BBQ on Bondi Beach

Photo gallery: BBQ on Bondi Beach

I added several shots from a BBQ organized by me and Lenca.

New Zealand: Tongariro Crossing Track

Photo gallery: Tongariro Crossing Track

We spent one day in Tongariro National Park which is rich in cultural identity and has a dramatic scenery. It was granted dual World Heritage status, for its outstanding natural features and the cultural importance the peaks and rivers represent to the local Maori.

We made the 17 km long and 8 hours lasting Tongariro Crossing Track which spans the length of Mt Tongariro via two craters and several lakes. It was our most difficult trek in New Zealand but it a was challenge :). Finally it was an adventure and an unforgettable experience!

Tongariro Crossing is rated as the best one day trek in New Zealand and listed by many in the top 10 day treks in the world.

Queen Mary 2 & Queen Elizabeth 2 in Sydney

Photo gallery: Queen Mary 2

Sydney Harbour had never seen anything quite like it - the world's largest ocean liner Queen Mary 2 and her sister ship Queen Elizabeth 2 close behind! These two grand dames caused chaos in the city:

• there were crowds of people coming to have a look during the whole day,
• others in cars on all the main roads (in all lanes!) were stopping to watch QM2 so there was a critical traffic jam for the whole day,
• buses, trains and ferries had major delays,
  
• many commuters watching crafts in the evening spent up to 2 hours more on the way home than usual and some of them couldn't get home at all (they couldn't fit into regular means of transport,
• several helicopters were flying among the tall buildings in the city

QM2 and QE2 stayed in the city for almost one day. There was a spectacular firework as a celebration that many people considered to be even much better than the NEY's one!

There are some amazing facts about Queen Mary 2:

• Length: 345 metres
• Beam: 40.5 metres
• Height (Keel to Funnel): 71 metres
• Guest Capacity: 2592 lower berths, 3056 maximum capacity
• Crew: 1253

There are some comparisons of Queen Mary 2:

• QM2 is 147 feet longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall,
• QM2 is more than 3 times as long as Westminster Tower (Big Ben) is high,
• QM2 is only 117 feet shorter than the Empire State Building is tall,
• QM2 is as long as 41 double-decker London buses,
• QM2's whistle is audible for 16 kilometres.

New Zealand: Waimangu - Huka Falls - Taupo

Photo gallery: Waimangu - Huka Falls - Taupo

Early morning we went to Waimangu Volcanic Valley for a spectacular half-day trip including a hiking trail along a crater. The valley is made up by seven craters formed during eruption in 1886 (this is the world's newest geothermal eco-system). We walked around the craters and explored volcanic lakes, thermal springs, old soil layers and many other interests of the local flora and fauna.

During the journey to Taupo we visited Huka Falls, the largest falls on the Waikato River. The river, normally up to 100 metres wide, abruptly narrows to just 15 metres as it crosses a hard volcanic ledge. The impressive view of the "chute" with 220,000 litres of water per second is enhanced with incredible blue and green pool under the falls. The water is really clear like a crystal!

At the end of the day we spent several relaxing hours in the Taupo Hot Springs Spa where we played around in 35-41°C hot thermal pools as well as many times slid down the Giant Dragon Waterslide :)

In the evening we built up our tent in a camp in the highland near Lake Taupo.

New Zealand: Auckland - Bay of Islands - Rotorua

Photo gallery: Auckland - Bay of Islands - Rotorua

Our fourth night trip to New Zealand started on the North island.

We arrived to Auckland (from Sydney) in the evening having time just to visit the Sky Tower with spectacular 360 degree view from a staggering 220 metres above the city. Next morning we hired a car and drove several hundreds kms to the north.

Bay of Islands is one of NZ's most worthy attraction, punctuated by dozens of coves and filled with clear waters ranging in hue from turquoise to deep blue. There is an enormous historical heritage there as it was the first place of English settlement. This region has a long and proud Maori history and today has one of the country's highest percentage of Maori. It was the most northern place we have been to.

