Photos
We could sleep in today! So breakfast was in full swing today when we got down there.
We had a pickup at the Novotel at 10am for the Rotorua Airport. This airport is a trip. One small building contains everything. There is no security clearance. Just walk in the front door and out the back door onto the tarmac. I think there are 3 gates. But no security!
We got to the airport by 10:30am. We were picked up at the Novotel by a small 20-passenger bus with a luggage trailer! As I told Clay, I have no idea what this is costing us. I was firm with Kensington Tours from day 1 that we wanted all transfers included otherwise what was the point of booking a tour if I had to find transportation on the ground each time. So our flight this morning is to Christchurch. Our driver this morning assumed we were flying back to Auckland to get to Queenstown. I guess Rotorua to Queenstown is one of those you can't get there from here propositions. I find it surprising that Kensington/Pacific Destinations books tours this way since they should know. We agreed to book our own flights and did not know it until after the tour was locked in. Then we found out it would take multiple flights. Lesson learned.
So, here it is 10 of 11am for a flight departing at 12:20pm and boarding at 12:10am. We've got our bags checked, no security to clear and we've shopped the souvenir shop and been to the café. Clay checked all our power supplies/adapters so I'm down to about 20 minutes of battery time left and must go for now.
We should be in Queenstown on the South Island by about 6pm. We have an airport transfer to our hotel for the next 2 days at the Queenstown Lakeside Novotel. Fingers crossed we get another nice room since the names are the same. We have 2 nights but literally no free time in Queenstown and I am not sure how I let that happen except that I assume I thought we'd have a half day to sightsee today not knowing it would take all day to get there! Tomorrow we have a 13-hr. boat sightseeing tour of Milford Sound. Spend the night and leave again the following morning. If I'd been more attentive, we'd have spent some time seeing Queenstown. Oh, well.
I'll assume the rest of the day will be unremarkable and post this now while I can. If something happens, I'll come back and update or write about it tomorrow.
Stay tuned!
Our flights were on prop planes! It's been a long time since that happened.
I am in Christchurch airport. It is huge compared to Rotorua. We found a fast food Chinese place and shared a very good dozen fried dumplings. We had a caramel slice for dessert.
Arrival at Queenstown was on time and seamless. We got checked right in at the Novotel which is very conveniently situated. We were told that we had a complimentary upgrade to a top floor view room. It is not a great view but it is a nice room. We walked along the lake front and up the pedestrian mall where we picked a pub for dinner. Hadn't had that yet. It was ok. Had ice cream on the lakefront for dessert. Long day. Late night. Early morning tomorrow.
Photos
Little Bob hits the road
Little Bob hits the road
Monday, February 27, 2017
Things I've learned about New Zealand
New Zealand has a non-tipping service culture. It is surprisingly pleasant. People making a minimum wage of over $15 an hour in jobs they are happy to perform. Customer satisfaction is the goal, not the expected tip. We didn't spend enough time off the cruise ship in 2006 to notice this. In that vein, they are proud of their transparency. The price is the price, no added taxes, fees, service charges, etc. The exception is that almost uniformly they will tell you there is a 1 to 2 % service fee for using a credit card. That is taking some getting used to.
History of the Maori is much shorter than I had understood it to be the last time we were here.
Kiwi birds are not only flightless, but also wingless.
Silver ferns, a symbol of New Zealand, have been less commonly seen by us than tree ferns.
Ferns bring us to another New Zealand symbol that is the koru. It is a spiral shape that is supposed to originate from what looks to me like a fiddlehead fern. See photos in tree fern links above.
Hokey Pokey is a favorite New Zealand flavor it is a kind of hard toffee. It comes in their famous ice cream mixed with vanilla. We have had it scooped now and it is delicious. Which brings us to dairy being one of New Zealand's top exports. They produce something like 30% of the world's milk.
New Zealand's North Island is of volcanic origin. The South Island is formed by 2 tectonic plates and shaped by glaciation. They look completely different!
New Zealand has only 2 indigenous mammals. They are both bats!
New Zealand has no native deciduous trees, only evergreens.
History of the Maori is much shorter than I had understood it to be the last time we were here.
Kiwi birds are not only flightless, but also wingless.
Silver ferns, a symbol of New Zealand, have been less commonly seen by us than tree ferns.
Ferns bring us to another New Zealand symbol that is the koru. It is a spiral shape that is supposed to originate from what looks to me like a fiddlehead fern. See photos in tree fern links above.
Hokey Pokey is a favorite New Zealand flavor it is a kind of hard toffee. It comes in their famous ice cream mixed with vanilla. We have had it scooped now and it is delicious. Which brings us to dairy being one of New Zealand's top exports. They produce something like 30% of the world's milk.
New Zealand's North Island is of volcanic origin. The South Island is formed by 2 tectonic plates and shaped by glaciation. They look completely different!
New Zealand has only 2 indigenous mammals. They are both bats!
New Zealand has no native deciduous trees, only evergreens.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Geothermal Rotorua
Photos
We had an 8:10am start. We were up before 6am and that is when our included breakfast buffet at the Novotel began. We headed on down about 6:45am. The buffet was not really ready of business and didn't get that way until after 7:15am when we left. We had a bit of unpleasantness at check in as she wanted us to charge the buffet to our room and we understood it was included in what we paid already. I told her we'd go to the desk and clear it up. She then explained that she could look us up on her computer and see the same information. I don't know why she just didn't do that to start. She found our reservation and agreed that we had pre-paid for a full cooked breakfast. We didn't quite get that either since the order check didn't appear until 7:15am and we were leaving by then. Geez. It was not a great buffet. The bacon was raw. There were no glasses anywhere. On the plus side, they did have small BBQ pork steamed buns in the Asian section.
We were picked up right on time by a 12 passenger van. There were already 3 passengers in the van and there were 6 of us waiting at the Novotel. There was supposed to be one more couple, but due to some miscommunication they had gone to the visitor's information center for pickup. We waited 10 minutes for them and then left so the rest of us would get the tour we booked. The operator was Elite Adventures. We did the morning tour of the thermal park. Wai-O-Tapu. Think a less spectacular version of Yellowstone.. Their geyser goes off right on time because they pour a big bag of detergent down the gullet to break surface tension. It is still a geyser, but that was weird. I would bet we walked 5km this morning, almost all of it on hills or stairs and again there had been no fitness advisory. There was rain forecast at 60% chance all day. It started out very sunny and eventually became mostly cloudy but it didn't rain. We got back about 1pm. My feet were sore and my ankles were swollen and my now 3 blisters hurt. Our hotel has a geothermal spa at the gym so that is where I headed. I had a few minutes soak. You could get in up to your neck! It would have been intense. I only got in up to my knees. It was pretty amazing. Clay said he left the gym and rode up the elevator with a couple who had been in their swimsuits and up to their necks and that the elevator was reeking from they geothermal water! I was happy to have a chance to try it, but I would want to be immersed in it!
