Wellington New Zealand

Brian and I are staying at the Amora Hotel in Wellington NZ which is downtown and close to all the wonderful sites. Wellington is the capital of NZ and right on the southwestern shore of the North Island. Tomorrow we are traveling by ferry to the South Island across Cook's Strait. It is a 3 hour trip and there we catch a new tour bus driver. John our current drive has be very informative and is full of humorous stories.

Today I toured by myself while Brian was recuperated from last several days of travel. Our group went to see Mt. Victoria with the beautiful vistas, Parliament, the Botanic Gardens and Ten Papa museum. It was fun and very interesting!

We will be going to Nelson and Mt. Cook next on the South Islands where I hear it is just gorgeous. Bye for now!

At Rotorua

Today, we traveled southward through the most intensive farming area in the north island.  Lots of dairy cattle.  We stopped at Matamata where they built the set and shot the shire from "The Lord of the Rings".

Tonight (Saturday) we are here in Rotorua on the North Island and are staying at a bed and breakfast with Christine Doolan. Her place is breath taking with a view of Rotorua Lake and forest. She has donkeys, pet quail and served us a wonderful beef dinner. The lake lies in a carter of a valcano and the area has a number of geothermal pools and mud pots.

We are not staying at Christchurch after all due to unsafe buildings and continued rescue efforts. It will be two nights here and then we move on to Wellington for two nights. Bye for now!

Bay of Islands At Paihia

We are here at the Bay of Islands resort Scenic Hotel in Paihia. We arrived here last evening and are going to a boat ride to the Hole in the islands this morning. It is very beautiful country here! Yesterday we toured the Maori Treaty Grounds where the Europeans and the Maori signed an agreement on living cohesively together. We will be staying here another night and then we will be going to Rotoura where we will have a home stay with NZ family.

Will keep you posted as I can with limited service.

My postings will be short due to pay by the minute Internet service.

Earthquake!

There was a earthquake in Christchurch on the south island. Currently we are on the north island in Auckland. We are OK and didn't feel a thing, thank goodness! What a horrible thing to have happened. Our tour group is to be in Christchurch on March 2, for a train boarding and stay overnight. We are also to fly out of Christchurch for Honolulu on the 11th of March. So far our tour manager has said no changes have been implemented. We are touring Auckland today and have a free afternoon and evening. We will keep updating blog. No Internet service in room so in lobby of hotel. We`will keep everyone posted with what happens to our tour if anything. Pray for those who are affected by this disaster!

Finally Made It!

Wow, what a trip! I have never could have imagined the length, restlessness, and discomfort of a long flight like that. We flew 10 1/2 hours from Honolulu to Sydney and then another 2 hours to New Zealand. But what counts is that we made it safe and sound. We almost missed our connection to New Zealand from Sydney and they held the plane for us. The Honolulu plane was late. Needless to say, we have no bags and won't get them until this afternoon. Our tour starts with a dinner tonight and welcome after. Hopefully our bags will get here before the dinner so we can change our clothes.

Brian and I were beat from losing a day. The time change is hard to get use too. It is Tues. 2/22/11 here when only Mon. 2/21/11 at home. We arrived at our hotel Rydges on the Harbour here in Auckland NZ at 2:00 am this morning. Brian is going to a doctor right now for a sinus infection which has gotten worse with flying. No new pictures yet but when tour starts the photos will flow.

Bye for now!

In Honolulu Doing the Hula!

Brian and I made it safely last evening to Honolulu. We started from Colorado Springs CO with a rather bumpy 20 minute flight to Denver. Then we flew nonstop (7 1/2 hours) from Denver. The trip went faster by being distracted watching 2 new movies (Unstoppable and Secretariat) and being more comfortable by buying more leg room (economy plus). My sister's building manager was gracious enough to pick us up at the airport and transporting us to her condo.

We ate breakfast this morning on my sister's Lanai and it was almost surreal. It is taking a little time to get use to the humidity and 80 degree weather. Brian and I slept with the windows and sliding glass doors open, can you believe it? We have decided to rest the next few days before the 10 1/2 flight to Sydney Australia and then on to Auckland New Zealand on Sunday. We are both trying to shake a cold.

Aloha!
Mary

Get Ready, Set, Go!

