Just Can't Get Enough of the Otago Peninsula!!!

Why not spend a Friday afternoon with the seals and Penguins???

 

Queenstown (take 2) with Mapa!!!

Mapa came to visit me in New Zealand and it was so nice to see a familiar face :)  After spending a few days in Dunedin, we headed over to Queenstown, the adrenaline capital, and hit the slopes!!!  As you can probably tell from the pictures, the weather made it a true "extreme" skiing experience.  It was basically a white out, and you could barely see where you were skiing.  Don't worry Mommy, we skied verrryyy carefully :)

On day 2, we went on a nice hike up to the top of the gondola.  It was a beautifully sunny day :)

My favourite picture- is that for real???

Then I bid Mapa farewell and headed back to Dunedin.

Airlie Beach and the Whistsundays, Australia

Airlie Beach is a party town, but more importantly, is known as the "Gateway to the Whistsundays".  The Whistsundays are a group of 74-75 islands on the coast of Queensland, Australia.  The Islands exist amongst the Great Barrier Reef but I am told that they are not as well known for being part of the Great Barrier Reef mostly because the area is not marketed as such. 

We arrived in Airlie Beach mid-day and walked around town.  Airlie Beach was much more manicured that Cairns.  It had a very pretty waterfront, a boardwalk, and nice looking restaurants. 

On our first full day in Arlie Beach, we took an "Ocean Rafting" trip around the Whitsunday Islands.  It was slightly frightening, but great fun!  The boat was speeding and jumping over gigantic waves in the ocean and we got a quick survey of some of the Islands in the area.  We then stopped to walk up "Hills Inlet".  It was a quick 10 minute hike up to a viewpoint of the most photographed beach in Australia.  I was easy to see why.  Check this out:

Whitehaven Beach

Pretty Close Eh???

Clearly I have enough pictures here to ensure that this beach remains the most photographed beach forever more. 

On day 2,  we did a snorkle trip aboard a very old sailing ship!  Again, an awesome trip.  Here are some pics:

 

The best part of the adventure, was that we got to snorkle with the turtles!!!  Unfortunately I didn't have water camera for this journey, but here are some pics of what it looked like above the water!!!