New Zealand Feb 2008

I left Denver on 4 Feb 2008 for San Francisco before heading off to New Zealand for 12 days and then Sydney Australia for two more nights, before coming back to the states. This then attempts to cover the highlights of my trip. Here is a quick breakdown of the trip:

San Francisco : two nights

New Zealand (North Island)
Auckland : two nights
Whakatane : one night
Rotorua : two nights
Wellington : one night

New Zealand (South Island)
Picton : two nights
Christchurch : two nights

Sydney : two nights

As luck would have it, primarily due to my current Premier status with United, I was upgraded for free to Economy Plus for both my SFO to Sydney and Sydney to LAX flight segments, which made life on those long flights quite a bit easier to deal with.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Auckland, Whakatane, Wellington, Christchurch, and Sydney. I did manage to see a live Kiwi (the bird) at a zoo of sorts, but since they need quiet and dark conditions, didn't get one captured on film. They were a bit larger than I was expecting, just a bit smaller than a bowling ball.

I learned some non-intuitive terms along the way. In Whakatane I found out that "Jumper" was our equivalent of sweater or sweatshirt, and in Picton figured out that "Tucker" means food.

By the way, some of the video clips I have posted do have audio with them, like for the Asian Short Clawed Otters. They were some noise makers.

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Trip Length: 2 weeks
Blog Entries: 20
Photos: 543
Words: 3666

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Blog Entries

Date	Blog Title	Location
February 6th 2008	Bicycle Ride over the Golden Gate and back through the Presidio	North America » United States » California » San Francisco
February 8th 2008	Auckland Arrival!	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland
February 9th 2008	Rangitoto Island Tour	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland » Rangitoto
February 9th 2008	Auckland Sky Tower	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Auckland
February 11th 2008	White Island Tour	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Bay of Plenty » Whakatane
February 12th 2008	Rotorua	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Rotorua
February 13th 2008	Wellington Botanic Garden via Cable Car	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington
February 14th 2008	Wellington to Picton Ferry Ride	Oceania » New Zealand » North Island » Wellington
February 14th 2008	Picton Arrival	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton
February 15th 2008	Tirohanga Track Hike	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton
February 15th 2008	Kentucky Eataways	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Picton
February 16th 2008	Hotel SO	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch
February 17th 2008	International Antarctic Centre	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch
February 17th 2008	Willowbank Wildlife Reserve	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch
February 17th 2008	Christchurch Gondola	Oceania » New Zealand » South Island » Christchurch
February 19th 2008	Sydney Bike Tour	Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney
February 19th 2008	Manly Beach Excursion	Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney » Manly
February 20th 2008	One Last Look at Sydney from High Above	Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney
February 20th 2008	Hyde Park	Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney
February 20th 2008	Sydney Opera House	Oceania » Australia » New South Wales » Sydney