The Brunt of the Winter Weather

New Zealand term of the day...

"Trundler" - a shopping cart!

            The drive to Wanaka took us up through Mount Aspiring National Park, a short stop at one point showing us the Fox glacier which is the next door neighbor to Franz Josef. We began to see even more mountains dusted in snow, the surrounding habitat looking more brown and harsh.  Not unlike the landscapes of Eastern Oregon actually.

           We reached the town of Wanaka early in the afternoon and Mom, Karen and I saluted our farewells to the Kiwi bus as we hopped the last bus out of Wanaka for the day to make our way towards Queenstown. We saw some pretty spectacular views of the township valley along the way, our bus driver being kind enough to stop and point out the historic village of Arrowtown, constantly cloaked in the shadow of the mountains, and our final destination of Queenstown in the distance.

            We wound our way down and through the never ending switchbacks we cringed at the idea of taking the giant tour bus through, and landed in Queenstown central right as the last rays of the sun were dying behind the mountains. We thanked our driver and made our way through the town, stopping for a short trip into a camera shop to purchase another camera battery. And I got the last one the shelf!

Yes, that is in fact a taxidermied sheep on skis.  WHAT?

            We had our names in to the default Kiwi tour hostel of Nomads, the hostel initially being unable to find us anything other than a 6 bedroom dorm which we weren’t too keen on taking.  Fifteen minutes later  as we were researching alternative accommodation for the night they came up to us and said they could convert another room to lodge us. Whoot!

            Our bags housed comfortably in our room, it was finally time to explore the much talked about adventure capital of New Zealand! We made our way to Fergburger for dinner, the standing room only restaurant being on the list of top 10 things to do in Queenstown. 

As we were told when we were headed to Ferburger: "The line will be long, but don't let that put you off! It will be your turn before you know it." And by golly they were right!

            And I can see why! I think my mom’s reaction about sums it up with her comment being along the lines of “the best burger I have ever had.” 

            Our stroll around town to work off some of the massive dinner we had just eaten took us into The Remarkable Sweets Shop, the side street shop housing an assortment of candies from all over as well as a broad assortment of fudge flavors.  And tastings were free! We all must have tried at least seven of them and finally felt obliged to purchase some of our favorites to make up for all we had eaten in the tastings.

So much fudge to try!

              And then we were distracted again when we walked by a chocolate and gelato shop (you just can never go wrong there!) and we had to stop in to at least take a look.  Karen and I walked out with a double scoop ice cream to split and man do they give you big portions! Geeze! The fact that we were already stuffed may have had something to do with it but neither of us were able to finish it in the end…

            The next day was an interesting one to be sure, the Kiwi bus picking us up at 7:30am for our scheduled journey into the Milford Sound. We passed by Lake Wakatipu on our way out of town, the giant lake being the longest in New Zealand at 85 kilometers. Out on the plains we began to experience the first of the days intense and adverse weather, the borderline hurricane force winds and rain trying their hardest to blow the bus off the road.  I was legitimately a bit worried there for a bit.

As the saying goes "Red sky at night, sailors delight. Red sky in morning sailors take warning." I guess we should have known it wasn't going to end well when the skies shone red in the sunrise that morning! 

            An hour and a half into our journey, we took a short stop off at the town of Te Anau for a coffee and bathroom break and then it was up and into the Fjordland National Park.  Of the fourteen national parks in New Zealand, Fjordland is the biggest, being large enough to easily fit all the other thirteen inside of it.  The road we took, the Milford Rd, is the only road that takes you to Milford Sound, the famed 8^th wonder of the world and arguably the rainiest place on earth.  There have been some measurements as high as over 1 meter of rain in less than 24 hours!

We crossed over The Divide, the southernmost crossing of the Southern Alps, and passed by the affectionately named Lake Gunn.  It was named so after a young man who years ago was the sole witness to a plane crash in the middle of nowhere New Zealand and ran over 90 kilometers in under 20 hours to call for help.

Almost to Milfourd Sound, the daylong torrential rain turning into pounding sleet, we passed through the long road tunnel and came out into the accurately named Valley of a Thousand Waterfalls.  There must have been that many at least! The hillsides were simply flowing with hundreds upon hundreds of these streams, none of them apparently present during sunnier days. I guess that was a big plus to the terrible weather!

