From South to North

I'm getting behind with the blog, so I'll condense a little. Blenheim is an amazing place, wall to wall vineyards! We were taken to seven, at the first of which we had a very tasty lunch with a glass of one of the wines we'd just tasted. Most of the places were quite similar: one was organic and 'biocultural', and so more expensive, but I can't say the wines tasted anything particularly special. One was a small vineyard, Bladen, was owned by a couple fulfilling a dream, and they had an agent in the UK who delivers there. Their wines, mostly white, were very good and not over priced as so many are, and I was on the point of ordering: what held me back was a prospect of something even better later. But in the end they were the best of the day, and I wished I'd followed my instincts and spent £150 on a case. I still can, though, once I'm home. Another vineyard was Cloudy Bay, well known on supermarket shelves at home, with several brand names including Nobilo. I think you pay for the name here: Our last port of call wasn't wine at all, but chocolate! We went to the Makana chocolate factory, where they hand made the most delicious truffles, and I bought three very expensive boxes, one of which is now half a box! Next day, we drove up to Picton for the ferry to North Island. We'd planned to go the 'pretty way', but we had no detailed map of the Blenheim area and got a bit lost, ending up at the chocolate factory again! We both felt that North was the way to go, but the road took us back to the main state highway. So we went the short way to Picton, arriving in very good time, and then took a detour along the sound, on the most twisty turny road we'd been on yet! But the scenery was delightful and it was well worth taking the trip. Back in town, we found the ferry, checked in our cases and then went for lunch. We handed in the car and boarded the ship, a largish car ferry and not at all crowded. We had a very smoorth, sunny crossing - it's a three hour voyage - and on disembarking collected our luggage and another hire car in short order, and drove to our B & B. This was more like a cheap hotel than a 'homestay' that we'd had up to now, but the owner was friendly enough and it's very conveniently placed. On our first full day in Wellington we visited the lovely modern cathedral, which is quite reminiscent of Coventry, with a similar modern altarpiece and light, wide nave. It was good to sit here for a little and reflect on all the blessings of this holiday. Then we looked at the 'Beehive', the modern building for MPs attached to the parliament building: but we didn't want to wait the 45 minutes for the next tour, so we went on into town, and then up in the cable car (more a funicular tram) to the botanic gardens. We walked through these back to Tinakori Road where our B & B is, and reached home for lunch. After a nap we drove out to the Lookout Point, the top of a hill in the south of the city, from which you can see a long way in all directions. Then my sister dropped me in town so I didn't have too far to walk, and met me again at the cafe where we were meeting Quentin and Marion, Quaker friends who used to be in Newcastle Meeting. We enjoyed a meal together and exchanged a lot of news. We had one more day in Wellington, which I'll describe in the next post.

A whale of a time!

From Christchurch we went first to Hanmer Springs, a small spa town which I'd thought from the map would be up in the hills, but turned out to be just below them. We'd thought about treating ourselves to a spa bath, but it took longer than we'd thought to get there and over lunch we decided that the spa had looked rather crowded, so we passed up that one and pressed on towards Kaikoura, a place famous for its wildlife and particularly its whales. We went via a shortcut that the map indicated would be a scenic route: in fact it wasn't all that scenic, and a lot of the minor road we took had loose chippings and we couldn't go too fast at all. We stopped for one view, and it was there I discovered my camera had jammed: the lens wouldn't either come out or go back. What a disaster!

