Note to Airport officials in New Zealand....it is not a good idea to let 13 planes land within 30 minutes as it produces unbelivable hold-ups at the customs.
We've landed at half past 2 p.m. but managed to get out of the airport at arround 4 p.m. and to top it all they took out jar of honey :( apperently it violates their biosecurity laws....
darn. Kristie and Bryden picked us up with their UTE, which had a boat attached to it and there were also Clay and Jack with them, their foxterrier dogs.
We were a funny bunch at the airport, 4 people in a UTE with 2 dogs looking through the window and a boat at the back.......and since it was beer'o'clock :)
we've stopped at he Red Fox, a local pub where we opened drinking season....and let me clarify at this moment, that their beer is GOOOOD and it flows perfectly.
Our first impressions of New Zealand was pretty much perfect, and Kristie's and Bryden's hospitality was as expected.....great. They took us to Bryden's place which is a big gorgeous
house in the country some 60 km from Auckland, and it is surronded by green pastures as far as your eyes can see. Now living in the country is a bit different in New Zealand
as it is in Slovenia, but the basics are pretty much the same.....Bryden and Kristie are horse people and they own 4 horses, which they use for events and/or hunting.
We were all on a same page pretty soon and decided holiday should be mostly relaxing and just having plain fun...and that's just what we did...siping one beer after another
(or cider or bubbly or whatever came into our hands). We've drenched our thirst with beer and our hunger with the best Fish'n'Chips in Kaiaua, sitting on the beach while eating them and enjozing
the beautiful views of NZ. Took a drive to a nearby hill to see the beautiful view of the valley. And that's pretty much what we did for the first two days.
And so came wednesday,the day we departed to our beach house to start our New Year's celebrations. Whiritoa was the destination....and even though Kristie told us our house is pretty
close to the beach it was not what we expected. Literally meters from the sandy beach, 4 bedroom house, big garden, BBQ area.....fully equiped and furnished with everything your heart might desire.
You might imagine the smiles on our faces. :) We were joined by Dave and Trina which gave our party a bit more substance :). Some things are a bit blury which is a sign of having a good time, which
is exactly what was and still is going on....

We spent four days in Whiritoa, relaxing, swimming, sunbathing on the porch of our big summer house, fishing, drinking, eating and just enyojing ourselves.
We were a bunch of 8 people since John and Vicky joined us for the New Years Eve and we had lots of fun together.
We cought some nice fishes, had some bubbles and stepped in the next decade with great fireworks (Jasa was responsible for it and it was really spectacular). In the Next few days
we cought more fishes, among which was a Snapper weighing 4 kg, Baraccuda which we threw back in the sea because it is not good for eating, long eel which was funny to catch.
During our boat riddingfishing expeditions we saw 2 sharks (one nearly 3 m long), and almost caugth a really big kingfish which sadly run away :) It was really nice spending time in
New Zeeland with Kristie and Bryden,
but the clock is ticking and our departure is geting close. Thanks Kristie and Bryden one more time, you guys are the best. For the others - see you on the other side of the world, back home in Slovenia.
Bye Bye.

P.S: pictures will be available upon our return :)
----------------------------------

