Taupo

We are now at Taupo, a resort lake town in the middle of the north island of NZ. It is raining and warm and we have checked into our Caravan Park for the night. Now we are off to the store to gather food for dinner. We had a nice travel day today and yesterday driving from north of Christchurch to Picton and then the ferry to Wellington and then a difficult drive to find our lodging last night. Finding lodging is the most difficult part of the journey as they are not always on the main road and are often far off in nowhere. We are here now and will depart early for our trip north to auckland and the airport. We have booked lodging there as well. Hope all is well, we have lots of video a d pictures to bore all with. Love to all, ron and carol

Katkoura

this is where we are at and we are about to drive to the ferry tomorrow morning and then move up to Auckland for our trip back to Australia. There is a plane due out of Richmond, Au on Wed and we hope to catch a ride but we have no idea what our chances are since that would be a week before we planned. We have had a great visit and the weather has been wonderful until today where it clouded over and became cool. It is due to rain this evening and then for the next few days. We will be driving up the north island and that should not be too bad for all the outside walking and sightseeing has almost been accomplished. We are still in good health and we have a local fish, called pearl, to eat in our cozy little cottage that we have rented for the evening. the big downer has been that the windshield on our rental car has cracked without any obvious reason and that could cost us big bucks for our deductible is $1000. We hope you are all well and enjoying some gorgeous weather and company, can't wait to get back and get back in the grouve. Spelling is New Zealand. love to all, ron and carol

Blue Mountains

We are now just west of the Blue Mountains in a town called Lithgow. It is a rather large but old town with ties to the USA. Back in WWII it was a major producer of small arms used in the Allied Armies and as such it was important that a survivable link to the coast and the sea travel. The USA was instrumental in building a roadway to the coast through the Blu Mountains. Today we spent some time in Katoomba where we spent the night in a Motel, oa all things. It even had a spa and a full hot breakfast that we took advantage of. We had omelets with cheese and mushrooms and were they good. We also used the jacuzzi spa and it was wonderful after a long walk through town to Echo Point where the three sisters rock formation can be seen. We took some short hikes to wear off some of the calories that we have been ingesting. We escaped the showers and had a fine day. Today we drove from there to Mt Victoria and observed some more lookouts to the valleys of the Blue Mountains. The highest peak is around 3100 meters, not very high by our standards. We also took in Australia's Grand Canyon and although a beautiful sight it is far from the Grand Canyon in Arizona and the other in Wyoming. We ended up in this former industrial town and have rented another unit in a caravan park. We have done laundry and also had a nice talk with the proprieters. They are very wonderful folks. Speaking of people, we also met a neat couple from England this morning at breakfast. He was the CEO of a major power company in England. Well, tomorrow we head to Windsor and Richmond in preparation for our departure to New Zealand. We will update this as we get some access to the internet. It may be a few days. We will need to take a 2 hour train ride to the Sidney airport and then find the terminal. All is an adventure for us for we never know what looms ahead. There are no guides or services, just Carol asking questions of whomever we see. Some good and some not so good. We have met lots of great folks and this is the way to travel. Love ya all, ron and carol

Moving On

We left the coast of New South Whales as the villages were becoming more resorts than Australian villages. We went inland and have spent the last few days driving though mountains and large spans of paddocks. Lots of sheep and cattle all around without any sight of homes. They are all tucked away behind knolls. We met a woman at the information center that told us that 2500 acres is an normal size for a cattle or sheep ranch. Now I am writing as we have only 1/2 hour & speed is of the essence.....We have been staying the "Ensuite" cabins at caravan parks as they seem to be the cheapest....We get 2 bedrooms & full kitchen w/bath for around 70-80. All B&B & motel prices seem to be upwards of 100.....We did some checking & last night we checked & the cheapest was $140 w/brkfast.....One place we stopped was $250......We buy our groceries at the Woolworth & have a great supper & breakfast....Last night we even had some T-bone steaks (good old auusie beef). We had a grill & they were good. Of course I had to buy some garlic to go on them..... Have also gotten some of their sweet corn & it was also tasty. Eggs are very expensive like $350 a dozen!.......I think the weather is changing & getting colder so we will pack one suitcase to go to NZ....We can only have 40#.....Can't believe it....I will be pushing it to get that little so I am going to put as much as I can into my backpack & so is Ron. Unfortunately, his computer died...Don't know why. The scenery is lovely....Going on to the Blue Mountains & it is suppose to be cooler there & then we'll go back to our B&B that we started out in & do some laundry hopefully & be on our way as of Fri to fly to NZ. We'll try & write before we leave....best to all Love Ron & Carol

