The Fiji Islands.............

  We arrived in Fij and decided to rent a car rather then find a cab to take us to the Hilton on Nadi.  We decided to stay on Nadi because we thought we could get some diving in and we would not be far from our hotel.  The car was a good choice in that we could drive all over the island to shop and just look at all the beautiful water, etc.  Our hotel was located on the other side of the island.  Several hotels were located in the same area.   The picture below is from the restaurant of our hotel.  We expected the water to be blue and tropical.  We were told they ship the sand in for the tourists as the sand is normally a volcanic black.  You only had to dig a few inches to see the true color of the sand.  No chairs were put out so it was a little weird for us when we were expecting white sands and blue water. 

              One thing we were not disappointed with was our room.  The view above is the kitchen area along with the living room.  We each had our own television with DVD player. 

 

 

This picture was taken from our table at the restaurant at the Hilton.  A beautiful hotel and the amenities were wonderful but as you can see, no one was in the water.  They told us the water was full of weeds and no one swam.  Swimming was done in the pool only.

 

 

 

 

The pictures above are of the pool and restaurant from the Hilton.  A beautiful place to stay but if you want to see tropical waters, they suggest you go to one of the surrounding islands.

 

As I said earlier, we rented a car for the few days we spent in Fiji.  The pictures below show how some people live on Nadi.  It was very sad to see.  How blessed we are to live in United States of America.  

 

 

 

 

 

The day we were leaving Nadi, Liz and I drove around the island and did some last minute shopping.  While in Port Denarau, we thought we had found a piece of America when we saw a Bonefish restaurant.  But, alas, we were going to have to wait a few more hours before we would taste food and drink that we had grown up enjoying. 

 

 

 

 

Port Denarau is where some cruise ships come in and also where you can travel from island to island. 

We left this area, returned the rental car and at 10:50 Fiji time, we left the island.  We arrived in LA the same day we left, going across the date line.  Our vacation of a lifetime was over but the memories will always be with us.  We took over 2000 pictures and will never forget one of the best vacations we will ever have.  We both would love to return to New Zealand, it's one of the most beautiful places in the world.  

Thank you for following us on our blog........We hope you enjoyed reading it as much as we enjoyed doing it! 

Rotorua and Waitomo Glow Worm Caves

This is from the air into Rotorua, New Zealand.  Rotorua was volcanic as you can see by the brown mountains.  They said it would smell like sulfur but after a few minutes, you would get used to it.  Well, Liz and I never did, some places the smell would be stronger then others so it was difficult to enjoy eating. 

                    
                                      
We did go to the Mud baths.  It was very cold that day so we enjoyed the hot mud.  It was very comforting but we smelled like sulfur for three days.  Every now and again, you'd get a whiff of yourself and wonder why you did it in the first place.  Pictures below show Liz and I in our own private mud bath.

                                                                  

                                                                           

                                                                    

              This is the volcanic mud, smells like sulfur, in fact the entire town smelled the same way.  It was very relaxing but both our suits and our bodies stunk for a few days after...    They made us take a very cold shower after and before we were allowed in the mineral pool.  Freezing cold water but the mineral spa a few moments later more than made up for it.

      

                                                This was about the only thing we enjoyed in Rotorua.   We had to walk everywhere.  Our hotel was far outside the central area.  We had scheduled a tour but decided not to go after leaving the mud baths.   We spent the next few days walking from our hotel room to town center for meals.  The owner of the hotel was not very helpful so we used the brochure from Rotorua to decide where to eat and where to go.  We also did not have hotel pickup, as we had been told,so we had to walk into town to catch the bus for the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves on our way to Auckland to catch the plane for Fiji the next day.  The picture below is the Bus Station. 

                  This is the main entrance into the Waitomo Glow Worm caves.  Wait (means water) and omo (means caves) ..... 

                                                              

They would not let us take pictures inside the caves but this is the entrance.  There were tons of glow worms and they gave us their history on how the survive.  Amazing and beautiful.  In the caves, we were taken on a boat ride to see all the different stages of life.

                                                                                                 

                                                                      

                                       

                                Liz on the exit of the caves.  This is the boat we rode inside the caves.  Before we knew it we were on our way to Auckland, our last stop in New Zealand.  This bus tour did not stop at the small towns like the other tours did so we were a little disappointed when he only stopped when there was a public bathroom.  The trip took most of the day so we took some pictures along the way. 

