Vacation 2016
New Zealand, North and South Islands
Perth, Western Australia
and a visit with
Peter and Brownie Dickens
at White Gate Cottage
Air New Zealand preps a 777-300 for us, and 250 new friends
Auckland, New Zealand, Sky Tower, 10 km ahead
Note, steering wheel on wrong side of car and
cars on the wrong side of the road.
Auckland, from our hotel room
Looking toward the business district
The Sky Tower, as seen from our hotel room
Tiny apartments, as seen from our hotel room filled with students from Asia and India
Along the waterfront, an excellent martime museum
Sleeping Beauty, catching up on a few time zones
We lost a day crossing the date-line going west
The next morning we took a cab to Mount Eden.
Hauraki Gulf, from Mount Eden
Frankfurt, Germany, is 18170 km in this direction.
Our tour started with a visit to the Sky Tower
Auckland, from the top of the Sky Tower
Mount Eden on the horizon, left
Mount Eden
Harbor View
Glass panel in the Floor is strong enough to step on
if you are brave enough to try it
The tower shadow makes a fine sundial
The shadow has grown shorter and moved noticeably to the left in 15 minutes
The Accidental Tourists in Auckland
The view from 220 meters (722 feet) up.
The kiwi is a unique and curious bird: it cannot fly, has loose, hair-like feathers, strong legs and no tail.
It's the national icon of New Zealand and unofficial national emblem.
The Kiwi Bird is best viewed in a museum
Air New Zealand retired this 737 after it flew to 70,000 hours and 40,000 cycles.
Departing Perth for Wine Tasting on Waiheke Island
The cruise ship is the Costa Brava, halfway through a 4-month cruise around the world
Approaching Waiheke Island
The first of the three wineries we visited
The grapes are ready for harvesting
Departing Waiheke, returning to Auckland
Our hotel at the base of the tower was about 8 blocks from the ferry terminal and a good climb
This spiral staircase led down 50 meters into the Ruakuri Cave, home of many glow worms
Water drips onto the rock continuously
Glow worms are actually not worms at all, but the larvae of an insect called Fungus Gnat. They glow through bioluminescence.
They feed themselves in a similar manner to spiders in that they "weave" a web, no more than a series of sticky strings hanging from the cave's ceiling.
Insects that fly towards the light are caught on the net and are promptly eaten by the glowworm. The glowworm then repairs the net for its next prey.
This larvae stage is the only time that the Fungus Gnat can eat, as the adult does not have a mouth
Our Esteemed Guide, Malcolm Campbell
shows us the ski slopes, closed until the Southern Hemisphere winter in July
Bring your Rock Skis
Chateau Tongariro, our humble abode for one night
View from the Chateau
Elegant surroundings in the Chateau
Dinner with half of our traveling companions
First sign of Geo-thermal activity
Enjoying one of the 1400 miles we spent on busses.
Driver, Craig, and Guide, Malcolm
Rocks that Float
Pumice stones trap so much air inside that they become bouyant
Water from Lake Taupo, forming the start of the Waikato River
New Zealand's longest, at 435 Km.
The Noble Waikato River
Waiotapu Thermal Park
Boiling, bubbling Mud
Almost got it... now take two steps back...
The Devil's Bath
The Rotorua museum
Lake Tarawera, as seen by New Zealand Travel Bureau
Lake Tarawera, as seen by American Tourists
That's Hokey Pokey Ice Cream, a New Zealand specialty we had almost every day
The Pohutu Geyser at Te Puia
The biggest geyser in the Southern Hemisphere
An innocent representative prepares to accept our group's invitation into the Whakarewarewa Marae
If the visitor picks up the flower, it means he comes in peace
The peaceful intent is accepted... but mind your manners...
Air New Zealand arrives in Rotorua to take us
to Christchurch, on the South Island
Arriving Christchurch, before heading immediately toward the mountains
in the distance with a new bus and a new driver
Lunch means not riding on the bus for a while
Our new bus has 50 seats, so everybody has room to spread out
Enjoying a little nap after lunch
New Zealand has 30 million sheep and 4 million people
The number of sheep is declining and the number of cows is growing
It all depends on which will bring more money at market-time
This sad little exhibit is all we could photograph of a very interesting natural wonder.
These little two-foot tall penguins come out of the water at about 8:30 PM every evening,
in groups of 30 to 50 birds at a time, after feeding at sea all day. They all come ashore
and waddle up the gentle hill to their nesting box. No photos were allowed
Steampunk Headquarters, Oamaru, New Zealand
For a $2 coin, the locomotive will shoot fire and make some smoke
Round Rocks, the Moeraki Boulders
Maori influence on present day New Zealand is very strong
American Indians got nothing, in comparison.
Did I mention New Zealand has 30 million sheep?
Trying to stay awake by counting sheep
Mirror Lakes
Approaching Milford Sound
Boarding the "Milford Wanderer"
Milford Sound
At the opening of the sound, looking out to the Tasman Sea
Sleeping Seals
Thanks to Jack Chen, our traveling friend who took this dolphin photo
Thanks, Jack
On the 4-hour drive back to Queenstown
Lake Wakatipu, approaching Queenstown
Dart River Jet-boat ride.
