South Island, New Zealand

We flew in to Christchurch New Zealand. The weather  was beautiful, it's the beginning of fall here – daytime temps in the 60's – trees changing. Christchurch is on the south island, you may recall there was a major earthquake here about three years ago, the downtown area was devastated. Recovery is going slowly about two thirds of the buildings have been either condemned or demolished. Temporary stores and buildings have been opened, many of them have been constructed of shipping containers. It has all been very artfully done. The river Avon runs through the city and a very beautiful park and botanical garden. We also took a cable car to the top of a nearby hill overlooking the city.

Sunset on the West coast

After a day in Christchurch, we set off on a tour of the South Island. There was not enough time to see it all but we planned out a loop that would take us across the island to the West coast. We visited a national park north of Greymouth and viewed the Pancake Rocks and blowhole. The incredible scenery is reminiscent of the Oregon coast but more tropical with lusher growth and more palm trees. We spent the night in Hokitika.

West Coast

Natural arch at Pancake Rocks

Hokitika is a center for New Zealand green stone, variety of jade similar to the nephrite jade found in British Columbia. We bought Linda a beautiful pendant. We then headed south to the community of Haast where we would turn inland once again. It was much like traveling on Highway 101 in Washington state. The weather was grey and rainy, along the route we visited a glacier, the rain was kind enough to quit for a bit and leave a pretty rainbow.

Rainbow at Franz Josef Glacier

The next day we traveled inland heading for the city of Queenstown. The route took us through what they call the southern alps. Every corner revealed new vistas of spectacular snow covered mountain views sprinkled with beautiful lakes. I found Queenstown to be reminiscent of the lakes areas of Austria or Switzerland. The British royals had spent time there a couple of weeks before. It was a beautiful city and I wished we could have spent more time.

Park in Queenstown

The next day took us north again through the center of the island along the east side of the mountains. Just like in Washington state, the east side is drier and cooler. It looks just like Eastern Washington with barren rolling hills, orchards and vineyards, lots of fruit stands beside the road. We spent the night at lake Tekapo. There is a small mountain there with several observatories on top. The local area has ordinances to limit lights at night so astronomers can get better observations. We took a night time tour of the observatory. The southern sky was clear and magnificent. We used a variety of telescopes to view, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Nebulae, star clusters. With the naked eye we also viewed the Magellenic Clouds, satellite galaxies to the Milky Way only visible in the Southern hemisphere that was really cool. It was pretty cold up there.

Central South Island

Then it was back to Christchurch and a flight to Auckland the next morning. I am writing this from Auckland. We will have a week here to explore North Island and then it will be home to Seattle and the end of our journey.

Mount Cook, New Zealand's highest

Southern Alps

Reflections on Sydney

After a week in Sydney we have moved on to Cairns.

Sydney Opera House

Sydney was a great city with lots of great features. The city is beautiful with great infrastructure, a great transportation system, large and beautiful parks, and iconic features like the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Nearby are great beaches like Bondi and natural features surrounding the harbor.

Sydney Harbour Bridge

All of that comes at a price. Sydney is a very expensive city. When we parked in the city to take a tour of the Opera House we parked in a nearby public lot and after four hours had racked up a $60 bill. Food is also quite pricey. Supermarket and restaurant prices run about 50% higher than in the US.  Gas is about $6.00 a gallon.

We stayed in a motel in a suburb called Haberfield at about why you would pay in the states. We didn't plan it but it turns out that Haberfield is a restaurant mecca with a long list of places to choose from. Apparently tour buses bring in foodies from around the area to sample the culinary arts of the region.

Captain Cook's ship Endeavour (replica)

The weather in Sydney was not great for most of our visit with some rain almost every day. The weather report on the news said it was one of the wettest weeks in about thirty years. None the less we had a great time touring around the city. Our activities included walking across the Harbour Bridge, a tour of the Opera House, a visit to the maritime museum and the replica of Capt. Cook's ship Endeavour, a drive around the harbor and to Bondi Beach.

