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New Zealand In
Luxury and Style
I loved working with Joan to plan this
incredibly special 40th anniversary trip for her and
her husband Richard! She wanted luxury lodges, but was open to
my suggestions about including a few places where she was more
likely to mingle with the locals. She also wanted to do a few
things they had never done before – like fly fishing! As I do
with all clients, I asked about their hobbies and interests, and
had great fun with this couple because he is in the wool yarn
business! What better place to go than New Zealand, famed for
having more sheep than people! Enjoy their ride.....
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009
- Christchurch
Well after 40 years I finally know how to make my husband
happy.... We are staying in a guest house. This is our first
experience with this type of accommodation. I thought that since
we didn't know any one in this country it might be a nice
introduction, and a way to get to "know the natives." -- Last
night we joined them and about 20 of their local guests at a
cocktail party they hosted. The guests were all their local
friends who also enjoy race cars as a hobby. This morning we
took off with a helicopter to Kaikoura to go whale
watching....We then flew to wine country to lunch in the garden
of the Pegasus Bay Winery in Amberly.
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 2009 - Queenstown
We flew to Queenstown and were
picked up at the airport by our guide Harvey for a day of fly
fishing! ...The day was spectacularly beautiful coupled with
the scenery of snow capped mountains, fields and paddocks with
over 10,000 heads of sheep and a winding stream as clear as
bottled water.
...We were waiting to hear from our helicopter pilot with
Over The Top about the trip to Milford Sound – IF the
clouds would ever clear. Then my cell rang and it was the pilot
from Over the Top helicopters telling us the weather has cleared
and we were on!! You would think that after such a day there
would be little that could top it but,,,,,, this was really OVER
THE TOP. I do not have words for the sights that came before
our eyes! The snow capped mountains, the glaciers, and
waterfalls and lakes and rivers and valleys! ...
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 2009 – Wharekauhau
Wharekauhau is a working sheep farm
but there is also a Lodge on this property. There is a beautiful
main house where the meals are served. The decor is perfect...
modern” rugged beachy" with exposed beams, and an open kitchen
with a chef who makes magic meals! There are several huge
sitting rooms decorated to the nines. Each could easily be
photographed for architectural digest.... Past the main house is
a pool house with a full length pool plus a well equipped gym
and a great masseuse.....The "cottages”, which are each
separate guest suites, are at the other end of the house There
are only 10, each cottage beautifully decorated in whites, pale
yellows and sand colors.....
Fri. 27 Nov 2009 - From Paradise
Tucked in the hills overlooking
Russell Harbor with a view of the Bay of Islands, is a
piece of Paradise known to the people "in the know" as Eagles
Nest. At Eagles Nest there is one "cottage" known as Temple
of the First Light....What a place!! .. truly unique!.... We
took an 8 seater plane over the very tip, where the Tasman Sea
collides with the Pacific Ocean – a fabulous sight! We saw
beaches where no one has walked for years (some are protected).
....We landed near a beach for tea and baked goods -- and 30 to
40 foot sand dunes where we "sledded down"!
Date: Fri, 27 Nov 2009 - Auckland
.... our driver and guide from
Potiki Tours, Melissa, picked us up at 10am and off to the
Auckland Museum for a wonderful explanation about the
Maori people.... After the museum, she took us around the city
to contemporary galleries to show us how the Maori have used
their heritage in modern art. It was a great way to see glimpses
of the city, speak to a native, and see some great and
interesting art and installations.
For the full text of their emails to friends
and family, click here:
Tour Summary (View/Save PDF)
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An
Australian Adventure
Bill and Betty
wanted to see Australia up close and “ok if we get a bit dirty”
No teenage thrills, just an authentic experience with nature and
the outback.
Although their
journey began in Sydney, this travel log, based on a shorter
version that appeared in International Travel News in
June 2010, starts at the end- on the Outback Mail Plane north of
the Flinders Ranges. Hang on for the ride!
... the mail plane
landed on the dirt runway with a few bumps. An old jalopy
covered with dust inside and out pulled up. Out stepped a man
who’d probably never shaved or had a haircut. His hat was a
proud one - sweat stained, cracked rim, with the gritty
reminders of good times pasted all over it.....In we went for
tea. Half an hour later (during which time we were mistaken for
the bar-keep since by now we were behind the counter) Tom said
we have to leave, to keep on his mail delivery schedule.....
