tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91444912162563742712024-02-07T18:30:07.279-08:00Debbie in New ZealandUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-89693519206306922442011-04-25T22:24:00.000-07:002011-04-25T22:48:31.737-07:00Heading home<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Monday</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The group headed out on the <time hour="9" minute="30">9:30 am</time> Qantas flight to <city><place>Auckland</place></city>, connecting to LAX and then <city><place>Philadelphia</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aidan and I hung out until my flight left at <time hour="15" minute="15">3:15</time>, I think his was going to Napier at <time hour="17" minute="15">5:15</time>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To kill time we visited the Kiwi Birdlife Park near the Gondola (they very kindly admitted us free).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very interesting information, we saw a kiwi feeding, such strange birds, they are in huge decline due to introduced predators.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unbelievable the size of the egg that female lays compared to her body size.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is equivalent to a human bearing a 35 pound child! At least the male incubates the egg (for 3 months)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaO_mttlKEewGyF8f-fP7egX6-6Njf8TwUnx2mjkzYdsv9GiaRyK0uzy8a4gfwZ6wMj1g0vm1riPo-Uc74vnoiVMHBAa4GfYa-jCC9xuA2V-b3VgST5gpgXlEyC2L2dVyZsv5Ggp3Uua8/s1600/Canon+119.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaO_mttlKEewGyF8f-fP7egX6-6Njf8TwUnx2mjkzYdsv9GiaRyK0uzy8a4gfwZ6wMj1g0vm1riPo-Uc74vnoiVMHBAa4GfYa-jCC9xuA2V-b3VgST5gpgXlEyC2L2dVyZsv5Ggp3Uua8/s320/Canon+119.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A kiwi egg replica</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>They are the only bird that has nostrils at the end of their beak. At the conservation show we learned about possums, stoats and rabbits some of the worst offenders in this environment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Prior to the introductions by humans, the only land mammals here were 3 species of bats.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">They are training this rainbow lorikeet (another invasive) to show how they take over native bird nests and also to help raise money for the <place><placename>Kiwi</placename> <placename>Birdlife</placename> <placetype>Park</placetype></place>, which is funded only by donations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It used to be a landfill and they have reforested with native trees over the last 30 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Dsk8DlZeNlX8R6jNV1pad5QPI8vEGI9qrgpv7gMBN5O2phgbcSr_GqARflvtiZcNvII-0IGPT_j6JXX9xxB5Eu53VtnSPsx_QUZ4oWX2uiB7WajlYqcazH5KQAqlCi3mZcx_hytfeUI/s1600/Canon+118.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Dsk8DlZeNlX8R6jNV1pad5QPI8vEGI9qrgpv7gMBN5O2phgbcSr_GqARflvtiZcNvII-0IGPT_j6JXX9xxB5Eu53VtnSPsx_QUZ4oWX2uiB7WajlYqcazH5KQAqlCi3mZcx_hytfeUI/s320/Canon+118.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the weasel-like stoat</td></tr>
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We had a nice lunch in town—today is ANZAC Day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sort of like our Memorial Day or Veterans Day, it commemorates the Australian and <country-region><place>New Zealand</place></country-region> Army Corps soldiers who landed on the <place><placename>Gallipoli</placename> <placetype>Peninsula</placetype></place> in <country-region><place>Turkey</place></country-region> early on the morning of <date day="25" month="4" year="1915">25 April 1915</date> during the First World War.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Several thousand lives were lost.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I connected with my flight Auckland-LAX, the first of back-to-back redeye flights (a nearly 12 hour layover in LA), to arrive in <city><place>Gainesville</place></city> the morning on April 26.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will be glad to get some real sleep!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an amazing trip.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-44102037582870873902011-04-25T22:16:00.000-07:002011-04-25T23:04:39.030-07:00Queenstown<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Sunday</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This was our busiest day so far!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had opted to omit the Milford Sound trip as it requires 5 hours of driving one way, two hours of cruise in the amazing fjords, then 5 hours driving back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead we had a jam-packed day of activities, starting with river rafting on the <place><placename>Shotover</placename> <placetype>River</placetype></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wow, just fantastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We suited up in heavy wetsuits and booties, jackets and lifejackets before departing in the van for the put-in point upriver.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aside from the amazing scenery going through the canyon, we also rafted through the world’s longest river tunnel (170 meters) which was built to redirect the river in order to get boats further up river (around the rapids).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unfortunately for the Australian builders, it was not engineered properly so they had to abandon the project at a huge loss of millions of dollars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The <place><placename>Shotover</placename> <placetype>River</placetype></place> is the most alluvial-gold-productive river (per kilometer) in the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are all sorts of artifacts from sluices to steam engines that were left by miners in the late 1800’s and 1900’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drive down was a bit harrowing on the one lane access road built along the mountain sides…pretty exciting!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>BIG drops with no guardrails.