An Aussie Christmas.........

It was a glorious hot day when we arrived in Sydney Airport.  After we got our hiking boots and tent checked, we were picked up by Gillian's relatives (including Mum Kathleen from Edinburgh) and whisked away to the City of Wollongong about an hour and a half drive south from Sydney.

The first activity an our busy Australia Calendar, was the Bellambi Bowling club Christmas Eve Sausage sizzle !!!!!!.  It was a hot day and we played for about 3 hours in the sun.  Respect to Bowlers !!!!

Fantastic Technique !!!!

Gillian lines one up.

Maybe not the most extreme of sports, but it certainly requires skill! A great welcome and good tips from the guys at the club.

Next day was Christmas Day - our first hot Christmas!!!!.  Started off by taking our hosts' (Gillian's cousin Angela and husband Steve) wee dog Sophie out for a Christmas walk.

Gillian and Sophie.

We were heading to Gillian's Auntie Anne for christmas dinner, so we rode there via a stop at Wollongong North beach for a dip.

Heading to the Beach.

Christmas day on Wollongong beach.

Christmas Dinner.

On Boxing day we met Gillian's other cousin Neil and their family for a Barbie and a day by the Pool.

Steve and Ange doing an Aussie Barbie.

Gillian's mum Kath tucks into her grub.

Fun in the Pool to end the day !!

Later in the week we took a trip into Sydney to see the sights.

Gillian, Kath and a Didgeridoo player !!

Dean down the Rocks.

We went to the Harbour Bridge to climb one of the pillars for some fantastic views of the city.....

Sydney Opera House.

Darling Harbour.

Sydney Harbour Bridge and climbers !!!!

Opera House close up.

Darling Harbour close up

Sydney Tower.

Harry's Cafe De Wheels, Home of the pie floater !!!

We caught up with fellow "CAACer" (member of Corstorphine Athletics club) Alex Cummings for a beer (or 10) and I snuck off for a boys night to watch the Sydney FC V Melbourne Heart football match at the Sydney Soccer stadium.  I was tempted to support the "Hearts" for obvious reasons, but I decided to go with the home team.  The Sydney Soccer Stadium is a crackin' wee stadium, 20,000 seater and the Sydney fans were in good form and had plenty of good songs.  However, the team did not live up to the fans expectations and were well and truly trounced by Melbourne 0 - 4.  As Alan Hansen would say "The Defending was shockin' ".  We did have a great stop behind the the goals and it was close to the bar !!!!

Corstorphine AAC reunion.

We are Sydney, We are Sydney !!!!!!

We also visited Cousin Neil and his wife Penny's house to see their wonderful garden where they grow much of their own fruit & veg and get eggs form their chickens and ducks.  We spent a lovely day with them,  with a tour of  their garden, and lots of lovely food!

Penny in the Garden.

Home grown Bananas.

Chooks !!!!

A Lovely Lunch.

Walk down by Lake Illawara.

Stormy Wollongong Harbour.

We had a fantastic Christmas visiting Gillian's Australian relatives.  The fun wasn't over yet as we still had New Year to come !!!!

NZ North Island.....Hot Water and Hobbits !!

Its maybe not fair to say we did a road trip of the North Island.  We only had 5 days, so we decided rather than to race round the whole island, we would focus on just a few places and do some activities.

The first day we drove from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula.  I'm told its a lovely drive, but it was raining cats and dogs, and not much visibility, so the scenery was not at its best. We drove up the west side of the peninsula and made it to the small town of Coromandel in the early evening, We then met up with a couple of friends from Scotland, Ian and Angela who were on christmas holidays in New Zealand.  We got the tent up while it was dry and then headed down into the town for some New Zealand "Fush N' Chups".

Fush n' chups with Ian and Angela.

The next day we planned to drive down the east ride of the peninsula to Hahei and Hot water beach.  Also the weather started to take a turn for the better.

Jumping for joy as the rain stops !!!!!

Finally shorts on at Coromandel !!

The first place we drove to was Hot Water beach.  You can take a spade and dig a hole in the sands to find some volcanically nice hot water.  However we got our tides wrong and missed the best spots.  However we did find a wee hole !!!!

Hot, Hot !!!!!!

The then drove through the town of Hahei, which was advertising some good looking Sea Kayaking trips to Cathederal Cove.  The weather was on the up, so why not !!!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit at Cathederal Cove (behind).

Ian and Angela paddling happily !!

Rescued from being capsized by a vicious wave while trying to land.

Sea Stack at Cathederal cove.

We really enjoyed the Kayaking and its something I would like to get into more when I get back to Scotland.

We then had a bit of a long drive inland to the town of Rototua.  Its a pretty amazing place, there is lots of thermal activity and geysers in the town.  We had a great campsite with natural underground heating.  We went to visit a Mauri village nearby which was a very interesting place.

Try pronouncing this place after a few beers !!!

Gillian and Angela meet the locals.

Dean and Ian do the Haka (badly !!)

Life in the Thermal village.

Village Lodge or Pare in Maori.

Maori Wood Carving.

Maori Wood Carving ( The tongue hanging out symbolizes a male).

Geyser lets off some steam !!!!

After the Maori village we went for a walk through the Redwood forest nearby.

Can't see the wood for the trees !!!!

Big Old Trees

Lovely trails through the woods.

In the evening we invited Ian and Angela around to our camp for a "Hangi" meal.  Hangi is a traditional Maori style of cooking where you use the thermal steam to cook your food.  It a great (free) way of cooking and your food is cooked to perfection.

Cooking Sweetcorn in the Hangi.

mmmmm yummeee !!!!

Another thermal beach at Rotorua !!!

We had such a good walk at the Redwood forest we though it would be a good idea to get down for a morning run. The 1st run we have done for about a month, a beautiful place for a spot of training !!!

CAAC vest seems a bit tighter than usual !!

CAAC NZ Training camp next year ?

The next day we parted company with Ian and Angela.  They were heading south toward Wellington and the South Island and we were headed north back to Auckland.  Obviously no self respecting Lord of the Rings fan could go to New Zealand miss a trip to Hobbiton, near the down of Matamata.  We had a fantastic afternoon on the tour there.  They had just finished filming for "The Hobbit", so the set was looking great.  It felt like a real Hobbit village and the attention to detail was incredible.  Unfortunately as the film is not due out till December 2012, we had to sign a form to declare that we would not publish any photo's on the internet.  So if you want to see our Hobbiton photo's you'll have to come round and visit us when we are home.  However here are a couple of sneak previews  :

Welcome to Hobbiton !!!

Gillian the Hobbit !!!! (Thats Bagend, Bilbo Baggins house on the hill under the tree).

After Hobbiton we camped at Te Ahroa, then drove back unto Auckland, were we had a final day in the city before flying to Australia.

Christmas in Auckland.

Nicos and Dean bake some Muffins !!!. (Nicos is an old snowboarding mate from my last trip to NZ).

Auckland by Night.

I really loved New Zealand a real "home from home" for a Scotsman.  If you love the outdoors there is lots to do in both winter and summer.  It's a place I know if will definitely return to one day.

Kia Ora New Zealand !!!!