Nasvet letaliskemu osebju v Novi Zelandiji.....pristanek 13 letal v razmaku 30 minut ni najboljsa ideja saj je gneca na carini in imigracijskem uradu nepregledna :)
Pristala sva ob pol 3, vendar sva iz letalisca uspela priti sele okoli 4 in povrhu vsega so nama se odvzeli kozarec medu,ker med krsi njihove bioloske predpise.
Kristie in Bryden sta naju pobrala v svojem UTE, na katerem je bil priklopljen coln hkrati pa sta bila v avtu se Clay in Jack njuna foxterierja. Definitivno smo bili najbolj smesna druscina na letaliscu :)
In ker je bila ze ura za pivo smo se ustavili v lokalnem pubu Red Fox kjer smo zaceli naso pivsko sezono....in naj kar takoj razjasnim, njihovo pivo je DOBRO in odlicno tece po grlu.
Najini prvi vtisi o Novi Zelandiji so bili tako absoutno popolni, in Kristie in Bryden sta bila,kot pricakovano, popolna gostitelja. Pripeljali smo se do Brzdenovega "domovanja",ki pa je v bistvu prelepa
hisa na podezelju,kake 60km od Aucklanda in jo obkrozajo zeleni pasniki do kamor ti seze pogled. Zivljenje na podezelju je se v Novi Zelandiji malce razlikuje od nasega, a osnove so enake...Bryden
in Kristie imata 4 konje,ki sluzijo lovu na zajce, skokom preko ovir in podobno....Kaj hitro smo se vst strinjali da dopust pomeni pocitek in uzivanje in poceli smo ravno to...srkali pivca (ali sampanjec,vino...
karkoli je pac prislo pod roke). Naso zejo in lakoto smo med drugim potesili tudi z najboljsimi Fish'n'Chips in Kaiaua in pojedli smo jih kot se spodobi na plazi ob krasnem razgledu na zaliv.
Med drugim smo si celo vzeli cas da smo sli na razgledno tocko na bliznji hrib,a to je bolj ali manj tudi vse kar smo poceli prve dva dni...in v tem smo uzivali.
In prisla je sreda, dan ko smo odpotovali v naso hisico na plazi,da zacnemo vec dnevno praznovanje novega leta. Whiritoa je bila nasa destinacija in ceprav sva bila "obvescena" da je hisa v blizini plaze
nisva pricakovala takega luksuza. Dobesedno nekaj metrov od pescene plaze, 4 spalnice, 2 nadstropji, ogromen vrt, prostor za rostilj, vse opremljno z vsem kar potrebujes za poletno uzivancijo.
Verjetno ni potrebno posebej opisovati izrazov na najinem obrazu :) kmalu sta se nam pridruzila se Dave in Trinna,kar je dalo nasemu praznovanju nekaj dodatne energije...od tu naprej so stvari
zacele postajati bolj motne,kar je definitivno znak dobre zabave.

V Whiritoi smo preziveli 4 dni , predvsem v sproscanju, plavanju,soncenju na terasi nase OGROMNE hise, ribarjenju in seveda pitju (pre)velikih kolicin alkohola :) :)
Na koncu se nas je nabralo 8,saj sta se nam na silvestrovo pridruzila se John in Vicky in skupaj smo na silvestrovo ujeli nekaj ribic za posladek in si ob prelomu desetletja privoscili se ognjemet.
V naslednjih dnevih se je na nasih trnkih nabralo se kar nekaj rib, med njimi 4kg tezak Snapper, Barakuda,ki smo jo vrgli nazaj,ker enostavno ni okusna in priblizno 3M dolgo jeguljo,ki je bila
sicer zabaven ulov a precej manj zabavna,ko smo jo zeleli spustiti....seveda ni razumela nasih "dobrih" namenov :). Med nasimi ribjimi ekspedicijami smo naleteli na 2 morska psa,eden od niju vlik priblizno 3 metre
in skorajda ujeli ogromno King Fish (King-Kralj) ki pa je bila zal premocna za nas...kakorkoli obracava te dneve je bila Nova Zelandija fantasticna, ogromne zasluge za to si lastita Kristie in Bryden,
popolna gostitelja. Vendar cas tece in cas najinega odhoda je pred vrati. Se enkrat hvala Kristie in Brydenu,da sta trpela dve slovenski pijavki :). Za vse ostale je to zadnji post potovanja -
vidimo se na drugem koncu sveta, doma v Sloveniji.
Bye Bye

P.S: slike bodo na voljo ob najini vrnitvi

Last day of Brisbane and Australia was a nice one. Typical Sunday you might say.
We took a river cruise since the weather was nice, saw the city from a different perspective and it is a nice city. Afterwards we spent the most part of the day in Southbank,
enjoying the sunday market with its lifestyle stands.....Brisbane doesn't really have a beach so they "solved" the problem by making an artificial beach in Southbank,
and it is basically a huge pool with sand beaches, BBQ areas, entertainment for the kids, and relaxation area for everybody. Tomorrow we're leaving Australia and heading towards
the edge of the world aka New Zealand. We do have to get up at 5 a.m. though, but i bet its gonna be worth it as we both can't wait to see Kristie and meet Bryden.


Zadnji dan Brisbane-a in Australije. In odlocila sva se da bo tudi za naju to samo tipicna nedelja. Glede na izboljsanje vremena sva se najprej odpravila na krizarjenje po reki,
ki gre skozi mesto in si ogledala mesto iz druge perspektive in izjemno nama je bilo vsec,kar sva videla. Preostanek dneva sva prezivela na podrocju Southbank in uzivala v
nedeljski trznici, na kateri prodajajo vse od spominkov,preko oblacil, masaz do posladkov vseh oblik in okusov. Brisbane kot mesto pravzaprav nima plaze in "problem" so resili tako,
da so postavili ogromen bazen v Southbanku,okoli katerega so naredili prelepo pesceno plazo, prostore za BBQ, posedanje, otroska igrisca,.....skratka vse kar potrebujes za prijetno
popoldne. Jutri zapuscava Avstralijo in se odpravljava proti koncu sveta - Novi Zelandiji. Ceprav morava vstati ob 5 zjutraj se oba izjemno veseliva snidenja s Kristie in Brydenom....

