Farewell party!

We decided not to give up and to look for dolphins in their own habitat, out there on the middle of the ocean and…we found them. These intelligent beauties “probably knew” it was our last day of a fantastic adventure, so they came up and down, playfully to say good bye and we thanked them (even cried a little) for their farewell party. Hasta la vista amigos!
Once again, New Zealand, its native culture, its people, its scenery, the majestic mountains, the breathtaking beaches, the mesmerizing vegetation, great wine, cute sheep-cows-horses-alpacas-birds-fish are an invitation to thank G-od for the opportunity to see, smell, touch, hear, taste, BREATH a spectacular creation.

She’echeyanu v’kyemanu v’yiguianu

Hot Springs, Volcanoes & Dolphins

On our 3rd day in NZ Northern Island, we embarked ourselves north once again surrounded by beautiful National Forrests & Lakes (especially Lake Taupo) sky resorts (on Winter season) with its peak Tongariro Mountain.
We arrived at the heart of the indigenous Maori culture in the Hot Springs of Rotorua and treated ourselves with those special baths in very hot temperatures carrying plenty of minerals with healing natural purposes (they have their own Old Faithful who shows up every morning at 10:15).

On Monday we left early to get the Bay of Plenty in the Tauranga region. Our boat was determined to find dolphins out there in the sea in their own environment. After 6 hours of sailing we found a beautiful fauna, plenty of birds (even penguins) but no dolphins. It was not too disappointing when we realized that we have the entire afternoon exploring the area and climbing Mount Maunganui, an extinct volcano with a fantastic vegetation, plenty of sheep and magnificent view of the bay. We tested the Eastern shores of the Sea of Tasman and its clear-transparent waters.

Feeling at home…

We arrived to Wellington, New Zealand’s capital on Friday afternoon. We crossed the sea between the 2 islands on a boat-ferry surrounded by exquisite views.
Wellington is a charming city, beautiful in every corner, you could walk everywhere, perfect place to spend Shabbat.
The Jewish community of Wellington has 2 synagogues (300 & 200 people each plus non affiliated Israelis & Russians)
On Shabbat morning we attended to orthodox Shul (meaning the Rabbi is modern orthodox, the people are not) and during kiddush we found an haimish-welcoming place that made us feel at home. We play Jewish geography and realized that we are basically one big mishpacha, perfect healing in the aftermath of the Paris saga.
The whole beach city-bay is surrounded by meadows-hills and mountains which are like a huge botanical garden belt. At the botanical garden there was a free concert and locals (and us) came to enjoy country music (we mostly enjoy watching people embracing their culture)
Great falafel, hummus & babaganoush for dinner were the perfect way to end the last Shabbat of this fabulous SHABBATICAL!

New Zealand’s sport activity: JAW DROPPING!

We started our road trip in Queenstown (South West on the Southern Island) bound North East. Crossing the country hugged by the Southern Alps (mountain chain) in the middle of a Summer blue sky with snowed high picks it’s quite a breathtaking experience.
Fact: if you travel New Zealand Southern Island and your GPS tells you ” 3 hours to your final destination” (hotel, attraction, etc) DO NOT BELIEVE IT! Allow yourself 5 hours instead of 3 because you will stop every few miles to experience the place-breath-admire beauty-make a blessing…the journey is truly THE destination.
We drove through the central area of the country, the outskirts of the Lake Wanaka, where wineries, cherry picking, apricot & peaches trees and salmon feeding are the hallmark of the zone as well as wildlife.
Mount Cook and the turquoise lakes such as Ruataniwa, Pukaki & Tepako (where rowing and leisure activities are practiced) adorned the area. People are friendly and welcoming (strange accent though 😊)and give a multicultural impression of those descendants of European background along with Maori indigenous.
This is the truth:
The pics look like an impressionist painting of Claude Monet but it is certainly much better, it’s G-od’s natural painting,
G-od’s expressionism, it’s reality, not canvas!
We don’t worry about the time of arrival the GPS tells us, we open our eyes to the majesty of this place.

Welcome to New Zealand!