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people choose to helicopter in instead of driving down but flying through the canyon looked pretty scary too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a very cool mountain bike track (one of the best in the country) that follows the old trail down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rafting trip took about 2 hours on the river—no one fell out of the boat and no one capsized, the guides were excellent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We finished just before the bridge where the Shotover jet boats run.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">After a picnic lunch in the warm sun, we walked next door to the Shotover jet boats and donned our raincoats and lifejackets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was bummed to learn that no cameras were allowed, but that is to make sure you hold on tightly at all times!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boats have two big engines that pump through 200 gallons of water per minute and operate on 98% octane gas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They rocket through the canyon at 50 miles per hour, getting extremely close to the edges and can travel in about 3 inches of water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Quite thrilling indeed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For future reference, the seat next to the driver is the driest (that’s where I sat!).<br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>We were running a bit late for the G<place><placename>ondola</placename> <placetype>Mountain</placetype></place> adventures we had in store and took the gondola up to the restaurant area.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Then we took a ski lift up higher in order to get in carts and come back downhill on a luge track, great fun with very nice views!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhpvIreo9c2KmBY1urDw7WBieHlo4zBh-pGDy_Zd-I5Jpswkz86TlPSgMA9WVn9TJWcZMgBczVm0eI6KCPexU_O_lEShNWpss39nu3MZoA1WxE9H7FpeBBW_YqA0fT_roJ6HGnRFRfNFQ/s1600/Canon+044.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhpvIreo9c2KmBY1urDw7WBieHlo4zBh-pGDy_Zd-I5Jpswkz86TlPSgMA9WVn9TJWcZMgBczVm0eI6KCPexU_O_lEShNWpss39nu3MZoA1WxE9H7FpeBBW_YqA0fT_roJ6HGnRFRfNFQ/s320/Canon+044.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luge with a view!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>One ride and then we headed to the zipline tour – Ziptrek Ecotours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uUVdXKX_ch_6LymU17P2SrCzuMu3omH2SFBt8O4yAONX6md98r50TIcMHX5mEGkYh4TgsKYh0CHDldmyAauZY7vzLz2DLVwFnn4Oa-IIvsX6SUJnybU8hI20KsQG1b4jk4vsLjP1nxk/s1600/Canon+125.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0uUVdXKX_ch_6LymU17P2SrCzuMu3omH2SFBt8O4yAONX6md98r50TIcMHX5mEGkYh4TgsKYh0CHDldmyAauZY7vzLz2DLVwFnn4Oa-IIvsX6SUJnybU8hI20KsQG1b4jk4vsLjP1nxk/s320/Canon+125.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKpPkBzjDnR0f4CF-OEYXS1cFWeLIysg4TBk4QVwTdyZiBPL3Wofzyu-VA3xL2Z0AgSIDZtXgiwtwy7G5I13H9iI_gNPNpA-l_y1nc14VCTPjdJxPikrnIzUPW9_AqLEAG4wVA6oeTfU/s1600/Canon+202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhKpPkBzjDnR0f4CF-OEYXS1cFWeLIysg4TBk4QVwTdyZiBPL3Wofzyu-VA3xL2Z0AgSIDZtXgiwtwy7G5I13H9iI_gNPNpA-l_y1nc14VCTPjdJxPikrnIzUPW9_AqLEAG4wVA6oeTfU/s320/Canon+202.jpg" width="240px" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qjOlC8Wrb-ryWcGnpwoIYfdDk4ZY6atZ8_20JAae0cvo_c3lbazl1_-9cbcx8rMy3mtTzaIbCD2Wp4gscYmNUlVe16XlwV80WrhxlAwUdku8EoZnbi2FzhGiYfy4Uoo9QoiqkD5E5Uw/s1600/Canon+130.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6qjOlC8Wrb-ryWcGnpwoIYfdDk4ZY6atZ8_20JAae0cvo_c3lbazl1_-9cbcx8rMy3mtTzaIbCD2Wp4gscYmNUlVe16XlwV80WrhxlAwUdku8EoZnbi2FzhGiYfy4Uoo9QoiqkD5E5Uw/s320/Canon+130.jpg" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">fantastic views of Lake Wakapitu from zipline platforms</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">They offered lots of conservation and sustainability information at each platform (we did four zips, there are actually six—ending in Queenstown at the base of the mountain).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hike back up to the restaurant was pretty grueling but good exercise before a big dinner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One excellent bit of info I learned and it seems like a great organization is Kiva.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have a loan program to help people help themselves around the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check them out and support!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>98% of the loans are repaid and money can be loaned elsewhere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://www.kiva.org/"><span style="color: purple;">www.kiva.org</span></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">One more luge ride and we had a delicious buffet dinner at the restaurant overlooking the lights of Queenstown.</div><br />
When we returned to the lodge we had a raffle for the items that Aidan had picked up along the way, including our group mascot, a stuffed kiwi named Puka Nui (means fat tummy in Maori)...Aidan awarded the New Zealand banner to Mike Cozza, who was ever-helpful on the trip! But the whole group was wonderful.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBk0aGrVg6OnheyuGHPtHfCZJSVtl3iXOk2eQJ6-DpFHtlPHC1hM5NeIZvBmIGyUUqYJBlkoNT8NcGDNdR6SFzGapiOOJdZTkPWDbCEsEOBhYEyfAU53qJE_N7Qke9i0OtET6ZW3aif8Q/s1600/Canon+048.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBk0aGrVg6OnheyuGHPtHfCZJSVtl3iXOk2eQJ6-DpFHtlPHC1hM5NeIZvBmIGyUUqYJBlkoNT8NcGDNdR6SFzGapiOOJdZTkPWDbCEsEOBhYEyfAU53qJE_N7Qke9i0OtET6ZW3aif8Q/s320/Canon+048.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Puka Nui (sorry he's sideways!)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNYO1IJ2t7hMy-hfbx9o8x-PCZkwwQRMC9jf90sxlIKbW7qazje45904UYQ916VZEq6mD7tBsI5dHr97pj6vOFLlgnQtU_XmfF5FoTv4rsqYUvMY2k1jgDk3ARCim_BfWuV0EHYvD9RQ/s1600/Canon+056.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwNYO1IJ2t7hMy-hfbx9o8x-PCZkwwQRMC9jf90sxlIKbW7qazje45904UYQ916VZEq6mD7tBsI5dHr97pj6vOFLlgnQtU_XmfF5FoTv4rsqYUvMY2k1jgDk3ARCim_BfWuV0EHYvD9RQ/s320/Canon+056.