January 24, 2005 - Jackson, NJ

Well kids, I think that pretty much taps the keg. In the past few days our theme song changed from Van Halen's "Standin' on Top of the World" to Southside Johnny's "I Don't Wanna Go Home." But here we are in the Great White North and we're enduring the whole culture shock thing all over again.

But I'm also thinking... that maybe they've been drawing the maps upside-down all these years. And I'm also thinking... maybe this isn't such a bad place to be for the remaining 11/12ths of the year... And I'm also thinking I gotta go to work. And when you gotta go...

So, anyway we hope you all enjoyed our trip - we missed everybody - but enjoyed bringing you along with us! Wait'll you hear the rest of the story...

The silver fern, NZ's national symbol - they were all over the place in our drive up the Coromandel Peninsula. 

January 22, 2005 - Los Angeles

Goodbye New Zealand!

Well we overnighted in LA since all the east coast flights were cancelled. But we're headed out first thing in the morning.

In the meantime, here are some random musings and footnotes on our Kiwi experience... I tried to use the same format as the Aussie wrap-up:

OK, I was only sort of kidding about this place going volcanic at any moment. All the major mountains are considered active volcanos and all the lakes and bays were formed by huge eruptions in the past. The sand and rock on the beaches is almost all black volcanic rock. I'm worried that Team Birkhead is a jinx, since Montserrat (our favorite island from our honeymoon), went kablam just a couple years later.

In NZ, I kid you not, there is steam and sulfur spewing out from every nook and cranny. You can't drive more than a couple of kilometers without seeing steam or water spewing from somewhere, sometimes from water, sometimes from rocks. The day we drove down to Lake Taupo, we were admiring a mountain from a distance. It looked like it had criss-crossing ski trails going all the way from the top down to the lake. As we got closer we slowly realized: those ain't ski trails... those are huge streams of rising vapor! EVERYBODY R-U-U-U-U-N!!!

BTW - I couldn't help but think the Maori aren't really all that different from the folks who first lived in Hawaii. Or for that matter, the Iroquois or any native Americans. The same sort of legends, houses, weapons, art, music, languages sound similar. What's up with THAT?

Forgot to mention: We drove through the "Trout Fishing Capital of the World" and the "Kiwi Capital of the World." And by kiwi, I mean the fruit. And they had a giant kiwi about 40 feet high next to the town welcome sign.

Forgot to mention: We did see two kiwi birds, at the Maori crafts center. They keep them in a dark house since they don't like to come out in the daytime. They are very fragile and don't breed well in captivity, so it sounds like they're not going to be able to prevent them from going extinct. Bummer.

Forgot to mention: Up in the Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel Peninsula, the roads were lined with silver ferns. The leaf of the silver fern is the national symbol. They look like very fragile palm trees, but with feathery leaves. In fact, they were growing from rocks and sandy beaches and even growing horizontally out of cliffs.

Forgot to mention: People here drive like IDIOTS. (Not to mention they also drive on the wrong side.) They were flying around those hairpins on the mountaintops like lunatics. Yes - lunatics.

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To express Auckland as a North American mathematical equation:

Auckland = (Baltimore X Boston) / Vancouver

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Team Birkhead Kiwi Beer Rankings

5. Steinlager
4. Waikato
3. Lion Red (known as "Li Red" - how cool are we?)
2. Tui
1. Speight's Gold Ale

Did not make the list: DB Draught, Monteith, Export Gold

Footnote1: Speight's and Tui were both better than all the Aussie beers.
Footnote2: The New Zealand beers are overall better than the Aussie beers.
Footnote3: Listen to this - the New Zealand wines are overall better than the Aussie wines. How do you like them apples?

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Mr. Birk's Assessment of Kiwi Sports Popularity:
5. Netball
4. Tennis
3. Sailing
2. National rugby
1. International rugby (and BTW: who knew they were two different sports? with different numbers of players? and completely different rules!)

Footnote1: I really have no idea what Netball is. The Net is sorta like a basketball net.
Footnote2: They like cricket too, but they stink at it.
Footnote3: They just got a new expansion team in the Australian basketball league, but they're in last place.

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Cars
Pretty much the same as Australia, but with fewer BMers and Mercedes and more diversity - Peugeots, Volvos, Volkswagens.

