Sydney, part two and Finis

G’day, mates! We continued to wander the harbor environs. The Rocks Christmas Markets was a fun, seasonal, weekend-type event that had many unique items for sale. It was a series of merchandise and food booths that stretched for several blocks. This booth had giant bugs for sale. Augh! Could somebody give me a broom? The […]

Sydney, part one

The final three and a half days of our trip were spent in Sydney. There is so much to say, this post will be split into two parts. We visited the Featherdale Wildlife Park, which houses a sizable collection of Australian fauna. Imagine the sweat, rolling down the back of your neck, minutes into your […]

Dunedin

There were quite a variety of places to see in Dunedin. Here is Baldwin Street, called the world’s steepest residential street, as labeled in Guinness World Records. It’s difficult to convey in photos the street’s steep angle. Supposedly, this is steeper than Lombard St. in San Francisco. https://www.newzealand.com/us/article/steepest-street-in-the-world/ http://www.dunedin.nz.com/baldwin-street.aspx Next stop was Dunedin’s Railway Station, […]

Christchurch

In the morning, as we were making our way to the tour bus to Christchurch, this sign caught my eye. As you may recall, Christchurch was in the headlines in February 2011 for its major earthquake. Our tour guide said that the city center was closed for two years. Tourism completely stopped: there was no place […]

Napier

Our next port was the city of Napier, the “Art Deco City.” During the morning hours, the two-lane street into the city center was packed with tourist shuttles, public buses, city and commercial utility trucks. The sidewalks were dense with picture-taking tourists and a variety of hawkers representing retail shops or selling tour options. One […]

Tauranga

Tauranga was our second port of the cruise. Guarding the entrance to the harbor was this warrior statue. You know, the trouble with being a statue is that some bird-brain might take advantage of your dignified presence. Our excursion here was the five-hour “Swim with the Dolphins,” starting at the Salisbury Wharf. See something peculiar […]

Hobbiton

Hobbiton. The Shire. The village of the Hobbits. This site was at the top on my list of must-see places. The first stop, though, was at the café. Second breakfast is definitely on the menu at the Hobbiton entrance cafe, called the Shire’s Rest Cafe. I don’t recall any mention in the movies of […]

Auckland, Second Day

On our second day in Auckland, our excursion tour included a visit to Hobbiton. There is so much to say about Hobbiton that it will be covered separately in the next post. https://www.skycityauckland.co.nz/sky-tower/ Our guide said that Auckland is larger than Los Angeles in area, but that all of New Zealand is smaller than Nevada. […]

Auckland, First Day

Greetings, fellow travelers! Time once again to beckon you to join me, this time to beautiful New Zealand. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g1811027-Auckland_North_Island-Vacations.html While flying the direct 13-hour route to Auckland abroad American Airlines, we passed by Bora-Bora and Pago Pago — exotic locals that I only heard about in old Hollywood films when I was growing up. As […]