The Independent-News, Volume 120, Number 47, Walkerton, St. Joseph County, 6 April 1995 — Page 8

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- THE INDEPENDENT-NEWS - APRIL 6, 1995

Our Trip To ‘The Down Under’ On the last day of January, Catherine Theis, Barb Burket and I (Jean Cole) left cold, wintery Indiana and headed for summer in the "land down under”. We flew to Los Angeles and spent a oneday lay-over with Shirley and Dick Roberts and my mother, Mary Jane Beaty. Dick showed Barb and Catherine earthquake damage from one year ago, then delivered us at the airport for our 15 % hour trip to Australia. Crossing the International Date Line put us one day ahead of Indiana for the next 16 days or until our return to Los Angeles. Cairns, in Northern Australia, was very hot and humid and busy with many tourists from the Orient on their summer vacations. We rode a train over a 100 year-old track built to reach the gold mines, winding our way up the mountain, through 15 tunnels and over gorges with spectacular views of waterfalls on one side and sugar plantations in the valley below on the other side. Upon arrival at Kuranda, we traveled by "Army Duck” through the tropical rainforest, protected by the government, where our fantastic guide entertained and educated us about the plant and bird life found there. That afternoon we attended the Tjapukai Theater where the culture of the Aborigines was presented in story, song and dance by members of the tribe. The music was played on a very interesting instrument called a Didgeridoo, which makes a very unusual sound. Barb bought one of these for her husband, Dave — so residents of Walnut Road, do not be alarmed when you hear these strange sounds soon — it will only be Dave playing the Didgeridoo I The next day we boarded a catamaran for a 40-mile trip out in the Pacific Ocean to view the Great Barrier Coral Reef. Our boat anchored and we rode on a beach buggy to an island (no trees) inhabited only by terns (birds) where some of our group enjoyed snorkelCENTURY 21 SAVOIE & ASSOCIATES S Named to C-21 Top 21 Sales Assoc, tor North Central Indiana. Member 1993 Quality Service Award Winning Office. Liat With Mb Because Buyirs [buy FROM BRIAnI Bus. 936-7622 Home 586-7022

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ing. The intense heat made the beach less than enjoyable, so we were grateful to return to the airconditioned catamaran for a fabulous buffet lunch. In the afternoon, we boarded a submarine-like vessel with a transparent hull which enabled us to view the underwater coral formations, exotic multi-colored fish and plant life. We could easily see why this is called on of the natural wonders of the world I On our return to Cairns, we accidently found one of the best treats of our trip. We decided to grab a hamburger at a shop in the food court of a mall. The place we selected was called "Johnny Rocket” and was like a visit back to the 50’s. The music on the juke box began playing and suddenly the young waiters and waitresses were singing and dancing through the aisles — even the manager came out and joined in the fun. We could have stayed there for hours! The flight to Sydney took us over the Great Barrier Reef, which extends 1,250 miles along the Australilan coast and the view of the coral formations from the plane was just as colorful and amazing as the underwater view the day before. Sydney was the usual large city, only more confusing with everyone driving on the wrong side of the road I A three hour boat tour of the Sydney harbor was much more enjoyable than the city itself. I had not realized the size of this busy harbor, as the usual view seen on TV, etc. is of the famous Opera House and just the area surrounding it. Our trip took us several miles out to the Pacific and among the many bays that make up this massive harbor. The homes were from the simple to the most elaborate — from the early mansion-type homesteads to the modem mostly glass structures. One even had a revolving garage floor so the owner never had to back out of his garage! The walk approaching the Opera House was of special interest as the sidewalk was a tribute to authors who wrote about Australia. Inlaid circles gave quotes from many well-known authors, as well as some that were unfamiliar to us. Following a tour of the- Opera House, we traveled out of the city to Waratah Park, where we had the thrill of actually hugging a koala (while they took our picture) and feeding kangaroos by hand. We also fed emus — though they took the feed directly from the bags we held. With those large beaks, I was glad they wouldn’t eat from our hands! Our second day in Sydney was a free day for shopping. Our tour

