Christchurch

We started off in the morning on our private charter flight (same crew as we had when we flew with them to Mt. Cook… really nice!) When we arrived at the Christchurch airport our bus was parked on the tarmac waiting for us. Too cool. They took our bags right from the plane to the bus and we headed off to the town.   

Christchurch is completely different than the other places we’ve visited here in New Zealand. The city is very British influenced. They have done a great job at keeping the old buildings from the 1800’s restored as if they were built yesterday. They are all over nestled throughout the city.

The Avon River winds through the city with beautiful tree’s, grasses and flowing bushes on its riverside. There are small arched bridges that cross the river throughout the city.  We stopped for a quick visit to the Botanical Gardens and Museum. We didn’t have much time to explore either place, but our short strolls were very enjoyable.  

We then went “Punting on the River”. We got in small groups and boarded our little boats. (kind of like the one’s you’d see in Italy where we had a guy wearing the straw hat and suspenders standing at the back of the boat poking a large wooden rod into the river to make us go) Joan and I sat in the front and loved every minute of the ride. There was tons of very large/old tree’s surrounding the river hanging over that often made nice arches we passed through. There were a variety of ducks with their little ducklings swimming all around, people on benches watching us pass by and just enjoying the beautiful sunny day.

On our last day we strolled through the city and took a leisurely day as it was our last one and wanted to just relax. We walked to the Art Center where local artists set up their tents to sell their work. There was live music playing and a variety of local street entertainers performing in the area (a very lively place to be).  We bought a few things to bring back that we thought would be nice (OK, truth be known….we’ve done a lot of that during our trip ... we even had to buy an extra piece of luggage to take everything back in - we think we single-handedly recovered the Australian and New Zealand economies!)

We went back to the Botanical Garden and were able to see more than we did the first day… It was beautiful. We then walked through the city as the architect was so incredible. We headed back early as we had our final farewell reception and dinner with our wonderful tour group.

Quaint Queenstown

What a wonderful little place all tucked away between beautiful mountains and surrounded by a fabulous lake. We arrived by the small Cessna plane and had several hours to venture out and about the town before the group joined us. There are tons of shops, restaurants and beautiful views of the lake and mountains.  We began our second day in Queensland with a Jet Boat ride. It was quite the thrill. Of course, Joan wanted to sit in the two front seats.

It was a blast. A little scary as the guy drives this boat about 60 mph down the Shotover River. The river is very narrow and shallow with rocks pocking out.   The ride took us very quickly toward those stones and through the narrow openings. Yipes! We did 360 spins right at the edge of the river that seemed like we were going to crash right into the mountain. Crazy! Carol screamed the entire time, but had fun. Good thing our driver had done these more than 4,000 times.

We then got a small group of folks together and hired two drivers to take us into the New Zealand wine country. We visited several wineries and had some great wines. We had lunch at Waitiri Creek winery. It was so cool. Their building was an old small country Presbyterian Church brought in from the south of New Zealand. The Chardonnay was outstanding.

Unfortunately it is extremely expensive to ship a case of wine back to the USA, so we bought a bottle to enjoy while we are still here. We tasted their variety of wines while they served us lunch that included a variety of local cheeses, breads, meats, veggies, nuts, etc. There was an awesome homemade sunflower brittle that was to die for.

Afterwards, we decided to venture off to a small town nearby named Arrowtown to see what a small town tucked away in New Zealand looked like. It was so cute. The buildings were so taken care of with their beautiful flowers and fences.

It was typical “small town”. The town was established when gold was found in the creek running behind it. When someone found gold anywhere, people flocked there from around the world. Gold can still be found in the creek, but doubtfully enough to make anyone rich.

Stunning Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound

We ventured off early in the morning and drove 2 ½ hours to Fiordland National Park. It’s the largest National Park in New Zealand (approx 31.5 million acres). Absolutely gorgeous! It’s full of snow tipped mountains, lush vegetation (including a rain forest), lakes, streams and waterfalls. Breathtaking!! We stopped at two amazing places along the way.

The first stop was to Mirror Lake. A small lake with a wooden walkway that took you through the woods and along the lake that was filled with moss covered trees, ferns, and lush vegetation. The small “mirror lake” was exactly that! It had the reflections of the distant mountains and puffy clouds reflecting from the water. It was so beautiful.

We then went to “The Chasm” which was a small hike through a rainforest that passed by a powerful water fall with a bubbling stream. Great ferns and tree’s were in abundance.

We were lucky to see a “Kea” bird which is a native bird (about the size of a large parrot). It likes to chew on rubber (windshield wipers and tires).

We then arrived at our boat which cruised through Milford Sound. OMG!!… it was awesome!! We saw pods of dolphins jumping next to our boat, little penguins on the rocks off the shore, fuzzy seals sunning themselves on the rocks and giant waterfalls hitting the sound right next to our boat. We rode for about 2 ½ hours and every minute flew by.

