Christchurch

From Christchurch, we took the Tranzalpine Express up into the mountains. We were very lucky to be on this wonderful railroad adventure as it was raining in Christchurch when we docked.  After traveling up into the mountains to Arthur's Pass, we had lunch at the Wilderness Lodge, which is in the middle of a working sheep station.  So we were up close and personal with the sheep on the ranch.

We enjoyed a great lunch at the ranch with some great wine --George managed to stow a bottle back to the boat -- 2004 Stonewall Marlborough Merlot!  We slept most of the way back to Christchurch -- but George managed to get a few great pictures when we stopped for photos.

Back in Christchurch, we stopped at the Arts Center for a few brief moments of shopping.  Ann managed to buy a few skeins of beautifully hand dyed New Zealand wool.  So it was a very successful day!

Down Under in Auckland

Here we are in beautiful Auckland, New Zealand. As the signpost indicates, we're truly a world apart -- approximately 10500 KM away from home! However, Auckland feels a lot like San Francisco on a good day.  The trees and ferns seem familiar to us -- redwoods and monterrey pine have been imported here over the years.  Many hills and mountains -- all really part of a large volcanic landscape.  The pictures here were taken from the top of Mt. Eden which we walked down under the guidance of a Maori guide who led us through the city showing us various Maori cultural sights -- too many pictures to include -- you'll have to come visit us on our return to see the slideshow...

On our second day here, we traveled inland to Rotorua to view the lake and visit the warm springs.  We took a gondola up Mount Ngongotaha and had a wonderful lunch  after which George decided to take a luge ride down the mountain!  He had a great time.  I was ready to throw him in the warm springs!
The Warm Springs at Whakarewarewa were really quite amazing -- and I didn't throw George in.

Fiji

How exciting -- A welcome greeting from Fiji Warriors!  We enjoyed a hot, humid day in Viti Levu, one of the larger Fijian islands.  A beautiful island famous for its scenery and its orchids. 

We visited a Rotary International project in the middle of the island where Rotary International is building a model village for disenfranchised Fijians. The picture below is an Indian dance performed by children of the village. The village has 120 homes currently with another 160 projected. What a wonderful project!

Bloody Marys on Bora Bora

So enough of the beautiful vistas here in paradise!  George and I spent part of Superbowl Sunday here at Bloody Mary's having Bloody Marys and watching the Superbowl in French! We had just taken a long, bumpy ride around Bora Bora and really needed a drink!  

George started out the day walking on the ocean floor -- He absolutely loved it! He got some great pictures too!

But I can't leave you without a beautiful image of one of the many island hotels that are built out on the motus -- picture perfect and so idyllic!

Tahitian Pearls

Welcome to French Polynesia!  We docked on Wednesday at Raitea.  Again, calm seas, a little overcast and weather in the 80's.  Here you see the welcome we received from the locals as we took a pontoon boat out to the island of Tahaa where there was a pearl farm.  We enjoyed the demonstration, learned that it takes 4 years with a 2% success rate to obtain a saleable pearl, and bought no pearls!   BUT, the island of Tahaa is the largest producer of vanilla beans!  We were successful in buying Tahitian vanilla beans in Papeete, a few days later!

Running with the Dolphins

Here we are anchored at the most beautiful island of Moorea!  It is Thursday and we had a perfect day here.  First of all, the island is the ultimate paradise, relatively unspoiled.  Now we know why we are here -- words and even this picture cannot describe....Then we went out on a pontoon boat with a Marine biologist, Dr. Michael Poole, from UC Santa Cruz who has been living on this beautiful island for 20 years and found a school of dolphins!   It was a wonderful trip -- even if we hadn't found the dolphins!

Captain Neptune

Crossed the equator yesterday!  Celebrated with champagne and a party on deck. The crew had a great time inaugurating all the polywogs.  Totally silly stuff.  Even threw the captain into the pool!  Another wonderful day at sea -- George and I both got sunburned sitting out on our deck!