guide took us to an opal showroom, where the three of us enriched the Australian economy by our purchases (also Uncle Sam with the duty tax when we returned). After more shopping at the Queen Victoria Building, Barb and Catherine took a ferry across the bay to the Sydney Zoo, where Barb had contacted a gentleman who gave her information about emus and their care. They also viewed other sections of the zoo, but it was much too large to cover it all. Dinner that night was atop the Sydney Tower (much like the Seattle Needle) where the revolving restaurant gave us a beautiful view of the city, harbor and Pacific Ocean. A ride on the mono-rail completed our tour of this massive city, and we returned to the hotel to prepare for our trip to New Zealand the next day. After a three hour flight (and 2 hour time change) we landed at Christchurch in South New Zealand. This country is much more beautiful than Australia, with snow-capped mountains and green farm valleys, also cooler weather due to the distance south of the Equator. Christchurch was a lovely city with flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere. The people were extremely friendly and the pace of living was much more relaxed and soothing —very, very British in atmosphere. Walking back to the hotel from supper the first evening, we came upon an open-air Shakespearean theater in a park with many people in attendance — seated on bleachers or mostly on the ground. Our second evening in Christchurch, the tour group was divided into groups of four and each group had dinner with a host family. We three, plus a lady artist from New Orleans, were the guests of Doris and Keith Brading. Their home was near the ocean, so Keith took us down to the beach before we went to their home for the evening. The Bradings were lovely, gracious hosts who gave us the royal treatment. Doris served leg of lamb with 7 or 8 vegetables (all home grown) and introduced us to povlova —a favorite dessert which we were to have at almost every meal, fixed several different ways, but always delicious. Another flight the next day took us further south to Queenstown, where we immediately boarded a large motorcoach and drove even further south, mostly along the shores of the two largest glacierformed lakes in South New Zealand. Mountains went right down to the lake shore much of the time, with some areas of rolling hills. Many sheep stations (ranches) in this area as we had expected, but we were surprised to see many stations where they were raising red deer for the meat and the velvet antlers. It was difficult to see the huge herds and not panic with fear that they would run out onto the road — like they do here. We soon learned to know by the height of the fence whether a station was a sheep station or a deer station. The small town of TeAnau was our destination for the night. The three of us enjoyed strolling the streets (shopping and eating supper) and then sat on the lake shore across from our hotel to watch the beautiful sunset on the mountains. Barb and I went wading in the lake, even if it was supposed to be extremely cold water, and found it to delightful and refreshing. Early the next morning, we were E-Z STUMP REMOVAL REASONABLE RATES Bill Etlinger 586-2167 Walkerton FULLY INSURED

back on the bus headed for Milford Sound via the only road access to this location. The trip took us throught the world’s largest National Park — Fiordland National Park with over 4 million acres. We had several stops on the way for short walking trips to view Mirror Lake, thundering waterfalls, deep chasms, huge piles of snow still left from winter plowing and areas of lush thick foliage. We passed through a half-mile tunnel started in 1935 and opened in 1953 and also saw several areas of great damage caused by avalanches in recent years. At Milford Sound we boarded a boat to travel out the sound, which is actually a fiord created by a glacier. During the trip we saw a school of dolphins playing in the sound, and also a group of seals lounging on large rocks along the shore. The return trip by bus to Queenstown was a very long four and one-half hours ride back over the same roads, but with no stopover at TeAnau. The scenery was so beautiful though, that we didn’t mind going over the same route again. Before we toured Queenstown the next day, our driver took us out to the small village of Arrowtown, where gold have been discovered in 1862. A conflict between the native Maori people and the Chinese who came seeking the gold resulted in a very interesting and bloody history for this small town, influence from the Chinese was especially noticeable in a beautiful church built by them. Most of the homes have been kept as they were 130 years ago, giving the town a very quaint British look. On the return trip, we stopped at a bridge over the Shotout River where bungee jumping originated and we watched several brave souls plunge from the bridge. Since my son Bob loves to sky dive, I was sure he would have been in that line preparing to jump, if he had been with me. None of our group cared to do anything but watch! In Queenstown, we rode an aerial gondola to the top of Bok’s Peak for an overview of the city. From our hotel balcony, we had seen what I thought were paraplanes (like Hoppy has out at Stuntz Pine Forest), but when we arrived at the top of the mountain, we saw young men with just the parachute and a seat taking a passenger and jumping from the

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top to glide down to the city below. One of the men in our group decided to give this a try — so the rest ol us rode the gondola back down the mountain and then watched Jim come down by parachute. Catherine expressed such sincere concern for his safety, that Jim adopted her as his "mother” for the rest of the trip and presented her with a rose for Valentine’s Day the next day. That evening we boarded a boat for a 45 minute trip across Lake Wakatipu, the largest lake in South New Zealand, to visit the Walter Peak Sheep Station for a barbecue. We were greatly surprised when we were seated in a very formal dining room and served an elegant dinner of roast lamb, roast beef, chicken and venison with all the trimmings, included a dessert buffet with the ever present povlova. Not what we had pictured for a barbecue on a sheep ranch! After the meal, one of the ranchers demonstrated the use of sheepdogs in controlling the movements of the sheep, cattle and goats. These dogs are very valuable ($3,000+) and control the animals either as a "barkaway” or an "eye” dog, receiving their orders through whistling done by the rancher. The moon-lit trip back on the boat was spent singing old favorites along with the other passengers, as an elderly gentleman played a baby grand piano. (Note: Due to the length of this article, it will be continued in the next edition of "The IndependentNews.) SIGN-UP UNDERWAY FOR BETHEL SPORTS CAMPS Bethel College, home of the 1995 NAIA national champs, the Bethel Pilots, will host its 23rd year of Bethel Sports Camps June 8 thru August 3, 1995. Kids ages 8 through 18 are eligible to participate in the camps, which feature basketball, baseball, volleyball, softball, soccer, tennis and cheerleading. A co-ed mini camp will be held June 8-10 for kids ages 5 to 7. Athletic Director Mike Lightfoot, coach of the Bethel Pilots, directs the program. Space is limited, and some camps fill up quickly, so register your child or grandchild today by calling the Bethel College Athletic Office at (219) 257-3343, or write: Bethel Sports Camps, 1001 West McKinley Avenue, Mishawaka, Indiana 46545.