Friday, 25th January
Today we had an early start (5.45am wake up) from Rotorua to go to Wellington, the capital city. On the way from Rotorua we stopped at the Huka Falls (see picture) – you just could not imagine the speed and volume of water travelling through this narrow gorge. We continued on and visited Lake Taupo – very beautiful, travelling around the shore we then went into the Tongiriro National Park. Andrew, here we saw Mount Tongiriro, where Lord of the Rings was filmed – quite impressive. Then we travelled down the Katipi Coast to Wellington, with views from Mount Victoria (see picture with Geoffrey).
Saturday, 26th January
Hey we had a lie in. Got up about 6.30am. After breakfast we were taken on a tour of the city of Wellington. Many photo stops. We then visited the Te Papa, New Zealand’s National Museum, situated on the quayside. Here we learnt about New Zealand’s culture and how it was formed on a major fault line. Here we experienced our first earthquake – only kidding folks, but we did stand in a mock house, where you can experience an earthquake. All I could think was get me out of here quick. After an hour or so of walking round the Museum we walked along to the Marina and had a very nice lunch, sitting in the sun and just watching the world walk by. We then boarded the Interlander Ferry for a three hour crossing over to the South Island. Fortunately the weather was perfect and the journey was smooth, but the highlight of the crossing was when we entered the Queen Charlotte Sound which was out of this world. (See picture which does not do justice to the experience). After landing at Picton we drove on to our hotel in Blenheim. We then had half an hour for a quick change before we were taken to a local winery for a tour, tasting and a four star meal (with plenty of wine, of course).
Sunday, 27th January
Again a lie in, leaving our hotel at 9.00am, we started our journey south along a beautiful coastline to Christchurch. On the way we stopped at Kaikoura and saw hundreds of fur seals. Just had a trip on the tram around Christchurch and we are soon going out to dinner. Kioara (a Maori greeting).
2 comments:
Great photos, Doreen and Geoff!
Cheers!
Wow, i'm glad to see you're not wasting your time there, you'll be ready for your tourism qualification when you get back! I'll be expecting you to remember everything you've learnt :)
The weather looks superb, better than your first day in sydney. (Although I am reliably informed that was just was just a passing downpour and you will have lovely weather on your return)
Keep doing as much as you can, you can sleep when you are on the boat.
Love Andrew
P.S your cruise ship is currently on it's way to Honolulu.
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