The Valley of a Thousand Waterfalls

            We reached the Milford harbor by about 1:30 and our driver ran in amongst the rain to pick us up our boarding passes.  As it turns out though, for the first time in our drivers 6 years of driving to the Sound the tours were canceled for the day.  We wouldn’t have found out until we had gotten there anyway but it was certainly disappointing to drive all the way for the cruise and not get it! But I can certainly understand why; the winds in the Sound at the time were upwards of 146 kph and increasing and the swell was around 6 meters and rising. Yeah, I was ok with them canceling it.  We did get to at least sit on the boat and eat our lunch though!

    I like to call this the day I almost saw Milford Sound but hey, it leaves me something to come back to J.

           Despite the disappointment, I think my Moms day was made complete on the drive back when we stopped at the tunnel crossing to wait for other cars and what should be see but a couple Kea sitting on the roadside! The only Alpine parrot, the Kea is found solely in the southern most parts of the South of New Zealand.  They used to be fairly endangered due mainly to over hunting but have since been put under strict protection, much to the chagrin of the New Zealand locals. Quite large parrots these birds are one of the smartest around and are a massive pest, using their curiosity to wreck havoc wherever they go; especially to cars! Apparently car companies have stopped covering damage done by Keas as they will rip off windshield blades, pull up the trim around windows, and will even pop off hub caps! I wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of one of those birds that’s for sure.

Off to the Alps

Useful New Zealand term of the day...

"Sweet as!" - Kind of like a substitute for words like "awesome!" or "cool!"

            Our days in Kaiteriteri came to a swift end it seemed, the three days we had not seeming to be nearly long enough. With the next Kiwi tour bus passing through, it was time to meet our new driver and hop on towards new and exciting adventures.  We got to say our one last goodbye to the beautiful beachfront town by taking a hike up to a beautiful lookout of town, and then it was off we went!

            We spent much of that day driving, a few stops here and there as always for coffee and bathroom breaks.  The changes in scenery throughout the drive were probably some of the most dramatic we have seen thus far, the hills becoming a more temperate rainforest with a slightly browner color as opposed to the lush farm fields of the more northern parts.

             One of the scenic stops we took was at Nelson Lakes National Park, the site holding one of the first of the dramatic mirror lakes we were to see many more of as we traveled down the southern coast. The weather seems to be getting chillier as we travel as well, maybe it's just me, though we are slowly getting closer towards glacier country which makes sense.

Mom and I feeling the chill a bit and enjoying the view of beautiful Nelson lake

            We got in to our short overnight stop at Westport shortly before nightfall, our accommodation being the lively hostel of Bazil’s.  Let’s just say, the three of us in our room wanted to go to sleep ages before anyone else on the hostel did… I heard tell that a rather rowdy rugby team had been in town for the evening.  Lovely.

            But good sleep we had despite it and good thing too since it was to be another early morning for us again. What better way to wake up in the morning than with a nice brisk morning horseback ride! But boy will I tell you, it was COLD! And with that chilly valley wind, holy moly! I think I lost my fingers and toes somewhere along the track… But in all honesty, I may not have been fully dressed for the weather, my feet sporting just a thin pair of ankle socks and my hands braving the weather in nothing but their skin.

Karen in front on Leroy and the ever perky ears and head of my horse Joey.

            But it was way fun none-the-less, of course, the horses being more than willing to pick up the pace when we asked and take us through some more lovely New Zealand country side.  We traversed a few creek crossings as well (a couple going up to horse's chest!) which may not have helped all that much with the cold factor. I did after all have a hole in my boot and got to ride the whole way home with my own personal puddle of glacial water.  Joy!

             The horses put away and our feet and hands thawed by the fire, it was off to driving again, heading towards our next destination. We took a stop off along the way, of course, and hopped out to see the famous Punakaiki Pancake Rocks.  Those were cool! The originals rocks were made up of mostly sandstone with mudstone interspersed between which erodes much faster over time than the other and leaves the sandstone standing in the stacked like formations that we see today.  And they really do look like stacks of pancakes!

The Punakaiki Pancake Rocks

The really do look kind of like pancakes!

            We began to see the snow topped mountains as we went, their white heads in a stark contrast to the blue sky above and their brown bases below.  I had a couple people tell me before I came here that New Zealand in winter is almost better than New Zealand in the summer because of the effect the snow has on the landscape. I mean, I’m sure New Zealand in the summer is utterly breathtaking, but in the winter with the added contrast of snow it is simply dramatically so.