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evan picking his prize---a piece of bungy cord</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-3986334159416354772011-04-25T20:27:00.000-07:002011-04-25T20:27:59.449-07:00Queenstown<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Saturday</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">We got lucky with another day of mostly great weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With a prediction of 40% rain after it rained a good bit last night, we only encountered some light showers during our horseback ride this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started off crossing a pretty deep river, when many of our group got water in their boots and some of our guides were in up to their saddles (brr!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6cY2G7a73X1t-NQ96emvSs1PuHCOk4-O0wOB-zN390KBk2_ain3Zzi0s4W1NkmFYEeNKDcYGjtDuhW9_GU8PSxB44dY711TzhORWgGCRHOUm6cCgaSbzCCthwt3Jsxt-81xTyiq1G0o/s1600/Canon+129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6cY2G7a73X1t-NQ96emvSs1PuHCOk4-O0wOB-zN390KBk2_ain3Zzi0s4W1NkmFYEeNKDcYGjtDuhW9_GU8PSxB44dY711TzhORWgGCRHOUm6cCgaSbzCCthwt3Jsxt-81xTyiq1G0o/s320/Canon+129.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">I unfortunately had a stubborn horse (is there any other kind?) that wanted to eat along the way and for whatever reason, he got spooked or something and bolted, leaving me on the ground!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So glad it happened on soft ground, not rocks…I fell on my left shoulder/back but no major harm done, thank goodness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having an English saddle did not help.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m fine. Got back on the horse and continued the ride, which lasted about 3 hours through some fabulous scenery (the valley was “Middle Earth” in Lord of the Rings).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think we are all feeling it tonight—although we have some very experienced riders on the trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They divided us into two groups—ours being the less experienced bunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t feel so bad as one the guides was thrown off her horse and it took off on a gallop for the barn.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">We headed back to Queenstown from the ranch, which is located near Glenorchy, at the west end of Lake Wakatipu.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Had lunch back at the lodge and then we were off to Arrowtown for a rugby game on a beautiful sunny afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This quaint gold rush town is all-colorful now with the leaves (all introduced trees such as willows, maples and oaks) and are hosting an autumn festival next weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The colorful trees were brought in from <country-region><place>England</place></country-region> and other places, most of the native <country-region><place>New Zealand</place></country-region> trees (beeches) do not change.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH5cnWooOQcqv4Mi-_XseUob33C2k3UP0D3rpxJZCKkiUDzOsweGzYNhRZmL8wj36nOlgUOzbbHggLz0FnNppdhkcdKMcx-znAbz6WCwU8osV5eRqCOEvq9R7vWbRuFtJFndtKLNKGRY/s1600/Canon+082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFH5cnWooOQcqv4Mi-_XseUob33C2k3UP0D3rpxJZCKkiUDzOsweGzYNhRZmL8wj36nOlgUOzbbHggLz0FnNppdhkcdKMcx-znAbz6WCwU8osV5eRqCOEvq9R7vWbRuFtJFndtKLNKGRY/s320/Canon+082.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A "scrum"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kicking the extra point</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">very cute bystanders!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">irresistible leaves to play in</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">boosting team members up to get the ball after going out of bounds</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">About <time hour="16" minute="30">4:30</time> we arrived at the lake for our parasailing adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What a thrilling ride that was!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Really gorgeous from up there too, I was so busy taking pictures I did not have time to be scared.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You take off and land from the boat, the views of the lake and surrounding mountains were magnificent.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I mentioned earlier, Lake Wakatipu is 1200 feet deep, 6-9 degrees C, 53 miles long and over 100 feet below sea level at the bottom—98% pure, you can drink the water!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvwok-uRhe3-B88-rteiQtN7FO2eMqvE-2H0lirbxQ2lgvfgtAx1tE6WxNUpJSv1MIIP-o2Mgl7DOVan6y5XfuiqrPnW9IrgThmuyZ8wzsGnlvC3Zgo3sTbwDU5L3sTfCTvt3ymmEGYQ/s1600/Canon+106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLvwok-uRhe3-B88-rteiQtN7FO2eMqvE-2H0lirbxQ2lgvfgtAx1tE6WxNUpJSv1MIIP-o2Mgl7DOVan6y5XfuiqrPnW9IrgThmuyZ8wzsGnlvC3Zgo3sTbwDU5L3sTfCTvt3ymmEGYQ/s320/Canon+106.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfZb8BjAVQ3vbMY-_1v3mgAnURNbrwbMQ9X3cmccWXw52BeZK3ZuueOHgl8S_GKpsQSxAQf3PZNt7ZFPxa6K437C80zdijXA_boWWc1zR3BxepCjNQcvGWTtC85uG-tWMbQkAecmlJ2E/s1600/Canon+234.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSfZb8BjAVQ3vbMY-_1v3mgAnURNbrwbMQ9X3cmccWXw52BeZK3ZuueOHgl8S_GKpsQSxAQf3PZNt7ZFPxa6K437C80zdijXA_boWWc1zR3BxepCjNQcvGWTtC85uG-tWMbQkAecmlJ2E/s320/Canon+234.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">it is a LONG way down!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RSmsKvZOggvf4c9ytj7a81wRomfZLBaWyNPa9nbD6NWRBqYb-W_4X7y41k0cSmwej7aily55axBQ2_zH72osCQBd_geWL8i7K_g49f6pI2JV8S4HXGECwGLGJ8cxJYZc1MsPZFh699A/s1600/Canon+240.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1RSmsKvZOggvf4c9ytj7a81wRomfZLBaWyNPa9nbD6NWRBqYb-W_4X7y41k0cSmwej7aily55axBQ2_zH72osCQBd_geWL8i7K_g49f6pI2JV8S4HXGECwGLGJ8cxJYZc1MsPZFh699A/s320/Canon+240.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">but beautiful</td></tr>
