Overnight Trip to South Durras

We had an overnight trip to South Durras with work on the weekend. Went down Friday at 2:00pm and left about 2pm on Saturday. We were only there for 24 hours but it seemed a lot longer and had a lovely time. Upon arriving our boss Bjarne took us for a walk- should know by now that nothing is ever simple with BJ! The walk involved scrambling up and down all sort of rocks and walking out on the cliffs but it was lovely. My camera batteries died after only a couple of shots so could not do the walk justice. There were some beautiful rock formations and patterns that I would have loved to take photos of! There were kangaroos all over the place, saw dolphins in the water, a great spot. We ate lots, had a team meeting, played beach cricket and had a great time!

A Jar of Jelly Bellies!

A jar of stray jelly bellies turned up on our doorstep this week. Needless to say Amy invited them in and they have been adopted and will not leave! It seems an Aunty in Melbourne was visiting Costco in Melbourne and when she saw they were on special and new how much Lachlan and Amy liked Jelly Bellies she couldn't resist buying them and sending them up!

Clancy's Week

Poor Clancy has had a bit of a hard time lately. He had to have an operation on his eye to remove a growth, he then had to suffer wearing a cone around his head for two weeks to stop him scratching, then had to suffer eye drops getting put in every day, then this week he had to go up and have them taken out. To top it off there was a thunderstorm this week and no one was home. That meant he bolted, I had been to the dentist and then to the the shops, realised it was raining and thundering so went straight home, only to find him gone. Fortunately the phone rang and it was the doctor's surgery asking me if we had a dog named Clancy. He was a drowned rate, but very happy to see me, they had rubbed him down and looked after him, so we got him safely back!

My Egg Cooker

There are lots of kitchen gadgets I would love to have but don't have the room to store them, but while I was in New Zealand one of the places we stayed in had these Eggo Machines to cook your boiled eggs for breakfast and when I heard it went "cheep cheep" when the eggs were done I had to get one!

We got back to Wellington and went to Briscoe's- that was the place evidently to get one. They had them, and they were on sale, and in New Zealand dollars, so it was meant to be. We have been having boiled eggs a couple of times a week, and with our own chooks the eggs sure taste great. You put the water in the bottom of the little egg cooker, prick a hole in the top of the egg, put the lid on, plug it in and 4 or 5 minutes later you have a boiled egg! Bill remembers having one of these when he was a kid, so even more reason to make sure we got one. I am rather excited about my egg cooker- even if no one else is!

Afternoon Tea at the Hyall

Went to High Tea at the Canberra Hyatt hotel on Friday afternoon- it was a tough life, but someone has to live it. I went with some of my cycling friends for a belated birthday celebration. It was wonderful, so many lovely things to choose from. I think my favourite was the caramel apple bread and butter pudding! The hours passed very quickly, all too soon it was time to head home. No dinner that night!

Especially For Charlie

These pictures are for my nephew Charlie in Vieana. He was adamant Amy and I should not eat a Yorkie Chocolate Bar. Well I found some in New Zealand and brought one home for Lachlan and for Amy- she promised she would keep it and not eat it!

Irish Wolf Hounds

While we were in Brisbane there was a St Patrick's Day March. We met Seamus and Paddy - two pure bred Irish Wolfhounds. I just had to cross the road and take a picture, they make a our Benji look tiny!

Time to Come Back to Reality

All to soon it was time to come back home and cook my own meals and organise my own days! It was a lovely trip and Bill and I both had a wonderful time. We had a flight back on Saturday to Brisbane with a 5 hour lay over. We caught the train into Brisbane and had a few hours just exploring the city. After the clear streams and blue waters of the Sounds, the brown Aussie rivers and lakes really stood out.

More Queen Charlotte Track Photos

Just a few more photos cause I loved the place so much! The swing bridge we had to cross one at a time, I loved this old tractor out in the clearing, and then the rest of some of the views and the different light we saw the Sounds in throughout the trip.

Day 4 Queen Charlotte Track

Day 4 we had 21km to cover, quite a few climbs but the reward was again fantastic views. We had a deadline of 3:30pm to get to Anikiwa to catch the boat back to Picton but we made that with no trouble. It was a fantastic walk- great company, a terrific guide who had a terrific knowledge of the track, the birds, the vegetation, the Maori history. We had great weather, gourmet meals, lovely accommodation, a packed lunch each morning- just wondering now who will pack my lunch for me each day- I will be looking for that brown paper bag!

Day 3 Queen Charlotte Track

Day 3 was a tough day. We had 24 km to cover, it took us up onto a ridge and then along the top of the ridge so we could see either side of the peninsualar, however the effort was worth it as we got stunning 360 degree views throughout the day. It really is a beautiful part of the world.

Day Two Queen Charlotte Track

We saw 800 year old Rimu trees with 400 year old Ratu vines on them- quite breathtaking, we saw turquoise coloured water, more stunning views. That night we stayed at Mahana Lodge and enjoyed a lovely three course meal with most of the fruit and vegetables from the owners garden- he was a retired botanist. Bill had the chicken pie and I had venison rissoles.

Day One Continues

We had quite a walk the first day- about 16km and unfortunately we really had to rough it when we got to our accommodation as you can see from the photos! Then we had to sit down to a 5 course dinner with lots of local seafood- yet another challenge. The accommodation really was excellent and we had the most delightful meal.

There were 8 of us on the walk, and it turned out we were all from Canberra- two groups of 4 friends and some of our group knew some of the others from the other group!

Day One Queen Charlotte Track

The view of Picton

Ships Cove- the start of the walk



Barb Mary and Bill- the happy trampers

We headed out by boat from Picton to take us to the start of our walk. Dolphins joined us at one stage and played along side the boat. We had an hour stop at Makoura Island where we got to see a number of native birds, many of which are rarely seen on the mainland these days. From there another boat took us across to Ship's Cove for the start of our walk. Ship's Cove is where Captain Cook landed in 1770 and claimed New Zealand for Britain! It was time to begin our walk and we had lovely weather and stunning views.