New Zealand

Friday, April 5, Touring Sidney by Hop-On Hop-Off

Before I get to our lovely touring day, a little more about our quirky hotel room.

Our view:

This is apparently a restaurant/bar that gets extremely loud at night with very poor karaoke singers. Hence the ear plugs on the night stand when we arrived. (See photo with Ariel yesterday.)

The bathroom:

A sink that is about 2 1/2 to 3 feet from the ground.

The toilet must have been installed by a drunken sailor. It bends towards the wall.

There is an extra large mirror on the back of the bathroom door that, when the door is closed, looks directly at the toilet.

Last (but not least) is the shower with a curtain that only goes about two thirds around and a drain in the middle that you are not suppose to stand on as Ariel demonstrated yesterday.

Other than all that, a very large and lovely room. Now on with our day!

We woke up to rain (not the cold CA rain) with a high temperature of 72 degrees. So I grabbed the umbrella and off we went. We caught a Hop-On Hop-Off bus about 4 city blocks from our hotel and since it rained off and on we rode around the city most of the day.

We got off the bus around 1:00pm and walked to Circular Quay. We stopped in the Hurricane Grill for a delicious lunch. Enjoy the photos!

Sydney Sky Tower Eye

Australian Museum in Woolloomooloo

Ariel enjoying the ride in Woolloomooloo

Iconic Coca-Cola sign

Architecture I found interesting in Kings Cross

The local library in Paddington

Centennial Park

Bondi Junction – Rigby Field

Bondi Beach

Walking around The Rocks

Looking across at Port Jackson from Dawes Point

Dawes Point

Lunch at Hurricane Grill

Wednesday, April 3, Getting settled into Sydney

Christchurch airport and Air New Zealand flight to Sydney, AU:

Christchurch airport was so quiet with very few people. The Air New Zealand flight was delayed twice. We had seats in economy and still got free headsets, free movies, tv, music, games and a nice dinner. I’m really liking these international flights.

Due to the flight delays we landed in Sydney after sunset, so no photos. Good news was customs was not as difficult as we had expected.

Mantra 2 Bond Street Condo:

The condo has some nice touches, but is a little quirky. At least it’s centrally located so we can easily walk to Circular Quay, the Warf and Opera House, where we spent most of our first day here in Sydney.

Our Sydney Digs:

Eccentric art work on the wall in the living area.

Thursday, April 4, Sydney Opera House

Touring the Opera House:

One of many facts we learned about the Sydney Opera House was that it was supposed to be completed in 3 years at a cost of $7 million. It ended up taking 15 years at a cost of $105 million. Every dollar came from private donations.

Our your guide, Rosie (Rosemary):

Views from outside the Opera House:

Lunch at the Opera Kitchen and walking around the Circular Quay:

Day 14 – Monday, April 1: Wanaka to Lake Tekapo

Drive to Lake Tekapo:

Woke up to a bright, sunny day, but very windy.

Entering Lindis Pass

At the top of the pass, 900 meters above sea level.

Coffee stop – Omarama:

View of the Southern Alps from the east side.

Lake Pukaki with Mt. Cook in the background hidden in the clouds.

Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in NZ at 3,800 meters. Heading into the eye of the storm in search of Mt. Cook. Only 60% of visitors each year get to see Mt. Cook. Sadly we were not one of them.

Mt. Cook Village and Hermitage Hotel – lunch stop:

Church of the Good Shepard:

Lake Tekapo:

Lake Tekapo – Peppers Bluewater Resort:

This is the last night with our tour group. Drinks at 6:00pm, dinner at 6:30.

Wonderful dinner with a short thank you speech from our Tour Director, Simon Walker and Coach Driver John Forbes. We also heard a funny joke from Margaret, AU and a lovely poem about our trip from Kay, AU.

Bags out at 7:00am and bus departs at 8:00am. Our last early morning departure!

Sunrise over the river and Lake Tekapo

Surprise walking tour through a bird sanctuary before leaving Te Anau this morning.

Very difficult to see the birds and very few birds for a sanctuary. But the walk was lovely.

First stop is lunch in Cromwell:

Warm weather but very windy! Terry had trouble getting a gluten free lunch, so we went to the grocery store and got apples and yogurts.

Wanaka on Lake Hawae:

Oakridge Resort, Wanaka:

It doesn’t look like much from the outside. But as my brother would say, SCORE! We have a one bedroom apartment, living and dining area for 6 people, king bed, nice bath with washer and dryer.

We had a problem getting into the room. The keys did not work even after having them reprogrammed. The hotel staff had to come up to let us in, so the tour director had them issue us complimentary drink tickets. See you in the bar, too bad we’re only here one night!

Day 12 – Saturday, March 30: Queenstown through Milford Sound to Te Anau

We left Queenstown at 7:30am and or was still dark out. A little way down the road the sun rose and then we had low ground fog.

Milford Road scenic drive – one of the world’s finest alpine drives. Fiordland National Park and

Mirror Lakes:

Homer Tunnel:

Entrance to the tunnel and view on the other side.

The Chasm:

Cruising Milford Sound:

Can’t begin to describe how beautiful and majestic Milford Sound is. Cascading waterfalls, rainforest and sheer rock walls.

New Zealand Fur Seals sunning themselves on the rocks.

Mitre Peak – majestic sight rising from the ocean floor of Milford Sound

Picturesque town of Te Anau. Arrived at the Kingsgate Hotel at 5:30pm, dinner at 6:30. Lake Te Anau is the 2nd largest in NZ.

Downtown Te Anau

Kingsgate Hotel Te Anau on Lake Te Anau.