by rob bernhard, at the fox river trolley museum in south elgin, il
Archives for category: photos
I can
0
driving from queenstown to franz josef
franz josef glacier
be sure to rollover ‘notes’ to see photo captions!
We ported in Hobart, Tasmania and enjoyed a room service breakfast. The particular brand of Australian yogurt the ship stocked was the best yogurt I’ve ever tasted.
We took a bus tour from Hobart out to the countryside, where we saw acres and acres of hops fields. Tasmania is the largest hop-growing area in the Southern hemisphere! We saw gorgeous sweeping plains and rolling hills – beautiful even though the state was in the grip of a serious drought.
We visited Mt. Field National Park, the smallest national park in Tasmania, and home to Russell Falls. We walked through the forest, under giant tree ferns and over creeks. We saw cute little rufus wallabies everywhere! Russell Falls was secluded and magical-feeling, even though the drought left it at a mere trickle. I hiked a side path to Horseshoe Falls (I think), and heard white cockatoos in the trees.
We went on to Meadowbank, where we were treated to a private tour of the sheep farm and winery – something they only do for Princess Cruises. The owner, Gerald Ellis, demonstrated a sheep muster with his dogs, old Cooter and young, eager Ruby. He directed them, all the way up in the hills, using only whistles!
After the muster, Andrew demonstrated shearing a Merino sheep. Our model was a sheep they call a ‘criminal’ – a Merino that managed to avoid the yearly shear and now carried far too much wool.
We were served a homemade BBQ dinner outdoors, by Gerald and his family and staff. We were able to taste and purchase their delicious wines. The cruise videographer sat at our table and we got to hear a lot of anecdotes about life aboard ship, and the cruise industry in general.
On to Bonorong Wildlife Park, and if we were worried we wouldn’t get to see a kangaroo…there were kangaroos everywhere! Not the giant red kangaroos, but smaller (still imposing) kangaroos, which hopped about freely in a giant enclosure. There was feed, and they eagerly ate from our hands! We could rub their necks (a place that’s hard for them to get to) and feel their soft, coarse fur and sharp-clawed, clever hands. We saw emus too, and Tasmanian devils, running around in circles and growling!
At the end, we got to see the main attraction – the koalas! The keeper brought out Banjo – a 30-35 lb. koala who was about 17 years old (koalas usually only live to 12!). He was sleepy and patient, and calmly clung to his branch while we all clambered to get our photos taken and pet his soft little back.
We were running really short of time, but on our way out I was able to pet a wombat! Wombats are my favorite – cute little faces, look like squares from above, and fur that feels sort of like a kangaroo (coarse like a little brush!).
Back on the ship we went to Aunt Linnea’s for snacks, then had dinner at Santa Fe. Afterwards, we caught the stage show ‘Do You Wanna Dance?’
at Bonorong Wildlife Park in Tasmania, Australia
be sure to rollover ‘notes’ to see photo captions!
Feb. 14, Valentine’s Day
Fiordland National Park cruising day…but rainy and cold with almost no visibility. Slept in, breakfast buffet, got some throat lozenges because I could feel a cold coming on – probably the same one Dad had been fighting throughout the trip. Went to morning trivia and checked out the ship’s Valentine’s Day decorations…which were INSANE.
Hung out on the sun deck, had the Indian buffet for lunch and saw the guy who looked a lot like Grandpa again. Went to afternoon tea! Afterwards the rain finally let up and we could see the fjords we were cruising through. But of course, the only one we got to see was Milford Sound, which we’d already toured.
Mom and Dad played some ping pong then at dinner, Aunt Linnea and Dad threw down a ping pong challenge! Mom gave our waiter some chocolate for Valentine’s Day and to make it extra special, put it down her shirt first! He thought it was hilarious and was very thankful 🙂
Feb. 15
Got up early and ran around the top deck and went to exercise class. Captain’s Circle meeting, vegetable-carving demonstration, ship-wide ping pong tournament. Went to tea with Mom, saw the ‘Piano Man’ stage show, watched ‘the Time Traveler’s Wife’ in the main theater, and saw Jack Wilks’ comedy show after dinner.
Feb. 16
Slept in – didn’t feel well. Dad brought me breakfast and I stayed in bed and watched ‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’. Mom brought me soup and then I went up and watched Dad and Aunt Linnea battle it out over ping pong. I did my puzzles outside for awhile and worked on my tan. After dinner, watched ‘the Proposal’ in bed and ate way too many cakes and cookies.
be sure to rollover ‘notes’ to see photo captions!
