Syd whaaachooo ney! aka. I am Lemming, watch me wait.

I really thought I would wake up with a hangover after my night at Penfolds. Instead, I woke up with a cold.

The weather was really crappy during my entire stay in Adelaide. Sydney however welcomed me with clear blue skies and temps in the 80s.

After checking into my hotel, I realize I am a left turn and a block away from the Opera House.

I spent the day discovering Sydney. This is a huge, clean vibrant city.

I got a ferry pass and wandered through Darling Harbor. There is a Latin Festival there this weekend as well as a car show. If you look through my photos you will see an interesting new car Ford is releasing in AUS. They are not sure if it will hit the states or not.

My cold was demanding soup, so, I headed to Chinatown and found some Coconut Thai Soup. While wandering back to darling harbor, I see a long line and the words Cream Puffs. I could try to describe it, but hey, lets have this guy tell you about them.

With a bag filled with fluffy, scorching goo goodness I head back to my hotel. I spent a good part of the night sitting on the Opera House steps taking time lapse photos as the boats zipped by.

Sydney Photos

A Day of Karma

One really should not whine when you are on a one month vacation. I get that.

However, while driving up to Royal Adelaide Golf Club weather was not on my side. There was 30mph wind and rain that slapped you in the face.

I get to the golf course and tell them, heck, this is the only day I have to play here, I am going. He then tells me the course is under construction. 3 holes have temporary greens, the greens were just punched and many holes have bare spots.

I felt like I was taking the medicine on behalf of a sick course. The course is in preparation for a major tournament next year and is a top 100 course to play in the world. You could see that once you looked passed the punched greens, missing greens, orange tape, and bald spots on the course.

Bad conditions here were better than no golf but damn was I cold and a bit bummed.

After a nap and a trip to my favorite lunch spot, I headed to Penfolds for dinner. I was told by a friend that I would be killed if I went. I went anyway. Boy, did I chose the perfect night to go.

Mark from Penfolds, who helped be book the trip, was unable to be there so he left me in the hands of Carla, working the Cellar Door and Carlos, the Sommelier for the restaurant.

After kicking back with Carla, I wandered the ground waiting for my wine tour to start. Carlos saw me wandering and decided to start the tour early.

The tour was fun. I got to hug a barrel of 2007 Grange and see a vertical of Grange on display. We then headed down to the restaurants cellar to taste some wine.

Heading to the restaurant in a few hours were a group of winemakers who have been in town for a 3 day judging event. They had just spent the day tasting the Grange vertical. Tonight would be their closing dinner and the wine they were having tonight was set up in the cellar for decanting.

By the time dinner hit, I had close to 20 wines in me. None of them were from the winemakers stash. Yet!

I enjoyed yet another wonderful dinner with exceptional service. The winemakers seemed to enjoy themselves as well.

Once all the pours were done for the winemakers a few showed up to introduce themselves. I guess some people asked who I was. I was the only person eating alone so they figured I must have been a wine geek, possibly mental or both.

Turns out I met Grandfather Grange and once that happened some tastes of wine started showing up at my table. All you have to do is look at the photos to see how lucky I was!

For someone with a table of 40 movers and shakers, Carlos continued to look after me which was a very classy move. By the time the night was done, I had close to 30 tastes of wine in me.

An AM of cold construction riddled golf and a night of trying wines I will never have the chance to try again.

Karma indeed.

Penfolds Photos

The Adelaide Central Market

Fresh off my night of fun at The Grange I hit the Central Market next morning and found a food court.

The Central Market is the food hub of Adelaide. Whatever you want, they will have it and it will be fresh. They also have many food stalls, but, the food court is where I was reunited with my friend, Dim Sum. Excuse me, Yum Cha as it is called down under.

Walk up Dim Sum. Brilliant. I sat down and had fantastic Dim Sum. Not since my time in Hong Kong have I had Dim Sum this good. I was in love with Adelaide and the lady behind the food counter thought I was mental.

Ever since my first meal, this little heaven of a counter was my breakfast and lunch. I was addicted.

