Twin sons of different mothers

I've visited Australia and New Zealand several times, and am struck by the stark differences between the two countries.  There are many similarities, but the two countries can also look so very different.  From the US, we often assume that they are more or less the same;  the accents are hard to distinguish, so how different could they be?  They both insist on putting pictures of the Queen of England on their money, and play really boring sports like cricket.  Many people I've talked to in the states seem to think New Zealand is a region of Australia (even though it is over 2000km offshore).  If you ever really want to piss off a Kiwi, ask them where in Australia New Zealand is.... they don't take it kindly.  There is a sibling rivalry going on, and New Zealand is clearly the little brother in the deal.

To begin to understand the differences, you have to dig deep... as in the earth's crust.  Australia is the lowest, flattest, and oldest continental landmass on Earth...  If I remember my Geology 101 correctly, it was the core of the ancient super-continent Gondwana before all those plate

Uluru/Ayers Rock.

tectonics broke things up and moved it all around.  We're talking really really old (samples of rock 4.4 Billion years old have been found)... and not changed much by the tectonic forces that have shaped all the other continents.  Because of the continent's great age, extremely weather patterns, and geographic isolation, much of the flora and fauna are unique (and strange to us).  About 85% of flowering plants and  mammals, and 45% of birds are endemic to Australia.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, most the fauna here seems to be trying to kill us, and it turns out they've had a very long time to learn how to do it.

New Zealand is primarily made up of 2 large islands.  These islands emerged from the largely submerged continent of Zealandia, which came into existence about 83 million years ago before sinking about 20 million years ago. The landmass we see today is the result of volcanic and tectonic uplifting, so it is geologically very young.

Before the arrival of humans around 900 years ago, the only mammals that were here are the ones who could fly or swim, and there aren't too many of them.  This made it quite a paradise for birds, who didn't bother selecting flight as an important evolutionary trait.  This has not worked out so well for several of the flightless avian varieties once the rats and men arrived on ships.

Moa... extinct

Kiwi... endangered

So, Australia is one of the oldest landmasses, next to one of the youngest in New Zealand.  Humans are believed to have arrived in Australia over 48,000 years ago, while New Zealand was not inhabited until about 900 years ago (this date is debated).  With those different origin stories, I guess we should be surprised that they have anything in common at all.

In Tasmania

Maria Island

It occurred to me today that I've truly been island hopping... From the North Island of New Zealand, we flew last week to Melbourne on the island continent of Australia, then on to island state of Tasmania, where we then ventured on a day trip to the natural preserve of Maria Island just off the eastern coast. Kind of like the Russian nesting dolls of travel.

Jeannette was invited back to teach a 3 day class in Hobart, Tasmania so I decided to tag along. When we were here a year ago, we couldn't visit the west coast due to vast wildfires and dense smoke, so we thought another visit was in order to allow us to explore the west coast.

Tasmania is an island off the southeast coast of mainland Australia, the smallest of Australia's six states. 45% of the state is in reserves or parks, and contains an amazing array of climate zones in a relatively small land mass. It is the southernmost part of Australia: if we were to head westward from Strahan, the first landmass we would hit would be Argentina, making this the longest uninterrupted expanse of ocean on the globe. If we were to head eastward and manage to skip over the south island of New Zealand, the next land we would reach would be Chile. When the weather hits here, it is coming from a long way off.

When they arrived 200 years ago, early settlers to Tasmania noted : “The swans were black, not white. The trees shed their bark but kept their leaves. The seasons were reversed. They called it ‘The Antipodes’ – the name means ‘direct opposite.”  As we have visited different landscapes here, Jeannette and I will take turns commenting to each other "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore".

Cradle Mountain boardwalk trail

Cradle Mountain

Rainforest

Painted Cliffs

In my favorite book about Australia (In a Sunburned Country), Bill Bryson writes:

“It has more things that will kill you than anywhere else. Of the world's ten most poisonous snakes, all are Australian. Five of its creatures - the funnel web spider, box jellyfish, blue-ringed octopus, paralysis tick, and stonefish - are the most lethal of their type in the world. This is a country where even the fluffiest of caterpillars can lay you out with a toxic nip, where seashells will not just sting you but actually sometimes go for you. ... If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles, or carried helplessly out to sea by irresistible currents, or left to stagger to an unhappy death in the baking outback. It's a tough place.”

I think he may have been an optimist... I think some of the minerals are probably out to get us as well.   Sadly, we failed to photograph the 6" Huntsman spider that Jeannette found crawling up my arm as I was packing the car to leave... somehow ripping my shirt off as quickly as possible seemed more important than the photographic record of the event at that time.

Maria Island Wombat

But then there is the Wombat. It is not trying to kill anything. It is built like a squat, furry tank. How could you not love a wombat? Jeannette has been wanting to see one in the wild for many years, but we'd only encountered them in the zoo. This time we succeeded in tracking them down during a hike in Cradle Mountain National Park. Well worth the wait. A few days later, after dinner at a friend's house just outside Hobart, we were visited by a group of wallabys (technically they were pademelons), and two different kind of bandicoots. I think I've decided that my future rock star moniker will be 'Billy and the Bandicoots'.

Suburban Pademelons

Settling In

Our New Year's Eve flight out of SFO had us arrive in Auckland, New Zealand on January 2^nd, having missed the 1^st thanks to the International Date Line. Since we have a deep sense of foreboding about 2017, missing the first day of it seemed somehow fitting.

Why are we here? See previous post.... because we can. We first came to New Zealand about 25 years ago to visit a family who had lived near us during their sabbatical in the US. We had a great visit there, so when they proposed a house swap 20 years ago, we packed up our two boys and headed off, exchanging houses, cars, and pets (a keeshond, cat, and iguana). One car and the iguana didn't fare so well, everything else survived. Jeannette has been back to visit and teach art there almost every year for the past 15 years, and I've joined her every few years. When they proposed another house swap, we jumped at the chance. While Bill and Sue are very intelligent individuals, the fact that they have twice now agreed to doing this so that we get 3 consecutive summers while they face 3 consecutive winters makes me wonder a bit. But I feel little guilt in taking full advantage of it.

We're living in the village of Mt Eden, a residential area on the outskirts of Auckland. This is a very different trip than 20 years ago. We aren't trying to get the boys enrolled in school and figuring out where to buy school uniforms. We know the house and neighborhood well, and Jeannette has a multitude of friends here.

volcano map of Auckland

Mt Eden (Maungawhau in Maori) is a dormant volcanic cone... one of 53 in the Auckland area.  It is a great spot to get one's bearings on arrival, so we usually schedule a hike to the top soon after arrival. Auckland is New Zealand's largest city (population 1.5M), and is located on a narrow isthmus. With all the hills and water around, it reminds me of San Francisco (also at about the same latitude, but S instead of N). It also means traffic is a bear at rush hour since the public transportation isn't developed enough to keep up with the population growth, and there isn't room for more roads. All this has little impact on me (and after all, that is what matters), since Novation Inc Australasian headquarters is at the top of the stairs, and the village of Mt. Eden is just a short stroll up the street.  Nearby is another volcano, One Tree Hill (as in the U2 song).  Most of these volcanic cones are surrounded by parks, many with grazing sheep or cattle.

Mt Eden from the village

downtown Auckland from Mt Eden

Mt Eden from One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill