At the end of one of my stories about Vieques, I mentioned that its “quirkiness is it’s magic”. This is so true! Vieques is a quirky little place, full of colour, vibrancy and life. There is color everywhere you look. The turquoise ocean the blue skies the white puffy clouds, even the iguana’s are bright green, and buildings of every color you can think of.
I am sure you have seen enough pictures of the amazing beaches, coconut palms and sunsets. There is a lot more to this place than that. Though that seems to feature highly in our priorities, and why not? we are, after all, on a Caribbean Island. So, I wont bore you with the same old, here is a slightly different look at Vieques.
Check out this rainbow of houses.
There it is – Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo and Violet – all present and accounted for.
As we walk around this quirky little place we are never short of amazement at the next colour combination we come across.
We have the Brights……
And the Pastels……..
And then all these awesome combinations…..
And this is just a small example of what is here.
How many different colours can you see in this scene? Love it!
Even the masks are all colours!
Our time here is almost up. We leave in 9 days! It is so hard to believe that it is over six months already, it has gone super fast! We have been really busy, it hasn’t all been hanging out at the beach! We have both put in many hours volunteering to various places. Chris has done many days with Kim, watering gardens when it was really dry and weed-wacking when the rain came and made it all grow again. I have helped at the kids art camp during the summer holidays and done some admin for Our Big Fat Caribbean Rescue, which is a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the lives of Vieques’ animals, during their free Neuter and Spay clinics.
Both Chris and I have been walking the dogs at the Humane Society most weeks – Friday, our favorite day of the week! We have been very creative in the kitchen, creating wonderful dishes with the, often, lack of available ingredients. We have immensely enjoyed our social gatherings, and sharing all these wonderful culinary creations with dear friends, whom we are going to sorely miss!
We have had our own property here to caretake for, there has been gardening, painting, building and maintenance to carry on with. I have been going to Zumba and Aqua Aerobics a couple of times a week. We did several trips to the big island for various supplies, and had our fabulous yet disastrous visa trip to the Dominican Republic AND had pretty bad storm (Fiona wasn’t quite a hurricane as she went past us) – No wonder the time has gone fast!
This says it all!!
So where to from here?
Boston (USA) – Jakarta (Indonesia) – Penang (Malaysia) – Hua Hin (Thailand) – Chennai (India) – NZ all by Febuary 2023!
We are here on this tiny island as if in a time warp. The time goes by so fast. One minute it’s the weekend and then the next it is Friday night again, how does that happen? We have 6 weeks left of this house sit, we have been here for over 5 months already!
I sit here on my deck chair under a coconut trees shade, at Caracas beach. This is one of our favourite places on the island. Not because it is the most beautiful, there are some spectacular beaches, I think it is because we have the best memories here. Last time we only had bike power for getting around and this was the best beach we could reach by bike – still a 9 km cycle over the spine of the island. We were so much fitter then! And it is just as memorable now. The water is as clear as crystal, gently lapping on the perfectly white sand. The sky is deep blue and the clouds are so white.
Playa Caracas
Today is very quiet. It is Sunday, it is usually “Sunday Fun-day”, where crowds of friends and family gather for a day at the beach. Bringing with them BBQ’s, hammocks, cooler boxes groaning with food and alcohol, chairs, tables and gazebos and music. That’s what we are missing today – Music! The thump thump thump of the Puerto Rican rhythm. It is very distinctive and very conspicuous in its absence.
This is the off season. Not many tourists come to the island at this time of the year and a lot of the businesses close down for a month – 6 weeks. Holiday rentals shut down, restaurants and bars, some tour operators, it is very quite. The supermarket and the roads reflect this. The fruit truck doesn’t have as much to offer at the moment. We didn’t notice this the last time here as we had just had Hurricane Irma, it was a very different place then.
It is so hot! I have just been reading through my story of the last time here. It got to “feels like” 46°C then! It hasn’t got to that this time – well not that I have captured! So hot though. You can’t have a cold shower because the water out of the cold tap is always warm. I am sweating buckets every day! It drips off my chin and runs in my eyes, and that is just going outside to the washing line! The temperatures are so consistent, 27deg – 31deg every day! When we have a bit of rain we celebrate! But then if it rains for more than a day, everything starts to feel damp, your clothes, bed sheets, cushions even the floor. And my hair!! Humidity frizz! I would like to make it a new fashion statement, but no one in their right mind would want this! So, the best thing for it is to get into the ocean. The water temperature is 29.3°C – I just looked it up. Slightly cooler than the air temperature. Though I would like to challenge this. We have a hot tub – yes, it’s true!! here at the house and it is constantly sitting at 32°C and that is with no heating, just the ambient temperature and I am sure the ocean is warmer than that tub.
Disease-causing organisms??