The addiction was quickly ended once I ended up in Sydney. One bad round of Dim Sum and I am back to wanting fish and chips!

Finally got my food Jollies in Adelaide

Finally! A meal from start to finish made me say wow.

I honestly did not know what to expect from Adelaide. I was there mainly to tour the Barossa.

My hotel had a restaurant called The Grange. After I did spent my first afternoon in this town being glamorous (aka doing my laundry and a laundromat and arguing politics with someone who would not stop asking me political questions about the US. Its one thing he was badgering me, its a totally other thing he also saw my underwear!) I wandered into this restaurant.

Dressed like a slob and laundry bag in my hand I wandered in. After falling in love with the menu, they sat me promising me there was no need to head up to change or take my bag woman like appendages upstairs.

The service was impeccable and the food was some of the best food I have had in ages. Here was my menu.

"A Gang of Fish" (DOTN)

Snapper and Red Mullet with mussles, clams and squid in a tomato and crustacean sauce
`05 William Fevre Petit Chablis

Both fish had a crust finish. The Snapper had Macadamia, Garlic and Pesto and the Mullet had a Seaweed and Green Tea Crust

Bourbon baked marron,
marron mousse with confit onions, lime crisp with pilaf rice
`05 Voyager Estate Chardonnay

Rocket Gorgonzola potato tortellini,
long life noodles, Lilly bulbs, angelica, pak choy
`06 Stefano Lubiana "Primavera" Pinot Noir

Grange Dessert Dance
Black rice palm sugar pudding, praline torte, chocolate figs, watermelon spumè
Morris ‘Old Premium’ Liqueur Muscat

The wine pours were big, the food fantastic and the staff friendly. I stumbled back to my room, laundry bag in hand fulfilling my fear of looking like a homeless person.

It happened in Kurunda. I hope it was good for the Koala

Tourist trap. I heard it over and over. Kurunda is a tourist trap. Watch your wallet. However, I was told the train ride and the Skyrail that take you there and back had great views and were considered a must.

I scored the worse seat in the house for photos on the train. The nicest family from San Diego let me squeeze in for some photos but I hated asking them. They did not score the bad seat. Why should they suffer?

The train ride was indeed nice (get a right window seat if you ever do this tour and make sure you go with the train / gondola option)

I went with the shortest stay option. 2.5 hours.

The train ride provided for some funny photos. Take a peek at the top of the first group of waterfalls to see about 8 people doing the macarena.

Once I got to Kurunda I headed straight to the Koala Gardens. Ya see, its been a joke with my trip planner and some friends that if I did not do something involving a koala, I was going to be bummed. Well, my wording soon turned the description by some friends as "getting molested by a koala".

The first exhibit were the lizards and for the first time, I was happy that I had been lugging my 70 - 200 IS with me everywhere.

After a few snaps, I saw them. Little bundles of adorable sleeping fur! I get to the exhibit, lift my lens up and a Koala wakes up and stares right into the camera.

What's this? A baby Koala? What!? There are two of them and they are different ages?!

I could have stayed in this one spot all day. Yeah, I am a dork. But, you knew that.

Should I admit that they have a "cuddle a Koala" program where they take a picture of you hugging a Koala? Yes I paid and yes I got to molest a koala! The handler even let me hang out with the koala a bit because there was no one in line after me. I slipped the koala my phone number. Call me!!

Carrying a large lens attracted some of the handlers. I showed them some of the pictures and they decided it was time to shuffle koalas around. They have 3 different areas for them. Picture taking koalas for the public to see. Picture taking koalas kicking back away from the public and retired koalas that just sit around and watch all the shuffling.

Turns out the two baby koalas were not hanging out with their moms but other koalas. The staff decided to rejoin the families. Once the shuffling stopped there were a bunch of eating, awake, alert, crawling, curious Koalas and Joeys.

Right when two stop to look right at me, my CF card fills up.

Not to self, buy a 4g card. Sheeeesh. I swear they must have been tap dancing with top hats and canes when I was changing my card.

As you can tell, I really enjoyed my time here.

I kept out of the stores and had a fantastic day.

