms that she is taking us on the wine tasting and leads us over to a Kia minivan with 4 people inside already. This is not looking too good...I have to sit in the middle of the middle seat with no where to put my backpack and we have a two and a half hour ride like this? Not quite what I had bargained for! I had expected a small tour bus at least with individual seats, not a family car ride! But what's a girl to do? Make the best of it and I introduced us to the rest of the group. A 30-something couple in the back seat, from North Dakota, called themselves almost-Canadians. A 30-ish single girl from London, England, there visiting people who were working that day and another single woman on my left from Atlanta, Georgia rounded out the group. Our driver/guide Vivianne (I think) was from Slovakia and none of us seemed to be able to fully understand her. As the day passed, she was very knowledgeable about viticulture and the Australian wildlife but her accent took some listening to! As Jan has some hearing difficulties at the best of times, she didn't get too much of it and Viv didn't seem to really care if she did or not. Trading stories with the others on the ride filled the time as

there was not a lot to see, especially at first, other than a lot of traffic. It was fun to listen to the different accents and hear their experiences. The wildlife walkabout was ok, interesting but not quite the 'walkabout' I, with Crocodile Dundee in my brain, had in mind. We saw emus, kangaroos (they were much smaller that I thought they'd be), a peacock and wombats that were loose and mingling with themselves and mostly paid us no mind. There were enclosures of birds, wallabies, snakes, a Tasmanian devil which we never saw, and a few other species. It was a pleasant 1 hour stop on the way to the wine country.
The first tasting was at Pleasant Valley and we had a pleasant Australian woman as host. She started off with the white wines; we sampled 4 varieties and then switched to red, ending with a dessert wine. All very pleasant. I guess I should say here, that as a wine drinker, I had never heard of Hunter Valley but it turns out virtually all of the area wines are consumed within the local area, not even the whole of Australia. We could purchase some right then and there but they could not (or would not) ship outside the country. The wines were nice and ranged from $28 to $68 per bottle - well above my pay scale!

Lunch was next.Due to the wine consumption and the fact we had two more to do, I figured I needed something big and heavy to soak it all up, opting for a burger. I was influenced by the girl from ND - she told me she grew up on a beef ranch and wondered what I thought of the beef here - I hadn't tried it and likely wouldn't have, but in support, I caved! The beef burger was handmade, tough, thick and chewy and so laden with Worcestershire I couldn't really identify it as beef. Oh well, all in the interest of being sociable!
At the  next winery, our host was a Brit, from Cardiff, an older man, very knowledgeable who was happy to give us a brief overview of wine making in general and answer any questions. We also got 8 samples there, again I favoured the red selection. Halfway though his spiel and the samples, Viv came in with a plate of local hard cheddar cheese (delish!) and some water crackers which really made the tasting much more palatable and enjoyable. We were then taken to the cheese shop for a tasting of 5-6 local made cheeses, from soft goat and feta to a Brie-style. This was all available for purchase there but as everyone seemed to either have already reached their dollar or weight limit, no purchases were made. The Aussie fellow who gave us the samples was  doing it because he had to and did not engage in any way although this sign on the wall behind him indicated that someone had a sense of humour. The next and last wine stop, we got a fun Aussie guy who had been to Canada and the UK and he was quite fun and showed us that Aussies can be entertaining and personable. The last stop was supposed to be a chocolate tasting and Viv delivered us to a shop that was closing in ten minutes, the lady behind the counter asked, (no, she demanded), if we wanted chocolate, caramel or white, quickly chopped off a half centimetre square of our choice, threw it at us, no seconds! And tried to close up shop. The 'fudge' was like any you could get at the local fair and we wondered at the point of including this and the cheese into the day. On the road home, Viv drove like the proverbial bat out of hell, with me gripping the overhead seatbelt, from   the middle seat back row, to try from being tossed back and forth between Jan on my left and the Atlanta (Sonia) gal on my right. Very quick goodbyes, we get the bus back to our Darling St neighbourhood.
It's almost dark by now (7 pm) as we make our way up the street and choose dinner at 'Phamous kitchen' Vietnamese contemporary, share a bluefin tuna salad and shrimp, chicken GF pad thai, with a drunken banana dessert, $54. Excellent food, pleasant staff, no hurry! No tip.
Fitbit, 9.4 km; MA, 4.5 km

the convict story...

