Epilog

Bob:

Our trip back started when we turned the car in at 9:00 Wednesday morning and rolled our suitcases over to the terminal for domestic flights. We waiting in the terminal until our flight left at 10:30, arrived at Sydney around noon, waited until our Sydney to L.A. flight left at 3:00, endured the 13 hour flight (with meals) to L.A., waited from 10:00 a.m. until our flight to D.C. left at 3:00 p.m., endured a foodless five hour flight to D.C., and finally arrived home at 11:00 p.m. Just the time spent waiting in terminals and flying in the airplanes totalled 28 hours, so it was an excruciatingly long day/night/day. But on the plus side my ankles didn't swell up nearly as much as they had on the trip out, our house was still standing, our yard looked OK, and everything inside was just as we had left it, so we could just have a snack and fall into bed.

So what did we learn from our second visit Down Under? We enjoyed our cruise around the port cities of New Zealand; having a ship about 3/4 full of Australians (1200 out of 1600 or so total passengers) was a blast because Australians seem to be so outgoing and friendly. Each of the ports in New Zealand was quite distinct and our Insight Pocket Guide had very nice recommended walking tours for most of them that were almost as good as having a Volksmarch! It also had a nice map of both the North and South Islands that we used to keep track of where the Sun Princess was taking us. I would certainly enjoy returning to any of the ports with the possible exception of Auckland, which struck us as just a big bustling city.

But really we would like to return to New Zealand to see more of the countryside between all of those ports, including several National Parks that intrigue us very much. Folks we talked to recommended taking a camper van around the country, and that sounds like fun if we are ready to do more camping. Alternatively, we have also acquired lists of bed and breakfasts and hotels and motels in New Zealand that would allow us to take our more normal driving tour. Certainly one required part of any return to New Zealand would be the fjord country in the southern part of the South Island, which our cruise ship missed on this trip, as everyone tells us it is quite beautiful.

Our rather short driving tour gave us a decent look at the Australian Alps and the southern coast of the state of Victoria. That section of Australia generally seems wetter than much of New South Wales and Queensland that we had seen on our previous visit to Australia (Wanderung 20). It was wonderful to see not only the different coastal sections including beaches, cliffs, rain forests, and so forth, but also the pleasant small towns along the coast and in the interior. Very pretty.

However, the distances involved in driving in Australia are vast; driving through just the one corner of it required 2,300 kilometers. Somewhat mitigating the effect of those vast distances are the facts that, the roads are generally good, the traffic density is low (except in the cities!), and the drivers fairly safe and sane. The net result was that the driving did not feel strenuous to me unless I was driving in the urban congestion of either Sydney or Melbourne. In my opinion, Australia is a far easier country to drive on the left-hand side of the road than either Ireland, Scotland, or England. I could usually drive about 4 or 5 hours before getting tired in Australia whereas I could manage no more than 2-3 hours of driving in those other three countries before feeling frazzled.

The single most challenging stretch of road was the Great Ocean Road between Lorne and Apollo Bay, where you were literally driving between the cliffs on one side and the deep blue sea on the other. But that was also one of the most scenic sections of roadway I have ever driven on, so the challenge was well worth it. If you ever consider driving in Australia in general and the rural sectors in particular, however, you really should brush up on your 2-lane country highway driving skills. Those skills involve judging passing distances, the oncoming speeds of cars, visibility over hills or around curves, and such like.

And finally I would like to give a special thanks to all of our friends who offered gracious hospitality on this trip, including Neville and Lyn in Sydney, Karen in Canberra, and Michael in Wellington. Having friends to meet and stay with along the way makes all the difference in the world when you are a stranger in a strange land, so thanks a bunch you all and we hope to see you again soon!!

Copyright 2010 by R. W. Holt and E. M. Holt