Thursday, January 17, 2013

— My Alphabe-Thursday (2nd), the letter "I" / Thursday Two Questions —

.
New Zealand and Australia; our most recent cruise pictures
Here we have some pictures to honor Alphabe-Thursday letter "I"

"I" is for Invisible. My first picture is of our flight, crossing the International Date Line.  That is an "I" word group in itself isn't it?

About our most recent Princess line cruise?  It began in Auckland, NZ, and ended in  Sidney, Australia.  Going over we lost a whole day, very suddenly when we crossed the International Date line.  We did get two Monday's of this week coming back.

I wanted so badly to get a picture but didn't get a chance.  Coming back I asked our flight attendant when the time would be.  She said it would be exactly (now come on, United Airlines, is anything exact with you?) at 6:28 PM, Australian time.  That was on January 14 meaning that all of a sudden it would be 6:28 PM, January 13, Australian time. 

Sure enough, it was and here above is my picture (with reflections) to prove it. It was shot from the rear window of our United Airlines "Jumbo Liner." Oh yes, it was dark then too, out over the Pacific somewhere about over American Samoa.  (International Date Line link).
 
Well, you say, if that picture is of something intangible, Invisible, do I have anything we can see.  The pictures below are just a sampling of our cruise from Auckland, New Zealand, through Christchurch.  More will be later, just follow my label, Aus-NZ.


 
Our United Airlines/Air New Zealand flights took us to Auckland very early in the morning.  We were to stay at a hotel which Princess had rented a large hospitality room with coffee, tea, and snacks until the ship would be boarding in the afternoon.

Mrs. Jim and I took the ferry across to Devonport where we enjoyed this island neighboring city.  The picture shows a part of Auckland taken from Mount Victoria which we climbed at Devonport.  New Zealand's population is about 4.5 million and 3.5 million of those  people live in Auckland (link 1)(link 2).

 
Our ship, the Diamond Princess was ready for our boarding when we returned.  Our first stop the next morning was where we could visit a group of the Indigenous People, the Māori's, who gave us a demonstration of one of their tribal greetings offered to visiting persons.  A part of that was rubbing noses with their welcoming dignitaries, which Mrs. Jim and I did.

 
Our next day's stop was at Picton, which was the place I was for my last post of 6WS.  That evening we had a nice New Year's Eve celebration, the highlight of which was a large balloon drop from the third floor of our atrium.

 
Mrs. Jim's birthday was New Year's Day, which we began celebrations along with the revelers at midnight. The following evening Princess had a nice birthday cake and a singing greeting performed by our wait staff for her. The cake had some really nice chocolate. She shared it with me but the others at our table declined her kind offers.


 
The following day we were at Wellington for a nice museum visit followed by a funicular tram ride up the mountain overlooking the city.  We then made our decent through the city's beautiful Wellington Botanic Garden.

The above pictures are of the rose garden, the first was taken from the fern garden, high above.  The second was of one quadrant full of nice rose plants.  We didn't take time to see how the garden was organized.  We only took just a little time to smell some of the roses and have a potty stop.

  
Last for this post are a couple of pictures we took on our Christchurch visit.  Christchurch has a long way to go before recovering from its terrible earthquake a couple of years ago.  The photo on the right shows some of the pretty farm land we saw on our one and a half hour bus ride to and from Christchurch.

I will be posting quite a few more pictures of our visit.   To me, New Zealand has beautiful scenery and very green hills and trees to see.  Australia is a more fun town to visit and play. In Tasmania we were allowed to play with the animals like kangaroos and qualla.

==> The Alphabe- Thursday portion of this post will be critiqued by Head Mistress Jenny.

- - - - - -

Now for my Thursday Two Questions.

My last post in December was about the of "E" word, Elephant.  I enjoyed reading about your kind feelings towards these lovely beasts.
 


My Two Questions for this week (you can answer just one if you wish):
.
1. What have you encountered in your life that was invisible?
.
2.  If you can't see it, why do you believe that it exists? 

Bonus Question: What is your favorite "I" word?
. .
==> My Thursday Two Questions post is for Amanda.

