Jam makan siang di kantor hari ini suasanya agak lain. Tumben banget orang pada mondar-mandir ke pantry, sibuk ngangetin makanan di microwave. Eh tiba2 dapet email dari Louise untuk semua orang di bagian 'International Student Center' bahwa ada makan siang bersama buat Sulis di ruang meeting boss besar! Hah?! Nggak salah, ada kejutan rupanya, emang sih hari ini hari terakhir... Sebenernya boss maunya ik resign bln depan aja pas my hubby selesai ambil masternya, tapi takutnya nanti repot deh kalo ngurus pindahan sambil kerja. Anyway, makan2nya seru juga karena makanannya banyak & macem2. Duh busyet deh, pake acara dikasi kartu perpisahan segala dari semuanya, plus beberapa kenang2an pula, jadi terharu nih...

Hari2 & jam2 terakhir gini pastinya agak2 repot... Bukan kenapa2 tapi si boss tuh, doi heboh binti panik karena selama ini agak2 'ketergantungan', bukan ketergantungan obat loh, tapi boss agak2 nggak ngeh apa aja yang selama ini ik kerjain, hihii... Salah sendiri deh kenapa juga selama ini pasrah aja, nah sekarang ik mau pergi jadi harus bikin prosedur lengkap dari setiap kerjaan. Kata beliau takutnya kalo nggak ada prosedur tertulis nantinya takut nggak ada yang bisa ngelanjutin, soalnya masalahnya mereka belum tau siapa yang akan ambil alih.

Rasanya beruntung banget bisa dapet kesempatan kerja disini, menimba pengetahuan & pengalaman. Kerjaannya cukup ada tantangan & menarik, tapi nggak bikin stress seperti di kantor2 dulu. Setiap hari ketemu orang2 dari berbagai bangsa & budaya. Kolega2 disini friendly skali dan relaks untuk diajak kerja, dan enak juga untuk diajak 'chit-chat' juga kalo lagi nggak terlalu sibuk. Belum pernah tuh liat ada yang stress di kantor ini. Tapi emang orang2 Aussie di Queensland ini emang terkenal easy going. Dan untungnya thn 1996-1998 di Jakarta pernah kerja sama orang2 Aussie, jadi udah tau deh gaya mereka. Pokoke alhamdulillah, boss & semua kolega menghargai jasa2 ik selama disini & katanya sih seneng skali bisa kenal & dapet kesempatan menghadirkan 'a little Indonesia woman' untuk pertama kalinya di tim mereka! Tolong deh ya, kalo dibandingin ama bule ya pastinya emang 'little'. Singkat kata pokoknya pengalaman disini cukup manis, sangat berharga & akan selalu dikenang... Thank you for everything!!

Bye JCU... I promise to keep in touch...!

I wanted to write this story ages ago, but you know.. when holiday is over and you are caught up in daily routine again both at work & at home, which sometimes takes up your energy, it is a bit hard just to sit and type at home after sitting in front of the computer the whole day at work...

Our apologies to our Indonesian speaking families & friends for typing this in English, because we also would like to share this holiday story with our families & friends all over the world who do not speak Indonesian. This is a long story, so be prepared to get sleepy! However, if you are still curious about how well we managed to escape from the 'heat' of North Queensland, but you do not have time, or are not very keen in reading long story, you can directly view some photos which are now available here!

Here is the long long story...

North Island ~ Week 1
We flew from Townsville to Auckland on 25/12/04. Rented a car for the whole trip, as we wanted to explore the country as much as we could in 3 weeks. The next day we started to drive our rented car to Bay of Islands via the east coast which takes about 4 hrs up to the northern part of North Island. There you can see many islands, nice beach resorts and fun water activities. We were lucky that it wasn´t raining when we did a boat tour in the morning from Paihia to see the islands, beaches & nice big rocks in the middle of the sea. The most famous spot is called ‘Hole in the Rock’. In the afternoon we drove back to Auckland via the west coast to see something different. On the way we always stopped at nice places, such as famous rainforest just to take a rest and take pictures. We had two companions in the car this time - young Brazilian tourists whom we met at the motel who also wanted to go to Auckland. Auckland is the biggest & most populated city and is called ‘City of the Sails’. There we visited Greg & Joan McKirdy – Greg is my ex-Kiwi boss whom I worked with in Jakarta exactly 10 years ago. We spent 2 nights at his ellegant Boutique Hotel called Aachen House. We enjoyed their company - they drove us around the city, took us to the museum, parks and cozy cafes to have some chats. Before we met again in Auckland we actually had just met in Jakarta when I was there for 4 weeks last November.

