Mount Taranaki

After I decided to go to New Zealand, I was looking at guidebooks to find interesting places to visit. I saw a picture of this lake with the mountain in the background and instantly put this location on my "must see" list.
Lake Mangamahoe, with Mt. Taranaki in the background
Duck on the lake
The glockenspiel in Stratford. A couple times a day it opens up and plays a scene from Romeo and Juliet.

Stratford is an interesting little town. All of the streets have Shakespearean names. I actually hadn't planned to spend the night in this town - my goal was to drive all the way to New Plymouth and use that as my base for Mount Taranaki. I'm glad that I started to get too tired to drive any further, since this town is close to all of the trailheads at Egmont National Park (Mount Taranaki).

I spent 2 nights here with the friendliest people in New Zealand. David and Edna were extremely gracious hosts at their bed and breakfast, The Pretty Croft, and you couldn't beat the rate or $45NZ/night for a single (and I got the nice room).

Even though my first day was really cold and rainy, I got a few short walks in between downpours. This is Dawson Falls.
You pass through this section of "goblin forest" while hiking the Wilkies Pools Loop Track at the Dawson Falls entrance of Egmont National Park.
More "goblin forest" can be seen on the Kamahi Loop Track at the East Egmont entrance.
The low alpine plants along the Enchanted Track at East Egmont.
The rocky upper peaks of Mt. Taranaki. There were still small patches of snow on the peak in early fall (late March).



The obligatory picture of New Zealand sheep
The windblown southwestern coast, by Hawera

The black sand beaches of the west coast
Sign indicating that I had the right-of-way at the one lane section of road.
I decided not to argue with this truck, and let them have the right-of-way
Bridal Veil Falls near Raglan, in the Waikato district.
On the coast heading back to Auckland. The Coromandel range is in the background, and if you look at the black dots in the water, you can see a New Zealand green-lipped mussel farm.

Aukland

City Skyline

I really didn't spend much time in Auckland. I arrived around midnight and headed straight to a motel near the airport. In the morning, I picked up the rental car and headed to the Coromandel Peninsula, avoiding most of the city. On my last day in New Zealand, I arrived back in Auckland around 3 PM, dropped off the rental car, put my luggage in storage, and caught a bus into the city. I headed back to the airport around 9 in order to catch my midnight flight back to the US.

Skytower up close and personal.
The same view at night - but lit up and blurry (guess I shouldn't have had that last drink at dinner)
Sunset over Harbor Bridge

Vegas, Baby!

In 2003, some of my friends started turning the big 4-0! In order to celebrate this event, we decided to take a group road trip to Vegas. We also celebrated the Sept/Oct birthdays at that time too, since the trip was made in late Sept.

On the way to Vegas, we stopped at the Hoover Dam for a much needed stretch and to take a few pictures.
Once at Vegas, the fun began. We checked into our hotel, went to dinner, and then headed to the bars and casinos. Following the advertising campaign "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" you will see only one juicy detail, and that's saved for the very end of this post.

The next morning, we met for a breakfast (brunch) buffet and then headed down the strip to check out the other hotels and casinos.

Checking out the Flamingo hotel

Lobby of the Alladin

Our group has an orange plastic martini glass that we bring along when we travel. Its name is Benigni. Here Benigni makes an appearance with a statue in Ceasar's Palace. We also got some of the costumed people who walk around Ceasar's to pose with Benigni, but they wouldn't hold or touch it. We had to place it on the ground in front of them. (After Phil took it into the bathroom with him, none of us were too eager to touch it either!)

We also took Benigni to visit "Paris", and pose near this fountain. We decided to scope out Paris, since many of us will be staying here in July to attend the AG.
Arc de Triomphe at "Paris"
Eiffel Tower
at night and with Benigni
Stratosphere
Bellagio

On the second night, we had our big fancy birthday dinner at a steakhouse. We had a great time, despite the inappropriate t-shirt that Phil wore and Doug sweating up a storm as he tried to complete a giant steak. We saw his arteries blocking with each bite. Pamela, the lone vegetarian in our group wasn't too thrilled about having bloody steak juice splashed from a passed plate and across her lap.

The next morning we all headed to brunch, then packed back in the van for the trip home. Hopefully this is the start of an annual birthday roadtrip.

Caribbean Cruise (Aug 2003)

My sister and I found a pretty good deal on a cruise, and decided to give it a try. We booked a 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise, leaving Ft. Lauderdale and stopping at St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Princess Cays in the Bahamas. 

My friends Christine and Mark were also on the cruise.

After two rather dull days at sea, with mediocre food and bad entertainment, we finally docked at St. Thomas. I hopped off the ship as soon as we docked and caught the ferry at Red Hook to St. John.Once on St. John, I took a cab ride from the dock at Cruz Bay to Waterlemon Bay on the other side of the island. The driver stopped at scenic overlooks so I could take pictures of the various beaches on the way.Trunk Bay - early morning
Cinnamon Bay
The Leinster Bay trail is 0.8 miles one-way to Waterlemon Bay, starting at the picnic area at Annaberg Sugar Mill.


The trail is a flat trail and follows an old Danish plantation road, a small stretch across the beach, and then a little bit through some underbrush. Once at Waterlemon Bay, it is a 0.1 mile swim to Waterlemon Cay. Then you can swim around the cay. Click here to see snorkeling pictures that include coral, starfish, sea turtles, and lots of fish.


After snorkeling, it was time to hike back to the road and catch a cab .

After taking a quick dip at Trunk Bay, it was back to the ferry and back to the ship.
Back on the ship to head to St. Martin / St. Maarten.

The excitement continues......