Pictures of our New Zealand - Australia cruise , 1/30/05 Sapphire

Here is the link to our digital photos on Shutterfly. You don't have to join to view. I wanted to scan in our some of my favorite photos from our reg. camera, but I don't know how (yet). If Shutterfly isn't what I should have used, please offer up advice. This is my first time posting photos so I'm no pro at it. My husband wasn't getting around to it so I did it ;) .

http://share.shutterfly.com/osi.jsp?i=EehNXLJw4cOFA

Enjoy :)

Thank you for posting your pictures. We're taking this cruise in reverse(Sydney/Auckland) in February 2006. You have a beautiful family. I hope I get as close to a kangaroo as your son did.

Oh, I think you will. Lots of chances for that. My kids fed the Kangaroos in Tasmania (at the Wild Animal Park) and at the homestead on tour out of Melbourne. We have so many photos of us feeding them, but they are off of the reg. camera. Had just this one off of the digital. There are more pics of our son off the digital from this trip but we have tons of pics of our daughter and video from other cameras, she is so posable too. You also get to stand next to a Koala and pet him at the Tasmania Wild Animal park, no extra cost.

Have fun planning your trip and I hope you have a great one :)

Strawberry Blonde,

Now I see where you name comes from. What lovely colour hair you have, just like one of my grandsons.

Great pictures. I hope the children enjoyed their ride on Puffing Billy as it is a great favourite with all the children here in Melbourne. Most kindergartens (pre-schools) take the children for a picnic and ride on her each year.

Jennie

Thank-you Aussie Gal :D ! Hair this color comes with loads of freckles though :p .

We enjoyed Puffing Billy very much. I loved the painting on the wall as you drive to the train, of all the children with their legs hanging out the train's windows. That is how I got my idea to sit on the window ledge and hang my legs out. Once Mommy did it, then my kids were willing to sit up there with their legs out. Don't have digital photos of that though, just video and 3mm pics. The views from that train ride are wonderful. I loved the smell of the plants/trees as well. Wish we could have had two days in Melbourne, one was not enough.

Heidi,

The Dandenongs are lovely, especially the fern gullies etc. I hope you had a sunny day while here. Actually I think each time the Sapphire has been in Melbourne it has been sunny. You will have to return one day and have a good look around. I do live in a lovely city.

Jennie

Sunny, warm, not too many flies - perfect! You do have alot to be proud of.

Our tour guide talked about the extreme change in weather the week before we came through that ended up killing many animals :( , so sad to hear about.

Yes, we had the coldest day ever recorded in February - only 12C - which is what we usually have on a cold winter's day plus the highest rainfall ever recorded in a 24 hour period - 5 inches - and then on top of that gale force winds.

We lost over 200 beautiful trees from the public gardens that surround Melbourne. Some of the trees were well over 200 years old and are irreplaceable. So many native animials lost their homes.

It happened on the Wednesday exactly a week before you came.

Jennie

I didn't know about the trees :( , more sad.

Heidi, I think you did a great job on your photos! Thank you for sharing them. My favorite is the one of your family by the train in Dunedin. Would you mind emailing me as I have a bunch of questions about various things about the cruise that I just don't feel like posting. My email is legalslave@cox.net Put strawberry blonde as subject so I'll open it.

Diane

Thanks for the lovely photo show on Shutterfly.

We were on the 6th January sailing of the Sapphire. You had sunnier weather in the South Island ports but a similar looking day in the beautiful Sounds. You have a lovely family.

No, Aussie Gal, it was not sunny when we were in Melbourne on the day before the Tennis began but we had a wonderful day in your lovely city and hope to return there one day (only 12,00 miles!)

Cinnamon

Thanks Cinnamon :)

Diane, I emailed you. Did you get it? Or should I try again?

Strawberry Blonde

Loved the pictures! What a great trip we had. How did the kids (and the parents) adjust to being home again?

Janis

We ended up going out to eat about every other day for the first week we were home :p . "Bringing us down gently". Now we are back to eating our healthy meals at home, no more ice-cream - sigh.

We swim more here than we did on the ship (it is warmer here). Back into the homeschooling grove. We went to the weather station last week and saw them release a weather balloon, very interesting. They loved the cruise but like it at home too.

How is your weather Janis? Are your grandkids excited to see your photos?

Heidi, I may have accidentally deleted it! Did you have as the subject from Strawberry Blonde? Would you mind trying again?

Diane

I emailed you again :) . Subject is from Strawberryblonde (again ;) ). The last one must have gotton lost in spam or something.

Diane, if I could be any help, just e-mail me at EsteboFarr@aol.com. A different perspective. Actually, Heidi, our friends who traveled with us are the only ones to see the pictures. I did send my 9 year old g'dtr pictures of the kangaroos and kaolas and she loved them. especially the ones with the joey peeking out!

. I hope I get as close to a kangaroo as your son did.

We just got home from Sydney - spent five nights there after our 2/23/05 cruise from Auckland to Sydney on the Sapphire Princess.

You might consider Bonorong Wildlife Park in Tasmania. We wandered into Hobart on the bus from the dock (free!) and got some $$AU. (Incidentally, it is faster to get the money from the ATM - you do pay a $1.00 fee but the exchange rate was same as the bank). From there, we went to the Visitors Center (about a block or so from the pier and about the same distance from downtown Holbart) and booked the tour to that Park and Richmond. The Park there is hands-on with kangaroos, wombats, Koalas. There were Tasmanian Devils there too. They also provide food (50cents AUS). It was $58AU for the tour (take off

The Blue Mountain tour in Sydney has a "breakfast with koalas" which also is a hands-on zoo. The wombats there are really large and fat! The petting was strictly kangaroos and koalas.

The Wildlife Park in Melbourne (Healesville) was intellectual but no hands-on but you do get facts and figures. I do not know about the Sydney (Taronga) Zoo as we got there mid afternoon but there was no petting at that time and the zoo is a midst of construction and needs a lot of attention. From what I saw, it was probably restricted to photograph with the koala for $10AU.