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............ 

During our time in Melbourne we toured Capt James Cooks Cottage. We also toured the Jail. Which was really fun. Here are a couple of pics of the cottage and jail.

we also did the great ocean road tour where we got to see bells beach.  we met a lady named stella that was traveling by herself.  we did the helicopter ride over the 12 apostles.  that was really cool.  here is a pic of us in front of the helicopter.

 

 

i did the penguin parade and it was ok but they did not allow pictures to be taken of the penguins.  my bus driver tho helped us find one as we were leaving.  the picture is kind of dark.  but it is all that i have.

 

 

gotta go before our internet runs out till next time.

bye

Sydney.......

When we arrived in Sydney, we were told to take the underground train to Circular Quay which cost us AUD$15..  We then took a taxi, another AUD$20 to our hotel which was IBIS in Darling Harbor.  The hotel was in the perfect spot, centrally located so we could easily walk to the mall and do shopping or even eat at McDonald's, which we did several times. The picture above is a view from our hotel room. 

For my birthday we celebrated at the Sydney Tower restaurant which is a skyneedle at the top of the tower building.  The restaurant revolves around the entire city...  Look at the picture below and above to see our view.

  Then it was off to the Sydney Opera House.  Pictures below

               The picture above is the Sydney Bridge across from the Sydney Opera House. 

The next day we were touring the Blue Mountains.  The tour was the entire day but the weather was terrible.  It rained most of the day and we had fog so dense we could not see a foot in front of us on the tour bus.  We did, however, go to the Featherdale Wildlife Park and the pictures below speak for themselves, too cute..........

These were some of the shots taken on Blue Mountain, a terribly foggy day so the pictures did not come out well.

The picture above is "three Sisters" which you can hardly see the first one. 
We also saw some aborigines and they gave us their history and a dance.  Pictures below of

 We enjoyed Sydney, next stop Melbourne..........