We went over to Eat Street looking for a light lunch of sandwiches as it was late and we have some kind of banquet tonight. We didn't find any. We shared a pizza. It still hasn't rained. I hope it doesn't rain tonight!
Tonight we are doing Te Puia Te Po Hangi and concert with guided tour. I'll let you read about it and post this now.
We had a good visit and dinner last night. I can recommend it. We were picked up at 4pm and returned after 9pm. It turned out to be a lot more walking and standing around than expected though it was all wheelchair accessible. The geysers were more like we expected after Yellowstone. Which is to say if you only see one here go to Te Puia. We got to see a rare 3 geysers erupt at once. We also finally saw a live kiwi bird! Bigger than expected.
Photos
We had an 8:10am start. We were up before 6am and that is when our included breakfast buffet at the Novotel began. We headed on down about 6:45am. The buffet was not really ready of business and didn't get that way until after 7:15am when we left. We had a bit of unpleasantness at check in as she wanted us to charge the buffet to our room and we understood it was included in what we paid already. I told her we'd go to the desk and clear it up. She then explained that she could look us up on her computer and see the same information. I don't know why she just didn't do that to start. She found our reservation and agreed that we had pre-paid for a full cooked breakfast. We didn't quite get that either since the order check didn't appear until 7:15am and we were leaving by then. Geez. It was not a great buffet. The bacon was raw. There were no glasses anywhere. On the plus side, they did have small BBQ pork steamed buns in the Asian section.
We were picked up right on time by a 12 passenger van. There were already 3 passengers in the van and there were 6 of us waiting at the Novotel. There was supposed to be one more couple, but due to some miscommunication they had gone to the visitor's information center for pickup. We waited 10 minutes for them and then left so the rest of us would get the tour we booked. The operator was Elite Adventures. We did the morning tour of the thermal park. Wai-O-Tapu. Think a less spectacular version of Yellowstone.. Their geyser goes off right on time because they pour a big bag of detergent down the gullet to break surface tension. It is still a geyser, but that was weird. I would bet we walked 5km this morning, almost all of it on hills or stairs and again there had been no fitness advisory. There was rain forecast at 60% chance all day. It started out very sunny and eventually became mostly cloudy but it didn't rain. We got back about 1pm. My feet were sore and my ankles were swollen and my now 3 blisters hurt. Our hotel has a geothermal spa at the gym so that is where I headed. I had a few minutes soak. You could get in up to your neck! It would have been intense. I only got in up to my knees. It was pretty amazing. Clay said he left the gym and rode up the elevator with a couple who had been in their swimsuits and up to their necks and that the elevator was reeking from they geothermal water! I was happy to have a chance to try it, but I would want to be immersed in it!
We went over to Eat Street looking for a light lunch of sandwiches as it was late and we have some kind of banquet tonight. We didn't find any. We shared a pizza. It still hasn't rained. I hope it doesn't rain tonight!
Tonight we are doing Te Puia Te Po Hangi and concert with guided tour. I'll let you read about it and post this now.
We had a good visit and dinner last night. I can recommend it. We were picked up at 4pm and returned after 9pm. It turned out to be a lot more walking and standing around than expected though it was all wheelchair accessible. The geysers were more like we expected after Yellowstone. Which is to say if you only see one here go to Te Puia. We got to see a rare 3 geysers erupt at once. We also finally saw a live kiwi bird! Bigger than expected.
Photos
Hobbiton!
Photos
Today was a big day. Hobbiton was one of the reasons we had to return to New Zealand. So, I'll start with the bad. The first quote we got from Kensington Tours had today as a private car/driver taking just the 2 of us door to door from our Auckland hotel to our Rotorua hotel with the same touring itinerary of Hobbiton and Waitomo Glowworm Cave. Now all I got was a blanket price for the entire trip but I did get an option to give up today's private car and driver for a coach option for I believe in the neighborhood of $350 each. It may have been $350 total, but it was a big enough number that I thought I couldn't justify the car over the bus. I was assured the coach wasn't a huge one with 50 people and it was the same tour. I chose the bus option. It turned out that today's tour provider is Great Sights. We didn't have that piece of information until we picked up our voucher packet in Auckland. We wouldn't have known, but according to the valet staff at the Stamford Plaza they are notoriously tardy, not necessarily unreliable but always over 15 minutes late. So we had a nervous half hour early this morning sitting with our luggage wondering. We had to be at the front door at 7am, 7:05 or 7:10am depending on the set of instructions. We had our original itin from before leaving home, the one we received on Auckland hotel arrival and the fax that was delivered to our room from Great Sights the afternoon prior. Since it said it superseded all previous instructions we relied on it. We were waiting at 7:05am anyway. The shuttle came after 7:30am and only after we had the valet call when they were 10 minutes late per the fax. It turns out that it is another sub-contractor that shuttles all the hotel passengers to the Sky City Bus Terminal for 8am departure. The shuttle picked up about 5 more passengers at 3 stops after we got on. We were the only 2 with luggage. It turns out we got moved to a different bus leaving the Glowworm Caves. We were nearly the last passengers to board the bus after checking in and stowing our luggage under the bus. We were on a bus that by my count would have held 55 people and it left with maybe 4 empty seats. So, not quite as promised. I still wasn't too concerned as I knew that to tour Hobbiton, you had to join a guided bus tour. Unfortunately, Great Sights does this every day so they just get a guide to come on the giant bus and all 50 of us were herded around. It was hard to hear and not everyone spoke English so lots of people didn't follow instructions. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I discussed with Clay that maybe I had lessened our experience with frugality and even in hindsight he agreed it was a tough call to make. We have no idea what our experience would have been had we showed up alone. It could have turned out even worse or exactly the same. They could have just added us to the big bus tour when we arrived by car. So that was the bad. The huge group, sitting in the last regular row of the bus, the uncertainty of the pickup and the bus transfer. I still find it hard to imagine the experience could have been twice as good at the extra fare. So that was the bad.
