#27 - We Reached the End of the Yellow Brick Road

A quick blog entry to say adieu to Australia. We had a lovely last day of walk/shopping Chapel Street, setting our sights on the sails of St. Kildas beach and foreshore and a last revisit to the Botanical Gardens. All were lovely, the day warm and sunny.

It is rare for us to return to the same spot twice in one visit but the Gardens are huge and one last walk through was required.

Sunday in the gardens is a bit like being in a Seraut painting with picnicking families, romantic dates cuddling on the lawn and the bowlered punt men lazily cruising the lake.

One of the nicest parts of the day came at the end as we finally had a chance to have a long, leisurely, three bottles of red dinner with our hosts at a great little Italian trattoria in the neighborhood. The chefs menu was delicious with the requisite seafood and then traditional meat/cheese antipasto, pasta, main and dessert. But mostly we enjoyed the conversation and getting to know this generous, intelligent, interesting family. By the time the evening was over, we felt like fast friends who will be very disappointed if we don't get to reciprocate by hosting them in Santa Fe.

A very early morning cab to the airport and goodbye Oz, hello Kiwis!

Great flight and landing in Queenstown....actually spectacular coming in over and through the mountains....remarkable....oh yes, that is the name of one of the ranges surrounding Queenstown, The Remarkables, and they are.

That's about all we will say today to whet your appetite but don't miss checking the blog tomorrow for the first real post of our NZ adventures, it is sure to be spectacular.

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#120 - SURPRISE....ONE LAST READ WITH YOUR MORNING COFFEE

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#34 - Sometimes travel is just everyday life with better scenery and a few more meals out

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#25 - From Melbourne's Upper West Side to its Soho to its Edgy

Really?? ….come on now, could it really be any good??? Saturday morning, nine am, and our hostess had offered to drop us in South Melbourne, just a ten minute car ride from South Yarra. When we are in cities, we love the museums and the great food but, we are also all about seeing the neighborhoods - the established ones where people live and the up and coming ones being gentrified. J suggested South Melbourne for a bite and boutiques and its Market, so, of course, we did it all. Let's have a bit if a primer on brekky here. They have very different combinations of what comes on toast for breakfast. Steve had a pot of baked beans and chorizo and creamy feta with his toast, while I had smashed avocado, tomato, basil and yes, delicious crispy Aussie bacon, which is somewhere between what we have back home and Canadian bacon. The brekky menus do have eggs but lean heavily in the direction of either interesting muesli/ fruit/ yoghurt combos ...

Marci and Steve Go Back to Europe

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