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Internet
Score: 4 out of 10
They beat Australia for two reasons: 1) Internet cafe's all over the place, almost as many as there are geysers. 2) the Qantas lounge in Auckland actually had a high-speed business access.

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FoodScore: 8 out of 10
Don't come here if you're a vegetarian - they'll make fun of you in public. And if you're not a vegetarian, order the lamb. (Trust me on this one.)

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PeopleScore: 7 out of 10

Kiwis are nowhere near as outgoing as the Aussies. They admit it too, and even offer explanations as to why that is. The service was really bad too. It seemed to be related to the personality thing. But guess what - overall, we loved 'em!

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Tourists:

50% Asians, primarily Japanese
25% Germans!
10% Australians
10% Canadians + British
5% Other - we only bumped into a couple other Americans.

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New Zealand Final Logo Tally:

Yanks 7, Sox 2. Same old story. Once again, we didn't see more than one of any other team. What was interesting in NZ is that no one wears shirts or hats with logos. Very few.

The stories behind both Sox logos we saw were kinda funny. The 1st guy was walking down the street in Auckland sporting the full regalia - cap, sweats, and the shirt that says "Why Not Us?" The 2nd was actually a New Zealand vanity plate that said SOX WIN.

Can you believe that?

January 21, 2005 - Back to Auckland

One more for the road. We arrived back in Auckland at about 1pm and returned the car. Then went back to our favorite "Loaded Hog" restaurant on the Harbour for dinner. And guess what - tomorrow we're coming home! Game over.

Today we headed back to Auckland. These are shots of the Firth of the Thames, the bay between Auckland and Coromandel. Again, we were on those scary vertical winding roads all day. Amazing. 

January 20, 2005 - Coromandel, New Zealand

Sunset on Coromandel - looking back towards Auckland, where we're headed tomorrow.

All day today we were winding up and down these mountains. The roads were almost ridiculously spiraled and it seemed we were always on the edge of a cliff looking down at the ocean. But it was worth it - the Coromandel Peninsula was in its own way as beautiful as Lake Taupo and the mountains. 

On Thursday we drove from Rotorua up to the Bay of Plenty, which is the Pacific Coast on the north end of the island. It was the surfer capital of New Zealand. It's the first night of the trip in which we didn't have a place to stay that night, but we found a nice motel with 8 rooms run by a husband and wife in Coromandel, up at the top of the Coramandel peninsula. 

January 19, 2005 - Lake Taupo, New Zealand

Scaling the mountain on our way back around the lake. We were singing "Standin' on top of the world... for a little while!"

This is as close as we got to the mountains. Not quite close enough to throw the rings in the lava. We u-turned right here, and it was sorta sad... like Frodo and Sam, it felt like the end of our journey. 

The Birk checkin in on Lake Taupo, with the mountains across the way. We had lunch at Taupo on the north end of the lake, then eventually drove around to the south end to the foot of the mountains.  

Today we just hopped in the car and drove down to - and all the way around - Lake Taupo. Taupo is the "great lake" in the center of the North Island. The scenery was out of this world. The two mountains on the other side of the lake are famous actors from Lord of the Rings. The one without snow played Mordor and the snowcapped one played Mount Doom.

BTW - We counted exactly 1 trillion sheep today. If you ever have insomnia, New Zealand is the place for you.

January 18, 2005 - Rotorua, New Zealand

This is how the Maori greet you when you come over for dinner. They threaten you with a spear and then stick their tongue out at you for 5 minutes. Then if you're cool enough, they let you inside their house. (We were.) Food was great. They also gave demonstrations of their language, weapons and musical instruments. Really well done.

Lake Rotorua is surrounded by a bay of sulfur, and of course our hotel was downwind. We hear on the news that it's probably worse on Saturn's moon Titan though, which has huge lakes of methane. In New Zealand, there are geysers, hot springs, boiling mud pools and steam leaking out all over the place. I think people around here are in a state of denial that the whole North Island is going to blow.

January 17, 2005 - Rotorua, New Zealand

Kia Ora Rotorua! This Maori idol is on the grounds of the cultural museum. The Maori people are super friendly, and love when you greet them with "kia ora." Probably because they're making millions and millions off of the tourists. Safe to say the Maori culture will be preserved for a long time.

