The West Island

"The West Island", as it is known in New Zealand, or "Australia" as it is known elsewhere, was our destination in the summer of 1997. Our five week stay down under took us to:

We hope to visit the other states (Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania) in a future trip. This is a BIG country! In fact it's the sixth largest country in the world - as big as Western Europe! It's also one of the most sparsely populated, with just 16 million people, most of whom are clustered along the east and south-east coastal areas. And we all know why the Europeans came here: America had Alcatraz and England had Australia...

In this picture, my beautiful wife models some typical Australian headwear. The expression, too, may be typical of Australians living in the outback and not protecting themselves sufficiently against the sun.

We had a good time in Australia but ultimately (and I hope my Australian friends aren't reading this) we enjoyed our trip to New Zealand even more - the scenery is more varied and accessible, totally unspoiled (the South Island, at least) and the lamb chops are juicier....