Journey's end

We arrived back this morning at Heathrow after a 22 hour flight from Sydney (changing planes in Singapore) - amazing when you think the first settlers took 8 months to sail to Sydney, and the first flights took 16 days.

It's been a great trip, not least our last five days in the beautiful city of Sydney.

We've had some great weather though it did rain on the last day and a half in Sydney giving us the opportunity to visit the Art Gallery, the Parliament House, and two of the city's excellent museums.

Here are some pictures from this last leg of the journey:

View from the harbour bridge of the city

Crossing the harbour bridge

The Opera House viewed from the north shore (under the bridge)

A view of the city from one of the bays of the harbour

Blue Mountains

Blue Mountains

The Harbour Bridge from Old Sydney

On Bondi Beach

Wellington

These are a little out of sequence but here are some photos from New Zealand's capital city of Wellington

The city of Wellington seen from a boat on the harbour

The buildings of the New Zealand Parliament

Sunday in Sydney

The diocese of Sydney is probably one of the most evangelical in the Anglican world and this morning's service at St Andrew's Cathedral fully reflected that. Most inspirational. I'm returning for their contemporary service later today.

Tomorrow evening we return to the UK but first we are visiting some indoor attractions, starting this afternoon  with the excellent Museum of Sydney.

Before the service at St Andrew's Cathedral

Sydney pics

From my Hudl a few photos I took today on Sydney's warmest day for 4 months - according to the TV news the temperature peaked at 28c this afternoon

breakfast at Bondi

With Sydney temperatures soaring to an unseasonal 23c it was off to Bondi Beach for breakfast watching the early morning surfers.. Next with the sun still shining we enjoyed a walk around the botanic gardens which fringe Sydney Harbour. It was hard to believe it was winter.

Yesterday we went by train (2 hours)  to the beautiful Blue mountains and the day before in brilliant sunshine we criss crossed Sydney Harbour on the many ferries that connect the various parts of this sprawling city. All these trips (including to the mountains,) cost us precisely nothing thanks to the Sydney version of the oyster card with which all journeys after the first eight are free.

From NZ to Oz

After another excellent service at our daughter's church (it was their missionary Sunday - very inspiring) it was time to say a fond farewell to her and catch the bus for the 3hr ride to the Kiwi capital of Wellington.

Wellington is a compact and attractive city with a beautiful harbourside location. We enjoyed riding across the harbour on a beautiful sunny day with wonderful views all round. The next day we visited TE Papa, the wonderful national museum before heading to the airport for the 3 and a half hour flight to Sydney, our next destination.

We arrived in Sydney yesterday evening and today we enjoyed exploring this wonderful city, walking across the famous harbour bridge twice. Today the temperature is 18c. Tomorrow it will be 23c (27c by the weekend) and this is what they call winter!

Wanganui

Wanganui is the New Zealand town where our daughter living and working in the hospital. Here  are some other views of the town.

Wanganui

Wanganui town centre

Heritage buildings in the town centre

Botanic gardens in Winter sunshine

Wanganui beach with its volcanic black sand

Some more Kiwi pics

Volcanic valley

Getting ready to board the Ernest Kemp to cruise Lake Tapou

Lake Tapou

Lake Tapou

Thermal Valley

Napier

Napier

New Zealand Week Two

From a weekend with our daughter in Wanganuiwe travelled to Lake Taupo, a journey of about 125 miles.

New Zealand's largest lake (it is bigger than the island of Singapore) is a popular and very beautiful holiday destination for Kiwis.

We had two frosty mornings but the sky was bright blue and the sun was shining and the views across the lake were stunning. We enjoyed a cruise around the lake, including visiting these Maoria carvings:

Some further views of the lake (1) from the boat and (2) of the snow capped mountains that fringe the lake

And just prove that it really is winter here, this is the view from the mountain road on the way to Lake Taupo:

From Lake Taupo we drove to Rotoroa, the heart of New Zealand's thermal country. Bubbling mud pools, boiling hot streams, steam pouring out of the ground, and impressive geysers are all part of the scene in this remarkable part of the world:

Next up was a visit to the beautiful seaside town of Napier, completely destroyed by an earthquake in the early 1930s, it is best know today for the many Art Deco buildings which replaced those that were destroyed:

Friday evening and we are back in Wanganui to spend the weekend with Lizzy. On Sunday night we go by bus to the Kiwi capital of Wellington and then on Tuesday afternoon we fly to Sydney.

New Zealand week one

After three days in Singapore we flew to Auckland, New Zealand's last city, to spend the weekend with our daughter. After that she headed south to Wanganui for work and we headed north to the Bay of Islands.

The Far North of NZ has a sub-tropical climate so even in the depths of the winter (ie August) the sun was shining and the temperature was about 18C.

We enjoyed the beautiful coastal scenery of the Bay of Islands and our visit to the nearby treaty site of Waitangi was a highlight. Known as the birthplace of the nation, it was here that a treaty was signed between the Maoris and the Crown in 1840 which continues to shape New Zealand life to this day.

The original buildings are still intact and the setting on the edge of the bay is stunningly beautiful. In addition there is a Maori meeting house from the 1930s where we witnessed the Maori Cultural Experience (above).

Maori Meeting House Waitangi

 Here are some pictures from our travels around the Bay of Islands in New Zealand's far north:

 

The site of the first act of Christian worship in New Zealand (1819). The building is later.