australia

Australia has always been a place that I wanted to visit but due to its long distance from Europe, I knew I couldn't go there just for a week or two. In October / November 2003, I finally got three weeks' holiday and therefore I could finally realize my old dream by combining Australia and New Zealand in just one big trip. The highlights of my Australian trip were, in Sydney, the climb of Harbour Bridge, "Madama Butterfly" opera at the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Tower, the Sydney Aquarium, Bondi Beach and the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney; in the Red Centre, the helicopter flight over Ayers Rock (Uluru) and the Olgas as well as a tour in 4WD in the Outback (Mt Connor); and finally, in Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef, the snorkelling at Hastings Reef (Outer Reef), a half-day visit of Fitzroy Island, and a full-day tour to the Rainforest (Daintree River and Cape Tribulation). Needless to say that it was just amazing to cuddle a koala, feed a kangaroo and learn how to throw a boomerang! :-)

french polynesia

That was in Moorea that I enjoyed some of my best beach holidays and that was on the first week of November 2004! I wish I could have visited other islands such as Bora Bora or Huahine but life there is so expensive that one has to be very careful otherwise he will be quickly ruined. So besides Moorea where I was staying, I've only visited Papeete in Tahiti. I was very lucky to have met a very nice and friendly New Zealand couple with whom I spent most of the time as we visited many places together and also usually had our breakfasts and dinners together. So, thank you King and Stacey for having been my best traveller companions! Speaking now about a little of my experiences there, let me tell you that the Tahitians are very friendly, always smiling and not stressed at all. They just take their time and they're right! Why stress? Among a few local people I met there, the five guys playing beach volley were very friendly and we could spend a good time talking about each other’s country. Teiho, Tamatona, Steeve, Moana and Georges were their names and besides our exchange talks, we've also made a few pictures which are a good souvenir of this encounter. Other nice local people were the hotel employees, Laiana and Timona who made my stay at the hotel a very enjoyable one. It was also very nice to meet some French expatriates there. The girl from the surf shop was very friendly and made me a nice tableau of the life there. The swimsuit I bought from her was also a very nice one! So colourful flashing and so surf Polynesian stylish! The guy I met on the boat trip from Moorea to Papeete, Patrick Dancel, a world photographer that moved recently to Moorea with his wife and son was also very interesting. The excitement of meeting and discovering new people was not the only interesting experience in Tahiti. The food, although quite expensive, was also very nice. I will not forget one of their traditional dishes made with raw fish, lemon juice, coconut milk, tomato and cucumber, which was very tasty. And the tropical fruits were so sweet that I could eat plenty of pineapples and had no tongue sores for the first time in my life. Other exhilarating experiences there were: a meeting on a "motu" (small island) with friendly stingrays that came to the beach seeking food and sliding just over our feet, another meeting with whales and dolphins right next to our boat, a safari 4WD tour inside the island where we could enjoy the astonishing view from the belvedere of Cook's Bay and Opunohu's Bay, many walks and a few bicycles rides mostly in the Cook's Bay area, a typical Tahitian show at the Tiki Village and the visit of the market in Papeete.

new zealand

Auckland was the city I visited because of my friend Ian's invitation. That was in November 2003, just after my two weeks holiday in Australia. Usually, visiting a place with local friends is very nice because they take you to places that probably you wouldn't visit if you were on your own. So, just to mention some of the places I really enjoyed during my single week in Auckland, here they go: The Sky Tower, the Victoria Park Market, the Viaduct Harbour, Mount Eden, One Tree Hill, Mission Bay and Muriwai Beach; and in Rotorua, the geysers and typical Maori performance. Other highlights of my trip there were drinking very good New Zealand red wine, and black beer, and enjoying very nice food with friends (yep, I did have some of their specialities such as hokey-pokey ice cream and pavlova dessert!). It was also very nice to have met some of Ian's friends and surely I won't forget some of the funniest dinners I had there: one at home with Ian, Craig, Roy and Robyn (we were so crazy and we laughed so much) and the very last dinner at the restaurant "Angus Steak House" (gosh, we had so much food and that was so good!).

I visited New Zealand for the second time by the end of October 2004. It was very nice to see my Auckland friends there again and I was also very happy to have made new "kiwi" friends. Well, definitely, I can tell you that "kiwis" are really very nice and probably some of the friendliest people I ever met. Can't stop thanking Ian, Craig, and Roy for everything they've made to make my holidays as enjoyable as they were. To meet your families and friends, to spend time with them and you, enjoying barbecues and dinners together, just made me feel more at home than just a simple visitor. On this New Zealand's second visit, I focused my trips on the South Island. After flying from Auckland to Queenstown in the south, I also flew from there to Christchurch. Then it was time to take a scenic train from Christchurch to the north of the South Island (about a 5-hour trip) and enjoy the stunning landscape views. After arriving in Picton, I took the ferry and crossed Cook's Strait to reach Wellington some three hours later. Then, I just flew again from Wellington to Auckland where I stopped for a day only because the next day, I flew again for a wonderful week's holiday in Tahiti. The highlights of this second visit to New Zealand were: in Queenstown, a tandem paragliding flight (thank you Gareth, that flight was just the most exciting experience in my life!), the Kawarau Jet boat adventure on the Shotover River in Lake Wakatipu, and the helicopter flight over the Southern Alps with landing on a glacier; in Christchurch, a hot air balloon over the Canterbury plains; and in Wellington, a "Lord of the Rings" sightseeing tour to some of the places where the trilogy movies were filmed and a very nice ballet called "Coppelia" from Leo Delibes and performed by the Royal New Zealand Ballet.