This is pretty much what our scenery looked like today. Reminded us a lot of Pennsylvania, between Philly and Lancaster. Lots of horses being bred for racing. 

We set out to see "the Top Half" of New Zealand today in our spankin' new Ford Explorer. I was pretty stressed about driving on the right side - and in the left lane - for the 1st time. Someone say a Maori prayer for me... Luckily, my navigator kept reminding me about the left lane thing. We arrived at Rotorua unscathed after only about 3 hours on the road, mostly on Motorway #1. 

January 16, 2005 - Auckland, New Zealand

Team Birkhead in the heart of Auckland! Tomorrow we're renting a car and heading out to the countryside. Not sure we're going to find Net access out in Maori-land, so we may not be back online until we get back to Auckland on Friday night. Til then, haere ra ka kite ano...

BTW: A lot of people have asked - Wendy is keeping a huge journal with much more detail. And we're probably posting only about 1/20th of the pictures... And yes, there are lots of pictures of us, but I figured you'd rather see what we're seeing... you already know what we look like!

In the harbour there were a couple of New Zealand's America's Cup racing boats... they go out with tourists a couple times a day, but we passed when we found out it cost $125 per person (about $100 US). 

The play area around the harbour is known as "the Viaduct" - this photo taken from our table at a sidewalk cafe. The restaurant was called "The Loaded Hog." It's pretty sedate here compared to Sydney. A lot of things are still closed for the holidays.

There are Irish pubs on just about every other street corner, however, and they make just enough noise to let you know the place isn't completely dead. We checked one out last night of course... Also had Indian food last night at the place reputed to be the best in Auckland. It was called "Oh Calcutta."

Auckland from the Skytower... there's a 360 degree viewing deck. 

The Skytower in Auckland (pronounced just like "Oakland") is the tallest building in the southern hemisphere. We can see it from our hotel room. We headed over to check it out first thing this morning.

BTW: Very green here - and the weather's great - sunny and 80s. We lucked out: they're telling us it rained the past two weeks while the "cyclone" blew past.

BTW: We've been here just a day, but we've got a good one for you already: KFC is called "Kiwi For Chicken."

Kia ora Aeotearoa!

Act V begins - a week driving around the north island of New Zealand! We flew into Auckland yesterday. A 3-hour flight from Sydney, and we lost 2 hours going east. So I'd like to tell you how many hours ahead of you we are now, but I have no clue!

Here's the view approaching Auckland from the plane. BTW, the flight attendant told us we were having way to much fun...

January 15, 2005 - Auckland, New Zealand

Goodbye Australia!

If you saw the movie Finding Nemo, our Australia trip followed the plot backwards: We started at Sydney Harbour (where the dentist's office is), continued up north against the East Australian Current, and ended up on Nemo's doorstep. At the very end of our last dive on the Great Barrier Reef - about 5 minutes before we headed back to the pontoon boat - we spotted a 7-inch clown fish hiding all by himself in an anemone. Once in a while he would get bold and venture two inches from his hide-away. We goofed on how timid he was - until we turned around to swim back to the boat and came face to face with the reef shark. Guess Nemo knew what he was doing.

Here are some random musings and footnotes on our Aussie experience...
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To express Sydney as a North American mathematical equation:

Sydney = (Seattle x San Diego) / Toronto

Surprisingly, there seemed to be much greater American influence than British on culture, food, architecture, etc. Boys and Girls go to separate schools until age 18, but all of the pop culture - music, tv, movies - is American.

Footnote: We met dozens of transplanted Brits. This wreaked havoc on my accent detect-o-meter - after a week or so, I realized most accents are somewhere in between Australian and British and very few are "pure." Throw a New Zealander into the mix and my head explodes. Most of the Australian accent is a cadence rather than pronunciations.
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Team Birkhead Aussie Beer Rankings

5. Toohey's New Draught
4. (tie) Victoria Bitter and Cascade Premium
3. James Boag's
2. Crown Lager
1. XXXX Gold Lager - (best when cold)

Did not make the list: Hahn Premium & Lite, Carlton Cold, Coopers, Squire (but only because we didn't try it)

