Canada Pt 3: The Island

After saying goodbye to Rob in Whitehorse, Paul and I had a long day flying to Vancouver and then back up to Port Hardy at the north of Vancouver Island.

We spent the night in a delightful B&B called Chocolate and Serenity. The host made her own chocolates in a commercial kitchen in the basement, and so our room came with a bowl of gourmet chocolates. Our host said she had a bear in her back yard three days ago, so we were hopeful of seeing one, but unfortunately we didn’t.

Our highlight in Port Hardy – apart from the chocolates – was seeing two bald eagles quite low in a tree. When we stepped a little too close, they took off simultaneously and flew down towards the water, so we got a good look at them. There was another pair flying around, and two young ones in a nest behind our B&B.
The next part of our trip was the one I was most looking forward to – a 4-day whale watching camp. We were picked up from Telegraph Cove in a water taxi. It was extremely windy that day – apparently highly unusual – and the water was quite rough. After a 25 minute trip, we were dropped onto the beach at our camp.

The camp accommodates just 10 people in 5 canvas tents on platforms, looking out to the bay we were in. We had actual beds in our tent, but nothing else apart from deck chairs. It was basic but comfortable. (The long drop toilet was not so flash). All meals are served “family style” in an open-air dining room. There was even an outdoor shower with a view!

We were served lunch and then taken on a short walk on the trail to a couple of lookout points. The island was only about 1km by 1km and the trail did not go all the way around the island.  So unfortunately for Paul, he had to resign himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to get 20,000 steps in on these next few days. It was too rough to go out that afternoon, so we just relaxed in our tent. I did some yoga on the deck, we snoozed and read.

The next morning we got up early for our first whale excursion. It was foggy, and thankfully the water was very calm, so it made for a very atmospheric setting.

It didn’t take long to find humpbacks. In the calm, quiet waters the sound of them breathing through their blowholes travelled really clearly, and at one point we were surrounded by humpbacks in all directions, just our boat in the fog, with whales surfacing and blowing all around us. It was magical.

The best photo I could manage

We went back for breakfast – pancakes – and then heard on the radio that there were orcas not far away. Of course, I really wanted to see orcas for myself, as they are one of my favourite animals. But even more, I wanted there to be orcas for Kev, a fellow Australian on the tour who had planned his whole 6 week Canadian trip around this part, as he also loved orcas (possibly more than me!). But Kev had never seen them before, whereas I have several times.

Thankfully, we saw three different pods, including a bull with a massive dorsal fin. They weren’t doing anything particularly interesting, just gliding along, but at one point one did surface enough that we could see the white patch around its eye. Kev and I were very happy. We also saw a sea lion that had caught a fish, and two bald eagles that were fighting over something in mid-air.

Later that day while the rest of the group went out fishing, Paul and I went kayaking with our guide, Kelly. At one point there was a humpback that seemed quite close to us, so that was pretty awesome.

The next day we had a clear day and made several more excursions to see both orcas and humpbacks. We also had some Dall’s porpoise surfing on the bow of our boat, which was fabulous because you could clearly see them in the water below.

A real highlight was watching a humpback who appeared to be lolling about on a piece of kelp on the surface. He was rolling around, waving his fins. Very cool to watch.

On our final morning it was foggy again, and we could hear humpbacks but couldn’t see them. But the highlight of the morning – and actually, for me the whole trip – was being surrounded by about 400 dolphins leaping, jumping, backflipping. Everywhere we looked, 360 degrees around us, there were dolphins. And they also surfed on our bow and did leaps right next to us. It was an incredible experience, one I will never forget.

We said goodbye to our hosts and had a calm trip back to telegraph cove, where the group had lunch together. We then parted ways and Paul and I headed to Port McNeill for the night.

The next day we took a bus to Campbell River. I spent the whole time looking for bears because a taxi driver had told us that he often saw them on the side of the road. We then picked up a hire care – an absolute beast of a truck – and drove to Tofino, a picturesque town on the west coast of Vancouver Island.

Tofino is a popular little town surrounded by rainforest, wild surf beaches on one side and calm inlets on the other side, in the Clayoquot Sound. We stayed in an AirBnB that had a lounge and kitchenette, a hot tub and amazing views over the water. As well as a delicious breakfast, including pastries fresh from the bakery!

We spent our time doing lots of little rainforest and beach trails. I also got two yoga classes in and Paul some running.

