Pat and Don's Big Adventure

Bula! Bula! It's a jungle down here!!

pdrozinsky — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 10:26:00 GMT

Well landing in Fiji is nothing like our experience in Sydney or Auckland airports. we arrived at Fiji main airport in a downpour and in the dark only to find the airport small and dark as well. Our resort forgot to send someone to meet & greet us so after about 30 minutes Don located a phone to call the shuttle for us. By this time the humidity was equal to the rain that was falling outside.Finally, a dilapitated 1960's bus arrived and we were loaded on for our 35 min. journey to our resort. Our skillful driver managed to miss most of the potholes and washed out road areas(left over from the storms of January). they are crazy drivers over here!! It was a bit of a white knuckler but we finally arrived ata very tiny dock & boarded a little putt-putt boat for a 3 minute ride across to our resort. the paths up to the reort lacked in lighting but eventually we located the reception. It had been a long day so we went straight to out "buri" a large self-contained hut only to find it old and authentic. Not much has been done to renovate or maintain the property.We are also unable to swim or snorkel in the water surrounding this island as it is a muddy river so not too inviting. Thank goodness for the lovely pool. On the 4th day here we ventured out on a "bula bus" that takes you around to the other resort/hotels on the mainland and decided it was time to leave this jungle resort. the most popular activity here is fly swatting and those little flies bite all the areas you missed with the bug spray! Driving through Nadi(captial city) we were surprised to find it so small and in dire need of help. the poverty here is tragic. how very sad that the people don't get the assistance they need. So, we have moved on to our new resort hoping that the humidity doesn't follow us like a "Linus blanket". the good thing about the humidity is that you don't have to iron anything, just put the clothing on and wait 5 minutes and all the wrinkles are gone! Well only 2 days left of our wonderful adventure so I had better go and make the most of it! Cheers..see you all next week...love Pat & Don

Time to say goodbye to Australia

pdrozinsky — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 20:19:00 GMT

Hi everyone, so very sad that our big adventure has come to an end. We are now in Sydney at the airport hotel waiting overnight to catch a flight to Fiji. Australia has been fabulous!!We have been so very lucky with the weather considering this poor country has been pulverized with disaster after disaster. We missed it all, from the floods to the cyclone, the oil spill(what a disaster for the environment. Then as we headed south we learned that Melbourne was having small earthquakes. Maybe it is a good thing that we are moving on. When we left you last blog we were heading south and landed in a place called Newcastle-quite an intersting town-very Bohemian. After that we drove straight through to Sydney. I thought Brisbane was big, Sydney is HUGE!!!! traffic, traffic, traffic!Moved out to Manly beach which is across the harbour from Sydney, smaller and quite old where lodging starts at $200.00 per night Yikes!!! but it was a great place with a lovely beach. Stopped to have dinner one night and ended up watching a squall come through with lots of lightening and thunder-quite a show,we've never seen lightening like this,so a couple of glasses of wine later we were able to go back to our condo.Next day we took the ferry over to Sydney then on to the Taronga Zoo-yup-love those animals. Not quite as up close and personal as the Steve Irwin zoo but good. Caught the ferry back to Sydney and walked around the Opera house-WOW what a building!and the view of the city was spectacular. Underneath the Opera House are all kinds of shops and cafes. Next day we headed south towards Wolongong. What a beautiful city, lovely parks and beaches and very laid back-just what we needed after all that traffic. Chelsea's buddy Dan lives there with his family so we got in touch and he invited us up to his place(and his wife-Mel & cute as a button daughter Imogene. Had a wonderful real "Aussie Barbeque" steak, sausages, salads etc.yum, yum! They are fabulous cooks!WE had a great evening with them and were sorry to say goodbye.Next day we headed up to another nature reserve and you guessed it-got up close & personal with the animals again-love feeding those kangaroos!!!The emu was a bit grabby so moved on to the crocadiles. On the way home we took this wonderful drive called the Pacific Coast Highway-just spectacular scenery then stopped in a quaint little town for an original"aussie pie" They are crazy about their pies down here!!! Time to move on from Wolongong and head back to Sydney, we were hoping to make it to Canberra but have run out of time-next trip!!Arrived at our airport hotel and got settled then since we had the whole day ahead of us we just had to see a few more sights. Drove out to Coogee Beach where we saw our first"bluebottle stingers" These are nasty little stingers and lots of them had washed up on the sand so we were doing quite the dance around them. Headed up to the famous"Bondi Beach" hoping to see those cute lifeguards in their little red & yellow beanies but they all must have been in the rescue hut as it was just pleasantly buzy-I can only imagine what a zoo it is on weekends. No rescues for us to watch today-that's a good thing I guess. And that about does it for our Australia adventure. We head out early tomorrow for Fiji so that will be another story. We are both looking forward to staying in one place for longer than 2-3 days and are certainly looking forward to the warmth of the sun & surf. The temperatures have dropped to about 25 degrees and the water is very chilly!! Can't wait to do some snorkelling in warmer water. Well my friends hope everyone has enjoyed our Big Adventure, can't wait to share the pictures with you.Take care...love to all...see you in a week...Pat & Don