The Tjapukai show I went to later that night back in Cairns? Terrible tourist trap. Kurunda tourism karma got even!

Kurunda Photos

Cape Tribulation / Daintree Rainforest

7:10 pickup. Ouch. Wayne from Trek North picked me up in a bloated 4 wheel drive and off we went. The weather was not on our side but it was still shorts weather even with the clouds and rain.

Our day consisted of a tour of Port Arthur. Two walks and a boat ride through the rain forest, a beach walk and a kicked back lunch at a butterfly sanctuary.

This was a long day but a great overview of the Cape and Rainforest area. We got an overview of the sugarcane industry, plant-life, wildlife, etc.

Cape Tribulation / Daintree Rainforest Photos

Da Reef Da Reef!

My trip to Cairns was consumed by numbers. The wrong amount of baggage on the plane delayed us a few hours. The next morning on the boat trip we had a stowaway so we were counted. Twice.

By the time I got counted on the boat, I could care less. I was laying on a catamaran and it was 85 degrees outside. I was back in shorts and flips and the hotel I checked into the night before upgraded my room based on how tired I looked. The Hilton Cairns turned out to be one of the nicest staffs I have ever met and my room had a great ocean view. Cafe Mondo at the bottom level of the hotel was also a consistent surprise. I had a good dinner there. Twice.

It took us a few hours to get to our first dive / snorkel spot. While still not the best snorkel spot I have been to (that nod goes to Cooks Monument and the surrounding areas on the Big Island HI) the snorkeling was enjoyable. I got to see Giant Clams for the first time.

The company I went with, Passions has an exclusive to dive / snorkel at bird sanctuary / island. That and the fact it was a catamaran kept the numbers small.

I would probably not use this service again simply because of all of the other spots to check out in the reef but it was nice to be part of a smaller group.

Oh yeah. No kids on the boat! Whew.

Barrier Reef Photos

Boy howdy is there a difference!

So, here I am in Brisbane waiting for my gate connection to Cairns. A week long school holiday just started so now I am surrounded by kids. You know how much I love this. Smart move on my part booking a wine region for a few days, but, I think I will be hanging with some snots on the barrier reef. I have been snot free the whole trip. That sure has changed.

I am amazed at the difference between Australians and Kiwis. The accent is so different. Something I did not catch on to until I spent time in NZ. They dress different, act different and so far their food is quite different.

And its Not Burger king here. Its something weird like Hungry Henrys. It was BK in NZ. Hmmmmm

Now if you will excuse me. I have to go stare down a whining kid.

Ooops. I did it again. Sorry mom.

You would think I learned my lesson when I arrived in NZ. There it was on my customs card. Do you have shoes with spikes. Sigh.

So, it happened again. Me and my shoes were quarantined in Australia. This time however, they made me clean my shoes! So, there I sat in the quarantine washroom scrub-brush in hand.

I did throw my trail mix away. So I was safe there. However, I knew that damn beagle would probably smell it in the bag because it was in there for weeks and just removed this morning. So, once I saw the happy go lucky beagle I put my duffel on the top level of my trolley (ya see I am learning the language) and sure enough the dog stopped but sat down next to the bag on the floor next to me that belonged to a lady.

The dogs taller partner looked through it and found no food and when asked if she had food in it earlier she said no.

Off the beagle went in his direction and me in mine.

Leslie, the devious tourist.

Seeya NZ!

Today I leave NZ and head off to Australia. I will say all the mushy things here. I will miss the Kiwis. So perfectly demonstrated with the kindness displays by the Haydens and most every other Kiwi I ran into. Well, maybe not that male Kiwi in the Kiwi exhibit.

I wanted to finish my day with Fish and Chips but none were open before my flight. I took a friends advice and went to Ferburger and had the Codfather. Close enough!

This is truly a wonderful country. I look forward to returning. I sure hope they have faster Internet then!

I did it and now I feel dirty.

I promised myself. Do not go into McDonalds during this trip.

Seeing them everywhere in Italy was depressing. Only seeing one here and there in NZ was encouraging.

One thing that NZ is not is a breakfast community. Most places do not open till 9am.