The time has come to set forth on our trip into the wild yonder. We travel to Colorado Springs today to begin our journey into the unknown. Farewell ye travelers and God speed!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Brian and I have been traveling the Nebraska panhandle finishing estate business in Sidney and getting taxes done in Scottsbluff. We are heading to a friend's 50th birthday party tonight in Lewellen NE and staying at a bed and breakfast with friends and family. We are to return home Sunday and pick up Brian's horse Doc and take him to Jessamyn's house in Gordon. What a whirlwind getting things tied up before we leave for Hawaii and New Zealand!

Brian saw a ENT doctor while in Scottsbluff to learn why his voice has failed him. The doctor scoped his vocal chords to assess their condition. One chord is perfectly normal while the other chord has collapsed. No inflammation or infections were noted. The doctor stated there is not much you can do but wait for chord to tighten back up, which could take up to a year. Even at that, his voice could change from it. Doctor says collapse could be from cancer treatment or possible thyroid problems, but thyroid tests were normal before.

It is getting closer to the beginning of our travel odyssey and we will be blogging about our trip's highlights.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day and we are sending hugs and kisses your way!

Finally Home, But Not For Long

We finally got out of the Chicago area and made it home on Friday evening. Travel was smooth out of O'Hara but had a delay with the flight to Scottsbluff. We picked up Rico (a very happy chihuahua) at Paqui and Marc's. It was nice to see Zeyda and the family went out to eat supper together.

Truly, I have never seen so much standing snow in a LONG TIME as we saw in Zion IL (24")!  Now it is snowing and blowing 20-25 miles per hour here at home. I am getting tired of the white stuff and who is ever praying for snow needs to stop! But to my relief, we will be able to get to a warmer climate soon.

Our trip to Hawaii and New Zealand has been marred by the fact that my sister Nancy is unable to be there when we arrive. Her daughter is ill with heart problems. Nancy is going to California to help with her daughter and husband's twins and household chores. She is graciously leaving keys to condo and car for us to use when we arrive in Honolulu. Hopefully we will get to see her when we return from New Zealand tour.

Brian is feeling better and its has been four weeks since last chemo session; but surgery for the biopsy has set him back a little. He broke out with hives all over neck, chin and shoulders where they put antiseptic prep. I gave him some Benadryl but he started having heart palpitations. He is still tired from trip and somewhat uncomfortable from rash.

We have a week full of chores we need to get done before we leave again so good bye for now.

Blizzarding

Brian finally got sprung from the hospital around 5 pm yesterday. He was getting very irritated and his patience was waning before we actually got going. We grabbed some supper at the hospital before we headed to our hotel. Thank goodness for the shuttle service; snow had started with lots of wind. I walked  (or more like blew over across the street) to Piggly Wiggly and got some snacks and bottled water.

This morning all travel is at a virtual stop and people not listening to weather advisories were stranded all over the Chicago area. Emergency workers are using snow mobiles to rescue people. No train, bus, or air travel and 16 inches of snow has fallen. Blizzard is to wind down by this afternoon. I did actually hear thunder snow yesterday! We have a cozy hotel room with electricity still up, so lucky we are.

Brian's surgeon came and visited with us before we left yesterday and they did not find any suspicious nodes. He did take a biopsy of a nodule on thyroid that was negative. We are stumped to what showed up on scans but thankful that nothing is there. Now did he really need chemo or was it just some form of inflammation in neck?

CTCA travel agent has got us flying home on Friday due to blizzard and back up of travelers. I will be glad to get home after this unexpected delay. Paqui rescued Rico (dog) yesterday from the vet and our wonderful neighbors the Huddles are braving the very cold (-22) to tend to our horse and cats. We don't know what we would do without them!!

Will post again when we get home safe.

Chicago Area Bracing For Biggest Blizzard Since 1967

Well what can I say, here we are in Chicago land and we are going to be grounded at Zion (CTCA) and experience thunder snow, waves 25 ft. high and 18-24 inches blowing snow. Jeez, I didn't sign up for this but will try and do my best.

Brian stayed overnight in the hospital after his neck biopsy. The surgeon ask another surgeon to help find these two elusive nodes that showed up on PET and CT scans. They only saw thyroid that had some strange formation??? Doctor took biopsy of thyroid and the surgery was only to take 90  minutes that turned into 3 1/2 or more hours. Strange!

Over the weekend we rented a car and traveled to Lisle and visited our friends. Sunday we went to Lake Geneva and did some shopping and sight seeing. Now I have to return the car before blizzard hits. Also need to check on getting our room stay extended. Hopefully, Brian will be discharged from hospital before white out conditions start! Maybe if time, I will get some supplies before we need to hunker down.

Will keep you posted!