Thanksgiving turkey is now thawing and 12 will be dining at our house and I'm starting to get caught up - a little! About flights: It took 3 flights and many many hours to get to Melbourne (pronounced Mellbun) and then 6 charter flights and one regular flight in the two countries of Australia and New Zealand (pronounced New Zillund) and then 3 flights to get home. This is in addition to bus, boat, helicopter and catamaran to get to a destination. This is the first time this tour company has used charter flights so it was an experience to use Air Alliance and often have the same flights, pilots and attendants.....and champagne as you got to your seat no matter what time of day. This was the pilot checking out the propellors to make sure everything was working right. A plane not too far behind this one on the runway carried Prince Phillip and Camilla as they were on a big tour of Australia and New Zealand and we seemed to be always one day behind them. Queen Elizabeth is still the big boss of the countries.
And the above plane was good to go and just in case there was this air ambulance sitting nearby so it made me feel comfortable - not really!
Mussel farm in Marlborough Sound.. This is a male and the female has "pink lips". The company is now a huge tour company and is 3rd generation owned. The guy Ryan, who drove the bus and cooked the mussels and salmon on the boat and told us what we were seeing and the history of the mussel farm and is one of the sons of the parents who started in the 1970s with just a simple licenses green lipped mussel farm in Marlborough Sound and first a vineyard. His first job at 12 years old was shooting birds from vineyards to protect the grapes - they have come a long way!!! And yes - this is my hand holding and yes I did eat both a male and a female.
View from the catamaran and there are 143 wineries in Marlborough Sound and the specialty is sauvignon blanc which is my favorite wine.
Getting on the boat and the boat is at #7 dock. I wish I knew what I had accidentally set my camera on in my pocket but I think this photo is marvelous!!! This is Milford Sound.
Fjordland National Park and the falls were amazing everywhere we looked. The further out we got the rougher the waters leading to the Tasman Sea and the boat had to turn back a bit early because it was getting pretty "choppy". Fine with me!
These are New Zealand fur seals; teenagers who like to sun on the rocks and fool around in the water. The only animal species native to New Zealand is the fruit bat!
Our most wonderful tour director Lisa who lives in Canada. She was great every day and fun to boot and is trained in CPR as we unfortunately learned in the death of our friend Bill.
Sheep and cow and deer farm lawn ornament. It is nude but it does have a cross on it. Kind of like it!
Male urinal! Ross and friend Chris came back to the dinner table to tell us of the pictures of the wall in the men's restroom in this hotel. So what do Joan and Dee do - have Ross and Chris go in to check if vacant then hold the door while we take pictures. I do love toilet pictures!
So back to the basics - this was the trip - 3 weeks long not including getting there and getting home which added a couple days. One time there was a 17 hour time difference, then daylight savings time set in, then a 3 hour time change, then 30 minute time change, then 1.5 hour time change, then I gave up. I have a "travel watch" with dual times so I left the home time alone and changed the other but turned out I could not even figure out which day it was at home!!!
Our new friend Bill's funeral is tomorrow in NH and Linda does have lots of family support but it is still difficult and on my mind a lot. But......they would both be of the opinion to make the most of each day, give thanks for everything and I agree. Chris, Alex and Lucy stopped by for an imprompt lunch yesterday and Alex kept hugging - I know he was happy we were back and looked the same! So Happy Thanksgiving and Blessings to all who follow my path on this blog.
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