We arrived at Kaikoura in good time. We'd booked on a whale watching trip, so after finding our B & B (splendid views, tiny bathroom) we went down to ask the whale watch company what the prospects were. Some trips that afternoon had been cancelled for bad weather, and we'd been told by someone we met that the whales had all gone north anyway. This proved to be very pessimistic: the lady was very helpful and said they'd spotted two whales, which were not in their usual place because of a trawler that had gone fishing there. The weather forecast was reasonable, and she thought our trip would probably be on. Thus encouraged, we set out for a camera shop to see if I could get my camera fixed. The man there said it might be possible, but would cost virtually as much as a new camera, and he couldn't do it there and then. So I went for plan B: a shiny new little Nikon Coolpix camera, smaller, cheaper and better than the old one, with the added bonus of being pink! I spent most of the evening learning how to use it. First, though, we did a little exploring and went down to Fyffe Point, at the end of the beach, where we saw seals, a heron and oystercatchers. We climbed the cliff and enjoyed a beautiful view both up and down the coast. Then we went back as far as a beach-side stall selling shellfish suppers, and treated ourselves to a huge crayfish between us, which was delicious, and more so for being eaten in the open air - a lovely way to dine! Next day, we packed up, checked out and went down to the whale watching place which was crowded. They were running a little late and it was full of people for the 10 o'clock boat: once they'd gone to their coach, there was more space and we sat on front seats for the cinema and safety briefing. In due course these were shown, we boarded the coach for the ten minute drive to the marina, and so on to the boat. The sea wasn't exactly calm, and the boat was driven at about 30 knots so it was, shall we say, quite exciting! There was news of a whale, but it had dived and was likely to be some time feeding on the bottom, so to pass the time we visited a huge school of dolphins. These were very difficult to photograph well, but lovely to look at. Then we headed for the whale's feeding area. After a bumpy ride we stopped for the crew to listen through hydrophones. They can apparently hear the whales 'clicking' which indicates that they are feeding, and shows where they are. Location confirmed, we moved more slowly to the exact place, and a second listen showed we were right above the whale. Then the clicking stopped, meaning it was on its way up - and there, just about fifty yards away, we saw it surface. We moved slowly up to lie alongside, and everyone was snapping cameras like mad. The whale was blowing from its blowhole about every 15 seconds, as it re-oxygenated itself. This went on for about ten minutes, with views of about half its body for part of the time. Then it stopped blowing and started to move in a different way. 'Cameras ready' said our commentator, and sure enough, in seconds it flipped up its huge tail, giving just time for a last picture, and then dived again. And that was it: we turned and sped through an increasingly choppy sea for home. It turned out we were very, very lucky. The previous trip didn't see a whale at all: the following one was cancelled for bad weather. Ours was the only trip that day to see a whale! By now the weather had turned pretty nasty, so we drove north up to Blenheim, our next stay, right in the middle of Marlborough wine country. We passed quite a few vineyards, but this was nothing to what we'd see next day, and I'll tell you about that in the next post.

When is a train not a train?

A highlight of New Zealand was to be the train trip across the Southern Alps, one of the world's most scenic railway journeys. We arrived to check in our luggage, only to be told that most of the scenic part of the trip through the mountains would be by coach, due to 'scheduled track maintenance'! We were very disappointed: if this was scheduled, we should have been told at the time of booking, not when we arrived to check in.

In due course we boarded the coach. It was still raining, and the windows were streaked with water so my sister couldn't get any decent pictures, and in any case you can't see as much from a coach. The trip through the mountains was pretty spectacular, as far as anything can be in a downpour, and fortunately the weather was improving once we were over the watershed and going down the other side. Arthur's Pass station was almost out of the hills altogether, and there we boarded the train. It had observation decks - a half an open cattle truck - in the middle, but for most of the journey I chose to sit in comfort and to treat myself to coffee and cake and just relax. There were a few points worth photographing - my sister, on the observation deck nearly all the time, took about a hundred pictures - but I took only a few of what should have been the highlights.

Eventually we reached Christchurch, and were met by Jan, our hostess for our 'homestay'. This was quite a way out of town: but as we had to get our hire car next morning, this didn't really matter. We took the bus into town, had a look at the statues of the Queen's corgis made for the Silver Jubilee, looked round the Cathedral and then went to get the hire car - a nice automatic Toyota Yaris, better than the previous one. We parked it, and after lunch took the tram ride round the city - shades of Melbourne! We then decided that I'd go to the Art Gallery while my sister did some exercise walking in the Botanic Gardens, and I'd meet her there. This worked very well for us both: the Art Gallery was great, two very good exhibitions, and I was able to stroll slowly through the beautiful gardens at my own pace to find Hilary asleep on the grass! We had ice creams and then set off to find our way back to the homestay - no mean feat of navigation!

And that was really our time in Christchurch. I could have done with a week!

The Wild West, New Zealand style

Our second day at Fox Glacier was as bad, weather-wise, as the first. After a stormy night we had a dull, wet morning and decided to do not much, stay at home and catch up on blogs, emails and photo processing. By lunchtime things were improving a bit, and we thought we'd look at least at the Franz Joseph glacier, the next place on, and get that done before we were travelling up to Greymouth. We drove up there, found the glacier access road, and started with a 20 minute walk to Peter's Pool, from which - when there's no wind at all - you can apparently get good pictures of reflections of the glacier in the pool. Today, though, there was some wind and the pictures were less than brilliant. I sat in the car while H. climbed Sentinel Rock, from which you can also get good views, and she took a couple of pictures there too.

