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Australia...Here We Come!!

1/31/2012

Our 18 days in New Zealand have come to an end and we leave for Melbourne at 3:50 pm. The people of NZ are the most friendly, outgoing and helpful society we have ever met. Their driving skills are awful and pedestrians are dispensable. Even crossing in a crosswalk you are taking your life in your hands! The country has some beautiful spots but is it worth the price of admission? Like I said in previous blogs, the trip from North America is long and expensive. If your not planning a stop in Australia along the route I think you would be far better off spending your hard earned money elsewhere. They cater to the Asian and European travel market and have geared their pricing accordingly. We met a handful of North American traveller's during our stay and most had the same opinion of the country as us. One couple we met from Vancouver Island said they would cancel their trip and go home if it wasn't prepaid. I don't know if we would go that far! The accommodations are expensive, dated and very spartan. There are a lot of backpackers and people travelling in motorhomes or travel vans. If you a camper, this may be to your liking but definitely not CHEAP. A couple we met from the U.K. spent $5800 E.P.'s to rent a very small motorhome for 5 weeks. The Canadians from Vancouver Island spent $100/day for a JUNKER camper van from the 60's.

I think you basically get the drift from my previous blogs on MY opinion of NZ. Leslie may have a different opinion and no doubt she will leave her comments on her blog, Leslie...The Softer Side! Would we come back? Highly unlikely but never say never! Would we recommend the place? For earthy traveller's who are into backpacking, staying at cheap hostels. or love staying at overpriced, crapper motels/hotels, this may be the holiday for you. Everything in NZ is an extra including ketchup & mustard at your local McDonalds or fast food takeaway. I left feeling a bit nickel and dimed! We got the same feedback from many we spoke to prior to our departure but we had to see for ourselves.

Off to Australia!!!

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Drive from Lake Tekapo to Akaroa

1/29/2012

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We arrived at Lake Tekapo at approximately 5 pm after another uneventful day. The scenery was much of the same and after looking at more delapitated, overpriced accommodation, we went to the ICentre. to see what they had to offer. They suggested the Albertine Lodge, located at the top of the hill, overlooking the town...sort of! We had to pay in advance at the centre so there was no turning back. Although the unit was relatively new, it was the smallest room I had ever stayed in, not even enough space to change your mind. After cramming everything in, we toured the town which took all of 5 minutes. The place was small and tired and other than being situated on the most beautiful aqua blue, turquoise lake, it had little more to offer. They did have a series of three so called mineral spring hot pools you could dip your Knackers in for a mere $20/pp. Did not look too appealing to us! We left the lodge at about 10 am the following morning on route to Christchurch via the Scenic Inland Route, which was no more scenic than any other highway we have been on in NZ. The drive was quiet and uneventful. Roads were well utilized by the hundreds of new tour buses catering to the European and Asian tourists. Tourism is supposedly New Zealand's largest industry but by the looks of it, they have priced themselves out of the market for most North American vacationer's as I would venture to say, 90-95% are split between the Asian and European Travellers.

The drive to the French Village of Akaroa was probably the most interesting we have experience in our travels of NZ. The long and winding mountain road, bordered by the ocean gave you many panoramic vistas, including a couple of cruise ships anchored in the harbour. The town was your typical French Village with streetside cafes catering to tacky tourists and cruiseship passengers drinking overpriced chardonnay at $12-18 a glass. We have found the best attractions in NZ have been free but those are few and far between.

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Milford Sound to Dunedin

1/28/2012

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The drive was uneventful with nothing spectacular to see. We stopped in the small village of Gore on our route to check email and try to update the website. The latter was not succesful. Arrived in Dunedin around 3 pm and rented a two bedroom house with a full kitchen so we could finally prepare a home cooked meal for a change. Toured the town in the early evening and of course more photos. The one thing we have noticed in New Zealand is the downtown core dies after 6 pm and even in the larger centres like Dunedin, not much is happening. Making our way up the east coast tomorrow on our way back to Christchurch.

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Queenstown & Milford Sound

1/27/2012

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We arrived at Queenstown welcomed by monsoon rains and wind. The small city is beautiful, situated on an emerald blue lake, nestled in the mountains much like Kelowna. The next morning we got up to a bit of sunshine and ventured into town to take some photos, then on to the much anticipated Milford Sound. We booked into another "Bates Motel" (actually not that bad!!) at about noon and drove the 2 hours to the sound along another twisty, winding road (that basically describes every road in New Zealand). There are three companies that own the waters and cannot be explored unless you book another overpriced tour. The sound is beautiful with some very steep mountains and breathtaking waterfalls. Leslie & I have done the Inside Passage from Vancouver to Prince Rupert (Queen Of The North, the vessell that sank a few years ago killing two) and there is no comparison. The Inside Passage blows this place away! We did however get some good photos but unfortunately are finding it extremely difficult to fine a web provider that will allow us the bandwidth to download the pics as we travel. We are currently at the library in Gore and have attempted 3 times to download photos and it has brought the entire service to a standstill.

Will make another attempt once we arrive in Dunedin. Sunny with some clouds today but we will gladly take that given the wet weather we have had so far.