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</div>TSS Earnslaw - launched in 1912 it is the only surviving coal powered steamship on Lake Wakatipu<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntI-7ShybepFihN3sN01zAoySGoyBgGtmVoPQsqKPlwOgACjV6lCxgiVIvBMHIvH5l9jRYdVm9f1gofE0HrLX_86Cww2HRvG4ts4QbcxZUs7aziktschjwk79RJpxh1ICLDgnNxQgH1U/s1600/Canon+128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhntI-7ShybepFihN3sN01zAoySGoyBgGtmVoPQsqKPlwOgACjV6lCxgiVIvBMHIvH5l9jRYdVm9f1gofE0HrLX_86Cww2HRvG4ts4QbcxZUs7aziktschjwk79RJpxh1ICLDgnNxQgH1U/s320/Canon+128.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-54108796813974516032011-04-22T12:43:00.000-07:002011-04-25T16:40:47.932-07:00Christchurch-Queenstown<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Good Friday</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Another early morning with crisp, clear weather.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The holiday park is quite large with spaces for campers as well as motel units and dorm rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After breakfast we headed out at <time hour="19" minute="15">7:15</time> into empty streets and we were quickly reminded it is a holiday.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most all businesses (except tourist places) are closed until Tuesday for Easter, and Monday is Anzac Day, more on this later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The drive from <city><place>Christchurch</place></city> to Queenstown is about five hours with a scheduled arrival at the bungy jump at <time hour="15" minute="0">3:00</time>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the most scenic day so far and spectacular weather.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2Fq8lzmk69gkWPhxk8KezJwbCkM68f0kk9L-buI2DBhwDzOq1LgPnhYthhXF9megtGJ44b1_ZdPPCIEEz33OA-iFVTGwkMLq5m4ajROHFFdVBj2FIugDIsEkeEwlKbKPQ3YCW43bW2Y/s1600/Canon+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid2Fq8lzmk69gkWPhxk8KezJwbCkM68f0kk9L-buI2DBhwDzOq1LgPnhYthhXF9megtGJ44b1_ZdPPCIEEz33OA-iFVTGwkMLq5m4ajROHFFdVBj2FIugDIsEkeEwlKbKPQ3YCW43bW2Y/s320/Canon+004.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">First stop was <place><placetype>Lake</placetype> <placename>Tekapo</placename></place> for pictures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A glacial lake, the water is a pretty blue/green color.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we walked into the small Church of the Good Shepherd and saw the sheep dog monument.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1-j1-1WOVxpOdY7Bfwlc-h4g-Nu7rFsdtKgA4CPkN1TRXMgeUErtwPayGMKbWAr-rJNjcDRMudwW1eZtNXv1C5dvZg_GaggEzMfNGXwClmdCMX8t66I0W4UhvJFzxbcMJ_pcgm2h5DQ/s1600/Canon+020.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii1-j1-1WOVxpOdY7Bfwlc-h4g-Nu7rFsdtKgA4CPkN1TRXMgeUErtwPayGMKbWAr-rJNjcDRMudwW1eZtNXv1C5dvZg_GaggEzMfNGXwClmdCMX8t66I0W4UhvJFzxbcMJ_pcgm2h5DQ/s320/Canon+020.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj33Hvf5sERsh1Swqt5awK2qEc9Iq6U4vaAFbnOQEq5DCDUKrLzQ-WQVDI-YqKXUf9edVeF-Ky70Ic8hw2hm0R71QlF3cxlGqjClKzLxNS_cO3mPu7oLC9_VvV_0VSMxQyk0VM1NSiN2ZA/s320/Canon+029.jpg" width="320px" /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Back in the bus and our next stop was for lunch by the side of <place><placetype>Lake</placetype> <placename>Pukaki</placename></place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bread, cheese, salami and fruit—another great picnic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0TW5suceLfucj2LCfw6rIfkhlpo0RCX7DRAc19JT8fgiXUnMiLDBYl_QniHk7yeUngZrtTDwnMsPIaQp_0wk2J_6GLN13BTRn9JB2fzm_FDtlJtrqj7frim53p3RbD0bzSFjAWN4wUo/s1600/Canon+052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW0TW5suceLfucj2LCfw6rIfkhlpo0RCX7DRAc19JT8fgiXUnMiLDBYl_QniHk7yeUngZrtTDwnMsPIaQp_0wk2J_6GLN13BTRn9JB2fzm_FDtlJtrqj7frim53p3RbD0bzSFjAWN4wUo/s320/Canon+052.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DcjvXK-3RbNiSwCiRPnhaXRhF78VDLfpBWfdV8aH3vivEGoxuoMEaoZrs6DMGKVKCxc3iUdhmtGx9CxhRsZdU3uQ-ZMzRBaEQHqO2VzKNyGulxahw0gcTSSUYIjJ7tGxm_4PDx-36bw/s1600/Canon+061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6DcjvXK-3RbNiSwCiRPnhaXRhF78VDLfpBWfdV8aH3vivEGoxuoMEaoZrs6DMGKVKCxc3iUdhmtGx9CxhRsZdU3uQ-ZMzRBaEQHqO2VzKNyGulxahw0gcTSSUYIjJ7tGxm_4PDx-36bw/s320/Canon+061.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Game of touch rugby</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"> </div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Unfortunately <place>Mount Cook</place> (12, 246 feet) was covered by clouds at the other end of the glacial lake but the rest of the <place>Southern Alps</place> were beautiful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aidan said we were among the 80-90% of people who do not get to see the mountain.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pretty impressive range, there are 20 mountains over 10,000 feet!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it is fall, there were lots of yellow leaves in the countryside as well as grapevines that have turned yellow with grapes ripening on the vine, like these being protected from the birds with netting.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNRrBL4u4mQ8A_y8WFJJZW6TFz0hrMQwcMIc2s2ALEHoO_C75bTI0fXC5GM8Qf4FoOMJJQtOCPC6UG3fWfgO8iHn8VXCPInYjmiDqSRIA7BZ4_P9Q6KqAWdq3ZwQh3K5CaBdwGQwaosg/s1600/Canon+094.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZNRrBL4u4mQ8A_y8WFJJZW6TFz0hrMQwcMIc2s2ALEHoO_C75bTI0fXC5GM8Qf4FoOMJJQtOCPC6UG3fWfgO8iHn8VXCPInYjmiDqSRIA7BZ4_P9Q6KqAWdq3ZwQh3K5CaBdwGQwaosg/s320/Canon+094.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmT_SYoL2U9cPjMNuyEZCxth9PSmMyIUJDBez8BkzuPdEOp46goaU_7fXeYcri3OWDDEveyk-xJtMSL1wuR92OaQC8vJNle8hIjtyeQeURlo7VKBPEBvhlRM2TF2UTA4hxIjlP8881s4/s1600/Canon+101.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEmT_SYoL2U9cPjMNuyEZCxth9PSmMyIUJDBez8BkzuPdEOp46goaU_7fXeYcri3OWDDEveyk-xJtMSL1wuR92OaQC8vJNle8hIjtyeQeURlo7VKBPEBvhlRM2TF2UTA4hxIjlP8881s4/s320/Canon+101.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">We arrived at AJ Hackett Bungy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Cost is $180 to jump—we had 9 brave jumpers, who all had a blast.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bridge is built over the <place><placename>Kawarau</placename> <placetype>River</placetype></place>, about 130 feet above the river (like 13 stories!