It was quite foggy most days. Our host told us that they called it Fogust instead of August. It was incredible to watch it slowly creep in towards us. So we would be on the beach but not really able to see the water unless we walked right up to the edge. But we did also get some clear afternoons and fabulous sunsets.

Now, by this point we had been in Canada for two and a half weeks and had not seen a bear. Back when we were in Banff, Paul said he wanted to see a bear while we were out walking. I said “careful what you wish for” to which he exclaimed “I DO wish for bears!”. So we were pretty keen, and decided to book a bear watching trip.

We went out on a boat with 10 other people and cruised the inlets at low tide when the bears come to the water’s edge looking for crabs. We were delighted to see several bears, with glossy black coats, foraging amongst the rocks. They were not at all bothered by the boat, and as they were right on the water’s edge, we were able to get way closer than you would ever want to get to a bear on land. We could hear him pick up rocks and put them back down. Some birds followed behind, opportunistically riding on the bear’s efforts. At one point a bird got too close to the bear (or to his crab) and the bear quickly turned and snapped grumpily at the bird, who hopped back in a hurry. Another memorable experience.

Later that morning as we were driving down the highway, a black bear ran across the road in front of us. He leaped the concrete barricades and ran into the rainforest. We couldn’t believe our eyes. Paul remarked “Nearly three weeks without a single bear, we pay $250 to go and see them, an hour later one crosses the road in front of us.”

On our way out of Tofino we went for a beautiful walk in Ucluelet called the Wild Pacific Trail. The trail wasn’t wild – it was well maintained in amongst the rainforest – so I think the reference was to the Pacific Ocean being wild, because that’s what the walk overlooks. All along this coast are piles of massive pieces of driftwood. I’m talking logs that you could build a house with!

We spent our final evening at Nanoose Bay. My old housemate in Banff, Susan, and her husband JB, own a trailer there, and kindly offered it to us.

The best bit was that Susan and JB were there too, as it’s a long weekend in Canada. So we got to have breakfast with them on our final day in Canada on the final day of Summer. Then Paul and I made our way from Vancouver Island to the airport in Vancouver via ferry, bus and sky train.

As usual, I think I spent more time planning this trip than I actually spent on the trip itself, but it was worth it. We have had a wonderful time, seen so much, had amazing experiences with nature and wildlife, caught up with old friends and made new ones. This visit has only reconfirmed my love of Canada and I am already dreaming about when I can visit again.

 

Canada Pt 2 – the Yukon

The second part of our Canadian trip was in Yukon for the North American Orienteering Championships. Paul and I flew from Calgary – Vancouver – Whitehorse, arriving late afternoon. There were a number of other orienteers on the small plane to Whitehorse, including one that Paul knew.

Whitehorse is the capital city of Yukon, a northern territory of Canada. The Yukon has a population of just 38,670 and about 75% of them live in Whitehorse. Whitehorse was a gold rush town at the very end of the 1800s, and is now famous for the Yukon Quest, considered the hardest dog sled race in the world.

The buildings are low lying, only 2 or 3 stories, and there are rolling hills around the city which can be seen above the roof tops. The Yukon River is green, wide, and fast flowing. And very cold!

We are staying in a slightly dodgy 2-star motel downtown. I chose it because I wanted somewhere with a kitchen so that I could cook some meals, and this was about the only option. On Friday evening we had our first home-cooked meal since leaving home – Paul cooked whilst I did a load of washing. The joys of domesticity whilst traveling!

Our “Family Room” is like a small one-bedroom apartment, so it also meant that we had room on the fold out couch for Paul’s long-time friend Rob, who was also here for the North American Orienteering Championships.

On Saturday Paul headed off to his first orienteering event whilst I wandered along the river and checked out a local museum. We met up in the afternoon and headed to Miles Canyon for a scenic walk along the cliff edge. We returned to town for a drink in a saloon-like bar called Dirty Northern before Paul picked Rob up from the airport.

Miles Canyon

On Sunday whilst Paul and Rob were orienteering, I took a day tour to Skagway, Alaska. I had visited here on a cruise ship about 20+ years ago. The tour was partially done by bus and partially by vintage train. The scenery was quite stunning.