Then it was back to the ranch, and eventually out to the local cafe for our evening meal. Again we ran into the problem of having a full, slap-up meal or ..well, there was little alternative. We just had a main course but it was still pretty substantial, and expensive by UK standards.

Overnight the weather cleared a little. We'd negotiated the chance of a flight if there were any going, and when we got up the clouds were much higher and we could see both Mount Tasman and Mount Cook, so we were quite hopeful. We dashed out to take pictures of their reflections in the pond at our B & B! But by the time we'd finished breakfast, they were in cloud again and the next weather front was coming in. We packed up, loaded the car and checked out, and stopped hopefully to enquire at the helicopter office, but it was the same story: too low cloud, too much wind and no flights at all today. So we had to abandon that part of our holiday, and just drive on northwards.

The drive was pretty good. There were several scenic points along the coast where we stopped for pictures. Eventually we reached Hokitika, a small coastal town famous for its Pounamu jade. We looked in a place called 'The Jade Factory', and I bought a pendant and earrings: we then had a light lunch in the cafe adjoining before driving down to the beach itself. Here, it seems, you can still find stones of jade, though we didn't go looking as the sand was wet and sticky and would have been a problem to clean off our shoes. Instead, we took more pictures, drove along the beach and the quayside up the river, and then on up towards Greymouth.

We had plenty of time in hand, so we went on first to Goldsborough, a small place off the main road and the site of a former gold-rush area. Here we went on a shortish walk which began through a mining tunnel and then went on through a forest with some unusual vegetation, ending with a return to the road through another mining tunnel. It was yet another unexpected delight: such things have been quite frequent in this amazing country.

Then we drove up to Greymouth, but we were still too early to go and check in at our B & B, so we went on northwards to Punakaiki where there are some fascinating 'pancake rocks', looking like a stack of pancakes. Apparently nobody has yet worked out how they came to be like this. In some of them are 'blowholes' where the sea comes crashing through in a cloud of spray. It was all quite a sight and we had great fun photographing and videoing it all.

Finally we turned back and drove down to our B & B. When we arrived there were two visiting Americans, Tom and Linda, sitting on the terrace over a glass of wine - clearly our sort of people! We chatted to them with a cup of tea made by Alison, the landlady, and we decided to go and eat together at the nearby restaurant which Tom and Linda had found earlier. It made a pleasant change to have company for the meal.

Next morning it was still grey and wet, so we again spent some time indoors, catching up on our various recordings of our holiday, and then we set off for Greymouth Station. I'll describe our journey to Christchurch in the next posting.

Over the hills and far away

We ended our visit to Queenstown by picking up a hire car and driving to Arrowtown, a former gold rush town nestling under the mountains. En route, we stopped to take pictures at Shotover Gorge, yet another remarkable feature in this country where the merely beautiful is just the norm!

Next day we packed up, loaded the car and set off for the West Coast. We took the route via the Crown Range, very much over the hills and providing another couple of photo stops. This took us to Wanaka, a small town at the foot of a major lake, and from there we headed up through Makarora and the mountains towards the coast at Haast. En route we paused at the Thunder Falls, not a high fall but a long one and very spectacular to look at: I was able to take a video clip as well as still photos. The weather had steadily deteriorated as we progressed, from pretty fine and sunny in Queenstown to drizzle and then serious rain. I was glad I'd bought a new umbrella in Queenstown to replace the one I've left behind somewhere.

Eventually we reached Haast, and stopped for a light lunch - a pie and an ice cream in my case. We drove - well, Hilary drove, I navigated, we both prefer it that way - along the coast, pausing to look at what we later discovered was 'Rock Art', a large number of curious little mementos along the land edge of the beach: crosses, mini cairns, rocks with things written or painted on them. We were told that these are just a way of 'leaving a bit of yourself'' there, and that they get washed away by the sea pretty well daily. Apparently we'll see more on the East coast north of Christchurch, where we'll be in a few days time.

We arrived at Fox Glacier in very good time, and decided before going down to our B & B at the far end of town to go up the Glacier access road and see what we could see. At the end of this, we could see the bottom of the actual glacier, a substantial chunk of ice which presumably breaks off from time to time and feeds the river, and allows ice movements behind it. We got within quite a short distance of the ice itself, though the weather and my knee made going right up to it not a good idea. But it's the first time I've seen an actual obvious glacier close to: I never did in Canada three years ago.