Can you tell I am setting up my excuse?

Today I was heading on the Dart River excursion. My pickup time was 7:45.

Nothing was open, so, I sulked into a McDonalds.

No Egg McMuffin, but, there is a Bacon and Cheese McMuffin which is close to ours. Their bacon seems to pretty much be what we think of ham.

Their large soda is our small / medium.

There is a campaign to save the Kiwi Burger

You can add Bacon and Avocado to any sandwich.

All in all it was a pretty good McMuffin, but, I think I need a shower now.

The Dart River

This was a trip I originally did not sign up for. After many weeks of planning, I decided to have someone else book my activities (probably best explained in another blog, she deserves her own mention).

I am glad they suggested this trip.

It started with a short drive into the NZ wilderness. Once there we got into a 4WD truck and headed into the river for a 40 minute drive. We then tramped (hiked peeps not the trashy tramped) into the wilderness where we got an education on NZ plant and animal life.

Upon emerging from the hike, jet boats were waiting for us to take us on a 90 minute ride back to the base camp. Any time we looked too complacent, the boat driver would do a 360.

At some points the water was very low and you could hear the bottom of the river on the boat. There was a lot of zig zagging (the move peeps, not the papers) and sudden turns.

There is only one group touring the Dart River and that is Dart River Safaris.

After the Dart River I kept a promise to the ANZ flight attendant and went to her favorite QZN eatery, Winnies Gourmet Pizza. An open air restaurant, they have pizza combinations I have never heard of before. My pizza had chicken, brie, scallions and chili sauce!

I should mention, I really have not enjoyed the NZ food as much as I thought I would. Except for Jan Haydens cooking. Maybe she spoiled me!

Dart River Safari Pictures

I kinda like it here

I hope my pumping up Queenstown does not make it a let down for you. Honestly, I do not think you can be let down.

Those were the words from my flight attendant who saw me skimming my trip guide. I was one leg into my set of flights to QZN. She was not even heading that way but thought it would be best to sit down and tell met about one of her favorite cities in New Zealand.

Many people have told me about their love of Queenstown. I get it now.

The city is small. 4 very clean square blocks. There is only one stop light and its located out of town on a one way bridge.

Once settling in I headed to the Skyline Gondola which gives you a silly good view of the city (check out my panorama in the photos). I noticed a Kiwi exhibit on the way but decided to stop in. The price was a little high, but, the Kiwi exhibits were worth it. Mind you, if it was just Kiwis sitting there I would not have thought so. No my friend, the first Kiwi exhibit was a male Kiwi chasing a poor little female Kiwi around and other exhibit was a lonely Kiwi continually whapping the glass with his beak trying to make a run for it!

My other favorite attraction was the Kea. A parrot that loves to steal things off of you, pick on you, belittle you, etc. This was an interactive attraction which allowed you to walk in their cage and hang with them. Once I walked in a Kea waddled right up to me and tried to figure out what he was going to steal from me. All over the cage were ripped up brochures and sneakers. The staff leaves the sneakers behind, the birds are not that strong!

I left all my stuff outside the cage. HA! Take that clown parrot. Still, the bird got nice and close to me and I was able to snap some fun shots.

Ok, off to the Gondola. Fun ride and amazing views. Looking out over the observation deck, I saw someone bungee jumping, another person para gliding, someone doing that thing with the parachute and the boat and people lugeing down the hill. A city with 4 seasons, people are still snowboarding and skiing although they are limited in their choices.

This is a very pretty, clean happy city with a wide variety of things to do, places to eat and activities to entertain you complete with thrills.

One thing that has happened in the past two years is a housing boom in the city. This is one of the only places I have seen anything that would look like a track homes in the states.

I just hope it stays this quaint.

Queenstown Photos

Wow, Queenstown!

I just got here and wow. What a fun place! I checked into my hotel and was greeted by the hysterical Alex of Browns Boutique Hotel.

Even better. Free internet in my room! I have a bunch of photos to upload and blogs to post. But first. I am off to check this town out!

Precious, My Precious.