We are smack bang in the middle of hurricane season, in fact the peak of hurricane season was on Saturday. It has been really quiet this year, so much so that, for the first time in 25 years, there have been no named storms during August. But we are still feeling a bit nervous to be honest! There are lots of different web pages and Facebook groups that we keep an eye on as we know that there is always a bit of notice if there is something coming our way that we need be aware of. We have been collecting water and have bought extra canned and dried foods just in case we do lose power. It was 5 years ago this week that Irma came through, caused 10 days of power outage then 4 days later Maria made an appearance and…… well…… that was power, and water gone for quite some time. We have bought a GPS tracker which can also send messages through the satellite system if standard communication is lost. We have done a couple of tests and it works well. Having all communication gone was one of the hardest things to cope with. We were alive a relatively well, but family on the other side of the world did not know this. Tough times, don’t really want to go through that again!
For our Hurricane story and photos, check out the link below
There has been a lot of Sahara dust most of the time we have been here. They say that this dust, which blows all the way from the deserts of Africa, helps to ward off hurricanes. It chokes out the systems, and they don’t have enough moisture to keep going, then a hurricane can’t form. Though the dust is a pain in the butt-ocks, makes it hazy and the windows get filthy, we like the idea of it being our “hurricane angel”
Being on a rock of 135m2, sandwiched between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, makes for interesting weather conditions. I studied weather for my skippers licence a million years ago, we had to recognise and understand clouds, and what they represented for predicting weather……… Well, I didn’t do too well in that section! I can hardly tell one cloud from the other. But I do remember there being the “castle clouds” the Altocumulus Castellanus clouds. I have always wanted to see them; they don’t seem to form in NZ. Here on Vieques there are clouds every day and we often see the Castle Clouds. We don’t usually get just a plain blue sky, like at home, and these clouds here are the whitest I have ever seen. The sky here is amazing, moody and bright, the sunsets and sunrises, the rainbows and clouds are so vibrant and brilliant.
Altocumulus Castellanus clouds take their name from their resemblance to turrets of castles and are often a warning of thunderstorms
Things can be difficult here, but we are all in the same boat. Everyone can’t get that special ingredient to make that dish they want, and that’s after trips to 3 different stores in the hope 1 will have it, and then you pay the earth for it. I needed cream the other day and had a route mapped out of the stores I would try, if I couldn’t get it after store number 6, we would go without. I got it at store number 3!! So glad too because it was for Betsy’s amazing bread pudding!!
Perfect with caramelised banana and whipped cream
Everyone has to wait for months for contractors or parts for broken cars, so many cars are in poor condition because of it. The power goes out and the water slows down for no apparent reason at times, this affects everyone, one Barrio at a time it seems. The fire ants and mosquitos are pretty unbearable, but everyone has them. Oh, the heat and the sweat – we all sweat buckets, it is never offensive and everyone has a sweat rash somewhere! It doesn’t seem to matter here, everyone just gets on with it, you just adjust that recipe or menu to suit what you find at the store, you hold your car together with duct tape. It is just part of the charm of Vieques!
It’s quirkiness is its magic, and we all love it!
It’s a great life here and we feel so privileged to have had not one, but two chances to experience life as a local on Vieques, Puerto Rico. 6 weeks to go and we will be very sad to leave.
What a cool holiday! 5 days of pure doing nothing but eat and drink and swim, read and sleep! If you have read our last story, you will know that we had a pretty tough time getting out of the DR, but that has not spoilt our memories of a wonderful holiday.
Boca Chica is a 10 minute ride from Santo Domingo Airport. Don’t get fooled by Booking.com telling you it is a 40 minute ride and charge you accordingly. We only paid $12USD on the way back with Uber, compared to the $40USD on the way in.
The Hotel Zapata was basic but totally adequate, and it had air conditioning! We had a restaurant and bar on site and breakfast was included, which we always love! It was a mere 30 meters from the water with nothing in between but sand and a security fence and gate. Our thatched roof bar was on the sand right beside the lounge chairs we occupied each and every day. What more could we want!
We had the best part of the beach as there were no restaurants out the front of the property. This was an area where locals would come in their family groups and set up camp for the day bringing home made food in huge pots, blankets, hammocks and music. The atmosphere was great, there was no hassles on this beach as we were expecting. There were street vendors all day every day but when you said “no thank you” they respected this and moved on.
There is an outer reef about 300 meters off shore, so the water inside was calm and shallow. Only about waist deep at the most almost right out to the reef. The water was crystal clear, Caribbean blue, and so warm. Beautiful white sand and so many coconut palms. This reminded me so much of out at One Foot Island in Aitutaki, Cook Islands. So beautiful. I really feel we found a absolute gem!