Footnote1: Foster's is hard to find - we only saw it once or twice.
Footnote2: Many of the beers on the list are owned by Carlton.
Footnote3: Foreign beers are more popular than Australian beers. Corona, Heineken, and Stella Artois are the hands-down champs, offered on every menu.
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Mrs. Birk's Aussie Architecture Rankings
5. Sydney space needle
4. Olympic stadium
3. Tunnels and roadways built for Olympics
2. Sydney Harbour Bridge
1. Sydney Opera House
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Mr. Birk's Assessment of Aussie Sports Popularity
5. Basketball
4. International cricket
3. Tennis
2. National rugby
1. International rugby

Footnote: Aussie Rules football has fallen off the charts. And soccer's not really all that big. Golf is probably #6.
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Cars
The only American cars prevalent on the road are Fords (they have a couple of manufacturing plants here). But as Jeep owners, it was interesting to see the popularity of Wranglers. Toyota, Suburu and Honda were also everywhere, definitely the dominant brands along with Ford. Holdens were all around, and were made in Australia. No shortage of BMers and Mercedes either, but mostly the cheaper sedan versions. Shocked to see no VWs or bugs, but we were told they are around.
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Internet
Score: 2 out of 10
This must be said: Australia is not yet caught up to the Internet era. I'm shocked I tell you! Shocked and amazed! You know you're in trouble when you ask for Internet access in a major metro location and they hand you a phone cord. Even high-speed was oddly slow - maybe a trans-ocean issue?
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Food
Score: 9 out of 10
Spectacular. Mother England, take note. This is how it's done. Even the stands with saran-wrapped sandwiches have high standards for food. We were almost never disappointed in the best restaurants, especially with seafood. But we also had excellent Italian, Asian and French, several times each. Footnote: The people here are in the best physical condition of any country you'll ever see. Almost no one (under the age of 65) is obese. But they must workout after dinner, because they do love their fried food. We saw more than one heaping helping of Aussie chips.
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People
Score: 10 out of 10
My theory - since almost all Australians live on the coast (no one lives in the middle, remember?) it's like one giant, friendly beach community.

Footnote1: They have the opportunity to break away from the UK a la Hong Kong, but keep resisting because they like the deep pockets of the crown. Tough call, but you'd think they would psychologically opt for independence.
Footnote2: Aussie's scored huge points with us for their over-the-top commitment to protecting the environment and the ocean. Public policy trickled all the way down to recycling laws, two options for toilet flushing (liquids and other), and of course "don't EVER touch the coral." One local saying goes something like "you can get away with killing a person, but don't touch our trees!"
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Tourists
In Sydney: 80% Asian, 10% UK, 10% other. Asian visitors were primarily Japan, Korea, and Indonesia/Malaysia/Thailand. Some Chinese.
In Brizzie and the Reef Islands: UK, Canada, USA. Not many Asians at all.
Footnote: We saw 4 or 5 black people on the entire trip - not including the Aborigines playing their digiridoo-hickeys on the wharf.
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Yankees Down Under
The final logo tally for Australia was Yanks 35 - Sox 12, more like a football score. Maybe we'll do better in New Zealand? Here's my rationale in a losing effort: People wear the Yankee logo in cosmopolitan cities, kind of like they wear Polo or Gucci. Teenage girls made up most of the winning margin. In fact, several of the people I asked about it (I couldn't resist asking of course) knew it had to do with New York City but didn't know it was a baseball team (or in a couple of cases, didn't know what baseball was).

There was a 2nd factor as well - Japanese people wearing the caps in honor of their man Matsui. Side note: the Sox finished a solid 2nd among all major sports teams. In fact the only logo we saw twice was the LA Lakers. And we only saw about about 20 logos over all. The plus side: All 12 Sox logo wearers bled Curt Schilling Red... so I made some new friends!

January 14, 2005 - Great Barrier Reef

So what's next? Late this afternoon we said goodbye to Hayman and the Whitsundays after 2 weeks of fantasy and adventure.

And tonight we're laying over in Sydney, because tomorrow begins Act V - New Zealand. We're leaving for Auckland - New Zealand's largest city at 7:30am tomorrow. Can't believe there's only one week left! We're spending it all on the North Island. TTYS...

Whitehaven Beach from the air... 

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