My personal bad is that I seem to have come down with a cold. I am pretty miserable and drowning in snot and sneezy. I was not good bus company!
Hobbiton was amazing! It exceeded expectations. I just wish you could book a hobbit hole and spend the night there! I would not that it is not handicap-accessible. Nor is the Waitomo Glowworm Cave. It was a lot of rough walking and uneven stairs up and down. I don't recall there ever being any warnings. I asked Clay and he agreed that it was surprising. I know after we had made final payment that we were asked to fill out and sign a general good health document, but that would have been too late to have a conversation about mobility and accessibility. Lunch at Hobbiton was included which was not written in our information so a pleasant surprise. The tour ended at the Green Dragon Pub for a free beer followed by a hot buffet lunch served in a big tent out back. Lunch was good. Exceeded expectations again.
It was about 1.5 hours drive from Auckland to Matamata, about 2.5 hours at Hobbiton, another 1.5 hours drive to Waitomo and about an hour visiting the cave. We had visited a glowworm cave the last time we were here but it wasn't the same because this one was better and more impressive as it included total darkness as you drifted through the last part on a boat. Expectations exceeded again.
We got to the Novotel Rotorua after 6pm. We were exhausted. We got our room keys and headed up to drop our bags with the hope of a quick and easy dinner and an early bedtime. Not so fast. I don't know if I mentioned but one of our choices with Kensington Tours was hotel class. I went with 4 stars. The Stamford Plaza is the sole hotel of the trip which was not substituted between booking and departure. Our room at the Stamford Plaza had a close up view of the backs and roofs of adjoining buildings. The gym though had a wonderful harbor view. We got to our lakefront hotel room to find a view of the rear parking lot. Then Clay announced that the entire bathroom was a shower stall. It was a handicap accessible room. I picked up the phone and called the front desk and told them we did not require this room. The woman who answered said she'd call back. She did and told Clay she'd move us down the hall to a normal room. Vacate this room and wait by the elevators. Another woman exchanged keycards with us and promised us a lovely lake view. She was right! Clay ribbed me about it, but I felt we had a legitimate complaint and I'd kept quiet about the room in Auckland.
Literally next door is the outlet of a pedestrian restaurant district called Eat Street. I expect you could find something for everyone there. Clay wanted to try New Zealand beef after hours of riding through cattle country. We went to Mac's. The steaks were good, but nothing exceptional. We are spoiled by Harris Teeter beef. Clay stopped at the corner for ice cream and we came back to the room. Clay stayed up and worked on the computer and posted photos. I took 2 Benadryl and passed out. The last thing I remember telling Clay was that since he thought the bed was too hard at Stamford, this bed was like climbing into a marshmallow. When we woke up the next morning, he told me he had sunk so deep into the bed and the comforter was so thick that he had been pinned into the hole he had created and not been able to turn over all night. I slept like the dead. No complaints.
Photos
Today was a big day. Hobbiton was one of the reasons we had to return to New Zealand. So, I'll start with the bad. The first quote we got from Kensington Tours had today as a private car/driver taking just the 2 of us door to door from our Auckland hotel to our Rotorua hotel with the same touring itinerary of Hobbiton and Waitomo Glowworm Cave. Now all I got was a blanket price for the entire trip but I did get an option to give up today's private car and driver for a coach option for I believe in the neighborhood of $350 each. It may have been $350 total, but it was a big enough number that I thought I couldn't justify the car over the bus. I was assured the coach wasn't a huge one with 50 people and it was the same tour. I chose the bus option. It turned out that today's tour provider is Great Sights. We didn't have that piece of information until we picked up our voucher packet in Auckland. We wouldn't have known, but according to the valet staff at the Stamford Plaza they are notoriously tardy, not necessarily unreliable but always over 15 minutes late. So we had a nervous half hour early this morning sitting with our luggage wondering. We had to be at the front door at 7am, 7:05 or 7:10am depending on the set of instructions. We had our original itin from before leaving home, the one we received on Auckland hotel arrival and the fax that was delivered to our room from Great Sights the afternoon prior. Since it said it superseded all previous instructions we relied on it. We were waiting at 7:05am anyway. The shuttle came after 7:30am and only after we had the valet call when they were 10 minutes late per the fax. It turns out that it is another sub-contractor that shuttles all the hotel passengers to the Sky City Bus Terminal for 8am departure. The shuttle picked up about 5 more passengers at 3 stops after we got on. We were the only 2 with luggage. It turns out we got moved to a different bus leaving the Glowworm Caves. We were nearly the last passengers to board the bus after checking in and stowing our luggage under the bus. We were on a bus that by my count would have held 55 people and it left with maybe 4 empty seats. So, not quite as promised. I still wasn't too concerned as I knew that to tour Hobbiton, you had to join a guided bus tour. Unfortunately, Great Sights does this every day so they just get a guide to come on the giant bus and all 50 of us were herded around. It was hard to hear and not everyone spoke English so lots of people didn't follow instructions. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I discussed with Clay that maybe I had lessened our experience with frugality and even in hindsight he agreed it was a tough call to make. We have no idea what our experience would have been had we showed up alone. It could have turned out even worse or exactly the same. They could have just added us to the big bus tour when we arrived by car. So that was the bad. The huge group, sitting in the last regular row of the bus, the uncertainty of the pickup and the bus transfer. I still find it hard to imagine the experience could have been twice as good at the extra fare. So that was the bad.
My personal bad is that I seem to have come down with a cold. I am pretty miserable and drowning in snot and sneezy. I was not good bus company!
Hobbiton was amazing! It exceeded expectations. I just wish you could book a hobbit hole and spend the night there! I would not that it is not handicap-accessible. Nor is the Waitomo Glowworm Cave. It was a lot of rough walking and uneven stairs up and down. I don't recall there ever being any warnings. I asked Clay and he agreed that it was surprising. I know after we had made final payment that we were asked to fill out and sign a general good health document, but that would have been too late to have a conversation about mobility and accessibility. Lunch at Hobbiton was included which was not written in our information so a pleasant surprise. The tour ended at the Green Dragon Pub for a free beer followed by a hot buffet lunch served in a big tent out back. Lunch was good. Exceeded expectations again.
It was about 1.5 hours drive from Auckland to Matamata, about 2.5 hours at Hobbiton, another 1.5 hours drive to Waitomo and about an hour visiting the cave. We had visited a glowworm cave the last time we were here but it wasn't the same because this one was better and more impressive as it included total darkness as you drifted through the last part on a boat. Expectations exceeded again.
