Milford Sound Day Trip

Today is Friday, February 18th.....and we left Te Anau this morning to venture down to Milford Sound and a cruise out to the open sea......

Over a thousand years ago, Maori travelled overland in New Zealand to Milford Sound in search of a much prized greenstone, pounamu.  In those days it was a journey via footpath and overt mountain pass and tracks.  Today....the journey is taken thru the Homer Tunnel..1.2km long and drilled through solid rock!!

And guess what.....no toll booth!!

Mirror Lake was on the way and I found it so beautiful and we negotiated a Chasm to get there.....Now a Chasm is....

but....look at the results....

Yes....created by the flow of water over thousands of years....

Now the mirror lake is just that....

and a little duck was there to greet us.....

The best was yet to come.....Milford Sound.....it was breathtaking....

And the sound led to the open sea.....now just imagine...this sound as been visited by Cunard line's QE2...as well as cruise ships from the Princess line....since the sound is 1,000 ft deep it can be easily navigated, however ships cannot anchor!!  Here is the inlet to the Ocean....

Here I am with the Sound at my back.....

On our return in the sound we visited a waterfall...and the ship went as close as you would like.....

Ria, one of my tour was very close to the shower provided by the waterfall.....but enjoyed every minute....

And finally here is Ria and Rita as we stopped for a rest break on our way back to Te Anau...

Okay....that wraps it up for today...and for tomorrow....well  maybe...just maybe it is in this picture....well just maybe....

Dunedin - "Edinburgh of the South"

I could not include this segment of my visit to Dunedin by including it with other "blog" items.  It is so deserving of itself.

Some may have heard of the "Haggis".....I did not and was certainly not prepared for the ritual.  Three persons who were on my tour were selected to participate (thank goodness I was not one of them).  One of the 'volunteers' carried the whiskey (scotch of course)...another a sword and shield...while the third carried the HAGGIS.

Here they are....

In the picture from the left we have....the Deliver (he told the story of the Haggis)...Ron - he held the whiskey....Helen she carried the Haggis....Reg he carried the sword and shield and then we have in the far right corner the bagpiper.

The Haggis is piped in (by bag pipe of course) and then addressed.  It included dancing by the participants as well as downing a shot of the Scotch!!

Here is the piper....

and here is the Haggis....

okay...now this Haggis is made of lamb and good oatmeal homegrown in Otago.  Basically it is gross!! It is said to be similar to pate......I will never know...since I did not taste it.  Ceremoniously the Haggis was split open and odor went everywhere (I do not as many know have a sense of smell....but Helen did ...so I am going by her facial expression).....and here at last is the Haggis in all its glory!!!

And the bagpiper sending us off to dinner......

Dunedin....Largest city in Southern Hemisphere

Okay...not to be believed right?  But it is true...only because Dunedin is the largest city by "area"!!  But before we get to Dunedin...there were a number of sights to see after we left the Mt. Cook area....for example....

 One of the most interesting buildings in Dunedin was the train station....I have found that to be the case in a number of European cities and it also holds true here in New Zealand....take a look....

On the journey today we visited some of the large hydro lakes supplying power to the North as well as South Islands.  The power is converted from AC to DC and then back to AC....

The lakes that fed into these dams included Bernmore.....

I guess the oceans of the world are a calling for most anyone....and it was a wonderful sight to see the Pacific as seen below...

And....the highlight picture of my day.....a hotel on wheels.  The hotel trailer is used at night...bunk beds all around.  During the day the group travels in a bus. this is almost like being in the circus....what...a life!!!

Off and running in New Zealand

On Monday, February 14th I flew from Sydney to Christchurch, New Zealand.  I met up with a tour of the South Islands that began on Tuesday, February 15th.  After arrival in Christchurch I collected my bearings after a 2 hr time difference and met for cocktails with the people I will join the next day for 9 days of touring by motor coach, train and ferry boat.

An early morning departure from Christchurch provided an opportunity to tour the city.  It had been hit by an earthquake less than a year ago and the devastation can still be seen by these photos...

Then after leaving Christchurch we head toward Mt. Cook...part of the Southern Alps....

Mt. Cook still had some snow.   In fact I shot a great picture of the melting of the snow...almost like a huge ice sculpture coming down the side of an adjacent mountain....See the pics below...first is Mt. Cook....

now the melting of snow...


Today was a great day to be in this part of New Zealand.  The skies were mostly clear with very high clouds making for some beautiful pics....as seen below...

Sir Edmund Hillary...was a well known hiker into the Mt. Cook and Southern Alp mountain range...and of course we had to see Sir Edmund done in bronze....

 Opps....sorry that is not Sir Edmund...will save him for the slide show....


The real deal today was all the sheep...well some cattle too...but we saw thousands and thousands of sheep.  Enough to keep those GREAT Lamb Sliders at Cava going forever.  The sheep industry is in the millions per year in New Zealand and of course the wool is but one by product.  Take a look first as some of sheep that I saw today....even one great shot of dogs working the sheep herding them into a line....

Opps almost forgot to give you a pic of the cattle.....

Okay....one last pic of Mt. Cook and I will call it a day.....

Bondi Beach - on a Sunday

Another day of rain and overcast in Sydney....but I might add the temperatures have been in the 70's during the day...so shorts and sandals are still in order.  I have acclimated to the weather very quickly...well who would not..right!!

Okay off to Bondi....here is the Post in Bondi which is the mail delivery system for Australia.  I might add that in the Post you can buy books, cards, seasonal wrapping paper, xerox services, as well as all the mail delivery system ingredients.

Bondi Beach is like a suburb of Sydney....a mere 25 minutes driving from downtown Sydney.  It is well known for it's beautiful beach areas as well as great surfing.....

So as you can see....even on a cloudy and intermittent rain the beach is still a beautiful place and one that attacks the hearty surfer/beach goer.

There are many homes in the hills around Bondi Beach that have million dollar views.....for example...

So as you can see the day was not a total washout....the beauty of Bondi Beach and Sydney are still out there.  I will leave Sydney tomorrow and return on March 1st....I will be heading to New Zealand to visit a week in each of the North and South Islands.   A lot of good photo opportunities should be waiting for me.  But I leave you today with this little guy who came up to me today in Hyde Park across from my hotel....

Sydney on a Rainy overcast day.....

Well after a 8 hr nap...could have stretched that to 10 hrs very easily...I decide to "hop on the bus" and take in Sydney sights....first one is a view from my hotel balcony of the Australian War Memorial in Hyde Park.

This is the famous Sydney Harbor Bridge....while you can climb up I did not the last time I was here and also have chosen the advice of my monkey to skip it!! Oprah and all her gang did the climb when she was here last month filming her shows.

St James Catholic Church....the largest Catholic Church in Australia.   It can be seen from my balcony as well....

This is one interesting piece of art.  It is two matches.  One has burned...the other is not yet lit!!

Sydney Skyline....lots of great buildings...and good use of steel and windows. 

And speaking of great buildings....this is Sydney's greatest....The Opera House.  Very unique in design and a beautiful sight in the harbor.

Another interesting piece of art.  In a round-about an auto damaged by a falling rock!!  Now...was the damage caused by accident from another car before the rock fell....and where did the rock come from?  Chicken Little...help us out here!!

Well of course Prince Albert has a statute...on horseback as usual!!

And of course Queen Victoria has her own building....she has many statutes here in Sydney and it appears they still love her.

I leave you with dedication in picture of who is making all this possible....Apple!!  This is the Apple store in Sydney...another gathering place for young genius..These people know their stuff and are so willing to share that knowledge.

Okay...that is it for today....off to the Beach tomorrow...hopefully it will not be raining!!