Our Trip Down under part 1 - Brisbane and Auckland

Hal and I enjoyed a trip of a lifetime when we went to Australia,  New Zealand and isles of the South Pacific.  We left March 20th and flew to Brisbane, Australia where we spent 3 days.

 We got off our plane, rented a car and headed to the Australian Zoo located in Beerwah - an hour north of Brisbane.

Australia Zoo

Home of the Crocodile Hunter

Steve Irwin

It was raining when we arrived at the zoo, so we purchased some ponchos and began to see the sights.  The setting for the zoo is very tropical, lush and green.  The photo above shows Hal in front of the bronze statue of Steve Irwin and his family. 

 Bronze turtle above and real turtle below

Crocodiles!

Steve Irwin "The Crocodile Hunter"

                                                          Koala Bears

Entry into the African animal portion of the Zoo

 Australian Animals and birds

Kangaroo and wild turkey

Red Kangaroo

Brightly colored parrot

Snakes

               Skeletal remains of a Boa Constrictor
                                  and a piglet                                                 Tiger Snake

Green Python

After the zoo we drove into downtown Brisbane to our hotel.  We were pretty tired after our long flights but we managed to stay up until 10:00 pm Aussie time.

Our hotel in Brisbane

The next morning, we drove down the beautiful "Gold Coast" and stopped to see the beach and the ocean.        

For miles and miles, we could see beautiful beach in both directions.

 
    You can see the city of "Surfers Paradise" in the background of the upper photo.  The picture below shows a closeup of the city as we drove through it on our way back to Brisbane.

City of Surfers Paradise

Jellyfish Restaurant - Brisbane

 That evening for dinner, we had  a wonderful meal of fresh fish in a restaurant that overlooked the Brisbane River.

 You can see the Story Bridge lit up in the background.

The city of Brisbane offers free ferry rides on the Brisbane River, which runs through the city.  We got on a boat and could see the city by night as we traveled on the river.  It was beautiful.

Skyscrapers all lit up!

 As we moved along on the river, we spotted the Brisbane Temple - the Angel Moroni gave it away!

It was a magical evening!

The next day we explored more of Brisbane in the daylight.  It is really a beautiful, clean and modern city.  The Australian people that we met were happy and friendly.

 This is a daylight view of the Story Bridge and the Brisbane skyline.

Walking distance from our hotel was the beautiful Queen's Park and Botanical Garden.  There was no admission to this park and we enjoyed exploring it.

 Ponds with lily pads, flowers and interesting birds

 More interesting "birds" and pretty flowers

Throughout the park, there were sculptures and art works as well as unique trees, flowers and shrubs.

 The park bordered the Brisbane River and we had a daylight view of the Brisbane Temple from across the river.

That evening, we boarded a flight for Auckland, New Zealand.  After a 3 hour trip, and loosing 3 hours in time changes, we arrived in Auckland about midnight.

 The next day we explored the city.

A view of downtown Auckland, showing the harbor, skyline and the Sky Tower which is famous as the tallest structure in the Southern Hemisphere, at over 1000 feet. 

 We took an Uber taxi to The War Memorial Museum which featured New Zealand history, natural history and military history.

 The military history collection and displays helped us to have a better understanding of New Zealand's role in World Wars I and II.

The New Zealand History floor of the museum was also most interesting, as we learned about the Maori culture and history.

Standing in front of the Hotunui (a large carved meeting house)

 An example of the beautiful wood carving on a Maori roof line.

 A beautifully carved  Waka taua (a Maori war canoe)

The Natural History portion of the museum featured displays and specimens of botany, entomology,vertebrates and marine biology indigenous to New Zealand.

Two sharks and two penguins

 Across the street from the museum, there was a beautiful park and we had a view of the famous Sky Tower.

The next day was Sunday and we found a ward to attend in Auckland.  The ward members were very friendly and a missionary couple gave us a ride back to our hotel after church.

 We changed our clothes, packed up out bags and took an Uber taxi to the wharf to board our ship.