Anticipation
I Have always had the desire to travel to New Zealand. The cruise presented a great opportunity to travel half way around the world in an exciting and relaxing manner. We booked the cruise over a year ahead of time to insure we wouldn't miss this opportunity.
Experiences
I loved all the special hikes, such great scenery! Of all the "big" hikes we did the top four were:
Hooker Valley and Mt. Cook
Mt. Rainier in Washington State, had perfect weather, a rarity there
Hike to top of Rocky Mt outside Wanaka for a 360 view of the mountains and lakes
Beach walk at Motukiekie beach, spectacular cliffs and rock formations
The best event for me was dressing up as the Prez and Kathy as Hillary for the Halloween party on the cruise!
Second was the Shotover Jetboat ride through the canyon in Queenstown, exciting!
Everything was wonderful, even walking in pouring rain at Franz Josef Glacier or body surfing in Kauai.
Looking Back
The trip turned out pretty much as I planned or thought. It was always a bucket list item to go "down under". Because of the cruise we were able to visit places we would never had the opportunity to visit, Fiji, New Calendonia. I also had forgotten how beautiful Hawaii was. We had great friends to travel with in New Zealand and Hawaii, which we enjoyed sharing our experiences.
We traveled approximately 24,000 miles on air, ship and car. Amazing!