Many restaurants lined the beach and the shore to the east of us and to the west, a city of beach umbrellas over tables filled that part of this super wide beach. We walked up and down this many times, stopping at the little stores in the streets behind the beach, to get cold beers and sit on the sand.
There was a big police presence both in the streets behind and on the beach front. There were the normal police and the tourist police, who ever knew there was such a thing! It felt safe.
Dominican Republic is well known for its “All Inclusive” hotel deals where it is a one-stop-shop. Where there are restaurants, bars, beaches, pools, everything you could want, all very safe and included in the deal, they are very cost effective. We went to one for the day, just a walk away at the end of the village. It was great fun, I lost count of the cocktails we tried after I ran out of fingers! We ate plenty and wobbled our way back to the Hotel Zapata and crashed at 7:30pm. It was a good fun day but we were so happy with our little hotel and the location was just perfect! Even if you are travelling with children, I would recommend this part of the country.
The one thing we were not so impressed with was the food. If you read any of our other stories you will know that we love exploring food. I have said it before, the humble supermarket and even more so the local markets are our favorite tourist attraction in any country we visit. The food here was very average. Not horrible, but very definitely, not special. Not to worry, there was more than enough other beauty to make up for it – and the beer was Dam good!!
Thank you for reading our story, I hope you enjoyed the photos!
We often get asked – What do you do all day? Six months in one house sit, on a tiny island, just the two of you? We always try to involve ourselves in the community in the new places we find ourselves in, its the best way to meet people and experience life as the locals do, get to know the real people and get an insight to their culture and lifestyle. We never seem to run out of things to do. This trip is proving to be very social, more so than the last time here and we are loving it!
It cant be vacation every day!! Or can it…….
EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY, AND EVERY NIGHT IS FRIDAY NIGHT!
So I had a look back on my photos of the last week, and this is what it looked like……
Monday Lunes
Chris is off helping our Kiwi friend, Kim, with yard maintenance. He usually does this 2 or 3 mornings a week. Theses mornings usually start with coffee and end with Medalla.
1700 on Monday you will find me in the town square trying to do Zumba with these awesome girls. This Kiwi does not have the moves these cool chicks have, I put it down to the language barrier!
Our Zumba instructor is a Purple Heart recipient Veteran, who has a truly inspirational story. Check out her book, released last month!
We get pretty good supplies of fruit and veg by way of the veggie truck which comes every Tuesday and Friday from the main island. Good to get there early though. Every week we spend about the same amount of money, no matter what we buy – there are no prices to go by and the till is only for storing cash, they use a plain old calculator to add it all up – love it!
Its time for a hair cut! Chris completely trusted me with the clippers and off it came. So much cooler! I didnt do too bad a job even though I have absolutely no hair cutting skills.
Wednesday Miércoles
While Chris works with Kim, I go to Water Aerobics. So nice being in the water and such a lovey group of ladies to hang out with at the hotel pool, 5 minutes walk from home.
Also while the lads are away, I tend to get busy in the kitchen.
Most of the bread we can get here is a bit on the sweet side and doesnt have much in the way of texture – great for burgers and hotdogs, but that’s about it. So I have learnt to make Focaccia Bread, and it is delicious. I made some tomato relish today, so tonight all we had for dinner was cheese, bread and relish – perfect! This was following our mandatory stop at El Yate on the walk home from Morales, the super market.
Thursday Jueves
We have a few projects to go on with, so today we finish off a bit of painting.
Oh Boy it is so hot now. 30 – 31 degC every day and today the “feels like” is 38!
But that’s no problem – there are many many beaches, so we go for an afternoon swim at Sun Bay with Kim.
Friday Viernes
Every Friday morning we walk the dogs from the Vieques Humane Society. The dogs love it and the soon get to know us. Today we put some travel cages together for them – and we earnt our volunteer tee-shirts!
We have been getting right into cooking and have tried some really nice recipes with mangos. Green Mango salad, mango cake and mango sauce. Chris has perfected pork ribs – which we cant get enough of! Banana bread, Thai noodle salad with lemongrass from the garden and home made pesto and hummus, perfect with the focaccia bread! BUT, tonight is Sushi night.
Chris and Kim perfect home made sushi while I go jump around in the square with the girls doing Zumba, please note Kims hair cut …… Yours truly’s handy work last week, staggers me they trusted me with a pair of scissors!
Saturday Sábado
A bit of yard maintenance at home this morning
Keeping the gardens watered is a daily job, its a nice way to start the day. We try to get this done before anything else, while it is a bit cooler – ie 28deg rather than 30deg – believe me it makes a difference!
Catching up with emails and news from home – nice hair cut by the way!
Saturday afternoon we are lucky enough to be invited to a Moria and Kevins for a swim and Bar-B-Q. A wonderful afternoon chilling by the pool with awesome people and the BEST grilled food cooked outside! We still sometimes pinch ourselves to be sure this is real! Perfection!
