DSC_1532.JPGWe arrived to Queenstown in the early afternoon, and wandered around for a bit on our own.
Towards the end of October, Eliz & I took about three weeks holiday in New Zealand, having signed up for Haka Tours North-South island adventure tour. This was my selfish birthday present to Elizabeth, and I had insisted despite our busy schedules that we go before the end of the calendar year. We had a terrific time, and met a wonderful group of young people who had also signed on. (While Haka assured us we wouldn't be the oldest ones on our tour, we had at least a quarter century on all of them.)
Between us, we took almost 3000 photos, which I've winnowed down to about 750. I've further broken these into 24 pages, which you can jump between more easily. A few of the pages have linked video, or will have when I get around to uploading them.
Page 1, wherein we arrive to Auckland and explore the town and harbor.
Page 2, wherein we meet our tour group and head in the bus for our first destination on the north island, Whtianga.
Page 3, wherein a handful of our group go on a "black water rafting" adventure and check out a glow worm cave.
Page 4, wherein we check out a swing bridge and the Blue Spring, where the majority of New Zealand's bottled water originates. That night, we dine with the Mitai tribe and are treated to a demonstration of some Maori traditions.
Page 5, wherein Elizabeth and I go zip-lining in a native rain forest.
Page 6, wherein we visit the Waiotapu Thermal Park and check out the natural hot springs and Huka waterfall in Taupo.
Page 7, wherein we sail Lake Taupo on a boat that once belonged to Errol Flynn.
Page 8, wherein we enjoy a group barbecue and try our hands at Gumboot Throwing. We arrive to Wellington and enjoy a nice dinner.
Page 9, wherein Eliz and I hike to a view atop Mount Victoria, then check out the Wellington museum and the botanical gardens.
Page 10, wherein we meet the others for some street food and fireworks to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day. The next morning, we leave our bus for a ferry ride to the south island. (Just in time as it turns out, since Ronnie lost her rear suspension towards the end and broke down completely when the next group took her over.)
Page 11, wherein we travel to Kaikoura, and Eliz & I swim with some dolphins. We end the day at a nice Haka lodge in Christchurch.
Page 12, wherein we go hot-air ballooning with Yen & Brian, then check out the Christchurch Art Museum.
Page 13, wherein we meet up with our group and head out to Tekapo, where we were all surprised by a snowstorm in the night.
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We arrived to Queenstown in the early afternoon, and
wandered around for a bit on our own.
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Lake Wakapitu is an enormous, curving slug shape that
you can only see a small portion of from the Queenstown
harbor.
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The peaks are normally free of snow this time of year,
but we had arrived just after a small storm that had
frosted them for us.
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The ducks were not shy.
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Just the other side of the harbor is a good–sized
botanic garden, which we kept coming back to.
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Tulips (not native)
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Giant sequoia (also not native)
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The little chapel by the water, where Jenny said she’d
like to be married.
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Our group next took the gondola shown to the top of
a "Bob’s Peak," more of a hill, really,
just south of the town center.
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This was included in our tour, so we all got in the
bus even though it was maybe a 10 minute walk from where
we were staying.
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We all climbed aboard enthusiastically.
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Selfie of our gondola
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The bungee jump no one chose to experience, despite
urging from our group leader
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The view from the top was spectacular.
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Some of us chose to make some runs down the "luge,"
a set of curvy little roads made for single–seat
go–carts of peculiar design.
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They even had a chair lift to get you back up the slop
for your next run.
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Haka Luge Team
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Training session. Basically, pull back partway on handlebars
to go and steer, all the way back to brake.
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Eliz & I went three times, which meant one time
on the beginner’s run and twice on the more advanced
one.
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After getting back and freshening up, we met for dinner
at Winnie’s pizza bar.
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Winnie’s features a mechanically operable roof,
which they open up in nice weather.
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You can see the hydrolic lifts on either side, and the
nice weather above.
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Our group had a long table together.
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There were other items on the menu, but most people
just went for the wood–oven pizza.
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Our end of the table shared a couple of pies, and something
similar happened at the other end.
Page 15, wherein Eliz & I are joined by Lauren on a horse trek near Glenorchy.
Page 16, wherein Jon, Brian, and Yen join us in a "canyoning" adventure that was more than we'd signed up for.
Page 17, wherein Eliz & I enjoy a leisurely day on Lake Wakapitu.
Page 18, wherein we drive over a mountain pass to get to Wanaka. The following day, most of us take a hike up Mount Iron. Some of us also go to see "The Lonely Tree"
Page 19, wherein we make a number of stops for beauty on the way to the Franz Josef glacier.
Page 20, wherein some of our group hike to see the glacier.
Page 21, wherein about half of us go on a final group kayaking adventure on Lake Mapourika.
Page 22, wherein some brave singers stand up for karaoke night at the pub. The next day, we stop in Hokitika and see some live kiwi birds on our way to catch the train in Greymouth.
Page 23, wherein everyone but our leader boards the Alpine Express bound for Christchurch, the final destination for the organized part of our trip.
Page 24, wherein Eliz & I have a final day on our own in Christchurch, which we spend wandering in search of good eats and take a ferry to Diamond harbor. We also finally get a chance to check out the Christchurch botanical garden, which is definitely worth the visit.
Page created Nov 27 2017