This is our second try at posting our blog. We are in Sale, Au and have spent one night in Toora and the other in Melbourne. The friends in Geelong gave us a royal sendoff and did a wonderful job of showing off their section of the coast. Our stay in Melbourne was great, a bus ride around town, a old Victorian hotel, and a meal in China town. We are now touring the eastern southern shore and have visited some ports and some national parks. Stayed in a caravan park last night and visited Port Albert today, home of oldest hotel on shoreling. We are now in Sale, first city on this shoreline. It is very nice and we are about to eat lunch here. It is cloudy, warm, and raining at the moment with just little spurts of sun coming unexpectably. Hope all is well with all, regards, ron and carol

Sale AU

This is a quick note from me (carol). It is pooring down rain & we can't even walk this lovely town that has a swing bridge (only one of its kind here) & a lovely boardwalk. Guess we shall just leave here & find a Bakery for lunch which is very popular in this area. We just signed on to pay a toll fee that we encountered in Melbourne & it cost us $11.45 for about 10min ride. They have no toll booths so you just have to e-mail them your credit card # & info within 48 hours or you are charged big fines for not doing so. You can't avoid them either. This is our second one. Each road has its on toll policy & they seem to go up. The other bad thing that happened was my curling iron blew up this AM. Guess it just got tooooo hot & hissed so we threw it away so now I am looking for a target which is very common here to purchase another one. Can't believe no Wallmarts here. They do have Aldi's & of course Target. Their prices aren't cheap & the dollar keeps losing ground. Well, that is all for now...Pray for our safe return...it has been stressful at times... I loved it best when we were visiting our friends & they drove. As an example, we stopped to have lunch & all meals were $20! Oh well, bon voyage for now...Love to all Ron & Carol

Arrived

Finally got to AU. We actually were the first ones on the list. Only took 5 passengers. Very cramped but did have regular seats. We left on Mon AM & arrived in Sydney on Tues at 6PM. What a difference...Fooled them tho we didn't have to pay lodging for Mon night!!! It is bloody hot here like 80+ & our room was not AC so we ran a fan all night. We stayed there 3 nights & took the train into Sydney which was just across the street. Very convenient. Saw just about all we needed to see & learned many things in the interim. Food has not been steeler but we hope it will get better. Maybe we'll loose that extra poundage. Have met some wonderful people & then 1 couple not so good but we have overcomed his negativeness. We now are driving w/our rental car & it is stressful but since we are only on a straight highway it is easy....the bad times come in towns & knowing which way to turn & what to look for. Looking for some lunch in this small town & then we'll be on our way. Miss everyone & we'll try & do pictures as soon as we learn how. Love to all Ron & Carol

Anchors Away

We are manifested on a KC-10 leaving Hawaii at 0730 on Monday, today. We were first to be chosen for 5 available seats. We have been at the terminal since 0030, Carol was scared that the aircraft would leave early and we would be left behind. It is the extension of an adventure that has already been exciting and has had some ups and downs. Sleep deprivation will be the major object to overcome in the next couple of days. We hope you all are doing well, we are sure having the experience of our life. Met some more neat people this morning that will be on the flight with us. Have a great week, we will try and stay in touch as much as possible. Blessings to all, ron and carol

