Mike and I are actually on the final leg of our Road Scholar trip, but our many activities and the wifi limitations resulted in blog lag.

Day Two had a whole lot more going on than just the boat trip, however I had a chance to upload the prior blog while waiting in line at the Queenstown airport, so I went for it. That’s about all that I was able to go for, because our flight was cancelled. Seven of us didn’t make it onto the replacement flight. So, instead, we get a voucher for $12 worth of food, a couple of hours hanging in a very pleasant airport, and a direct flight to Wellington rather than a stop over in Christchurch. Not a bad deal, I would say.

So, to continue.

Road Scholar normally has very good guides, but Chas and Albert are in a category all their own. I think I have been spoiled forever, because these guys are beyond fantastic. They are patient, interesting, knowledgeable, funny, and in a very nice way are able to shepherd our group of 34 individual personalities. Now that’s what I call skillful! They have also done a terrific job finding exotic spots for lunch.

We were able to wander through the aptly named Eden Garden, enjoying the flowers, before dining on site.

Here are Adam and Eve, being careful not to eat any apples, but then, New Zealand doesn’t have any snakes to tempt us.

Our final excursion of the day was to Auckland War Memorial Museum. The New Zealanders lost a significant percentage of their population in the two world wars, and they now want nothing to do with armed conflict. Yet another reason to admire the Kiwis

And speaking of kiwis, they are nocturnal creatures, so this is probably the best sighting we are going to get.

One of many beautiful Maori carvings.

I’m going to quickly upload before I run out of MBs!