Momster

Today we checked a "must-do" item off our tourist list and made the trek to Milford Sound. We boarded a bus at 7 AM and 6 hours later arrived at the sound for a 2 hour boat ride to the ocean and back, then rode the bus straight through, arriving back in Queenstown at 7:30 PM, having traveled 600 km, according to our bus driver. Never thought it would be so exhausting to just sit and ride for a whole day. But the specular scenery (made even more dramatic by recent snow) on the drive was worth the "ordeal". So much of it was difficult to photograph through the bus window, but will reside forever in my mind's eye... We started off in the dark driving around the south arm of Lake Waikatipu, and gradually the ... read more

(Note to self: You are too old and cranky to book yourself into any more 24-plus hours travel ordeals ever again!) Somehow we survived the first leg of our journey and arrived in Auckland, where our connecting flight, once again, was delayed--this time due to weather (wind) issues in Queenstown. While canceling the flight was considered, we ended up being the last one to land in Queenstown for the day. Some good things eventually came out of that situation (see below), and we arrived safely in a very wet and windy Queenstown, minus a few fingernails, but otherwise fine. Sharon: Good Thing--The fortuitous last minute gate change and delayed flight (Auckland to Queenstown) that resulted in us sitting next to Frasier, a Queenstown resident, in the gate area, who gave us advice about things to do ... read more

A note to my loyal blog readers: This is my last entry--yay! About time, since we've been home for 2 weeks! I just want to tell you all that your encouragement and positive comments spurred me to carry on while on the trip, fighting with bad internet connections and too little free time in which to blog. Once home, I felt committed to finished up my take on our adventures for my own record/memories. I appreciate those of you who have continued to follow along, clicking through my ever increasing text and number of photo uploads! ;-) Cheers to La Bell'Italia--hope you all have your own adventures there someday that you'll share with me... ****************************************************************************************************** It's hard to believe today was our last full day in Italy--and full doesn't begin to describe it! We rose at ... read more

Happy Birthday, Dave! The day dawned wet and gray again, so we let the birthday boy sleep in--plus he's fighting a cold :-( Everyone at the pensione seemed to think it was bound to clear up today, so after another huge breakfast from Luigi (we actually had to ask for less food), we formulated a plan to visit one of the medieval watchtowers down the coast and stop in at one of the tiny beach towns, Conca di Marini, nearby. We were aided in our adventures by Angela, who once again helped us when we failed to catch the inconsistent and overfull buses in the rain, by driving us out of town far enough that we could walk the rest of the way. Fortunately, the rain dissipated just about the time we got going, but our ... read more

We bid Sorrento a fond farewell, and vowed to return someday, as the song says... We realized a few days ago that there was no way we were going to be able to make the transfer between Sorrento and our next destination, Praiano, on the other side of the peninsula on public transportation, not with all our luggage and accumulated odds and ends. So we hired a pricey driver for the 45 minute drive, but in the end he was worth every Euro. From the minute Maurizio loaded our numerous bags into his van, he was friendly and knowledgeable, pointing out sights, imparting historical, cultural, architectural, geological tidbits, to improve our understanding of this area, all while negotiating the road with amazing grace! Once on the Amalfi Coast Drive, he stopped at an overlook, so we ... read more