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  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 29

    Final wrap up

    March 9 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 48 °F

    I just wanted to share our ship photos and do a quick wrap up.

    I had no idea it would be so much fun and memorable to take a months long journey with 18 neighbors, who became friends, and now feel more like family. We trusted our house, and Chirps and Pizmo to strangers we basically met on the internet (Trusterhousesitters.com), and we would do it all over again.Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 28–29

    This is it, our final days!

    March 8 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F

    It's been a week since we've been home and I'm finally finishing up our journey.

    After several hairpin turns on this terribly windy road, we made it to the Queenstown airport. There are four couples leaving Queenstown this morning: 1) us, 2) Terry & Simon, 3) Lori & Paul, and 4) Ilyce & John. We all seem to be flying to different airports at different times, but here we are...again. What a crew.

    For us it was a short flight to Auckland where we made it our mission to eat well and rest up in the most awesome room ever! We came back to our same hotel where we were before, and where we stored our luggage a week back. We were so fortunate to get a top floor room on a corner which kinda ended up being a triangle room shape with floor to ceiling windows. It was beautiful! We walked the wharf area one last time and wondered upon the chinese restaurant White+Wong, which was one of the restaurants we all wanted to try in Queenstown. It did not disappoint! We had some small bites and headed home to relax.

    Our hotel was totally sold out and the city was awash in pink. This concert at Eden Park was sold out for two nights (50,000 people), and we got there a bit early since the only means of getting there was public transportation. Uber it is.

    This concert is a bucket list for me (check), and it did not disappoint. I bought these tickets months ago and they were elevated, slightly left of center, in the lower section. The weather was way warmer than New Zealand, and I loved that I could finally wear a summer dress (thanks Marci)!

    We had so much fun in this city of pink that night! Pink does not disappoint, and we were so happy to see this great woman, mother, wife that night. She was both humble and funny. She took time out of her show to recognize NWD, and she was so proud to bring her daughter Willow out to sing with her. What a show! When we finally got back to our hotel we walked back down to White+Wong for some cocktails and fried chicken--yummy!

    I'm never going to forget this show and this trip.

    https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/on-the-inside/511238…

    In the morning we had an afternoon flight to Fiji, then onto LA. Funny thing, we were sitting at the Bula Bar (bula=hello) in Fiji and I looked up and who did I see but Kevin & Sandi! What a crack up, it doesn't matter where we are, we're always running into some of our crew.

    We soundly slept all night on the plane and made it to LA in the morning. We picked up our rental car and headed home. Our housesitters, Rachel & Raul were fantastic! They stayed the evening we arrived home so we could catch up, and Chirps and Pizmo were so we'll taken care of.

    Guess who we saw at the Santa Maria airport returning our car on Sunday...    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 26–28

    Queenstown--so amazing!!!

    March 6 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 37 °F

    They call this mountain range the New Zealand Alps, and it's no wonder! From the minute we drove into this area it's easy to see why this is an adreniline junkies heaven!

    Terry picked some really cool excursions for us. Her nephew, artist, Cory Marshall, has a beautiful downtown art gallery here, and I've grown fond of his work. We started off taking a one hour thrill ride on a k-jet boat. Some of our group--James included, was not prepared or impressed! These boats travel at very high speeds, through narrow and shallow gorges--and they somehow make fast circles that will both drench you and take your breath away! It was a little bumpy getting through the rough waters of the larget harbor, but then it calmed down and we really flew! I LOVED it, but James not so much.

    Since the weather was starting to turn we quickly headed up in a gondola to take some luge rides. This gondola was straight up the face of a shear mountain, and it was equipped to take hikers, mountain bikers and us! It was impressive! After a very quick tutorial we were off! We were on a cement track with very few gardrails and although there were height restrictions, there was nothing stopping folks from sitting very young children in their laps. It goes without saying this is an accident waiting to happen--and it would never be allowed in the United States! What could go wrong flying down a track, neck and neck, chasing your friends for bragging rights??? Being the super competitive bunch we were, we had the best time ever! I highly recommend this!

    After an amazing day we walked to Terry and Simon's lakefront hotel for dinner! It was so much fun! It's so cool It stays light so late.

    When we got back to our hotel we had to pack and get ready for our flight from Queenstown to Auckland. It sure is tough to leave this beautiful city and region of south island. It was especially fun to spend time with so many fun friends. Oh ya, the shopping here was amazing too! I can't believe James and I had to stop at kmart to get a new huge suitcase to bring home all our recent purchases!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 25

    Wanaka day two!

    March 5 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F

    Wanaka you did not disappoint! I had a seat mate who was a bus/dev guy for a motor speed facility--who knew there was such a place! He recommended a local restaurant called Stoaker, where they cook everything in pinot noir oak barrels! Omg, what a meal! I think we will be figuring out how to do this in our own backyard!