Lazy start to the day. There is always a cuddle from our lovely Allie
Sunday is “Fun-Day” they say. This is the day on Vieques where everyone goes to the beach. They go for the whole day, cooler box full of booze and food, music, umbrellas and chairs, to just hang out and enjoy. So this afternoon was Caracas – So beautiful!
So that is the week that was. We always have lots to do and lots of people to hang out with. And the weeks are sure flying by!
Sunday night sunset from out balcony, Beautiful way to round out the week, Thank you Vieques!
We have returned to the little island of Vieques which is off the east coast off the main island of Puerto Rico. We had a strong desire to come back to this unique little place. We had left in such a hurry after Hurricane Maria, we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye or thank you to our friends. So, unfinished business, I guess you could say.
We are doing the same 6 month housesit we did in 2017.
It was so good to see Bob and Lou again. They surprised us with a gathering of people to meet and connect with, introduced us to Pickleball and the awesome group of Pickleball players, so we are hitting the ground running this time. In 2017, this was Bob and Lou’s second season here. Five years on and they know so much more about the island and know so many more people, add that to our experience and the people we met then, we are in for an awesome 6 months!
It feels like we have never been away, but there is a different feel to the island. The same wonderful people, but somehow, much more friendly, much more relaxed with each other. Our favourite part of travelling is meeting people from other cultures, making friends in different languages and crossing that “foreigner” barrier.
Hurricane Maria almost wiped this island out. In the aftermath the people came together, they supported each other and helped each other, there was an incredible bond, a bond of survival. The need to purely survive continued for months and months. Things finally came back to a kind of normal, but, it seems, the people have not lost that special bond, that appreciation of each other, knowing that we are all in it together and we really are one big family. We feel right at home! Reuniting with friends we had become close with has brought tears to our eyes at times, and catching up with friends we had not known so well, but connected with all the same has been a joyous thing!
So what else is the same? Well it’s the same heat. It is almost summer time here and the temperatures are so consistent. They only fluctuate about 3°C in a 24 hour period. 27°C – 30°C every day at the moment. (80°F – 86°F) The humidity is sitting at about 75% but we know it will increase as the summer goes on. The maximum temperature will probably only reach to 31°C but we remember the “feels like 42°” (107°F) temperature VERY well. We would freeze a small wet towel in the shape of a C shaped sausage, and use this to put around the backs of our necks to try to cool down. We feel we are better acclimatised this time with being in Queensland for a while before getting here. And we know what to expect. News flash! We have Air conditioning in the bedroom! We feel so lucky to have this, what a treat!
The same beautiful clear water! The colour of Bombay Sapphire Gin. Water temperature is currently 27.6 °C. Gently lapping the white sand under the blue sky. The beaches are wonderful. The tradition of spending all day Sunday at the beach with a bunch of friends and family, eating loads of food, drinking loads of alcohol and listening to music, is alive a well! I believe there are 40 beaches here, that’s a lot of parties
The same beautiful views – but now even bigger! The island is looking really good, really fresh and tidy. A lot of trees came down in the hurricane which opened up views all over the island. We say to ourselves “could we see that from here before?” well, we couldn’t! All the vegetation has recovered, but where there were big trees knocked down, there are now small trees, so the views are amazing. There are a lot of freshly painted buildings. Still the run down places and falling down properties, but overall the whole island is looking great.
The same old horses! There seems to be more horses around. Vieques is known for its wild horses all over the island. I read once that they are as much a part of the island as the sand and sea. You have to be very careful when driving as they don’t know the road rules and they don’t seem to be afraid of being right in town. It has been very dry here the last few months and we were told that they are looking for water and food, so therefore, there are more around. There are a lot of foals around at the moment, so beautiful. It is a co-habitation which has been going on for generations.
The same strong cocktails. A plastic cup, five different spirits, a dash of coke, lots of ice – yip it’s the Vieques Pain Killer! Only need one ……. Or two….. before you fall off your bike! Good old Medalla though, is still the same, cold and wet and bubbly – BUT new colour can! This is only temporary as they raise awareness of the coral reefs – but oh how I love the current colour!
The same abundant Mosquitos!The town clock still has different times on all four faces
It is pretty great to be back! We are already in week 6, the time is really going to fly. Many adventures to come!
Early February 2022, We left Sydney and headed north, up through the Central Coast, into Queensland. Looking back on the photos, there were a few adventures and stories to tell!
Free Camping and Lighthouses
We started off with amazing weather and we were starting to get brave enough to free-camp. The Lakes Surf Lifesavings carpark was the perfect spot. Cafe, toilets – open all night, and showers – though cold. We met a few people doing the same thing and it does feel a bit wrong, but exciting! FatBoy is a bit hard to camouflage, we kinda stand out, but ……… This carpark is right by the beach, it couldn’t be better.
