Bora Bora

Before we headed for home, we made a 4-day stop in Paradise. Bora Bora is one of the most beautiful and relaxing places we have ever visited. The air is clear, the water is emerald, the island is lush and everyone greets you with the melodic, “Iaorana”. Our resort was situated on Moto Piti Aau, a reef off the main island, with villas perched on stilts out in the lagoon. We loved to jump off our deck into six feet of warm crystal clear water with pure white sand below.

The pictures show the beauty all around with the stately Mt. Otemanu always in our sights. That’s Dave bending over to feed the sting rays that come in every afternoon for feeding. He’s also resting on the lone hammock out in the lagoon. The last picture is of some of the Polynesian women at work around the property on their 3-wheeled bikes.

So hard to believe it’s all over. What a wonderful trip it was!

Goodbye New Zealand

After Doubtful Sound, we journeyed to Dunedin where we woke up while it was still dark to meet our guide at 5:00 a.m. for a trek up and over the dunes and across a long beach to watch rare yellow-eyed penguins on their daily journey to the sea. They will return at dusk, hopefully with food to feed their young. Later in the morning we met our second guide for a nature tour of Otago Peninsula which ended in Taiaroa Head where Northern Royal Albatross are breeding in the only mainland breeding colony of any albatross species in the world. It was exciting to watch these beautiful birds in flight and see the females sitting on their nests. Our New Zealand trip ended in Auckland where we said goodbye to Hugh and Georgia, the best of travelling companions.

Doubtful Sound

One of the highlights of our trip was the overnight visit to Doubtful Sound, a remote, unspoiled wilderness, aboard the Fiordland Navigator. To get there, we took a ferry across Lake Manapouri and a bus over Wilmot Pass (first photo) to reach Deep Cove, Doubtful Sound where we boarded our boat.

We cruised the various arms of the sound, stopping to enjoy some water activities. Dave and Hugh kayaked while Georgia and I took our cameras out in one of the tenders. Later on Dave and Hugh went swimming for a very brief time in the freezing waters of the sound.

The pics below are of the Navigator, a view from on board, sunset, and sunrise.

Queenstown

The drive to Queenstown was clear and lovely with stops in several small towns where we stopped to eat or browse. Georgia found a fabric store to buy quilting material and I found some New Zealand wool. Also I'm always eager to get a flat white which is a coffee drink like a cappucino but without all the foam.

We stayed in a beautiful B&B where the hosts set the tone of our visit by greeting us with the sign you see here. We were happy to have three nights in Queenstown and set off for some adventures.

Day 1, Hugh, Dave and I went white water rafting on the Shotover River. To get to the river, we drove through Skipper's Canyon where our bus was literally hanging off the sides of the mountain. The river was high and the rapids were up to grade 5! We were glad to be encased in wet suits as we got doused with some huge waves. One of the boats in our group went over, but we managed to keep ours up. I wish I had pictures, but, of course we did not have our cameras with us. It was a super adventure! Later we lunched at a winery and went to the original bridge where bungy jumping started and watched the folks launching themselves off the bridge. Yikes!

Day 2, all four of us went on a Wilderness Adventure on the Dart River. Too get there, we drove through Lord of the Rings country and saw some of the locations where the movie was filmed. This is a grand spot for movie making and while on our drive, we saw location sites where they were currently filming a Carlsbad beer commercial and an Audi commercial. Once up the river, we hopped into Jet boats and roared back down the river to the tiny town of Glenorchy where we started. Another totally fun experience!

Greymouth and South

After leaving Arthur's Pass, we took the train west to Greymouth on the coast, where we were met by a guide who took us on one of our favorite tours along the coast in the Paparoa National Park. We visited the Pancake Rocks and blow holes of Dolomite Point (pictured here), one stunning view after another, and a photographer's paradise.

Further on, we walked through a beautiful, dense rainforest on the Truman Trail, a walk that again ended up overlooking the Tasman Sea.

The day was dreary and drizzly, but by the end of our tour, the sun peeped out for a while and I managed to catch the true blue of the ocean for my last picture.

Unfortunately, the rain came back with a fury, lasted through the night and we woke up to more rain and clouds that obscured all views of mountains. We drove down to Fox Glacier where we were scheduled to take a heli-hike in the afternoon, but the trip was cancelled because of the bad weather. It has continued to rain all day, so we're hoping it will clear up overnight for our trip to Queenstown tomorrow.

Arthur's Pass

I'm sitting here at our lodge on a sheep farm, looking out at the massive mountains in the Southern Alps. We arrived here yesterday on the Trans Alpine Train from Christchurch to Arthur's Pass, a stop halfway across the country. That's the Arthur's pass train station.

We immediately set out for a hike across the farm, past the sheep, over a dry river bed and on up, the mountains all around. You don't ever tire of the fantastic scenery everywhere.

Before dinner we went to the working farm to see the dogs work the sheep and to watch our host shear a ewe. Dave even gave it a try! This farm raises sheep for merino wool garments, particularly a brand called Icebreaker, a line of high tek clothing.

Today we went on another series of hikes through the Pass with stops at some spectacularly beautiful locations. We were often visited by Kea Parrots looking for food, a practice not welcome as it makes them dependent on people. That's a Kea sitting on the roof of the tiny Arthur's Pass post Office.

Coromandel and on to the South Island

We left the Bay of Islands and drove 6 hours to the Coromandel peninsula on the coast, which is reached by driving on windy roads up and down the mountains. It was a holiday week-end and the traffic was heavy as folks from Auckland come to enjoy some of the beautiful beaches.

Along with a young couple from PA who were on their honeymoon, we took a day long trek around the coast, through a Kauri forest and into the caves of old gold mines. We also stopped at a hot water beach where people flocked to lie in pools of natural hot water springs. It was quite a sight, as you can see. The water was so hot that if you stepped into a bubbling pool, you would burn your feet.

The next morning, it was back to Auckland to fly to Christchurch in the North Island where we would meet Hugh and Georgia who would join us for the rest our trip in NZ. On our first day together we took a tripto the charming town of Akaroa, the site of the only French settlement in NZ.

Pics are of D&D on Coromandel peninsula; the Hot Water Beach; in the Kauri forest; with H&G on the way to Akaroa; and looking across the high summit route to Akaroa.

Finally, New Zealand

After flying into Auckland, the drive to Bay of Islands was a great introduction to the beautiful NZ scenery with lots of sheep and cattle along the way. The roadsides are lined with purple and white agapanthus, a beautiful flower that is as invasive here as purple loosestrife is at home. The area is hilly and we were impressed with the many roadside signs that prepare you for driving conditions ahead. They seem conscious of the fact that so many of the drivers are tourists and may not be familiar driving on the “other” side of the road.

Our visit to The Bay of Islands was three days long and we stayed at a small family owned lodge where our host, Peter, a former chef, prepared fabulous meals every night. We met some delightful guests from the UK, and all enjoyed much New Zealand wine! That's Penny, an ex-pat from the US, in the kitchen with Peter.

The day after we arrived, a cyclone(hurricane) swept across the North Island dumping 11 inches of rain during the night. In the morning we learned that mudslides and floods had washed out many of the roads and most activities were curtailed. We had scheduled a scenic flight to the northernmost part of the island, and it was delayed for a day and a half. When we finally did manage to go, we got a bird’s eye view of all the devastation that the storm caused and the massive flooding everywhere. We also enjoyed seeing well manicured farmland with acres of kiwi fruit and avocado as well as olives and vineyard. It is summer here and everything is lush and green.

The pictures are from the flight up the coast, along the 90-mile beach, to Cape Reinga where the Pacific Coast and the Tasmanian Sea converge.