    James caught a cold so I drove him around to sightsee a nearby lake. We turned around at the venison farm--who knew there was such a thing! I'm sorry there's no pictures.

    Terry's nephew's art studio is here and we might need to come back some day!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 24–26

    We arrived in Wanaka!

    March 4 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 48 °F

    We got up early and boarded an Air New Zealand flight to meet 10 of our friends in the south island. Thus begun the final week of our amazing vacation! Terry and Simon arrived in Queenstown at the same time and that was great because we could follow them to Wanaka. Oh ya, driving on the other side of the road with roundabouts instead of stop lights, with the steering wheel on the other side, and blinkers in place of windshield wipers, made this drive even more stressful--I mean exciting! I was up for the task and off we went!

    This part of the country was absolutely beautiful! This is where people come to ski in the winter and hike and boat during the summer. And it's where wine tasting is mandatory all year round! Truly, one of the most beautiful regions I've ever seen. They call this area the
    Alps, and it's easy see the comparison. It is absolutely my favorite!

    Terry has immediate family in this area and she was instrumental in helping us to choose everything from restaurants to activities. For the most part our hotels were close together and we met up with everyone for activities and meals. This part of the island was quite a dramatic change from bustling Auckland.

    We started out in a cute goldmining town called Arrowtown for breakfast and it was fantastic! Thus begun our foody journey! The area is known for grass fed beef, lamb and even venison, and the dairy here is amazing too! The butter has the most unique flavor, and the egg yolks are the most redish orange I've ever seen. The attention to conservation, the pristine waters and glacier surrounding mountains surpass my wildest dreams.

    We stopped at a few wineries Terry picked out and that was fantastic too, except being the designated driver in an unknown county kinda sucked because I couldn't taste. But that didn't stop me from buying a nice bottle for later in our hotel room!

    Our cute hotel was right across the street from Wanaka lake and just a short walk from the lovely town of Wanaka. It had snowed on the mountains and I was thankful I had new jeans and a sweater to keep me warm.

    Our boat trip did not disappoint! This young lady sheared a 123 pound sheep in record time and the trained puppies go for 10,000 each! I'm going to post twice because this city was amazing! We absolutely loved Wanaka!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 22–24

    Aukland for two days!

    March 2 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F

    After two weeks on the ship we were both excited and sad to leave. Here are a few observations from our ship. Traveling with such a large contingency of like-minded friends guarantees you'll always have something to do with somebody at any give time of day. This ship is large, but there's not a lot to do. I guess after living in Trilogy, we're used to more activities and less sitting around. The weather has been colder than expected so there's not as much pool time as we had hoped. Food is everywhere. I try and steer clear of the junk food, but still, I have a lot of work to do when I get home to get back in shape. There are no more midnight buffets, but they have been replaced by sushi and pizza restaurants, with sunday bars and specialty coffee shops. The two great restaurants cost extra, but they're totally worth it every five days or so. There's a gym, but I only managed a handful of classes. I played a few games of pickleball but the wind made it pretty difficult. With the passing of time we all became so much closer. We had so many laughs, we helped each other when someone needed a hand, and when we were off the ship we had a pack to hang with. Jamie always knew where the museums were, Lori and Paul could always find a local pub, Valerie could always get someone to play her song (Valerie) so she could dance, you could count on Marci being at the spa or drinking great wines with Colleen and Frank. Sandi, Ilyce and Jonica played majong most afternoons, Rich and Sunny were always up for an adventure, Terry always new the best places to eat, and the highly rated sights to see in each city, and everyone got along so well! Life on board a ship for two weeks can be a little tough at times, but honestly, with this crew, it's truly been a pleasure.

    Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, and it has many people and really spread out. We decided to drop off our many bags and we quickly jumped on the hop on, hop off bus. Funny, but even in this large city we managed to find a group of our friends--eating of course! Thank you What's App!

    This city was pretty much like any other large port city. Auckland has the largest port in New Zealand and it was quite busy. After one trip around this lovely city we jumped off the bus and headed to the hotel to check in. We decided to leave all our big luggage in storage at the hotel because we heard Air New Zealand is quite strict about weight.

    We walked around the port and met most of our group at a unique and devine Italian restaurant for dinner called Baduzzi. It was a Saturday night, things were hopping and we were exhausted. A lot of our group planned to leave for Queenstown in the morning so that left James and I, and Howard and Marci to hang out Sunday. We met for Sunday brunch and then we set out shopping to find some warmer clothes. We were on a mission and when the rain came, we were ready!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    Day 21

    Roratoura and Maori Tour

    March 1 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 57 °F

    Apologies, I'm terribly behind with my updates. This was one of my favorite tour and days thus far! Our Viatour guide, Richie, was a retired principal and he was very knowledgeable about the area and culture.

