From Rotorua we went to Auckland with a visit to Sanctuary Mountain along the way. The following day, at the Auckland Museum we enjoyed a moving Maori performance. After our farewell dinner, the next day we started our journey home.

In the morning we strolled through Waimungu Valley. In the afternoon, Hobbiton.

Our first day and a half in Rotorua we visited a redwood forest, saw a kiwi hatchery, were welcomed at a Maori village for a tour and lunch, and had a zip line canopy run.

We didn't get to go to Milford Sound today as planned, but our trip leader Gareth saved the day and rescheduled our jet boat tour.

Today was a big travel day, driving from Hokitika to Christchurch and then flying from Christchurch to Queenstown. We benefitted from a beautiful day of sunshine and grand views.

A small beach town and a large gouge in the earth.

Over the last couple of days we have rowed a traditional Maori waka, strolled through beautiful (if non-native) botanical gardens, seen a lot of earthquake damage, enjoyed a home-hosted dinner in the Christchurch suburbs, visited a working farm, and rode over the tops of the mountains to the west side of New Zealand's southern island.

Moon ring thanks to ice crystals. It's much cooler here.

We rode a bus out to Bondi beach, walked along the cliffs, and rode the ferry back to Circular Quay. In the evening we enjoyed a goodbye cruise. An unexpected bonus, we got to do team trivia at the Pumphouse, the hotel restaurant.

We've hardly stopped exploring long enough to blog. Here's a little catch-up on our first evening and then a full day of seeing what the city has to offer.

Friday evening, after our visit to the Daintree Forest, we went to the Cane Toad Races. Today, Saturday, we traveled to Sydney.

Mangroves, beaches, crocodiles, fern trees, bright blue nuts. And a Daintree is not a tree; it's a guy who never visited the area and had nothing to do with anything here.

We boated out to the Great Barrier Reef and snorkeled in three spots. It was a beautiful, sunny day...but also very windy. The chop made snorkeling challenging. Those who braved the water were rewarded with delightful arrays of coral and fish. Sarah in our group dove and saw some sea turtles.

We are now up in northern Australia (Queensland), enjoying the tropical air and learning about the area. We've visited Mossman where we learned about various uses of many flora found near the beach. And we briefly went into the Daintree rainforest, the planet's oldest continuous rainforest.

It was a full day, starting before the crack of dawn for a sunrise viewing of Uluru followed by a short hike at Kata Tjuta. Tonight we will watch the sun set at Uluru while we say goodbye to our local guide Shearna with a toast.

Our journey to the red centre began in Alice Springs and continued deeper into the wilderness from there.

We spent most of the day in a rainforest in the Dandenong Ranges, about an hour's drive from Melbourne. It was a great opportunity to see some Australian birdlife, including a trio of Kookaburras. Thumbnail photo credit: Robert Reynolds

We spent the day walking, shopping, and eating all over Melbourne's central business district. There's lots more than we can explore in our short time here.

Modern city with diverse architecture and an interest in preserving history, at least in the facades.