Camping in the carpark – LOVE IT!
Not far from here we found the Norah Head Lighthouse. I am loving seeing all the lighthouses up this coast. There had been a music, food, and wine festival here the night before and we couldn’t imagine how wonderful it would have been to be a singer performing at this amazing location. We didnt attend this festival, but we managed to acquire a couple of souvenirs……
House sit No.2, Big Boy Gus, Caves and Thunder
We so enjoyed the company of Gus. He kept us entertained with his quirky nature and loveable antics. We found a coffee truck that did “doggiechino” never knew there was such a thing! Gus knew! He was such great company for three weeks.
The caves at Caves Beach are so cool. Inaccessible at high tide. Spectacular at sunrise.
And then the rain started….. and the thunder……… and the lightening! This, also, was a spectacular show of natures power – but poor ole Gus! He was so frightened, he would hide in the shower and shake! He would not come out, no matter what. We comforted him as much as we could, and he came out eventually as if nothing had happened.
Injuries
Oh dear, we must be getting old! Two injuries, one each, at least we are keeping it fair! Walking along the beach with Gus, Chris slipped on a rock and tore his hamstring trying to correct himself. OUCH! Then a few weeks later at Crescent Heads, I took a tumble on a walking track and sprained my ankle. OUCH! Those who know me – this was my good ankle! Its not easy to limp on both feet at once! So feeling like a couple of geriatrics we think we should just stay home and sit on the couch – NAH! Not going to happen! There are things to do and people to meet!
While at Caves Beach, we took a trip into Newcastle to see another lighthouse, this one Nobbys Lighthouse.
Snakes, Kookaburras, Goannas and …………Rabbits??
We eventually left Caves Beach to continue our trip north. Eight nights at four different spots to go, this time paid camping at proper camp sites. We had a couple of unwelcome visitors while camping.
At Booti Booti National Park, this Goanna decided he liked our spot and kept coming back. He especially liked to look of the solar panels and left scratches where he had been climbing over it. He was not the only one there and they were pretty intimidating for these Kiwi’s.
The Kookaburra gave us a run for our money too, they look really cute and are a full-on “sound of Australia”, but, oh boy! watch your meat on the bar-b-q when they are around. Chris didn’t know what struck him when this cheeky bugger flew down, clipped Chris on the shoulder, grabbed a sausage right off the hot plate, then sat on the fence right in front of me and ate it! It was so funny because it must have been really hot, but he kept hold of it and finally swallowed.
This is a little bit of a concern!
Rabbits everywhere in Coffs Harbour! They were all through the camp ground, but not only that, the whole town seemed to be awash with rabbits. So Bizarre! They looked like domestic rabbits, but we couldn’t get that close to them – so cute!
Fact of the day – Pet rabbits are illegal in Queensland
Man make fire
The Racecourse Campground in Goolawah National Park, near Crescent Head was perfect! Right on the beach, long drop loos and cold showers; but peaceful and beautiful. We paid $5 to the warden who gave us this fire pit. Really cool, made from old an gas cylinder. You could see in the clouds though, that there was more rain coming……
And then the rain came down
After almost a week of fine weather, Crescent Head saw the start of more rain, this time it didn’t stop for about 10 days and was the start of the storms which caused flooding in South East Queensland right down to Sydney. We still had 4 more days on the road. Coffs Harbour and Surfers Paradise it just bucketed down and didn’t stop so we didn’t get to explore so much.
We were safe and dry in FatBoy, but had to drive up through some of the worst of the storm. So much flooding and roads closed, it was pretty scary. So many people lost their homes in this storm, so devastating. Very very sad 😦
We made it back safe and sound to Marcoola, back to base. As I write this, we have five days to go before we take off on our next BIG adventure. The borders are starting to come down and we are embarking on the 27 hour plane journey to Puerto Rico in the Caribbean. I know we will have some great stories and fabulous photos to share with you over the next few months!
Arriving into Sydney turned out to be the best thing. This has happened before, where we have ended up in a place not actually planned for, but so blessed to be there. After getting the “Green Tick” of COVID negative we can really start to look around and see where we have actually come to.
I came to Sydney with my family in 1980, when I was 12, and remember being so impressed with the size of everything. The Opera House, Harbour Bridge, it was all so foreign and exciting.
1980, Thats me, the skinny, moody teenager in red shorts! Parked right under the Harbour Bridge, cant do that now days
I also had a quick trip here with Chris in 2016 to watch the Sharks (Sydney team) beat the Warriors (NZ team) at Cronulla in the Rugby League. That was a flying visit in the middle of winter. But when we arrived by train from the airport that night I was like a kid in a lolly shop, jumping with excitement to see the Opera House and Harbour Bridge right there! I could just about touch them, it was so close, I was so excited I could hardly think straight.
