Travel through our eyes!
July 15, 2015
Today on the way to Yellowstone National Park we drove to Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park. The park is located in Whitehall, MT. We took a tour of one of the most decorated limestone caverns in the Northwest. It was lined with stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and helictites which were lit up electrically. It was a cool experience.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Yellowstone Park, Wyoming.
July 14, 2015
Today we started our road trip to Butte, Montana from Walla Walla, Washington. We drove past a few copper mines. One was The Steward, and other was The Con which was pretty cool.
We also visited The Berkeley Pit it’s a 1700 foot deep hole. It is filled to a depth of about 900 feet (270 m) with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level), about the acidity of cola or lemon juice. As a result, the pit is laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals that leach from the rock, including copper, arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Yellowstone, Montana.
February 21st – 23rd, 2015
Today we had a lovely scenic drive from Queenstown to Franz Josef Glacier we drove on Crown Range Road which had wonderful views of the valley. We saw a change in landscape and lifestyle while driving through. We saw lakes and farmlands with amazing mountain and valley views. We arrived and checked into our Bed & Breakfast called Westwood lodge which is owned and operated by a female named Kaz Gilmore. It was really cute it’s right by the village and has a great view of the Southern Alps. The next day we had a glacier hike. We drove to a secluded area and walked through the forest with a guide to a big open space where we proceeded to walk to the edge of the glacier which was about 1/2 mile walk. We had a helicopter ride to the do a glacier walk but the accident that happened in Queenstown made me nervous so we canceled the flight and decided to do the tour on foot.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Christchurch, New Zealand.
February 18th – 21st, 2015
Today we flew to New Zealand we had a bit of a mishap at the airport. They are so strict with people coming into their country that they hassle you. They checked the bottom of our shoes they even took my purse that was handmade by palm leaves. We understand why they go through this but they should go about it in another way. It was uncomfortable especially since they had multiple signs that said we will be charged a lot of money if we had dirty shoes.
We checked into The Dairy – A Boutique Hotel and we were greeted at the door by the owners and we had a great experience. The hospitality, service, and breakfast were amazing. I would definitely recommend everyone who visits Queenstown stays at the Dairy.
Once we got settled into the hotel we decided to take a walk around town and took a lot of the pictures of this beautiful place. After having a quick bite to eat we decided to get back to the hotel and get ready for tomorrow.
February 19, 2015
Today we had a Milford helicopter cruise over the Southern Alps to see glaciers and frozen lakes. We woke up in the morning and while we were getting ready we got a phone call that the helicopter tour was canceled due to weather. Since we had the day to ourselves we decided to take a scenic walk around town. John wasn’t feeling good so we decided to go to the doctor and get him some antibiotics other than that we stayed local.
February 20, 2015
Today we woke up to horrifying news that a helicopter from the same company we hired had gone down even though they had bad conditions the owners son and a seasoned pilot decided to go up and check things out and somehow flew into a mountain. Since that happened I had told John to cancel the helicopter ride that we had scheduled at the Franz Josef Glacier. I was a bit nervous going on a ride since that happened. After dealing with the news we finished getting ready because we had a wine tour scheduled. The winery tour was amazing we tried some really nice Chardonnay’s and John and I preferred Pinot Grigio but now we are fans of Chardonnay. We visited the Gibbston Valley Vineyard and the Felton Road Vineyard. I ended up purchasing lavender oil, lotion, and ironing water which were made by a local in the area. If anybody knows me well they know I LOVE anything handmade or homemade.
Follow us on our journey the next and last destination on this trip is Franz Josef, New Zealand.
February 13th – 17th, 2015
Today we flew to Hamilton island to visit our friends Keith & Kerrie who live there full time. The island is unique most people get around on golf carts. The only people who drove cars were the people who worked for the island.
There are some really good restaurants and a lot of wallabies and at night or I should say at dusk there were hundreds of bats flying up in the sky. We found out that one person owns the island and therefore owns all the retail stores and the restaurants which is wild!