Anxious

We are still in Hawaii and have passed on a flight to Japan in preference for a flight to Australia expected to leave on Monday. We don't know if there are any seats and the risk is high. There is another flight to Japan on Monday afternoon that we will try for if the Australian one fails. Our time runs out at the end of this week and we may have to search for new accommodations soon as Hickam does not like you to hold rooms for more than 3 days. This is considered a staging area. We visited with the friends we made on the way out at their seaside cabin last night and had dinner with them and their friends. It was a splendid evening with one of their friends being a college graduate in the field of woodworking. We had a great interaction. We we are off to the gym and then to a meal at the club for our Sunday festival. We pray that tomorrow brings a wonderful trip to Australia on a KC-10 widebody tanker. Best to all who view, ron and carol

Moving On

It is now Thurday and we are at the passenger terminal at Hawaii. We hope to get out tomorrow on a flight to Yakota Japan. Our trip has been great so far, the aircraft have been reasonable pleasant to pass the time in and Carol and I learned to use Free Space ( I think that is what it is called) on the laptop. I tried many times and could not win, Carol tried once and made it through the game with a win. Naturally I provided some help. We are in a two bedroom accommodation with jack and jill bath and kitchenette between. We went shopping at the commissary last night to get breakfast food. Do you detect Carol mind at work here. We are having fun, meeting some really pleasant folks. It is hard to understand the comraderie that exists between service members unless you have been one. It is like a society within a society. We all try and help the other and there are no strangers. Well off to Japan and then who knows. Have a great day, regards, ron and carol

Surfing or bust

Well, we now have boarding passes for the C-17 flight to Hawaii and will arrive there at approximately 1800 or 6:00pm. We had a marvelous time in Tacoma with some new-found friends from New York. We went to the seashore on Pugent Sound and ate at the Harbor Light restaraunt which sits right on the Sound. I had octopus and Carol had salmon, both meals were great and the company and service as well. We spent the morning in our room eating breakfast that we picked up at the commissary. It was a relaxing time and Carol got some good sleep for once. We look forward to our visit to Hawaii and hope that we can get off to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, or Guam the next day. We have reserved a two bedroom apartment for this evening for the price of $56. Not a bad deal for a visit to Hawaii. Hope all is well with all, wish us luck as we continue to move forward. Regards, ron and carol

Cold to Warm

We left McGuire AFB at 0900 after some repairs to the 2nd engine on our C-17. A leaky hydraulic needed a new O-ring. I should have brought some along. We had a very nice flight out with no turbulance but a pretty strong head wind. Arrived here about 1215 noon. Carol had packed some food and both of us caught a little shut-eye on the way. Me on the floor and Carol with her head on my lap. The plane was nearly empty and we had two senior couple who flew with us. They were both very pleasant and very experienced. The one couple is getting a car here in McCord and we will share it to take our bags to the Evergreen Hotel. All is going pretty good so far, not sure what Hawaii has to offer in the way of accomadations or connections. Still an adventure. regards, ron and carol

Travel North to go West

Flight out of Charleston was cancelled at the last minute and after an hour of phone calls we decided to travel north to McGuire AFB, NJ to try and travel west to McCord AFB, Seattle, Wash. Charleston has very little traffic and up here there are three terminals that offer some chance. We are now listed on a C-17 with 50 seats scheduled to travel to McCord this morning at 0800. That is right, this morning as it is now 2:00 am on Tuesday and no sleep has been experienced. Hope all goes well and that my next entry is when I am on the west coast. Have a happy and send us you blessings.

I am still trying to learn how to use this blog in the most elemental way. My first posting did not get published. Hopefully this one will. We hope to make our first leg of the journey tomorrow on a fliight scheduled to depart Charleston AFB at 1616. It is intended to land in Seattle, Wash at McCord AFB. We then hope to travel to Tokoyo, Japan on Thursday using seats we hope to occupy on the Patriot Express DC-8 flight out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. We do not know what we will do once we arrive in Japan if we do arrive in Japan. We will keep you advised. Have a great week, we will try and stay in touch.