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Hong Kong, New Zealand and LA, December 2006
A brief stopover in hong Kong, followed by 2 weeks touring New Zealand. A few days in LA with Margaret and her family in LA was a good end to the trip.

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Pic-023 The Milford Mariner carries 61 passengers, and was to be our home overnight on Milford Sound.
Pic-025 The ship moored in Harrison Cove. There were two tenders available to tour the cove, as well as a number of kayaks for passenbgers' use.
Pic-026 Breakfast the next morning was interrupted when the captain spotted a pod of bottlenose dolphins. Note the raindrops on the water - the Sound receives almost 7 metres of rain each year, so it is unusual to have an entirely dry visit.
Pic-027 The Simpson Falls, Milford Sound.
Pic-028
Pic-029 Although filled with salt water, Milford Sound has a dense, coloured, freshwater layer on the surface. Because this layer blocks a lot of light, species such as this Black Coral grow much closer to the surface than they normally would. The Underwater Observatory takes you 8m down to see these unusual underwater gardens.
Pic-030
Pic-031 After a few hours of rain, the stepp sides of the Sound get covered in hundreds of waterfalls.
Pic-032 Returning from the Observatory, we met the dolphins again. This one particularly enjoyed surfing in the wake of the small shuttle boat.
Pic-033 The Homer Tunnel again, showing the waterfalls.
Pic-034 The Kea is the world's only Alpine parrot. They often hang around tourist sites, looking for food. If no food is available, they are just as likely to tear some of the vinyl from your windows, or rip off the car aerial.
Pic-034a
Pic-034b
Pic-035 On Queenstown's Skyline Gondola.
Pic-036 View across Queenstown from the Gondola.
Pic-037 Fiona thought it would be a good idea to take a shortcut from Queenstown to Wanaka. This is where we ended up - an interesting drive in an under-powered camper van...
Pic-038
Pic-039 The West Coast is home to the Fiordland Crested penguin, another rare species. This bridge was on the route to the beach at Monroe Beach. Unfortunatley there was no sign of the penguins.
Pic-040 On Robert's birthday we took a scenic flight amongst the Glaciers of the West Coast. The weather wasn't good enough to see Mount Cook, or to land on the snow. This is the Victoria Glacier, not accessible from the road.
Pic-041 The snowfields on the more famous Franz Josef Glacier.
Pic-042 The little Cesna that was our transport for the flight.
Pic-043 The Pancake Rocks at Punakaiki have been eroded by the sea into a series of blowholes and strage rock formations. The best time to visit is at high tide - about 3 hours after we were there.
Pic-044
Pic-045
Pic-046 After two long days' driving up the West coast, we spent a day walking in the Abel Tasman National Park. On the left is The Anchorage, and the bay on the right is Torrent Bay. The walk back from Anchorage to Marahou (the gateway to the park) takes about 4 hours.
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