Australia & New Zealand Cruise & Tour - 2017
Wife Patricia and I flew to Sydney, Australia, on October 20 for a combination cruise and land tour, with three stops in Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, and Hobart (Tasmania)) and the remaining time spent on New Zealand. The cruise portion was via Holland America, on the MSS Noordam, and lasted 15 days. Following that we spent a week seeing New Zealand's alpine country on an itinerary arranged by New Zealand Coach Tours, with nights in Christchurch, Franz Josef and Queenstown.
Sydney
Near Melbourne
County Fair in Hobarth, Tasmania
Tasmanian Wildlife Sanctuary
Arrival at Milford Sound, New Zealand -- Ships arriving from Australia enter Milford Sound early in the morning, when the Sound and many surrounding peaks are deep in shadow. We saw it again later in the trip, in mid-day, when its true beauty was revealed.
Milford Sound
Fog locked us into an extra day at Dunedin on New Zealand's southeast coast.
A visit to Peter Jackson's set that imagined J.R.R. Tolkein's Hobbiton.
The larder of Hobbiton's Green Dragon Inn (an HDR image).
Fox Glacier and surrounding mountains from plains to the west.
Lake View After Haast Pass
Lake Wanaka I
William Gilbert Rees and Friends -- (6 April 1827 — 31 October 1898), an explorer, surveyor, and early settler in Central Otago, New Zealand. Statue in Queenstown.
Troubadour (and Guitarist) -- The dog provided loud counterpoint to the guitarist. I think the dog was responsible for the lion's share of their "take."
TSS Earnslaw I -- From Wikipedia: "a 1912 Edwardian vintage twin screw steamer plying the waters of Lake Wakatipu in New Zealand. It is one of the oldest tourist attractions in Central Otago, and the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere."
Aboard TSS Earnslaw.
Lake Wakatipu -- A panorama taken from Walter Peak High Country Farm.
Aboard TSS Earnslaw.
Milford Sound I -- Mitre Peak, now seen in full sunlight. We were told our day at Milford Sound was very lucky for being cloudless and free of rain. It indeed was an extraordinarily beautiful day (although the contrasts were a photographic challenge, leading to much use of HDR techniques; not this one, however).
Milford Sound II -- Mitre Peak again, seen at left of center. (An HDR image.)
Milford Sound V -- An HDR image.