Our first day in Queenstown wasn't good for skiing, so we explored the town and went ice skating at the local rink, which was fun! Queenstown is nice and the views are awesome.
Lunch at a cafe
These are the blueberry pancakes I ordered!
Katie's first time skating -- she was a pro.
(Of course, I was also really amazing. Sometimes, I skate on just one foot.)
Mark and Heather, having a ride
Cameron practiced his hockey stopping
Then we headed back to the house for dinner - -Katie made delicious pasta, and Cameron made his specialty, chocolate pudding. "Pudding" here is nothing like pudding at home. It's more like a moist, spongy cake that has an under-layer of thick saucy stuff. The chocolate pudding is amazing, so Cam said I could share the recipe (below). The best part is, I finally understand this children's book we used to have, The Magic Pudding. My aunt and uncle gave us this book when we were kids, and it's about a bunch of Australian characters and their adventures involving a self-regenerating chocolate pudding called Albert. Here's what Albert looks like:
(He's grumpy)
I never could figure out why pudding looked so solid and kind of crusty. But it really does look like that.
(Minus the arms and legs)
It is amazingly good
Cam's Chocolate Pudding:
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. In a good sized mixing bowl, combine...cream about 3 Tbsp butter with 1/2 cup superfine sugar. Then add 1 egg (lightly beaten). In a separate bowl, 1 cup self-rising flour and 2 tsp cocoa powder. Gradually fold the dry mixture along with 1/2 cup of milk into the butter/sugar mixture (alternate between adding the milk and the dry mixture). Meanwhile, have your assistant prepare the saucy part -- in a smallish mixing bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar (regular or brown) with 1 tbsp cocoa powder. Then add 1and 1/4 cup boiling water. Whisk vigorously. Finally, join forces with your assistant; gently pour the cake/pudding batter into a deep baking dish. Very carefully, pour the saucy liquid part on top of the pudding. Be careful not to break the batter -- the liquid should sit on top of the batter. A trick is to use a spoon to pour the liquid in along the interior side of the dish. I guess the sauce on top helps to create the moist texture of the pudding. Then, put the whole thing in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Make sure your baking dish is large enough, because the pudding rises. You might even want to put a tray underneath for any drips. Serve warm with ice cream or something.
One last pic, for those who like larger portions :)
But we had a very scenic drive from Christchurch (where we landed) to Queenstown (where we're skiing). It was about 7 hours driving toward the Southern Alps through foothills and sheep/cattle country. Also, Lord of the Rings country. We may have driven past Mordor....
Leaving Christchurch...
Heather, me, and Katie
View of the mountains as we drive (convoy!)
I call this one 'Mountains With Lake'
'Lake With Mountains'
'Foothills of Twizel'
'The Sun Also Sets'
'Shiny!'
We, finally arrived in Queenstown, which seems really fun. We're all looking forward to skiing in the morning. (Conditions look okay, despite no recent snow.) But for now, we're all just enjoying the awesome "holiday house" we're staying in, Dart Haven.
I still have to catch up on the end of our trip to the coast, too:
After leaving Bimbi Park, we stopped for a delicious brunch in a coastal town called Lorne -- in Australia, it's standard to have your eggs with buttered toast, bacon, and roasted tomatoes, among other things. I LOVE the roasted tomatoes because they are delicious. Why don't we do this in America? I have no pictures from the restaurant, but I do have one of a breakfast my Aunt made, which was probably even better. Also, everyone is constantly having hot tea or some other "hot drink". Awesome.
Following along the Great Ocean Road, we stopped at Aireys Inlet to see Split Point Lighthouse. We also stopped at Barwon Heads, where my aunt, uncle and cousins vacation every year. We walked around the tidal pools and found some shells and climbed up to the bluff before heading back North. We dropped Cam in Geelong and then drove back up to Melbourne to catch Jack before he left for his formal.
Cam is leaning on a lighthouse
I hold it delicately from the roof
View of the coastline from Aireys Inlet
Searching (unsuccessfully) for crabs and stuff
Doesn't Jack look sharp and fresh? I think he's a very pretty lady... :)
Below this post, please find some thrilling footage of koalas -- I finally got some time to clip it up into a little video.