The land of National Parks, sheep, cows & VERY FEW people!
We started our journey in Christchurch, where we visited the ” cardboard church”, built after the earthquake that destroyed the town on Feb 22, 2011.
The Japanese architect was able to design this cozy-simple and meaningful place using resources such as cardboard to create a welcoming place to worship. Next to this site is the outdoor memorial of the 185 victims of the natural disaster called “The Empty Chairs”. These white variety of chairs symbolize the empty space left by each one of the victims. A graffiti of Mother Nature uprooting the town is very meaningful.
After a cup of coffee we started to understand Peter Jackson’s inspiration for his films (besides Tolkien’s’ books). No need for special settings when you have this unbelievable natural scenery!
Crossing the Southern Island East-West, North-South is discovering national parks after national parks. We crossed the Arthur Pass National Park and after stopping every 10 minutes mesmerized by the beauty of this place we continue our way to Franz Joseph Glacier. We spent Shabbat at this place, walked 7 miles to the glacier and got caught by its overwhelming magnificent. The glacier is only one piece of this beauty, the greenery, waterfalls, rivers and marbled rocks embrace this Divine nature.
On Sunday we drove South to the wineries of Wanaka and our encounter with great wine & cheese in a magical place made our jaws drop again & again ( of course a playful 3D maze and illusionists challenges added to the charm of the day)
Arriving at Te Anau, at the footsteps of Milford Sound gave us time to walk around the lake, meet the famous parrots ( Kea & Kaka) and enjoy a late sunset in this January-Summer 2015 in the Southern Hemisphere.
Monday’s journey lead us to Milford Sound at the North-West corner of the Fiorland National Park, where the Tasman Sea encounters the South Pacific Ocean. It’s at that particular place, where gigantic waterfalls shower the iced age stones and formed terraces of cascades that the green ocean and the blue sea meet.
Birds, seals and other wildlife accompanied us through the experience. Between rain and sunshine we witnessed the majesty of the place!
Four hours later we arrived to the enchanted Queenstown or “The Adventure Capital of the World” as it known locally.
Our adventure was about a magnificent 30 KM ride around the Lake Wakatipu 360 grades of beauty.
Sunshine and a well deserved falafel helped to find the most out of this experience.

Some facts and proportions:

1.New Zealand has 7 1/2 sheep per inhabitant
2. Fiorland National Park (1 of many) is half the size of the entire state of Israel!
3. There are tons and tons of natural resources in NZ (especially water!)

Happy New Year From Beautiful Australia!

Under the sea…we found Nemo!
How could we describe the indescribable?
We love to dive, the experience of listening to our own breathing and exploring a different universe under the surface of the waters could be intimidating but to us it’s magical.
The Great Barrier Reef, is the world’s largest coral reef composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,300 kilometers over an area of approximately 344,400 square. It was a dream come true.
AWESOME is the word that can describe this place.
Deep & long diving (15 dives in 3 1/2 days, including a night one) opened an universe of multiple colors (fish & corals) and the sense of awe and blessings were overwhelming. Pristine waters and perfect weather allowed us to discover castles, caverns & tunnels shaped by corals that created a maze to “stroll” around.
We found “Nemo”, several times, several Nemos 😜playing with the corals and school of fish. These corals are iridescent, bright purples and blues and reds and yellows and…pure magic!
We found ourselves in an endless status of being in awe.
One of the highlights, of course, was shark feeding, an incredible experience to witness! The sharks, many of them, became our “friends” and we treated each other with “respect”, protecting our boundaries.
God’s presence is everywhere, we certainly found the Divine presence 100 feet under sea level.
Baruch Atah HaTov V’Hameitiv (Blessed is the one who bestows wonders)
Ps. The pics under the water will be shown, hopefully, jet lag permitted, at the Havdallah on January 17. Otherwise, sometime later in the year.

Monday at Port Douglas!
Just one hour north of Cairns stands the beach city of Port Douglas. The costal route that connects the two cities is spectacular! Sand beaches, palm trees, mountains, wineries, rainforest, just beautiful!
We spent the day exploring these diverse places, specially the rainforest by the Mossman River preserved by the Kuku Yalanji Indigenous people. The freshness of the river and the shade of the trees on a 39C ( 102.2 F) day created the perfect place for a picnic in a cooler place.
On our way back we met our scuba buddies to say goodbye as everyone was ready to depart to their own destinations.
And off we were for Sydney!

