2019 AU-NZ: Christchurch March 20

Upon arrival in New Zealand, we enjoyed a family visit with Granny Shirley's daughter, equestrian veterinarian Dawne Nairn (sister-in-law of sister Sonia; so, sister to brother-in-law Tim). Dawne shared many highlights to not miss on our south to north New Zealand tour. Granny Shirley will be in NZ with Dawne for the month of June, do Dawne has recently been thinking of her and her mom's south island tour, so had many super ideas for us. Early in the evening, at the airport, we picked up a car and phone sim card and then found our b&b accommodation. The b&b hosts Christine and Andrew are kind and have a beautiful home (and five grown children not at home, so room for guests!). They were headed out for the evening, so us going out to meet Dawne for a late dinner was timely.

In the morning March 20, we attended the Christchurch botanical gardens temporary memorial to the grieving communities as a result of the atrocities against the Muslim community on March 15. We were overwhelmed to see tens of thousands of flower bouquets, hand-made drawings and hearts, and written notes. Dawne had told us that everyone had been to the memorial. A gathering Maori group spontaneously sang a gentle song and performed a haka. We added two hearts to the memorial and then walked the rest of the morning in the botanical gardens while we spoke together about the world and celebrating the amazing diversity of people within it. As we walked, we saw streams of couples, moms and children and multi-generational family groups walking with bouquets to the memorial wall.

In the afternoon, we visited Akaroa, which was a suggestion of Dawne's. En route we stopped for a hilltop lunch and rest. In Akaroa, we visited another memorial to the Muslim community and walked the shoreline of this French settlement. The landscape of the peninsula around Akaroa is breathtaking and at one point we were so high on the caldera ridges of the ancient volcanoes that we were in the clouds.

2019 AU-NZ: Port Fairy & packing for NZ March 16-18

March 16 was a day in Port Fairy to scrub and re-pack our gear for our trip to New Zealand, especially to remove the tree sap off our tent ground sheet. We've heard stories of items confiscated due to foreign soil being in shoe sole crevices and on tent pegs and we don't wish to loose any gear due to carelessness.

At the Port Fairy Op Shop, we donated some bulky items (camp chairs, folding table, wind shield reflector) and a box of small items:  camp stove fuel, cheese grater, rubber spatula, wooden spatula, pancake spatula (clearly we were spatula heavy), 2 plates, 2 bowls (we had four and only ever used two), 2 knives, whisk broom, paper towel, and our super useful Camp '09 guidebook.

The more vocal of the two cheery elder volunteers at the Op Shop asked, "Did the whole block?" and then laughed when we described our clockwise, then return route, and said "Australians know to go the other way around, its longer by 5k to go that <clockwise> way." In general about camping, she commented, "whatever blows your skirt up!"

We joined the pelagic group for a pre-tour dinner and had a super time! We met lovely people, who might visit Canada in the near future, so we exchanged emails. We've heard quite a few times in the past two months from Aussie folks who have done a combo "Rocky Mountaineer" and "Inside Passage cruise" tour in BC. They say this combo is promoted by their tour agents. A few at the tables had done this combo and others had it on their bucket list.

March 17 we were up at 5:30am as Bob needed to be dropped off at the wharf by 6:45am for his "curious pelagic tour."

Yolanda packed the gear into the car and then found a beach-side park to sit and weave in a gentle sea breeze. Things are going well with her "interface" project! Bob had a great day and saw many new-to-Bob species.

After the 3.5hr drive from Port Fairy to Melbourne, including past burn sites and smoke on the horizon, we landed in our Middlepark hotel neighbourhood on the final party night of the Australian Grand Prix. Our hotel on the edge of the circuit was a-hoppin' and we found parking a few blocks away.

We couldn't get settled for dinner at the hotel, so we walked on the street nearby and found a good spot. After dinner we were able to move the car closer to the hotel and unpack.

Our one day to transition to NZ from AU included a big beach walk after dropping our Europcar, doing laundry, BLogging, iNaturalist posting (Bob) and weaving (Yolanda). We've seen 21,457Kms of Australia and are looking forward to seeing some parts of New Zealand.

With Springtime about to arrive in the northern hemisphere, we've noticed that Easter is approaching in the Melbourne shops, so chocolate rabbits abound, highlighting some local systems. In the areas local to Melbourne, the deciduous trees are turning colour and corn and apples are on the harvest stands. We went through a town yesterday that had a panel up promoting their up-coming pumpkin festival. We expect to see more signs of the autumnal equinox in New Zealand.