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Nelson to Hokitika Ocean Highway

1/25/2012

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Yesterday we drove the stretch from Nelson to Hokitika and the scenery was absolutely spectacular! Driving most of the distance along the ocean, we saw pancake mountain formations and blow holes caused by the endless surge of massive waves. Hopefully I will get to posting some photos once we get to a library. Supposed to be cloudy with chances of rain again today.

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Christchurch, New Zealand

1/20/2012

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The flight to Christchurch was approximately 1.5 hours. From the minute we landed, we could see the stress in the faces of the locals. This city has been decimated over the past 14 months and the ground continues to shake on a daily basis. The place looks like a war zone. The downtown streets are like a ghost town. A few security guards petrolling the streets share their stories of fear, devastation and the unbelievable resiliance of the local residents of Christchurch. STAY TUNED, WE FINALLY HAVE HAD TIME TO DO SOME POSTING ON OUR WEBPAGE! Hopefully that will continue from now on. They limit the bandwidth here so it is very difficult to download data like photos and get email with attachments, so if you could please discontinue email jokes and attachments for now it would be greatly appreciated!

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Landed in Auckland

1/18/2012

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We have been in New Zealand for almost 2 weeks and still not sure what to think. Our flight to Auckland was not as long as I anticipated. Air New Zealand is a great airline with fabulous service. The planes are new and equipped with all the toys that make the flight go by quickly. We picked up our rental car and drove to the Ibis Hotel. Thought we would try to grab a bit of shut eye but that was not in the cards. We caught transit downtown and did some touring. Local transfit fares downtown were $9 each, so better not bitch about the fares at home. In NZ, they charge by the distance you travel on the bus, not a flat fee for anywhere you desire. Not much to see other than the harbour. The next day we hiked at Cornwall Park, drove to Mission Beach and on to Auckland Botanical Gardens. Again very uneventful. Finding Auckland very expensive, gas $2.12/litre, groceries 2 to 3 times the price of Kelowna Superstore pricing, and restaurant dining is outrageous!! Wifi is difficult and expensive as well. January 14 we headed north toward 90 Mile Beach, with stops along the way at some beautiful spots. Nothing much at 90 Mile so we decided to head to the west coast and see what it was like. Big disappointment as there was absolutely nothing to see. No route along the ocean so we ended up driving some pretty dismal rural routes with stops in some of the worst crapper towns I have ever witnessed. The motels were the biggest dives I have ever seen with prices ranging in the $140 range starting. I would not let my dog sleep there, if I had a dog!

Heading north along the west coast on route back to Auckland was pretty spectacular.

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Trip to 90 Mile Beach

1/14/2012

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The drive along the West Coast Scenic Route was incredible. The following pictures will tell the story. Having said that, once we got to 90 Mile Beach, we decided to head toward the West Coast and have a peak, anticipating much of the same....NOT! What a disappointment. There was no access to the coastal highway along the west coast and what little there was didn't do much for either of us. The small towns along the route to put it politely were not what we expected. They were few and far between and what we saw were shabby, tired old towns. Don't even get me started on the accommodation along this route. It was so bad, after making stops at about half a dozen, we made the decision to drive back to Auckland and try to book into the Ibis Hotel we had stayed at the previous two nights. It was the longest day we have spent in a long time, 900 kilometers driving in one day.

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Leaving Trilogy...Sedona Bound

1/1/2012

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Got up early this morning, packed the Runner and an early breakfast at friends in Trilogy before making our way to Sedona for a week. The drive was quick and uneventful. We booked into our 1 bedroom condo at Sedona Summit around 4 pm. The girl at the desk was very pleasant but quite pushy, aggresively pressing us for a time when we can meet with a rep to pickup our welcome gift. You would think we would be on to this ploy by now but we took the bait and agreed to meet in a couple of days at 10 am. The time came and of course it was another high pressure time share pitch. I told the guy right off the bat that we were not interested...IN THE LEAST...but he continued to press on with his pitch. After about 5 mins of silence and a look of disgust, he finally turned to me and asked if I was bored. I responded "more pissed than bored of how I got suckered into this speel once again"! He got up and left the table and withing a few minutes, the next level member came to the table to try again but this time I told her we would not be staying and politely left. The good thing about the bad experience is we got to keep a $25 Mastercard Gift Card for our attendance. I told them I did not want it but they insisted.

The following day we got up, went for a short hike near the resort and came back for a hot tub. I must say the room was very nice and well appointed with everything you need. The price was certainly right at $40/night. The pool was cold and we were told that the heater was not working.

We thoroughly enjoyed the hiking in the region with lot of spectacular vistas and hiking trails for every level. The week was a little long and I would say 4-5 days would have been plenty of time for us. Not a whole lot to do in Sedona for a week, at least not for us. On the trip back to Phoenix while listening to the news, we were shocked to hear of a double murder of a couple that were hiking the very trail we hiked the very day. Apparently they were shot by a high powered rifle while exiting their vehicle. The suspect was later killed in an altercation with State Troopers. Just proves you are never safe even in the most unsuspecting places. We always try to remind ourselves of that in our travels.

http://verdenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=45599
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/01/09/deputy-murder-linked-to-nh-couples-death-in-arizona/

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Glen
I have always been a straight shooter and a go getter. Many have said Leslie must be a saint to have put up with me for over 40 years. We have been business partners since the day we got married and each played an intrigal roll in our business success. There is nothing more important to us than our Family & Friends. Our love of people and travel has allowed us to develop amazing friendships around the world.

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