On 29/12 we drove further to south direction via Matamata to a touristic city called Rotorua and spent 2 nights there. The next morning we drove outside the city to see ‘washing powder show’ at the ‘Lady Knox Geyser’ in Waiotapu Volcanic Parks. The geyser erupts daily at 10:15am reaching heights of up to 20 metres and can continue to erupt for up to one hour. The height & length of the eruption vary from day to day as they are essentially dependent upon weather conditions. A guy from the tourist information office makes this show every morning for the tourists. He just threw a handful of washing powder into the geyser hole and a few seconds later water was coming out of the hole because of chemical reaction between the washing powder & the water in the geyser. After that we did 30-min walk through the volcanic parks where you see amazing colourful lakes & mud pool. The weather was not nice, you know… rains, winds, mists and everything was grey… Wolfie broke his umbrella while I was almost blown away by the strong winds. But no matter how wet & grey it was, we had to make many pictures, eventhough we had to struggle to keep our videocam & digicam dry! We ended up getting so soaked and and it was only about 15°C. So afterwards we went back to Rotorua to ‘Polynesian Spa’ and jumped into the hot mineral pools, it was just awesome! Polynesian Spa is a historical hot mineral springs spa, only 5 mins walk from central business district, and overlooks Sulphur Bay on Lake Rotorua. It was really warm & relaxing in these hot mineral pools and you can choose the warmth between 38-42°C. We stayed in the water for about 2.5 hrs & it wasn't enough! It was about time when Wolfie dragged me out of the water... I was almost falling asleep!

On 31/12 we continued driving to Wellington, the capital city. We stopped to see famous Huka Falls & had lunch by Lake Taupo which is the largest lake in NZ. Lake Taupo was created by the largest eruption of the past 5,000 years, it was so big the sun went hazy in China. Today, what remains is a lake the size of Singapore. The view across the lake where you see snowy peaks of Mount Ruapehu is also gorgeous. We returned our car back to company just on time at 5pm in Wellington. You do not really need to drive in Wellington, since it is a small city, to go around the city is just a walking distance and we booked the hotel in the central. We also wanted to do some exercise after having driven long hours for couple days now. New Year`s Eve in Wellington was without fireworks like in Sydney, but we saw a live music at the Civic Centre and checked out some local pubs. On that night they were also busy collecting money for the ‘Tsunami Appeal’ and some events had been cancelled and they sent the money for South East Asia instead. This was really touching. The next day we just did sightseeing by walking (in the rain again) through the shopping streets & the waterfront. The city is set between a magnificent harbour & green hills. It is really a compact city where funky shops, exciting galleries and great restaurants are within easy walking distance. We also took the cable car, but did not manage to visit the famous Te Papa National Museum.

South Island ~ Week 2 & 3
On 2/1 at 9AM we catched a big ferry to Picton. It was indeed a very beautiful ferry trip. We saw beautiful scenery of the sea, mountains, islands, dolphins jumping around next to our ferry. Picton is a small picturesque seaport at the head of the Queen Charlotte Sound offering a relaxed setting with beautiful beaches, easy bush walks & nice climate. The sun was shining so brightly, so we had really nice pictures. We got our second rented car there. After a refreshing ice-cream we continued to Nelson via Queen Charlotte Drive which is a very scenic drive. But the road was so winding that I gave up driving, too much adrenalin rush for me! After a good dinner & some drinks at a local pub in Nelson we spent the night in Marahau. The next morning we did the walks in Abel Tasman National Park and played with (cold) water a little bit on the beaches there. It is New Zealand's biggest national park that protects 23,000 hectares of the most natural stretch of coastline in NZ. This park is renowned for its golden beaches, sculptured granite cliffs, and its world-famous coastal track. After the walks we drove further to a hill in the region where you see a beautiful river and you can walk up to see the water resource, where the water comes out of the ground. Then we continued driving to the south via west coast. When we arrived in Westport it was still raining, so we decided to spend the night there. The next morning we went to the beach to see Seal Colony. We saw many cute little seals who were just born around the month of November lying on the rocks. Then we drove to Punakaiki to see Pancake Rocks. This is one of the country’s most spectacular natural landscapes formed from layer upon layer of water sculpted limestone, resembling stacks of pancakes. Wolf had a little sunburn on his neck, because he did not realize that the sunlight was still strong, although it was cloudy. We have been extra careful with our skin, since we found out that there is an ozon hole above Aussie & NZ and the UV radiation is very strong. Another lucky day for us as it did not rain until we arrived in Hokitika where we spent over night. The Arahura River, which enters the sea 8 kms north of Hokitika, is a traditional source of 'pounamu' (greenstone or jade) for the Maori people and still yields a large proportion of the their continuing supply. We also drove to Lake Kaniere in the region.

