As we approach the end of of our first year back in Aotearoa, we decided to use our holiday time to improvise a bit. No real plan to start with, other than opera tickets, and flights into Sydney and out of Melbourne. But before crossing the ditch, we traveled along the newly refurbished rail service between Welly and Auckland (formerly known as the TraNZscenic).
The iconic Mt. Ruapehu, blanketed in snow above, is still the centre-piece of the journey. The new cars have been in service only a week, and are quiet, comfortable and elegantly designed.
Upon arriving in Sydney, we undertook our usual city-scouting tour, which included Circular Harbour, the Botanical Gardens and the better part of the CBD. Remarkably, when we needed them, we found a tuxedo rental, camera shop and car rental agency all within a block of our Pitt Street hotel.
The highlight of this trip was, far and away, a dinner and performance night at the iconic Sydney Opera House, where we attended the opening of Bizet's
Les Pecheurs des Perles (The Pearlfishers). It was beautifully sung and lavishly staged. We've had such good luck in the past month, between this and
Rigoletto, which we saw in Welly.
The next ten days were spend meandering through the coastal areas and mountains between Sydney and Melbourne. The distance between the two cities is 600km as the crow flies, but we took a drunken-crow route of over 2400km.
We passed through the Blue Mountains, stopping briefly at Katoomba to see the Three Sisters formation (above). Then onward to Canberra, which surprised us with its qualities, including abundant green spaces, beautiful lakes, and high quality cultural infrastructure. As a "designed" capitol, Canberra doesn't have the same vibrancy as the larger cities, but still has much to offer. We especially enjoyed our visit to the Tidbinbilla Reserve, just 30 minutes outside the city, the Botanical Gardens and the view from Telstra Tower, where we stopped for lunch in the revolving restaurant and took this photo.
Although we had hoped to do some skiing, the crowds of kids (school holidays!) at Jindabyne/Perisher and later the slushy conditions at Dinner Plain/Hotham foiled our aspirations. No worries, though, as we detoured to the coast and discovered the delightful little towns of Eden and Mallacoota, which between them contain some of the most beautiful land in all Australia. We especially enjoyed the 30km coastal "lighthouse to lighthouse" walk in Ben Boyd National Park (below, that tiny dot on the beach is Richard), where we saw Sea Eagle, Lyrebirds, heaps of Emu Wren and the endangered Eastern Ground Parrot. Near Mallacoota, the Pebble Beach and Double Creek walks at Croajingolong NP were highlights. In addition to these, the Drummer Rainforest walk near Cann River was also impressive, as the canopy above was filled with Satin Bowerbirds and King Parrots-- that is, when it wasn't crashing to the ground, as recent flooding has undermined many of the giant old Eucalyptus, many of which blocked the untended winter path and one of which crashed mightily while we were just a few meters away.
At sunset, we found ourselves at Ricardo Point, a lovely isolated stretch of beach (below) just outside Obost. We pushed on to Lakes Entrance, then left the coast for the mountains again, crossing the Great Alpine Road in howling winds and freezing conditions (i.e. just like home).
The
denoument of the trip saw us birding in Chillern, chilling in Bendigo and finally ending up back in our beloved Melbourne. On our last night, we grabbed dinner at a fantastic Greek restaurant and caught a big screen (actually, massive screen) viewing of
The Sound of Music at the 1,100 seat Astor Theatre. Before catching the Friday evening return flight to Wellington, we wandered back though our favorite streets, alleys and arcades of Melbourne Central and browsed the Queen Victoria Market.
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