Tag: Tasman Sea

An Odyssey Down Under: Australia and New Zealand Day 22

Thursday, February 27

This morning began with a lecture by our Melbourne Site Coordinator about Contemporary Australia.

We then walked through parts of Melbourne and then took a tram to Queen Victoria Market. On our way we went through the Block Arcade and the Royal Arcade which are famous boutique shopping centers.

  • Walking toward the Block Arcade
  • Inside the Block Arcade
  • Inside the Royal Arcade
  • Inside the Block Arcade
  • Inside the Block Arcade
  • The clock in the Block Arcade
  • Old scale in the Block Arcade
  • Hopetoun Tearooms
The Block Arcade and Royal Arcade

Queen Victoria Market was busy as we strolled through. The market has been around for over 100 years. It is the largest of Melbourne’s many markets from the 1800s. Some people stayed for lunch.

Queen Victoria Market

We chose to walk back and stopped in the Melbourne Central shopping mall and also got a bite to eat. In the mall was a free library. In the Little Library you could sit in there and read, borrow a book or bring in a book to share.

  • The Little Library
  • The roof in Melbourne Central
  • The shopping center was 5 levels!

As we were walking we also passed by the State Library Victoria. We didn’t stop and go through it but we enjoyed watching the school children sitting out in front and the pigeons! Tomorrow we would visit this beautiful library.

This afternoon we left on our motorcoach for Phillip Island where we will see the Blue Penguins. It was several hours to get there. We stopped part way at Maru Fauna Park, used the restrooms and walked through to see the animals.

  • Wallaby
  • Koala talk
  • Feeding a Wallaby
  • Green Tree Frog
  • Kookaburra
  • Albino Kangaroo
  • Mama and Baby Kangaroo

Our next stop was for dinner at Mario’s Bayside Bistro in San Remo, a family business.

When we arrived at Phillip Island, we were met by a guide who gave us a tour around the Little Blue Penguin habitat and the water.

  • Cape Barren Goose
  • Wallabies hanging out on Phillip Island.
  • Little Blue Penguin in its burrow
  • Little Blue Penguin in its burrow
  • Phillip Island Visitor Center
  • Inside the Visitor Center
  • Inside the Visitor Center
  • Little Blue penguins, the smallest of all the species
  • The Tasman Sea
  • The Tasman Sea

When it was time for the Little Blue penguins to come ashore from the ocean and parade past us, we were in a viewing stand. This kept us from bothering the penguins as they waddled ashore. No photography was allowed so that the penguin’s eyes would not be hurt by the flash or the camera sensors trying to focus. We were fortunate that there were many penguins parading by us to reach their burrows and they were chattering away. It was our evening highlight!

Some of the members of our group were not looking forward to the long drive to see some penguins come up out of the ocean but they changed their mind after witnessing this phenomenon of nature!

Below is a picture of a postcard we purchased and it is of a few of the Blue Penguins coming out of the ocean!

Postcard picture purchased at the Phillip Island Visitor Center.

An Odyssey Down Under: Australia and New Zealand Day 12

Monday, February 17th

Today consisted of a bus ride, boat ride, then bus, then boat, bus, boat and then bus ride to Queenstown to finish our day!  We drove around Lake Te Anau on our coach to arrive at Lake Manapouri.  Here we boarded a boat to cross the lake.

After crossing Lake Manapouri we boarded a bus to take us over Wilmot Pass, part of Fiordland National Park to the boat landing to explore Doubtful Sound which is only accessible by boat.  Our original itinerary was to visit Milford Sound but due to recent flooding the road leading into the Sound was damaged.  Our trip leader and our site coordinator told us that we were lucky to be seeing Doubtful Sound instead.  They both felt is was better.  Doubtful Sound is bigger and quieter than Milford Sound.  It is also the deepest and second longest of the South Island’s fiords.

We enjoyed many waterfalls on our cruise through the Sound.  Below are just a few!

At one point during our time on the Sound, the Captain turned off the boat’s engines and we enjoyed several minutes of silence.  It was incredible.

IMG_0092
Inside the cabin you could follow along where our boat was traveling.

It was an overcast day but the views were astounding!

We traveled along and saw where some seals were resting near Doubtful Sound’s opening into the Tasman Sea.

Fur Seals
Opening to the Tasman Sea.

We returned to the bus when finished with our exploration of Doubtful Sound.  Our bus driver had to maneuver around work crews clearing where they have had a landslide of boulders as we go across Wilmot Pass.

We stopped at the top of the Pass at a lookout area to view one last time Doubtful Sound.

Along our bus ride you could see some snow in the mountains!

When we got back to Lake Manapouri, we boarded the boat again to cross the lake.

Lake Manapouri

After crossing the lake we boarded our coach for our ride to Queenstown which is located by Lake Wakatipu.

Lake Wakatipu
The view of the lake from our room!

This evening we had dinner at the restaurant atop Bob’s Peak.  We rode a gondola car up to the top of Bob’s Peak.

We had spectacular views of Coronet Peak, The Remarkables mountain range, and Queenstown.

We sat on our balcony and watched a glorious sunset!