Bike for Sale

Well we have been busy, busy, busy
since coming home. Dale has been hard
at work fixing the pasture fence, working
almost every evening until dark. I have been battling my allergies, seems Spring has sprung in South Texas and the air is full of pollen, dust and mold. After being gone a month it took a while to catch up on everything.
Dale and I have decided to sell our Goldwings and have them up for sale on several sites. We have them listed on several motorcycle sites and hope to sell them soon.
We leave next week for Tampa and the big air show "Sun and Fun" in Lakeland, Florida. We will attend the air show for three days and then head home on Friday. I hope the weather in Florida is good with lots of sunshine.

SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD !!!!
Saturday, April 5

Galveston For Lunch

We took off this morning around 10 am for a flight to Scholes Field at Galveston, Texas. The skies were clear and the flight was smooth. We cut across country to Bay City and then flew up the beach until we reached Galveston. After landing and securing Miss Ice Tea Too, we decided to grab some lunch before going to the museum. We walked over to the Moody Gardens Hotel and enjoyed a tasty lunch at the Terrace, Dale had shrimp and I had snapper stuffed with crab.
After lunch we walked to the Lone Star Flight Museum and toured the exhibits. Most of the exhibits were military aircraft that had been restored. We finished the museum and walked back to Scholes Field.
We lifted off and flew down the beach to the Bolivar Pennisula, seeing the ferry and the Bolivar lighthouse. The beaches were crowded as Spring Break was in full swing.
We landed around 5 pm, put Miss Ice Tea Too safely in the hangar and hit the road to the house.

The Official Bungy Jump Video

This is the official video of my bungy jump over the Kawarau Bridge outside Queenstown, New Zealand at the A J Hackett Bungy Jump Site--The World's First Bungy on March 1, 2008. The bridge sits 141 feet over the Kawarau River.

Sydney, Australia

We landed in Sydney after a grueling flight and were taken to our apartment near Sydney Harbor at the Goldsbrough Apartments. Our apartment had everything we needed and was only located a short distance from Sydney Harbor, an easy walk. We grabbed a hot shower and put on some fresh clothes and walked over to Sydney Harbor. It was Sunday afternoon and the place was packed with families and people enjoying the sunshine. We were amazed how clean and beautiful it was. We had dinner at the harbor and turned in pretty early.
The next morning we had a Sydney Harbor tour and we spent the morning seeing all the hot spots of Sydney. Our guide gave us a real up close look at the bridge and told us the history. We traveled out of Sydney and saw many beautiful well kept homes that were on the market for millions. We had a brief stop at Manly beach, a surfer's paradise and strolled down the beach. We headed back into Sydney for our lunch cruise on the Captain Cook. This tour gave us a look at the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House from the water. We cruised along the shoreline dotted with homes and marinas. The harbor was bustling with activity---sailboats, water taxis, jet boats, a big cruise ship and lots of other tour boats.
After the tour we headed to the Opera House for a up close look of the modern marvel. It was an amazing structure and the roof is made up of thousands of small tiles. I took lots of photos trying to catch the sunlight reflecting off the roof. We toured the area known as Circular Quay and grabbed a ferry back to Darling Harbor were our apartment was located.
The next morning we were picked up very early for an all day tour of the Blue Mountains. We headed out of town, had breakfast at the Featherdale Wildlife Center with the koalas. We had the chance to see and feed kangaroos, wombats, wallabies, koalas and got a look at a big croc. We then headed up into the Blue Mountains that get their color from the oil in the air from the eucalyptus trees. We stopped at many beautiful lookout points and our guide was a wealth of knowledge of the flora and fauna of this area. We stopped at an old hotel called the Imperial for a tasty lunch and break. We stopped at Scenic World where we took a ride on the Scenic Skyway with a glass floor and an incline railway and a cableway that gave us some awesome views. We ended the day with a stop at a cattle resting station where we toasted a good tour with some bubbly. The tour then dropped us off for our boat ride back into Sydney. We grabbed the ferry back to Darling Harbor, had dinner and went to our apartment to pack up. It was a long day, but we got to see and do lots.
The next morning we had a flight to Cairns, to pick up our rental car and drive to Port Douglas, Australia.

The Pink Flamingo and Port Douglas

Driving from Cairns up the Captain Cook Highway along the coast we reached the sleepy coastal town of Port Douglas, the jumping off spot for the Great Barrier Reef. Set in a tropical setting, the foliage is lush and green with miles of beautiful Four Mile Beach to walk along. The marina is a buzz of activity each morning as the boats load up passengers for the trip out to the reef. The main street is lined with restaurants and shops offering all kinds of trinkets. The little church called "Saint Mary's by the Sea" sits near the waters edge and the view out the window above the altar is breathtaking.
Our resort, The Pink Flamingo was a small boutique resort set in beautiful tropical gardens. Our suite, #5 was located down the garden path and was very comfortable and offered us lots of privacy. Our studio had a large sitting area with a couch and table, a large master suite bedroom with a bath and a nice kitchen. Outside we a small table and chairs, a hammock and a large outdoor tub and shower. A large pool and bar area surrounded by tropical plants provided a nice spot for a glass of wine.
We used the palm gardens in the back for our wedding and took many of the photos in the gardens and around the beautiful pool. The staff even surprised us with flower petals on our bed and a bottle of bubbly in the frig when we returned after having dinner the night of our wedding.
The Pink Flamingo was the perfect spot for us and our wedding in Port Douglas.