20162022Sharks home ground 2016Go Sharkies! 2016
So here we are again. World famous, these amazing icons are up there with the Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty, and again, I am so excited to be here. This time we have a bit more time to explore.
Facts:
Sydney Harbour Bridge was opened in 1932, it took 9 years to build, its longest span is 503metres, total length 1149metres She has 6 lanes and 2 railway lines, 1 footpath and a cycleway and has a clearance of 49m from the water
Sydney Opera House was opened in 1973, it took 14 years to complete and has seating capacity for 5738 people across her theatres and halls.
Two days with Liz in the suburbs with her wonderful neighborhood of friends, enjoying the tree lined streets, noisy birds and great wine! We walk to a spot where we can see Sydney Harbour – Yes! I’m really here. But we have work to do so off south we go; check out my 2 previous stories.
We return to Sydney nearly a month later to the warmest welcome, It is Australia Day, come on in, what’s ours is yours! So grateful for these amazing people. A big feast starting at 2, slow cooked lamb, salmon, chargrilled veg, homemade focaccia bread, all sorts of salads, and a wonderful cake for desert. Everyone pitching in and having fun. Lively conversations and laughter went right through until after dark. Empty plates, full bellies and wine bottles scattered every which way. I feel this could be akin to the American Thanksgiving celebration. We don’t have this in NZ, and it is a pity. We counted 7 nationalities around that table, how wonderful is this?! This was such a special day, thank you to Cate and Malcolm for opening your doors and hosting this awesome day, one we will not forget!
A bit of a slow start for everyone the next day but there is a city to explore. Chris and I catch a bus into the city. We get off near the Anzac Memorial and Hyde Park. The memorial is stunning and it always gives us a thrill to see the New Zealand flag flying alongside the Aussie one. Hyde Park is lovely too, great statues and monuments, stunning gardens. We follow on to the Royal Botanic Garden. None of this is very far from each other and the walk is doing us good!
We come to the edge of the harbour and Oh Wow! There they are, those icons that scream “You’re in Sydney!” We carry on walking around the front of the Opera House, past Circluar Quay (where we arrived in 2016) and around the rocks to view the Harbour Bridge. So beautiful!
The ferry network is fantastic. Sydney Harbour is so intricate, it spreads outward with many fingers probing into the suburbs of greater Sydney. We take the ferry from Circular Quay right up to Paramatta, just because we can! 3 hours round trip, for us Mariners it is a really interesting trip. Returning, we get off near Liz’s place, and walk home.
Heading out from Circular QuayCruising up the Parramatta River
The next day we get the ferry into Circular Quay and take a different ferry over to Manly. Can this city get any better? It is so sunny and hot. We have fish and chips on the beach with one of our Australia Day buddies then walk to Shelly Beach and have a swim. Manly is not unlike our home town of Mount Maunganui with the harbour on one side of the peninsular and the main open ocean beach less than a kilometer across on the other.
But we have to leave Sydney now, more adventures are waiting for us. We so loved Sydney, the people, the places and the weather, all fabulous, we look forward to coming back soon!
House sit number 1 is in the Jervis Bay area, South Cast, NSW. We haven’t been house sitting for close on 2 years because of covid, so we are feeling a little bit nervous. We were in such a good rhythm before the world turned upside down. We needn’t have been! There are some beautiful people in this world and we are so lucky to be meeting so many of them.
Blenheim Beach
But the weather has turned on us, rain forecast for the next week or more, oh well, we have a beautiful home to stay in and there is always Netflix!
Rain, Rain and more Rain
We settle in and create our routine, but we really want to get out to explore the coastline here, we have heard it is beautiful. Two days in, we decide to just do what we do – too bad if its not sunny and hot. We mark off a couple of beaches on the map, pack a picnic and off we go. We head toward Murrays Beach as it is the furthest away so we will start there and work our way back. Woops, we find ourselves in a line of cars with no way to turn around. And why are they taking so long! As we sit and wait, trying to be patient, we try to figure out by google maps what we have actually come across. Is this the military base? Or it could be a National Park? Its not that clear on Maps. We finally get up to the kiosk and yes, this is the entrance to the Booderee National Park, who knew! Fee of $14 for a 48 hour pass. And we find out why the line took so long, the lovely lady just wanted to have a chat – with everybody! She was so nice you just couldn’t help engaging in her chit chat. So after understanding her whole family dynamics, off we go, Murrays Beach here we come.