Photos taken, we went on to reach our very nice B & B. The owner was very friendly and talkative, and over a cup of tea suggested we go at once down to Lake Mathieson, which in good conditions is a 'mirror lake' and on the right day will reflect both Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. Alas, today neither were visible, the clouds being well below their 14 and 12 thousand feet summits. We drove down to the lake, but as we left the car it started raining, and by the time we'd done the ten minute walk to the lake itself it was fairly chucking it down. We walked through to the first viewpoint, but decided then to abandon the trip as there was no mirror effect with the rain and it seemed set in for the evening. We went back to the ranch before going out again to the same place for a delicious meal, and then back for a fairly early night.

During the night we had rain and wind in storm quantities! Next morning, our intended helicopter ride was clearly off, and it seems unlikely that we'll be able to do this because there is now a long queue of people waiting to go who've all been held up by bad weather. Ah, well, we had a good day on Milford Sound, so you can't have everything.

Spectacular Queenstown

Our first day in Queenstown was marked by rain in the morning, so we had a lazy time sorting ourselves out, and then walking down into the town a little later when it had cleared up somewhat. We looked at the shops, booked ourselves a place at the Skyline dinner in the evening, did a bit of shopping and checked out the quayside, having a 'light' lunch in a pub there. We wondered about a boat trip, but in the end decided to go back and rest before our evening out. I went back first, as Hilary wanted to do a couple more things. The B&B is up about 500 metres of very steep hill, so it's not easy to walk up to, and by the time I arrived I was ready to flop! The Skyline restaurant is quite special. You go up in a cable car to the top of the first set of hills overlooking the town. We went early to catch the sunset, and the views were really beautiful. Then we went for a pre dinner drink, chatting to a New Zealand couple from North Island. We'd registered our arrival and been given a gizmo about the size of a drink mat, and when it suddenly burst into life with flashing lights and a buzz, we walked down to the restaurant itself. The food was fabulous: you could have a six course meal if you wanted. We both ate well, with a very good bottle of NZ Sauvignon Blanc. As we left, we asked the reception to order us a taxi to save that steep walk home, and it was waiting for us when we got down in the cable car.

Next day it was up early for our trip to Milford Sound. This is a very beautiful fiord, only about 40Km as the heli copts, but well over 200 Km by coach, a good four hour trip. However, the coach ride itself was worth doing: we stopped first in Te Anau, a small town on a pretty lake, where we bought sandwiches for lunch and had a coffee. There were several more photo stops, including one at The Chasm, a hugely deep gorge (in New Zealand, you just run out of superlatives!) and one at the Mirror Lakes, reminding me of the BBC4 signature picture. We boarded the boat at the Milford Sound terminal for a cruise in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I took about 100 photographs, but mostly sat and just enjoyed the beauty and peace of this glacier-made inlet (fiords are made by glaciers and sounds by rivers, we were told). Coming back, we were taken close to a waterfall and stopped by Seal Rock to see some seals playing. Words just can't describe the atmosphere of this place: such a shame it's so far from Newcastle!! We stopped again at Te Anau on the way back, and bought fish and chips for our supper at a mobile stall, to save going out at the end of the day. The coach took us right to the bottom of our road, so one last climb up the hill and we were home from a most memorable day.

Travels off duty

Leaving Brisbane marked the end of the first phase of my Quaker visiting. Now I'm on holiday! The flight to Sydney was totally full but simple enough. I took the train into town and checked in at the hotel, a different one from before and conveniently very near the central station. After a short rest, I went up to the Meeting House to collect the package I'd left there and to arrange with Nick about tonight's opera, for which he is joining me. We agreed it was easiest to arrive independently and meet in the bar: but in fact I came upon him walking up from Circular Quay to the opera house. There was some kind of pop concert on the forecourt, so loads of crowd control and security people, but we weren't delayed at all. The production of Tosca was the Opera North one I'd seen and didn't like. For those of you who know Tosca, this production used only one set, a dingy church basement, and changed the story significantly in places, so that some of the words didn't make sense. However, the singing was glorious, and Tosca herself - a last minute substitute as the billed singer was ill - was superb, with one of the best Vissi d'arte performances I've heard (the famous aria in act 2) which received well deserved applause. So it was an enjoyable evening, and good to have company. Nick, bless him, ran me back to the hotel, having seen how I was walking on the path back to Circular Quay. Next day I was very restful. I posted a package to my hosts in Perth - 2.5 kilograms of weight not to be in my suitcase! I won't travel so heavily again, though to be fair I don't think there's anything I won't have used or worn by the end of the trip. The Australian 'Post Shops' are excellent, they keep all sorts of packaging materials and will tape packages up for you, so I was able to walk in with a carrier bag of stuff and send it securely wrapped. Four days or so, they said, from Sydney to Perth: try that with Parcel Post in the UK!