We got to the Novotel Rotorua after 6pm. We were exhausted. We got our room keys and headed up to drop our bags with the hope of a quick and easy dinner and an early bedtime. Not so fast. I don't know if I mentioned but one of our choices with Kensington Tours was hotel class. I went with 4 stars. The Stamford Plaza is the sole hotel of the trip which was not substituted between booking and departure. Our room at the Stamford Plaza had a close up view of the backs and roofs of adjoining buildings. The gym though had a wonderful harbor view. We got to our lakefront hotel room to find a view of the rear parking lot. Then Clay announced that the entire bathroom was a shower stall. It was a handicap accessible room. I picked up the phone and called the front desk and told them we did not require this room. The woman who answered said she'd call back. She did and told Clay she'd move us down the hall to a normal room. Vacate this room and wait by the elevators. Another woman exchanged keycards with us and promised us a lovely lake view. She was right! Clay ribbed me about it, but I felt we had a legitimate complaint and I'd kept quiet about the room in Auckland.
Literally next door is the outlet of a pedestrian restaurant district called Eat Street. I expect you could find something for everyone there. Clay wanted to try New Zealand beef after hours of riding through cattle country. We went to Mac's. The steaks were good, but nothing exceptional. We are spoiled by Harris Teeter beef. Clay stopped at the corner for ice cream and we came back to the room. Clay stayed up and worked on the computer and posted photos. I took 2 Benadryl and passed out. The last thing I remember telling Clay was that since he thought the bed was too hard at Stamford, this bed was like climbing into a marshmallow. When we woke up the next morning, he told me he had sunk so deep into the bed and the comforter was so thick that he had been pinned into the hole he had created and not been able to turn over all night. I slept like the dead. No complaints.
Photos
Friday, February 24, 2017
Auckland
Photos
Saturday, February 25, 2017
It has been a long week and a long trip to get to our first scheduled tour of the trip. We went down and enjoyed a lavish buffet breakfast in the lobby of the Stamford Plaza. It is included. We were met promptly at the front door near 9am by a driver with Hallmark Limos.. Their deal is that they buy used government cars so this one used to be used by the prime minister. We did not know but it drew a lot of attention and our driver/guide explained. It was an adequate 4 hour overview. We were both very happy that we had been here before. We did see things that we had missed before so that is the upside.
We got dropped off at the Ferry Building a half Km or so from the hotel on a wild goose chase for a Tip Top ice cream scoop shop. Otherwise known as a dairy. We had been to one near the cruise port last time but evidently there aren't any anymore. According to the woman at the Visitor's Desk in the Ferry Building, the closest one now would be over in Devonport on the other side of the bay where we had started our tour this morning and where we had discussed where to be dropped off and why because we wanted to get Tip Top ice cream! Our driver also advised us not to plan to return to the Food Alley for dinner because it was a place for Asian workers and would be closed tonight since it is Saturday. I really wanted a BBQ pork steamed bun that I had missed getting last night. It was open and still had BBQ pork buns but was out of red bean paste buns when we walked by so we went in and got them instead of ice cream. As we were headed into the hotel to eat them hot, I noticed a "dairy" about where we had parked down the block across the street. When we finished the buns we went back out. They didn't serve scoops but it was like a convenience store with twice the freezer space of the other Tip Top coolers we had checked. We were looking for Hokey Pokey. I had it before here and Clay didn't. We found a version on a stick and we were both satisfied.
We have our last of 2 nights here tonight and have an early start tomorrow. We are supposed to be picked up by bus tomorrow between 7am and 7:15am. Breakfast buffet starts at 6am. We'll have to be fed, packed up and checked out by 7am. We did get a confirmation letter slipped under our door this afternoon by tomorrow's tour provider so that is a good sign. We are supposed to be taken to Hobbiton and Waitomo Glow worm caves on our way to our next 2 night hotel in Rotorua. Fingers crossed since Hobbiton is one of the main reasons we came back to New Zealand.
I will close for now and get this posted.
Photos
Saturday, February 25, 2017
It has been a long week and a long trip to get to our first scheduled tour of the trip. We went down and enjoyed a lavish buffet breakfast in the lobby of the Stamford Plaza. It is included. We were met promptly at the front door near 9am by a driver with Hallmark Limos.. Their deal is that they buy used government cars so this one used to be used by the prime minister. We did not know but it drew a lot of attention and our driver/guide explained. It was an adequate 4 hour overview. We were both very happy that we had been here before. We did see things that we had missed before so that is the upside.
We got dropped off at the Ferry Building a half Km or so from the hotel on a wild goose chase for a Tip Top ice cream scoop shop. Otherwise known as a dairy. We had been to one near the cruise port last time but evidently there aren't any anymore. According to the woman at the Visitor's Desk in the Ferry Building, the closest one now would be over in Devonport on the other side of the bay where we had started our tour this morning and where we had discussed where to be dropped off and why because we wanted to get Tip Top ice cream! Our driver also advised us not to plan to return to the Food Alley for dinner because it was a place for Asian workers and would be closed tonight since it is Saturday. I really wanted a BBQ pork steamed bun that I had missed getting last night. It was open and still had BBQ pork buns but was out of red bean paste buns when we walked by so we went in and got them instead of ice cream. As we were headed into the hotel to eat them hot, I noticed a "dairy" about where we had parked down the block across the street. When we finished the buns we went back out. They didn't serve scoops but it was like a convenience store with twice the freezer space of the other Tip Top coolers we had checked. We were looking for Hokey Pokey. I had it before here and Clay didn't. We found a version on a stick and we were both satisfied.
We have our last of 2 nights here tonight and have an early start tomorrow. We are supposed to be picked up by bus tomorrow between 7am and 7:15am. Breakfast buffet starts at 6am. We'll have to be fed, packed up and checked out by 7am. We did get a confirmation letter slipped under our door this afternoon by tomorrow's tour provider so that is a good sign. We are supposed to be taken to Hobbiton and Waitomo Glow worm caves on our way to our next 2 night hotel in Rotorua. Fingers crossed since Hobbiton is one of the main reasons we came back to New Zealand.
I will close for now and get this posted.