We ported in Chalmers, and came ashore to a chilly, rainy day. A perfect day for a train ride! We boarded the Taieri Gorge Railway, a historic stretch of the Otago Central Railway, and wound our way through the rocky countryside. Most of the time we followed the Taieri River, dipping into the Taieri Gorge.
The train cars were vintage, and our host and hostess were incredibly kind and entertaining – wonderful ambassadors for their country and completely consistent with the level of kindness and consideration we experienced with every Kiwi.
On board, we sipped mimosas as we watched the countryside glide by, ate a surprisingly delicious box lunch (including wine from Montana, the winery Mom, Dad and I toured!).
After the beautiful train ride we boarded buses and visited Larnach Castle. We had a great guided tour of the house, and heard the sad story of the family who first lived there (read more via the links here). We had time to explore the house and grounds, and I spent a good amount of time on the roof (accessed via a very tight steep stairway) enjoying the near-360° ocean view. The castle and grounds were beautiful and reminded me a bit of Linderhof Palace. Less grand, of course, but a similar feel: grand palace in miniature, beautiful grounds.
That evening we went to Aunt Pat and Uncle Denny’s cabin for wine, and I brought some appetizers from the buffet. From their balcony we could see a bagpiper and drummer playing our farewell down on the dock (Dunedin is very Scottish)! We had dinner in the Santa Fe – I had an AMAZING Thai rice crème brûlée with lime sorbet.
van gogh: but you’re not armed!
the doctor: I am.
van gogh: with what?
the doctor: overconfidence, this [pats suitcase], and a small screwdriver – I’m absolutely sorted.
be sure to rollover ‘notes’ to see photo captions!
We ported in Lyttleton and took buses into Christchurch. Aunt Pat, Uncle Denny, Mom, Dad and I loaded into a little jetboat and had a hair-raising trip down the Waimakariri River, or the ‘Waimack’ as the locals call it. The boats only draft a few inches when they get going, so we skimmed along the shallow, rocky-bottomed river with no trouble, even though sometimes it _looked_ like we’d be in trouble! The pilot was really nice, and did a lot of 360°s for us. It. Was. Awesome! We also ran into some men scouting out the river for the annual race that starts in the Southern Alps and ends down the Waimakariri.
After jetboating we had tea and cookies up at the meeting house, then took a little bus tour of Christchurch.
be sure to rollover ‘notes’ to see photo captions!
Got up early – 6:30am! – for an exercise class, then Mom joined me for the stretching class afterwards. Went to the omelettes-to-order station and the buffet for breakfast with Mom, Dad and Uncle Denny.
Watched the fruit-carving demonstration in the atrium, hosted by our assistant cruise director, Mark (who is hilarious on the ship’s morning show), stayed for a bit of the martini-mixing show, then read on-deck until it started to rain. Hit the special Asian/sushi buffet for lunch then we went to the wine tasting. It was a pretty big affair, and the wines were delicious.
Hung out in our cabin until it was time to get dressed up for the first formal night of the cruise. Got great spots to watch the champagne waterfall, then had dinner at Pacific Moon and watched the couples dancing to Maurizio’s music in the atrium – including one man dancing extremely oddly.
be sure to rollover ‘notes’ to see photo captions!
We ordered breakfast in-room to save some time, since we had to be at our meeting point very early in the morning. Our first port was Tauranga, and our first shore excursion was to Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland, a park where we explored some of the features of the volcanic area.
First we drove through Te Puke, the world center of kiwifruit. We made a comfort stop and I called Maria to wish her a happy birthday. At Wai-O-Tapu we saw the Lady Knox geyser erupt, then spent awhile walking around the park, looking at vast boiling crates of mud and steaming, sulfurous, color-encrusted pools.
We had lunch at the top of Mt. Ngongotaha, and enjoyed a Maori cultural show. We drove through the government botanic gardens and saw the old baths and bathhouse. We also saw a spring that was 1000° that feeds water to the Polynesian spa, which gets up to 40°C.
We drove on to Rainbow Springs Kiwi Wildlife Park. Trout are bred here, and there were endless ponds bursting with huge trout. We saw a lot of big fish up close, pretty birds, and redwoods that were over 80 years old. Apparently, for some reason redwoods grow twice as fast in NZ. We also saw a longfinned eel (called ‘tuna’ in Maori) that liked to hang out inside a pipe, upside down!
Back at ship, we left port and I read and had a mojito out on deck. We hit the buffet for dinner, then saw a musical stage show.