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dave was our first jumper.</div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEYeq1vHW6pjnMUi6QM2soYul5I06h8p5eh2mGF9xWO51Z-ddrfHCHC5qkaGBhYtywfdkezWsfwhxpZ-vE0iD6lHUYQKDD_B67-K6d6osrsbWA8iCsvq69TgvGeffG32mLG2N_ArrVvE/s1600/Canon+114.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHEYeq1vHW6pjnMUi6QM2soYul5I06h8p5eh2mGF9xWO51Z-ddrfHCHC5qkaGBhYtywfdkezWsfwhxpZ-vE0iD6lHUYQKDD_B67-K6d6osrsbWA8iCsvq69TgvGeffG32mLG2N_ArrVvE/s320/Canon+114.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">They have cameras set up to take great pictures and sell the photos and a DVD if people would like to buy them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here are a couple taken by the bungy company--excellent camera set ups!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjq6QzT-zTzYTASk4gHRPVxSyxt6Gjo1B98_ytdktIEmESDU5d0CG-_fhgUZaIu1s1khZ4bwyic_bE3xhrYSI_8luW0EydReXn3kNJNCX7lFTyahqTRcY33iYAcw4Ceez1ChI4fFvcRo/s1600/Canon+155.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcjq6QzT-zTzYTASk4gHRPVxSyxt6Gjo1B98_ytdktIEmESDU5d0CG-_fhgUZaIu1s1khZ4bwyic_bE3xhrYSI_8luW0EydReXn3kNJNCX7lFTyahqTRcY33iYAcw4Ceez1ChI4fFvcRo/s320/Canon+155.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">About a 15 minute ride into Queenstown, a super resort town of 15,000 that swells to 81,000 during the Dec-Jan (summer).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is every kind of adventure activity imaginable here, and you can even mine for gold.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The town is at the edge of <place><placetype>Lake</placetype> <placename>Wakatipu</placename></place>, the country’s 3<sup>rd</sup> largest lake—it is over 1200 feet deep. Our accommodation at Pinewood Lodge is really nice, the kids have a house to themselves with a private kitchen and dining room.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Aidan cooked our dinner--grilled hamburgers and sausages, yummy! </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-37901879440645763392011-04-21T11:33:00.000-07:002011-04-25T18:00:08.707-07:00Kaikoura-ChristchurchWhat a great day we had yesterday! The sun came out and we had a wonderful morning whale watching. Kaikoura is a sleepy seaside town that has come back to life with whale watching and dolphin expeditions. Just offshore is the Kaikoura trench where the bottom drops from 300 feet down to 3000 feet! The perfect place for sperm whales. The boat crew uses a hydrophone to listen for them and we found one right away. It is believed that they use sound waves to paralyze their prey and have been known to knock a man unconscious. As the whales are getting ready to come to the surface the pings become more rapid, called "shotgunning."<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0m46_OZj71dhFxElYfdyvymvfnwxkY7dhR5AN24AKtCTLFkE5bMmOdu9RTq94Clg16NiOt35mzH8-DXnfCJw0VrZ2SzS8nPq-cPmpV7gIA1pPSCeMrDzpKKH7_ZrAdEEbpaI3S5NBW-Q/s1600/Canon+072.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0m46_OZj71dhFxElYfdyvymvfnwxkY7dhR5AN24AKtCTLFkE5bMmOdu9RTq94Clg16NiOt35mzH8-DXnfCJw0VrZ2SzS8nPq-cPmpV7gIA1pPSCeMrDzpKKH7_ZrAdEEbpaI3S5NBW-Q/s320/Canon+072.jpg" width="240px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Listening for whales with hydrophone</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hydrophones</td></tr>
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</div>He came up to the surface for just a couple of minutes and went back down again Then about 10 minutes later came back up and stayed on the surface for about five minutes. This was a whale they have been seeing here for about 20 years. They come to the surface to stock up on air. Then they sound for about 50 minutes. It was amazing! We also saw a few dusky dolphins closer to shore.<br />
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<tr><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx149Vct4_FqxDA3A_qLqxK0yPI1mmDyHb5IxU4_mRolgNDuMP-oWSy8uX-OPpk8Yz8hcZCFy5XAr2N_Up1AtHCI-Y1nHbcS7aBiwOLU0qGKoXQVTvFvlfNeEN4Usz4-8Ktvu1K3vFc7U/s1600/Canon+057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgx149Vct4_FqxDA3A_qLqxK0yPI1mmDyHb5IxU4_mRolgNDuMP-oWSy8uX-OPpk8Yz8hcZCFy5XAr2N_Up1AtHCI-Y1nHbcS7aBiwOLU0qGKoXQVTvFvlfNeEN4Usz4-8Ktvu1K3vFc7U/s320/Canon+057.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;">Feeding in these waters were a couple of albatross species and these petrels (I think they are Cape Petrels)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeLRd_9DNzJCLgi7dhKxybuN_WT9PYSCxmmy01YpY2_Ln6HEy3h8Iar_Z1iuWekweesEYPCaHtW2iT2nsqR65hLw7hRoaTXXnT6dsIzmx9k_IaGpCcTrutuUVwF08atR3hnX9-3aFeVw/s1600/Canon+111.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIeLRd_9DNzJCLgi7dhKxybuN_WT9PYSCxmmy01YpY2_Ln6HEy3h8Iar_Z1iuWekweesEYPCaHtW2iT2nsqR65hLw7hRoaTXXnT6dsIzmx9k_IaGpCcTrutuUVwF08atR3hnX9-3aFeVw/s320/Canon+111.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">To give sense of scale, the boat is the same as ours--about 55 feet long--and the whole whale is not showing</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Then there was a chance to shop along the main street in town for about an hour--a big hit! <br />
Our lunch today was individual "meat pies" that we got from the local bakery. Very Kiwi and everyone loved them--delicious! Especially enjoyable as we ate them at a seaside park/seal colony--what a gorgeous sunny day. The kids were really loving the up close views of the fur seals who were sunning themselves on the rocks.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNiOBYPq9vhoLNRZM8isoqq8pq6-hOnvUwkbC30P5WCfPnN5_O3mbTpOXhs-BOyDgr94c3YA9nWII8B8M8fpYdDeHpm06w2OPQ3KVH-fCfGB5mvEtgN4M9K8Qtmt-NbuCgq7KfZFg8rTc/s1600/Canon+164.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNiOBYPq9vhoLNRZM8isoqq8pq6-hOnvUwkbC30P5WCfPnN5_O3mbTpOXhs-BOyDgr94c3YA9nWII8B8M8fpYdDeHpm06w2OPQ3KVH-fCfGB5mvEtgN4M9K8Qtmt-NbuCgq7KfZFg8rTc/s320/Canon+164.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69xgb-T4nviDq6DfRsZ7TiEbT53UBwkLt8olE_4HeClWA1sLL8X0zEqPO-yuuSN7dnNMczDasI_XWKyTF5J4nSlZfQdfgsmGl0UARW2tdgU9V5kbgsD5AYggwydwRksg3PKy-MBytWn8/s1600/Canon+186.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi69xgb-T4nviDq6DfRsZ7TiEbT53UBwkLt8olE_4HeClWA1sLL8X0zEqPO-yuuSN7dnNMczDasI_XWKyTF5J4nSlZfQdfgsmGl0UARW2tdgU9V5kbgsD5AYggwydwRksg3PKy-MBytWn8/s320/Canon+186.