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Christchurch, New Zealand- Day 2, Arthurs Pass National Park

Scotty took us to the train station in Christchurch where we boarded a train to Arthurs Pass.
This is the scenery along our train trip. I didn’t take a lot of pictures because of the reflection in the windows. While we were on our way up there he drove his van up to meet us and then took
us through the beautiful countryside.
The next several pictures are ones Joni and I took with our iPhones, much better than my Nikon could do from the train!
The map on the train showing us where we are on the route.
We’ve arrived at Arthurs Pass, now on to our adventure afternoon with Scotty.
In the van heading out.
Scotty took a group photo of us.
And of course, I had to take one with him in it too.
Charlie Warden was the first Ranger for Arthurs Pass National Park.
Devils Punchbowl Falls was our first stop. It was quite a hike to go up to the falls so all the close up pictures were up to Joni!
Devils Punchbowl Falls from a distance.
A close up view via my 300mm lens, no hiking required!
She even took a selfie!
This bridge was as far as Jan and I were willing to hike
Jan and Joni by the Arthurs Pass National Park sign.
Some views of Arthurs Pass as we move on to our next stop.
This is the story of the three sisters, depicted by the three busts shown here.
Lots of caravans here visiting.
The explanation of the shelter carving.
Lane trying to get this bird to cooperate for a photo.

The ending of a long day, van ride back to our VRBO to prepare for day three, stay tuned……..

Christchurch, New Zealand

I’ll start this post with a bit of an add for this awesome gentleman. Scotty of ScottyB Tours was our tour guide for our 5 days in and around Christchurch. He was a fantastic guide too! He was knowledgeable and very interesting to listen to. He knows the area extremely well and had lots of interesting stories along our journey. We highly recommend him if you are ever in New Zealand, he is available for tours anywhere on the South Island!
If your interested, his website is: http://www.scottybtours.com
Our first day was a tour of Christchurch itself. Our first stop was this place. The site was a building that housed Canterbury Television Station, King’s Education Language School, Hair Consultants, Relationship Services and The Clinic Medical Center. On February 22, 2011, an earthquake of 6.3 Magnitude struck the city and the building collapsed, killing 115 people and injuring many more inside. The site is now a memorial honoring the lives lost that tragic day.
This was part of the foundation of the building.
A memorial to those lives lost.
This is a church that they lovingly call the “Cardboard Cathedral”. It was designed and erected next to the memorial and it got its name because what you are looking at is the roof of the chapel
and those are 100 heavy duty cardboard tubes coated with waterproof polyurethane and flame retardant.! They sit on 8 shipping containers which form the base and walls. It was designed by a famous Japanese architect Shigeru Ban in association with a local firm Warren and Mahoney.This is their temporary place of worship while the original church is under construction to repair the damage caused by the earthquake.
Even the chairs that are the “Pews” are in keeping with the Japanese theme.
This is the Christ Church Cathedral which as you can see is fenced off while they work on it. Completion of the project is not until the end of 2027!
Local artists took advantage of the fencing and are displaying some beautiful artwork!
Next on our tour was the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. As you’ll see.
As you’ll see in the next several pictures it was very colorful, especially since this was the beginning of their fall season!
That is a huge tree! Especially compared to Joni and Lane!
Not all the flowers are real or life size!
Lane on the left, Jan in the middle, Scotty and Joni to the right.
Quite a variety of different color roses too!
We loved this fountain!
Some of the beautiful old buildings around the Gardens
There is also some interesting art pieces scattered throughout the city too!
Down along this river they have installed another memorial to those lives lost in the earthquake of 2011.
I’m not sure what this is about, kind of odd!
Christchurch is where a lot of the expeditions to Antartica leave from! They’re only about 3500 miles from there. It seemed weird that the farther south you go down here the colder it gets; opposite of where we live!
More beautiful flowers!
We had lunch at Delilah, a very cool restaurant with great food!
After lunch Scotty took us to this trail that lead to a great view of the bay.

That’s it for Day 1 of our Adventures with Scotty. Stay tuned for Day 2……..

