Han in Oz, and Family and Friends in NZ!

Why do they call it Foster?

I don't know why they call it Forster when they say 'Foster'.




Iced chocolates and coffees for all
Brent, Maureen, Sarah, Heather, Ben, and Allan



Walking along the main beach at Forster



The sunset after our boating expedition on the lake



The view from Hawk's Nest across Port Stephens - looking towards Nelson Bay

Tropical North Queensland

Port Douglas

We had a fantastic holiday in Tropical North Queensland. It was such a needed break, and we had the best time.

Cape Tribulation - rainforest meets the beach

The Incredibles about to go snorkelling at Low Isles - jellyfish 'stingers' protection

Watch out for the wildlife - it may cause a temporary loss of sanity if one lands on you...and may cause you to throw off your shirt in a frenzy!

Crocodile spotting on the Daintree River (upper left) and the lush view at Mossman

The beach at Low Isles (lower left) and Fig Tree

10 Favourite Holiday

Things-to-do in Port Douglas

1. Eat tropical fruit that you've never eaten before, even if it's expensive
2. Go on at least 5 boardwalks through the rainforest
3. Go to the Sunday markets - and buy fresh bananas and pineapple, frozen mango, and experience the real flavour of fruit
4. Buy vanilla beans - a bundle of 40 for $17
5. Go to Cape Tribulation and see the rainforest touching the beach
6. Go crocodile hunting on the Daintree River - get the guy with video camera
7. Visit Kuranda village - cute, and go on some boardwalks to see the Barron Falls
8. Find accomodation with a pool - and swim in it twice a day
9. Go out to the reef - Low Isles was great for the kids to snorkel off
10. Chill out - it's casual, watch DVDs and cook your own food...everything tastes better there anyway even if you're shopping from Coles

More from NZ 2007

Brent, Kerey and Jonathan go downhill from Signal Hill

Megan and the view of Dunedin from Signal Hill

We go and visit Ghung Ghung as often as we can in Leslie Grove Hospital.

And Por Por fed us till we were hungry no more!

We celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary again, this time at Megan and Nick's place.

Kerey comes to town

After counting down the weeks till Kerey arrived, the day finally came. And what was a fairly low key school holiday suddenly became fun and exhausting for all. It was great that Brent had a week off work - so every day became an adventure.

Day 1

We go to a hungi at the Tongias and then onto Shelly Beach for a dip - but the camera runs out of juice. On the way home from the beach we go to see 'The fastest Indian' at the Orpheum Theatre.

Day 2

It's Brent's 41st birthday! After church in the morning we go to Yum Cha and then go back to church for the evening. We bolt out of church to get ready for an impromptu party for Brent and Dave...batteries still dead on the camera!

Day 3

Brent takes Kerey to DFO and Kerey makes a purchase!

We then go Luna Park - Coney Island first and then it's 2 rides each.


Sarah and Kerey like the chunder machines. Heather was silly enough to go with them on one topsy turvy ride - what a foolish decision!

Brent and Ben play it safe on the dogems.

Day 4

It's ANZAC Day! We catch the Rivercat from Meadowbank to Circular Quay

We go walkabout - Sydney Opera House - Gardens

And through the city (Martin Pace) where the ANZAC service took place

To the Queen Victoria Building and Darling Harbour, then to the Aquarium.

Fish can be interesting! A big day on foot.

Day 5

Brent and Kerey go for a bike ride - Brent falls off his bike - and then we're off to the zoo.

We're impressed by the the new exhibitions and enjoy the bird show.

Day 6

Off to Darling Harbour again, but this time we go further than the Aquarium. Ben was sick in the carpark at Star City, but comes right for the rest of the day - we're proud of our little trooper.

We head towards Paddy's Market and amble through Chinatown taking it fairly easy for Ben's sake.

We go home via the Macquaire Centre Greater Union Cinema to see 'Shaggy Dog'. It was fun -"woof woof".

Day 7

A big day out to the Blue Mountains. We stop at Katoomba and walk down to the 'Three Sisters', then go to Scenic World.

At Scenic World we go down one of the steepest railways in the world - take a stroll on the boardwalk through the forest - and ascend on the Sceniscender, a large cable car, back to the top.

We race to the Janeolan Caves and make it within minutes of the start of the tour through the Lucas Caves.

The caves are pretty magnificent. The tour through the Lucas Caves show the largest caverns at Janeolan - it was well worth the dash.

Day 8

We walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge - a standard for all our visitors at some point in the stay. We take Kerey on the traditional browse through the Rocks Markets - this time we make a purchase at the space painting stand.

We get corn, delectables from the French Patisserie, and jump onto the Manly Ferry.

The kids go swimming - boy that's keen for the end of April!

Dinner at Leichhardt - The Italian Forum for Pasta, and Bar Italia for gelato! At last.

Routeburn Trekking

We had always wanted to 'do' the Routeburn track. Trekking, tramping, hiking, walking, whatever you call it - it was a 3 to 4 hour amble through lush virgin forest.

So we headed off to Glenorchy, a 40 minute drive from Queenstown, and got energised with lunch and the spectacular 'Middle Earth' scenery.



After a pit stop and a 45 minute interlude trying to break back into Megan's car (the result of a helpful nephew locking the doors so it would be robber-proof.


Unfortunately it was also Aunty Megan proof as the keys were left inside the car), we head to the start of the Routeburn Track to attempt the first leg of the arduous trek.


Aside: A helpful tip at this point - it's best not to wear in your new sneakers on a 3 hour hike. It could lead to a debilatating foot condition known as blisters.

Swing bridges across flowing creeks and rivlets marked the progress of our journey. I don't think words can describe this part of the world, nor do it justice, so I'll let you admire the photography.

As the day drew towards coming to an end - the children got a sense of 'hometime' and Grandma's baking in the car, and ran most of the way back. I guess being in the lead and Grandma's fudge cake is a pretty good incentive to race to the car.