Lord of the Rings territory

Our one day in Queenstown we took the Lord of the Rings tour. Our guide was Chris, who has been an extra in many of the movies made in this area...Narnia, Willow, Wolverine just recently. Lots of commercials made here, in fact, we drove past a Volvo commercial in progress.

While we are not knowledgable of the views, Chris could spout off every scheme where these pictures where taken.

This forest was not one in the movies, but it looks very similar. The horse is famous because he was riden by Vito Morgenson (or something like that).

We loved the tour, it took 4.5 hours. We are now in Hong Kong trying to adjust to these awful time changes and the day is very gray. We are off to take a tour, but I don't think we will get any good pictures, so this may be our last post. Headed to LA tonight, Sunday...to arrive Sunday night in LA. Back home on Monday.

Aukland from the plane.

We are ready to be home. Have had a great time and hope you guys have enjoyed travelling with us.

From Lake Tekapo to Queenstown

Another long driving day to Queenstown. A beautiful city built on the hills around Lake Hays. Out hotel, Peppers Bacon.

Activity outside our balcony.

South Island - Kaikoura to Lake Tekapo

Headed down the eastern coast of the south island and entered the drier country....still full of sheep, cows, and vineyards. The mountains inland remind us of California. Once at Lake Tekapo, the area looks very much like Utah where nothing grows. However, Lake Tekapo is beautiful. Have never seen water the color of this...like a tourquoise stone. The rocks shift and grind into "rock flour" then wash down into the lake. When the sun hits the water it turns tourquoise...stunning! This little church is still used each Sunday.
People like to make rock statues in the lake.

We took a helicopter ride to Mt. Cook, the tallest peak in the alps. Sir Edmund Hillary used this peak to train for Mt. Everest. We landed on the top of a mountain! Unbelievable.

Kit on the summit, and the glacier on the right with icebergs in the river. The glacier is black, but they have 7 glaciers here. All are in jeopardy with the warming.

Flying back you can see more of the color of the lake and the tree hedges the farms use to separate their properties. Stopped at the salmon farm for shishimi.


We drove completely around the lake to the other side of Mt. Cook. Hopefully, you can see the glacier on the mountain. (the ice is a light blue)

South Island - New Zealand

Oh my, the south island is gorgeous!!! The harbor as we sailed in and our new friends from England. They have holiday cottages in Haworth where the Bronte sisters grew up. The town of Picton is behind us where we rented a car and headed south.

Very different from the north island...field after field of vineyards. This picture really doesn't do it justice. On our way to Kaikoura Village, we spotted this colony of seals. The babies were having such a good time playing with each other. Kit took lots of movies of them.

Kaikoura is picturesque on the ocean. We found this precious B & B with a fabulous views. Like our good friends Linda & Paul, we're becoming view snobs! It's very cool here..no air conditioning needed.

North Island, New Zealand

After lunch and internet at Curly's Bar, we headed back to the Aranuai Cave for spectacular stalagmite's and stalactites.

The rural area of the north island is beautiful with millions of sheep & cattle grazing the hills. But no wildlife!!! While we saw many signs in Australia for koalas and kangeroos (we did see wild kangeroos in the fields and as roadkill), the only signs here are for loose cows and horses. Apparently, the sheep are well trained not to wander. Roadkill are rabbits.

The sunset is of our beautiful hotel room on Lake Taupo. We had 5 black swans swimming ourside our balcony.

Lake Taupo is the size of Singapore!!! Snowcapped mountains on our way to Wellington and the ferry for Tuesday's crossing on the Cook Strait.


Wellington from the ferry. Happy to leave this city, as it is difficult to navigate...no through streets, no going around a block, pedestrians have a death wish, and all on the left side of the road!! The watch is one Kit bought in Bali. While he knew it wasn't a Rolex (written on the face of the watch), he did believe it was waterproof to 300m.

For you school teachers, the school year here is...6 wks off at Christmas (their summer); 10 wks term; 2 wks off; 10 wks on etc. 40 wks of school - 4 terms.

Glass Mtns. to Sunshine Coast

Steve Irwin's zoo was on our way to the coast, so we stopped to visit it. One of the best zoos ever! Lizards running loose everywhere. Great show and lots of wonderful native animals. The little animal below is an Echnida.

Lots of kangeroos, but nothing more precious than the koalas. In case you call them bears....they are not - just koalas:)

The lagoon with the croc in it is one of many that Steve filmed his famous show at.

Friday drove to the Sunshine Coast north of Brisbane.


So until Curly's Bar, south of Aukland, New Zealand, in the mountains by the glowworm caves, WE FOUND INTERNET! Just took the boat cave tour to see millions of glow worms.....spectacular. Couldn't take pictures so use link. Headed to Lake Taupo for the night.

Until the next connection..

Gold Coast to the Farm

Well folks, we've been out of touch in the country. We drove up the Pacific Hwy on Tuesday through the disaster flooding. Didn't see much of the coast, but did see lots of rain and loose Aussie cows. Australian Red Cross is helping the flood victims in Queensland and over 7,000 homeless in Victoria from the bush fires (208 dead). So sad.

Driving on the left side was okay except for the turnabouts....circles you have to navigate and figuring out the difference between the blinker and the wipers!!! The coast is underdeveloped, so we stayed in some motel (without internet!).

Scott's buddy, Martin, offered us his farm (150 hectares) in the Glass Mtns, so we drove there on Wednesday. Gorgeous views and modern conveniences (except internet). It is called Watersmeet and you can rent this for a great vacation. See the link.

Maleny is the closest village where we shopped and ate. BTW, fun sayings: No worry (no problem). Want a lolly (sweet)? Tish Tash (scattered showers).