I am off to Queenstown NZ Adrenaline capital of NZ. Most anyone who has been to NZ says this is the place. I am looking forward to it.

One thing that has been crammed into my activities is a hike that will include some of the locations where they filmed LOTR. By the way, I think those damn movies were filmed all over NZ because every place I have been to so far someone points to some hill and says remember when so and so were running down such and such in LOTR? Thats the spot!

There has been two items on this trip that anytime I paw them I realize they are making the trip that much easier. Also, they are gadgets and what is Leslie Fisher without mentioning a gadget!

Think Tank Speed Demon

What the heck is this? Some photo friends have been wearing this belt on recent shoots so I decided to give it a try. The main belt holds my SLR and connect lens with enough space in the main pouch for my tour book. The side pockets hold my point and shoot, cards, batteries, pens, notepad etc.

You can then buy extra pouches designed to custom fit a wide variety of lenses.

I went with the 24-70 pouch, the 70-200 pouch with a pop down in case the lens hood is on (swift!) and an all around goody bag for my wallet, phone etc.

It also has a very padded shoulder strap which is perfect for wandering the airport with it, etc.

I have yet to get on a plane or go to an attraction without being asked about the belt. Some hikers simply wanted to use when they hike. I have gotten to the point where I have a few pages of my notepad that simply say thinktankphoto.com so when people start asking I can rip off a slip of paper and hand it to them.

What you really do not get about the belt from the website is the silly good quality. You can tell a lot of thought went into it. This belt can be bashed around and can be taken into the elements with no problem. Each pouch has an attached rain slicker which can be placed around the pouch for protection. This was a great feature in Rotorua.

Magellans EuroSurge

I am not sure if you can find this somewhere else, but, I found it at Magellans.com

It is a two power outlets that has lights on each side to let you know if the device is properly grounded. You can then order adapters for whatever country you are going to. In the long run I will probably save money going with this modular approach. Also, its nice to be able to charge your phone and a cpu at the same time.

This is it? You sure?

Monday was a side trip to Taupo to Play Wairakei International Golf Course. I decided to take a coach there. I walked the 1 mile to the charter depot with my clubs. I provided much entertainment as people either asked if they could help me find my ball or tell me I could play through. Once I hit the depot, I told the driver my destination and he said he would take me right there.

After an hour, he drops me off on a very busy street and wishes me luck crossing it. Once I get there I am looking at the golf course. All 9 holes of a pitch and putt!

I walk into the local gas station and all of us have a good laugh. So far, I have provided many people entertainment and its not yet 10am. The station calls the golf course for me and I am on my way.

I enjoyed Wairakei, but, almost any course after Cape Kidnappers would be the lesser of the two. While I enjoyed the golf and its very pretty tree lined views, I missed Cape Kidnappers.

After golf, I headed to Huka Falls. Ok, this is cool! Yes, the water is that blue and the large roar it makes is very powerful.

Lunch was at an interesting place. Huka Prawn Park. I heard about this place from some friends but I finally had a laugh at something that was not at my expense! I read the following thing in their brochure from Shawn the Prawn. "Without bragging, male prawns such as myself like to do it a lot. In fact, we each have seven partners!"

I really wanted to sit near this little tidbit of information just to see some kid say "Mommy, what is do it?". However, I had heads to rip off shrimps so it was off to the restaurant where I met a very nice golfing couple from Sydney. I am looking forward to touching base with them when I get to Sydney in a few weeks.

Taupo Photos

Sniff. Sniff. Sniff. Welcome to Rotorua.

Rotorua NZ. Maori cultural hub and puffy white smoke land! After getting up from fainting looking at the internet fees I was off to the Rotorua Museum which is housed in a old bath house. My night was spent discovering Maori 101 followed by a Hangi ceremony. I would love to say the education and show were amazing, but, it basically was a show with some food afterwards. However, the more I see it, the more I wish I could Haka.

The next morning I was met at my hotel by Sonny Corbett of Sonny's World Maori Stories and Legends Tours. Sonny specializes in smaller number tours and luckily mine was the smallest tour number possible. Sonny comes from Maori descent and our first stop was a Maori village. Sonny spent over an hour going into the culture. It was quite fascinating.
We then headed to Wai-O-Tapu which is billed as a wonderland of geothermal activity.