This done, I had a light lunch and flirted with the idea of doing the Opera House tour, but decided that an hour's walking around wasn't going to help the knee. So I rested and wrote up my journal, and went to eat in the hotel - a huge steak, very good value, with a glass of house red (less so but at least acceptable). At about 9.50 my sister was due, so I went down and stepped outside to see if there was any sign, and at that moment her taxi drew up. She'd had a good journey: we went up to the room, did minimal unpacking and went quickly to bed, as we had a very early start.

Next morning we were up at six, and took a taxi along surprisingly busy roads to the airport. We were on different flights, my agent having not done what I wanted, so we separated and I took the plane to Christchurch and then waited for the connecting flight to Queenstown. This latter has a small airport and you fly in literally through a gap in the mountains, a quite spectacular approach! The B & B proved very nice with lovely views of lake and mountains: in the evening the sun was just on the mountain tops. I think this will be a good start to our New Zealand holiday.

Brisbane with a bad knee

The flight to Brisbane was another in a small, twin propeller aircraft, and most of the way you could see the countryside, lots and lots of trees and some meandering rivers. In parts of Queensland there have been floods recently, but at the coast there are still signs of water shortage: drought and floods in the same land! It just shows how big Australia is. I found the train easily enough, lifts all the way to get there, and space for luggage - but the fare to just beyond the city centre was nearly as much as the trip from Sydney to Newcastle! However, it was an easy enough journey and Valerie was waiting for me on the platform. We drove back to her house in her campervan, Vanessa, and I took my case down to my downstairs bedroom which is very comfortable. We chatted a bit, and a friend arrived so I went and unpacked and we had a quiet evening.

Next day we went into town - quite a walk for my knee to the bus station, but they have a wonderful bus system here. They have busways, which are rather like railways but with road instead of track. The bus stops are like stations, and only buses run on the busways, so even at busy times the delays are no more than you'd get with a train stopping at a signal. It works really well, Valerie tells me, and they are so successful that more are being constructed. A good green idea for the UK? We were going to the film circle at Valerie's women's club, the Lyceum. The film we saw was 'Black Book', a complex tale of the Dutch resistance set as a memory from a post war Kibbutz, but with a reminder that this setting too has its conflicts. I'd recommend the film very highly: it's well directed and acted, and had sufficient impact on the audience that they found it hard to discuss it afterwards (the usual format of these meetings) and shied away from the thoughtful questions Valerie had prepared. I think I might get this from Amazon when I get back home. After the film, we walked (ouch, the knee!) to a cafe for a light lunch, and then down to the riverside to take a boat down the river a little - all included in the day bus ticket - to the South Bank Gardens. These are a very pleasant recreation area, with cafes, a beach, a few shops and shaded paths with lots of planting. We walked though these back to the South Bank bus station to take the bus home: Valerie had parked her car early that morning, to get a space, near the bus station so thankfully we rode home. By now my knee was protesting so I was glad of a rest, before a meal and a lazy, television-watching evening. Next morning it was clear that the knee didn't want any more. I spent most of the day resting, until the evening when David Johnson came to talk about the Australian Quaker Centre that I'd visited in Canberra. This was fascinating: he is the man who originally thought of the idea, and I felt it would be a place I'd be happy to go and live at for a time, and teach at as well. A possible long term plan? David was well aware of the difficulties as well as the benefits of having a single-location centre for learning, and I found the discussion very much to the point.

Saturday was another lazy morning. In the afternoon, Valerie had invited all her neighbours round to hear three people talking about green issues, and to have tea. This was inspired by the idea of 'Transition Towns', something started at Totnes in Devon and now rapidly expanding world wide. I'd come across the idea at the Sustainable Living festival in Melbourne: why haven't I seen anything at home about this? The first talk was on composting: I'd no idea it was so complex an issue, nor that there were so many things anyone can do. I'm thinking of getting a Bohashi Bin, a kind of mini-composting bin which would suit the available space, and just using rather than throwing out my food waste. Then we had a go-around on the issues that concerned or interested us most. I was last on this, which was quite good: I was able to say that the issues are different in Australia from the ones at home (here insulation isn't necessary, for example, but it's assumed you go by car and water is the no. 1 problem). I said I was surprised nobody had mentioned transport, nor diet, repeating the lesson I'd learned from my own Quaker Meeting that the meat industry produces more greenhouse gases than transport - even including aviation. The final speaker talked about neighbourhood watch, and creating a good and coherent local environment in which to live. Again, much for me to think about as our local Neighbourhood Watch scheme is a bit defunct at the moment.