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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Then it was back on the bus and heading south to Christchurch, where we visited the Antarctic Centre and learned all about the desert continent. The Centre is located right next to the airport and the hangar where expeditions begin the 10 hour flight down there. I think they said there are 60 research stations there! The most fun part of the visit was the ride around the dirt track in the Haggalund, almost like a roller coaster!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYAHxXnotmnRJ_UA0CpNzZGmBkMZOMwSZ9Nb4TVBAQaLkK6_C-B9yRXMVfDCJp0E_oChpAPP3WoCC-97PCfBloIKp2X1LH6GXlgPEmf9Zz5pTGNnqvLiJ_xFRYiK-V-Pq-U2tagwu7O8/s1600/Canon+246.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPYAHxXnotmnRJ_UA0CpNzZGmBkMZOMwSZ9Nb4TVBAQaLkK6_C-B9yRXMVfDCJp0E_oChpAPP3WoCC-97PCfBloIKp2X1LH6GXlgPEmf9Zz5pTGNnqvLiJ_xFRYiK-V-Pq-U2tagwu7O8/s320/Canon+246.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is us tracking through water up to the windows!</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
We arrived at our accommodation in the Meadow Park area of Christchurch (NZ's 3rd largest city) in time to let the kids shop at a nearby mall before dinner. Then after dinner we all learned the Haka, a Maori war chant. These kids are smart--they picked it up fast and did a great job learning the Maori words and actions.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9u8s6RzaUx3IY1g2DpPGhZ46Kz1la1eHFnn0_2LEhDHCGwbnMVLZ552QBwUnTgBJypuj6kQd9OMBYhQ8mFDa4U9M1fUhRXIdJ5eip1sgBUoY9_aJ5VOKXUJW4GfYps2sFPYf_yxEqNU/s1600/Canon+236.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9u8s6RzaUx3IY1g2DpPGhZ46Kz1la1eHFnn0_2LEhDHCGwbnMVLZ552QBwUnTgBJypuj6kQd9OMBYhQ8mFDa4U9M1fUhRXIdJ5eip1sgBUoY9_aJ5VOKXUJW4GfYps2sFPYf_yxEqNU/s320/Canon+236.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aidan teaching us the haka</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-10383330500569368492011-04-20T10:44:00.000-07:002011-04-25T23:29:45.837-07:00The South Island<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Wednesday</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">A pretty early start this morning in order to leave for the Inter Island Ferry at <time hour="19" minute="15">7:15</time>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just a short bus ride around the waterfront to reach the dock, near the <city><place>Wellington</place></city> sports stadium, also known as the “Cake Tin,” due to its flat shape (it actually looks just like a cake pan!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The ferry is huge and on the auto deck there were all sorts of vehicles from cars to RVs to smelly stock trailers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>The weather was gorgeous and the ferry has all sorts of amenities, including a movie theatre.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once we reached the <place>South Island</place> we passed through the Marlborough Sounds, some beautiful scenery.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The crossing takes about three hours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our scheduled swimming with the fur seals at Kaikoura was canceled as the recent weather has caused extremely poor visibility and thus a snorkel would be pretty much a waste of time with less than 20% chance of seeing the seals in the water.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After landing at Picton we met our Queenstown-based driver Peter and boarded our new coach (same as we had before on the <place>North Island</place>).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s green and quite hilly around Picton and as soon as we left that area we came into Marlborough, a dry region, the largest vineyard area in the country, with rows and rows of grape vines.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The highway soon led to the Pacific and follows the coastline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We continued south, and just north of Kaikoura stopped at the Ohau Point seal colony.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There were about 50 fur seals here, with lots of little ones.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuGc7YhrxPlpQpzWWIvDI4eaHEhPyRX20jnGTp6I6_3B4C3nKIMkz_Sq3228RAWjpK8i37P-qwWj6mLoHU5xV_B-TuMny4qf94ZKTExAeUu1eqjh06S02vqvq1Cxg18_1EaDYeQ2aoEk/s1600/Canon+184.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFuGc7YhrxPlpQpzWWIvDI4eaHEhPyRX20jnGTp6I6_3B4C3nKIMkz_Sq3228RAWjpK8i37P-qwWj6mLoHU5xV_B-TuMny4qf94ZKTExAeUu1eqjh06S02vqvq1Cxg18_1EaDYeQ2aoEk/s320/Canon+184.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWTvuDS3YWmHZVLL0I5-w6PBHGBc_9G_T46enUaDp0mEzWCFM0rSJSohWs1WFCuPT_AwfNV4GgdiNe7fD9Eh8OxtmWYkZQJ_Gioo8VfPt0d6KmKSNwJfEoaRhPwtORRFgCRJhaKrmLZI/s1600/Canon+205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtWTvuDS3YWmHZVLL0I5-w6PBHGBc_9G_T46enUaDp0mEzWCFM0rSJSohWs1WFCuPT_AwfNV4GgdiNe7fD9Eh8OxtmWYkZQJ_Gioo8VfPt0d6KmKSNwJfEoaRhPwtORRFgCRJhaKrmLZI/s320/Canon+205.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>Then, as a substitute for the canceled seal swimming, we headed to a local farm where we had hoped the kids could do a downhill luge-on-wheels adventure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzG1yp5sAX1H1hsp0TtcsoXXNQi5XmMsHe9ADIwP95weKVDXfNgFpmTvHgivmelpCvQ_nydwVKpz9Zpikchh5xM6V5cQM-oLYixey4yGcC5wQlCfuS9bVGSrfRYOpTiHPkqWjnnWQsl74/s1600/Canon+286.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzG1yp5sAX1H1hsp0TtcsoXXNQi5XmMsHe9ADIwP95weKVDXfNgFpmTvHgivmelpCvQ_nydwVKpz9Zpikchh5xM6V5cQM-oLYixey4yGcC5wQlCfuS9bVGSrfRYOpTiHPkqWjnnWQsl74/s320/Canon+286.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>Unfortunately earlier rainy weather made the track too muddy and we could not do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They had an interesting array of animals in a petting zoo set up, from a very vocal donkey to deer and turkeys, as well as ostriches, various birds and even a cockatoo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kids loved it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACEfKAS3aU3OqpOYwqM7BKC07CH0S_9yKdwnpnEI2dTWFdw-MHEMPCxmqZ4jFmkpbLvSntV8SL2lpTa4MadOryRJC_Nl-i24bQxe3vCtKt2ShWDvuU18d8stBA6YeYKntU4SXuqSg3JA/s1600/Canon+216.