Zoos are not just for animals!

pdrozinsky — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 10:27:00 GMT

Hi everyone! Well since we last left you we have seen quite a bit more of this beautiful country. Finally-lots of real live wildlife!!!The Steve Irwin Australia Zoo was amazing. Eveything from huge tortoises, lizards, wombats snakes and everything in between. We were able to hand feed the many mnay kangaroos and a few even had their little joeys in their pockets. The koalas looked so cute & cuddly but we weren't able to cuddle them as many of them are there because its a safe place for them to recover or live out the rest of their lives in peace. All of the animals are soo..well taken care of and have huge amounts of room to walk jump or fly around in. There are beautiful huge birds freely flying all over, even the elephants had huge space. It was great to see the crocodiles but got just close enough.We also saw tigers swimming??? I didn't that but they were having a great time. So it was a full day at that zoo-so glad we came. Back to Brisbane where we stayed with our friend Bev-the Hostess with the mostest! She drove us around the city then took us to dinner at her friends house where we had a fabulous Thai dinner-yum, yum... The animals were restless that night back at Bev's but that's why we have earplugs-they work like a charm. Next day the temps were going to reach 36 degrees and as you know that's my melting temperature so we took the City Cat (catamaran) up and down the river and saw another beautiful side of Brisbane from the water-all this for $4.50 and we could get off and on as often as we wanted so stoppped and had a great lunch right at the river's edge-how perfect. Next day we were off to Surfer's Paradise(this is a different kind of zoo for people) Actually we really liked it there so we stayed a few days. Everything is in a few blocks radius and we had such a nice place to stay so we weren't in any hurry to leave. The people watching is great, this is definitely a people zoo!Don's favorite part were the young meter maids in their tiny gold bikinis and cowboy hats-he had a tough time trying to get one of those tickets from them though so we settled on taking pictures. Alas it was time to move on so off to Lennox, Ballina and finally Byron Bay. Chelsea has told us so much about this place so we had to see it. It's like a town out of the 70's-lots of backpackers and people living out of their vans and just so easy going and laid back. It was here that we met up with our former exchange student from 1997. She is doing great work with the dolphins and marine conservation down here and when she has time she's an artist. WE even saw a 40 ft. yacht that she painted complete with dophins and waves-just beautiful-what a talent!!!Spent a great day with her family up on their 80 acres visiting with family and then enjoying a 4x4 ride out to the paddocks where we found one lonely Koala and lots of cows. Another perfect day!Back into Byron and headed out to a see a musician that Chels has raved about-Harry Healy. Wow-what a great one-man band. He had the place packed to the rafters. The place was just jumping especially when he played (our music) from the 70's, 80's etc.Liz joined us there so we were able to enjoy one last visit with here. Time to say good-bye, hope it won't be long before we see her again. Tried to meet up with Kathy & Teresa's cousin Gary as he owns a night club here but he wasn't around- too bad it would have been nice to meet him.So our time in Byron is done, we are heading further south towards Sydney-trying to stay away from the effects of Cyclone Hamish. Only 10 days left in this beautiful country but I know we'll be back some day-there is just soo...much to see and do. I'll update before we leave for Fiji. lots of love to all and we look forward to hearing from you soon. Again don't feel you have to comment at this site as I am checking my regular e-mail as well. Would love to hear from you. Sorry I haven't sent too much in the way of postcards-I've bought them just haven't written on them. They'll be part of the movie I'll make when we get home. "On the road again"...cheers Pat & Don