On 5/1 we were off to Franz Josef & Fox Glaciers, but had to spend over night in Whataroa as there was no accommodation available in FJ. Guess what, the next morning, right at one of the most anticipated destinations, the weather was so disappointing again. But we forced ourselves to walk in the rain & mist to see both glaciers which have spectacular views. Nowhere else in the world, outside the polar regions, can one see glaciers so close to the sea, extending more than 13km from the highest peaks of precipitous mountains to the valley floor and surrounded by rainforest. The Fox & Franz Josef Glaciers are the 2 most famous glaciers, a small part of the Westland National Park. Our dream to take a nice photo by the famous & magnificent Lake Matheson did not come true either... The mist was so thick we could not even see the lake, although we were already in front of it! This small lake is famous for its reflections of New Zealand’s highest peaks Mount Cook & Mount Tasman, just about 10km from the Fox Glaciers. The water is often incredibly still and they reflect the colour of the mountains, so it looks just amazing in your photo. Ah well…

We continued the journey and stopped for a night in a touristic small town called Lake Wanaka. LW is nice & is a holiday destination in the Southern Lakes Region. On 7/1 we drove further to Te Anau via Queenstown. Lake Te Anau is the largest lake in the South Island and second one in NZ. We spent over night there and went to the cinema to see a 30-min movie about NZ which was quite interesting. The next morning we left quite early for the ultimate adventure in Fiordland region. I was so happy because it was a sunny day and along the way to Milford Sound I saw so many colorful flowers! Unfortunately, we could not really stand outside too long to admire the flowers, lakes & waterfalls along the way to MS, since they were many sandflies everywhere. We sometimes had to fight with them in the car, too. We got couple sandfly bites on the arms & legs. Oh, I wanted to cry, they looked ugly & were itching like hell! This tiny but nasty creature could drive you mad! Thank God we brought some bugs cream with us. Anyway, we took a cruise in MS for about 1½ hrs and we were amazed…. Everything is just amazing there – the clear water, the green, rocky & snowy mountains, the waterfalls, the dolphins, the seals, etc... WOW!! Believe me, Milford Sound is one of the most beautiful places on earth! The meeting of the mountains, water & sky creates a stunning view. Milford is the best known of all of the fiords and the only one that can be accessed by road. It is approximately 16km from the head of the fiord to the open sea, which means visitors can comfortably travel the length of the fiord to open ocean. So it was the most spectacular cruise we have ever taken in our holidays.

Then we drove back to Queenstown and spent 2 nights there. It is a nice small town and very touristy, too. We went up the hill to take Sky Lift and were lucky to see a lovely rainbow over the hilly suburbs & famous Lake Wakatipu, because it just stopped raining. The next morning I decided to drive again, as we knew that the road is not so winding in this region and I was tired of being a co-pilot, you know women are not very good in reading maps. We had breakfast first in Arrowtown, a very small town but nicely organised & clean and is one of the places to stop for tourists. Had lunch in Twizel before we went up to Mount Cook National Park. Well, we only drove up to the Visitor Centre to see Hooker Valley from a distance. Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in NZ (3,754m). The 70,696 ha park is located in the central part of the South Island, deep in the heart of the Southern Alps. There is virtually no forest in the park, but it is alive with the most wonderful alpine plants. In summer you see many large mountain daisies and also unique rare birds. Along the way up there we had fantastic view of Lake Pukaki - the colour of the lake is unbelievably blue! This fantastic colour comes from glaciers debris of the mountains. Then we had late lunch and went around in a small touristy town called Lake Tekapo before spending over night in Geraldine. On 12/1 we drove further to our last destination – Christchurch. Along the way up to our last destination, we always saw so many sheeps. Every time we passed a big field full of sheeps, Wolfie always shouted “Biri-biri!” (means ‘sheep’ in Indonesian). It was so funny that the sheeps always looked at me whenever I took pictures, they were scared actually. This is true that in NZ there are more sheeps than people – 4 million people & 40 million sheeps! NZ is famous for its dairy products, wools products & various products made from sheepskin.
Before we finally returned the car at 5PM we drove to Lyttelton first, a hilly small town next to Christchurch. Three days in Christchurch were spent in the city, as we wanted to take it easy after having driven long hours almost every day for the past 2.5 weeks. We did a little shopping again there and checked out some local good restaurants & pubs. One evening we had a huge mouth-watering New Zealand Rib Eye Steak at a nice resto, yumm! We also visited beautiful Botanic Garden where I was amazed by the flowers again at the Rose Garden. We finally flew back to Townsville via Brisbane on 15/1.