We visited Waitangi Treaty Ground with many features of Maori culture. It was there in 1840, that the Treaty of Waitangi was first signed between Maori and the British Crown. We spent a night in Paihia, the hub of the Bay of Islands.

Next day we moved to the south, to 500 km distant Rotorua. Here we got a taste of NZ's most dynamic thermal area with spurting geysers, steaming hot springs and exploding mug pools all together with the strong impact of Maori culture.

We couldn't resist to visit one of several local spas, so finally we spent a great evening in Polynesian Spa including twenty seven hot mineral pools (this spa was voted as one of the top ten spas in the world in 2004, 2005 and 2006). The outside 39 - 42 degrees Celsius hot mineral pools are just on the shore of the Lake Rotorua - it was simply fascinating!

The Magic World of Czech Illustrators for Children

Photo gallery: The Magic World of Czech Illustrators for Children

The special exhibition has recently taken place in Sydney… Even in the Czech Republic I’d never seen a similar thing :). Almost each of these illustrators is world known and has won many international awards.

On one spot we saw the most popular pictures from fairytales by such names as:

• Adolf Born (e.g. Max and Sally, Puss in Boots, Pipi Longstocking),
• Karel Franta (e.g. Punch in Hell),
• Stanislav Holy (e.g. Mister Pip’s Walk),
• Vladimir Jiranek (e.g. Bob and Bobbek: Rabbits from the Hat),
• Josef Lada (e.g. K.J.Erben’s Fairytales),
• Zdenek Miller (e.g. The Mole),
• Radek Pilar (e.g. Rumcajs),
• Odrej Sekora (e.g. Book of Ferda The Ant),
• Zdenek Smetana (e.g. Stories of the Stump Cottage),
• Jiri Trnka (e.g. Arabian Nights),
• Helena Zmatlikova (e.g. Jenicek and Marenka), and much more.

The translated titles of fairytales are so funny, aren’t they? So sit down comfortably and go back to your childhood…

NYE 2006 in Sydney

Photo gallery: NYE 2006

The New Year's Eve in Sydney was spectacular!

During the day we went to the beach from where we moved to a club (made in an old English style) in the afternoon. Then we visited our good friends and late after midnight we went for a walk to the beach where a huge dance party had been on. Unfortunately we were too tired to start dancing :)

There were two fireworks - a "family" one at 9pm and a bigger one at midnight. We watched it from a hill several km from the city - a marvelous show! It included 7 main firing locations placed around the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Thanks to our location we could see most of them.

There was about one million spectators celebrating in the city. Crowd of people began to arrive early in the morning to gather around popular spots to watch the fireworks.


Several interesting facts about the fireworks and bridge effect:

• Approximately 11,000 shells, 10,000 shooting comets, and a total of 100,000 individual
• pyrotechnic effects.
• More than 60,000 metres of wires and cables.
• Equates to 91,000 kg of equipment.
• In excess of 3,000kg of explosive devices.
• 6,000 hours of design and preparation by the crew of 35.
• Fully digitally launched, requiring 12 computers.

The organizer said, that the Sydney NYE fireworks display was regarded as the largest and most technologically advanced annual fireworks display on the planet.

Christmas time in Jervis Bay

Photo gallery: Jervis Bay

We spent the Christmas time in Jervis Bay that is about 200 km south from Sydney.

Jervis Bay is a serene beautiful stretch of coastline full of beaches, bushes, lakes, cliffs, forests and little villages. We have been to many of these places and met interesting animals in the nature.

We stayed a couple of nights in a camp in Booderee National Park where kangaroos, parrots, possumes and many other animals lived around us.

Among others we explored the Hyams Beach with the whitest sand in the world o), and an aboriginal village as well.

We spent the Christmas Eve on the beach next to our camp, where a group of dolphins appeared and started playing just twenty meters far from us. A simply exciting show!

So that was really unusual Christmas :).

Kiama and surrounding

Photo gallery: Kiama and surrounding

We spent Christmas on a trip to Jervis Bay driving through several small towns and along spectacular beaches. We also saw vast green highlands very similar to the Czech landscape. All these destinations are about 150 km south from Sydney.

