Armed with a little 'good advice' from our valued friend Mark Forster
my then ladyfriend Sue Hallam (who I still thankfully see occassionaly) and I embarked on
what for anyone would be a
Trip of a Lifetime!
Starting in Beijing and for the second time conquering the Great Wall, we then moved on to
Xian to marvel at probably the most fantastic sight either of us had ever witnessed the
Terracotta Army.
Transiting south overland with 'stop offs' we spent a few days in Hong Kong before doing similarly in
Brunei - fabulous!
Flying into Perth, Australia we the drove the coastal path to Cape Leeuwin the most south westerly point on the continent before spending 5 days in the Stirling Ranges, WA.
From there it was to Darwin from where we flew to a flooded Alice Springs (the highest rainfall ever recorded) then the Ghan Train to Adelaide then onward to Sydney to visit some of my family members. A decent amount of time was spent on both North and South Islands of New Zealand but it was on the latter that the afore mentioned 'good advice' kicked in! Mark had recommeded
my then ladyfriend Sue Hallam (who I still thankfully see occassionaly) and I embarked on
what for anyone would be a
Trip of a Lifetime!
Starting in Beijing and for the second time conquering the Great Wall, we then moved on to
Xian to marvel at probably the most fantastic sight either of us had ever witnessed the
Terracotta Army.
Transiting south overland with 'stop offs' we spent a few days in Hong Kong before doing similarly in
Brunei - fabulous!
Flying into Perth, Australia we the drove the coastal path to Cape Leeuwin the most south westerly point on the continent before spending 5 days in the Stirling Ranges, WA.
From there it was to Darwin from where we flew to a flooded Alice Springs (the highest rainfall ever recorded) then the Ghan Train to Adelaide then onward to Sydney to visit some of my family members. A decent amount of time was spent on both North and South Islands of New Zealand but it was on the latter that the afore mentioned 'good advice' kicked in! Mark had recommeded
"if you do nothing else, be sure to pay Captain Gary Melville of Kaikoura a visit"
so we did and this is just part of what we found!!
so we did and this is just part of what we found!!
The lie of the land before leaving harbour.
Not the best of New Zealand views but nonetheless still spectacular.
A few 'Goodies' even before reaching the open ocean.
BLACK-BILLED GULL
a breeding colony of
WHITE-FRONTED TERN
PINTADO PETREL
(Painted Petrel)
(Painted Petrel)
sometimes refered to as
Cape Petrel
before encountering our first, but by no means last,
Albatross
WANDERING ALBATROSS
Only 5 of us on the boat made for perfect viewing
with some close ups of
DUSKY DOLPHIN
HUTTON'S SHEARWATER
KELP GULL
NEW ZEALAND FUR SEAL
The other 'seal' was that of approval and we were only still half way through.
Keep Watching!