Booderee National Park
The day is still not very nice but we have our picnic on the beach and Chris has a swim, its too cold for me. We get back into the truck and head for the historic lighthouse, Cape St George Lighthouse. This is a ruin and quite lovely. Sad story about it though. It was erected in 1860 a spot that was easy to build, ie transport the sandstone etc in, but it wasn’t in the best spot for the job it was intended to do – be a lighthouse. Being in a poor position, it didn’t halt the shipping toll and was replaced by Point Perpendicular Lighthouse in 1898, which was built on the opposite side of the entrance to the bay. The lighthouse tower was then torn down in early 20th century as the sandstone it was constructed with was too bright at night and was distracting to shipping. There were many deaths among the around 15 people living there during its short life span, mostly children. From Typhus and Pleurisy to falling over the cliffs, being kicked in the head by a horse and being shot by mistake by a teenager playing around with a loaded gun. Quite sad, but probably quite typical for the time.
We had 14 days here and it rained for the first 10 days. We still got out a few times and discovered some stunning beaches along this coast, all within 20 minutes of the house sit. We completed quite a bit of the White Sands Walk, from Nelsons Beach to Hyams Beach. We fell in love with Huskisson, and spent a bit of time in the local pub there – well it WAS raining!
We had a stunning house and two beautiful, affectionate cats to care for, life is good. There is a field across the road from the house and there are kangaroos grazing there every morning. In the evening they sometimes come right up to the road, it is so exciting to see them. One day there was a Mum with a baby and they turned and jumped right down the street, it was so funny – love Australia!
Our furry friends
Our lovely home owners returned and we a had another great night together, catching up on the previous 2 weeks, then back into FatBoy to hit the road again.
We head back to Sydney to celebrate Australia Day with a group of English, Welsh, American, Dutch, Slovakian, Kiwis and even a couple of Aussies – How about that!
So much frustration for most of the year trying to get to Australia, but I did it! I got here in the end, and looking back it was rather easy.
See ya later Mount Maunganui
Before I left there were so many questions, the most important of course was, will the plane fly? Putting that question aside, there are also many other questions to think about. I spent hours trolling the Australian government web sites and Government State websites for information on what was expected before departure and on arrival. I had already come to the conclusion that I would have to fly into New South Wales instead of Queensland as the QLD border was still shut. The information I was getting was very conflicting at times, I felt I was going in circles. Omicron is showing herself everywhere now and border controls are changing daily. I was questioned daily by friends and family, do you think you will get to go? Do you have to isolate? I really don’t know! I was getting totally confused and didn’t know whether I was coming or going. At this point I had left my job and had tenants coming into my house in a few weeks, so really, I HAD to go.
In the end this is how is worked:
I got a COVID test 3 days before take off at the local Pathology Lab at a cost of $200. The result was in my in box within 36 hours.-tick
I registered with the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs. I had to give them full details of my immunisations. They wanted to know the dates for each shot and the brand of the drug. They also needed my Australian address and phone number, and was I going to travel inter-state once I arrived. As I understood things, I was able to land in New South Wales quarantine free as I was a NZ passport holder reuniting with immediate family who normally reside in Australia. On arrival I was to self isolate until I had a negative covid test which need to be taken within 24 hours of arrival. tick
So off I go to Tauranga airport with copies of my vaccination certificate, Australian Department of Home Affairs acceptance and proof of my negative covid test. How hard can this be. Checked in, bags checked all the way to Sydney – surely they cant stop me now!! A very sad good bye to Leigh-Ann, I found it hard to let go of that last hug and they called – “would the remaining passenger Donna Bennett, please board your aircraft at gate 4” Oh crap! Don’t go without me!
Auckland International Airport – where is everyone?
Into Auckland no problem, 5 hour wait for my flight to Sydney. Tauranga airport was fairly busy but Auckland International Airport was so quiet. Only 9 flights for the whole day. Therefore limited shops open, only 1 place to get a coffee and only cabinet food, no kitchens open. Even McDonalds was closed.
We get called to board, this could really be happening! With all the changes to my flights and credits on and off throughout the year, this flight ended up being premium economy. Now this is the way to travel! The seats were huge, so much space and a 3 course meal, a proper pillow and the BEST pour of Sav in a beautiful stemless wine glass LOL. I was wishing the flight was longer than the 3 hours! My section had 35 seats, there were 5 of us, and I was the only one on the port side so I felt I was already isolating.