Ya see, the sniff in the title is all about the Geothermal activity. You wander around and all of the sudden there is a bubbling hot spring. The place reeks of sulphur. You get used to it after a few moments.

Wai-O-Tapu was quite fun. Watching Lady Know erupt, the crazy orange of some of the pools, the mud pools and the lime green Devils Bath were great photo opportunities.

We then drove off to the highest point of Rotorua where I got a wonderful view of Mokoia.

Sonny finished it all off with singing a few songs to me before dropping me off at my hotel.

Speaking of dropping, the skies did just that for the rest of the afternoon.

Rotorua Photos

No Photo updates for a bit (a wee rant)

I just landed in Rotorua. Well, actually I landed and then took a brief nap.

I am shocked at the pricing of Internet here in NZ. In Napier they wanted $25 for a 24 hour connection. Here in Rotorua they want $35! Not only that, but, if I go over 50mb I will be charged $10 per MB!! This is crazy.

So, my apologies if you do not see some photos for awhile.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Auckland mainly due to the great people like the Haydens, the wine, Roz and golf gangs in Napier and John and his family in New Plymouth.

I am off to check out the town! I still owe you guys a wine entry from Napier and will try to do that the next time I sit still.

Small World, Eh?

If you know me, you know I dabble in a game called World of Warcraft. It keeps me out of trouble and entertained in many a small city hotel room.

I was in game and mentioned I would be missing for a bit because of my trip.

Guild: Where are you going?
lesliegolf: New Zealand and Australia
Roz: Where in New Zealand?
lesliegolf: Auckland, Napier, New Plymouth, Rotorua and Queenstown
Roz: I live 40 mins from Napier!

A visit was a must. So, after my golf at the Cape I checked into my hotel (The brand new Crown Napier which was very nice) clean up and prepare for the arrival of Roz!

In typical Kiwi fashion, Roz is silly nice. She takes me on a quick tour of the art deco of Napier and then whisks me off to her house which was just built by her son. Her husband, John, has been home cooking for us.

While at the house we enjoy some great NZ food (lamb and kumara potatoes) and talk about everything from sports, politics and of course the game.

It was getting late and Roz did not blink an eye in taking me back to Napier. Two 40 minute each way round trips as well as feeding me a home cooked meal. Life is good! Thank you Roz! /bow

Cape Kidnappers

I was really looking forward to this experience. In fact, I originally flew to Napier only to play this course. Glenn from the golf course was wonderful in helping me with my planning here, etc.

I was picked up at the airport and headed on the 30 minute drive. Sheep are everywhere! I mean everywhere! Imagine a gas station and a sheep chewing the grass that is between the concrete!

Its also lamb season here. No, not the eating of it. Many of the sheep have 6-12 week old lambs with them. Its absolutely adorable.

We hit the entry to Cape Kidnappers and we still have 8km to go. The drive is straight up a cliff to the point of Napier.

I get to the golf shop and I am greeted outside by Jeremy and Grant. When was the last time people were waiting outside a club house to greet you? Jeremy is the manager on duty and Grant will be looping for me.

The service is silly good and I am quickly spoiled. After some horrid shots on the range, I am off. I learn I am the third person on the course today. We had no one near us for the entire round.

Cape Kidnappers and the surrounding areas have had two straight days of rain before my visit. Luck was on my side because today was clear and about 60 degrees.

However, the course is unforgiving and Grant and I have laugh after laugh as my drives land in the fairway only to bounce back a few feet.

I can use the excuse that my swing stank and thats why my score was so high. In fact, I was using it until the 13th hole when my swing decided to come back. The bogeys continued. The greens are fast. Grant had another good laugh when I promised him I would tone down the speed of my putting. His reply. No worries. I will warn that ocean tanker just in case.

Even with my swing, bogey was the score of the day. The greens are challenging as well as the previously mentioned fast. My only pars were on par 3's and 5's. I had a single one putt. If you are not on or near the green in regulation, best of luck to you!

