Sydney, Australia February 13, 2018

We arrived in Sydney, Australia, from Auckland, New Zealand late on February 12.  Again, Qantas had a long delay on this non-stop flight.  That's 2 out of 4 flights with Qantas that were substantially delayed and not due to the weather. But their unblemished safety record is certainly something to consider.

Our hotel, Pier One by Marriott, is located on Sydney Harbour near the iconic Sydney Opera House, pictured above.

Our hotel was also next to the other iconic monument in Sydney, the Sydney Harbor Bridge.  Ten years ago, when Ryan was a senior in high school I took him to Sydney for 9 days.  Ryan and I did the Sydney Harbour Bridge climb, and at that time the climb cost $60. Nowadays the price is about $300.

Australia was discovered by Captain Cook in 1770 and settlement began in 1778. The area near the Sydney Harbour Bridge is known as "The Rocks" and we found Sydney's oldest pub, Fortune of War, dating to 1828.

 One of the old landmarks of Sydney is the Queen Victoria Building, dating from the late 19th century. It's now full of shops and restaurants.

A statue of Queen Victoria is located near its front entrance.

Next to Sydney Harbor is the Darling Harbour.  Recently the old dilapidated Darling Harbour area has been renovated and contains many new residences, shops, restaurants and a convention center.

There's even a Hard Rock Cafe in Darling Harbour.

Hobbiton Movie Set, Matamata, North Island, New Zealand, Sunday, February 11, 2018

 Today we took a tour to the Hobbiton Movie Set, near Matamata, about 2 hours south of Auckland. The following are a collection of pictures.

Rotorua, New Zealand, Saturday, February 10, 2018

Today we hired a taxi to take us to Rotorua, about 3 hours drive south of Auckland.

The landscape between Auckland and Rotorua was largely agricultural, with cattle farms dominating.

We stopped at a place called "The Redwoods" in Rotorua.

With a light rain, the redwood forest undergrown with ferns was very green.

An elevated walkway through the redwood forest.

A close-up.

From the redwood forest, we went to Lake Rotorua, the second largest lake on the north island of New Zealand.  The lake was formed inside a caldera of a volcano, with an island in the center.  The weather was rainy and windy.

 A black swan on the lake.

These black swans are unique to Australia and New Zealand.

Auckland, New Zealand, February 8, 2018

Walking around in the neighborhood this morning.

Settlement in this area appears to be around the 1860's with the Bishop's House dated at 1965.

About 150 years of British settlements here. There is a major Christian presence as I spotted at least 5 large churches, including a Roman Catholic church, within a few blocks of our hotel.

 The view from the Bishop's House on top of the hill.

Another view from the Bishop's House.

After brunch we decided to take a ferry to Devonport, across the bay. Here's the Wikipedia page for Devonport, New Zealand.

Here's a picture of Mt. Victoria, a volcano.  Here's the Wikipedia page for Mt. Victoria.

A view back at Auckland from Devonport.

Climbing up Mt. Victoria.

A view from the top of Mt. Victoria.

Auckland, New Zealand February 7, 2018

We arrived in New Zealand today, and it wasn't easy.  First, there was a big traffic jam on the way to the airport at 5:30-6:30am.  A truck was broken down in one lane of the 2-lane route to the Melbourne airport.  Then our flight was delayed by 4-5 hours because the Emirates plane broke down, and they had to send a substitute plane from Singapore.  So by the time we arrived at the hotel in Auckland, New Zealand it was early evening.

Here's a view from our Quality Hotel window in Parnell, a suburb of Auckland.

The Auckland area is hilly and the hotel appears to be at the top of one of the hills.  There are volcanoes (not active) in the surrounding area.  It appears to be constant cloud cover and the temperatures pretty much never deviate from a high of about 75 degrees to a low of about 63 degrees year around. 

Parnell appears to be an upscale suburb with plenty of shops and restaurants along Parnell Road, the main commercial street.

Great Ocean Road and the 12 Apostles, Victoria, Australia, February 5, 2018

Today we took a bus tour daytrip about 200 miles south and west along the coast of Southern Australia. We left at 10:30am and returned to the hotel about midnight. Quite a long day.

 The Great Ocean Road goes along the south shoreline of Australia.

 Here's the Wikipedia page for the Great Ocean Road.

 There are many, many beaches along the Great Ocean Road.

And many of them are without any people.

Complete solitude.

The typical view as we drove along the Great Ocean Road.

We stopped at the Kafe Koala along the way.  A bottle of water was $3.50.

Polly want a cracker?

A koala up in the tree.

He's a little shy.

 Polly wants a cracker...

 And I have some crackers...

I wish I could take him home.

Judy in the rainforest.

Old growth rainforest trees have places to hide.

Big old trees.

A hundred meters up...

No snakes, but spiders...

Two hundred year old ferns.

Judy in the rainforest.

Judy on the bridge.

Judy with the ancient ferns.

Inside an old ash tree.

Nice pic of a dead tree.

Back on the bus to Loch Ard Gorge.

Read about the story of Tom and Eva on the shipwrecked clipper ship Loch Ard here on this Wikipedia page.

We went down the stairs to investigate.

 At one end there is a cavern.

Judy at Loch Ard.

 The other direction to the beach.

And out to the Southern Ocean.

 The first 2 apostles.

 A closer view.

More apostles at the Razorback.  Here's the Wikipedia page for the Twelve Apostles.

Beautiful pics.

More great pics.

And more.

And more.

And more.

The classic view of the Twelve Apostles near sunset.

A closeup of the beaches.

Another view.

The coastline in the other direction (to the east).

Back looking westward.

Sunset on the Southern Ocean.

The last picture before the long bus ride back to Melbourne.