...and a brief window of New Zealand

(These are the "tourist photos" of places I visited while I was in Aotearoa, the Maori name for New Zealand, which means "Land of the Long White Cloud".)

This is the inner portion of the Banks Peninsula, what is left of a enormous volcano from thousands of years ago. What you are looking at is the remains of the crater, now filled with water from the Pacific Ocean.

Mary and I travelled along the rim and then down switchbacks to the town of Akaroa.

Two old friends reunited. When Mary and I met we were 23 and 41.

Apparently some other Robinsons got to New Zealand before I did.

The sky got a bit moody on our way back.


Sunrise from the deck of the vicarage.

On the day of the wedding...a wonderful blessing.

An ornate fountain outside of the Canterbury Museum in Christchurch.

Christchurch Cathedral

Even though Mary and Christopher did not have the bells rung for their wedding, as the bride and groom left the cathedral, the bells tolled noon!

The Millennium Chalice in Cathedral Square

On my last day we made a visit to the Antarctic Centre. This is inside the storm room where we experienced a 5-min. storm with a wind chill of -20 F. Temperatures in Antarctica can often reach -40 F or below, with winds reaching over 100 mph.

We also saw blue penguins at the Centre. All around New Zealand there are colonies of different breeds of penguins.

Waiting to be fed by the docent.

It was a wonderful trip but much too brief--only seven days. I hope one day to take my family to see this beautiful country.