BIG bats but no kangaroos!

pdrozinsky — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 15:55:00 GMT

Hi everyone, Well when we last left you we were in Hervie Bay a beautiful little seaside town and that was where we got our first real dose of rain. Squalls come in and just bucket for hours. After the rain the skies change quite a bit. The sky filled with HUGE fruit bats, kind of like watching the movie"The Birds" from a distance, you don't hear them you just see thousands. We have no idea where they head for but it seems to be a regular occurrance in the evenings along the coast. The next day was another beautiful hot & humid day so we decided to ride bikes along the beach boardwalk thinking the wind in our faces might cool us off-WRONG,we still needed showers to rinse off the humidity. Don is loving this heat but I feel like I'm melting alot of the time. Next day we headed off to Fraser Island in a "Hummmer" Talk about luxury!! After a short barge trip to the island we landed and travelled along the sand roads(only wide enough for 1 vehicle)kind of like a long ride at the PNE!!!We then travelled 35 km's along the beach-that's the main highway on Fraser and it can get pretty busy. Our driver stoppped along the way at a little creek and made us tea while we waded in the water. Further along we stopped at an old shipwreck(1935) that is just sitting there rusting & rotting.Back on the main highway(beach) to a little spot where our driver made us a lovely lunch/wine while we enjoyed a walk in the rainforest. just a beautiful spot-very humid though. Off to Lake Mackenzie where the water is crystal clear and as warm as a bath. Spent a few hours there enjoying the water and hoping to spot a dingo(apparently the island is loaded with them & wallabies) but we saw NONE.I guess we'll have to wait til we get to the Zoo. What a fabulous day it was-everyone should put this on their to-do list!!!. Next day we headed north stopping in Bundaberg & Rockhampton. Lots of roadkill along the way. Arrived in Airlie Beach-WOW what a great spot. Because this is "stinger"season we couldn't go in the ocean, but the city has built a HUGE lagoon surrounded by grass and man-made beach so we enjoyed a fabulous day there. These Aussies think of everything!!From Airlie beach we took a 23 meter catamaran over to 3 of the Whitsundy Islands.It was a full day tour stopping at Whitehaven beach-pure white sand. Put our stinger suits on and went for a swim. The suits are kind of like a wet-suit only lighter. Took a walk into the forest and saw a HUGE "guana"-finally live wildlife! Next stop was Hook Island (No captain there though)and enjoyed some snorkelling through the coral reefs. Pretty fish and the coral was so colorful. This island is the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. Last stop was at Daydream island where we walked into a beautiful resort and enjoyed a glass of wine before we headed back to Airlie beach. There was a large outdoor aquarium with sharks & manta rays here. What a fabulous day!!and quite the bargain as a lunch & snacks were included!So this is as far north as we will go. There has been tremendous rains further north so many roads are washed out and we won't take any chances. So we are now heading back down south towards Brisbane where we will probably take a short flight to Perth for a few days to see our friend Fiona and her husband. Along the way we stoppped at Noosa and spent a few days where this old knee of mine finally gave out and I have resorted to wlking with a walking stick to take the pressure off. I'm afraid it's put a bit of a damper on the trip.We still want to do more walking about but I'll have to keep it to a minimum. Thanks goodness we have a car so we can usually drive to where we want to go.Well friends, that's it for now. Sorry it's been a while since we last updated but everything shuts down so early in these little towns that by the time we finish enjoying the sights the shops are closed. Where does everyone go????We'll be in touch soon...hope you are all doing well.by the way, i'm sure you have heard about the terrible fires in Victoria stae-just devastating. There was a national day of mourning on Sunday and just when they seem to get the fires under control more fires start up. We won't be going as far as that on this trip as I'm sure it will be too devastating to see. The people of Australia have stepped up to help these poor people who have lost everything. Very sad.well take care everyone, we'll write again soon..love Pat & Don

Turkeys DO fly!