Brisbane, Australia-Day 2

Maleny Botanical Gardens and Bird World

It was a rainy day but that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of our guide in the Bird World enclosure! She was a fantastic guide with lots of great information!
Joni making friends!
The residents didn’t seem to care about the rain either!
I don’t think James was 100% sure he was enjoying this close encounter!
The bird was though!
I was glad I had a hood between this bird’s talons and my bald head!
Stunning White Peacocks
Joni making more friends!
Jan wasn’t too sure she was enjoying this! Exactly why I was glad I had my hood up!
Lane and friend! She had that feather duster to keep them away but apparently A) she didn’t want to or B) the bird didn’t care!
Joni’s turn, but at least she has thick hair!
The feeding station.
Twins! Whose nails are longer, the birds or our guides?
The useless feather dusters.
We rented a golf cart to tour the Botanical Gardens but due to the rain it was a short trip.
The rain and foggy conditions made the gardens look even more tropical and lush!

This concludes our pictures from Sydney and Brisbane, Australia. Next up will be our adventures in New Zealand! STAY TUNED!

Brisbane, Australia

Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

James, Bryce’s brother who lives in Brisbane, was our tour guide and driver. He had lots of very interesting history and other info he imparted to us as we toured around Brisbane. He took us to this Sanctuary which was very interesting!
These are Flying Foxes, a very large Bat!
One of the many very cute Koalas. This one is actually awake….and eating!
I believe this bird is a Bush Stone Curlew, common for the area. It looks like it’s legs are broken but that’s the way they’re built!
A Pink Cockatoo, grooming!
Sleeping!
This picture is for our grandson, Reeve!
This handsome guy is one of the many species of lizards at the Sanctuary.
Another sleeping Koala!
WOW! Not sleeping or eating!
Rainbow Lorikeets
They had a great Raptor show!
A very large nest with an occupant.
A few resident Sheep as well.
And a lazy pig.
Another species of lizard.
The resident Crocodile, Wickham.
The crocodile enclosure tank even had this enticing child bubble for Wickham, the lone resident Crocodile!
We were excited that they even had a Dingo display!
Unfortunately, the Dingo didn’t share our excitement!
This little cute koala even posed nicely for me!
And one last lizard picture!
After our sanctuary visit, we went to the water for lunch. These sea gulls were enjoying the shade of this tree.
James, Joni and Lane enjoying the view including the wind surfers.
It was a very good windy day for the wind surfers for sure!!
A couple of tourists and their dog enjoying the gentle surf.

Next Up, Day 2 in Brisbane and a Bird Sanctuary

Sydney, Australia- Day 3

The Opera House (In Depth Views)

Here’s a full view of the front of the Opera House. It is quite a stunning structure!
These photos showsthe intricacy of the roof lines, amazing!
The structure inside was equally impressive as you’ll see in the next pictures!
This is Premier Joe Cahill who was instrumental in getting the Opera House built starting with the design competition starting in 195,. the winning design was picked in 1957. Actual construction began in 1959 and opened in 1973.
It took the architects and designers 3 years to finalize the design before construction could begin.
This is Queen Elizabeth and her Court at the opening in October of 1973!
Here’s an arial photo taken at the time; it was now the premier focus in the Sydney waterfront!
The walls and these wood structures were all engineered for optimal acoustics!
A view from the outer area towards the skyline of the city.
Lane and Joni with the guide. She was very informative.
Back in the city we took a Hop on Hop off tour of Sydney. This is the Australian Museum which we unfortunately did not get to visit.
This the Sydney Tower Eye from a distance.
We loved the contrast of old world architecture mixed in with very modern and creative architecture!
Again, Jan’s favorite “LEGO” building!
After the tour was lunch at Bondi Beach.

That’s it For Sydney! Next up; Brisbane! Stay Tuned….

Sydney, Australia (contd)

Blue Mountain Tour

The Blue Mountain Tour included Fantastic views of the Blue Mountains, the Hydro Majestic Pavilion, Scenic World, and a Zoo which had everything from Koalas to Kangaroos to a very large Crocodile!.

Hydro Majestic Pavilion
Beautiful views of the Blue Mountains on or way up.
Jan was particularly fond of this piece.
The views from inside were quite beautiful.
The color scheme and decor was quite “arresting”.
The billiards room with the biggest pool table we
have ever seen!
This place had quite a eclectic assortment of decor and furnishings!
I snuck a quick picture of the very elegant main dining room which we weren’t allowed to enter.
The main check in area. The is a living vine behind it!
Outside the building were ver beautiful landscaping and fantastic views of the Blue Mountains.
This fellow apparently can’t decide what color hair he wants!
One lone Cockatoo!
Young and vibrant
Older and not so vibrant!
Back on the bus with our fabulous guide Leonard and his little pal (I forget his name!)