Christmas eve in Brisbane. We've expected us to be a bit homesick today,but boy were we wrong.
Got an invitation by Rudi&Alenka,Slovenian couple living in Brisbane for a christmas BBQ/drinking party :)
And since it was our official BYO party,we bought a couple of beers and waited for the pickup, yes it was door to door
delivery courtesy of R&A :) They live in a beautiful 3 bedroom house, which they share with 7 cats...
Yes, 7 cats. Alenka is such an animal lover that she's also a foster parent,which is admirable....
We sat on the porch,drinking beers,eating fabulous food,respect to the chef,and basically enjoyed ourselves
throughout the night :) It was a great christmas eve in Australia. Thanks again Rudi & Alenka...

Božični večer v Brisbane-u. Pričakovala sva,da naju bo v tem času še najbolj zagrabilo domotožje,vendar temu ni bilo tako.
Dobila sva povabilo na božični roštilj s strani Rudija in Alenke,slovenskega para ki že kar nekaj časa živi v Brisbane-u.
In ker je bilo to najino prvo uradno BYO povabilo sva kupila nekaj piva in počakala na prevoz, ja Rudi in Alenka ponuajata
storitev "od vrat do vrat", svaka čast :) Njuno trenutno prebivališče je prekrasna hiša v prijetnem okolišu,ki si jo trenutno
delita še s 7 mačkami...ja 7,ker je Alenka tako velik ljubitelj živali,da igra tudi vlogo krušne mame,za zavržene mucke...res
občudovanja vredno. Sedeli smo na terasi,pili pivce in jedli fantastično hrano (poklon kuharju) in enostavno uživali v prijetnem
večeru. Na koncu sva imela odlično praznovanje božiča. Še enkrat hvala Rudiju in Alenki

Ah yeah, Gold Coast. Little bit of heaveen in QLD and the location of our hostel
is basically on the beach :) There won't be much writing here as everything
was pretty much just fun in the sun. We did however got together with
Tony, our agent and his friend Veronika for a drink in the evening,
and they took us on a drive around Gold Coast,showing us different
pieces of this paradise,making a stop for sushi along the way.

Gold Coast and his surroundings are very "touristy" in every way,but surprisingly that is not a bad thing
it just means there is a lot to do. We known way before there were a lot of amusement parks in the area
and were sure we're gonna visit one or two of them,just wasn't sure which. The nice stuff in our YHA hostel
recommended us the Wet'n'Wild Water park and that's what we did. It turned out to be a great idea, since it
is a huge water park with attractions that literally knock your pants off :)

Gold Coast, majhen košček nebes v QLD in povrhu vsega je najina lokacija praktično na plaži :)
Tu ne bo prav veliko pisanja,ker sva predvsem uživala na soncu,sva se pa uspela dobiti zvečer na
pijači s Tonyjem in njegovo prijateljico Veronico,ki sta nama razkazala Gold Coast,skupaj pa smo
se ustavili še na sušiju.
Gold Coast in njegova okolica je precej turističen,kar pa ni slabo,saj v tem primeru
pomeni samo da imaš veliko stvari na voljo. Že pred samim prihodom sva vedela da je tu kar nekaj zabaviščnih parkov
in da bova vsaj kakšnega obiskala,samo tega nisva vedela katerega in po priporočilu prijaznega osebja v najinem hostlu
sva se odločila za Wet'n'Wild vodni park in odločitev je bila prava,saj gre za ogromno vodni park,ki ti na trenutke
dobesedno sleče kopalke :)

