Our Hats

With our adventure in the outback drawing closer we were on the look out for good Aussie hats to protect us from the sun. We found what we were looking for on the front steps of the Sydney Opera House. We all realized we could not look more like tourists at the moment of this picture. Nano and Bazza (I will explain later) in front of the Harbour Bridge. Both of their hats are made out of Kangaroo hide.

Tara and I same spot.

Blue Mountains Eco Tour

We were lucky to have a private tour for all of these great sights. We called up the company the night before and were told they had decided not to run the tour bus for the next day. However, because there were 4 of us the guide would come and pick us up in his land rover and give us a private tour.

First stop was Grose Valley.



The tour involved a three hour hike into the Grand Canyon. Which had some really awesome rock cliffs, and overhangs.

The drought is still on in Australia so not much water flowing down the waterfalls.

Nancy's butt after stepping on a particulary slipperly spot.

Tara is standing on the end of a launch rap for para-gliders at Jameson Valley.

The Three Sisters rock formation is part of aboriginal teachings.

At the end of the day we were all exhausted and covered in red dust and sand but it was well worth it.

Gondola and Luge

We took a ride on the Gondola one morning to reach the luge track that was at the top. The view on the ride up was pretty impressive.

There are two luge tracks at the top. The scienic track and the FAST track.

Barry and Nancy on their way up to luge on day 1. Yes, luging was so fun we did it twice. The second time was on the day we were departing. It was a bit of a rush to fit it in but we were on time to meet our shuttle to the airport with 2 minutes to spare.

Day 1 was racing. No matter what Nancy says I won. Since there are no photos of it you are just going to have to believe me. Day 2 was picture day.

SPEED FACES!

Canyoning Vids Contd

Now for the jumps. These were so fun and a little nerve racking. Tara is up first in both videos.

6 meters

8 meters

Queenstown Canyoning!

Canyoning was my favorite thing on the trip. It was challenging, the scenery was awesome, our guides were great, and we got to do some really fun stuff. I know Tara loved it too but I think scuba diving might have come out ahead on the favorite things list.

We had just done our first zip line before these pics and now we are rapelling into the canyon below.On this jump were suppose to assume the butt drop position. I didn't really get my feet out, so I just look like a dork.


We had to scramble over rocks and through rapids to move from spot to spot.


We had to hang out over the water and go down this rock face.
When we got to the bottom the other guide pused us out over the pool and we dropped in.

This is my landing from a different drop.

Tara's best impersonation of superman.

Swimming out. You can tell by the expressions on our faces that we didn't enjoy it at all.

Group shot at the bottom of the canyon.

Now for the really cool stuff. The next two videos are of Tara and I sliding over a waterfall.

Stay tuned for more videos.

Hiking in Queenstown

It was hard to choose what pics to put up for this blog because there were so many good ones to choose from. We set out on a cool and rainy morning to go for a hike up one of Queenstowns many trails. The incline was tough and we could all feel the elevation effecting our breathing. After about 1.5 hours of hiking and not much of a view we were getting a little discouraged until we finally came to a clearing and this view.

We thought that was good until we went a bit farther and saw this.

The hike down was a lot easier and we found this great waterfall.

Mitai Maori Experience

For dinner in Rotorua we went to a Maori Experience. The Maori people were the first to come to New Zealand and live. The Mitai family now runs a business to present the traditional Maori way of life as authentically as possible. Under the blankets is our dinner.



Chicken, lamb, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and stuffing it was so good.

These guys paddled by in a traditional boat.

The Chief

A demonstration of a Haka (war dance). It was scary. Check out the video.