Photos
Flying to Auckland
We left the Rothbury about 7:45am and we were on the Airtrain at 8:01am. We had enjoyed our night at the Rothbury. It was quiet and the bed was comfortable. I forgot to mention that it had a washer/dryer. Since we had both sweated more and dirtied more clothes than expected I did a load. It took almost 4 hours! I hate those high efficiency front loading machines! How can it be more efficient if it takes twice as long. The other thing was that our room rate included a continental breakfast. It was in the room's refrigerator when we arrived. It was 2 boxes of cereal, 4 slices of bread, 2 small cartons of milk, 2 small bottles of juice, 4 packets of butter, 2 of jam and 1 of peanut butter and 1 of Vegemite. There was instant coffee and sugar and tea bags.. It was fine.
Since we checked our bags, checked in for the flight and cleared security so quickly, we had time to have a yogurt and Clay a Coke Zero before we found our gate. We flew Air New Zealand Premium Economy and the seats and entertainment were even better than on Qantas! It was just under a 4 hour flight. They served lunch. It was pretty good. They served OJ and sparkling wine after we boarded. We arrived on time and disembarked quickly. We got through the e-passport readers quickly. Mine failed to be able to photograph me and I had to go to the assistance desk. Clay was already on the other side and I had to backtracked considerably to get there, but Clay shadowed me from the other side and he got to see my victory dance when I scored a passport stamp and I got to see his jaw drop because he had none! So that worked out nicely. Then we all came to a screeching halt. There were at least 6 arrivals being processed through baggage claim and the customs/agriculture inspection. They x-rayed every single bag of every single person. It took us an extra 30 minutes to get through there. Our driver wondered what we were doing back there since he had been tracking delayed flights and ours was on time. When we told him he thought the delayed flights arriving the same time as our had probably held things up. It was a 45 minute ride in the car from the airport to downtown! Auckland has no major thoroughfare, rail or other public transit to and from the airport! I was very glad I had negotiated to begin our Kensington Tour of New Zealand with the airport transfer! When we got within a block the driver found that as of today, Albert Street in front of the Stamford Plaza is closed to replace infrastructure. There is a lot more construction here than there was in 2006! According to our 2 different drivers it is due to residential construction to house the Asian immigration influx of the last 2 decades. Our driver was in a panic due to his plans after unloading us and let us get our bags out about a half block across the street. There was no way for pedestrians to get across either at that point. I looked up the phone number from our docs and asked him to call. As he waved to whoever he was talking to one of the construction workers approached me and asked what was wrong. I told him that was our hotel over there and how were we supposed to get there. He moved some barriers and saw us safely into the hands of the hotel's valet. Unfortunately we did not see the luggage he insisted upon delivering to our room until hours later after I asked for it at reception. Reception assigned us a room with a view of the backs and roofs of adjoinig buildings. This hotel is the only hotel that stayed the same through out our booking process. We are supposed to be in all 4* or greater hotels. You could customize any Kensington Tour and I did. The room is comfortable and attractive with a big bathroom. The bed is hard though and the bathroom lights are on a motion detector. If you close the water closet door and spend more than 15 seconds in there, it is dark as a tomb! Likewise the lights go out if you are in the shower. I don't love it. The local tour provider is Pacific Destinations. They had our tour packet waiting for us at the Reception Desk. It is the tour we are getting regardless of my modifications and negotiations. Honestly, we didn't have any issues like this with Kensington in Norway, so I don't know if it is a Kensington problem or a Pacific Destinations problem. First surprise change was that instead of our first tour tomorrow afternoon that it will be at 9am. Not the way we wanted to start, but it is what it is and we'll cross our fingers that is the only misstep we'll have from here on out.
We crossed the street about 8pm for the Food Alley, an Asian food court. It was crowded, noisy and authentic. It was about 50% shut down and the rest was closing as we ate and left. We plan to try again for our 2nd dinner here though. We'll see. It was good and we liked it.
Since we checked our bags, checked in for the flight and cleared security so quickly, we had time to have a yogurt and Clay a Coke Zero before we found our gate. We flew Air New Zealand Premium Economy and the seats and entertainment were even better than on Qantas! It was just under a 4 hour flight. They served lunch. It was pretty good. They served OJ and sparkling wine after we boarded. We arrived on time and disembarked quickly. We got through the e-passport readers quickly. Mine failed to be able to photograph me and I had to go to the assistance desk. Clay was already on the other side and I had to backtracked considerably to get there, but Clay shadowed me from the other side and he got to see my victory dance when I scored a passport stamp and I got to see his jaw drop because he had none! So that worked out nicely. Then we all came to a screeching halt. There were at least 6 arrivals being processed through baggage claim and the customs/agriculture inspection. They x-rayed every single bag of every single person. It took us an extra 30 minutes to get through there. Our driver wondered what we were doing back there since he had been tracking delayed flights and ours was on time. When we told him he thought the delayed flights arriving the same time as our had probably held things up. It was a 45 minute ride in the car from the airport to downtown! Auckland has no major thoroughfare, rail or other public transit to and from the airport! I was very glad I had negotiated to begin our Kensington Tour of New Zealand with the airport transfer! When we got within a block the driver found that as of today, Albert Street in front of the Stamford Plaza is closed to replace infrastructure. There is a lot more construction here than there was in 2006! According to our 2 different drivers it is due to residential construction to house the Asian immigration influx of the last 2 decades. Our driver was in a panic due to his plans after unloading us and let us get our bags out about a half block across the street. There was no way for pedestrians to get across either at that point. I looked up the phone number from our docs and asked him to call. As he waved to whoever he was talking to one of the construction workers approached me and asked what was wrong. I told him that was our hotel over there and how were we supposed to get there. He moved some barriers and saw us safely into the hands of the hotel's valet. Unfortunately we did not see the luggage he insisted upon delivering to our room until hours later after I asked for it at reception. Reception assigned us a room with a view of the backs and roofs of adjoinig buildings. This hotel is the only hotel that stayed the same through out our booking process. We are supposed to be in all 4* or greater hotels. You could customize any Kensington Tour and I did. The room is comfortable and attractive with a big bathroom. The bed is hard though and the bathroom lights are on a motion detector. If you close the water closet door and spend more than 15 seconds in there, it is dark as a tomb! Likewise the lights go out if you are in the shower. I don't love it. The local tour provider is Pacific Destinations. They had our tour packet waiting for us at the Reception Desk. It is the tour we are getting regardless of my modifications and negotiations. Honestly, we didn't have any issues like this with Kensington in Norway, so I don't know if it is a Kensington problem or a Pacific Destinations problem. First surprise change was that instead of our first tour tomorrow afternoon that it will be at 9am. Not the way we wanted to start, but it is what it is and we'll cross our fingers that is the only misstep we'll have from here on out.