The Outback is vast.
It fills 95% of a continent the same size as the lower 40 of the
USA. We were there after a very wet year (happens once a
decade). Large areas of green dotted the almost barren
landscape. Occasionally we passed over a shallow salt lake.
Tom would point into the distance: "See that station?" The
stations are huge. One of them was until recently some 10,000
square miles -- about the size of Rhode Island -- and it had
only one house. On our way to Birdsville, we stopped at about
10-12 such stations.....
We landed in Sydney
in a pouring rain that continued except for the morning we took
the bridge climb. We both really hate heights but neither of
us felt any sense of fear on the bridge climb. The views
are fabulous as you look down on the harbor and the famous Opera
House.
From there we headed
north to Cairns....we boarded a large catamaran (Synergy)
and headed out of the harbor to the Great Barrier Reef, ....
There were only six passengers.... We practically had the
Reef to ourselves the entire time.... The water is relatively
clear and you see thousands of fish, but the big attraction is
the coral. You can swim along the edge of the reef, moving out
of the little bays and inlets. Giant clams (and some of them
were really giant) were common.
The next day we drove
to the World Heritage Daintree Rainforest.... one of the
few remaining places in the world that go back 250 million
years. Plants, new to science, were found there just a few
years ago. When you stand there under an almost complete canopy
of palms, you are in the same forest the dinosaurs walked. It
was a humbling feeling to know the seed pod I was holding could
trace its lineage back hundreds of millions of years and we,
humans, could only go back a million or so.
We never thought we
would see a Cassowary but a large female, whose name was
Big Bertha by the way, walked within 20 feet of us and didn't
seem too concerned.....
From the Daintree we
drove ...into the Atherton Tablelands, to the Jabiru
Safari Lodge.... This place is worth going if just to meet
Chook and his wife Tracey. He is what you picture when you
think of an original Australian bloke: shorts, hiking boots,
sock covers to keep the twisting seeds from burrowing into his
ankles, a shirt and hat.....
From there we headed
south, deeper into the Atherton Tablelands. It looks like
Ireland without the rock fences. The hill sides were vibrant
green and full of livestock. We drove to several
waterfalls.....
Early the next morning
drove a bit to a bridge that Chook had told us about. The mist
had barely lifted from the fields. A spider web hung between
the strands of barbed wire glistening with dew -- a thousand
diamonds in the early morning sun. On the right down a 10 foot
bank was a narrow stream.... It was peaceful, cool and still.
We were the only people on the bank and there were few cars on
the road that early. We walked as quietly as possible and
there, all of a sudden, was a platypus.....
....we boarded another
plane to Kangaroo Island.... a place you need to see to
believe. It is about 50X100 miles long and as green a place as
I have ever seen. It is full of kangaroos, wallabies, and now
koalas. In fact it has so many koalas they have started a
population control program. We were met at the plane by Peter
Morris, with Kangaroo Island
Wilderness Tours.
You need a guided tour if you have only a couple of days. The
island is big and the places you want to see are far apart, so
it is better to have somebody drive and tell you about the place
on the way than do it yourself..... On one beach we watched New
Zealand fur seals dozing on the rocks as huge waves came in and
crashed against the shore. For somebody like me who likes the
ocean, this was about as close to heaven as I could get. The
other side of the island had Australian sea lions and, if you
have a guide, you can go down on the beach..... We also had
walks through the eucalyptus, finding koalas as well as the
hundreds of kangaroos, wallabies, and one huge ant.....
This was an absolutely
wonderful trip. Karolyn Wrightson of Essential Down Under
Travel
and
my wife Betty talked many times before arriving at an itinerary
and they got it right. We like to start early, end late, get
wet, cold, and tired and we did all these things. It would be
hard to overstate the warm interactions we had with people we
met at front desks, on the walking trails, or on the beach.
If you decide to go I
would call Karolyn first. Her selections were exactly
what we wanted to do and her choice of accommodations was just
what we wanted. She knew we wanted to see as much of Australia
as possible in a little over two weeks and she was able to do
it.....
For the complete
report, click here:
Tour Summary (View/Save PDF)
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