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACEfKAS3aU3OqpOYwqM7BKC07CH0S_9yKdwnpnEI2dTWFdw-MHEMPCxmqZ4jFmkpbLvSntV8SL2lpTa4MadOryRJC_Nl-i24bQxe3vCtKt2ShWDvuU18d8stBA6YeYKntU4SXuqSg3JA/s320/Canon+216.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div>Then we went into the sheep shearing shed where they had indoor archery set up (a 12 meter ranges).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A big hit as most of the group had never shot a bow and arrow.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndn0Z0gODi1l4N_mHOZGuN3n1mWYxjCThbv9XXSds8S2CVo7Evad6svXFodsm4R9FEsaqx7VHeOCMsfrL0C-ck2Aa6_NCVOBPC5Cnh8C0t_coGtaLEJKf-w-Phwz4y3MqXIzL1Zt8DTE/s1600/Canon+270.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgndn0Z0gODi1l4N_mHOZGuN3n1mWYxjCThbv9XXSds8S2CVo7Evad6svXFodsm4R9FEsaqx7VHeOCMsfrL0C-ck2Aa6_NCVOBPC5Cnh8C0t_coGtaLEJKf-w-Phwz4y3MqXIzL1Zt8DTE/s320/Canon+270.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">We left the 400 acre farm as it was getting dark, and had only a short 10 minute ride to Kaikoura to our accommodation, the Dusky Lodge and a beef curry dinner awaited us.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">This place is smaller than the hostel in <city><place>Wellington</place></city>, but still fairly sprawling, with 3 kitchens and several lounge areas.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This one even has a swimming pool and Jacuzzi.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very cozy public spaces with wood heaters to take the chill off.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Later this morning we are hoping for good weather for our whale watching trip—we may get to see sperm whales!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-91851401412903594992011-04-19T11:28:00.000-07:002011-04-25T18:07:31.051-07:00The North Island<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Monday</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Kia Ora (hello and welcome) Archmere group!</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Adele, our guide (Aidan Callaghan) and I met the 14 students and 2 teachers this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Luck was with us as we walked to our very nice 29 passenger coach, which fortunately was parked under cover--the moment we got to the bus and met Richard, our driver, a squall passed through with heavy rain and wind.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is a “Southerly” coming through the <place>North Island</place> today so we headed south for Rotorua driving through some rain and strong winds, arriving about 3 hours later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Intermittent rain and sun greeted us in this town of steaming geysers, <city><place>hot springs</place></city> and boiling mud pools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But the sun came out as we arrived at the Polynesian Pools, a spa with several mineral baths with different temperatures ranging from 38 to 42 degrees Celsius.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The sulfur smell and slick feeling on your skin was not a deterrent to the therapeutic soak, a great way to relax after a long plane ride!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOi8Aj1QNSd86yUBdTMfGUrPAzy0hawIeH2t4FzmHFUZzNOivozb2Kq8elCBWqureEmd_CPACP_4_KqQ0n3fMdE85ET9v6NYYHKePlRwXdapbQhfpUNIxXscXcAWKfdwCLI37XxvMepM/s1600/Canon+126.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuOi8Aj1QNSd86yUBdTMfGUrPAzy0hawIeH2t4FzmHFUZzNOivozb2Kq8elCBWqureEmd_CPACP_4_KqQ0n3fMdE85ET9v6NYYHKePlRwXdapbQhfpUNIxXscXcAWKfdwCLI37XxvMepM/s320/Canon+126.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span>Next we made our way to Te Puia, a Maori cultural experience where we learned about their spiritual beliefs, how they came to settle around these natural <city><place>hot springs</place></city>, carving and weaving schools.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The geyser was erupting for us and we sat on hot rocks, which felt great in the chilly wind!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rain has passed and it was a lovely afternoon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This evening we were treated to a performance of dance and song and then a hangi, a dinner where the food is cooked in the ground, meat and vegetables sort of smoked and steamed at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Maori village uses the geothermal energy to heat their homes and cook with as they are located right on top of the steam vents, boiling mud and a cold stream running through.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnUZ7lrs60oIRg3H17la8vv9ETycVWhczG9oDuohnGMbNEhd5CfscQ6ih8uK2Gvx70LxsdcZdXiaK76Fl3GGOvDAatCnXwieo9eubxLcBTgMg2stPylSk5meCNla-AQPPCdt5L26_ZQ4/s1600/Canon+039.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmnUZ7lrs60oIRg3H17la8vv9ETycVWhczG9oDuohnGMbNEhd5CfscQ6ih8uK2Gvx70LxsdcZdXiaK76Fl3GGOvDAatCnXwieo9eubxLcBTgMg2stPylSk5meCNla-AQPPCdt5L26_ZQ4/s320/Canon+039.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">About <time hour="21" minute="0">9:00 p.m.</time> we returned to the YHA hostel where we are staying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A very affordable option, these are self-catering set ups with a public kitchen, utensils, dishes and cookware—you bring your own food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adele and Aidan had stocked us up with food and drinks before leaving <city><place>Auckland</place></city>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What fun!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rooms are Spartan, the kids had shared bathrooms but ours were quite comfortable with private bath.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Tuesday</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">After breakfast and clean up we headed off for <place><placename>Huka</placename> <placetype>Falls</placetype></place>, a narrow gorge at the end of <place><city>Lake Taupo</city>, <country-region>New Zealand</country-region></place>’s largest lake.