We started with a Friday night red-eye flight, 2 days after my college teaching ended and 1 hour after Neil successfully completed his first level Aikido test (more about Aikido at the end of the page).  We rented a car in Sydney and drove to Newcastle 3 hours north of Sydney to stay with friends of Neil’s, Robert and Danuta Champness, for a few days.  The drive itself was an adventure.  The maps we had did not have much detail about the roads between Sydney and Newcastle.  We were just trying to find some place to get breakfast but we ended up getting on this super highway before finding a place.  We got off where the signs said there would be food but then realized it was 10 miles to the next small town.  When getting back on the highway, we ended up going south instead of north.  Neil had to do a U-turn in one of those median emergency turns spots.  I think we only had to do that twice.  And the next time we found an exit where we thought was a large enough town, we still had to drive 10 miles to find a place open.  (We had crossed the International Date Line; it was Sunday morning in Australia when we arrived.)  Neil did an excellent job driving on the left hand side.  Our detour was actually a nice drive along a small bay and we decided to stop at the same spot for lunch on the way back to Sydney.

Finally nearing our destination in the Newcastle area, we circled around several times and saw the same red brick church three times before finding New Lambton and Robert and Danuta’s home.  We were proud we didn't have to call for directions.  Robert and Neil met in Thailand 5 years ago, but he had not yet met Danuta (and this was the first time I met both of them).  They are wonderful people and great hosts.  We seemed to be on the go the whole time, doing tours of the city, the lighthouse harbor walk (Nobbies), exploring the beautiful beaches, and making a trip to the highest point around, Mt. Sugarloaf, for a 360 degree view -- a magnificent view of Newcastle and the ocean on one side, and Hunter Valley (wine country) on the other.  One afternoon we walked along Lake Macquarie, the largest saltwater lake on the continent, with their other houseguest, Christine, who was visiting from Hong Kong. Robert and Danuta had taken a day off to spend with us.  In the morning we had an incredible trek on a track (in American English that is a hike on a trail) from a wooded area of tall trees with bell birds ringing their song above us,   walking by small cascading waterfalls through lower brush and ending on a huge sandy beach with great waves. Robert and Neil went bodysurfing.The ocean looked too cold to me, so Danuta and I cheered them on.  That afternoon, we went to the Blackbutt Reserve where they have a zoo.  We saw kangaroo (in the distance;-), a wombat, and colorful birds, but the highlight was that Robert had arranged for us to get to pet a Koala! I can see where people think of them like bears.  They have a dense coat, bristly but soft and those claws could do some damage.  Susie the Koala was more interested in her apple most of the time than the people but did stop chewing long enough once to stare at me curiously.  When she did drop the apple, the warden would wash it off for her before giving it back.  They get treated pretty well.

We spent an afternoon exploring Bondi Beach area before returning the car.  Bondi is the closest beach to Sydney center and apparently often crowded.  It rained the day we were there, but we did walk out onto the golf course to view the aboriginal drawings that are on rocks right in the middle of the fairway.  The golf course is right on the edge of steep cliffs.  I bet there are a lot of golf balls to be found diving in that area.

Next we flew to Cairns to dive the Great Barrier Reef.  The web page has the underwater pictures and a picture of the boat we lived on.  The Atlantic Clipper holds about 40 divers plus crew including several instructors and divemasters.  They have a well-run operation for diving.  The visibility was low but we had some good dives; a total of 9 dives in 3 days.

From Cairns, we flew to the country of Vanuatu, a group of 83 islands 550 miles west of Fiji.  And yes, it has some great diving.  I created two web pages of underwater pictures: Vanuatu and Vanuatu2.  We only visited the main island of Efate this trip.  The first day diving was off a sailboat to Hat Island and Paul's Rock.  We had rain but who cares when you're underwater.  Paul's Rock is one of the best dive spots I have seen: incredible visibility, swim throughs, canyons, and a great variety of colorful fish and coral including the branching soft coral.

Port Vila, where we stayed, is the capital of Vanuatu. There are both French and English influences there.  We thought the food would be good with the French influence but we were disappointed.  One night, I had ordered coconut crab which was nothing compared to the one I had had on Palmerston in Cook Islands; it had been caught and cooked in the wild and was so rich and juicy, it was fantastic.  They must have a farm for these crabs in Vanuatu because they are small and different, not very rich.  But to make it worse, they cracked the crab before they boiled it so there was no flavor.  Neil resorted to eating canned meat from the supermarket.  We agreed that the same can of food is found in the US, but the label is changed to say “Alpo”!  Aside from the food, the rest of the time there is memorable.  The scenery is wonderful.  We stayed a few nights in the Kaiviti Village Motel and the rest of the time in a room above the dive shop.  Very convenient.  We didn't have a lot of time to hike, but we did circle the tiny resort island in the harbor and climb to the top where there is a huge tree, larger than the Banyan Tree in Lahaina, a lovely spot

We did have at least one traditional experience.  We decided to go to a Kava Bar.  Vanuatu kava is known as the strongest and most potent.  (Kava is a narcotic, rather than alcoholic.  It is a relaxant and is being used medicinally as a tranquilizer).  We would have missed the place if we had not seen it in the daylight.  There are no big signs or bright lights.  It is clearly a neighborhood place, and it looked like any other house.  We had our first cup (often served in a coconut shell in ceremonies, but this was a similarly shaped plastic bowl).  The only thing we really felt was numbness in the lips.  We were befriended immediately by a local woman, Alice, who explained that we should rinse our mouths out with fresh water after drinking the kava all in one gulp.  (It is gritty and tastes about as good as chewing on a dandelion root).  We swallowed the water, only later to watch all of them, wash and spit.  Often.  Alice started talking and talking.  That seems to be what you do, in soft voices.  We had a second cup.  It went to my head.  I felt more dizzy than tranquilized.  Neil was disappointed because he never felt a thing.  Too late, after we left, we realize he should have tried a third.  Another time I guess.  Alice continued to talk; then we had to leave for our dinner reservation (the bland coconut crab, could have skipped that).  Alice walked us to her house one block over so we could view all the plants and herbs she grows for traditional remedies.

Then the next day we flew back to Sydney where we spent the weekend before returning home.  It was cold (well, cold to us).  We had taken long pants and jackets knowing it was the start of winter in Australia, and they felt good.  And eating Indian food each night helped warm me up.  We donut have any Indian restaurants on Maui so we have to get it when traveling.  For Saturday and Sunday, we meet Robert and Danuta in the Blue Mountains, a two-hour train ride west of Sydney.  It was beautiful (and colder—Danuta saved us by bringing extra sweaters and jackets).  We all stayed at the Katoomba youth hostel.  The Three Sisters is the famous rock formation in the area, Queen Victoria even stood there where we stood viewing it (plaques everywhere about where royalty has visited).  Neil jokingly wondered if the Queen, or maybe the Prince, had walked The Great Stairs, 900 steps going nearly straight down, that we took to get below the rock formation!  We enjoyed the trek down and the forest track taking us along the mountainside and past a gushing waterfall.  We took the tram ride UP (we are sure the royalty would have done the same!).  It is considered one the steepest railways in the world.  It was fun because you sit backwards going up so you look down the mountain, and then you go through a rock tunnel and steep canyon where you can look up and see the trees hanging over the top of the rock canyon before you get to the top.  It was over too fast.  It was a wonderful weekend to spend with friends and end the trip.

Written June 2000

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