Monday, February 20, 2017
After Sunday's big day, we decided to keep it easy and not do anything too overtaxing. Took our neighbourhood ferry over to Circular Quay to explore a bit more of that area. We checked out the Sydney museum, for a bit of the local history. Nice but a bit boring and we didn't really learn too much. We both have, in the past, read some historical novels and know about the convicts being the background of the settlements, but this focused more on the rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney (who knew?) and the growth of Sydney and the modernization - they haven't kept a lot of the old stuff, buildings, etc., apparently, but it's all good. We had lunch at a restaurant at the harbour - I had fish and chips and Jan had chicken and polenta, both quite good but no extras with water, from the lunch special and it was $58. No tip.
It was quite warm and looked to be getting more so - I then made an executive decision and we opted to take a long ferry ride to the inner 'burbs as we already had a few 'clicks' on the meter - I should explain - Jan has a Fitbit and I have a measly, little step counter that I got as a freebie at some health function a few years ago. We did this when we went to Europe two years ago also. I think the Fitbit exaggerates because it's usually has quite a bit higher count than my little clicker that hangs off my pocket edge. I use it at home and have a pretty good feel for how accurate it is because I would walk somewhere and then use the car to measure the kilometres. Jan's Fitbit starts clocking as soon as she gets up and has all sorts of fancy things to tell you how many stairs etc, but I trust my little gadget.
We took the ferry to Parramatta which was longer than we expected.It took an hour and a half and Jan decided we'd take the train back to the city centre and get the bus back home. I'm happy with that just for the experience. She used her blackberry for quick instructions to the train and we walk several blocks and get on the right train, no problem. It's traveling mostly above ground so we get to see the slummier side of Sydney, which still looks pretty good, compared to say England or Vienna. Exiting the train, we now have to find the correct bus to take us home. Knowing the number, but finding the right stop seems to be a bit of a mess. We zigzag around for almost an hour after Jan had asked someone in a shop for directions...we finally find the correct one. Manage to fight our way onto a very crowded bus - it's now 5:30 pm and rush hour. Get back to our neighbourhood safely, stop in at Wooly's for more salad and head home, pretty tired in spite of 'taking it easy'!
Fitbit 8km, MA 6 km

feeling manly today...

Sunday, February 19, 2017
I woke at 4 am, couldn't get back to sleep so finally got up at 5, figuring I could sit in the dark and type my story with only the light of my iPad. It worked! I got an iPod for Christmas, Derek synced it with my iPad. I can take my photos with the iPod, they automatically show up on the iPad; I select what I want, even figured out how to crop them and email them to Jan. She has her tablet with her. So I write on my iPad, put the story on the blog from it and then use Jan's tablet to add the photos and do a bit of an edit! Oh, I feel so tech-savvy!
They have an Opal pass here which, though rather complicated to figure out what the actual cost per ride is, is the best deal in transit we've ever seen! You can purchase it virtually anywhere and add dollars/value to it anywhere. Sydney has trains, buses and ferries linked that can get you almost anywhere and you use this OpalCard to tap on/tap off as you go from one part of the system to the next and it deducts whatever the cost of each ride is. The fee reduces with your usage in each day and on Sundays, the best day of all, you can use it unlimited times for a mere $2.50 for the entire day!
Today is slightly overcast with the threat of showers and we decided to go to one of the world-class beaches and take a look/see, trying to take it easy and ease into our vacation without overdoing it first day out. The ferry/bus thing is very well synced so as long as you know your start point and where you want to go, it's quite easy to plan, thanks to googlemaps!
The ferries are walk-on only, hold quite a few people (hundreds), have indoor seating and a bit of open-air, mostly two-level. In the harbour they go around, like a bus and pick up here and there and then drop off at a central point, where you transfer to the next one, amazingly efficient and keep to their schedule and the buses are co-ordinated so you are easily walking off the ferry to your bus to get to the next part of your journey. We have decided to go to Manly, a suburb to the north and part of the outer harbour with lots of options for filling the day including a zoo, art gallery and several walks of varying distance, surfing and snorkeling and sun-bathing. The last three are not in the realm of what we would choose.
The Australian dollar (and the New Zealand dollar) are right now virtually on par with our Canadian dollar which makes it nice for comparison in value. They (Lonely Planet) say that Sydney is expensive, but that there is no tipping so that makes it a bit better. The minimum wage here is $20 per hour so people earn well without having to rely on tips survive. At

