1.30-2.5.2016
Saturday–

As we woke up at the Wanganui East Club we headed toward the river once again to have our morning coffee and chat about where our next town would be. The decision was Taupo, so just as we were waving goodbye to the riverbank we saw a local fisherman catch an eel!

With about 137 miles until we reached our next campground we enjoyed the beautiful landscape as we drove through the winding roads of Tongario National Park.

  
  

The trip ended up taking us much longer than we thought due to the fact that “Walter the winnebago” was still having problems overheating. As we entered the city it was filled with everything summer has to offer around the lake…Families swimming, the wonderful smell of bonfires, and the sounds of jet skis zooming across the lake.

“Campermate App” did it again, found us a wonderful waterfront spot at the yacht club with free wifi! After we claimed our camping spot we walked around town getting to know the lay of the land, and then headed to the grocery store. After our burgers and beers for dinner, we enjoyed listening to the sounds of the local bars music as we laughed the night away.

  

Sunday–

We woke up to the calm, beautiful lake and decided to take a morning stroll. Once we returned, we wanted to take full advantage of the beautiful sunny sky so we had the “beach day” we have been desperately longing for. We set up our beach chairs and enjoyed the hydro-plane boat races for a couple hours as they roared across the lake.

As the day proceeded there was a wedding that took place right in front of us. The beautiful bride arrived in a seaplane, WHAT an entrance! From a distance we watched as the couple exchanged their vows in front of their family and friends. With all the love in the air, we reflected on our wedding day and how special it was to us.

 After soaking up a few too many rays, we took advantage of the near by rose garden. We ended up chatting for hours with an interesting man who was filled with knowledge of History, Politics, & religion and in the end he even gave us a souvenir for my dad back home.

  

Monday and Tuesday-

David and I decided that with all the issues with our camper van, we needed to have it looked at once again at an auto repair shop.

  The mechanic said we needed a three day fix because we were in need of a new radiator. With the problem not being resolved by the rental company, we decided that we were going to turn in our camper van, change our flights and leave New Zealand earlier than planned. David ended up having to take matters into his own hands and exchanged many emails and made many phone calls to get the correct compensation for our dysfunctional vehicle. With the power of “Social Media”, the local tv stations, three different newspapers companies in Auckland and the training from his Pops about how to “take care of business”, he got us back the refund that we well deserved for our time and moments of feeling unsafe in a vehicle that was not performing at 100%. Lets just say when it comes to David, theres two very important things you don’t mess with, #1 his Wife “ME :)” and #2 his Money!
Wednesday–

We headed toward Auckland where we would be dropping off our camper van. Once we arrived at the rental company we used there WIFI & changed our flights once again (2nd time we changed dates for the same flight). #TripFlip… Instead of staying three days in Auckland when our original flight change was supposed to depart, we ended up re-booking our flights to Melbourne for the next day at 7:35am. We arrived to the airport around 5:15pm, at this point we had many hours to kill before our flight took off in the morning. We made the decision to sleep in the airport that evening…Ahhh, the glorious side of a traveler, and once again the true “moments” we will never forget. We walked around the airport, ate multiple times, and decided to celebrate our final moments in New Zealand with two pints of ice cold Stella Artois, gold rimmed glasses and all. At that moment we realized that a beer is just what we needed, it literally made us sit back, relax, and “check in” with each other.

With about another 7 1/2 hours to kill, we checked the requirements for our carry on baggage so we were fully prepared for our flight the next morning. After using the scale, we soon realized that our backpacks were both overweight. So we did some rearranging, threw out some of our heavy layers of clothes, and parted with a few other items that were just weighing us down. From this point forward in the trip we would be in all tropical weather from here on out. Now we were ready for our flight tomorrow. We headed toward the quieter part of the airport that had less traffic, found two benches next to each other, and had a better night sleep than expected.

  
Thursday–

We woke up around 3:45am and were the first to check in for our flight, lucky us we were rewarded by the airlines when they gave us two exit row seats…wooohoo! We then enjoyed two very tasty flat white coffees before we boarded our flight!

Once we arrived in Melbourne, Australia, we went through customs and I almost received a huge fine of ($400) for eating an apple in line because I did not claim it on my customs declaration sheet…oops. I was later informed that apples from New Zealand are known to carry specific fruit flies in their core that Australia does NOT want in their country.

  
Then we bought our tickets for the Sky Bus airport transportation service to take us to the “Southern Cross” railway Station in the center of the city. Once we arrived we were greeted by Linley, the wonderful women who we met in Queenstown, NZ who invited us to stay with them once we arrived in Melbourne.

  We then all hopped on the “Metro-Subway” and headed just outside the city to their wonderful home in the surrounding suburbs. We stopped at the local Chinese supermarket to pick up some last minute ingredients for the dinner she was making that evening :).