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the beginning of <country-region><place>New Zealand</place></country-region>’s longest river, the <place>Waikato</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amazing how much water is moving through there, enough to fill 5 Olympic sized swimming pools every MINUTE!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz0NRzDCU5OaAKfGoa9iFWZpXVkcWsttewvhyHfQyo4WDHx8gpeR1mFM6sD1Tz-yYHg9S4cwALdODRBHtp9xA' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>We got back on the bus and continued south, skirting the huge <place><placetype>Lake</placetype> <placename>Taupo</placename></place> and then taking the “Desert Road" which bisects three national parks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To the west we saw <place><placetype>Mount</placetype> <placename>Tongariro</placename></place>, a classic snow-covered cone-shaped volcano that is flanked by two other impressive peaks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFmio8KVokZ4Pa-jVCdZL4DTyGh7HlVpoYbl03U4WV9JtqqvvA7ZScO8x3TiNdhtTKDkzpoQZgeRsWDFMThATGUjTcmMkNIHXIx4J5Gk9lqOLoBXugUtv7ei2WccquBLA_UOMdLyOqQw/s1600/Canon+074.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDFmio8KVokZ4Pa-jVCdZL4DTyGh7HlVpoYbl03U4WV9JtqqvvA7ZScO8x3TiNdhtTKDkzpoQZgeRsWDFMThATGUjTcmMkNIHXIx4J5Gk9lqOLoBXugUtv7ei2WccquBLA_UOMdLyOqQw/s320/Canon+074.jpg" width="320px" /></a></div><br />
We continued to travel through sheep farms and dairies and stopped for lunch in small town park.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Around <time hour="15" minute="30">3:30</time> we arrived in <city><place>Wellington</place></city>, the capital city, after traveling a short distance right next to the <place>Tasman Sea</place>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Our visit to the national museum Te Papa, right on <place><placename>Oriental</placename> <placetype>Bay</placetype></place>, was both enlightening and fascinating.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Te Papa is a very interactive museum with great information about natural occurrences like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which are part of this young country’s history, in addition to the natural history.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They even have a rain forest set up outside, where Trish and I heard the most musical bird singing…turned out it was a tui, a bird which has recovered from near extinction.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were surprised to see its black plumage with two white feathers, kind of like earrings, hanging down next to its beak. The variety of sounds it made was unbelievable!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiun_eIJyxXiDKvIzmgb5tGpmjfC_HnBPiBH1dF1_j1xwB5CAXZzvKaaHc1MEa1Ekfcod86XgCed8-YsmGfAfHw_O7NhUACMH0-xnIU7fWkFKtPS5ZABjt8WpHSfxJxhnkVZCGkozvEOHU/s1600/Canon+136.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240px" i8="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiun_eIJyxXiDKvIzmgb5tGpmjfC_HnBPiBH1dF1_j1xwB5CAXZzvKaaHc1MEa1Ekfcod86XgCed8-YsmGfAfHw_O7NhUACMH0-xnIU7fWkFKtPS5ZABjt8WpHSfxJxhnkVZCGkozvEOHU/s320/Canon+136.jpg" width="320px" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tui - this is from a postcard, my picture was ok, but this is much better!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><city><place>Wellington</place></city> reminds me a bit of <city><place>Cape Town</place></city>, it is quite hilly and a large port, the wind blows a lot here.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Gas prices here are the same as they are throughout the country, a consistent $2.18 per liter—that’s over $8.00 per gallon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Every station is the same, there does not seem to be competition on gas prices.</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">We are boarding the ferry from Wellington to Picton in less than an hour, more later!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-35680434435717277812011-04-17T13:42:00.000-07:002011-04-17T13:42:09.413-07:00Arrival in AucklandWell, here goes my first blogging attempt! After 13 hours flying from Los Angeles, I arrived here in Auckland at 6:30 A.M. local time and was met by our New Zealand partner, Adele Marsden. The changeable weather here is famous and we started off with sunny skies and had intermittent showers throughout the day. She took me up to Mount Eden, one of the 48 volcanoes in the city.<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmsXh6cfq4lYa2OqXJesA_gzfC74bx7Z5bMxap3Ye0s-8YLvw5jVKQH6k9VstPmC__-JY0E7VjHjVRtB-VBS6KpWLdPoacG9RdgrbDURvTI8eXo7dbh0T00wiq6pYz-CqKUInzqiH88Q/s1600/Canon+004.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmsXh6cfq4lYa2OqXJesA_gzfC74bx7Z5bMxap3Ye0s-8YLvw5jVKQH6k9VstPmC__-JY0E7VjHjVRtB-VBS6KpWLdPoacG9RdgrbDURvTI8eXo7dbh0T00wiq6pYz-CqKUInzqiH88Q/s320/Canon+004.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The crater at Mount Eden, Auckland in background</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9144491216256374271.post-31723425410320793742011-04-17T13:34:00.000-07:002011-04-17T13:34:38.719-07:002nd try<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KuJWnddHle6AAZmD_O25tOgC05B3zcpqG0JUB66HDF-wLq6N_QV9W7at55tk1eoMcwOuTBfFUruu4aHntDTe8sDLjizaAx8ehAozQ0s56nf-As7nfRFJf5QUlmYbKn2QuE-4Sr_Swuw/s1600/Canon+018.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-KuJWnddHle6AAZmD_O25tOgC05B3zcpqG0JUB66HDF-wLq6N_QV9W7at55tk1eoMcwOuTBfFUruu4aHntDTe8sDLjizaAx8ehAozQ0s56nf-As7nfRFJf5QUlmYbKn2QuE-4Sr_Swuw/s320/Canon+018.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Ah, a few technical difficulties but I am determined to figure this out! So, I wanted to share a picture of Adele and perhaps as I do this second post I can add a caption--Joanna made it look so easy...in a few minutes I am leaving to go meet the Archmere group that is arriving from Philadelphia this morning. Can't wait to see them! Will share more later. Here's the picture of Adele, a great hostess, she's already taught me so many new Kiwi words and phrases. While it is English, sometimes it is hard to make out what people are saying! Until later...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0