Lafferty
Australia and New Zealand Vacation
In June and July of 1997 we went to Australia and New Zealand. Here are some pictures from our vacation.
Here are some friends and family of Gisele. Gisele's brother and sister-in-law are on the far right.
This is the motor home we rented in Australia. It slept four, but there wasn't much room to kick around in. The motor home in New Zealand was larger and cheaper, but we don't have any photos.
Here we are at a campsite in Warrumbungle National Park, in Australia. The kangaroos were very tame. This one came to our campsite looking for a handout!
Derek and Devon petting a kangaroo in a zoo.
A miniature town in Australia, near Canberra. Interesting tourist attraction.
This was a beautiful snow capped mountain in the south island of New Zealand. Nights were cold on the south island, always below freezing. Days were sometimes warm, but often cool and rainy.
Gisele feeding a flock of sheep. This was on a tour of a farm on the north island. That's not one of our kids in the background.
This is a true scale model of the now-extinct Moa bird, in New Zealand. The native people of New Zealand (Maoris, a type of Polynesian) killed them off a few hundred years ago.
Devon and Derek exploring Fox Glacier in South New Zealand.
Gisele and Daryl in front of the same glacier. This was pretty cool.
Near Kaikoura on the south island. Note the Southern Fur Seal basking on a rock just left of Daryl's hat.
One of many geysers in New Zealand. Though there's lots of interesting thermal activity, the geysers aren't quite as spectacular as those in Yellowstone.
More thermal activity. This is a boardwalk over a very shallow lake of hot water. There were hot springs all over the north island of New Zealand, and though we don't have pictures, we spent several nights at campgrounds that had hot pools to swim in. They were typically around 100oF or a little less.
The family huddled under kiwi fruit vines. Normally the vines would grow along the ground, but farmers raise them up onto wires so they grow better and are easier to pick.
Our family at Kiwi Fruit Country, a fruit packer that has been made into a tourist attraction with tours and a playground and the inevitable gift shop (how I learned to hate gift shops!)