On Sunday I went to Brisbane Meeting: it's the largest I've been to so far in Australia, over 40 people plus quite a few children. There was some good ministry, a reflection on the need to be fallow at times. Then after tea I talked to the Meeting about Ministry. After an introduction and some extracts from Samuel Bownas (oh, this 18th century Friend really is good value for money!) I put people in threes to discuss how we help each other, and particularly new Friends, to discern a true leading to minister. The feedback was fascinating: as usual, Friends had talked about what they wanted to, but we had some good stuff including a lot of shared experience of physical indications such as an increased heart rate and some sort of shaking. I've been very happy about the way Friends have been able to pick up and run with the thoughts that I've shared with them, and I've certainly learned a lot on this extended visit amongst Australian Quakers. After the talk, we drove into town to the Gallery of Modern Art, where a film of a journey amongst people in Israel/Palestine was being shown. The film was mostly interviews with both Israelis and Palestinians, and whilst rather one-sided (all the Israelis seemed to be hard-liners, all the Palestinians were ones who had been displaced in some way) did illustrate in the words of ordinary people the context of the conflict. A lof of mindset-changing will be needed if it is ever to be a peaceful area. I would have loved to have seen something of the gallery while we were there, but my knee was still being awful, so we went home and I rested some more, before getting much of the packing done ready for tomorrow's flight to Sydney. Brisbane has been a bit frustrating because of my injury: but nevertheless it's been a time for learning, and both the Quaker Centre discussions and the Green event were very worthwhile, and I'm grateful to Valerie for arranging both of these when I was there. I hope New Zealand will prove relaxing and healing, and that I'll be able to see a lot without being too strenuous!

Newcastle, Australian version

My time in Sydney ended, after the wonderful Opera evening, with a very pleasant bridge evening with two visiting Americans. I'd been to Meeting on the Sunday, quite quiet until I felt led to speak, reflecting on the double standards depicted in 'La Traviata' and how our Testimony to Truth was a refusal to have two standards: but how well did we keep it, and other testimonies, me being well aware of how far I'd flown to be there! I suggested that was was vital was to submit to the Light and listen to the guidance. In the evening we had a shared meal which Nick had prepared, and bridge: and Julie, bless her, helped me take my luggage to the station and minded it whilst I got my ticket - and even ran back for my lunch which I'd left sitting in the fridge!

The train journey to Newcastle, NSW, was interesting, with some attractive lake and mountain scenery, lots of woodland which is always heartening. We arrived at Broadmeadow on time (the previous stop was Cardiff, and the train home from the opera had gone to Liverpool! so many English names here), and I met with Jean, who took me back to her lovely home. She has a superb tropical garden, and, as I discovered, real tropical birds. How about breakfast looking at the Rainbow Lorikeet through the window! We had a short trip out that evening, seeing some black swans and a kookaburra (related to the kingfisher, I'm told), and the following day I was taken round the town, looking at the cathedral and the town centre, and the up and coming area known as Collingwood which has some fine colonial architecture, as does the town centre. Back for a rest in the afternoon, and a bring and share supper (lovely starters of home-made houmus and arabic bread, and smoked salmon canapes) and a talk on Ministry. We had a really good discussion, and some deep sharing: the best this talk has gone so far, I thought.

I was sorry to have been in Newcastle for so short a time: I'd have loved to go a little way up the Hunter Valley and see a winery or two, and more of the region. Australia's Newcastle is a little larger in population and a good bit larger in area than the UK one, and it's still a coal town: they are tearing coal out of the valley as fast as they can ship it out, and I counted ten ships waiting to come in and load up with it. New loading facilities are being built, and much of it is exported to China: all in all it must make a significant contribution to global warming, though when you look at the CO2 per head of the Chinese, it's way, way less than ours, so we can't really complain!

Next morning I was off good and early, with other Friends driving me to the airport, smaller than our Newcastle Airport (it did seem odd seeing the familiar name in a strange place!) but very easy to go through, and soon I was in the air en route to Brisbane. I'll describe that in the next post.

The dream of a lifetime

I began this blog by saying I'd always wanted to go to the opera in Sydney. On Tuesday I'd been inside the actual building that is Sydney Opera House: soon it would be time for me to realise my dream. 'I want to know what you ache for, and if you dare to dream of reaching your heart's longing', wrote Oriah Mountain Dreamer in 'The Invitation' - well, this was one of mine!

