Last Riffs. . .Vol. 3

It's hard to beat Queenstown and Kaikoura worldwide for the combination of spectacular scenery and adventure sports. . .we didn't do everything, but it's hard to top what we did do. . .If New Zealand is on your list of places to go, it should start with Queenstown and Kaikoura. . .if NZed is not on your list. . .tear up your list and put it at/near the top.

We enjoyed Sydney quite a bit. . .in 1989, we really didn't spend much time in Sydney. . .Maddy put together a good list of "to do's" in her city. . .and, of course, the Great Barrier Reef is incredible.

Since we've been back, I've had no trouble driving on the right side of the road, but I do keep reaching for the turn signal on the wrong side of the steering column. . .I only drove on the wrong side of the road twice in New Zealand, and not at all in Australia. . .once wasn't a big deal, and once I had to cross a median after making a left turn into the right lane. . .on the way to the hotel in Christchurch, our last night in NZed.

New Zealand and Australia are VERY different (no duh, Glen!) -- New Zealand is all mountains and rivers and hills and beaches and cute animals that you can get close to. . .Australia has beaches and mountains, but is more tropical, with bigger cities, and plenty of hot, flat areas. . .There's a lot in Australia that can kill. . .avoidance of those creatures was once again a key goal, successfully met.

Since it was a relatively short trip (one night on a plane, ten days in NZed, five days in Oz, and one more night on a plane) I did not feel as connected to either country as 1989, when I worked six weeks in Perth and then we traveled two in the rest of Oz. . .couldn't expend energy caring about the Rugby World Cup, for instance. . .my longest vacay since 1984. . .when I traveled around Europe for one month after working in the British Parliament as a student.

The house called Muna Moke was the longest we've stayed in one place on vacation, except for renting beach houses on Fripp Island, Hawaii, and the British Virgin Islands. . .Certainly the longest of any of our big overseas adventures.

Yes, we were paying for services,  but I was impressed with how friendly everyone was on the various activities we did. . .standouts were Alistair on the ATV tour. . .the Dolphin Encounter crew. . .Jules on the Fox Glacier. . .both Glenorchy Air pilots. . .and Mary/Marian on the Great Barrier Reef snorkel trip.

Love France and Italy. . .but, unlike there. . .we didn't have any snarly waiters at restaurants. . .best overall experience was Vknow, but didn't have a bad experience anywhere. . .and that's a good thing. . .it's funny, all the foreign tourists we met were spending at least one month in either NZed or Oz. . .or both. . .we need longer vacations in the US. . .or at least I do!

Didn't meet many Americans in NZed. . .saw plenty of Americans in Oz. . .lots of Germans. . .Asians in New Zealand at that point in the year.

U.S. banks have to catch up to the NZ system of EFTPOS. . .I don't know what it stands for. . .but I know it is easier and faster than our credit card pay system.

In Cairns, we drove 141 miles, whilst we covered just 18 the first day in LA (we should have cabbed to Venice Beach, although we were hopping from spot to spot). . .unfortunately I can't find a receipt in my email or on-line from Hertz in Christchurch. . .that was the car we picked up in Queenstown, drove through the Crown Range all the way to Kaikoura. . .and back to Christchurch. . .Will update that if I ever get the figure.

Not counting the four Glenorchy flights (two roundtrips), Carol and I flew a minimum of 24,582 miles (that's assuming a perfectly direct route each flight). . .The Glenorchy folks emailed back -- 408 miles, which leaves us ten miles shy of 25,000!. . .I know we landed from the North at Cairns, so that probably added close to ten additional miles -- not to mention the likelihood that other flights weren't perfectly straight at take-off or landing!. . .so I'm rounding up to 25k!