pdrozinsky — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 11:54:00 GMT

Hi Everyone, Well if we didn't see it we wouldn't have believed it. We were sitting in the backyard of our friends' house in Brisbane when there was alot of commotion, I looked up up and there were bush turkeys taking to the trees. they really are stupid animals, they think they can fly farther than they really can. they are smaller than our thanksgiving turkeys but still a very good size and they can fly up about 20 feet. What simple entertainment. We had a fabulous time at the old Expo site-wonderful man made beach and gardens, picnic sites right in the middle of the city. Met up with Don's aunt & uncle from Brisbane twice(didn't want to tire them all in one visit. It was soo... great to see them. On the 2nd day we were heading out of the condo where we were staying when the power went out so we couldn't get our car out of the underground car park, had to taxi it down the road(too far to walk) to meet aunt & uncle for lunch. Their power was out as well but we could have anything cold on the menu so that worked well. Found a beautiful place to go for a walk along the water. Boy are the Aussie people ever looked after here. BBQ's picnic sites, pools and playgrounds and shade covers everywhere!Got a great idea for the school playground!!Stopped in at an Airplane Museum and saw some very interesting planes from WW2.Lots of memorablia from the wars as well. Drove up the coast to a place called Noosa and stayed there for a couple of days-just a great spot to kick back and enjoy the beach & pool. We are now in Hervey Bay and the weather has changed it has been raining and very humid. We are planning our trip to Fraser island for the next few days IF the weather improves. Fraser is the largest sand island in the southern hemisphere.Lots of 4x4ing. Better than the rides at the PNE. Well that's it for now. We will be in touch after our 4 wheeling adventure...take care...love Pat & Don..p.s Happy Valentines everyone!!!

We're in Aussieland!

pdrozinsky — Sun, 8 Feb 2009 11:28:00 GMT

Hi everyone, Well we've arrived at our 2nd destination. It is so hot & humid but we are adjusting! The trip from NZ to here was good but we got held up on our arrival because I was carrying "trail mix"You are NOT allowed to bring nuts & seeds into this country even if it is bagged, so they confiscated it(nicely) then gave us the stink eye as to what else we could be bringing in. I told them that I had washed our sandals the night before so there was no dirt or sand from the land of NZ on anything,so they let us get on our way. Later that night I realized I had granola nut bars in my luggage but when they x-rayed All our luggage they didn't pick them out so i guess we are in the clear. I had no idea that Brisbane was SOO...BIG! There is tons of traffic-way more than Vanouver, but everything moves along. There are trains, buses and boats that take you where ever you want to go. Today (sunday 8th) we are going by fastcat(boat) to the old expo site (1988) that Brisbane has turned into beautiful parks & shops and walkways etc. Yesterday we drove down to Surfer's Paridise-one & half hours south and met up with my brother and his wife again. Wow-was it busy there-for all you guys the bikinis couldn't have been smaller or in greater numbers. The parking meter cops are bikini clad young girls with itsy-bitsy coverage that you would just love to stand and argue over a ticket with. I can see a lot of wives elbowing there husbands here!!!! It was great fun but we only stayed a few hours as Don & I will be heading that way again in a couple of weeks. Our friend who we are staying with for a few days has been a wonderful hostess. Besides great food & wine (again) she has shown us some great sights. We drove up to the highest place in Brisbane and could see all of the city from there-WOW what a sight.The nice thing is they haven't crammed there downtown core with tall buildings, there are a few but still lots of green space in between. The trees here are all so colorful & fragrant-just beautiful.Well that's it for now, tomorrow we are heading north and will only go as far as it is safe(because of the flooding & road wash-outs). We probably will have to do the Great Barrier Reef on another trip,yes we'll be back! Then we will start back down to coast where all the beaches are. We are hoping to finding lodging across from a beach where we can put our feet up for a few days at a time. We won't be doing as much driving over here-Yay!So everyone take care-we love hearing from you and we will update soon...Cheers!!Pat & Don

