Author Archives: 3jmann
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Sydney, Part Two
February 2 – 6, 2024 The next day would feature another highlight, a tour of the world-famous Sydney Opera House. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbor, it is widely regarded as one of the world’s most famous and distinctive buildings and a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. Designed by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, but completed […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Sydney, Part One
February 2 – 6, 2024 Our three-hour flight to Sydney, departing at 9:30 in the morning, meant an early start and checkout for us the next day. This flight, again on Jetstar for $153 one way, would be a shorter distance then the one from Melbourne was and it all went smoothly. After landing we […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Cairns, Part Two
January 28 – February 1, 2024 Our Skyrail journey ended at the Kuranda station, where we disembarked and had to hike a short distance up to the town itself. A cute little touristy destination with loads of the kinds of shops one finds in these locations, we stopped for a bit to grab a cold […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Cairns, Part One
January 28 – February 1, 2024 Our flight the next morning to Cairns at 12:30 pm would again give us plenty of time to clean up and check out of the Airbnb and still get to our flight. We’d be flying for the first time on Jetstar, an Australian low-cost airline headquartered in Melbourne and […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Melbourne, Part Three
January 22-27, 2024 As mentioned in the previous post, the next day would be another long and rewarding one. We would be heading out to Phillip Island for a day of sightseeing, wine tasting, and a visit to the famous nighttime penguin parade with Phillip Island Penguins, Wine Tasting and Dinner from Melbourne through Viator. […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Melbourne, Part Two
January 22-27, 2024 Finished with lunch, we climbed back on board the van and drove a short distance inland to Maits Rest Rainforest Walk, a half mile circuit through a cool temperate rainforest in the Otway Ranges in Great Otway National Park. It contains towering myrtle beech trees, some 300 years-old, and an understory of […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Melbourne, Part One
January 22-27, 2024 Our flight from Queenstown to Melbourne via Virgin Australia was scheduled to depart at 2:30 pm for $248 per person one-way. The afternoon departure meant we didn’t have to rush out of the house and could take our time cleaning up and eating most of the leftover food so that we didn’t […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Queenstown, Part Four
January 17-21, 2024 Quite a few people we’d encountered along the way recommended Botswana Butchery to us and so we were glad to be able to enjoy its food and very good service. The menu, while diverse to an extent, would still be steakhouse focused, which had been the single constant so far in our […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Queenstown, Part Three
January 17-21, 2024 As mentioned in the prior post, today would be a full day, one that would start out on the gloomy side for Bev, Marty, and I and turn out to be one of the highlights of the trip. The three of us had booked an e-bike excursion from Arrowtown to Queenstown through […]
New Zealand/Australia 2024 – Queenstown, Part Two
January 17-21, 2024 The next day would be fairly relaxed with just one activity, the Queenstown Highlights Tour scheduled for mid-morning. At $403 for the five of us, this most of the day trip would run us just $80 per person and would be well worth the price at the end of the day. A […]
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