Queen Victoria Building, shopping center in Sydney

We are now in Cairns, a much smaller town in the tropics. We will be here for a little over a week before moving on to the South Island of New Zealand.

Perth and the trip across Australia

Lake Cave

Dick is feeling tired tonight, so I am going to do the blog.

We made our way from Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg to Perth on an all night flight. (Business class is great on these long flights.) We stayed a week in Perth and thoroughly enjoyed the city. It is not a large city, so it is easy to get around. We rented a car and went to the beach twice-I only waded, but Dick went all in. I thought the water was a little chilly. One day we drove to a place called Margaret River. It was a charming little town with lovely beaches and caves. We toured Lake Cave which had a reflecting lake with many stalactites and stalagmites and two columns that were suspended on a flow over the lake. The cave was not large, but I think it was one of the more beautiful limestone caves that I have been in.  They were having a championship surfing competition at one of the beaches, but unfortunately the waves were not big enough the day we were there, so there was not action. Driving back to Perth, we saw kangaroos in a field. I was happy that our hotel had coin operated washers and dryers, so I got everything washed. I probably won’t need to do laundry again.

Perth beach

To make our way across Australia, we decided to take the Indian-Pacific train. It took three days and nights. We could not afford to book the sleeper cars, so we were in the red car, not gold or platinum. Which meant that we spent three nights sleeping in reclining chairs with no foot rest and you could not remove the armrest between the two seats. Fortunately the car was not full, so we could spread out and have two seats apiece. I found one set that you could move the armrest, so I could sprawl out over two seats. Surprisingly I slept not too badly. The train made many stops along the way-sometimes delivering mail and groceries to remote places. Most stops were not long enough for us to get out, but there were several planned stops where we got to stretch our legs. The first was Kalgoorlie which is a gold mining town. We arrived there at 11:00 at night, so nothing was open, but we walked the streets and were charmed by the architecture. The next stop was a place called Cook. In its heyday, it had been associated with providing services for the railroads, but now the IndianPacific only comes once a week, so it has become a ghost town. We toured the closed school and other buildings. There had once been a swimming pool (now filled with dirt) and a hospital. Only four people reside there and our train drivers got off there after a night’s drive and would pick up a freight train back to Perth.  The big negative about the place were the flies, hundreds of them landing all over you. The people that live there wore netting over their faces.All of the previous places were in the Nullarbor Desert This desert is very flat and covered in mostly sagebrush type of plants. It had been raining before we went through, so there were puddles.  Next we stopped in Adelaide. The train station is a little far from the city, so we did not really get to see it. But we did take a walk and saw a huge park. It was about the size of Central Park in New York. The final stop was at Broken Hill which was also a mining town. They mine zinc, lead and silver. The town looked similar to Kalgoorlie, but we were there earlier, so we able to eat dinner and walk the streets. 

The view in all directions

The next morning we were close to Sydney and traveled through the Blue Mountains. The Blue Mountains are beautiful with many vistas of valleys. We arrived in Sydney in the morning and rested. Today we toured Watson Bay and Bondi Beach (Sydney’s most popular beach). It rained today, so we just looked instead of swimming. We did walk around a park at Watson and got thoroughly soaked. 

The Indian Pacific Train

Dick and I have both enjoyed being out of the poverty that we saw in South America and Africa. It is very hard to see knowing that there is not much that you can do. It does make us more appreciative what we have.

Bus to Arusha

Let me back up a bit and tell a little of Tanzania and our trip to Arusha.

First a little about Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. We didn't seen much of it but what we have seen is pretty sad. Our hotel was right in the middle of what would be called a slum in the US. The hotel entrance is down a passageway in an alley, but then opens in to a small lobby. The actual rooms and the hotel are quite nice. There is a Thai/Chinese restaurant on site. We had an all you can eat buffet for about $10 each. The food was excellent.