We crossed the street about 8pm for the Food Alley, an Asian food court. It was crowded, noisy and authentic. It was about 50% shut down and the rest was closing as we ate and left. We plan to try again for our 2nd dinner here though. We'll see. It was good and we liked it.
Brisbane
Photos
We're finally down under and still not to our touring start point of Auckland.. But we had booked a tour here today in Brisbane knowing we could not get into a hotel until afternoon. Plus we wanted to start adjusting to the time change. After the AirTrain, we walked the half block down Ann Street from Central Station to the Ultiqa Rothbury. We picked it because of its location (btw there was a Sofitel attached to Central Station). What we didn't know was that it is an apartment hotel. We were just surprised. It was in a beautiful old building and we obviously had a lot of space. They stored our luggage as we were too early and they put the luggage in the apartment while we were out. They gave us good instructions for how to walk to the Southbank Cultural Center pontoon dock for meeting our boat to begin our tour. We had about 45 minutes to walk 18 minutes worth. It was so humid and hot that it took us about 30 minutes to get there. We were about a dozen people down the line waiting for the boat. After the boat arrived a big tour group arrived and they all skipped the 30 person or so by this time line and took all the good covered seats on the boat. We were able to get up top outdoor seats with a view but they were in the sun. It was over an hour boat ride and we were already overheated from the walk. We enjoyed a breeze and the views and commentary but are still pretty steamed about the 2nd class treatment of the people who paid full fare and arrived early to line up for good seats and then got shunted aside and treated to the leftovers. We booked through Viator and I believe the provider is Mirimar. Shame on whoever was responsible. We should have been given an opt out if they wanted to basically charter the boat for the day to the big tour group. Other than that it was an excellent day. I did apply sunscreen on the boat but I think I was so sweaty by then that I don't think I got good enough coverage and I got burned. Clay didn't use any sunscreen and is fine.
We enjoyed the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary very much even though it was hotter than hell! We got to hold and pet koalas. Koalas are heftier and heavier than they appear and they have sharper, larger claws than expected. The koala I held was named Sargent. The koala we petted was Strudel! We fed kangaroos, wallabies and emus. On the trip back down river, Capt. Matt said anyone who wanted to drive the boat could come to the wheelhouse. Bob and I took a turn. It was tricky because as Capt. Matt pointed out on his map I had drawn the twisty part of the river! Another interesting thing Capt. Matt told us was that the river water was brackish and not suitable for swimming due to bull sharks. The other thing was that it was so muddy due to the current changing direction 4 times a day and the tidal bore reversing the river's current twice a day. He said curiously that the water gets clearer the closer you get to the sea.
We got back in the middle of the afternoon and Clay bought a sim card for Australia at a Vodaphone shop on Queen Street Pedestrian Mall. Our Rothbury apartment was ready when we got back there. We bypassed the steep hill by entering the underground entry for Central Station a block from Queen St. It was a little longer walk but not as steep!
We had dinner reservations at 6pm at Jamie's Italian. We had already scouted it on our back to the hotel. It was a disappointment. It was excessively noisy with bad music. I had an excellent and inexpensive glass of white wine and Clay got to sample 2 beers before making a choice of cold draft beer that he enjoyed.. I ordered a pasta dish and I expected a bowl of steaming pasta. It was somewhat warm with 2 or 3 hot spots. I can't explain that. It was supposed to be a sausage and fennel based sauce but all I tasted was carrots which it was full of. Clay said he could taste fennel but agreed it was not served hot and the sausage was not at all flavorful. He enjoyed his salad and we both enjoyed the arancini Clay ordered to start.
We had been accosted by a panhandler on our morning walk and the experience was more aggressive than expected. On the way home in the dark, a different panhandler crossed the street to get in Clay's face. Clay politely declined to give him money twice at which point the old guy who was up in his face spat out "Ya dog!". Fortunately, then he was done and walked off. I had kept walking when he intercepted Clay and Clay caught up with me and said in an amazed voice, "He called me a dog." I repeated it the way I had heard it and we both nearly cried laughing.. We were still almost in tears when we got back to the Rothbury. Ya dog.
Photos
We're finally down under and still not to our touring start point of Auckland.. But we had booked a tour here today in Brisbane knowing we could not get into a hotel until afternoon. Plus we wanted to start adjusting to the time change. After the AirTrain, we walked the half block down Ann Street from Central Station to the Ultiqa Rothbury. We picked it because of its location (btw there was a Sofitel attached to Central Station). What we didn't know was that it is an apartment hotel. We were just surprised. It was in a beautiful old building and we obviously had a lot of space. They stored our luggage as we were too early and they put the luggage in the apartment while we were out. They gave us good instructions for how to walk to the Southbank Cultural Center pontoon dock for meeting our boat to begin our tour. We had about 45 minutes to walk 18 minutes worth. It was so humid and hot that it took us about 30 minutes to get there. We were about a dozen people down the line waiting for the boat. After the boat arrived a big tour group arrived and they all skipped the 30 person or so by this time line and took all the good covered seats on the boat. We were able to get up top outdoor seats with a view but they were in the sun. It was over an hour boat ride and we were already overheated from the walk. We enjoyed a breeze and the views and commentary but are still pretty steamed about the 2nd class treatment of the people who paid full fare and arrived early to line up for good seats and then got shunted aside and treated to the leftovers. We booked through Viator and I believe the provider is Mirimar. Shame on whoever was responsible. We should have been given an opt out if they wanted to basically charter the boat for the day to the big tour group. Other than that it was an excellent day. I did apply sunscreen on the boat but I think I was so sweaty by then that I don't think I got good enough coverage and I got burned. Clay didn't use any sunscreen and is fine.
We enjoyed the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary very much even though it was hotter than hell! We got to hold and pet koalas. Koalas are heftier and heavier than they appear and they have sharper, larger claws than expected. The koala I held was named Sargent. The koala we petted was Strudel! We fed kangaroos, wallabies and emus. On the trip back down river, Capt. Matt said anyone who wanted to drive the boat could come to the wheelhouse. Bob and I took a turn. It was tricky because as Capt. Matt pointed out on his map I had drawn the twisty part of the river! Another interesting thing Capt. Matt told us was that the river water was brackish and not suitable for swimming due to bull sharks. The other thing was that it was so muddy due to the current changing direction 4 times a day and the tidal bore reversing the river's current twice a day. He said curiously that the water gets clearer the closer you get to the sea.