            Right outside of Franz Josef, we took a little stop off to see the mirror reflections off the kettle lake of Mapourika and then it was into Franz Josef itself. 

Looking off the pier at Lake Mapourika

            The town itself is quite quaint really, the essential grocery store and information center present with numerous touristy shops and activity centers pocketed here and there.  

Looking up towards the glacier from the town of Franz Josef

            Rainforest Retreat was to be our accommodation for the next couple nights, the hostel presenting a very put together and good quality air.  The one thing I will say though is that the showers were not quite up to par with what I expected… It was seriously like a polar bear plunge trying to take a shower in the morning! I mean, of all things to cease working when you are staying at a glacier, the hot water heater is certainly not one of them! By day two though we had it fixed, thank you Lord, but that first shockingly cold shower was slightly less than pleasant. 

Our hostel with the beautiful mountain backdrop

             First thing to start our first morning off, Mom and I took a trip in to the Kiwi wildlife center for a sure fire shot of seeing the New Zealand icon up close and personal.  Franz Josef itself is situated not far from the one and only habitat sanctuary in which lives the much endangered Rowi bird, the rarest of all the kiwi species (I think there are 5).  What the wildlife center does is collects eggs from the sanctuary (the wild eggs survival rate is about 1 in every 40) and incubates them, raising the chick to a certain age in the wildlife center itself.  They get moved around to other safe havens throughout growing up before finally getting released back into the sanctuary when they are fully grown and can defend themselves. We got to see two of the younger ones in the center and man, they are a LOT bigger than I expected! They are not these small little birds like I originally thought, there are more like a large chicken sized!

            Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside the room (and it was dark anyways since they are nocturnal birds) but they are some funny creatures! Their run is hilarious I must say, and I definitely know what they mean now when they say you will often hear one before you see it. They are constantly scuffling around and squeal at each other when they run into each other. At least, these ones did. So funny!

            First hand experiencing the Kiwi birds under our belt, it was time to do just the same with the glacier right out the back door! Mom and I hopped on a shuttle from town, taking it up to a parking lot a ways up the road and the beginning of the glacial hikes.  In total the hikes we walked took us about 2 hours, one to around a cool little pond, Peter’s Pool, that reflected the mountains amazingly well...

The mountains reflected in Peter's Pool

...and another that took us all the way up to the glacier lookout.

On the way to the glacier!

            Unfortunately neither mom nor I were able to actually go up and walk on the glacier itself as the only way was through a slightly more expensive helicopter ride. Our good friend Karen however opted for that option and she got some pretty darn cool shots from up on top!

From on top the glacier

            We got back to town just in time to meet up with our tour guides and off we went back to Lake Mapourika for a kayak trip! The 3 hour trip across the lake and back was way fun, though a little wet for the rain that decided to come tumbling down.  But we were all well bundled in jackets, life vests and rain coats that’s for sure! I had never kayaked before this and I must say, I want to do it again! Granted, my arms were quite sore by the end of the day from all the rowing but a workout is kind of part of the point now isn't it?

A chilly kayak across Lake Mapourika!

             We finished off our last night in the town restaurant/pub next door to the hostel with homemade pizza next to a glorious fire.  Not a bad way to end it off! And then it was off the next morning, leaving the town of Franz Josef behind and heading off to the next stop.

Horses, Waterfalls, and That Darn Bird

Maori terms of the day...

"Nau mai" - Welcome

"No hea koe?" - Where are you from?

            Off on our adventures around Kateriteri, it was time to hop behind the wheel of our small and trusty rental car and traverse the pass out of town and up into the hills. The road was a nice collection of twists and turns with switchbacks here and there, the breathtaking scenery of southern New Zealand evermore putting us in awe of its beauty.  

            The hill country and forests gave way to the rolling fields of a farming valley as we crested the pass and wound our way back down the other side into the town of Waitapu.  Near there was our first stop off for the day, the Pupu Springs. 

Despite the image the name may bring, the springs are simply beautiful! Known as one of the deepest and clearest springs you can find I was surprised by just how big the whole area is. It almost bordered on lake size! Apparently you used to be able to dive in it, the clearness of the springs masking the true and slightly shocking depth of the springs. But recent times and regulations have since put restrictions on so much as touching the water that is said to have a fair cultural significance to the Maori people.

