Glaciers and Weird Rocks

We traveled many miles from Akaroa (the port town being used since the Christchurch earthquake) over the beautiful and ever changing landscape of the south island.  This included crossing the Canterbury Plains, traversing Burkes Pass and finally on to our destination in the ‘Southern Alps’.  We had a number of stops along the way, including Lake Tekapo, where we checked out the Church of the Good Shepard. If you google this, you’ll find some wonderful photos – mine don’t even come close but it is a pretty spot.

Late in the afternoon we arrived at Mount Cook airport and went off on a ski-plane adventure flying around Mt. Cook and landing on a glacier.  So cool!  And, I got to be co-pilot!  There were a couple of times that I thought the pilot was forgetting to turn as the mountain kept getting bigger and bigger in front of me.  But, I think he’d probably done this one or two times before as I survived quite nicely J.

 

Coming in for a landing...

 

OK, close enough to that mountain top.  Please turn now!

 

 

Glacial water runoff to the lake below.

 

We spent the night at the Hermitage Hotel where we had rooms with huge picture windows looking out at Mt. Cook.  The next day we drove to Dunedin where we met up with the ship.  This gave us the chance to see more of the countryside as well as a few towns along the way.  One of our stops was at Hampden Beach to see the Moeraki Boulders.   These enormous, round rocks measure up to 12 feet in circumference.  If one could lift them, one could imagine them being used for marbles or bocce ball.  Alas, no Maori stories of giants, so I guess that theory is out.

 

Today we were in and out of the New Zealand fiords on the west coast of the south island.  I’ll post a few photos within the next couple of days.

Napier and Wellington

We've still been enjoying the North Island of NZ.  Yesterday was an all-day wine tasting tour in the Hawke's Bay region south of Napier.  I found it interesting that some of the bottle labels noted the latitude and longitude of where the grapes were grown, as with the bottle held in the first photo.

 

I want to assure Parker that I'm finding oysters here in New Zealand.  Good ones!

 



Today was a fun off-roading trip out to visit some seals.  Getting there was quite a ride for miles over the sand and rocks. 

 

And there were cute critters at the end. 

 

Tomorrow we reach Christchurch on the south island.  From there I’m off for an overnight excursion to Mt Cook.  I'll rejoin the ship in Dunedin the next evening. 

 

 

 

Geysers and Hobbits

Traveled from the port town of Tauranga to Rotorua where we saw acres of kiwi vines, mountains of logging and field after field of cattle and sheep.  Visits included a Maori Arts & Crafts training center, where new generations learn carving and weaving.   Of the stops for the day, the highlight was a walk through the Whakarewarewa Thermal Reserve to see the boiling mud pools and the Pohutu geyser.   

 

 

 

The same evening was the first of two shore events for those of us on the full world cruise: an evening at Hobbiton.  The set used for the Hobbit/Lord of the Ring films was built in the middle of beautiful, hilly farmland and is now a popular tourist destination.  After a tour of the hobbit homes we partied with hobbits in full garb (many shoeless since, from what I heard, Hobbits don’t like to wear shoes).  Tents were set up with music venues, Hobbit food, and entertainment.   The evening ended with a light show and fireworks.  What fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Auckland NZ

After a day in the Bay of Islands, NZ and we moved on to Auckland.  During our 3 days here I spent 2 days on excursions to the hills, woods and beaches of the North Island’s west coast and one day with friends doing the hop-on/off bus in the city.  There was a bit of Maori art, checking out the many local sheep, beautiful beaches and a visit to one of only two mainland gannet colonies in the world. 

Cruising into Auckland

The Arataki Center at the start of the Waitakere Range - with mountain views down onto the Tasman Sea.

 

 

A well trained dog herds some sheep.





 

At the gannet colony.

 

Loving the South Pacific Islands

After enjoying a stretch of 25 hour days I can unequivocally state that traveling westward is the only way to go!  We didn’t have the best of weather in either Tahiti or Bora Bora, but that didn’t really matter.  The warm temperatures – air and sea – made cloudiness and a touch or rain insignificant.

 From Papeete, four of us took a ferry over to Moorea.  This is the island of the musical ‘South Pacific’ fame – the one they sing ‘Bali High’ about.   This photo is taken at the hotel where we had lunch.  Someday I need to come back and spend a week or two in one of the little huts over the water.

 

The day in Bora Bora was probably my favorite so far.  In the morning I snorkeled at a beautiful reef, then swam with stingrays and sharks, then swam at the most beautiful beach of a lovely little outer island.  In the afternoon I did a ‘walk on the ocean floor’ excursion that was quite fun if not a bit Jules Vern-ish.  

 

 

 

The color of these clams was so vibrant.

 

So happy to be here.  Wishing everyone in NE could be here as well J.

Easter Island

Spent the day on Easter Island Thursday.  The day started rainy and with swells that made tendering difficult.  After a 2 hour delay and talk of cancellation, we finally made it to the island.  The sun came out and it turned into a lovely day.  By the time we got to the various sites, the lighting was more ‘high noon’ than I care for, but we were there! 

Moais standing on an ahu, or platform, at Ahu Tongariki.

 At Rano Raraku, the quarry where the statues were carved, there are close to 400 moais in different stages of completion.  Some standing, some face down, and many with heads only showing as the bodies were buried by layers of earth over the years.  Fascinating to walk through this area.

I'd like to post more photos, but the intranet is way too slow.

 

The Markets and People of Lima

I loved Peru the last time I visited and happily still do.  I had arranged for 2 days of private excursions that included markets, a cooking class and a visit to one of the shanty towns.  It was a wonderful experience.  Some photos below.

 

 

 

 

 

It will now take us 4 days of cruising to reach Easter Island.  The Pacific is one big ocean!