But first: We made it to New Zealand! We left Melbourne at around noon (Sunday), after some significant delays with customs and check-in. The system had no record of my ETA, which is the electronic record giving me approval to enter or re-enter Australia. Since NZ is very strict about their borders, they wouldn't let me in unless they could be sure that I could leave again, so they nearly had me buy a one-way ticket from NZ to the US, but I was able to hunt down the ETA online, thanks to Heather's iPhone. Meanwhile, poor Heather was held up for a different reason. She is a dual citizen of the US and Australia, but her Australian passport is expired, so she was traveling under her US one, and there was concern that Australia might not let her back in. Anyway, it was all cleared up and we eventually left for NZ.
First view of Southern Alps from the plane
Salt map of New Zeala -- oh, no! It's REAL!
(See? I'm on a plane.)
Flying into NZ we had AMAZING views of the Southern Alps of NZ's South Island. I took some pretty pics from the plane window, but I'll have to stick them online later b/c this connection isn't very fast.
From left: Mark, Heather, Aunt Kim, Uncle Trevor, Cameron, me, and Katie
We had a nice dinner at a Thai place which played smooth jazz covers of outdated hits and then settled in for the night. Tomorrow we head toward Queenstown for skiing and more!
Now, on to the koala stuff from last Wed/Thurs.... (I am way behind!)
We saw (at least) four koalas while we were at Bimbi Park in Cape Otway (Victoria). They were hanging out in the Manna gum (eucalyptus) trees above our cabin, and we spotted some around dusk when they were first waking up and having some leaves for breakfast. (You'll see that some of our video clips are in amazing night-vision, since they sun had gone down...Thanks to my Aunt Kim's awesome video camera!) We saw them again the next morning, mostly sleeping at that point, though one did wake himself up as he almost fell from his tree :)
In the video, you will see that the first koala spotting was sort of an unexpected surprise. Also, at around 1:40 to 1:45 minutes, listen closely and you will hear the laughing sounds of the kookaburras!
We left the Grampians on Wednesday morning to head down toward the coast. I was up early to make apfelpfannkuchen (otherwise known as pannekuchenhaus) for breakfast. :) Even Cameron, who claimed he "could not be satisfied" was completely full. Haha!
We all had pfannkuchen babies...
Then we packed up the car and headed South toward Timboon, hoping for cheese. Sadly, the cafe in Timboon was mostly closed for the season, so we stopped in Port Campbell instead for chips (french fries) and vanilla slices. *Vanilla slices are not something I've encountered in the US. They're a sort of thin pastry crust, layered with thick vanilla custard, topped with another layer of pastry and then icing, then cut into squares like a bar cookie. These desserts (charmingly known as "snot blocks" because of what happens when you bite into one) are a delicacy here, and it turns out that they make the best ones in Hall's Gap, so we grabbed some as we headed out of town.
This part of the coast is evidently pretty treacherous and has a fairly dramatic history of shipwrecks. I learned about a few, including the tragic tale of Loch Ard Gorge. (What the Wikipedia entry doesn't mention is the role of a beautiful ceramic peacock...if you are curious, I'll tell you the more complete story.)
We finally reached the coast and the Great Ocean Road, which runs all along the coast. First stop was the Twelve Apostles -- really beautiful limestone pillars formed from the erosion of the coastline.
The Twelve Apostles along the Southeastern coast of Australia (view to the West)
More Apostles (view to the East)
And more of the Apostles
We followed the winding Great Ocean Road East along the coast, heading toward our next stop, Cape Otway. (I have some awesome vids coming up, but for now, I am going to bed. I have to be up early to tag along while my uncle takes the dog to the vet and the kennel in preparation for our New Zealand trip. Then, catch Cam's football game in Geelong and get back to Melbourne for a professional AFL game: Essendon vs. Geelong. Go Cats!)