With all of that in mind, I have never enjoyed playing almost bogey golf so much. The scenery is breathtaking. Golf Digest has rated it the #27 course in the world.

The ocean views, the challenging golf and the scenery which include sheep that dot the countryside. You are also playing on the cliffs and its quite memorable.

I left realizing that I had a wonderful experience. If I return to NZ. I will return here and hopefully the same people will be there to greet me. I honestly wanted to stuff Jeremy in my golf bag but that is considered to be impolite. I could almost play as poorly as I did today and still be happy. It is that nice of an experience.

Cape Kidnappers Photos

Its official. I am out of town.

So, for my first few days, I have felt out of town, but, not really. Sure, the steering wheel being on the wrong side of the car has had me heading for the wrong door a few times and my slight freak out when I thought the lady driving next to me fell asleep at the wheel has reminded me how far away I am, but, shopping at the Westfield mall, bumping into Pita Pit, Lady Foot Locker, Blockbuster and many other stores still reminded me a lot of home.

Well, not anymore.

Today I am on a small side trip to Napier to play one of the top golf courses in the world. My wake up time? Way too early and my wonderful hosts demand they take me to the airport. My flight was at 6:50. The time I needed to be at the airport, 6:20. What?

Yep, domestic flying in New Zealand is a fun crack up. They do not want you at the terminal until 30 minutes before your flight. I hit the airport at 6:25 and check in. I am given what basically looks like a movie ticket and sent to security. My thought? No way I am making this flight.

In fact, as I wander to my gate they announce it is boarding. Right now I am just hoping security is light.

Security? It is a very nice lady who looks at your ticket wishes you a good day and sends you on your way. Nice!

The flight attendant on the plane had to be one of the nicest people. She was quick to serve the drinks, but, would then work her way back when she was done to check in on each person. If you had a briefcase she asked about your work day.

For me, she quickly caught on I was in golf clothes and asked if I was lucky enough to just be golfing. She then asked more about my trip and provided suggestions. She wished me well and I said, if everyone continues to be as nice as you this will be an excellent trip.

As we start to land I begin to see such amazing scenery. Lines of trees with thin whispy clouds below their tree tops. Everything is so green. As we get closer I see little dots of white. Could it be? SHEEP! Everywhere!

Auckland Museum

I will be the first to admit it has been awhile since I wandered a museum with the exception of some art museums in Italy a few months ago.

The Auckland Museum was a treat! Instead of a museum that just puts a bunch of old sometimes cool looking stuff into glass cases, the museum tries to make you part of it.

In the Maori section when you are wandering through each subculture, music and dialog is playing. They even have refurbished some old Maori houses and invite you to walk in, touch and check them out.

Want to get a feel for Auckland 1855? No problem. They recreated the town! You are welcome to walk through the scaled town and into the buildings complete with memorabilia.

Their war exhibit has you wandering through bunkers surrounded by the weapons and the uniforms. Occasionally you will see a glass cutout within the bunker with more displays.

The most powerful room for me was the hall of memories. A long marble hallway. Once you enter you are flanked with every general and war flag New Zealand has had in its history. Along the walls, the names of the kiwis lost in battle are carved. One single blank wall says "Let These Panels Never be Filled"

There is much more to the Museum. My time crunch made me decide to skip the plant and animal life section.

Auckland Museum Photos

Glad its not me!

Sunday was mainly dominated by rain which made for a lazy day. We headed to the Royal New Zealand Yacht Club which is host to the America's Cup when New Zealand is victorious.

While chomping on food we got to watch as a group of people bungee jumped off the The Harbor bridge while another group climbed it! I far more enjoyed watching than the possibility of participating.

Auckland, Leslie. Leslie, Auckland

Today, the Haydens packed me into the car and took me on a tour of Auckland. We started driving over the main bridge then heading to Mt. Eden which provided a wonderful panoramic of Auckland. I was going to take a panorama, but, 4 buses of tourists showed up.

What I really noticed was the diverse architecture. In my photos you can see all the different color roofs and nothing that even resembles a group of track homes.

