Category Archives: World

Record of our trip

Melbourne 3

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Thought this might help Terry!
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Just for Jenny!

After Terry and Jenny left we had another week in Melbourne. We enjoyed the luxury of being in one place for an extended period and got in to a routine of going to the market to shop for supper and stopping for coffee in one of the many cafes nearby (we particularly enjoyed an Italian café that served homemade cake made with chestnut flour and flavoured with rosemary and pinenuts). We did two more city walks; one took us through the parks and around Treasury Place where all the state government offices are based, another took us along the river to Docklands and back along the opposite bank with spectacular views of the city skyline. We took a tram out to Waterfront City, a new dockland development which is going to be very impressive but which is still under development, still it was nice to see it.

Continue reading Melbourne 3

Melbourne 2

Still catching up!!

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Jenny and Terry

We have just had a great weekend, our friends Terry and Jenny flew in from Brisbane for the weekend, hired a car and took us to see some of their favourite places in and around Melbourne. Those of you who have been paying attention will know that we met Terry and Jenny on the Island Princess during our Alaskan cruise in August, we got on really well and it was great to catch up with them again and enjoy Melbourne together.  Continue reading Melbourne 2

Melbourne Part 1

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Gold Rush Bank

Apologies, once again we have been so busy enjoying ourselves we have gotten behind with the blog! We are in Melbourne for two weeks so we will update you from time to time rather than hitting you with one long report.

We were last in Melbourne about 10 years ago and really enjoyed our time here so, as we are now halfway through our trip, and have started heading back towards the UK this seemed like a good place to take a break from moving on every few days. We are staying in a studio apartment near to the city centre, in particular we are near Victoria Market, a fantastic market similar to the Boqueria Market we visited in Barcelona in April. Continue reading Melbourne Part 1

Mount Cook Village and one night in Christchurch…

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Lupins at Lake Takepo, NZ

The last stop on our NZ tour was Mount Cook Village, a cluster of accommodation in the centre of the country at the foot of Mount Cook the highest mountain in NZ. The drive from Dunedin was wet with lots of low cloud, it didn’t bode well for a good view of the mountain but we pressed on. About one hour north of Dunedin we stopped briefly at Moeraki Beach and walked along the shore to see the strange round boulders at the waters edge. The Moeraki Boulders are about 1m across and were formed over millions of years in the same way as pearls with a shell or pebble in the centre gradually being enclosed in layers of crystals, very odd! There were a couple split open on the beach so we could see the insides. Continue reading Mount Cook Village and one night in Christchurch…

Dunedin

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Especially for Steve
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The Station
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First Church

From Queenstown, we drove across to Dunedin on the east coast, taking a detour from the main road to visit a small, pretty, historic town called Clyde on the way. Dunedin, named after Edinburgh, is the oldest city in NZ, the drive was as scenic as ever, lakes, mountains, plains and vineyards, we are starting to get blasé about the wonderful scenery!! We stopped on our way to pick up some crisps and beer to enjoy while we watched the American election results come in, filled with hope and confidence Mark picked up a bottle of Sparkling wine to celebrate… more of that later! Continue reading Dunedin