We took a helicopter to The Great Barrier Reef the ride was amazing it looked like another planet. We saw Whitsunday Island and the famous Heart Reef. Snorkeling and scuba diving is world renowned many people come from all over the world just for that.
The next day our friend Keith took us to Hamilton Island Golf Club it was one of the best courses we ever played on. We had to take a boat to the island where the golf course was. Mostly every tee had a view of the water.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Queenstown, New Zealand.
February 11th & 12th, 2015
Today we had a city tour of Sydney. We drove to the Blue Mountains. On the way, we saw the 2000 Olympic site at Homebush. When we got to the Blue Mountains out tour guide pointed out some rock formations one called the Three sisters and we got a panoramic view of the beautiful valleys and mountains.
We rode the world’s steepest perpendicular railway which plunges 700 feet into the valley to visit the bottom of the mountains. I have posted a picture of one of the pathway/walkway. We decided to walk back up instead of taking the railway which took about 10 minutes.
We took the ferry to Bondi Beach and had a drink at a bar at the end of the main road where we could watch people surfing.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Hamilton Island, Australia.
February 09, 2015
Today we drove an hour from Brisbane to visit the Australia Zoo home to TV’s late Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin, and often referred to as the ultimate zoo experience.
Arriving at the zoo, we were greeted by the zoo’s friendly staff. Our first stop in the zoo was the star attraction and highlight of the Zoo, the famous Croc Show. This show was great the Crocodile that they used for the show was huge. They were feeding him whole dead chickens. We got a chance to hear the mouth chomp down, and the sheer sound of it made the hair on my arms raise.
The next attraction was the bird show they had huge birds fly in between people which precision it was quite amazing. We also took pictures with Koala bears and kangaroos.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Sydney, Australia.
February 06, 2015
We boarded our tour bus and drove along the beautiful coast to the FOL lookout point. En route, we passed the Southern Province Government House, Port Plaisance Shopping Center and the Yacht Club.
The cosmopolitan city of Noumea, which is decidedly French. Noumea is known as the “Paris of the Pacific.” We stopped at the Ouen Toro scenic lookout, where we saw New Caledonia’s barrier reef, which is the world’s second longest, the largest is Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The lookout is also home to a memorial honoring the Allied troops that protected the French colony of New Caledonia during World War II. Our tour guide told us that they still have US Jeeps on the island from the war and one of the locals favorite food is the hamburger which was introduced to them when our troops were there. The island still has deep ties to France, best expressed with French cuisine and French wines.
We stopped at La Coupole French restaurant. Known for having one of the South Pacific’s finest wine cellars, made the wine and cheese tasting that much sweeter.
After our wine and cheese tasting, we drove back to the pier.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Brisbane, Australia.
February 04, 2015
Today we drove to Raiwaqa Village where they had a Fijian kava ceremony and showed us how they cook in the ground with banana leaves and the many uses of coconuts. After the show, we had a delicious lunch that the locals in the village prepared for us.
After lunch, we boarded a longboat and cruised on the Navua River for 45 minutes en route to the Magic Waterfall; Navua’s largest waterfall where we went swimming in the chilly water.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Noumea, New Caledonia.
February 03, 2015 – Garden of the Sleeping Giant
Today we drove through fields of sugar cane en route to the village of Viseisei. The locals greeted us with a Fijian song and dance, and they also had a traditional Yaqona (Kava) ceremony.
Kava is a tranquilizing, non-alcoholic drink which numbs the tongue and lips and comes from the dried roots of the pepper plant. The ceremonial preparation for drinking Kava is the honored rite of the formal life of Fijians, performed for any significant occasion, including births, marriages, deaths, official visits or the installation of a new chief.
After the Kava ceremony, we went to the famous orchid garden called the Garden of the Sleeping Giant which is set within the backdrop of a magnificent mountain (the Sleeping Giant). Walking in the garden was dangerous because the wood walkways had moss and it they were wet, and some were steep. Some of the people from our tour ended up falling. luckily John and I didn’t fall. We also visited an Indian temple called Sri Krishna Kaliya Temple.
Follow us on our journey the next destination is Suva, Fiji.