lunch today, we had a lovely, fresh meal. I had king prawns 'on the barbie' after being assured this meant grilled without being slathered with goopy sauce, along with fresh steamed veg and a salad. Jan ordered the grilled fish, large cut fries and a salad. All very good, but we waited and waited, 'no worries' - they actually say that, and 'g'day, mate'! When the girl brought the bill after we requested it and another bit of a wait, she brought the credit card thing and explained how to add a tip. I said I thought there was no tipping and she replied that yes, it was not necessary, only if we wanted to. I asked her about the $20 minimum wage and she agreed that yes, she did get paid that and tipping was not required. The bill was $48 (no drinks) - I didn't tip.
We had a lovely day, walked a bit more and decided that we would need to come back again to really get the benefit of the area. One thing to remember though, when people-watching in hot weather, you'll see things you can't un-see!
Headed back to the ferry, stopped off at 'Wooly's' for some salad stuff for supper and some coffee to make for the morning - we have a French press and electric kettle in the kitchen, perfect for what we need - there is also a microwave, toaster, fridge and plenty of other amenities. Eating in restaurants seems expensive but stuff in the grocery store is pricey too. A small, 200g pack of ground coffee was $7.50;125g fresh blueberries was $4 - that's pretty tiny! 2 fresh lemons were a whopping $2.44 and they were not even organic! A 100g tube of Banana Boat sunscreen was $9.59 - heck, I'd never win The Price is Right here!
Now, the thing about water draining and swirling the other way in the Southern Hemisphere - that's been worrying me! I mean, how bored was that guy who discovered this anyway? So, I thought I'd put it to the test but we don't have a tub here and the bathroom sink is the size of a big teacup. Seriously you have to be careful trying to wash both hands at once. The kitchen sink is marginally larger, so I gave it a shot. Filled the sink, pulled the plug and tried to dry my hand in order to pick up the iPod to take the photo and all the water was gone. Tried it again with more water, same result. Let it drain and just watched it and I realized I had no idea which direction it was supposed to be going (or not) so gave up! But I am wondering if the sun really rises in the east here...
Walking steps today was 14.5 km.
oh, I added a gadget at the top  so you can sign up to have each post automatically emailed to you if you want instead of having to come and see if there is a new post...

on aussie soil...

Saturday, February 18, 2017
We arrived! I survived the journey! An Aussie man on the plane said to me, 'no one prepares you for this flight - I've done it many times and it doesn't get any better!' Then he added, 'the way home is the same.' And I said, 'yes but I have a month to put this behind me!' I'm hoping it's like childbirth - the result is so awesome that you forget the pain and are willing to go it again! Last weekend I had chatted with my sister-in-law, Dixie, who had recently returned from visiting her daughter Lauren in Chile. That's about a ten hour flight and she was lamenting the fact but I  thought, oh well, I've been to UK and Europe probably 12 times in the past 25 years and it's not that bad. What's another few hours? Jan booked our flights and told me we were on a direct flight to Sydney with a stop-off in Singapore but we didn't need to leave the plane and it was the quickest way - ok, I'm sure she knows. We get to the airport in Toronto at 5 pm for our 8:30 departure - she doesn't want to chance any delay issues and whatever, I'd rather be early than worry and sweat over being a bit late. It turns out we are going through Vancouver, yes, it's the same plane we will be going to Sydney on...oh well. So, four and a half hours later we are in YVR (Vancouver) and I'm cold and my knees are sort of killing me. We have the two centre seats of the four middle and can't change - tried, didn't work. Everything costs - even those 'blankets' which I've never used in my life when they were free, now cost eight dollars - didn't get one. Anything to eat or drink other than a glass of water costs. And I'm wondering how in the hell am I going to survive another eighteen, yes, 18 hours! We are told we have to deplane with all our stuff but we are coming back to the same seats...it'll be about an hour. So I'm going to buy some food and maybe a sweatshirt or something! We are off-loaded to a gate with nothing except bathroom! I walk around a bit and shake the kinks out of my knees and when we have to go up for a document check, I convince Jan to ask about the food situation - she wears hearing aids for her hearing impairment and makes a better 'poor old lady' than me (in my mind anyway) and the airline employee assures her that we are getting well fed and even recites times and menus. We get back on the plane. Things have changed a bit, each seat has a baby pillow and a blanket, joy! This won't be so bad! My right-side seat mate, fortunately, is a smallish Asian man who, after losing our silent wrestle for possession of the common arm rest, falls asleep off to his right and remains that way for almost the entire time. After talking with Dixie, I had  optimistically put a change of shoes, socks and long shorts in my backpack, thinking to change in the washroom at some point. Ha! Note to self - Do not plan on using the bathroom for anything other than the absolutely necessary! When I did finally manage to get up, taking only my purse - my sleeper woke and I figured I'd better take the opportunity to go - there was the start of a line-up, two people ahead of me and at my turn there were another ten after me. I went in - two empty rolls and an empty tissue box - it was dismal and I didn't want to spend any longer than required!  Fortunately, I had learned long ago never to leave home without your own personal supply of t.p. so was ok. Upon exiting, I warned the line of the conditions and made my way back to my seat for the remaining seven hours.

