Sunday, February 24, 2013

2013 Feb: Down under for Chinese New Year 2013

Greetings all,
Happy year of the snake to everyone!  Certainly not my favorite Chinese year animals, but then again, no one asked me and it's been around alot longer than we have, so I'll just go with it!
This year, as has become usual, we left China and all the firecracker smoke, noise, dumplings and all the Chinese people moving about to be with family to take a winter break.  If you've watched the news, you've seen the pollution has been especially bad...and we concur...it has been bad!  It has also been cold, so our choice of vacation destination was to get clean, warm air...we chose a cruise in New Zealand and Australia.  Below you will find a few pictures that briefly describe one of the best vacations we have ever had...so relaxing, so warm and so clean!  Even though some of the pictures are stunning in my opinion...they don't do it justice!
We started our cruise in Auckland, New Zealand and ended up in Perth Australia, then flew back to Auckland before coming back to China...I've tried to put these photos in order, but didn't make it some times...so you'll just have to read the captions!


3 pinguins at the pinguin reserve

The railroad station at Akaroa or Duneden, New Zealand

The Railroad station at Akaroa or Duneden (I can't remember which!), New Zealand

The pinquin reserve on the coast of New Zealand

Through the weeds, there are 3 pinguins...can you find them?

The Pinguin reserve on the coast of New Zealand

Outside the pinguin reserve in New Zealand

The albatross nesting area on the coast of New Zealand

The Larnach castle in New Zealand

Lanarch Castle in New Zealand

Heading in to the fjords (sounds) in New Zealand

The view from Larnarch Castle in New Zealand

Sarah on the steps of Larnach Castle, New Zealand

The Celebrity Solstice heading into the Sounds of New Zealand

The sounds of New Zealand

Sarah and Rod coming into the Sounds in New Zealand

The Sounds of New Zealand

Milford Sound, New Zealand

Milford Sound New Zealand

Rodney Miller coming into the harbor at sunrise in Sydney, Australia with the ionic Opera house in the background

Sarah Miller in Sydney, Australia at sunrise

Rod and Sarah in Sydney Australia at sunrise

Sarah and Rod getting ready to climb the bridge in Sydney Harbor, Austrailia

Sarah & rod inside the opera house in Sydney

Sarah & rod in our seats at the opera house in Sydney

Sarah at the opera in Sydney

The Queen Victoria mall in Sydney...the classiest mall we have ever seen!

Another view of the Queen Victoria building mall in Sydney
The staircase in the Queen Victoria building in Sydney


The clock in the Queen Victoria Building mall (with the Chinese New Year dragon)

A close up of the window in the Queen Victoria Buidling

Rod in front of one of the windows in the Queen Victoria buidling (can you tell I liked this place?)

The Sydney Opera house as we sailed away from Sydney

Lots of sailboats in the Sydney

A cockatoo in Tasmania

A roadsign in Tasmania

Some kangaroos in Tasmania

Sarah and some kangaroos

Rod feeding the kangaroos

Momma Kangaroo and her Joey

A koala bear in Tasmania

A close up of the tasmanian devil

just a pretty bridge in Richmond, Tasmania Australia

Rod beside the bridge in Tasmania

A nice church in Tasmania

Rod with an electric dulcimer player in Adelaide

Sarah (with newly purchased hat) in Adelaide Australia

Formal night on the boat

Some of the flowers outside of Albany, Australia

Some of the whitest beaches in the world outside of Esperence, Australia

Sarah on the beach outside of Esperence Australia

White beaches outside of Esperence

Another tasmanian devil

Happy Valentine's day in Albany, Australia in a 1958 Jag!

2 jags making the tour in Albany Australia

Rod sitting in the jag before we take off on our tour

There was a choir on the cruise lead by a musician from the acapella quartet Jason Mincer

The jag over heated on the way up a hill...no problem, get the 2 liter coke bottle, fill her up and move on!

Coming into the port in Freemantle, Australia, I spotted some tires made by the good employees at the Michelin earthmover tire plant I used to manage in Lexington, SC..very proud of the team in Lexington to ship tire all over the world!

The card our choir gave to Choir director Jason

The tires spotted at a distance!

The beach outside Perth, Australia

The monument in Eden park in Perth

Rod and Sarah at the war monument outside Albany, Australia

Rod in Eden Park in Perth, Australia

Rod beside a big tree in Eden park in Perth Australia

The Solstice Choir

Ending up the vacation with a good run in Albert Park in Auckland, New Zealand

Rod & Sarah in Albert Park, Auckland, New Zealand (just before Chinese lantern festival)...ahh...what a nice vacation!

So, that is but a few of the pictures from our vacation down under...it was probably a once in a lifetime deal for us...so nice, so memorable and so clean, fresh and relaxing...and so needed!

Have a great day everyone and thanks for your continued prayers and emails!

Sarah & Rod Miller

2 comments:

  1. Incredible!!! I am so happy that this trip was as fantastic as you'd hoped. Thanks for sharing.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Julie! I highly recommend NZ and AUS...I have the coins...and darn it, I saw Tim today and forgot all about it..I will give to Rod and see when you all can catch up!

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