    This little town is amazing, and not unlike some of our own beach towns in California. Aside from the fact there were a lot of geothermal hot springs everywhere, there were pine forests, agricultural kiwi farms, and dairies galor!

    Joining Our tour was Sandi & Kevin, Rich & Sunny, and Colleen & Frank. We soaked our feet in hot thermal pools and we walked on the longest suspended redwood tree walk. We toured a large kiwi farm and it reminded me of Brooks' and Ivor's avocado farm.

    The homes were absolutely beautiful and contmporary and we were reminded once again this area of New Zealand is sitting on multiple volcanic craters. We learned about the over 10,000 earthquakes per year and how after a recent 7.2 earthquake has caused them to institute mandatory earthquake drills in primary school. We shouldn't have done it, but we decided to watch the Netflix White Island movie regarding the geothermal catastrophy that killed and burnt many tourist visiting from a cruise ship. So sad for so many.

    Another thing we learned about was the New Zealand retirement scheme. Everyone receives a modest pension not unlike our social security. Sadly, it's not likely to cover everyone's expenses and they're trying to encourage those coming up to save more in a Save Kiwi fund similar to our IRA plans. Housing is extremely expensive and they have built several retirement communities not unlike a large Trilogy community. If you're fortunate to be able to buy a home here, there's an interesting twist. If you purchase your home for NZD 1M, they agree to pay you back that same amount minus 15% when you move or pass away. If your home appreciates, which of course they do, the developer gets the money when they turn around and sell it to the next person. The is called "SKI," Spending Kids Inheradence. Luckily Brandon & Danielle, we're not moving here!

    Hard to believe it's our last night on board our ship. A few are going home and most are continuing on with us back to part three of our vacation touring South Island. I hate packing the night before you must leave. It's always tough fitting everything back in your bags--especially when you're bringing back souveniors. Of all the 20 of us, James and I bought the most luggage! I will definitely rethink things on our next cruise!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    21
    Day 20

    Another day at sea!

    February 29 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F

    It was a pretty quiet day, but the highlight was getting to take a highly coveted tour of the amazing bridge! A bank of very large windows jut out the front of the bridge. It's really amazing that they can control a ship this size with joy sticks! Needless to say, there's a lot of redundancy going on to ensure we don't run into anything!

    The good news is we got a little pool time before the rain rushed in around lunchtime!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    11
    Day 19

    Fun day in Wellington!

    February 28 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌬 63 °F

    We had a super fun day exploring this great city! Again, we were totally unprepared for the stormy weather, but we remedied that and got some cool New Zealand frocks along the way!

    We took a 200+ year old cable car up to the top of the city with Lori and Paul, Colleen and Frank, and Valerie. We walked all the way back down through the lovely botanical gardens. We got a bit lost in a rainstorm and found a fun pub by lunchtime! I had (light and fluffy) fish and chips, and James had a chicken Ceasars salad! What a hoot! Exact opposite of normal! The guys got tired and went back to the ship, and the girls went exploring and shopping. I had been reading all about this cool art district, and when we eventually found Cuba Street, we barely had time to explore its rich history. I wish I could tell you more about it, but we were practically running at this point!

    We ended with a fabulous Tuscan wine pairing dinner that was lovely and fun! And then Sandy, Sharon, and I tried our hand at gambling a bit. Sharon was doing fantastic, but me not so much. I came back with a $5 chip and called it a win!    Read more

  • Australia & New Zealand
    1
    Day 17

    What a fun birthday!

    February 26 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    Another fun thing about visiting down under is you get multiple birthdays! I got to celebrate my Australian birthday the day before my US birthday, and then I got to celebrate my US birthday the next day again! It was fun and fabulous!

    James and I took a lovely train ride through the gold country in Dunedin, and when we got back we met up with Collen, Frank, and Valerie at a local pub. We had time for a fun street art walking tour and a quick shopping trip. I have discovered I packed a lot of workout gear and not enough warmer clothes. Oh well, what's a girl to do, but shop a little on her birthday 🙃

    It was great to talk with my sister and kids too! What a fun birthday! The girls all took me to dinner, and the guys met up and had dinner together too. They gave me a lovely butterfly necklace made from New Zealand abalone, and everyone wore them the night of our dinner. I truly have the sweetest friends!

    We are seriously going to hate leaving this ship and our crew. We have eaten far too much food and last night started drinking the really good wine. I can only imagine what trouble we're going to get into during the last few nights...    Read more

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