We got back in the middle of the afternoon and Clay bought a sim card for Australia at a Vodaphone shop on Queen Street Pedestrian Mall. Our Rothbury apartment was ready when we got back there. We bypassed the steep hill by entering the underground entry for Central Station a block from Queen St. It was a little longer walk but not as steep!
We had dinner reservations at 6pm at Jamie's Italian. We had already scouted it on our back to the hotel. It was a disappointment. It was excessively noisy with bad music. I had an excellent and inexpensive glass of white wine and Clay got to sample 2 beers before making a choice of cold draft beer that he enjoyed.. I ordered a pasta dish and I expected a bowl of steaming pasta. It was somewhat warm with 2 or 3 hot spots. I can't explain that. It was supposed to be a sausage and fennel based sauce but all I tasted was carrots which it was full of. Clay said he could taste fennel but agreed it was not served hot and the sausage was not at all flavorful. He enjoyed his salad and we both enjoyed the arancini Clay ordered to start.
We had been accosted by a panhandler on our morning walk and the experience was more aggressive than expected. On the way home in the dark, a different panhandler crossed the street to get in Clay's face. Clay politely declined to give him money twice at which point the old guy who was up in his face spat out "Ya dog!". Fortunately, then he was done and walked off. I had kept walking when he intercepted Clay and Clay caught up with me and said in an amazed voice, "He called me a dog." I repeated it the way I had heard it and we both nearly cried laughing.. We were still almost in tears when we got back to the Rothbury. Ya dog.
Photos
Step 2 - Spend the day in LA
Photos
Tuesday - We had plans today to spend our time at the Getty Center. It is free and we planned to ride buses for $2.25 pp each way. This was a good plan in case we were still traveling to LAX then we weren't out any money! Clay decided that morning to check out UBER because it was raining. It looked like $7 or so to ride in a car.. We had taken our first ever Uber ride to RDU yesterday. It was a good experience and about half the price of a taxi cab. So, we took Uber and sat in traffic on the 405. It cost us $15 in reality. It was probably still a shorter ride than the 3 buses would have been. We did the 10:30am architecture tour at the Getty Center, We did part of the Garden Tour but due to all the rain, the main garden was closed so we just viewed it from above. We had lunch in the cafe. I dislocated by right kneecap descending some of the many stairs to get there and then really screwed it up when I tried to bend my knees to sit down. It happens sometimes and it is fine as I write this but I was really upset then because of the 14 hour flight later! In the afternoon we took the Impressionists Tour. While we were waiting for it we toured the changing exhibit of Bouchardon. Somehow we had never heard of him before. All day, the exact same itinerary was being done by a couple from Cary! We were all surprised that none of us had any recollection of every hearing anything about Bouchardon. I noticed a changing display screen about Roman mosaics at the Getty Villa. It is J. Paul Getty's former summer home and about 10 miles towards the Pacific from the Center. I went and got Clay and we went to the info desk to find out about it. It turns out that the Getty Ctr is closed on Monday and the Villa on Tuesday. Also, timed tickets were required for the mosiacs display. The good news is that she could give us 2 complimentary tickets good anytime we returned before the end of the year. We will try to use them we when stop through LA on our way home. It was a good day as it was overcast all day. The last time we came to the Getty, it was so hot and sunny that we could barely stand to step outside. Today was perfect once the morning rain cleared. So my traveler tip is this if you are going to the Getty Center and it is raining, don't bother toting your own umbrella as the center puts out hundreds of them for guest use! We didn't know and carried ours all day! We left about 3 to 3:30pm. Got caught in 405 traffic again, no surprise. But, Clay had entered his Uber request as a "pool" option which he didn't think he had done this morning and the fare back while lasting the same 45 minutes or so was only about $7. Since there is only the front passenger seat left and how are they going to pick up another pool passenger on the freeway, pool is an excellent option. When we got back to the Best Western it was still too early to go to the airport.
We walked across the street and ate at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. It was good.We both had more than we could eat. We headed back across the street thinking we'd be too late for the 5pm shuttle to the airport and since they told us it left hourly we go at 6pm. We had to pick up our luggage they were holding. I went to the restroom and to change my blouse for the fllight while Clay meant to use the wifi. Instead the waited for us and took us to LAX as soon as I came out! That meant we had a nightmarish extra hour at LAX before we could drop out baggage and go to security! We had TSA precheck through RDU yesterday, but not today and LAX did have a TSA precheck line open anyway. LAX is a nightmare and we need to remember that when we next make plans that could avoid it.
We flew a 14 hour or so flight on Qantas in premium economy. It was fine. It was actually much better than I had anticipated. We were about an hour late taking off. But, we had beverages while we waited in premium economy. I did not figure out how the foot rest worked until we were landing so it should be better going back! My foot rest wasn't working properly anyway but there was a metal part that flipped out to support your feet and that would have kept my right foot from fisting under if I could have press it again that piece. Lesson learned.They served dinner on Brisbane time shortly after takeoff. Then they turned off the lights about 2 hours after takeoff and while you could have more food and drink on demand I think most everyone in the section used the provided eyeshades and pillows and comforters and slept 8 hours or so. They rousted us for breakfast about 2 hours before landing. We landed on schedule. Since we crossed the International Date line we skipped Wednesday and arrived in Brisbane on Thursday morning! Immigration, baggage claim and customs were all a breeze at BNE and we were on the train into town within an hour of landing. Though we got on the wrong one and detoured to the domestic terminal and back wasting 15 minutes or more. The train from the International BNE terminal to our stop at Central Station is only supposed to take 18 minutes! Anyway we got to our hotel Ultiqa Rothbury around 9am.