Kiama is a pretty seaside town famous for its blowhole that can spout up to 60 meters high. Very impressive!

Berry is a small town with countless numbers of coffee shops. We had to stop and taste some of local goody :)

Seven Mile Beach is a beach more than 11 km long!

Unless we saw many "sitting Santa Clauses" on buildings we wouldn't know it was a Christmas time.

Xmas

Photo gallery: Xmas

There are several photos from sunny Christmas Sydney.

Enjoy the Christmas time!

Palm Beach

Photo gallery: Palm Beach

The Palm Beach is the northernmost of Sydney's beach suburbs, about 40 kilometres from city center. It's considered a "trendy" suburb and boasts some spectacular homes as well as it's popular thanks to great surf conditions.

In my opinion this is one of the best beaches in Sydney.

Petr's Party

Photo gallery: Petr's Party

There has been another party on Shelly Beach... Our friend Petr celebrated his birthday. Really great party, almost 50 people at one point!

No need of other comments :)

There are some Tina's and Sam's pictures as well, thanks guys!

Living on Bondi Beach - Winter & Spring 2006

Photo gallery: Living on Bondi Beach - Winter & Spring 2006

I published several photos from Bondi Beach that were taken during winter and spring.

The Rocks

Photo gallery: The Rocks

The Rocks is the oldest area of Sydney. It was changed into a vibrant pocket of cafes and restaurants and interesting tourist shops and stalls. This has been achieved without destroying the area's Old World charm and historic buildings (it is often described as "Sydney's outdoors museum").

Nestled at the foot of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, The Rocks is the foundation place of Sydney, and of enormous historical signifiance.

Shelly Beach

Photo gallery: Shelly Beach

Shelly Beach is a small pleasant beach perching just a couple of minutes by walk from Manly. As usual, we took a ferry from the city to Manly. Water in the ocean was much warmer then what we are used to in Bondi but I missed its peculiar big waves.

The main reason we came there was to join the Barbara's farewell party. At the end of the party several possums that looked very hungry climbed down from trees :). They were really friendly and obviously it wasn't for the first time when they enjoyed a dinner with people.

Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi

Photo gallery: Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi

"Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi" is Australia's largest annual outdoor free to the public exhibition of contemporary sculpture.

Staged along Sydney's spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk, the exhibition attracts over 400,000 visitors and exhibits over 100 works by artists from 15 different countries.

We saw sculptures made from wood, metal, bronze, ceramic, stone and other mixed medias.

South Head

Photo gallery: South Head

South Head is perched on the southern edge of the Sydney Harbour, opposite to North Head. It offers fine views of the Harbour and Pacific Ocean as well.

We went from Rose Bay (walking distance from Bondi Beach) to Watsons Bay by ferry. Watsons Bay is the charming fishing village adjacent to small sand beaches and cliffs.

Australian International Motor Show

Photo gallery: Australian International Motor Show

The Australian International Motor Show is Australia's largest automotive event and one of the top ten motor shows in the world. It is Australia's largest exhibition of any kind in New South Wales after the Royal Easter Show.

It took place in the newly-built Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre at Darling Harbour and more than 60 all-new, updated or concept cars are unveiled amongst the more than 500 vehicles on display.

Although we really liked the inner exhibition the test drive in Touareg 4WD was the greatest experience of the whole show.

Sydney Night

Photo gallery: Sydney Night

I published several night photos of Sydney (Opera House, Harbour Bridge, Martin Place,...).

Nan Tien Temple

Photo gallery: 25. Nan Tien Temple

We visited Nan Tien Temple, the largest Buddhist temple in the southern hemisphere. "Nan Tien" in Chinese means "Paradise of the South".

The temple is situated near the town Wollongong, about 80 km from Sydney, and consists of several various, very nice buildings. It was established in 90's of the last century and has adopted the Chinese palace building style. The main objective is propagation of Buddhist teachings through cultural activities. It is one of the branch temples of Fo Guang Shan, founded in 1965, which has over 200 branches worldwide.

We also enjoyed the gardens around with many small various statues :))