Thankfully, NOT one of the bridges we crossed

For those who know some of my travel history, you will recall that I have had many mishaps, misadventures and inconveniences. Yet never with Paul, who I consider to be my lucky travel charm. Well, of course, he wasn’t with me on this tour. Which should have made me nervous.

I had been told to get an I-94, a visa required when you enter the USA by road rather than air. By getting it online the night before, I was told that I would get through customs and immigration in 2 minutes rather than 20.

Whilst on the train, we were told the process regarding the immigration officers coming onboard to check our passports. It seemed ridiculously draconian – cease conversation, remove all hats and glasses, hold your passport in your left hand next to your face, and have your finger in the page where your last entry stamp to the US appears.

For the Americans and Canadians on board, it was a quick process. Then the customs officer got to me. My last entry stamp was from June last year, and the stamp only lasts 3 months. Apparently, that wasn’t recent enough, so he pocketed my passport and told me he would “see me at the end”. There wasn’t much other information given, and he continued to make his way through the train – with my passport! I really didn’t want to be in the USA without my passport, needless to say.

There was one other Australian and 3 Kiwis from my bus in the same predicament, as well as some other non-North Americans. We were directed to a little hut and stood for ages in a queue. Meanwhile our bus driver took the rest of the group into the heart of Skagway. Of course, the computer system in the little hut decided to crash at that moment, and our bus driver (who had since returned to collect us) was told to drive us back up the highway to the main check point.

Fortunately, the Border Cop was a lovely guy who was very apologetic, and he processed us as quickly as possible beneath a beaming photo of President Trump. All of this rigmarole for what was now to be a 30-minute visit into the United States! So I had a speed-tour of Skagway before getting back on the bus for the return drive to Whitehorse. I met Paul and Rob at the pub for dinner where we exchanged tales of the day.

The next day I did some yoga in the morning and then headed out for coffee whilst Paul and Rob went orienteering. We met for lunch and then headed to a wildlife preserve. We have not seen any wildlife bigger than a hare on this trip (which was spotted in downtown Calgary) so I wanted to make sure I saw some even if they weren’t in the wild. We wandered the 5km loop around the property and saw mule deer, caribou, elk, thin horn sheep, mountain goats, an arctic fox, and my favourite, two female moose. One of which was lying so close to the fence that I could hear her breathe.

Caribou – the only ungulate where both males and females have antlers

Female moose

Just down the road were some outdoor hot springs, so we soaked in them for a while before heading back to our room for dinner.

Paul’s final day of orienteering was at a little village called Carcross, short for Caribou Crossing. It’s a cute little village with great First Nations art and some gift shops.

I hung out at the village and watched the orienteers run around looking for controls. One of the shopkeepers was highly amused by the whole scene. Apparently none of the shopkeepers had been told this event was happening, and suddenly their village was swarming with people in shiny fabric, heads buried in maps and slightly bemused looks on their faces as they raced in between the shops.

Once the event was over we had lunch there and then went for a scenic drive back to Whitehorse. I went to a yoga class in the evening while the boys rested, and then we had our final dinner together in Whitehorse.

Canada – week 1

Thirteen years after I last visited Canada, Paul and I landed in Vancouver for a three week visit that will take in the Rockies, the Yukon, and the Island.

Out first two days were spent in Vancouver, catching up with friends and doing lots of walking. Paul set an intention of walking at least 20,000 steps per day. I declined to commit, instead saying I would walk as few or as many steps as were required to see and do what I wanted to do.

I caught up with Katherine, who used to work at World Vision with me, a Vancouver native. It was great to get a local perspective on the city. It was also good to be driven around by Katherine for a few hours so we could grill her about the road rules in preparation for picking up a hire car.

 
We had dinner with Michael, a dear friend from my year living in Banff. It has been 13 years since we saw each other so we had a lot to catch up on. I told Mike I was old and boring now, to which he laughed that he had travelled to Mexico with me and that I was definitely not boring. I had to remind him that what goes on tour stays on tour.

 
Our next two days were spent driving from Vancouver to Lake Louise. Unfortunately, with literally hundreds of fires burning in British Columbia alone, the air is thick with smoke haze. On the highways we caught glimpses of imposing mountains, but much of the drive was a white-out, as if we were in a fog.

 
We stayed at a traditional B&B on Shuswap Lake in Sicamous on the way. Meant to be the houseboat capital of Canada but there weren’t too many boats on the lake – well if there were I wouldn’t have seen them anyway.