            Continuing on from there, it was another hour or so to our destination for the day, the road taking us almost near the most northern tip of the South Island at Farewell Spit. We took a short detour for a hike up to a gorgeous lookout of the larger country side before making it down just in time for out 12:30 appointment: horse trekking! That’s right, it was finally time for me to break my forced 6 month fast from horses and spring back up on the back of a sweet smelling equine.  Gah, it was glorious! The downside of course was that it made me miss my own horse at home even more, but it was good to get my riding legs back again!

Me on Bungle, Mom on Andy, and Karen on Rocky

            I was given Bungle, the affectionately named “Italian Stallion” for the 007 freeze brand on his rump possibly signifying he used to be used at stud.  Who knows though… And get this, Mom was given a horse named Andy. Now, that may not seem all that funny to some of you, but it if I were to tell you that my dad’s name was Andy and that everywhere we go around the world and rent horses for the day, one of them always has the name “Andy” or “Andrew” in some form or another and it might make a little more sense to you as to why that was utterly hilarious to my mom and I.

            So off on the horses it was, the first little section winding us down the main gravel road.  Then shortly it was up into the hills of rolling sheep pastures and steep ravines and valleys and oh my word, it was beyond anything I had seen before! Such spectacular scenery and definitely not something we would have seen better any other way! Even the pictures just don’t compare! We were wading through and herding sheep as we went, their white wooliness scattering down the hillsides as we walked, trotted and cantered by. 

           At one point, we came upon this field with a small herd of young steers and man those were some cheeky little buggers! They kept running up to us and following us wherever we walked. To an onlooker it may have looked like cattle herding a herd of horses!

            The end of our trek took us down and onto the beach a ways, the wind picking up even more than on the hillsides. And that’s saying something! We even got to canter some which I will say was actually quite difficult on these horses since their past lives were as pacers (horses that race at a trot and are trained NOT to canter). But it was glorious either way though I will admit, my behind it NOT going to like me for the next couple days…

             That evening we had dinner at the hostel with our new friend Karen, who went on the horse trek with us and is another traveler on the Kiwi bus.  She is from Dublin, Ireland and certainly shares our affinity for horses which is fantastic!

            I had a talented moment that evening as well when I was sitting on my bed in our room eating cereal (yes, breakfast for dessert) and somehow managed to tip over the box and dump the entirety of its contents under the bed.  Ask me how I did that, I have no idea.  I couldn’t repeat it the same way even if I tried.

            The next day we made use of our rental car again and drove up and over the range again, this time taking the turn off to the town of Anatimo where we took a short hourish walk to the Wainui Falls.  

Fun little bridge crossing there! Max one person at a time.

            The rivers are so full at this time of year, seeing as it is winter and all, that there was quite the wall of mist from the waterfall when we finally reached it.  I had to whip out my camera, take a few shots, and cover it up again for fear of getting it soaked! It wasn’t the waterproof one after all. 

             The road from there changed to gravel and took us up into the foothills of the Abel Tasman National Park and out onto the coast. We took about an hour there, just walking up the beach and enjoying our first spell of pretty warm weather in New Zealand.  I could have been happy in shorts and a t-shirt for how warm it was!

            We set up at a picnic table and had our lunches there in the warm sunshine of the coast as well. And that's when the Weka incident happened... We had made our way to the picnic table with our lunch things, had sat down and, I kid you not, had been there for no more than 30 seconds when we look down and there is this chicken sized bird bearing down at our feet.  Mom was so surprised and intrigued by the birds identity that she upended the entirety of her salad on the ground and we had to almost fight the bird to scrounge up most of it. She still ate it in the end though I think it was a little gritty...  But man that bird, it was literally foraging right under our feet! I could feel it pecking at my shoes!

            We made it back into Kaiteriteri shortly before nightfall just in time to return out rental car at the allotted time.  As our last day in the town, we decided to take advantage of the local cuisine and the fish n’ chips deal at the neighboring bar; spend $10 on drinks and you get a good sized meal of fish n’ chips for $5. And that's a pretty good deal for eating out here. Let’s just say I got the fruitiest, most girly drink they had!

And Thus Begins the Kiwi Experience

Maori terms of the day...
"Kia ora" - Can mean either good morning or good evening
"Haere ra" - Good bye!