But patience! I left you on Tuesday, and a lot has happened since then. On Wednesday, it being a reasonably bright day, I decided to give my knee a bit of a rest and go on a harbour cruise: I chose a two hour one, with tea and muffins thrown in, and although it cost a tourist price I thought it was worth it. Sydney Harbour is huge, with a shoreline well over 300 kms long: and the property on some of that shoreline is among the most expensive and exclusive in the world. We had a pleasant trip on a sunny afternoon, and I sat next to a friendly young French woman called Delphine, who was also going to the opera on Friday! Wednesday was my last night in the hotel, and I'd had a huge lunch (it's difficult not to get a huge meal here!) so I settled for getting a packet of instant soup and having that with a banana.

On Thursday I breakfasted, packed and took a taxi up to the Meeting House where I was booked in for the next four nights. I rang the bell, having left a message to say I'd be arriving at ten-ish: no answer! Eventually a voice came from below: it was Nick, the warden, who's a lovely man but somewhat mad (a bit like me, really!). He let me in and took me to the room, which is not as nice as the Melbourne MH one (no desk, for a start) and the loo is out and through a closing and locking door, and almost through the Meeting Room. The shower is even further, downstairs and right opposite an open door to the frequently let lower hall: so there's no sense of privacy at all. But there are cooking facilities: so I began to plan self catering for most of the rest of the week (except on Friday, the plan is to eat out at Circular Quay in good time to walk over early to the Opera House).

So after a long conversation and a brief rest, I set out to get lunch and then to go to the wildlife Centre at Darling Harbour. This, I have to say, was slightly disappointing, and mainly set up for kids, though they did have some very cute koalas, the first I've seen. Kangaroos, too, but in captivity, which seems all wrong in this vast land with so much space for everyone.

From the harbour I took the little monorail - great fun! - to Paddy's Market to do my shopping, treating myself tonight to rump steak. So many restaurants here, other than the very classy and pricey ones, are Asian in some form: so I enjoyed making myself a more traditional supper, and I'd got the remains of a bottle of red wine to go with it.

Friday also started bright and sunny, and Nick asked me when I was having breakfast if I fancied a trip to a beach. I accepted gratefully: I thought an hour's sunbathing would be good. But as it turned out, Nick had several errands that he needed to do first, and all the time the sky was clouding over: so by the time we reached the little cove which is his choice of bathing place it was actually raining! Nothing daunted, I donned my bikini and had my first sea swim for a long time - so long I'd nearly forgotten how, and how unbalanced my excess fat makes me. Another incentive to try to lose a bit... but it really is hard, especially here!

We didn't have an hour: by the time we'd swum for ten minutes it was time to go, as Nick had further engagements in the afternoon. I was rather regretting the trip by now, as my hair was wet and salty and I hadn't thought that washing it just before going out is never a good idea, and I'd not had a nice sunbathe at all. Still, I showered to de-salt, dried my hair and lay down to take a nap. Then it was time to get ready: my lovely new blue dress, my pearls: I should have taken my regular handbag with umbrella, but instead took the smaller one and my jacket, which was hot and not good protection from rain. I got down to the quay early, had a modest meal of lasagne and a huge pavlova, and then walked over to the opera house, in what was by now fairly steady and unremitting rain, But this couldn't really detract from the excitement. I bought a coffee and ordered a glass of champagne for the interval - after all, I don't do this every day! - bought a programme and walked up towards my seat in the circle. At the harbour end of the building you can stand and look out, behind glass, on the harbour, which was misty and totally unattractive in the murky rain. Then I found my seat and looked around.

The ceiling in the auditorium is very high, it's the underside of two of the large 'sails', and this may be why the acoustic has a bad reputation. The seats are generous (with Australia's obesity problem they need to be!), and the shape of the room is wide rather than deep (the rows are nearly fifty seats each at the widest part). I was in the second row of the circle (there is only one, no Upper Circle and no real gallery as such, though there are loggias at the side on a higher level).

The lights dimmed, the conductor arrived, and the house was hushed. I felt a huge thrill as the first, soft, poignant notes of the prelude to 'La Traviata' began. What a moment! I don't think I will ever forget it.