From Shuswap Lake we stopped at a waterfall, and then I spotted a sign to a wolf sanctuary that I had been to with Sharon and Justin in 2005. Paul didn’t want to go in – he’s afraid of dogs so apparently wolves were next level! I recall that I paid a fair bit of money in 2005 to have my photo taken with a wolf, which enabled me to pat him. I can’t remember exactly what I paid but it’s now $380 so I just paid the $12 to look at them in their enclosures and hear the conservation talk. Sadly, it’s legal to kill any wolf found outside a national park. Apparently the Canadian Government is culling wolves in order to protect a dwindling caribou population. Which has led to situations where hundreds of wolves have been killed in a park that sustains only 3 female caribou. Seems kind of crazy.

We walked around Emerald Lake which was a short and pleasant stroll around a stunningly clear lake. Visibility was pretty good here so we could see the surrounding mountains.

We arrived at Lake Louise late in the afternoon. We briefly went down to the lake, and then took a picnic dinner down to Moraine Lake, which is one of my favourites.

The long summer days keep confusing me, as I think it’s around 7 or 8pm when it’s actually 10pm. Which leads to actions like ordering dessert at 10pm at night before you realise the time.

We got up early and went back to Lake Louise itself, and hiked up the Plain of 6 Glaciers to a swiss style tea house. Apparently they do two food drops by helicopter each (summer) season. And we happened to be there for the second one. It was quite fascinating to watch. 

We had hot chocolate at the tea house and then sat and contemplated the glaciers. Again, we had good visibility, so the views were spectacular. Thankfully, we beat most of the crowds who were heading up the path by the time we were coming down.


We headed into Banff, where it was starting to get hazy again. But as soon as I caught my first glimpse of Rundle Mountain, tears sprang to my eyes. So many memories, such a significant period of my life spent in this town.

There are a few new buildings, but the town is largely unchanged from when I lived there. It is the peak of the busy summer season, and there are people and cars everywhere. I was reminded of how frustrated I used to get trying to run an errand down Banff Avenue and having to dodge tourists who would stop obliviously in the middle of the path.

Once again, we did a lot of walking – along Bow River, out to Vermilion Lakes, up Tunnel Mountain. We had a drink at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, a place that taps into every girl’s childhood fantasy of being a princess. Paul went mountain biking, I did a yoga class. We had dinner with my old housemate Susan and her husband JB, which was fabulous to catch up. I also saw some of my old workmates who still live in Banff. We spent our final evening soaking in the outdoor hot springs.





It was a different experience to be there as a tourist, of course. But I still felt a strong connection to the mountains around me.

Road trip – Cradle Mountain

Our final stop was Cradle Mountain. We were booked to stay in a 6 bunk cabin to ourselves.  The Waldheim Cabins are deep inside the park, which meant that we could drive into the park rather than wait for shuttle buses. The place was packed, and Paul and I vowed once again to avoid travelling in the Christmas school holidays.

Wombat central

 

We decided to stretch our legs after the long drive and go for a walk. I was particularly excited about this part of our trip for the wildlife possibilities. Almost immediately we saw pademelons and later wallabies, so the kids were excited. Then we saw a wombat right next to the track. Some stupid tourist was patting it, but I didn’t say anything. I had told some people off for feeding wallabies at Wineglass Bay, which didn’t go down well. Bloody mainlanders.

The weather was a little drizzly and foggy, but it was still spectacular. Paul and I did a longer and slightly harder route to Dove Lake and eventually we all met back at our cabin for dinner.

A gloomy looking Cradle Mountain

The next morning, we walked the Dove Lake circuit. It was a stunning day, hot and blue sky. I am really glad we got up early to do it, because the area filled up pretty quickly.  In contrast to the gloom of the afternoon before, the sun brought out the best in Cradle Mountain and Dove Lake.

Before all of the tourists

Note that Stella is refusing to look at the camera. Stella is not a morning person.

Stunning, stunning, stunning

The quintessential shot

We had lunch at the Cradle Mountain Tavern, and then Stefan and the kids drove back to the cabin whilst Paul, Tiina and I walked the board walk back. We were stoked to spot an echidna on the way.

In the early evening we went out wombat spotting again, and I have decided they are my favourite Australian animal. One wombat was running around like he was crazy – apparently he was being chased by a bee.