Arriving in Sydney. The announcement on the plane was for arriving passengers to take a Rapid Antigen Test on arrival and isolate until a negative result. Really? Don’t those tests give a result in 15 minutes? And how do these tests get monitored? How would they know I have done it and done it right? Do I just go to a chemist and buy one? OK, that’s not what I expected. Chris had researched and had found that there was a PCR (nose swab) testing station at the airport for arriving passengers, so with this announcement and the signs at the baggage carousel, I was feeling a bit confused – again! I felt I should get a full PCR test as advised by the government web site, so I rock up to the car park-come-testing station and ask the question …… YES, they said, get a test here, now – ok will do. So I registered there and got my test. I am now self-isolating.
hmmmmm
I found Chris and am just so overwhelmed to see him!! It has been a long 6 months! We are now isolating together. This is New Years Eve, last day of this retched 2021. I received message from Service NSW at 0130 1/1/22, your results are NEGATIVE!
So let the adventures begin!! We did it!!
Funny thing is though, there were no questions on arrival, no checks and balances, automatic passport control, I spoke to no one except for one person who was taking statistics of how many vaccinations I had had, he didn’t even ask my name, I was a tick in the column for 3 vaccinations. I could have walked right out of that airport, full of COVID, right into the community………………
Since returning to New Zealand in March 2019, from New York, after the onset of COVID 19, Chris and I have keeping ourselves busy. Its been quite a different life from our House Sitting life. I got a job at the hospital as an Orderly and worked a second job for the summer 2020 as Harbour Patrol Skipper. Chris, along with Micah and Leigh-Ann, renovated our house, then sold a house in NZ and bought a house in Australia. At that stage we could not leave the country but, early 2021, it was looking like NZ and Australia were both doing really well at keeping COVID out, so a travel bubble opened up between the two countries.
Chris took this opportunity to get over to Australia to check out the apartment he had bought.. YAY we can fly again! Five weeks later, I headed over to Australia as well. The airport is deserted, this is really really strange. We had two awesome weeks and the apartment is perfect! Located on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Australia. Beautiful spot………….Right, I will be back in 8 weeks, next time for 3 ½ weeks. So back to work I go, off back to the beach Chris goes.
But wait… here comes that pesky virus again, this time she has a new name – Delta.
Victoria and New South Wales in Australia are getting hit hard and are closing down their borders. NZ pauses the travel bubble to Australia……….BUT I have a trip booked for 31st July, which by now is only 3 weeks away. FLIGHT CANCELLED. OK, NZ think they are only going to have to pause the bubble for 8 weeks……. so I book a new flight for mid September. Hopefully things will sort themselves out by then and I will get there.
No, not going to happen, Delta has made her way into NZ, so my September FLIGHT CANCELLED. Ok, I am not to be beaten by this, so I book yet another flight for 2nd December – surely things will be ok by then!
In the mean time I book flights for my daughter and I to fly to Wellington for her birthday present, We are booked for end October – But Delta has another plan, she’s causing havoc and New Zealand is now in full lockdown, so we wont be going to Wellington! FLIGHTS CANCELLED.
A few weeks later, things start to level out, Auckland is now the only place in full lock down, the rest of the country have a bit more freedom, so lets try booking that trip to wellington again, this time mid November. But Tayla would be flying from Auckland and Auckland keeps having her lock down extended, so another FLIGHT CANCELLED.
At this stage it is starting to look a lot likeI will not get to go on my 2nd December trip to Australia. Sure enough FLIGHT CANCELLED. So Chris and I have to start making some big decisions. The original plan was for Chris to be back here in NZ by summer, What do we do now? It has been 5 months now since we last saw each other. This is not funny anymore! So we finally come to a decision. It looks like travel to Australia is easier than travel back from Australia, so why don’t I just go on a one way ticket?
NEW PLAN ………… I have resigned from my job at the hospital and I booked a one way ticket to Brisbane, 28 December.
Right……… one last chance for the Wellington trip – booked a new flight for 10th December – NAH, no can do! Looks like we are not meant to go to Wellington – FLIGHT CANCELLED – for the 3rd time!
It is now mid December, remember that one way flight I have to Brisbane? – FLIGHT CANCELLED! NOOOOOO!!!! Re booked for 1 January, a few days later FLIGHT CANCELLED!– WHAT????…………… Ok, am I not meant to get to fly ever again??
How many of these does one Kiwi need?
Its now Christmas Day and I am booked now to fly to Sydney on 31st December. I believe this flight will go ahead as it is a red flight, which means Quarantine or self isolation and pre and post flight negative COVID tests, if fully vaccinated. I am keeping all fingers and toes crossed!
This past year has been so frustrating, it has tested our patients with the cancellations and not being able to plan. But at the end of the day, this story is just a very small one, it is even a little bit funny! This virus has had a huge impact on every one in the world. Yes we are frustrated, but no one ever died of frustration! We are well and healthy and I am very lucky to be able to say that I don’t know anyone who has died of COVID, I hardly know anyone who has HAD COVID. That is not the case for so many, and I am so very sorry for the ones who have been effected in that way. My flight may yet be cancelled – its still 6 days out –
Kiwis Do Fly 