Shortly after we got here we told the front desk that we needed to obtain some US dollars to pay the balance for our Safari. The young man who had carried our bags to our room escorted us about six blocks to a shady little hole in the wall place guarded by a guy sitting in a doorway with a rifle across his lap where we could exchange some currency. We had to pass some neighborhoods I wouldn't have liked to have been in alone. Our guide advised us to guard our valuables, had me carry Linda's purse. None of this made me feel terribly secure.

Tomorrow morning he will likewise guide us a couple of blocks to where we can get a bus to Arusha where our Safari will begin. Could be a ten hour drive. Hope it's not a "chicken bus".

For the first time on our trip, we screwed up. I had set my alarm to get up in time to catch the bus to Arusha, but unfortunately I had left it in airplane mode and it had not adjusted to local time so we got up an hour late. Richard the nice young man who helped us yesterday to the rescue again. He got us a cab and took us to where the bus was waiting at its first stop on the way out of the city. He actually rode with us in the cab and got us settled in the bus, someone else was in our seats so there was some shuffling around to do. English is one of the national languages but many only speak Swahili.

The bus was not a "chicken bus" it was a bit like an old greyhound that had seen its better days. The Africans who rode along with us were mostly dressed up because for them this was considered upscale traveling. If you only make about a hundred a month, the $25 fare is a significant investment. The bus had no air-conditioning so we drove with the windows mostly open. I got a real windblown look. The trip gave us a chance to see how the locals really lived. Most of the places we passed through would have to be considerably upgraded to be considered slums. There were an incredible number of little shacks often made of miscellaneous boards and sometimes mud over sticks. Each was someones little store selling everything imaginable, lots of little bars and eateries where patrons sat on planks over a dirt floor. Each store seemed to specialize in one product, maybe fruits, maybe nuts and bolts, maybe shoes, each one typically less than fifty square feet and open to the front. 

After eleven hours on the bus with only one bathroom stop (no bathroom on the bus) we made it to Arusha. Arusha is a much nicer town than Dar Es Salaam. Our hotel was very nice, very upscale, even by US standards. Quite a contrast to our bus ride.

Tanzania Safari - Cheetah Story

To make a long story short, we took the bus from Dar Es Salaam to Arusha. It was an eleven hour sit in crowded bus with only one bathroom stop. Lots of stops in villages and roadsides, lots of poverty. The trip only cost $25 each, Linda made friends with a mom and her three year old boy, we got a taste of every day life in Tanzania and we finally made it. Then it was quite a change when we got to Arusha and our luxury hotel.

Our safari started the next day. Rather than tell all now I will relate just one event (hopefully more later). We wanted to see big cats and our guide/driver obliged. We had been driving on the pretty terrible dirt roads in Serengetti Park when our driver turned off and headed across country (you can't do that in Kruger Park). We came to a tree where there were two other safari vehicles, they were looking at a cheetah resting at the base of a tree. As we looked a third vehicle arrived and oddly, a baby zebra seemed to have adopted it and was following close alongside. The mother and  father zebras were about fifty yards away in a near panic. The baby followed the truck right up to where the cheetah was resting. The cheetah saw his opportunity and took off after the baby, but junior got to mom and dad first and they faced down the cheetah. All quite exciting! I got some of the key events on film.

Later the cheetah went off to stalk the wildebeest herd.

Cheetah resting under a tree

This is Momma, right?

Snuggling up to a Toyota Land Cruiser

The chase

Standoff

Slightly frustrated cheetah

Victoria Falls

Our tour of the falls was pretty good. At his time of the year the water flow is very high over the falls. You would think that is a good thing, but it can be too much of a good thing. Throughout most of the fall's width the mist makes viewing and photographing difficult. The falls creates it's own weather with a permanent cloud over it. The mist comes down as a constant rain.  For the tour we were given ponchos, they were almost totally useless. When done with the tour my clothes underneath were completely soaked and my camera was nonfunctional.  Fortunately both eventually dried out.

Later in the day we took a sunset cruise on the Zambezi River. Unfortunately my camera had not yet healed itself. It was a nice evening and we saw some elephants and hippos along the way. The hippo even obliged  by coming up and opening its jaws to full width. It even held that pose for about five seconds. But, of course, I didn't have my camera.