           Our first impression of New Zealand was definitely a cold one, our plane landing at last on the South Island by 11:00 in the evening and the temperatures resting at no higher than 5 degrees Celsius. We made our way quickly and uneventfully through customs, the people here just as lovely as I expected, before be hustled out into the chill winter shock and hired ourselves a cab.  Man Australia, you have sure made me weak in terms of temperature tolerance! We reached our accommodation at the YMCA shortly thereafter and were finally in bed by 1:00. Granted, there was a two hour time change from Melbourne… And they had heated blankets! Man, that’s not something I have seen since way back in my pre-teen years living in Alaska!

It was to be a short night’s sleep though and bright and early at 6:30 the next morning it was time to catch the bus and finally start on our Kiwi Experience Tour! The bus ride was several hours, stopping for a short coffee break in Cheviot before finally coming down the mountain ranges and dropping onto the coast.  Oh my word, I cannot even begin to describe to you have gorgeous it is here! I mean I knew it was pretty, but wow. And the pictures just don’t do it justice!

Ma, our Kiwi Experience bus driver for the day, spent some of the trip giving us a bit of background into New Zealand history and Moari culture (as that as his heritage). Upon approaching Kaikoura (our first destination) he even gave us some insider knowledge on the city.  The name of the city itself describes what it is famous for Kai – meaning “to eat” and koura – meaning “crayfish” defining the coastal towns affinity for seafood. Though the harvest of said crustacean is extremely regulated. Apparently there are some pretty significant fines and jail times if you are caught taking too many or harvesting illegally!

Lookout over the beautiful coastal town of Kaikoura

At one point, while passing this open grassy area, our driver pointed out a number of yellow flags staked about and said that the area was home to the ever elusive Dimpled Whites.  He said actions around them were rather regulated as well and the flags were set up to mark their burrows.  He went on to talk about how the main threat facing them was people coming in with metal sticks and clubbing them to death.  I don’t think I will ever think of golf the same way again.

            We were finally dropped off in the town by noon and we spent much the rest of the day walking through town, down the coast, and even a short stop in to see the fur seal colony. Oh gosh, the pups are so cute!

As you can see, this particular colony is full of some fairly active seals...

            We made our way out of Kaikuora the next morning, rolling out of town under cover of rain clouds that had blown in during the night.  We wound our way up through the hills our first stop being at the Ohau waterfall to see the seal pups.  Gah, so cute! 

            Apparently they make their way up the crystal clear stream from the ocean and spend their days beneath the small waterfall jumping and playing before heading down to their mothers in the evening to be fed. Our driver said he has been there in seasons where there have been, no joke, around a hundred seal pups in this small little pool.  I can't even imagine!

            We made our way to the town of Picton where much of the bus, including Ma our driver, departed for the ferry across to the North Island.  We got a new driver then, Dillon, along with a new group of travelers fresh off the North Island.  We continued on towards our next destination, passing fields of grazing sheep, goats, cattle, and yes, even elk.  Or at least, they looked like elk.  Someone said they thought they were a Canadian red deer cross.  Either way, not something I expected to see farmed here that’s for sure!

"Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lambzy divey"

            Our driver took us on a short detour into a local winery along the way for some inexpensive wine tasting as apparently this area of New Zealand is famous for some fantastic wines.  I chose to forego that bit and went for the free fudge tasting instead. Any day man! Of course I would have to warn you, do NOT taste the orange one first! I think my mom learned that one the hard way…

            One thing I have noticed here about the drivers is that they use their car horns to communicate pretty much anything.  Like, our driver used the horn ALL the time and sometimes it was like “Hey! Look at that seal on the rock over there!” or “Dude, I like your car!” or “Thanks buddy!” or sometimes it was signaling to the car behind us to pass… and of course it was used sometimes for the negative things too.

The beautiful New Zealand wine country

            We reached our next stop in Kaiteriteri near 5:00 after a run into the supermarkets in Neslon, the town shortly before.  Apparently Kaiteriteri is a pretty darn small town and there isn’t much to speak of other than the hostel and a restaurant and pub or two. Mom and I were able to find a really cheap car to rent while in town as the next couple days for us include a several hour horseback ride up the coast off Farewell Spit and some exploring of the Abel Tasman National Park. Should be some jam packed fun times!

Glorious clouds and the beginning twinges of sunset as we head into Kaiteriteri

            Before I close off this blog entry for the day, I must first tell you about the black current bombs my mom and I have recently discovered.  The other day we were in this shopping center getting groceries and we found this concentrated black current syrup to use as a juice. “Mix with soda water” it said and we were like, “Huh, sounds great!” So soda water was purchased and back to the hostel it was.  What I want to know now is what in the blue blazes so they carbonate that darn stuff with?!? You so much as touch the bottle and the darn thing explodes into oblivion!