PS: You might have noticed that I am going nuts with the hyperlinks. But Wikipedia is awesome. What did we do without it?
Day two in Hall's Gap was spent hiking. For those who are interested, we had crumpets for breakfast, which are awesome. I've found them at home at Trader Joe's, and they are delicious with butter and honey or jam. Sorry, no pics.
So, after crumpets and tea, we took a drive up to the northern part of the Grampians range. We walked the Beehive Falls trail and then continued on the Briggs Bluff trail. Beehive Falls was very pretty and not a hard walk. About 1.4 km. Briggs Bluff was a little more strenuous...here's the park's description:
Beehive Falls
Elevation Change: 419 metres Grade: hard Warning: Do not embark on this walk on a misty day, when visibility near cliffs is poor. This walk, suitable for fit and energetic walkers, can involve water crossings, slippery track surfaces, rock hopping and rock-scrambling. From Beehive Falls, the track immediately becomes steeper. An unrelenting scramble over steep slopes and rock outcrops brings you to a plateau with splendid views. The track, flanked by low vegetation, then cuts a large arc across the plateau to the base of an imposing cliff line. Signs and track markers guide you on a steady climb through massive boulders and over windswept terraces to the summit. The view from the plummeting cliff edge is unrivaled.
In total, it was about a 5 hour walk and about 8 km. Really beautiful and crazy views. Also pretty challenging. The pics don't really do it justice, but it was definitely steep and not at all relenting.
Me smirking over the Northern Grampians
Cam and Aunt Kim under a cool rock. (I later climbed this rock and have video...)
Cameron: King of the Mountain
Heather, Cam, and Aunt Kim under another giant rock
View of the trail as we head back down. I was walking just behind/above the rest of the group, so you can see the steepness of this "rock scramble"
Sorry, we just returned from the trip to the Grampians and along the coast, where we didn't really have access to internet. So, I'll try to catch up on posting pics tonight and tomorrow.
The drive from Melbourne to the Grampians was only about 3 hours, and it took us through Ballarat and Ararat (both areas known for their history as gold-panning destinations). Evidently, you can still pan for gold there today, but we decided not to. Instead, we had lunch in Ararat (meat pies!) and moved on.
We got into Hall’s Gap with enough time to check out our “cabin” and take a hike before sundown. Unfortunately, Aunt Kim had left her bag in Ararat, so she went back for it while Cam, Heather, and I set out. We didn't want to get caught on top of a mountain after dark, so we decided to do a shorter walk along the creek, which actually turned into more of a wildlife safari. We saw and heard a few kookaburras, some rosellas, 11 emus, countless kangaroos, and even a wallaby.
My first kangaroo sighting! They are crazy cute and the ones I saw weren't very shy. We saw lots later (whole mobs), and I hope to get some awesome videos up here soon. We think they must be Eastern Grey kangaroos.
The beautiful cabin, with part of the Grampians in the background
The first emu we saw. Heather and Cam were both surprised that we saw one. (Note the kangaroo hanging out in the background.)
But then we saw a whole flock of them.
And as we walked on, this little guy was blocking our path. You can't tell, but he's smaller than the kangaroos were, and obviously has different coloring. Heather and Cam said "wallaroo". My uncle says its a wallaby. My aunt and I looked it up and I think it must be the elusive Swamp Wallaby...
Heather got a pic of these pretty rosellas right outside the cabin window.
After our walk, Cam started a fire in the wood-burning stove and Heather figured out how to turn on the fan so that it actually warmed us. And Kim and I put together some dinner, including delicious biryani. She was even wearing her "Biryani Baby" t-shirt (Thanks, KC!). We were all too tired to do much more. Cam and Heather both fell asleep in front of the fire. (How did I fail to get a picture of that!?)
*Edit: Silly Eric and "Obree" -- Biryani is not an interesting Australian dish. It's Indian and delicious and you can get it in Boston or Ohio (or most other places, including Bangor, Maine). Sadly, I have no pic b/c we just attacked it like starving animals. However, there are some nice food pics coming up. I'm not completely useless.