I am reading 'they left us everything' by Plum Johnson, a book Jan had, thought was entertaining and could be left behind. I forgot to mention that part of my repacking was to have space for a few books - neither Jan nor I like to read on an e-reader and she is a voracious reader. Three years ago she came to Thunder Bay and stayed with me while we 'trained' for her hiking trip to Cuba in the fall of that year. She informed me that 'we' would need to hike fifteen to twenty km per day. Well, much to my surprise, we did, averaging the fifteen km for the full two weeks. When she got to my place, I had just finished reading 'as the crow flies' by Ann Marie McDonald - it's a huge book, one of my absolute best reads, that took me about a month. I gave it to her and said you can send it back to me if you don't finish. She gave me an odd look but said ok. I'm sure it wasn't five days and she was finished, asking for something else! Anyway, I know that toting books is something that's part of my job. When we went to Europe in 2015, I had to carry a  four inch thick tome of the 'lonely planet Europe' in my backpack, everyday, which had at least ten pages on Vienna (she said sarcastically and resentfully). Sure enough, this time, Jan had three lonely planets, one for Australia and two for NZ but lucky for me they are quite a bit smaller. I left the 'hiking and trekking NZ' behind, telling her that Backroads, our tour company, has already figured out all we need to know.

We got a cab at the airport to bring us to our first stay - a studio apartment in a nice location - the website shows a view of the harbour bridge and opera house supposedly from the balcony of our place. I think the photo was taken from the rooftop of the adjacent building, but oh well, we're here! First impressions - lush, tropical (it is about 27C) and a bit humid even though we'd been told, oh, it's a dry heat...whatever that means!

We have a four digit code to get into the gate and another four digit code to get into the lock box to get the keys to our suite. Jan calls them out to me and asks if I will remember - no, keep the paper out - one I can handle and it's easy, 1958 - that's manfriend's (or Marnie's - other sister) birth year but the other one is just random digits that mean nothing to me. Reminds me - last year when I was hanging out with son Derek a lot, he would hand me his cellphone for safeguarding while he was going off for tests or whatever and he told me the passcode in case I needed to use it. I smiled, heart-warmed and said oh, you used my birth year and age! He gave me an odd look and said, no, it's the top corner of the keypad, non sequential and easy to enter one-handed.

Back in Sydney, at our apartment, it's mid afternoon Saturday, the 18 hour time difference is beginning to tell on us. Jan has a brief nap and then we venture out, walking a kilometre to some shops and restaurants. We find Woolworths, a food store and pick up a few things for breakfast  - I am in seventh heaven at finding a yogurt that is non-dairy, gluten-free and vegan-friendly! On the way home, we stop off at a little cafe and enjoy a couple of local, fresh salads, very yummy and healthy! Head back and we are both in bed sleeping by 7pm!

departure day...

I came to Toronto on Tuesday afternoon and we (little/big sister Jan and me) are flying out tonight, Air Canada to Sydney, Australia. We have been planning this trip since early January and I had ordered new luggage from LLBean for my own Christmas present. I was going for one of those rolling duffle bags and ordered the 36 inch one after checking the reviews and felt that it was going to be suitable, but after it arrived, ordered the next size down, the 30 inch. Going for a full month and wanting only one bag to have to tote around, with my backpack as my carryon (I had even purchased a new, smaller, lightweight backpack because my old Roots one felt like ten pounds empty). Before

old and new

even getting checked in at Westjet on Tuesday with my travel bag weighing in at 46.5 pounds, I realized I would be needing to delete some stuff. I had done a trial run last week and thought I had plenty of leftover space in the bag - even took it up and downstairs a few times to make sure I could manage but the actual fully loaded bag was a bit different, I admit, and my old backpack was bordering on thirty pounds. When I got to Janet's and she showed me what she had and was taking, I realized drastic measures were called for. Now, don't get me wrong - this isn't my first rodeo! I've traveled a lot. I know what it's like to pack up for a month or longer but our mandate when traveling together is that we have to be able to manage our own luggage and get from here to there without depending on help which means at times wheeling a couple of blocks, up and down train/subway platforms etc, not relying on taxis, so my litmus test is taking the TTC bus from the Toronto airport, changing at Lawrence West and getting to Janet's apartment under my own steam. Mission accomplished but it was a bit of a struggle. When I saw what Jan was taking, it was with a mixture of dismay and elation. Happiness that she was traveling so light but dismay at the thought that she figured on getting by with so little

leaving behind!

and knowing I would need to pare down as well.
Our itinerary: Sydney, for five days in same studio apartment with view of Sydney bridge and the Opera house. Fly to Christchurch, NZ on 23rd; booked into apartment to 3 nights. On the morning of the 26th we join the Backroads Walking and Hiking tour for the next 9 days, ending in Queenstown, which is where Lord of the Rings was filmed. We have 2 days there on our own and then fly back to Australia for our remaining week.

the rocket!

After I did all my resorting and repacking, Jan took me downtown to get a ride on the new, made-in-Thunder Bay streetcars and we went to see 'Manchester by the Sea' - spoiler alert! Some tears involved but crummy ending!