The next day it was back on the plane and back to Johannesburg. The day after tomorrow we will be off to Dar Es Salaam in Tanzania and another safari.

We have flown to Zimbabwe to view Victoria Falls. It's part of a tour. As such I expected to be put up at a middle of the road resort such as we had at Iguasu Falls in Argentina. The tour description described it as three star. When our transfer from the airport delivered us we first stopped at a posh place in town with massive grounds and a huge building. We almost got out there by mistake, but resolved to settle for something a bit less. We drove quite a ways out of town and our expectations continued to drop. Off on a side road we arrived at Victoria Falls Safari Lodge. The lodge is on a hillside overlooking a Nature preserve, there is a watering hole quite close. The grounds are beautiful the room is large and overlooks the watering hole. A book in the room lists this as one of the top one hundred hotels in the world. Jackpot!!

We spent the afternoon in the bar looking out over the bush. We saw lots of vultures and several wart hogs. Later we went to our room and Linda thought she heard elephants so we looked out and there they were two of them at the watering hole.

Pics of Linda at the bar and our room. Tomorrow we view the falls.

Kruger National Park

Our tour of Kruger Park began with our guide Rhys picking us up at Johannesburg Airport. He was actually there, a first for us. It was a bit over four hours to drive the park. Once in we immediately began seeing wildlife. My telephoto lens was very useful. After several hours of wildlife looking we arrived at our camp. This was a fenced compound that had a campground and a number of African style cabins. Rhys made us dinner on the barbecue. Barbecue is an South African passion.

The next morning we headed out at 5:30, wildlife viewing is best in the early or late hours. We made our way across the park to the next camp (Lower Sabie). This was similar to the first one but a little bigger. The fences around the camp are heavy and electrified, I am reminded of Jurassic Park.  All our meals are made on the barbecue.  Rhys is a nice young man and an excellent guide. His eyesight is incredible, he sees and identifies game before I can even make it out. We spend two nights at Lower Sabie. We also get two tours by the park rangers. The first is a sunset tour that continues ion the dark. The second is a morning tour that starts at 4:15 AM. These tours are done in large trucks with a raised platform and seating area in the back. The height gives a better view over the grass than we can get in Rhys' SUV.

On our last day we drive about three hours through the park and then the four hours to the airport where we go a hotel. We are a little sleep deprived but we thoroughly enjoyed the tour and the wildlife. Tomorrow we head off on a three day excursion to Victoria Falls.

Our first two days in Antarctica went as follows: 

We boarded the Sea Spirit on the afternoon of March third. The ship set sail out The Beagle Channel around 6:00 PM. First order of business was some safety stuff. We did a lifeboat drill so everyone would know where to go in an emergency. Our cabin is quite nice by cruise ship standards. The crew is very welcoming and helpful. With only a hundred people aboard it may be possible to get to know a significant percentage. Meeting new folks is half the fun of a trip like this and there are people from all over the world. There are lots of Ausies and Kiwis, some from South Africa, Britain, Brazil, Netherlands and the US. The expedition staff is equally varied, lots of Canadians, Ausies, Polish, Brits, etc.

Our first day and a half is spent crossing the Drake Passage. It is a bit rough seas ran about twenty feet high and the Sea Spirit is not very large as cruise ships go. Most people dosed themselves up with a variety of sea sick remedies. Linda and I, since we are used to being on the water didn’t bother. And I haven’t been sea sick in over sixty years. Linda was totally fine and I, of course, puked my guts out. I was ok in my bed but when I got vertical the nausea set in. Breakfast for me was a cup of tea, while Linda chowed down. I tried not to hate her. When we were almost done with the Drake we had the Doctor aboard give me some anti-nausea pills. They seemed to help, but we also moved out of the Drake passage into the calmer waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. I started to feel much better.

