Monday, March 17, 2014

"Down Under"

I don't know if you noticed, but I haven't posted much in over a month. Well, that's because I was "Down Under" for two weeks. And, since I'd never been out of the country before, I had a lot to prepare before leaving. My husband and I, along with 5 others, traveled to New Zealand and Melbourne, Australia to visit dairies, and the company who makes our new Carousel Milking machine.

I have to say, New Zealand was stunning!  And the people there were super friendly!  Unfortunately, most of my pictures of New Zealand were of dairies, because frankly, that was the main purpose of the trip.  We included Melbourne in our itinerary because my husband has a cousin that lives near there, and since we were so close, we added a hop over to Australia.

Here are a few highlights of the trip.   The pictures are in no particular order:


Above are 2 of the 12 Apostles along the Great Ocean Road south of Melbourne (although there are only 9 rocks...no one knows the "true story" on how this location got it's name.



Cows grazing along the hillside in New Zealand.  We don't have views like this in the Central Valley.



A Gahla bird in Dumbalk, Australia
Apparently these birds are thought of like our pigeons....a nuisance.
I have to say, they are a lot prettier though. 



This is a Garden Orb spider that was hanging from our relatives' awning.  Remarkable in size and color, but fortunately harmless.



Our group overlooking "The Great Ocean Road".



The one thing I told my husband I wasn't leaving until I got a picture of.  I've had a dream of visiting Australia since I was 10 years old.  I received my first stuffed Koala then and named him Sydney.  This guy was just hanging around in a tree that extended over the street in a residential area.  Thankfully our tour guide spotted him.  A treasure to get this close.  Isn't he just the cutest?



Blessed to see a Kookaburra too.  Beautiful bird.



A performer at the Tamaki Maori Village in Rotorua, New Zealand.  We thouroughly enjoyed learning about their culture.



No matter where we ate in New Zealand, whether it be a small cafe, or an elegant restaurant, the food was always beautifully displayed, and rich in flavor.  These were just a couple of appetizers our first night there.  I won't bore you with all the food pictures I took...I caught a lot of flack for it.  *grin*


The water was always brought to the table in beautifully colored bottles instead of pitchers.  It was hard not to take one of them home with me.  ;)



This was the view from our motel room in Melbourne, Australia.  That city is HUGE!!



On our "Great Ocean Road Tour", we stopped at a location that had a lot of koalas and parrots.  Our tour guide "Outback Billy" brought some bird seed along to feed the birds, and they LOVED it.  We had parrots on our heads, hands, and shoulders doing their best to get the treats.

 The King Parrots LOVED Aaron...so much so they were fighting over him.  lol


This Crimson Rosella would have nothing to do with people.  He wanted his seed on a fence post.  I had to get some pictures of him though...his colors are just stunning!



The "Round-Abouts" and driving on the left side took some getting used to.  We had the cleanest windshield in the countries.  (The turn signal is on the opposite side along with the steering-wheel...so instead of hitting the turn-signal, the drivers were continually turning the windshield wipers on.)


We had fun learning the lingo, and taking in the different signs.


Forgive me, but I just had to include another koala photo.  ;)


This photo was taken at "Squeaky Beach".  The sand is so fine it actually squeaks when you walk on it.  Super fun.  This is at the Southern most tip of Australia in Wilson's Promontory.  Beautiful!!



Kangaroos...can you believe we didn't see even one until our second to last day.  Thankfully our tour guide, from Outback Billy's Great Ocean Road Tour, took us to the local golf course (not scheduled on the tour), so we could see some before leaving.  


That's it for my photo tour.  But, before you leave, let me share one more thing...

http://powerpoppy.com/'

Thanks for dropping by.  I hope you enjoyed the pictures.  I took over 1500 photos, and was able to edit down to 1000....it was quite an accomplishment...I assure you.  :)

Happy Stamping!

13 comments:

Luanne said...

Looks like you had a blast! Your pictures are stunning!!

Teresa Kline said...

WOW, what a blessing to see all of that IRL....so glad you enjoyed yourself even though it was a business trip....hmmm...perhaps I should take up dairy farming...lol. It is in my roots, my father's father was a dairy farmer, super small scale though. Thanks for sharing the photos, I could look at all 1500 of them...lol.

sparkle & shine *~*

Gregsgirl's crafty corner said...

I loved your photos, I'm Australian born and from Melbourne (I currently live in the U.S) oh you brougth back wonderful memories of home. I understand the driving is tricky, I still get confused and turn the windscreen wipers on here haha. I forgot how beautiful Wilson's Promontory is! Thanks for sharing your lovely photos

Becky said...

wow, what stunning photos. New Zealand looks beautiful.

TLady said...

LOOOOOVE your pictures Tosha!!!!!!!! LOOKS LIKE you had a FABULOUS TIME!!!!!!!!!:) WELCOME HOME!!!!!!!:)

Stacy Morgan said...

Squeel!!! Okay first you got the kangaroo, that is so cool and the Koala. Second the beaches look awesome, loved the food pictures and would like to see more but you know me. The spider.. not so much but I will show the boys for sure. Glad you had a fruitful trip. Hugs...

BJ Searcy said...

Those were beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing. I loved the picture that the birds were fighting over Aaron, the way you caught the wings of the bird was beautiful.

Jan Castle said...

Thanks for sharing your trip Tosh...their birds are gorgeous - what brilliant colors!
Hugs,
Jan

Ravengirl said...

What wonderful vacation photos! It's been years since I travelled to Australia with my husband and I loved every second of it!

irishgreensue said...

Wow, Tosh, what a fantastic trip!! I figured you would take a lot of pictures, and every one of them turned out beautiful! Almost like a virtual vacation for us to see how gorgeous it is there!! Thanks for sharing them!! Hugs - miss you!!

Wanda Cullen said...

I thoroughly enjoyed visiting down under through your gorgeous photos! Looks like an interesting and fun trip!

Marisa said...

Sooo jealous! Have always wanted to got "down under" myself! So many Aussies up here working the ski hills we hear the accents all the time LOL! Great pictures to allow us to "travel" with you - TFS :) Glad you had a wonderful time! So many pictures will let you relive it over and over again :)

Melissa said...

Tosh, it looks like you had an amazing trip. I love the pics of the Koala's and the different birds. Sharon has a Crimson Rosella. At least you didn't have any monkeys to take pics of! LOL Miss you girlie! We will get together soon....really. Just call me and I will come that way and we will have lunch. Hugs, hugs!

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