Leaving New Zealand

pdrozinsky — Wed, 4 Feb 2009 08:47:00 GMT

Well my friends, Sadly our time in NewZealand has come to an end. It has just flown by or should I say we have flown through this beautiful country by car!! Last time we wrote we were in Queenstown. Now that's a lively city, they actually keep things open past 10p.m. We had a wonderful visit with my brother Tom & his wife Angela. great day had by all. Then we travelled to a VERY remote place called Haast on the west coast(no one really needs to go there as there is only 1 hotel with the only 2 restaurants and 1 gas station)but we both were tired and needed a place to stay so that was it. We drove along the coast the next day up to the glaciers-Fox glacier & Franz Joseph glacier-what a site. We were able to hike into both and each of them was spectacular!! Of course I needed a big glass of wine for pain relief. We settled in for the night at Franz Joseph in a lovely little place. The temperatures were a little cooler than we were used to but warmed up with food and drink. Next day we headed further north(still on the west coast) to Greymouth. They have the most interesting rock formations we've ever seen. They look like stacks of pancakes with blow holes spewing every few minutes!Next day we drove from the wesy coast all the way to the east coast (about 3 hours). Nothing like driving in Canada except the driving part through the mountains-just a bit of the white knuckling, thank goodness the drive was short!! Arrived in Christchurch to a beautiful day of sun & heat.Experienced a winderful exhibit called the Anarctic Exhibit where we got up close & personal with the penguins, then had to put on heavy parkas to experience and Antarctic blizzard-we'd do it again but this time we wouldn't wear shorts-just a tad chilly at -18 degrees but then there was the windchill factor brrrrr....Headed out to beach after all that hoping to warm up and found a lovely one called Brighton Beach where there was a fabulous kite festival on but as much as the winds kept the kites up it chilled us to the bone. Back to warm up with a lovely glass of wine and appies. Yesterday was our last full day here in NZ so we decided tohead out to Akaroa a volcanic penninsula. The maps don't tell you about the drive there and as you can guess it was another Sheryl Crowe"winding road" only this one was very very steep!! Finally reached the beach there and decided to do some jet boating again-we're quite liking that activity. This one took us out to the bird sanctuary as well as where the penguins gather (you have to be quieter there-no 360 spins). We ended our day with a nice lunch in the harbour-no wine for us as the drive was going to be challenge going back. Had nice dinner out near Cathedral Square where we walked our dinner off later. It's such a busy city but very well looked after and has everything that a tourist would need. Vancouver/Richmond could sure learn a few things from these kiwis.This is such a beautiful country that we would certainly come back,just not travel as much! Well we are off to the airport to head to Australia-2nd part of our great adventure. We hear the weather has been hot so we will take a few days to aclimatize ourselves. Hope all is well with everyone back home..love & hugs to all...Pat & Don

4th story-made it to the far south

pdrozinsky — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 14:25:00 GMT

Hi everyone, Well we finally made it to the furthest point of the south island. We decided that we needed a theme song and chose Sheryl Crowes "Everyday is a winding road" then all of a sudden the roads changed and the roads became "everyday is a rolling hill- only to drive a bit and the winding roads came back BUT the scenery has been stunning!!! We are now in Queenstown visiting with my brother Tom and his wife Angela. We've stayed in some pretty neat places. Sheared sheep hiked up to a lighthouse, that was a bit of a white knuckler for me but so worth it. Saw penguins, seals sea lions and some great birds. So far the weather has been awesome, just a bit of cloud but that was a welcome from the heat. I can't remember if I mentioned that we went jet boating but we loved it so much we are going to do it again in Queenstown. It's a different kind of white knuckling for me-I actually get a thrill when it's on the water. Well I hope this finds everyone well. Sorry to hear you are all in a "FOG" Hope that lifts soon. We will be heading north up to Fox Glacier so we will have to dress a little warmer(not as warm as you guys)don't mean to rub it in.We will try to update soon,probably in Christchurch as we will be there for a few days before we take off for Australia. NZ is such a beautiful place and the wine is pretty good too I'm keeping track of the ones we like. Take care of each other..we'll be in touch..love Pat & Don