The first shore excursion was on Barientose Island. The ship carries about a dozen zodiacs to ferry everyone ashore. They are very careful about maintaining the environment. All our outer clothing had to be decontaminated. Before stepping in to the zodiacs boots are disinfected by walking in a tray of disinfectant. Ashore we were greeted by fur seals, gentu penguins, and chinstrap penguins. An elephant seal was also sighted on the beach. The wildlife, like in the Galapagos have no fear of humans. After several hours ashore we returned to the ship. While aboard, there a fairly frequent lectures on birds, marine life or history.

After our second night aboard (spent at anchor), we went ashore again at a place called Half Moon island. This was a rockier place, lots of chinstrap penguins, more fur seals and some beautiful vistas. It had snowed a bit overnight, giving everything a stark monochromatic look. Blue skies would have been nice but it was raining as we went ashore. There was an Argentine research station there. They set up a little spot on the beach where they tried to sell some handicrafts they had made during the long antarctic days. Of course no one thought to bring any cash ashore so they did not do very well.

In the afternoon we moved on to Deception Island. Much of this area has a fairly recent geologic history. Deception Island is actually an active volcanic caldera. The ring of the caldera is broken only at one place allowing are ship to get in through  narrow passage called Neptune’s Bellows. Inside there is an old whaling station, the remains of a British research station and the remains of the first airfield in Antarctica. The sands on the beach are somewhat warm due to volcanic activity. The British abandoned the area due to eruptions in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The weather was not great again with wind and snow, but it does give a small taste of what Antarctica is all about. 

There is much more to tell and I will try to catch up in the next several days.

Ushuaia Tours

Before we set off for Antarctica we have gotten in two tours. Yesterday we took a boat excursion in the Beagle Channel, mostly viewing wildlife. And today we toured the Tierra del Fuego National Park. Unfortunately we were not blessed with great weather on either day, but that is typical of this area. Weather was overcast with temperatures in the high forties.

Albatross

First a little geography for those who may not be intimately familiar with the lay of the land. The Beagle Channel cuts across the southern tip of South America from East to West. Ushuaia lies on the northern shore about midway. The Southern shore is in Chile. The border is in the middle of the channel. Our boat trip undoubtedly passed into Chile. The Channel is south of the Straits of Magellan which also pass all the way across the tip of the continent. The Channel is named for HMS Beagle which was the ship from which Charles Darwin famously made his discoveries. He spent a couple of years here. Both Linda and I had read up on his voyage before coming here.

Humpback whale

Our boat tour took us past cormorant colonies (they look a lot like penguins), lots of seals, and an island frequented by lots of penguins of different varieties. We were also lucky enough to encounter two humpback whales along the way. The tour was about six hours and at the halfway point went to a ranch established by some early settlers. Some passengers got off and returned by bus. We remained aboard and returned on the boat.

That was yesterday. Today we took a bus tour of the National Park. The scenery is beautiful, but the clouds obscured the peaks which surround the area, taking an edge off the beauty. The park is between the Beagle Channel and some beautiful lakes. One highlight is the southernmost post office. We would have mailed some post cards from there, but we neglected to bring any addresses along with us.  A bit further down the road from there you come to the very end of the road which is the terminus of the Pan American Highway which extends from Alaska all the way down to here. Check out the picture of Linda at the sign.

Steam train in park

Lake in the National Park

End of the Pan American Highway

Over all we have been struck with how similar the waters and surroundings look to good old Washington State or perhaps even more so with coastal Alaska. There is kelp in the sea, the mountains descend to the waters edge, there is a cool grey climate. Just like home.

At the end of the tour we went into town and had a large traditional Argentine lunch.  It was an all you can eat barbecue. You see many Argentine restaurants doing this. They have large charcoal fires going in the windows with whole sides of lamb and other meats on grills. You go up to the grill guy (I'm sure there is a better name for him) and tell him what kind of meat you want and he takes a massive cleaver and chops off a few slabs of meat for you. The lamb was excellent. The rest of your plate was from a typical buffet for which we were grateful.  Argentines are not big on vegetables in most restaurants they are not even offered. The buffet had some so we had our first green vegetables in over a week.