Excellent idea for those who like to be cold and wet
for an hour and a half
Start of Jet-boat ride
The river is wide and quite shallow. The boats are designed to need no more than 10 cm depth
Whose dopey idea was this ???
I must admit, this was my idea...
At least somebody had a good time
The boat ride ended in the middle of nowhere
The boys were encouraged to pick a tree and water it
while the ladies stood in line for the single outhouse
I'm pissed. When is lunch being served? It's already 1:00 PM !!
Back at the Rydges Hotel, Queenstown
A view of para-sailing from our window
The "Lady of the Lake", the steamship "Earnslaw" arrives to take us
across the lake for dinner at the Walter Peak Station
Shoveling coal into one of the two burners
This wouldn't last a minute with the EPA on guard in America
Our feast awaits
Dinner with our new friends, Vimal and Vinod
A short walk after Dinner
Airport across the street from a lunch stop
The Cessna 185 is the workhorse here
Four departed within the hour we were nearby
Siberia Experience
Wanaka, New Zealand
Scenic Flights
Book at the Cafe
Main Street, the town of Franz Josef Glacier
Climbing to the Franz-Josef Glacier view-point
with Vimal and Vinod, who live a few miles from us in Cerritos
The Franz-Josef Glacier
A mere shadow of its former self
It's not my fault the glacier is melting
That started before I was born
Last view of the Tasman Sea before we turn east toward Christchurch
The mountains are being left behind
Life is good in Christchurch
But it isn't cheap...
These homes are in the $4 million NZD category
John, our second driver (for the second island) waits patiently
Each Kiwi bird symbol on the back of his bus represents one Australian tourist road kill
Overlooking Christchurch toward the mountains we crossed on the west coast
A reminder of the earthquake 5 years ago
Reconstruction is much in evidence downtown
Work will continue for another 10 years
Leaving Christchurch for Auckland at noon - a 4 hour flight
Leaving Auckland for Perth the same day - 8 more hours in the air
After 12 hours of flying and subtracting 5 hours of time change
we clear customs and immigrations in a snap - at 10:00 PM
At 7:30 AM the next morning, fhe bus to Busselton arrived on schedule,
booked months before for our 3-hour ride
Elsa exits the bus, while our host, Peter Dickens, comes to take us 45 minutes to Nannup
We pass through Nannup
Population 500
It's true, Australia does have kangaroos wandering through the bush
This one is trespassing on the White Gate Cottage estate where we stayed
The home of Peter Dickens and his wife, Brownie
Our gracious hosts, Peter and Brownie
Breakfast on the back porch
Elsa walks Jarrah in the back yard
Guinea Hens playing "Follow the Leader"
Our home away from home, the White Gate Cottage
just a few steps away from the main house
Vineyards in our front yard
Our first adventure - feeding the kangaroos
Tiny kangaroo claws holding Elsa's arm left marks she proudly displayed
Brownie can't resist...
"I did say, 'Please'. Now may I have some more?"
Just don't come around looking for my grapes to eat...
A skittish emu joins the feeding frenzy
Off to visit the Alpaca family "next door"
Elsa feeds the Alpacas
Brownie feeds the Alpacas
Four Marron (crayfish of Western Australia) were trapped in a pond on the 100 acre property
A thousand more are waiting to become dinner guests...
A Marron gets a swimming lesson
Swimming lesson complete... well done
One of many delicious dinners
A new family member has arrived !!
A baby Guinea Hen destined to be an Only Child. None of the other eggs hatched
Moving to a new warm house for a while
The city of Busselton, population 15,000, offers "big city" conveniences
We dodged rain-clouds and visited the pier
This little train will take you to the end of the pier
In the Margaret River wine region, south of Busselton
Enjoying the Good Life in Western Australia
Peter and Brownie
Peter prepares lamb from one of his flock
Elsa and Brownie get ready to take credit, while Peter works
Peter puts on the finishing touches
A formal Easter Dinner in the Formal Dining Room
served with wine from the White Gate Winery
Easter Sunday breakfast before we leave for the bus station at 6:00 AM
All our stuff is packed and ready to go
Our cottage was left just like we found it
An early departure for Busselton to catch the bus back to Perth
The long road back to Perth, a 3-hour trip
Perth, Western Australia
The Swan River, as seen from our hotel room
Food's not cheap, but there is plenty of it
Perth is modern, clean and attractive
Perth, from Kings Park, bigger than Central Park in New York City
Leaving Perth by boat for Fremantle
Large boat, small bridge
Fremantle didn't look touristy at first...
But it was.
Lunch at the "Little Creatures Brewery"
Heading back to our hotel
Elsa on the balcony of Room 706
It was a long day
Departing Perth at 6:30 AM
Seven hours from Perth to Auckland
Then two hours waiting for the11 hour flight to Los Angeles
We're getting too old for this