Heading to Australia

I'm writing this on Friday June 22

On June 18th was a free day. We had nothing scheduled and took advantage of it. I photographed what we saw out of our windows. Cool.

We took advantage of the hotel's washing. We to walked down the into the downton of Queenstown and explored their shops. David left us to go to Arrowtown to explore the old rush. Dad returned to the hotel after lunch. Dea Jae and I walked around and explored the more "arty" gift shops. We walked along the beach of Lake Wakatipu.

We ate dinner in town and called a cab to take us back to the hotel. Early night.

Tuesday June 19 Queenstown to Christchurch

When booking your extensive look of a country add up all the hours you are on a coach. We were picked up in front of our hotel around 8:30 and headed north to Mount Cook. Awesome landscape. It was a bit foggy and frosty. The temp was around -1 degrees C, which is about 32 degrees in our world. When it fogs during such cold weather, dew freezes on everything. It builds up and everything looks like they've been flocked for Christmas. I worked at it but I think I got a decent picture of Mount Cook.

We made a few Tea Stops along the way. We pulled into Christchurch around 6:20 p. m. We didn't get to see much of this town.

June 20th we flew out of Christchurch to Auckland and then switched plains for Melbourne around 6 pm. Another early night.

June 21th we met up with Boyd. He took us down to Federation Square. This is an art center of a variety of different galleries. Boyd wanted us to see their Aborigine gallery.

The architecture of this building looks quite spectacular next to the old buildings around it. Inside the windows look like sculpture. It was easy to get around.


The Aborigine art is quite different from the Maori. I've taught it in my classroom. Depending upon which kind of image you're looking at. Their work is very detailed. They can use dots to form a shape. They can use fine lines to fill a space up. Dad was quite impressed by it. We took a free bus around the down town. We got off and ate lunch with Boyd's sister. We seperated at this point and we explored on our own.

I walked down to the Fitzroy Gardens. It was quite windy but very beautiful. I continued on and ended back at the Federation Square. I finished up the rest of the Ian Potter galleries. They've done a good job of represtenting their Australian Identity. Like the US, they have had to struggle with the European influence and establish their own eras of art. I did see a few modern pieces I liked.

We ended up back at the hotel. David, Dad and I ate together while Dea Jae 'pooped out" back in our room.

Today we are planning to go to the "Victoria Markets"

June 15th continued

I'm back. It is June 18th at 3:20 p.m.

After visiting Te Puia we hopped on the coach and headed out of Rotorua to the Agrodome
This was a slice of sheep farming. They had a show that introduced the different kinds of sheep. There are sheep for their fur, food and even milking (ugh). The Mirano is the big sheep on the top of the sheep pyramid. The softest fur comes from them. Two types of dogs are used in herding the sheep. One is very quiet and another is very loud. Sheepdogs are very important. They also walk across the back of sheep. I spent too long in the gift shop and missed the herding demonstration held outside.


We stayed at the Agrodome for only an hour. We moved on to Rainbow Springs Nature Park
This park had a clever way of a guided tour. They had a hand held device that spoke a commentary at each stop. You entered the number and it began. They had many different languages available. It is a park that shows endangered species of plants and animals.

We headed back to the hotel. Our coach drove us around the parks of Rotorua and was back at hotel by 12:30.This was not enough time for any of our stop that morning. We ate lunch and took a cab back to Te Puia. I explored more of the Maori buildings.

David and I headed for the downtown, while Dea Jae and Dad stayed at the hotel. Rotorua is definitely a tourist town and has a quaint shopping center. I picked up some longjohns and wool scarf. I was fearful of how cold it would be in the south island.

A moment to comment on the Maori Culture. I may get some of this wrong. New Zealand did not have people until the Maori migrated between 9th and 13th Centuries. They came in 7 boats, creating 7 tribes. 5 in the north island and 2 in the south. This warrior race had to adapt to a world of no mammals. They created cloaks out of feathers, weave with grasses, carved weapons out of green stone and carved fabulous stories in their meeting houses. I am surprised to no clay work. They had an oral history until fairly recently. They had a hierarchy system until them saw how kings and queens ruled. They fought for their land as the British expanded. Today the Maori have TV shows that speak their language; they own land they lease out to developers ; they created a tourist economy that helps keep their traditions alive.

June 16, we flew out of Rotorua to Queenstown. We got in around 4:30. Ate dinner and crawled into bed. We are staying at Copthorne Hotel

June 17 we got on a coach from the hotel headed for Milford Sound. We shared our coach tour with about 20 other people. We followed along the edge of Lake Wakatipu, through Kingston and Mossburn and had tea at Te Anau.


There are too many pictures to post at this time. I will be creating an album posting once I get back to Texas. Here are a few pictures.
We arrived at Milford Sound for a cruise into the fiord. This was truly a religious experience. Here are some more pictures.

Once back on land we headed back to Queenstown. Long day. Crashed.

Heading South

It is Monday June 18 at 10:50 am

Sorry about the long time between blogs. We found that our last two hotels were not Internet free. I will try and give you a run down of the trip so far.

On Thursday June 14th we headed south from Auckland to Rotorua. Our coachman, Peter, gave us a wonderful commentary as we drown through the hills and valleys. We stopped for tea in the farming province of Waikato. Stopping for "Tea" seems to be the standard term for "Potty Breaks". I'm sure that these little towns try to get contracts with touring buses. This particular tea stop was at the spot where a fierce battle between the Maori and English. Maori won this battle. It was just the 4 us until we stopped at the Waitomo Caves.

These caves have a glow worm that hangs from the ceiling of the caves. They glow to attract insects to their sticky treads. We walked down the Cathedral Room. It is a large room that often holds concerts and weddings. We took a boat into the darkest part of the cave to see the glowing warms. They were like stars. We were lucky to see the caves. The rain had risen the river too high for boats to pass.

We continued our coach tour through Lake Karapiro and the Fitzgerald Glade.

We arrived in Rotorua about 4:30 p.m. We stayed at the Heritage Hotel. I was glad to have more than one day in the room. I was able to go through my suitcase and put things in the drawers.

We were picked up at 6:00 by coach to the Tamaki Maori Village for a Hangi and Concert. Our driver picked up other travelers along the way. He was a Maori man who did commentary and jokes with us. Each tour bus had a "Chief". The chief was invited to the feast. 4 different warriors came out and did a intimidation dance. The Te Wero. It was a "challenge" to see if our chief would break. Once we were welcomed, Pohiri, into the village we toured around an enclosure to that was a mock up of a village. The show was wonderful.
The Waikato and Haka is a performance that had the Maori introducing songs, dancing, chants and weapons. It was a good way to introduce the Maori Culture to us Gringos. We didn't get to eat until 8:30 and we didn't get back to the hotel until 10:30. A long day.

June 15
Another coach picks us up. The first stop was the coachman showing us where his village was. It was just behind our hotel and his clan did the Waikato and Haka hotel at the hotel. He then took us to Te Puia Thermal Reserve. Rotorua is literally steaming everywhere. This particular spot is set up to show the geysers and the boiling mudpools.
It is also the site of the Maori Arts and Crafts Institutes.
They train students from all 7 clans weaving and carving. Master carvers must know all 7 clans' designs.I have more to say but I'm paying $2.50 and hour. I've typed over an hour. I'll be back with more postings.