That was it. We had absolutely lots of fun in New Zealand, or in Maori language it is called ‘Aotearoa’ which means the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’. Maori language is still widely used in the country for all public names. If you look at NZ map, you see many Maori names on it. It is a very beautiful country and our holiday there is one of the most unforgettable ones we have spent together so far. Along the way we passed so many beautiful sceneries and always had to take pictures. So, can you guess how many lovely photos we collected at the end of the trip? 1,200 photos! 400 were taken on the North & 800 on the South Island. We were quite happy with them, they came out good, although we look pretty wet in some of them. Thank goodness I am now used to the strange sub-tropical weather and didn`t get sick at all during this long trip, alhamdulillah!

Well, I have to stop now before you fall asleep! Hope you enjoyed reading our adventurous story & we promise to keep you updated. Just wait for our next destination then...!

Warm greetings from tropical 'hot & humid' Townsville,
Sulis & Wolfie

Kita udah pernah ke Paluma (1 jam ke arah utara) tahun lalu sama beberapa temen dari USA, Singapore & Brazil. Hari Minggu ini pergi lagi sama temen2 Indo; Lukman, Yatmi & Endah. Kali ini naik mobilnya Lukman. Niatnya mau main air & berendem soalnya ada air terjun disana & airnya bening banget, makanya dinamain 'crystal'. Aduh enaknya lagi panas & gerah begini jalan2 ke air terjun. Pertama ke Little Crystal Creek dulu yang lebih deket. Agak gerimis tapi tetep aja kita main air sambil ngeliatin anak2 tanggung pada terjun dari batu tinggi yang sebenernya dilarang, soalnya bisa2 kepentok batu yang emang dimana2 & airnya dangkal pula. Tapi namanya juga anak2... Anyway, kita makan siang bawa bekel dari rumah & makannya ya diatas batu2 itu dibawah jembatan...


Setelah puas foto2 kita ngelanjut ke Big Crystal Creek. Lokasinya agak diatas gunung & jalannya banyak tikungan tajam. Pemandangannya sejauh mata memandang adalah Paluma Range National Park yang luasnya 7224ha. Sampe disana hujannya berhenti & kita langsung nyebur ke air, seger bener! Disitu ada 'rockslides' alias batu yang bisa buat meluncur & terus langsung terjun ke kolamnya, seru! Well, pertama2 agak kagok & sempet lecet sana-sini, but no big deal, it's fun! Disitu juga banyak anak2 & malah orang dewasa juga yang pada terjun dari atas batu2 tinggi. Ada anak2 yang malah dikomporin ama ortunya untuk terjun, sesat banget nggak sih?!? Kita cuma bengong aja, diantara kita nggak ada yang berani lah yauw!


Jam 2an kita pulang soalnya Lukman harus kerja jam 4.30 sore. On the way home kita stop di 'Frosty Mango' buat beli es krim yang terkenal di daerah itu, hm...!

It has been a hard year -- suicide bombings & beheadings in Iraq, a bitterly partisan election campaign in America, political repression in Russia and, as a final exclamation point, the devastating tsunami in the Indian Ocean. For our Indonesian fellows back home, I wish you a new year dedicated to rebuild the country with courage and strength. It reminds me of the saying by Earnest Hemingway that "Man can be destroyed, but cannot be defeated"…

Finally, I would like to wish all our Muslim families & friends all over the world a very happy, peaceful, and healthy New Year - 1426 Hijriah.