Argentine barbecue

Tomorrow we shift to a different hotel. Our Antarctic cruise starts with one hotel night before we go. It's included so we will move. Our B&B is pretty basic but meets most of our needs.

Medical Adventures

Flowers everywhere in Ushuaia especially lupines

OK, time to catch you all up on my medical adventures.

Ever since Cuzco and its high altitude, my heart has not been cooperating. Lots of beats per minute and irregular. I didn't feel particularly bad, but it did sap my energy, going up hill or stairs was apt to leave me short of breath, a particular problem at high altitude. But I felt fine. As you know I got treated for high blood pressure in the Galapagos Islands. the treatment was effective against the high blood pressure and puffy feet and it was hoped the heart beat would also cure itself. Sadly, it did not. Next we had to find a slow spot in our itinerary where we could see a doctor again and figure out what was going on. Turns out that didn't happen until we got to Ushuaia.

Temps are sometimes in the 30's and 40's but the flowers don't mind

On our second day here we traipsed down to the local hospital to see what they would say. After about an hour of waiting I got to see a doctor, who fortunately was a pretty good English speaker. After hearing my story he ordered an EKG, which showed I was experiencing either atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter, both of which I had already looked up. Unfortunately, much to my surprise he didn't give me some pills and send me on my way. Instead, they admitted me immediately. He said I might have to remain about four or five days. That would cause us to miss our Antarctic departure and incidentally the most expensive part of our trip with no possibility of any refund. I was not happy. Turns out that was a worse case scenario. The concern is that when you convert the fibrillation to a normal rhythm there may have been blood clots formed that would then be flushed into the brain resulting in a stroke. Not a result I would welcome.

Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle, the ship Darwin sailed on (and me)

So the first step was to do an echocardiogram to look for clots, which I would have the following morning. To get the best resolution this has to be done through the trachea. Like I had to swallow the transducer. Diane probably knows all about this. The echo guy was an MD who had trained at Mount Sinai in New York. Nice guy his minimal English matched well with my minimal Spanish. Together we spoke about half a common language. Getting that thing down my throat was no fun at all but the good news was, no clots were found. So about an hour later they rolled in a defibrillator, put me out and shocked my heart back into behaving itself. By that afternoon they were ready to let me leave.

While all this was a pain for me, Linda was the one who really suffered. Throughout our explorations of the Spanish speaking world we got by with my gradually increasing Spanish skills. Linda was pretty much limited to gracias, por favor, and bano (can't get this thing to make a tilde). When they wheeled me in to the intensive care unit she was left standing in the hall with my clothes and wondering what to do next. An hour or so later someone did talk to her and she was allowed to talk to me, but then she was on her own to negotiate a taxi back to our B&B as well as to find dinner for herself and then find her way back to the hospital, find the proper entrance, and let them know what she wanted. Almost no one spoke English. Fortunately the innkeeper and his wife at our B&B drove her back to the hospital that evening and helped her find where they were keeping me (very restrictive visiting hours).  AS for me I worried more about her than about my upcoming procedures.

Beautiful downtown Ushuaia

A word about the hospital and Argentine medical care. The hospital is incredibly shabby, floors and walls are dinged up, blankets and bedding are shabby. Waiting areas are non existent (Linda sat on the floor). When we checked in no one spoke English, but I think I had made myself understood, but after an hour of waiting I was having my doubts. Argentines present their ID cards to get service. I presented my passport and since I was a foreigner, paid a fee of 250 Pesos (about $30 US). Once I spoke to the doctor he was very competent. The nursing staff was cordial and as helpful as could be considering the language barrier. So even though the place looked like hell, they were getting the job done. By the time I left the place, I had had an EKG, two echo cardiograms, IV drip for my whole time there,  general anesthesia and defibrillation and a bag full of medicine to take to Antarctica. Also instructions to check back with them after our return. All this for $30.

Tomorrow we will take a boat excursion in the Beagle Channel. Shouldn't be too stressful and will give a chance to relax some more. I've had enough excitement.