Arizona Trip

The Arizona part of my trip involved the zoo, hikes, horseback riding, hanging out, and helping out. The Phoenix Zoo had a dinosaurs exhibit, with animatronic recreations of what some ancient critters might have looked like. That was a cool addition to their usual stuff. I went on some walks/hikes with lots of wildflowers due to all of the unusual winter rains. Mostly the trip was hanging out and helping people out with various tasks.  

Animatronic recreation of ancient bear

Animatronic recreation of ancient dodo-type bird

Animatronic recreation of big dinosaurs

Sun bear

Javelinas

Big tortoise

Kitty

Owl

Armadillo

Horned owl

Little tortoise

Fluffed roadrunner

Prairie dog

Reptile fails at hiding

Horseback riding

Beautiful wildflowers blanketing the desert

Even purple and pink flowers were out

Wildflowers and cactus

Fairyduster plant

Funky cactus

Walking track

Amazon was everywhere

Funky Mexican restaurant

Tempting thrift store find but I resisted

Touch-free handle

Plastic bags everywhere

Helping with my friend’s plant research

Hike

Nice views of the valley

Plant sale

Cute succulents

 

Aoraki Mt Cook on a sunny, clear day

This was my third visit to Aoraki Mt Cook National Park, and the weather was absolutely incredible -- sunny and clear and reasonably warm! It was such a lucky opportunity that we were there on that day, and it really made a good final day of our roadtrip. I took lots of photos of Aoraki, since it is the first time I have seen it so clearly and for so long. Doing the Hooker Valley Track walk offered us incredible views the whole way in and out. And there were still a few icebergs on the glacial lakes to check out.

view from Mt Cook Village

our first 'peak' at Aoraki/Mt Cook :)

view looking back at Lake Pukaki with its gorgeous turquoise water

this kind of reminded me of the shape of NZ

Hooker Glacier

Stewart Island

The ferry ride to get from Bluff (at tip of the South Island) to Stewart Island was terribly rocky, and people were getting sick left and right (yes, some threw up). It's an hour-long ride, too. There was a storm going on so we couldn't see much outside of the windows with the crashing waves and rain. I usually don't get seasick, but I did this time and almost lost it. The boat was battered hard several times by big waves -- I suddenly had even more sympathy for the people who immigrated to New Zealand via a three-month boat ride that we had just learned about at the Otago Settlers Museum in Dunedin. There's a recreation of the sleeping quarters there -- no windows, just a small hard bunk.

little town of Oban, the only on Stewart Island

We made it to the hostel (a small, quaint place where they don't even give you keys because there is a trust policy that seems to work alright) after toting our luggage in the rain and later headed down to the dock again to see the little blue penguins come in for the night. There were only three, but they were cute to watch as they swam up then hurriedly slipped behind the rocks to make it to their hidden nests on shore. We came back the next day too and saw three again, but one did a little show and jumped off a rock into the water before disappearing.

 

The next day we lingered in the hostel waiting for the rain to let up. We darted over to the visitor center, me trying in futile to use an umbrella and having it not work at all and then expressing my anger at NZ weather. I'm not a fan of being wet. By mid-day the rain had cleared enough that we suited up in our rain gear and went out for a walk along one of the shore paths. It was nice enough and we saw some NZ birds along the way and some cool seaweed on the rocks. At dusk, we went to a nearby area that is known for kiwi sightings, but unfortunately we didn't get to see any -- just lots of other birds hunting for worms in the rain-soaked field. The short rainforest trail we took was cool though, and haunting at night. It's nice to not have to worry about predators here.

 

naughty kea birds about to be fed on someone's porch

New Zealand wood pigeon (so big!)

rainforest walk

 

treated ourselves to fish & chips after the hike

The ferry back the next day was much better and calmer. We all stood at the back in the fresh air to avoid the claustrophobic feeling of the cabin, and it seemed to work and no one got sick this time.