Blogging From A-Z: T is Tongariro River

T2020

The Tongariro River is on New Zealand’s North Island at Turangi. Known for it’s fly fishing, it is New Zealand’s most fished river. Tongariro is also classified as one of the best trout fishing rivers in the world. 75% of the catch is rainbow trout and 25% brown trout. While the fishermen in the river made it look easy, we unfortunately didn’t get to try it.

White water rafting is the another outdoor sport the river is known for. This we did get to try and it was amazing. Our raft had people from all around the world, none whom had tried white water rafting before. From memory, we went on a grade 3 rapid trip and some of the rapids were very scary. Even though the guides who steer the rafts are very experienced, the problem is that the river is constantly shifting so they are constantly looking out for new obstacles and dangers.

I actually feel in love with this river as my husband and I were following the Tongariro River trail. This walk took several hours but was well worth it to see so many of its different parts. I wasn’t expecting the river to be as different as it was to our Australian rivers. On our walk my favourite thing was seeing all the fly fishermen working their sport with such grace. It was just like a painting or a scene from a movie.


Blogging From A-Z: S is Sydney Harbour

S2020

When we lived in Sydney I loved spending the day exploring Sydney Harbour by the ferries. We would get on at Sydney Olympic Park Ferry Wharf on the Parramatta River and travel into Circular Quay. This trip is about 50 minutes and takes you under Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge.

We would have something to eat at one of the amazing restaurants or cafes around the Rocks. Then, we would go back to the Circular Quay Ferry wharf. We would then decide where our next ferry trip would take us. Our favourite trip being across Sydney Harbour to Manly. To finish off the perfect day, we would catch ferries all the way back home away, often into the setting sun.

Sydney Metro Map - JohoMaps

Sydney Harbour is the world’s deepest natural harbour. It is a beautiful busy harbour the holds over 500 gigalitres of water. 1 gigalitre is 1,000,000,000 or 1 billion litres. As Sydney Harbour contains 240 kilometres of shoreline, it is easy to see why there is always something new to see, notice and admire.