The next day we drove home to Kettering for the Swede’s final night with us. I decided to dig out all of the letters Tiina had sent me from our letter writing days. I was surprised that I had even kept the little slip of paper that I was first sent her address on. I was even more surprised that we started writing at 17, as I thought we had started earlier.

Tiina was quite mortified at what her 17 year old self had written but I found it entertaining, We then spent a great deal of time trying to work out how many times I had visited her in Sweden. (Four).

The next day we had to say our goodbyes, which was really sad. Apparently Stella cried as soon as I left. I miss them. Until next time we meet again, Tiina, Stefan, Fabian and Stella! xxx

Road Trip – Legana and Launceston

It’s almost autumn so I had better finish my summer holiday road trip blog!

Paul and Stefan left St Helen’s early, as they were going to stop at Derby and do some mountain biking along the way. Tiina and the kids and I finished packing up the house and ambled on after them.

Although I hadn’t driven the road inland from St Helens to Launceston for 10 years, I remembered that it was quite winding. Apple maps suggested driving back down south and then up the midland highway would be faster, but I hate back tracking. I want to see new scenery!

We took it slowly, and made our first stop at the Pyengana cheese factory. Tiina and I shared a cheese platter and the kids had milkshakes – apparently very sweet ones! (Fabulous cheese, I highly recommend this stop).

Once we continued on our way, it didn’t take long before Stella said she didn’t feel well. Tiina kept advising the kids to look ahead, in an attempt to stave off the car sickness. I remembered that I had a stash of clear plastic sleeves under my seat – from when I delivered census forms 18 months ago – and suggested that Stella have one of those at the ready. Glad I did, because the poor thing didn’t keep her milkshake down for long. (I knew the sleeves would come in handy one day!)

Once we stopped, got out for some air and let a few minutes pass, she felt better. On our onward journey Stella apparently was analyzing the experience, telling Fabian how many times she vomited. Thankfully it was in Swedish so I didn’t have to listen (poor Tiina did though).

As we approached Derby, my phone had zero reception and I had no idea how we were going to meet up with Paul and Stefan. But as we drove down the main street, we spotted them sitting out the front of a restaurant eating pizza. They went off and did one final ride whilst we had our turn eating pizza (Stella had her appetite back!).

Pizza stop

Mountain biking led revival

That night we stayed at a home in Legana, just outside of Launceston. The house overlooked a paddock with a horse and across to the Tamar River. It was a really picturesque spot.

The next morning, Tiina, Stefan and I did some yoga whilst Paul went off mountain biking around Launceston. Then we met up with him and spent the day at Cataract Gorge. It was really hot, so we did a walk of the gorge and then enjoyed swimming in the pool and relaxing under the trees. We saw tiny little pademelons, plenty of peacocks, and went on the chairlift. A full day out!

 

Road Trip – St Helens and Bay of Fires

We left Swansea and headed to Bicheno, where we stopped to view the Blow Hole. I had forgotten how stunning Bicheno is. We went for a lovely walk along the rocks, and were rewarded at the Blow Hole with a view of dolphins swimming past.

Just outside of Bicheno is a fantastic wildlife park, called Nature World. As we arrived, we ran into my Melbourne friends Kendra and Sean. They and their children had visited Paul and I the week before, and when we realised that we would be road tripping along the same route, we agreed that we would stay in touch and arrange to meet up. We needn’t have worried about making plans, as first we ran into them on the walk to the Wineglass Bay lookout, and now this was the second time we had a brief, unplanned catch up.

We stayed at the park for a couple of hours. We watched the Tasmanian Devils being fed, were able to pat a baby wombat, and saw various quolls.

We then drove on to our next house outside St Helens, where was much panic among the Swedes upon discovery of a Huntsman spider. This was our base for exploring the Bay of Fires and Binalong Bay, which we did whilst Paul checked out the Blue Derby (mountain bike) trails.

Another stunning part of the world! We met up with Kendra and Sean and their kids Finley and Patrick, and visited a few different beaches. We had a picnic on the white sand. I enjoyed seeing 6 year old Stella and 3 year old Finley playing together in the sand – again, language no barrier.

 

Road Trip – Swansea and Freycinet

Our road trip started on New Year’s Eve. As there were 6 of us, we needed 2 cars. Paul and Stefan went together and I took Tiina and the kids. We also had my new mascot, Moomin, a gift from Tiina in honour of her Finnish ancestry.