The morning started with battle between Us (Wim,Julija and me) ,luggage and our car. It was one of those "How do you
get 4 elephants in a car" jokes...Why you ask? Let me clarify first that our car is not big by any standards.
It is in fact a Hyundai Getz :). And the two of us are not travelling light. Two big suitcases, 2 small backpacks and
a bag of food. To make the matters worse Wim has a 120l backpack,the biggest money can buy :) Somehow we managed to get everything in
the car and ended up with some spare space, for like o toothbrush or something. I'll let all of you to take a moment a listen (read)
to "The Story of Wim"...Wim was not a lucky guy,not by any standards. Even though he had quite a lot of travelling experience,this
trip was turning out to be a series of unfortunate events aka. Lemony Snicket. At first his camera got broken,when he asked a guy in Bangkok
to take his picture and he dropped Wim's camera. Bad karma. As soon as his plane touched the ground in Sydney most of his
electronics just failed on him. Laptob charger,Mp3 player,alarm clock, as if the gods of consumer electronics turned against Wim.
And yet,he was still happy and he even bought a new camera,to compensate on his bad luck. But the night before we met him,he went to a beach
party,where he was robbed by a couple of Aborogins, funny enough they only took his camera and his phone. So all of a sudden he was
without an alarm clock (phone) phonebook (phone) watch (phone) and yet he was still happy. And to top it all he discovered while
riding with us to Byron Bay,that they booked him the wrong hostel in a different town :) and yet,he was still happy :)
The lesson of the story is simple, if your name is Wim (which is SOOOOO close to WIN) you'll be happy no matter what :)
And if i spend a few words on our trip from Coffs Harbour to Byron Bay, there's not really much to say, we stopped in a nice town along
the was (forgot the name) and i drank the best Chai Tea of my life....oh and we almost stepped on a Brown Tree Snake,while hiking to
a lookout point near Byron Bay :)


Jutro se je začelo z borbo med nami (Wim,Julija in jaz) , prtljago in avtom. Kot da bi želeli v živo pokazati vic "Kako spraviti
4 slone v fičota :) ". Zakaj? Naj najprej razjasnim da najin avtoček ni ravno največji na svetu,pravzaprav gre za Hyundai Getz-a.
In če na to dodamo da imava s seboj 2 velika kovčka, 2 manjša nahrbtnika, mini kovček za kozmetiko (JulijaPress) in torbo s hrano,
je vsem jasno,da počasi zmanjka prostora. No če na povem da ima Wim 120 litrski nahrbtnik postane hitro jasno da smo naleteli na fizikalen
problem. Ampak ker je volumen v odvisnosti od temperature in tlaka,samo enostavno počakali na sonce,kar je avto povečali
in kaj kmalu smo v njemu sedeli vsi trije,naša prtljaga in še bi našli prostor za kakšno zobno ščetko. Zdaj pa vam bom vsem privoščil
trenutek oddiha da "prisluhnete" Zgodbi o Wim-u. Wim ni imel sreče,še zdaleč ne. Čeprav je imel pod pasom že kar nekaj daljših ekspidicij
se je ta začela precej slabo. Najprej mu je nekdo razbil fotoaparat,ko si je zaželel slike pred templjem v Bangkoku,na poti v Avstralijo.
A Wim se je smejal. Takoj ko se je njegovo letalo dotaknilo tal v Sydney-u mu je odpovedala ostala elektronika:polnilec za prenosnika,
MP3 predvajalnik,budilka,...kot da bi se bogovi zabavne elektronike obrnili proti njemu. In Wim se je še kar smejal.Kupil si je celo nov fotoaparat
,kot kompenzacijo za nesrečo v Bangkoku. Večer preden smo se spoznali,se je Wim udeležil zabave na plaži,kjer so ga oropali Aborigini in mu vzeli
nov fotoaparat in telefon,ki je hkrati rpedstavljan telefonski imenik,uro in budilko,a Wim se je še kar smejal in da bi bila zgodba popolna
je med vožnjo v Byron Bay ugotovil,da so mu za ta dan rezervirali popolnoma drugo sobo v poponoma drugem mestu,kot je prosil....in Wim se je še
kar smejal :) Nauk zgodbe je,da si z imenom kot je Wim (sumljivo podobno Win-Zmaga) VEDNO dobre volje.....
In če posvetim še nekaj besed vožnjo do Byron Bay-a....ni kaj posebnega za napisati. Ustavili smo se v prijetnem malem mestecu na poti,kjer sem spil
najboljši čaj....in Julija je skoraj pohodila Rjavo drevesno kačo,med sprehodom do razgledne točke v bližini Byron Bay-a.
In ja,ta kača JE strupena :)