Eight of us elected to take a 45 minute flight on a small Cessna (Air Fiordland) to our next hotel in Queensland versus a 5 hour bus ride. The flight took us over areas of the Park that are inaccessible by foot. The views were inexplicable and unfortunately pictures do them no justice. It was almost overwhelming!

Magnificent Mt. Cook

We started off boarding a private charter flight only for our tour group. We landed at Mt. Cook National Park. The only way you can get to this park is by plane. The airport basically is one runway that lands in the middle of the Southern Alps. The mountains are absolutely spectacular with snow covered tops and glaciers gleaming in the light. We lucked out and had a gorgeous day with small puffy clouds in between the mountains and a clear blue sky. It was PERFECT for the snowy mountain tops. We had a nice lunch at a really neat lodge overlooking the mountains.

Some of us elected to take a helicopter ride over the park. We got real close to the mountains and were able to see the blue/green lake between the valleys that was fed by a glacier. (That’s why the water was so colorful; it reminded us of the water in the Caribbean) We landed right on top of a snow covered mountain so we could take some really nice pictures. We got out and took some great pictures, we even managed to throw a few snow balls. :-)

We then got back on our plane and headed to a quaint little town called Te Anau. We landed between sheep pastures. It was so cute as some of the baby lambs started to run away as our plane got closer to the ground.

We got lucky as this time of year the lambs are still with their Momma’s. After 6 weeks they get separated. There’s approximately 41 million sheep in New Zealand compared to a little over 4 million people.

Lush and Beautiful New Zealand

New Zealand is completely different than Australia. The people, the culture and the landscape couldn’t be any more different. To our surprise, the native people from New Zealand called the “Maori” people are much like Polynesian/Hawaiian. Their language, appearance and culture are very similar.

Day One:

We spent the first day and a half in Auckland on the North Island (which is about 680 miles long). It’s called the “City of Sails” as it has the conditions for the best sailing in the world. It’s where the America’s Cup was held a few years ago.

We started out the day with a visit to an Aquarium. They had a great exhibit with adorable Penguins. Some even had newborns still under the parent to keep them warm. They also had many sharks, sting rays and a variety of fish that were interesting to see.

 

We then ventured to the Auckland Museum that began with a native Maori demonstration where several Maori men and women performed their native dances and songs dressed in their traditional clothing. It reminded us of the Hawaiian people. They were very passionate (as most Maori people we’ve met – they have a very aggressive nature which stays with them today) about their ancestors and their history. The Museum was full of the history of New Zealand, the agriculture, the animals (past and present), their volcanos and a section that covered their military history.

 

As usual with our timing, the weather didn’t cooperate as we’d like as there were many clouds and a bit of rain throughout the day. It still didn’t stop us from exploring the city for the later part of the day and see the harbor and quaint city streets full of restaurants and shops.

Day two:

The next day we headed to the city of Matamata and drove the country side. This is where Lord of the Rings was filmed. There’s also a new movie about to be filmed called “the Hobbit”. The scenery was mountainous with rolling hills with pastures upon pastures full of cows (dairy farming is the prevalent industry here). We stopped at a cute New Zealand shop full of beautiful wool sweaters, scarfs, mittens, etc. They also had the most wonderful ice cream (“Tip Tops”) that we couldn’t pass up even though it was 10:30 in the morning.

We stopped at a working farm called Longland’s that was absolutely awesome. Not only did they raise their cows (240 of them) they also had a magnificent area where they catered to visitors.

They put on a marvelous lunch full of fresh local foods. The food was delicious (the lamb was a little hard to swallow, but at least we tasted it – it was mostly a vegetarian lunch); the atmosphere was warm and welcoming with a dining room full of country touches along with impeccable service. Their grounds were full of roses, flowers, herbs and many quaint arbors with benches to relax and enjoy the grounds.

From there we went to a Sheep Show that had 19 varieties of sheep from around the world that actually “performed”, it was really cute.

They also had a demonstration of a sheep getting sheered. We sort of felt bad for the poor little guy, but it was done tastefully. They also had demonstrations of the sheep dogs and how they work the farm. They are pretty smart.

Joan volunteered on stage (not knowing what she was going to do) and ended up feeding milk to cute little lambs. Adorable!!

We continued our journey to Rotorua (a geo-thermal area) and stopped the Maori Cultural Arts Center. We were given a guided tour from a Maori gentleman that explained details about the Rotorua area that includes natural hot springs.

There was a geyser with two spouts that happened to be active when we walked by – shooting about 40 feet in the air. There were also large boiling mud pools that spit mud into the air. It was really cool.

Lovely Sydney

We really loved Sydney. It’s very different from Melbourne and the other places we’ve visited here in Australia. It reminds us a lot of Baltimore (times 100!). There are beautiful harbors with shops, restaurants and museums surrounded by a very modern city of hustle and bustle. The people are so friendly (as they have been everywhere here in Australia).