Hold your jaw…Sydney is here!
WOW! WOW! WOW!
If you have ever visited Sydney-Australia, you know what WOW means. When the ocean meets the harbor and the blue waters reaches to the most lay back-happy-welcoming-multicultural people, you are in Sydney and it’s MAGNIFICENT!
The last days in Australia were spent in this beautiful city, celebrating the end of 2014 and beginning of 2015 (we wanted to be VERY ahead on time 😜)
We were picked up by Salome Simon (our dear friends-Shul members Barry & Rachelle Simon’s mother and mother in law) who showed us around the city and suburbs from all its corners. Bondi Beach, Rose Bay, Double Bay, The Rocks, the magnificent architecture that combines modernity with Victorian styles and some corintean Greek columns. Galleries- especially Queen Victoria, museums, churches, cathedrals, synagogue, lots of mezuzot on beautiful houses overlooking the turquoise waters, adorn this place. We also visited Martin Place-Cafe Lindt where the horrific siege happened on Dec 15. Hostages and victims of terror (Katrine Dawson & Tori Johnson) are remembered with pictures and flowers at the adjacent location, the Cafe is closed.

The hallmark of the city…the Opera House.

To be there on New Year’s Eve was a dream come true, BIG IN OUR BUCKET LIST.
We watched La Bòheme (bought the tickets back in July!) and witnessed amazing fireworks from the terrace of the Opera House.
Tears rolled down our face as this “Shecheyanu” moment happened.
We say goodbye and thank you to the Aussies and are ready to explore the natural beauty of the kiwis’ country, embracing New Zealand!

Cairns…

We did not know what to expect in this northern beach city of Australia. For us Cairns was just the stop point or springboard to the Great Barrier Reef, but of course, being Australia such a beautiful country, Cairns is a reflection of this beauty.

Hag Urim Sameach (last day of Hanukkah) & Hodesh tov!

Markets & Royal parks…

On Tuesday we walked the wide avenues of Melbourne to the Victoria Market. Fantastic experience! The eclectic market divided by “theme” products and produce was like going back to childhood. Smells, colors, tastes, freshness reminded us how much healthier we have eaten many years ago before processed food. The crowd evoked a symphony of multiple accents who made their home in this remote and beautiful place in the
world.
Crossing the whole city center we walk to the Shrine of Remembrance. The solemn place is dedicated to those who have their lives to support other countries to win the Great War, WWII, Korea War, Borneo War and many other.
In the crypts of the monument we learned about the ANZAK, soldiers of Australia and New Zealand, who helped the British fight the Ottoman Empire in Israel (then Palestine).
The parks of Melbourne are royal, not just because they are called Victoria, Elizabeth or Edward the VII, their majestic aspect is that they are filled with families playing criquet, coffee shops, manicured vegetation and fountains, sculptures, art, free performances and of the Yarra River, pure LIFE!
We said good bye to Melbourne by attending the musical “Once”, great setting, great music!
Good bye Melbourne, hope to come back soon!

AUSTRALIA has it all!

Today we drove south of Melbourne to discover breathtaking views, taste good wine and great cheese, stroll on the coast of the Sea of Tasman, to marvel at the Nobbies, an ecotourism destination located at Point Grant, on the western tip of Victoria, Australia. Home of wildlife that makes your imagination fly.
The koalas and wallabies warmed our day with their cute slow pace (koalas) and spring (wallabies)
The penguins crowned the day. We waited for 2 hours until after sunset. When they started showing up on the shore. They come in groups (10-12), they test the ambience and make sure it is safe, march to their refuge to rest for a day or two after that they go back to the ocean. Sorry, no pictures were allowed 😔, they get scared by flashes.
Walking next to them, appreciating these interesting creatures who fight for survival was a once in a life experience and made the wait and those minutes of rain worth it, it was priceless.

In the far far Far East feeling in the West…

We landed in Melbourne Australia and met with our dear friends Betsy & Jay to share part of our trip.
Hold your jaw! MELBOURNE IS BEAUTIFUL!
We strolled the city, diversity and fun are the hallmark of this place. Lots of street performances, art, beautiful modern architecture blended with Victorian ornamented XIX buildings. The parks are amazing.
Basically the city is a merge of London & San Francisco with a Los Angeles sunny weather.
After crossing the Yarra River we took the tram and experience a glimpse of the Supreme Court, Parliament, University.
One of the most amazing streets is Hosier Lane and its graffiti. Fabulous!
We are back to our South American roots, experiencing Summer in December 😜
Looking forward to discovering Australia!!!