Once we arrived at their beautiful home, they showed us to our sleeping quarters in their pool house, which is truly like our own private oasis at a 5 star resort. We felt SO blessed to have such a wonderful place to stay with such a LOVELY family. We then all gathered around the table and enjoyed a delicious traditional Chinese dinner. We were able to pick up right where we left off, enjoying wonderful conversation, and chatted the night away about the rest of our experiences we all had in New Zealand!
Friday–

Ahhhh….A glorious HOT shower, and then we were off to explore the fantastic city of Melbourne. We grabbed a sushi roll (only $1.50 in Australia) on the way and headed toward the Metro station.

   We took the tram into the city and ended up in Chinatown. We took the advice from Linley’s daughter, Fran and had the best lunch ever at “Shanghai Street Dumpling Restuarant”. We ordered pork dumplings, Chinese broccoli with garlic sauce, hot and sour soup and then our favorite egg custard buns for dessert.

  

We visited the iconic Parliament building, city library, and walked through the many beautiful gardens.

 We then headed toward the “Yarra River” where we enjoyed people watching over some drinks at the “Pilgrim Riverside Restaurant”.

  After our cocktails and conversation we walked along the river until we stumbled upon the Lantern Festival going on throughout parts of the city (the Chinese New Year is being celebrated with many festivals going on throughout Melbourne). There were food tents everywhere, lively art shows, and performances filling the streets, adding a wonderful cultural ambience to the city.

  
  
  
As the sun was setting we headed back on the metro and grabbed a pizza and salad for an evening snack. We chatted with Fran (Linley’s daughter) and she offered to take us on a personal tour of her favorite coffee shops throughout the city the following day, “it was a date”! : )
Saturday–

Today was one of the BEST days we have ever experienced while traveling. Today validates the reason WHY we came on this world trip!

We woke up at our wonderful hosts home feeling grateful for our little sanctuary once again. Relaxing by the pool and enjoying the breeze from the palm trees that surrounded us in their backyard.

  We were greeted by Linley with her famous cappuccino and pastries for breakfast.

Then Fran, David, and Myself were off for our coffee tour around Melbourne city.

 She showed us the local spots that were off the beaten path, and boy was it a totally different experience compared to yesterday walking around by ourselves. She took us weaving through the side ally streets that were filled with wonderful hidden cafe’s and restaurants.

Our first stop of the day was at “Dukes Coffee Roasters”. I ordered a classic latte with Ethiopian beans, Fran had her favorite long black style coffee, and David a velvety flat white. We had them put in “take away” cups and off we went.

  
She showed us the talented graffiti art that filled the city streets, then down the staircase to her favorite record shop, and also took us window shopping at some of the iconic stores in the heart of the city.

  
  
  
David was also finally able to try a segway scooter for the first time (lets just say the segway may have got the best of him, but will save that picture only in our memories).

  Exhausted from the heat, we stopped for our final caffeine fix and headed back home for the evening.

Once we arrived back to the house we were greeted by some of their longtime family friends. They surprised us with a traditional Chinese New Years feast. The women took me under their wings and showed me how to make homemade “Dim Sum” dumplings. It was such a wonderful experience that I will never forget!

  
 Along side with the dumplings we had roasted duck, steamed Barramundi Cod fish with ginger, prawns, and bok choy. We were in food heaven and have never seen so many dumplings in our lives.

  
 We cheers’ed to the “year of the monkey” with a special bottle of wine, then…we ate, and ate, and ate some more. We were all talking, laughing, and sharing cultural differences with one another. David and I did our “server clean up” and then we all chatted over some hot green tea. We even received a lesson on how to correctly eat sunflower seeds!

We truly felt honored to have spent the evening with so many warm and welcoming people, that made us feel as if we were part of their family. THIS is what life is all about…getting outside of your comfort zone, learning from others, and being able to create memories that will last a LIFETIME.
Sunday–

Today, is a day of rest. After walking the city for two days straight in the welcoming Australian summers heat, we decided to take a day to just sit back and relax. We had our first “Tim Tams” biscuit/cookie with our morning coffee. They are pretty darn delicious. The Aussi’s compare them to the Oreo, American’s favorite cookie. We enjoyed some wonderful discussions with Linley about possible business plans, and then we had another Chinese new years traditional dinner. Once again being the most wonderful host, she cooked her famous dish tonight that highlighted chicken and pumpkin.

After dinner we all headed out to watch the sunset and check out “St. Kilda’s Beach!

  
  

After returning home from the beach we capped off the evening with the traditional Chinese New Years dessert “Tang Yuan”, which signifies Family, Friends, and unity 🙂