We made it to the south island

pdrozinsky — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:30:00 GMT

Hi everyone! Well it's been an amazing trip so far. I thought I would fill in a few spots of where we have been. I know Don wrote the last blog but he left a few things out so here goes. Arrived in Auckland and stayed at a beautiful B&B. had a nice visit with my cousin who took us kayaking. We then headed north up the coast-the roads are way too curvy for my liking but the scenary was beautiful!! Very rural in many places-don't know where everyone is when you pass through some of these towns. Landed in a place called Paihia-just stunning so we stayed few days. Took a fery over to a little island called Russell and hiked a HUGE hill to the flagstaff lookout. What a view but my knee wasn't happy climbing that-a nice glass of wine fixed that though. Next day continued north up to the bottom of 90 mile beach. Decided not to go any further north as I wasn't feeling too well from all the curvy roads. Stoppped in the Kauri forest and saw the biggest tree I'm sure we'll ever see in our lives. Headed south and spent some time again with my cousin in Auckland. Had a great visit with them and met their two boys. What a nice family. Stayed overnight and had a lovely dinner out with them. Time to say goodbye and head south.Torrential downpours coming out of Auckland!!Couldn't see a thing then all of a sudden glorious sunshine!!Everything changes so quickly down here-the landscape which is just beautiful and the weather goes from cloudy to HOT HOT HOT! love it! Stayed in Auranga then Mt. Manganui which was stunning-another hike up a mountain. You know what fixes that! Headed south inland to smelly Rotorua but a very interesting place so we stayed there a night. The geysers & hot bubbling mud pools were great. The people say the mud baths are great but you'll smell like sulphur for a month after-and that's showering every day!!. Took a great tour on an amphibian. First it was a bus then took us into the lake as a boat-how cool that was! Continued heading south to Palmerston North and stayed there a couple of days. Boy it doesn't matter what size the city is everything closes down by 6p.m. There is absolutely NO nightlife that we can find anyway! Some of the restauants remain open but they are usually quite quiet.So we usually have dinner and head back to our lodging and go for a walk then call it a night. Got down to Wellington-it's the furthest south point on the north island. Caught the ferry from there (3 hour ride) to the south island.Met up with a couple that stayed at the same B&B as us when we first arrived in Auckland. They were here to get married but had their car broken into the second day and her wedding dress, passsports & clothes were taken. The B&B operators helped them sort everything out so their wedding went off as planned. Wow, I know I would have been devistated. Drove from Picton(that's where the ferry arrives) and drove to Nelson another curvy road!!!And so here we are safe & sound. Don is doing an excellent job of driving. I won't be doing any driving until we get to Australia. I hear the roads are pretty straight & boring there. Well that's it for now. We tried to get in touch with Kath & Tim's friends today but didn't have any success. We were hoping they could give us a few tips on which way to travel so I guess we'll have to manage on our own. Hope all of you are well, feel free to e-mail us at our regular e-mail sights or add a comment here at our blog. Take care and please excuse any spelling erors....We will update as soon as we can...love Pat & Don

We're not lost!

pdrozinsky — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 17:36:00 GMT

Hi everyone, Hope this works this time. We updated a week ago but being newbies to this it didnt work so well...obviously. Anyway, we have traveled the north end from Aukland and back and now on our way to Wellington and currently in Napier on the East Coast. Weather up north was good for the most part with lots of sun and great beaches. Driving has been "interesting" more for Pat as a passenger. I've only taken out one curb so far!!!! Lots to see and we're putting lots of K's on the car trying to see all we can. Toured the volcanic areas yesterday around Rotarua and Lake Taupo and visited a number of the sites and saw the geyser go off...interesting to say the least. Hoping to head to North Palmerston tomorrow or Friday as we have to be in Wellington for Saturday nite as our ferry leaves first thing on Sunday AM for the South Isand. Accomodations have been nice so far altho a little more costly than expected. Food as well is pretty pricy even when shopping at their supermarkets. We will certainly appreciate our cost of living on return. Hope weather there has improved since we left and thanks to all who have left comments on our site. We are trying to keep updated but neither of us are very techy when it comes to this stuff. You all take care and we will be updating sooner than later. Pat & Don xox

Counting down...

pdrozinsky — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:40:00 GMT

Four days and counting until we depart from this cold snowy country. My suitcase is full and I haven't even packed my clothes yet. Don, however, has his shorts, sunglasses and sandals and is ready to go. We've set up this blog to keep you informed as to where we are and what we're doing while in NZ and Aus. I don't know how often we'll be updating but we'll try to stay on top of it amidst all of our fun. We're also not too sure if we'll be able to send pictures or not but we'll give it a good try. Take care of eachother and keep us in your prayers.

Love,

Pat and Don