Flowers of Australia and New Zealand

During our travels in Australia and New Zealand we saw many beautiful flowers. In Port Douglas, which was very tropical the flowers were in full bloom. The gardens at our resort, The Pink Flamingo were lush. In Melbourne we toured the Botanical Gardens were we saw many colorful flowers. But, the most beautiful and colorful flowers were in New Zealand. We did manage to find a few Lupines, even though the season was almost over.

The Grand Traverse of Mount Cook

The highlight of our trip, besides our wedding of course was our flight over Mount Cook with Air Safaris. We were on our way to Lake Tekapo when the skies began to clear and we stopped at the Air Safaris airport to book a flight. We requested an hour long flight in the smaller aircraft, a seven passenger x3 Gippsland Aeronautics GA8 called The Grand Traverse of Mount Cook. Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest and most famous peak. Soon we had a small group and the pilot, Jamie escorted out to the plane. Dale asked if he could have the front right seat and was thrilled to get it. Jaime seated us in the plane and gave us a briefing on the plane and about our upcoming flight.
We taxied down the runway and soon we were up in the air. Immediately we saw the beautiful turquoise blue waters of Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki as we began to climb. We flew over the high-country sheep farms were merino sheep are raised for their fine wool. As we continued to climb we could see the rivers that carry the glacier flow and carve out rivers below.
We were able to see both Franz Joseph and Fox Glacier below us, and also the long Tasman glacier. Jamie pointed out the West Coast of the South Island as we continued to climb among the mountain peaks covered in pure white snow. Soon we had a spectacular view of Mt. Cook out the right window at 11,800 feet, the snow white peak glistened in the afternoon sun. Jamie then circled the peak for those of us sitting on the left side to get a great view. The view of the Southern Alps was breathtaking!
As we headed back to the airport we slowly descended around mountain peaks and in glacier carved valleys seeing clear spring fed lakes. After almost an hour in the air we were safely back on the ground with big smiles on our faces. We visited with Jamie and another pilot and got a chance to take some photos.
This great flight was like the icing on the cake of our trip, a flight I will always remember.

Headed Home

Well our trip is about to come to an end as we prepare for our flight to LA tonight. We have had a wonderful time, better than we even dreamed. New Zealand is an awesome country and its beauty is even hard to describe. I doubt the photos will even do it justice.
We ended our trip with a flight over Mt. Cook in a small plane, circling the snow-capped peak at about 12,000 feet. We also had the opportunity to view the glaciers from the air and see Mother Nature at work. The flight was truly a highlight of the trip, the pilot was first rate, the aircraft top-notch and Dale even got to sit in the co-pilot seat for the flight.




We enjoyed a wonderful night at Lake Tekapo before heading to Geraldine to meet up with our NZ travel guide friend that helped up plan our New Zealand adventure. Ron and Paula were waiting for us and greeted us like old friends. We were anxious to tell Ron of all adventures and what a great trip he planned for us. We enjoyed dinner and some great New Zealand wine with them and planned to meet for breakfast. Breakfast was great, with lots of interesting conversation. We left Geraldine after saying "Goodbye" and "Thank You" to our friends.
We had the opportunity to tour the Antarctic Center and experience the extremes of the weather in christchurch. Dale was freezing!


We spent the night at an campground in Christchurch and had a flight to Auckland this morning.
We are now waiting for our flight to Los Angeles, a killer I'm sure!
Ron's wife Paula told ma about a quote she was going to have painted on their camper and I think I will adopt it too!
ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA!!!!!!!!

Bungy Jump

Another day in Queenstown, NZ and after breakfast we went out on the lake on the Earnslaw, an old steamer for a short trip across the lake to the Walter Peek Sheep Farm. It was so beautiful going across the lake and I even got to go up on the bridge with the Captain, what a view! We watched sheep dogs work, very smart animals, we saw a demo of sheep shearing and then enjoyed lunch with two other couples from the USA. After lunch we came back across the lake on The Earnslaw and enjoyed a sing a long, even got them to sing "Deep in the Heart of Texas".
We headed back to our camper, filled up with diesel and then went out to the A J Hackett Bungy Jump sight outside of town at the Kawarau Bridge, the original bungy site in NZ. I signed up and got a 4 pm jump time, so we had a little wait before the big jump. Finally I got into my harness and rigging, Dale taking photos the whole time, documenting the moment for history. They called my name and I moved out on the platform, sat down and the bungy was attached around my legs just above the ankles. Now the big moment------I slowly worked my way out to the edge of the platform, waved to the camera and looked for my new hubby---Dale. I was given a brief instruction and the countdown began.....1 ----2-----3-----JUMP! Away I went, trying to do my best swan dive and not look Stupid! It was so fast, suddenly I was going up again on the bungy line and I let out a big scream, then down again, then up again and it was over. Now I was hanging upside down looking for the boat to come get me for what seemed like eternity, the guys held up a long pole and I grabbed hold and was lowered into the boat---------ALIVE!!! What a rush! I did get a T-shirt for jumping and bought a video of the event for all to see.
We headed back into town, ate leftovers we had in our little frig and chilled out for the day.
Tomorrow we leave beautiful Queenstown and drive to Mt. Cook for our next adventure.