穿梭于风景万种的澳大利亚和新西兰

 

 

 

 

为了最大限度地提高停留港口的数量和在船上的停留时间，当我们计划在新西兰和澳大利亚坐游轮时，我们选择了15天的旅游套餐。游轮让我们不必担心一次次地来回搬运行李。

When we arrange a cruise of New Zealand and Australia, we picked a package of 15 days to maximize the number of destination ports and our staying days on the ship. Cruises allow us to forget about the hauling of luggage from one city to the next on a daily basis.

 

在船上，我们可以享受五星级的餐饮服务，且食物品种繁多。晚餐时，我们可以订更多的牛排，鱼和其他昂贵的海鲜。早餐和午餐自助餐有各种食物和蔬菜供选择。提醒自己不要太贪吃是一个不可忽视的问题，我们不想吃完后就直接进健身房。

We also get to enjoy 5 star dining services with great choices of food. At dinner time, we can order extra servings of steaks, fish, and other expensive seafood. For breakfast and lunch buffets, the variety of foods and vegetables are plenty to choose from. It is important to watch our indulgences in food consumption so we will not have to take remedial actions at the gymnasium afterwards.

 

我们从位于新西兰北岛的奥克兰上船。许多人认为奥克兰是新西兰的首都，但首都是惠灵顿。对于那些以前没有乘坐过游轮的人来说，游轮是晚上航行，早上抵达一个新的城市，晚上再驶往另一个城市。你可以在安排旅行时购买抵达一个新港口后的旅游套票。游轮和当地的旅游公司均提供这类服务。一个重要的事情要记住，如果你在港口城市旅游时误了回船时间，你就得自己花钱赶到船的下一个港口上船。

Our cruise started off from Auckland, New Zealand located on the North Island. Many people identify Auckland as the capital city when it is actually the city of Wellington. For those who have not taken cruises before, the ship typically arrives at a new city in the morning and leaves in the evening. Excursion tour packages can be arranged with the liner during the shore stay or one can book alternate tour packages with local companies prior to the start of the cruise. One important thing to remember – if you miss the ship at departure time, you will have to catch up to the ship at the next port at your own expenses.

 

新西兰是有许多山脉的国家。大部分人居住在分散在各个偏远角落的城市。新西兰土地民风质朴，空气清新和洁净。正如我们所料，在这个幅员广大的国家里，羊比人多。新西兰还有非常严格的保护环境的措施。植物，种子和食物都被监管，并有很多限制。为了把加拿大干人参送给我的姨妈，人参必须在加拿大切成小块。很高兴离家前得到人参零售商的提醒，否则人参就可能在新西兰海关作为违禁品而被没收。另外，把蜂蜜带进新西兰也是不可能的，因为他们保护此行业。新西兰最贵的蜂蜜产品接近$200加元一磅。

New Zealand is a mountainous country with sparse populations at mostly isolated urban centres. The land is pristine and the air is fresh and clean. As expected, there are more sheep than people in this vast country. There are very strict controls to protect the environment as well. Plants, seeds, and foods are subject to inspections and there are plenty of restrictions. To bring dried Canadian ginseng to my auntie, they have to be sliced into small pieces in Canada. It was nice to get advice from the Canadian vendors ahead rather than facing confiscation of prohibited items at customs. Bringing honey into New Zealand is impossible as they have an industry to protect and their most expensive honey product is close to Canadian $200 per pound.

 

新西兰的住房通常为平房，历史建筑都得到很好保存。即使是非常小的城镇，房屋价格也在70万新币以上（1加元= 1.14纽币）。每到一处，我们都有事先安排的导游服务。他们友好而幽默。我们这个团有十个人，这种自己安排的旅游活动比游轮提供的服务更实惠。

Residential properties are typically bungalows and historic buildings are well preserved. For even very small towns, properties are in the NZ$700K range and up (one Canadian dollar=1.14 NZ dollar). We met up with per-arranged local tour guides and they are friendly and humorous. With ten people in our group, this kind of package is more economical than signed up tours with the cruise ship.

 

在新西兰的两个群岛周游之后，游轮驶入了澳大利亚。我们参观了霍巴特（塔斯马尼亚）、墨尔本、并停靠悉尼。霍巴特是一个小城市，而其他两个都是与多伦多和温哥华相媲美的大都市。这两个城市有很多中国人。顺便说一句，悉尼以其歌剧院而闻名，但它不是澳大利亚的首都。首都是堪培拉！许多人都要在堪培拉，墨尔本和悉尼之间之间的办公室穿梭工作。

The cruise sailed into Australia after we circled the two New Zealand Islands. We visited Hobart (Tasmania), Melbourne, and docked at Sydney. While Hobart is a small city, the other two are metropolitan cities comparable to Toronto and Vancouver. There are plenty of Chinese people in those two cities. By the way, Sydney is well known for its opera house but it is not the capital city of Australia. It is Canberra! There are many people who commute between Canberra, Melbourne, and Sydney each week at different offices.

 

我们最愉快的活动是在澳大利亚喂袋鼠。在郊区的一家医院旁边的一个小镇，我们遇到了大约30只的袋鼠群。虽然袋鼠是非常胆小的动物，但他们不陌生，吃我们的食物，和我们亲热了好长时间。我们另一个极好的冒险经历是去蓝山。这个地方类似于美国的大峡谷，不同是蓝山周围有森林。蓝山有陡峭的电车游乐设施和风景如画的散步线路。

Our most enjoyable event involved the feeding of kangaroos in Australia. We encountered a small group of 30 in a small town next to a hospital in a rural setting. These are very timid animals and let us approach, feed, and pet them for a long period of time. Another excellent adventure was our visit to the Blue Mountain, a place similar to the Grand Canyon but with a forest canopy all around. There were steep tram rides and scenic trails throughout the attraction.

 

你可能要问我为什么不提澳大利亚海鲜？他们的无爪龙虾甜美和昂贵（$180加币 /公斤），而我们加拿大的缅因龙虾才$ 28 / 公斤。虽然悉尼的中国人口也很多（10％以上），但与多伦多相比，悉尼的中国城和其他地方的中餐都非常贵。当我在悉尼散步时，我以为我回到了万锦市。澳大利亚最低工资是18元/小时，工会势力很强，对工人的待遇很好。

How can I not mention seafood in Australia? Their claw-less lobsters are sweet and expensive (Canadian $180/kg) compare to our Maine lobsters at $28/Kg. Even through there is a large Chinese population (10%+) in Sydney, Chinese food is very expensive around China town and other Chinese enclaves when compared to Toronto prices. I thought I was back in Markham when I was walking around Sydney. The Australian Minimum wage is $18/hr and their unions are strong, thus providing protection for the workers.

 

虽然很不情愿，我们不得不去香港，我们的下一个旅行目标。我们已经把南半球“以下”的这片土地深深地印入了脑海。

Reluctant as we were, we had to travel next to Hong Kong and keep our memories of this tour to the “Down under” lands in the southern hemisphere.