Photos
Tuesday - We had plans today to spend our time at the Getty Center. It is free and we planned to ride buses for $2.25 pp each way. This was a good plan in case we were still traveling to LAX then we weren't out any money! Clay decided that morning to check out UBER because it was raining. It looked like $7 or so to ride in a car.. We had taken our first ever Uber ride to RDU yesterday. It was a good experience and about half the price of a taxi cab. So, we took Uber and sat in traffic on the 405. It cost us $15 in reality. It was probably still a shorter ride than the 3 buses would have been. We did the 10:30am architecture tour at the Getty Center, We did part of the Garden Tour but due to all the rain, the main garden was closed so we just viewed it from above. We had lunch in the cafe. I dislocated by right kneecap descending some of the many stairs to get there and then really screwed it up when I tried to bend my knees to sit down. It happens sometimes and it is fine as I write this but I was really upset then because of the 14 hour flight later! In the afternoon we took the Impressionists Tour. While we were waiting for it we toured the changing exhibit of Bouchardon. Somehow we had never heard of him before. All day, the exact same itinerary was being done by a couple from Cary! We were all surprised that none of us had any recollection of every hearing anything about Bouchardon. I noticed a changing display screen about Roman mosaics at the Getty Villa. It is J. Paul Getty's former summer home and about 10 miles towards the Pacific from the Center. I went and got Clay and we went to the info desk to find out about it. It turns out that the Getty Ctr is closed on Monday and the Villa on Tuesday. Also, timed tickets were required for the mosiacs display. The good news is that she could give us 2 complimentary tickets good anytime we returned before the end of the year. We will try to use them we when stop through LA on our way home. It was a good day as it was overcast all day. The last time we came to the Getty, it was so hot and sunny that we could barely stand to step outside. Today was perfect once the morning rain cleared. So my traveler tip is this if you are going to the Getty Center and it is raining, don't bother toting your own umbrella as the center puts out hundreds of them for guest use! We didn't know and carried ours all day! We left about 3 to 3:30pm. Got caught in 405 traffic again, no surprise. But, Clay had entered his Uber request as a "pool" option which he didn't think he had done this morning and the fare back while lasting the same 45 minutes or so was only about $7. Since there is only the front passenger seat left and how are they going to pick up another pool passenger on the freeway, pool is an excellent option. When we got back to the Best Western it was still too early to go to the airport.
We walked across the street and ate at Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles. It was good.We both had more than we could eat. We headed back across the street thinking we'd be too late for the 5pm shuttle to the airport and since they told us it left hourly we go at 6pm. We had to pick up our luggage they were holding. I went to the restroom and to change my blouse for the fllight while Clay meant to use the wifi. Instead the waited for us and took us to LAX as soon as I came out! That meant we had a nightmarish extra hour at LAX before we could drop out baggage and go to security! We had TSA precheck through RDU yesterday, but not today and LAX did have a TSA precheck line open anyway. LAX is a nightmare and we need to remember that when we next make plans that could avoid it.
We flew a 14 hour or so flight on Qantas in premium economy. It was fine. It was actually much better than I had anticipated. We were about an hour late taking off. But, we had beverages while we waited in premium economy. I did not figure out how the foot rest worked until we were landing so it should be better going back! My foot rest wasn't working properly anyway but there was a metal part that flipped out to support your feet and that would have kept my right foot from fisting under if I could have press it again that piece. Lesson learned.They served dinner on Brisbane time shortly after takeoff. Then they turned off the lights about 2 hours after takeoff and while you could have more food and drink on demand I think most everyone in the section used the provided eyeshades and pillows and comforters and slept 8 hours or so. They rousted us for breakfast about 2 hours before landing. We landed on schedule. Since we crossed the International Date line we skipped Wednesday and arrived in Brisbane on Thursday morning! Immigration, baggage claim and customs were all a breeze at BNE and we were on the train into town within an hour of landing. Though we got on the wrong one and detoured to the domestic terminal and back wasting 15 minutes or more. The train from the International BNE terminal to our stop at Central Station is only supposed to take 18 minutes! Anyway we got to our hotel Ultiqa Rothbury around 9am.
Photos
Step 1 - Fly to LAX
We started out this first leg with a bit of stress as we learned first thing in the morning that our evening flight would be delayed. The jet we were flying had to come to RDU from LAX and it was delayed by 2 hours eventually. We never did learn why it was late. So until it arrived at RDU we were worried. But it was fine. We just got in to LAX 2 hours later. Then it took 40 minutes for the jet bridge to get to the door of the plane. It took over an hour for the luggage to arrive on a different carousel than was announced or displayed on the baggage carousel signs. So it took us 2 hours to get outside to call the Best Western Airpark courtesy shuttle. Fortunately, they arrived within minutes and it was about 1am when we got into a very comfortable bed. It had 4 small square pillows. It was nice enough though and included the airport shuttle and a breakfast buffet. We will stay here again on the way back home.
Thursday, February 23, 2017
We're off to a hot start
We have not arrived in our "tour" start city of Auckland yet. We have have put in some serious miles since leaving home on Monday night though! Hopefully, we'll have a bit of down time tomorrow and I can get caught up here then. In the meantime we had a busy and HOT day here in Brisbane, Australia. We got to get up close with some Australian animals at Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary.
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Just back from Out of This World!
"Out of this world" is the final show by the Ringling Bros./Barnum & Bailey Circus. This is their 146th year and farewell tour! It was great but neither of us thought it was as fantastic as the last time we had seen it as a 3-ring circus in the same area. This show was more set up as a single ring with a front-facing stage. Clay also felt that for him the outer space/space travel theme detracted from the rest of the show. Still, we're sorry to see it go. It will be hard to imagine a world without a circus traveling through it constantly! Very sad. Not happy to see the animal rights protesters lining the streets in and out either. You won, the circus is history now. I guess the final performance is in May somewhere in NY state. Last chance!
Wednesday, February 8, 2017
And the bad news begins again...
It seems like for the past few years that every time we get near departure for a big trip, that pieces start to fall apart. I guess the positive spin on this is that if we were staying home that things could fall apart just as easily. Anyway, fingers crossed that this piece of bad news is the worst of it!
There was a wildfire on the South Island of New Zealand that has destroyed part of the track and bridges and other equipment of the TranzAlpine train.
We won't get any money back, but we will not have any other itinerary alterations except a bus for the TranzAlpine train. That Tranzalpine train and Hobbiton were the only reasons we were returning to New Zealand! Please keep Hobbiton in your thoughts for us!
We are starting our upcoming Down Under 2017 trip with a modified version of this Kensington Tour. We were happy enough with our Kensington Tour in Norway in 2015 that we are using them again to start this trip.
Departure day is getting close!
There was a wildfire on the South Island of New Zealand that has destroyed part of the track and bridges and other equipment of the TranzAlpine train.
We won't get any money back, but we will not have any other itinerary alterations except a bus for the TranzAlpine train. That Tranzalpine train and Hobbiton were the only reasons we were returning to New Zealand! Please keep Hobbiton in your thoughts for us!
We are starting our upcoming Down Under 2017 trip with a modified version of this Kensington Tour. We were happy enough with our Kensington Tour in Norway in 2015 that we are using them again to start this trip.
Departure day is getting close!
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