Auckland although considered the big city of New Zealand still shows its agricultural roots. A perfect example of this is the set of cows that wander around Mt. Eden.

I have been told there are more sheep than people in NZ. I have yet to see a sheep. I also understand there are sheep shows that go over all the different types of sheeps, etc. I just might have to see that!

After Mt. Eden it was off to my only request for my time in Auckland. Kelly Tarltons Antartic Encounter. My mom had spent a few hours in Auckland when she was flying through and called this a must.

It was a small exhibit compared to our Sea Worlds, but, it was a lot of fun. You start off getting to see Penguins and driving around in a little snow cat that that gives you a 360 degree tour of the exhibit. You then move on to the giant Sting Rays and then the main attraction, a 110 meter underwater tunnel that leaves you surrounded by marine life. It was like being in a very large fish tank.

After Kellys we headed off to the Fish market for lunch. Chris remembered I love fish and chips. We sat down at the markets restaurant where we had Snapper fish and chips. The fish and the breading is much thinner than what we usually have in the states but, I think it was the best fish in the role of fish and chips I have ever had.

We then wandered the market to get items for dinner. Green Lipped Mussels, Scallops and Crayfish.

After that, we headed to various piers and beaches to see the scenery and shoot some photos. We also did the Hokey Pokey.

Heading back home I saw something that just made me roll. A Pita Pit! I am a fan of the establishment. I was introduced to it in Coeur d' Alene Idaho and I have been waiting impatiently for the one to open near me in Claremont, CA. I suggested the Haydens try it and they told me they try most any place they see that has survived the 6 months of business.

Dinner was great. Jan is a wonderful cook. We added sweet potatoes and panko chicken to our seafood feast and paired it with some local Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir.

I tried to stay up to watch the All Blacks play in the first round of the Rugby World Cup but did not make it. Looks like they won. Yay my new favorite team! I hear their soccer teams is called the All Whites and their Basketball team is the Tall Blacks!

Here are my photos from September 8. I have yet to Photoshop any of them so no whining!

My September 8 Photos

Getting in trouble at the airport, or, how mom is always right.

The first leg was a breeze! I slept 8 hours and used the in seat power to work on some Photoshop tutorials the rest of the time. I packed some custom made trail mix. I think its big enough to last the entire trip!

I got to see the Opera house and Sydney bridge while we landed on the first leg of my trip. The Air New Zealand club lounge had a private bathroom with a shower which was bloody brilliant.

At Sydney I got some spicy noodle soup and thought, if this is airport food, I cannot wait to discover the better food!

My Auckland flight was a bit delayed. The customs form was interesting. They wanted to know if I was packing fruit, shoes with cleats and pornography. Well, I was 2 for 3!

Once I landed the customs agent seemed to care less that I was packing fruit and golf shoes (shame on anyone thinking the 2 for 3 was anything else).

However, someone else did seem to care about the fruit. An adorable beagle who sniffed my bag and planted himself right next to it.

I could see everyone around me hoping it was drugs. A nice little baggage claim throwdown, etc.

My trail mix has Bananas and Raisins in it. The beagle has good taste. They even let me keep it.

So, my trail mix and I head to check out and they see my golf shoes comment. Off I go to quarantine, yes quarantine.

Ok, my mom and dad give me the hardest time that I only clean the top of my shoes. I figure heck, they will be hitting grass so why work too hard on the bottom?

Well, you would have thought I brought in enough porn for every resident of New Zealand. They were nice about it, but, they had a lot of fun picking on me about my shoes. I explained the last place I golfed was Napa and maybe we could do a little cross grape experiment.

So, I was sent out of customs and my shoes were sent to be de-contaminated.

My customer walked right by me looking for me. Yep, my hair is that dark.

My shoes were returned to me humiliated but nicely cleaned in a big baggie.

And away I go......

Welp, here I am at LAX. I am oh, 3 hours early for my plane due to a weather delay. I am kicking back in the club lounge.

Before heading off I decided to have my hair done. Lets just say I went to the dark side. I do not even recognize myself!