Brent B

My driver was to pick me up at 10:00 today, so I woke up around 8:00 am showered and pack up my things. I left my luggage in the lobby as I walked the ten minutes into town to find some breakfast. It was 9:30 I hustled and took it to go, only to have the driver be 20 minutes late. He had gotten stuck behind a wreck, but when he did arrive he apologized helped me with my bag and we were off. Mark owns the company Shuttle2U and he hosts a little three hour tour that you can take for a small fee, it was well worth it. Since it was just me I was able to have a conversation versus just being talked to, pretty nice deal. He told me about the size ... read more

What a day. I am sitting here trying to collect my thoughts, remembering everything that I did and thinking through how I am going to put this all into a blog posting. Here goes. I was picked up by my transfer shuttle just before 7:00 am, so once again an early start so that I could shower and pack my things. There were about a dozen of us that boarded the bus and off we went. We drove down the main Southern Highway out of Auckland and through small rural townships with green rolling hills dotted with cows and sheep. Once we left the city it seemed that the rest of the island looked exactly like the Shire. Never did see a hobbit though. The first stop was Waitomo, which is a cave tour that ends ... read more

Day two on the boat I woke up early, around 5:00 to watch the sunrise. That happened around 6:20, so I was definitely plenty early. Sleeping on a boat is an experience in and of itself. The gentle swaying, and every so often a not so gentle sway that knocks you into the wall. It is easy to wake up early on boats. My quarters were nice, not as nice as my solo room with shower like I had in French Polynesia, but it was fine. So anyway, between the time when I woke up and the sun came up, I had time to make a tea and set a chair up on the sun deck. John from Sacramento joined me up there and we talked while the sun peaked out above the clouds. He was ... read more

My day two started early once again. This day I would be heading up to the Australia Zoo, near Beerwah and the Glass House Mountains. The zoo was started by Steve Irwin’s father, who evidently collected crocodiles and snakes that people wanted removed from their land. With a decently large collection he decided maybe he could make a few dollars and educate people. I remember his name being Bob Irwin, so that is what I’ll call him. Bob was part of the show and would work hands on with the crocs, late in life he decided that he was a step too slow and turned the family business over to Steve, who I am certain you are all familiar with. I am here visiting on the month of his death six years ago. The park is ... read more

We woke up way too early, I had a shower and we packed up. The car was back at Avis by 5:15, and we were on the shuttle to the airport by 5:30. After we paid our taxes, we stood in line until Sophie got called to the front; evidently they were confused with the Aussie flying to Houston onto Australia. It worked out really well because it gave us some time to do some souvenir shopping before heading to our gate. We were cutting it pretty close. I bought Sophie a little pin of a blue jean frog to take home with here and remind her of the trip. I thought it would pair well with the Captain America magnet I got her in LA; I have the nickname with her roommates so I thought ... read more