Feb 26, 2014
We made it to Sydney and found it to be every bit as big as people said it was--4+ million people!! The Sydney Opera House was a true highlight of the day—every bit the wonder it is described as being. A true work of genius, in my opinion! The Sydney bridge was another cool structure, although not quite the jaw-dropper of the Opera House.
Feb 27, 2014
An old coal mine was closed many years ago and a amusement park took its place.
We rode this nearly vertical train up and own the hill—big thrill. The park had this train, a monorail, and a glass bottom tram that went across the valley. It was so foggy that we didn’t get any really cool photos, so I offer the trees in the fog as proof. That was a cooler site than it appears in the photo.
Feb 28, 2014
Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand at about 1 1/2 million peops. We stayed downtown at the Sky City Grand Hotel which is connected to a big casino and the 52+ story tall tower. We ate dinner on level 523 of the tower and enjoyed a full view of the city from the rotating deck..
March 1, 2014
Boatride around Auckland today—great way to see most of the city.. The Sky City Tower clearly shows up in about any photo taken of the city skyline.
March 2, 2014
Here we are at Rotorua first stopping at a Native Center that was located on top of an old volcano. the steam in the photo is from the volcano caldera area where the mud baths bubbled at about boiling temperature….to hot to jump into. Then we visited a Local “Village” for dinner and a great exposure to New Zealand early culture. The photo shows Susi learning a game of “drop the stick.”
March 3, 2014
Local economy is supported by farming, mainly raising sheep and selling the wool…. Local farmers teamed up to do daily shows to display sheep and show how the sheep dogs work. This photo shows the dogs actually standing up on the sheep as a stunt.. Very funny….
March 4, 2014
Christchurch was hit by several major earthquakes a couple of years ago. Many of the buildings were over 100 years old and couldn’t withstand the force of the earthquake so they crumbled. The old Anglican Church in the photo is an example of some of the earthquake damage—and there were examples that were far worse….
Later today, we rode the Tranz Alpine Train to the foot of the Franz Foseph glacier. We are in an area considered similar to the German Alps—even though on a smaller scale. Pretty cool for the outdoor folks that we are….
March 5, 2014
We made it to Queenstown today—pictures to follow. Saw two big glaciers and some awesome mountains—we are in what is called the “Southern Alps” and for good reason. …..
Lots of extreme sports, like bungee jumping, and other breath-robbing sports…and, a bunch of young people hanging around with all their gear, ready to go…..
No comments:
Post a Comment