New Zealand and Australia

We were gone 33 days, took 10 flights, and stayed in 16 different hotels. We got around on trains, boats, taxis, cars, buses, shuttles, a gondola, a monorail, and our tired feet. This photo was taken at Arthur's Pass in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. We rode the Tranz Scenic train from Christchurch to Greymouth, traveling from east coast to west coast of the south island.

In New Zealand, we saw Auckland's famous harbor and Americas Cup sailboats, attended a native Maori feast and dance, wet our feet in the Tasman Sea and attended church services in a historic cathedral. We saw colorful sunsets, glaciers and beautiful mountains, and thermal pools and steaming vents in Rotorua. On the north island, we went to a farm to see sheep shearing and watch sheep dogs demonstrate their herding skills.

While in Tasmania, we visited 1800’s prisons that housed criminals deported from England and America, drove through snow, walked in rainforests, stayed in an 1821 lodge built by prisoners, and hiked about four miles around a lake near Cradle Mountain. We visited a conservation park where we watched Tasmanian Devils interacting with each other, and we all petted a Devil as the attendant held her. This Devil's name is Carla.

In Australia, we drank billy tea and ate vegemite (locals love this paste spread on crackers), and sampled kangaroo, crocodile, emu, barramundi (fish), and Fosters beer. We enjoyed native aboriginal dancing and threw boomerangs. This aboriginal fellow produced haunting sounds on his digerido.

 

     

We snorkeled on the Great Barrier Reef near Cairns in northern Australia, walked on Bondi Beach in Sydney, and cruised the harbor to see the famous Sydney Opera House and harbor bridge. This photo of the Opera House and bridge was taken on a beautiful sunny day.