            We mixed up a small bottle of the juice and, seeing as the syrup was all at the bottom, figured we could just gently upend the closed container once. NOPE. And then sometime later we knocked over a closed container accidentally. NOPE.  And then another time I thought I had figured out the mixing thing by putting your mouth over the lid and upending it while you drank some to mix it.  Worked well for me the first time but then mom tried it and, holy stinking moly. The poor wall.   

To Victoria and Beyond

Aussie term of the day...
"Ta" - it's basically another way of saying "thank you" but is a little more informal in a way. I didn't hear it much in the Queensland region, though every now and then it would pop up.  It became a lot more prominent when I traveled to the Northern Territory regions and just traveling in general with airport staff and such

            The drive to Litchfield was long and uneventful for the most part, the brown and green scenery flying by with the 130 kph speed limit. We took a few stop offs here and there, some for birding opportunities for Dad and another for lunch at one point.  Things really started to pick up when we took a late afternoon birding stop off for dad and we came across a small herd of wild brumbies! Now THAT was cool!

            Of course we stopped for a bit to watch and photograph them before heading back on our way to Litchfield!

            We arrived a while later, checking in to our accommodation for the next two days and settling in to our small cabin.  Mom set to work looking through our provided cooking things and getting dinner started when she came across a rather odd item in our cooking kit; a paint scraper.  That’s odd, we thought, and Dad was sent up to the reception area to inquire about a frying pan and a spatula.  We got the frying pan to be sure and when asked about the spatula the guy at the front desk responded with “There wasn’t one in your kit?” “Uh, well there was a paint scraper.” “Yep! That would be it!” Alrighty then!  And it worked quite well actually.  Now I know!

            The next day in Litchfield we spent hiking to a good number of waterfalls and just enjoying the beauty of the surrounding scenery.  We met up with our old friends the flying foxes on one of our hikes too and just had to be sure we didn’t spend too much time standing under the colony.  You’d risk getting rained on without a cloud in the sky if you did that! Just thought you would like to know. 

It was cool to see just how green stuff is even here in the Northern Territory.  I mean, not all of it is to be sure, but I haven’t seen much in the way of rolling expanses of red dirt void of much vegetation as I expected.  Sure it’s a bit dry in places, but most of the vegetation her is adapted to such climates.

            By the next day we were on the road again, knocking out the last long leg of driving and making our way back to Darwin.  A couple hours of driving and we were in Darwin, and a couple hours later we were saying goodbye to the Northern Territory and riding an airplane down to Melbourne in Victoria.  But of course, I can't forget to mention the little bit of Aussie reptilian wildlife we finally had the pleasure of seeing during one of our short treks through Darwin.  A goanna!

             Mom and Dad’s international flights both take off from Melbourne as well as Mom’s and my flights to New Zealand and Dad wanted to take some time to meet up with an old friend he knew back in West Virginia. 

            Melbourne was different than I expected, the city giving a very strong British vibe.  I think it would be pretty accurate to say that the city looks pretty close to a mix between Oregon and London architecture and feeling.  Cool place! 

Taking a stroll through some of the shops downtown

Taking a drive through the beautiful countryside 

            Dad’s friend took us on a long tour and drive about Melbourne city and one day we took a day trip to a fair sized wildlife sanctuary. Man was that place big and confusing! But really cool, oh man there were some cool critters there! I got to see my very first Tasmanian devil which was awesome! They are actually pretty docile, at least the ones I saw, and at one point we saw a bunch of them in this big pen and they were running around and playing with each other. 

            The big bird raptor show was pretty cool too, the birds coming right down onto the crowd and you could have almost reached out and touched them!

A whistling kite flying low over the crowd

Wedge tailed eagle landing on the rock near the trainer at the raptor show

            And here my days in Australia are coming to a close, that is, until I come back through for a day to take my international flight home. This will be one of my last blogs relating to my Australia travels though I am not quite done traveling yet.  My mom and I are leaving today for two weeks in New Zealand and though this blog was originally meant to carry stories of my Australian adventures, I will be writing blogs about my New Zealand trip here as well. It wouldn’t be quite worth it to make a whole blog for maybe just a couple entries now would it!

A beautiful flowering Turkey Bush