Day 25 Monday November 21, 2011 - Auckland Since we had only one full day in Auckland we decided to get up earlier than usual start to take in some of the local sights. We headed for the Skytower, which claims to be the tallest building in the southern hemisphere where we were hoping to have breakfast in one of the two restaurants. Using the term building is a stretch as it is similar to the Seattle space needle as the Skytower is a large spire in the middle of downtown Auckland. We paid the $28 per person fee to get access to two viewing platforms within the tower and took the elevator to the first platform, which is 610 feet high. We are notified that the restaurants are not yet open but there is a ... read more

Wednesday, November 16, 2011 Jim wanted to leave Wellington by 9:00 since we have at least 6 hours on the road today. We settle into the car but we aren't going anywhere. The battery is dead. Jim checks in with the office to see if someone can give us a jump. The woman in the office instructs Jim to go to the mechanics shop across the street, ask for Darryl, and let him know he was sent there by the staff from Victoria Lodge and that he needed help. It was raining so Jim quickly navigated traffic to cross the road. Inside the shop Darryl was working on a car and asked how he could help. Without a question he offered a small battery pack to jump the car and Jim was on his way. Within ... read more

Saturday November 12, 2011 - Day 17 Our plan for the day was to drive to the town of Nelson for the day to see the sights and seek out a couple of breweries and the hop fields. As we left Blenheim Lisa calmly reminded Jim that we are supposed to drive on the left. After he exited the right hand lane and returned to the left hand lane, he gave Lisa the official job of reminding him of this information throughout the rest of the trip. The road was fairly straight and we passed about another 1,000 sheep in multiple pastures. Along the way we passed through a few small towns and remembered that one of the locals told us there are no stop lights in Blenheim and through the country side all we came ... read more

Tuesday, November 8, 2011 - Day 13 Jim checks online to ensure we have everything we need for our flight out tomorrow morning and we arrange for a taxi to pick us up at 5:00 am the next morning. Adelaide has a central market similar to other big cities where local produce, meat, cheese, and other wares are sold . Central Market in Adelaide was no exception as it too had a wonderful selection to choose from, including small cafes to get a bite to eat. We ate our way through the marketplace including fresh baked bread, pastries both savory and sweet. This market also has many stores attached to the facility and we ended up in Chinatown. This was the only place we found cheap eats in Adelaide. Jim has commented that there has been ... read more

Friday November 4, 2011 - Day 9 As you may have seen in the last blog entry, there were pictures of the Great Barrier Reef. Jim was a little ahead on that one. We took a tour of the Reef on Sunlovers Cruises. We boarded a catamaran around 10 AM and set out for our adventure. When the crew went through the safety orientation at the beginning of the trip, they showed how to put on the life jacket and stated in the event of an evacuation order we should say a prayer and jump overboard. Luckily we did not have to experience this. There was one stop at Fitzroy Island where some people disembarked for an overnight stay. The total time to the reef including the short stop was an hour and 15 minutes. Sunlovers ... read more