Moomin enjoying the view. Photo courtesy of Tiina

Our first stop was to visit my sister Ali and family at Orford. We hung out on the beach, but there was rain threatening and a cool breeze. Stefan and Fabian went for a swim, but they were the only ones. This would be a recurring theme of the trip.

We had rented a lovely AirBnB in Swansea. We briefly explored the beach in the late afternoon, and then settled into our home for a quiet night in. We cooked a BBQ and ate on the balcony, which overlooked the water towards Freycinet National Park.

We spent the evening watching the ABC, which had a Countdown retrospective – so a great opportunity for the Swedes to get a taste of old school Aussie artists, not to mention a chance for me to explain the concept of a bogan.

I was in the mood for dancing, but only 6 year old Stella would join me. This was the beginning of our bonding. We don’t speak the same language, but that didn’t prevent me from teaching her the Nutbush. By the end of the evening we were inseparable.

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We got up early on New Year’s Eve – easier for those who went to bed before midnight. Paul left the house about an hour or so before the rest of us, as he wanted to walk the longer circuit to Wineglass Bay.

The walk to Wineglass Bay is reasonably steep and it was hot. The kids were enthralled with the very tame wallabies along the way – one even allowed a little pat. We took some photos (I got the obligatory yoga shots) and walked down to Wineglass Bay where we met Paul.

It was as spectacular as I remembered – white sand, turquoise water, orange lichen on the rocks. Everyone had a swim here, it was glorious.

P

The walk back was even steeper, and I was super impressed with Stella, whose little legs ploughed on without complaint – she was motivated by ice cream.

We had a late lunch back at Coles Bay, a brief stop to look at Friendly Beaches and then drove back to our house in Swansea for a much earlier night. Stefan and Tiina made us a traditional Swedish dinner of meatballs and potatoes, which was delicious.

Road Tripping Day 0

The first full day of our time together was not technically part of our road trip, as we left from home and returned to home in the same day. So Day 0 was a day trip to Bruny Island. In truth it was a terrible day to go to Bruny – rain and high winds forecast – but it was the only day we had to go there.

Paul stayed home to get some gardening done so the 5 of us got up early to avoid the ferry queue. (Another reason it was a bad day to go to Bruny – the week between Christmas and New Year is Bruny’s busiest week, and unless you join the queue by 8.15am you will end up 2kms down Channel Highway).

The crossing was reasonably smooth, so far the weather was ok. As the forecast was for the weather to be worse in the morning and then improve, my strategy was to drive all the way to the bottom tip to visit the light house, thereby spending most of the morning in the car and staying dry. The other good part of this strategy is that everyone else gets straight off the boat and goes to either the oyster farm or the cheese factory, which meant that very few cars accompanied us.

It was a bit drizzly and the wind was picking up, but we walked the short distance up to the lighthouse. It was bitterly cold and the wind was so strong up the top that we were almost blown to Antarctica. So it was a quick photo stop and we made it back to the lighthouse cottages just before the rain really kicked in.

Next stop was Adventure Bay, where the kids tested the water before the rain started again. The rest of the trip was the usual gourmand tour of the island: raspberry farm for scones with jam and cream, fudge, cheese and bread etc. We also did the obligatory 200 steps at the Neck to Truganini lookout, and again nearly got blown off the island in the process.

Almost every time I take visitors to Bruny it rains. So maybe don’t go with me.

The first of many selfies

Fabian at Adventure Bay

Getting blown off the Neck

Fabian and Stella

 

Pen Pals

When I was in High School, there was a pen pal scheme, where you could pay $1.20 to get a name of someone in a far away country to write to. You were able to choose gender, age, country and possibly interests.

I paid for 4 names. Even then I must have been a planner, for I chose countries that I thought I might like to visit: Sweden, Belgium, USA and Jamaica. The pen pal relationship with the latter two girls fizzled out during high school, but nearly 30 years later and I am still in contact with my pen pals from Sweden (Tiina) and Belgium (Cindy).

Of course, our penmanship over the years has evolved from actual letters, with stamps and “Air Mail” logos, to email, and now to Facebook & Messenger. I have met my Belgian pen pal, Cindy twice, when I visited her whilst backpacking around Europe in 1995 and again in 2005 when I was on a round-the-world trip. And I have been fortunate enough to visit Tiina in Sweden four times – on the same two backpacking trips in ’95 and ’05, but also in 2000 when I took advantage of a work trip to the UK, and for a weekend in 2011 whilst Paul was orienteering in Finland.

