While staying in Queenstown, Connie, Bob and Joyce took another wine and beer tasting tour. They visited 3 wineries and sampled over 12+ wines (and some beer). They again enjoyed their tour event. It was another beautiful drive to the West Coast to visit the Franz Josef Glacier. During the drive, we saw a different look for New Zealand. There were more farming and heavy fores...
When we arrived in Dunedin and got settled in, we took a walk around the city center for dinner. Along the walk, Connie took several photos of the unique architecture and monuments. We also visited the "steepest street" in the world, according to the Guiness Book of World Records. Baldwin Street is 529-feet-long top section climbs 155 feet vertically, an average gradient of 1:3.41. ...
The ferry ride from the North Island of New Zealand to the South Island went very smoothly. The 3-hour trip was enjoyable, even with rainy weather and some rough seas. We arrived in Picton on the South Island a little after noon. We explored some of the nearby viewpoints before checking into our cute motel room. The rooms at the Jasmon Court Hotel were nice. We wished we were s...
We've been pretty busy these last couple of days, so I thought I'd update the blog while I could. When we arrived in Napier, we checked into the Masonic Art Deco Hotel. The town of Napier was pretty much destroyed in 1931 by a 7.8 earthquake. Before then, the town was actually a small island. But the earthquake made the land around the island to raise over 9 feet, turning the island into a pe...
We can't get over how beautiful the rolling green hills are here. We're told it's not like this all year, we just happen to be here at the right time. The weather has been fantastic, with just a couple days of rain at the beginning of our driving. Since then, it's been sunny and warm. We arrived in the small coastal town of Hahei and enjoyed a picnic lunch along the Coromandel Peninsula. We ...
We hadn't made any definite plans on what to do in Tahiti. Originally, we tried to get a daytrip to visit the nearby island of Moorea, but that didn't pan out. They were already fully booked for the trip we wanted to take. We arrived in Papeete, Tahiti in the afternoon, with the ship staying in port for a couple nights. Bob and Joyce took a few short walks off ship. We tried to rent a car for...
Although we're on the 13th day of our "epic" 57-day adventure, we got a few days head start, Bob and Joyce, our travel friends from Florida, arrived at our home in Arizona 5 days before we embarked on this trip. While Connie and I have slowed down on our US travels, they continue to travel in their motorhome 6-8 months a year. For this trip, they set a snail's pace rushing from Florida to Ari...
A couple years ago, we drastically changed our travel plans and traveling style. After traveling full time for 16 years, we sold our beloved 40' Tiffin Phaeton diesel motor home. We (again) purchased a traditional "sticks and bricks" house. There are several reasons why we made this huge change in our lifestyle. It was a change we had been talking about for a while and the timing wa...
It has been a little over a year since our last adventure to Europe. As soon as we got home we started planning for this year's adventure and boy is it a doozy and we won't be alone! Our partners in this adventure are going to be our good friends Bob & Joyce Childre (aka Riff & Raff), who are driving their motorhome from their home in FL and will join us in AZ in about 2 weeks. From here w...
I don't know why it took me so long to write this up, but Connie and I spent a week in Panama last December. Panama is a country on the isthmus linking Central and South America. The Panama Canal, a famous feat of human engineering, cuts through its center, linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to create an essential shipping route. We flew into Panama City and stayed at an "all-inclusive" ...