If you look between the tall hedges, you can see vines that look very much like grapes growing.  But this is how they harvest kiwi fruit.  The tall hedges are put around all the kiwi to protect it from the weather.  This used to be a very properous way of life for those living in New Zealand but so many people were doing the same thing, it became very difficult to make a living from growing kiwi.  Several still do, thank heavens, so we can enjoy kiwi today.  Of course it's grown other places but when it comes from New Zealand, this is how it's grown and harvested!

  Our bus ride to Auckland was good except that when we arrived in Auckland, we were told the bus would take us to our hotel.  The information given to us was incorrect so we had to wait for a shuttle that would not arrive until around 4:30 that afternoon.  So, we had a few hours to walk around Auckland, have a drink in a local pub.  Auckland is huge so we could have spent a few days there.  We stayed the night at the Holiday Inn close to the airport for our flight to Fiji the next day. 




                                            

Christchurch, New Zealand...

 

Arriving in Christchurch, we learned that they suffered a devastating earthquake in February 2011 which measured 6.3 on the ricter scale.  This devastated the central city which is still closed due to the damaged it caused.  However, our stay was just outside the city, called City Centre Motel.  We were provided a two bedroom apartment, although old, Tina, the owner was wonderful.  She suggested we eat at the Casino, only place located close to where we were.  The food was spectacular, expensive, but we are used to that now, after Australia and Queenstown, NZ.  We know now that food, water and anything else you buy is far more here then in the states.  So, if you are thinking of coming, bring lots of money.
  The next morning we had booked a tour of Christchurch.........first part of the tour was a 4wheel drive through farmland, next a boat through glacier, ice cold water (beautifully blue), and the last was a train through their countryside back to Christchurch.  We got home a little later than we had planned so asked Tina where the nearest McDonald's was and how we would get there, could we catch a bus or what?   She immediately said "Take my car!"  So, Liz and I jumped in, drove through their town, avoiding the crowd that was there for a Christmas show and found a McDonalds.  We were told that the town show average about 200,000 people and I think they were all on the same road to McDonald's.....  But we made it, driving on the left side of the road and we appreciated all that Tina did for us.  It was a pleasure staying at the City Centre motel. 
  Leaving the next morning, heading for Rotorua, we almost missedour flight.  I have to say that the shuttle had not even scheduled us on the route so again we had to rely on Tina to help us out.  The time was very early, around 5am, we felt terrible waking her up.  But, she was again very helpful, getting the shuttle bu.
 We were on time for our flight but it was a rush...
Pictures below are those taken while on tour of Christchurch....

 

 

The next few pictures were taken from the boat ride, lasting about 45minutes to an hour.  Such a lot of fun, but the water was freezing but absolutely the most beautiful water ever...

 

 

 

 

  

Then we took a train through the countryside back to Christchurch..........

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The above small church sits in the little village where we caught the Alpine Train Tour. 

Look at the view from the pews in the church...

 

 

Very tiny church but the view........amazing..  God's country indeed!! 

 

More Mount Cook........

Just a few more pictures of Mount Cook..  It's a gorgeous place where many go to climb or walk the many trails there. 

 

 

 

                                                                              
                                                 There are so many wonderful shots of this beautiful place, we just posted a few.......

Mount Cook..... Trip from Queenstown to Christchurch....

We took a bus to Christchurch rather then flying, knowing we would have beautiful scenery along the way.  It was an all day bus ride but well worth the trip...

Look at these pictures and see for yourself........

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can see why we chose the bus tour rather than taking a flight into Christchurch..

 

 

 

 

Queenstown, New Zealand...

 

We absolutely think New Zealand is one of the most beautiful places we've ever been.  This is much like the Swiss Alps.  When we flew into Queenstown, the snow covered mountains were breathtaking.  

 

         These shots are pictures of the small village of Queenstown.  The second picture above is our trip up the gondola and a shot of the village from above. 

 

We took a ferry through the Milford Sound, several shots below show you a bit of what we saw.

 

 

 

 

 

It's looks a little cold because it was!  But a beautiful trip. 

 

 

As you can see we saw plenty of sea lions is their natural habitat..  So cute and seemed so comfortable, just laying around...happy..

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next we're in Christchurch, see you then............