The production was excellent, and the leading soprano superb - she sang so well in the soft parts, which many coluraturas don't. The rest of the cast were pretty good, particularly the man singing Giorgio Germont, who persuades the heroine Violetta to give up her lover Alfredo for the sake of the daughter of the Germont family. At the end, Violetta dies (she has consumption), but not before she is reunited with Alfredo: the last act was very well done and I was sobbing for much of it, so well was the emotion conveyed. Australians applaud during the opera much more than in the UK, where applause for an aria is not very common: but at the end the curtain calls didn't seem very many, and in Newcastle we'd have cheered and stamped for a lot longer. Different places, different customs......

I'd not had my knee strapping on for the opera, and that was a mistake. Friday night the knee was uncomfortable, and today (Saturday) it's been worse than usual, so I've tried to rest it and done very little. I went to get my train ticket for Monday, only to be told you can't buy them in advance - this for a two and a half hour journey, not exactly the metro! So I'll have to get it while pulling all my luggage, and then go and get something to eat as there are no catering facilities on the train either. They don't really know how to do railways here.

Australian Trivia No. 1: you stand to the left on escalators. I've still not got used to that one!

Sydney has, all in all, been a little odd. Most of the 'attractions' are very much for the tourist, and I've not really been bothered. And I've felt a bit on my own: it's the only city where Quaker contact has been minimal. I'm looking forward to Newcastle (NSW) and Brisbane, and Quaker hosts again and talks as well: I've missed the contact, this week.

Utzon at last!

If I'd known there was a bus to Sydney that takes only three hours, I'd have gone that way. As it was, the flight was uneventful, though I'd arrived miles too early thanks to the Quantas website saying it had a 90 minute check-in, and Canberra is such a small airport, amazingly for a national capital, that once you're through security there is nothing - no shops, no coffee bar, nothing except seats at the gates!

We landed at Kingsford Smith airport in low cloud, rain and wind: not my idea of an Australian summer! You'd never know there were water restrictions not that many miles away. But New South Wales is evidently different: one immediately obvious change is that whereas in South Australia and Victoria, every toilet I saw was dual flush, here I have yet to see one that is. So maybe water isn't so much of a problem here and I can have a bath tomorrow!

Because of the weather I did little except seek out an eating place in the evening: and the one I found was disappointing. There seem to be few places that do Australian food with vegetables, yet they grow enough of them here! I ended up with chicken and chips, all much too salty and no veg. in sight.

Tuesday morning found me walking up to the Meeting House, which I missed first time round as it is on the opposite side of the road from what I'd been told. They don't seem to go for details in Australia - I've had that much misinformation I check everything now. I collected the parcel which Kay, bless her, had brought up on the bus so as to keep my luggage within weight limits, and had a good chat: then walked back with it to the hotel - not that far - and then found some lunch nearby, as it was beginning to drizzle a little. After a good rest I ventured out on the free bus down to Circular Quay (which isn't circular any more, but was when they built in in 1844). I walked along the quayside... and there, round the corner, was what I'd come ten thousand miles to see: the famous Opera House. Oh, I could see the Harbour Bridge, but when you're used to Tyne Bridge it's nothing special! But the opera house.. I could scarely believe I was there, after so long wanting to be there. It's actually three amazing buildings: a concert hall, the biggest: then the opera hall, and then the little (relatively speaking) restaurant - at least, that's what it seems to be. I took dozens of photos, and got others to take ones of me. The one below shows the actual Opera House building, where I'll be going on Friday for 'La Traviata'. Expect a sentimental outpouring!!

I queued to collect my tickets that I'd ordered on the internet last November, and then wandered into the botanical gardens nearby: and then back along the quay for tea and a passion fruit tart. It doesn't get much better than that! I was just so full of contentment, I must have looked like the village idiot with such a broad smile on my face. Then I took the train back to the hotel, wrote up this, and now it's out for an Indian supper.

Yesterday, in the wet, I was feeling a bit negative about Sydney. Today that has totally changed, and I'm just over the moon! I think I'll take a harbour cruise, as well as an Opera House tour; and there is so much else to do I'll have a hard job to decide. The one thing I'm not doing here is any Quakering: I've not been asked to do a talk or workshop, so I'll just go to Meeting on Sunday and meet Friends then. I'm in a very pleasant hotel, for a little luxury, for three days, and on Thursday I'll move into the Meeting House which is very conveniently located on the edge of Chinatown - lots of good, cheap little cafes and shops. So I'm looking forward a lot to the rest of Sydney. The only snag here is that the hotel Internet costs $25 a day, so one day is enough: I'll post next on Thursday when I can have the Meeting House internet for free!