Visiting the Ice Bar in Stockholm, 2005

However I have waited for nearly 30 years for the opportunity to show Australia to Tiina. Just over a year ago, Tiina contacted me to say that she and her family – husband Stefan, son Fabian (10) and daughter Stella (6) – were planning on coming to Australia at the end of 2017. I immediately said that she must come to Tasmania and that we would go on a road trip.

I have progressively been planning the road trip and booking accommodation throughout the year, and getting more and more excited. Finally, on December 29, “the Swedes” as I call them collectively, arrived in Hobart after making their way down the East Coast of Australia. I actually had tears in my eyes when they walked into the arrivals area, I was so excited.

The Swedes arrive for our 2017/2018 adventure

Tiina and I just spent 15 minutes as I write this trying to recall exactly how many times I have visited her and in which years. So in order not to forget these precious memories so easily, I am going to blog about our 2018 road trip.

EDIT: This blog has been edited since digging through my old letters and finding the first letter from Tiina. I was quite surprised that we started writing at 16 – I thought it was around 12. Rereading the old letters with her was hilarious, but more about that in a later post.

The Third Act (NZ part 3)

From Hokitika (where we couldn’t get into any restaurants so bought food from the supermarket and made use of our hot plate and microwave) we drove across the South Island. We headed through the Marlborough wine growing region, which looked magnificent with the varying shades of autumn on all the vines. Some of my favourite brands of Sauvignon Blanc are grown here so we made a few stops.

We spent the night in Picton before heading off on our next four day hike in the Queen Charlotte Sound. Unlike the Milford Track, this time we were staying in hotels along the way, and were having our packs transported by boat whilst we walked.

This part of New Zealand had copped a lot of rain recently, so the first day was quite muddy. I was glad for my new hiking pole! The first day was only around 7km, so we arrived at our first hotel in plenty of time to crack the bottle of sav blanc I had purchased at a winery, together with some cheese and crackers. I would never have justified the weight of a bottle of wine if I was carrying my pack, so this was decadent.

The second day was largely along the edge of the coast. Even though there was some up and down, including a reasonably steep climb, it wasn’t a taxing day. The company that we booked through provided a packed lunch each day, which was always a highlight!

On the second night we stayed at a resort complex where we hired a kayak and went for a paddle around the cove. The resort had a clifftop hot tub that was open to anyone, so we made good use of that.

Clare had warned me about day three: 24kms of relentless up and down. Given that my knees were already still feeling sensitive, I opted to take the water taxi instead. This meant that Paul could run it, not slowed down by me.

It was meant to take 8 hours for the average walker, and due to the short days at this time of year, most people were out early. I got to take my time, have a latte, and wait for my water taxi. The trip was very scenic, with some spectacular homes perched on cliff faces.

I had the resort to myself, overlooking the water. The sun was streaming onto the balcony so I took my time unpacking wet shoes and bathers to dry out, inspecting the room, putting the wine and cheese in the fridge etc. I had been there about 15 minutes when there was a knock at the door: Paul had made it in under 3 hours! Hours later we saw fellow walkers dribble in. One group, a mother with her two young adult daughters, took over 13 hours, so I was very happy I had made the decision to catch the boat.

I was anxious about the final day – no doddle at 20kms with a steep uphill climb and a longer descent. There was a low lying fog, but the weather was warm and sunny, so once we reached the peak the fog had cleared and the views were superb.

We had a lot of different vegetation and scenery as we passed through farmland, beech forest, and along the water’s edge. My knees held up ok, and we made it in pretty good time. We and the rest of the group were waiting for the boat to collect us, and were all slightly worried about the three women who had struggled the day before. They made it with 15 minutes to spare and were very relieved. They said they had barely stopped for lunch, photos or toilet breaks!

Our final night was in Picton, and the next morning we flew to Wellington. I had a day there, so we wandered around the town and checked out the botanical gardens. Then Paul and I departed separately – me back to Australia and Paul on to Auckland for the World Masters’ Games.

In summary, it was a wonderful trip in a spectacular country. Not physically relaxing but certainly mentally relaxing and wonderful to spend solid quality time together.