Labels: , , , ,


Comments:
Looks like your enjoyed yourself in New Zealand, esp in Auckland.

1: Love
2: you know if people love you.

I answer the bonus question: Favourite I word, I posted I, or me, me, me as most like like to say.
 
Flew to NZ & Australia 3 years ago this month - loved NZ especially Wellington's Botanic Garden. Did you manage to get to Milford Sound too?

Would you recommend the cruise route?! (ie would you do it again one day?!)

Lovely shots!
 
What an interesting post and I KNOW when you do K its going to have some kangaroos, right ? :)
 
Looked like you both had fantastic vacation on the cruise! Beautiful photos, Jim!

My favorite "I" word is Intelligent!
 
1. Intelligence in Washington D.C.

2. They prove it daily that they don't have any intelligence. Knee jerk reaction is about all they've got.

3. Industrious. We need more folks that are industrious.

Glad you had a great time and a belated happy birthday to Mrs. Jim. :)
 
Wonderful post for 'I" ~ fantastic photography and what an adventure! ~ So glad for you and your days will be in the 60s ~ how lovely is that! Not for awhile here in New England ~ just had snow ~ sun out today which is a rarity lately ~ enjoy your day ^_^

Always lovely to have you 'visit' ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^
 
Good to have you guys back, Mitch
 
I guess my answer would be love. Even though you can't see it, you can certainly see the results of it...
 
1. What have you encountered in your life that was invisible? Nothing. An invisible perfect human being? Never see any, have you? hehe. 2. If you can't see it, why do you believe that it exists? I really don't believe there is such a thing as a perfect human being, yet, in my mind he/she exists and I try to mirror some of those characteristics that I think made this person perfect as much as I can. Don't expect much, because I just started by the way.
I love your photos! I am longing for a long exotic vacation. I miss exploring and learning about new cultures. I like to see anything but electronics and big buildings. It looked like you guys did so much, I am happy for you.
 
Thanks for taking us on your trip! It looked like a lot of fun, and a great way to celebrate the New Year AND your wife's birthday! I thought it was inspirational (my story)!
 
Happy birthday to your wife. Looked like a great trip. SO many beautiful things you got to see and do!!!
That is where you have been!! I forgot.
sandie
 
What a wonderful trip you had! Thanks for sharing all of the photos. It just looks like everyone was so happy and friendly!

As for my invisible - well, after one of my little Yorkies passed away, one day while I was on the sofa taking a nap, in a semi dream state, I heard the little tap tap tap of her toenails walking down the hallway, and then I felt her lay on top of me, which she always did when she was alive. I thought I was asleep but realized, no I was awake and I knew that little Rosie was there. A few weeks ago, my son was visiting and he told me that during the night Rosie came into stay with him. So, for my invisible, it has to be Rosie.
 
Jim, I did miss you and Mrs. Jim and hope she had a very wonderful birthday and that it is the beginning of her best year ever!

I believe in God, though some may think He is invisible, I see Him everywhere.

I grant you an "I" word - ingenious.

Hugs to both of you.
 
Beautiful pics. You guys were so fortunate to be able to pull this off. Good on you for staying on your feet on this trip.
 
Wow! Fantastic trip with Mrs Jim :) Was there a heatwave when both of you were in Australia? Read about the bushfires and extreme high temperatures that went off the chart in certain parts of Australia.

"I" is for intelligent. The invisible power of God :)
 
Wow you've been on an adventure eh! Good for you! Glad you enjoyed your time.

1. Love.
2. I know it's there because of the connections of the people in my life and how they make me feel at one time or another.

My I would be invited. I love when everyone feels invited to be in community with one another.

Aloha!
 
We have good friends in NZ. In fact, their Christmas calendar just showed up yesterday!

I'm always intriqued by the fact that they're on different days than we are...I have a hard time wrapping my head around that idea.

I think for me, "Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus," expressed how I feel about things we can never see but only feel.

It's one of the most powerful pieces of writing when I visual what you're writing of here.

This was quite intriquing.

Love reading your links.

A+
 

Post a Comment





<< Home

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?