We had a “free” day to do what we wished. We started the day out with the new “high maintenance” Joan as she had to get her nails refreshed at a local nail salon.

After that, we visited one of the highly recommended jewelry shops that had all types of Australian opals. They were extremely friendly and explained all the different types of opals and what locations they were from. They had in their vault the largest black opal in the world called “Aurora Australis. (180,00 carats) found in 1938. They had it mounted on something that made it rotate so you could see the various colors illuminate. It was gorgeous and valued at over a million dollars. It is a part of the owner’s private collection.

We walked through the middle of the city to the “shopping district” where the shops were endless. We had to buy a new piece of luggage so we could fit all the things we’ve collected over the past two weeks.  We made our way to Darling Harbor where there were countless restaurants overlooking a large harbor that had large vessels, Navy ships, party boats, and private yachts.

For dinner, we decided to go up on the “bucket” which was similar to Seattle’s “needle in the sky” that rotates and has spectacular views of the entire city. We arrived at the perfect time as the sun was still shining to see for miles over the harbor that was filled with sail boats. We stayed through sunset and watched the city lights come to life over the beautiful city. Life is Good!!

The next day was a travel day. We left beautiful Sydney and took a 3 hour flight over to Auckland, New Zealand. What a different country – both vegetation and temperature wise. We had a smaller group dinner at a wonderful Italian restaurant at the hotel.

Good bye, Australia! Hello, New Zealand!

The City of Sydney

We headed out from Hayman on the large boat that took about an hour to get to the airport.  Pretty cool to arrive at an airport by boat.  Joan and I spent most the time on the top so we could see the scenery.  It was a little windy, but beautiful.  We had the whole upper deck to our selves.  We landed in Sydney in the early evening and went directly to a wonderful dinner place that was right on the water overlooking the Opera House.  Pretty nice indeed!!   The sun set right on the Opera House.  It then turned a bright red (I think with a little help by mankind, but beautiful just the same!) 

 The next morning we went to a koala zoo.  It was a really nice zoo that had all kinds of Australian animals.  The Koala's were our favorite!  OMG... JUST ADORABLE!  Everyone had a chance to pet one and have their picture taken.  Joan and I were last and when we went to "stike a pose" the little guy decided to walk down the railing.  It was hysterical with us following him all the way across the exhibit.  He finally stopped at the corner and decided to take a pee right on my shoe.  Too funny. I was told it was good luck.  :-) 

We also were able to pet and hang out with the Kangaroo's.  There was a Momma with a little Joey in her pouch.  It was so cute!

After the zoo we went on a tour of the Opera House.  Spectacular building and history.  The sails are not white by the way - they are covered in ceramic tiles.  It's a more on the light tan color.  We got lucky when the tour guide took us in one of the theatres and there was a rehearsal going on.  We watched a ballerina practice her moves.

We ended our evening with a nice boat tour through Sydney Harbor.  It was a large boat and our tour group of 39 had the whole thing to ourselves. 

Unfortunately, half way through it began to rain...no, it poured (seems like a theme for us) but still we managed to see a lot of the harbor in the sunshine.

Gorgeous Great Barrier Reef

Day One:

We took a very large Catamaran to a Pontoon type of vessel with sundecks, scuba/snorkel tours, submergible boats, glass bottom boats, a water slide etc. It’s a permanent fixture way out at Knuckle Reef. There’s a guy who lives there 12 days at a time. It took about an hour and a half to arrive to the Pontoon.

Joan was able to squeeze in two dives while we were there. She was so excited. The first dive was great as she saw a variety of fish and coral.

On her second dive she saw a 8 foot shark sleeping under a rock, and then decided to wake up and go for a swim towards her. The good news is that he wanted nothing to do with her, and was harmless.

Carol went snorkeling and saw some incredible colored coral and a variety of fish along with a huge blue/green fish.

 Day Two:

Joan went on her second day of diving and was able to get another two dives in during her trip. She was a little disappointed as it wasn’t as bright as her first day but did do a few “dive through’s” which is when you go under a thin passageway of coral.

Carol went for a Sea Plane adventure. The Sea Plane was a small plane capable of landing and taking off from the water. Pretty cool!! The views of the Reef from above were amazing.

We landed near a boat where we boarded and drove to the Reef where we snorkeled. The coral was amazing. The colors were fluorescent (bright yellows, greens, blue, orange, salmon) with such a variety of shapes and sizes. The favorite thing was the very large sea clams that had a wavy edge that had a vibrant purple middle. It was so cool to see it open and shut. The very best snorkel experience ever!!

We boarded the plane again and headed to Whitehaven Beach with was a white sand beach tucked away between several islands and covered miles of shoreline. Unfortunately when we landed it began to rain, so walking the beach as we planned didn’t happen. It still was very pretty.

The weather hasn’t cooperated like we hoped, but still Hayman Island is a beautiful place and we’ve enjoyed this very luxury resort very much.