downundertraveller: Sept. 19 - Daintree and Cape Tribulation

OUR ITINERARY **NEW, REVISED AND UP TO DATE**

If we're going to be in your city and you want to get together for a cup of coffee, leave a message at our hotel, or send me an email ahead of time at shakos@sympatico.ca - we'll try to rendezvous with you. That would be great fun!
Sat. Oct. 20 - Arrive in Christchurch, New Zealand and stay at the Copthorne Central Hotel, phone 03 379 5880.
Mon. Oct. 22 - TranzAlpine Train ride to Franz Josef, staying at the Franz Josef Glacier Hotel, phone 03 752 0729.
Tues. Oct. 23 - Queenstown, staying at the Novotel Gardens, phone 03 442 7750.
Thurs. Oct. 25 - Te Anau, staying at the Village Inn, phone 03-249 7911.
Fri. Oct. 26 - Dunedin, staying at the Dunedin City Hotel, phone 03 470 1470. Hope to meet Chris Davies for coffee while we're there.
Sat. Oct. 27 - Mount Cook National Park, staying at The Hermitage Hotel, phone 03 435 1809.
Sun. Oct. 28 - Back at the Copthorne Central Hotel in Christchurch, phone 03 379 5580 till Oct. 30th. We'll then take the ferry to the North Island and stay with Beulah from Oct. 30th, till November 5th.
Mon. Nov. 5 - Pick up a car for a self-drive tour to Auckland. (Biting my nails as you guys drive on the wrong side of the road - giggle). Stay at the Lakeland Resort, Taupo, phone 07 378 3893 on the 5th, and at the Heritage Rotorua on the 6th and 7th, phone 07 348 1189.
Thurs. Nov. 8 - Arrive in Auckland and stay with Lizzie and her husband John. I've promised to teach an ink and oil rouging design for Lizzie while I'm there.
Mon. Nov. 12 - It's all over but the curtain calls. Fly from Auckland back to Los Angeles, where we will stay a week with my aunt. A good chance to shake off some of the jet lag.
Sun. Nov. 18 - Back in Canada. All good things have to come to an end. The memories, however, will last a lifetime.

Friday, September 28, 2007

Sept. 19 - Daintree and Cape Tribulation

Today our tour was by Billy Tea Bush Safaris - and our driver was a bit of a wag - he certainly kept us entertained with his chatter and joking. We travelled up a steep winding road, ascending the Alexandra Range, through tropical rainforest. Of course we stopped along the way to take loads of pictures.

Again we had a river cruise on the Daintree - you can sure get up close and personal with the birds, crocs and plants of the rainforest when travelling on the river.

In the afternoon we went 4 wheeling down the rough steep Bloomfield Track, and we stopped by the side of a small stream for "Billy Tea" beside a pond where we were told we could go for a swim if we wished - but the first thing we saw was a snake swimming in the water hole - so we opted to say on shore. I know - wusses! Our driver prepared some Aussie fruits for us to sample, and some damper bread, along
with our tea. We tried two kinds of sapote, and the black one looked really gross. However, we were told to put it on top of the pineapple and it wasn't so bad that way. However, I'm not going to rush out and buy any.

After our tea break we stopped at Cape Tribulation where we were able to swim in the Coral Sea - where the rainforest meets the sea. It was very shallow and warm, and I thoroughly enjoyed my dip. I wasgoing for a second little swim with another woman from our group when we saw a small reef shark swimming along just off the beach. We waited till it went its way, and had a really quick little dip and then figured that we had better get out before he came back.

I think the exotic pink flower is a ginger plant - anyway, I think it's stunning, and will probably try to paint it one day. I also have some wonderful pictures of the Bird of Paradise plant in Gwen's backyard for a future painting project.

1 comment:

Vicki and Don said...: I'm with you on skipping the swim in the river after seeing a snake! I don't like sharing my pool with anything that "slithers"! :-) I would have also had second thoughts about being in for a swim with a shark around! Love the pictures that you're sharing!; October 7, 2007 at 9:37 AM