Newcastle to Coffs Harbour was quit a drive. 450km to be exact and once more we took the scenic route,by the coast.
Now if you're ever travelling in Australia and time permits you, always pick the scenic route. It is just
so much fun to watch the nature change within couple of km,not to say the changes since the begining of our trip
in Victoria. Australia truly offers every person a bit of something,regardless of your taste,you can and will find
something that will take your breath away. Anyways, the drive itself took us by the famous Fredo Pies,with their
selection of 50 or so different pies. It would be a crime not to stop :)
We could have gone exotic and go for a kangaroo or a croc pie...maybe even an emu pie,but we rather stayed "conventional"
and had a lemon and an apple pie, both fresh from the oven,extremely tasteful....mmmmm, my mouth starts watering just
writing this :)
After getting to Coffs Harbour we took s stroll on the beach,since the weather did not permit any swimming.
Later we were enjoying a sweet and seedless watermelon and got into a conversation with Ann and Katie from
Tasmania. We clicked imideately so it wasn't long before a deck of cards and some wine was brought out...
soon we were joined by Wim from the Neverland (or is it the Netherlands...i don't know). Couple of drinks and
A LOT of jokes later we found out that Wim is going in the same direction us we are,but is taking a bus,and since
we still have some space in our car offered him a ride to Byron Bay. So i guess there'll be three of us tomorrow
in the car :)

Newcastle do Coffs Harbour je bila kar dolga pot, 450km če sem natančen in še enkrat več sva se peljala po daljši in lepši
poti. Če boste kdaj potovali po Avstraliji in vam bo čaš dopuščal vedno izberite daljšo pot,vsekakor se izplača.
Tako zabavno je gledati kako se narava spremeni v samo nekaj kilometrih,da ne omenjam sprememb od začetka najine poti
v Melbourne-u. Avstralija dejansko ponuja nekaj za vsak okus in upam si trditi,da bo vsakemu izmed vas nekaj
odvzelo sapo. Kakorkoli že, vožnja naju je vodila mimo "svetovno" znanih Fredo Pies (Pie - Pita),
ki ponuja več kot 50
različnih vrst pit in lahko bi bila eksotična in si naročila kengurujevo ali krokodilovo pito,celo emujeva je bila na izbiro.
A sva ostala previdna in predvidljiva in vzela limonino in jabolčno,obe sveži,ravno spečeni,mmmmm kako sta bili dobri...
kar cedijo se mi sline ko tole pišem.
Po prihodu v Coffs Harbour sva se sprehodila po plaži in bližnji okolici,saj vreme ni dopuščalo kopanja.
Kasneje sva se med uživanjem sladke lubenice zapletla v pogovor z Ann in Katie iz Tasmanije.Takoj smo se odlično ujeli
in ni bilo dolgo,ko so bile na mizi igralne karte in vino :),kmalu pa se nam je pridružil še Nizozemec Wim.
Po nekaj kozarcih in VELIKO šalah kasneje sva ugotovila da se z Wimom odpravljamo v isto smer,le da on tja potuje z avtobusom.
In ker imava v avtu še kar nekaj prostora sva mu ponudila prevoz,kar je z veseljem sprejel. To torej pomeni,da bomo jutri
trije na poti v Byron Bay :)

Zapuščava Katoombo in se odpravljava v Australia Reptile Park (park plazilcev) eno izmed mnogih zanimivosti povezanimi z živalmi
v Avstraliji. Kar naredi ta park še posebej zanimiv je dejstvo,da je večina strupa za proizvodnjo protistrupa v primeru
kačjih in pajkovih pikov,nabranih ravno tu. Ne bom vas dolgočasil z zgodbami iz parka ampak bom raje posvetil nekaj
besed protistrupom.
Proces izločanja strupa iz kač in pajkov se imenuje molzenje,tako kot pri kravah,a vseeno
kanček bolj nevarno. Ves strup je nato poslan v laboratorij v Melbourne. Zanimvo je to,da protistrup ni sintetično narejen.
Strup vbrizgajo v izjemno majhni količini v konja,ki ima izjemno sposobnost samoobrambe in telo takoj začne proizvajati protitelesa za strup.
Vsak dan povečujejo dozo vbrizganega strupa,dokler doza ne dosega količine,ki bi pokopala čredo konjev.

Nato konju odvzamejo precejšno količino krvi,s centrifugo ločijo protitelesca in mu kri vrnejo,ker v bistvu predstavlja
"tovarno protistrupa".
Dan sva zaključila v Newcastle z Body Board (vrsta deske za surfanje) in 2-4m valovi....in ja ..oba je totalno razmetalo :)