SOUTH PACIFIC
NEW ZEALAND: North Island
Bay of Islands, New Zealand's beautiful north coast.
This geyser, in the thermal area near Rotorua, erupts continuously, as opposed to once a day like Old Faithful. It's roar is tremendous.
Napier is an intriguing Art Deco City built in uniform design after an earthquake in 1931 leveled the downtown area. Many buildings were patterned after Frank Lloyd Wright's popular designs; Southwest Prairie Home & Chicago's Unity Temple.
In Napier we were a part of first celebration of the new, True Millennium anywhere on the Earth - about 18 hours ahead of the Eastern time zone.
Wellington, the second largest city in New Zealand.
This huge catamaran is an auto ferry speeding to the South Island (21/2 hours) 3 or 4 times daily. Passengers ride in luxury and comfort, between Wellington and Picton.
NEW ZEALAND: South Island
Scenic drive along the coast from Westport to Greymouth.
View from our kayak trip, rugged coastline on the Tasman Sea.
Every type of water sports, boating, fishing, kayaking, wind surfing & sailing is enjoyed in the crystal waters of New Zealand's Able Tasman Park.
Rugged "pancake rocks" at Paparoa National Park.
On the South Island, there truly are more sheep than people.
Some wilderness walks are more dangerous & exhilarating than others.
NEW ZEALAND: Mountains & Fiords
Mt. Cook is the highest peak in the Southern Alps. This was the location for the filming the new adventure movie "Vertical Limit".
Viewed across Lake Pukaki with fresh snow in the morning.
Milford Sound lies in Fiordlands National Park which covers about 25% of the land mass of the South Island, It lies at 46 degrees south latitude, near Antarctica.
A Cruise Ship hunts his way through the towering mountains of the fiord, heading to the Tasmanian Sea.
British explorer, Captain Cook, named this "Doubtful Sound" - during the Age of Discovery (1700's.) He said it was "doubtful" he'd ever get his ships out again if he sailed into the Fiord. Declaring it a "Doubtful Harbor," he passed by and never saw this view.
The challenges these Fiords posed, in the days of exploration, were many:
- Was there a safe harbor beyond those mountains?
- Was it deep enough to enter?
- Was it shallow enough to anchor?
- Was there sufficient width to turn the ship about?
- Were there sufficient winds & currents to sail back out to Sea?
In the days when men were men & boys were boys, these huge ships sometimes had to be towed out by their crew in small rowboats.
NEW ZEALAND: Glacier Walk
We thought you might enjoy walking with us across the glaciers. This is at Franz Joseph glacier, coming down on the West Side of Mt. Cook.
The adventure begins with a tough hike up through the Glacial Moraine to the face of the glacier.
Up the steps cut in the ice by our guide.
Walking the plank across a treacherous crevasse.
Up, up, up to the very peak of the glacier.
Later we went by boat right up to the icebergs in this Glacial Lake.
TAHITI
wo of the most incredibly beautiful places on the planet are TAHITI...
and BORA BORA.
Whether you're looking from the air...
or under the sea...
at the lovely mountain peaks...
or the spectacular sunsets. The views in FRENCH POLYNESIA are just too fantastic for words.
AUSTRALIA
Diving on the Great Barrier Reef was pure excitement. Fred took this close-up of a Giant Clam in 25 feet of water. It is a two-hour boat ride just to reach the reef. And that is in a fast catamaran. We snorkeled and free dove for five hours then back to shore at delightful Carins. We did this for three days. We have 72 underwater photos of corals, fish of every description, Giant Clams and turtles. Carins also has a rainforest with a cable gondola ride just above the treetops to the town of Kuranda. A mountain rail line brought us back to Carins.
We flew down to Sydney, obtained a hire car and drove inland to the Blue Mountains. This is looking across the valley with the Three Sisters looking back. Thick fog greeted us but cleared the next day making for some stunning pictures.
One of the many white sand beaches at Jarvis Bay. We visited the inland capital of the island, or rather; continent at Canberra then drove back to the coast at Bateman Bay. From there we made our way northward along the beach laden coastline back to Sydney, skipping Melbourne a long 8 hour drive in one direction.
Parrots bathing in a stream. I call this a "Parrot Pond." Melody was walking into the Park while I parked the car. She saw one parrot then another and another. There are two separate species in this bathing frenzy. Lots of parrots and cockatoos in the wild down under here.
Koala Bear. This little guy is in a zoo near Manly Beach.
The opera house in Sydney as seen from our ferryboat. We spent seven days in Sydney. With a weekly pass we could take city busses (wild rides) trains, subways and our favorite means of transport, the ferryboats. We went frequently to Manly Beach by ferry and also to Homebush Bay, the 2000 Olympic Venue. A Danish Architect designed the Opera House and the curved roof tiles are from Sweden. There are three separate buildings with frequent performances and events. Tickets, however, are pricey.