On to Scenic World!

Our first mode of transportation was this Cableway
The glass floor was a bit disconcerting!
This formation is the famous Three Sisters
It was a beautiful ride but there seems to be an awful lot of slack in those cables!
It was very lush and green up there!
The next mode of transportation was quite different. It’s a Scenic Railway Incline and you can choose how inclined you want to be!
Three Sisters in the distance.
Once at the bottom there was nice wide path to follow with things to see on the way.
Lots of displays depicting the mining operations .
This was the original Scenic Railway Incline, not quite as plush and comfortable as the current one!
Here’s my obligatory lawyer picture of the working of the cable car.
Now they show this after we’re trapped at the bottom and have to take the cablecar back up!
On our way back up.
A bit cloudier on the way back up!

On to the Zoo

Of course they had plenty of these cute fellows & gals!
Just chillin’
This isn’t a baby Kangaroo, its a Tasmanian Pademelon.
Whatcha’ lookin’ at?!
Native language hyrglyphs? Your guess is as good as mine!
Tasmanian Devil, perfect name for this odd creature!
Koalas sleep most of the time! Kind of like cats!
No Zoo is complete without a VERY large Crocodile! You’ll notice he’s in that tank all alone! Such a cute smile only his mother could love!
And we finish with monkeys doing what monkeys do: monkey around!

To be continued with a more in depth look at the Opera House…

New York, Part III- The Eisenhower St. Lawrence Seaway Locks

While in the area we decided to check out these locks. They don’t really have a tour but we lucked out and got there just as their only ship for the day was coming through!
These locks are much bigger than the Soo Locks in Michigan. Those locks only change 21′ in elevation; these change 42′!
Also, at these locks instead of using lines to keep the ships centered they have these pads that hold it in place as the water level changes.
Quite the parking job! There’s just a foot or two on both sides as they enter!
Once in and gates closed it only took about 10-15 minutes to raise the water level (and the ship) 42′! Amazing to watch!
A unique view under the chainlink fence!
She’s on her way up to the upper Great Lakes!
This is a spare Culvert Valves they keep on hand just in case (or maybe just for display for the visitors). It’s easy to see how they can move so much water in such a short time!
A unique perspective of the seal on the culvert valve! By the weathering on the seal I’d say this was an old valve they replaced and then painted top this for show!

Our Family/Friends Time in Denver and Colorado Springs

Bryce, Laura and Reeve
We stayed at the same campground as last year and luckily got the same spot with this river view.
While watching Reeve (Bryce and Laura were at work), Reeve built this fabulous creation!
We took Reeve to the Denver Zoo and had a great time! Reeve and GrandJan on the Merry-Go-Round.
Reeve and GrandJan on the little train.
After a few hours of looking at all the animals Reeve was done!
While in Denver we went up to Broomfield to witness Walt’s graduation from college. Afterwards we went to Walt and Carries house for a celebratory lunch.
Reeve loved the menagerie of animals at their home! ( 6 dogs, 2 cats, 1 Iguana, 2 horses,  2 goats, 2 parakeets and 1 parrot!)

 

COORS BREWERY TOUR

While staying in Golden we meant to do the tour but never got around to it. So we went back later. Great tour!
The copper kettle in the previous picture was one of the original kettles.
I didn’t know that Bill Coors was the inventor of the two piece aluminum can!
I also had forgotten that Coors and Miller had merged! These are all the brands they represent now.
Some of the current copper kettles.

Looking down on the line for Coors Banquet Beer.
Their beer making process.

colorado springs

We had a combination Father’s Day and Rich’s 43rd Birthday celebration at Rich’s home. Bryce and family as well as Barb and Zach were there to help in the festivities.
The obligatory blowing out of candles!
Aneka and Sheba.
Zach chilling!
While in the Springs we attended a few of Aneka’s training sessions with her newest horse Cruiser.
BranPa with Aneka and Cruiser.
Aneka and Dolly.

At another of her training sessions she and Cruiser practiced barrel racing. This is one her favorite events; she gets to go FAST!