My husband and I took a three-month vacation to New Zealand and Australia this year. This is  a picture in front of Uluru in Australia. We hiked for nineteen days on the South Island of New Zealand.  Beautiful scenery and mountains.  We also hiked near glaciers.  Then, we went to the north island and toured around.  Saw many beautiful botanical gardens and geothermal areas. Toured the glow worm caves and hiked to see them at night.  
In Tasmania, we saw a lot of wallabies, laughing kookaburras, little penguins which are the smallest in the world, Tasmanian devils, echidnas and sea lions.
In Strahan, we took a wilderness train and tasted leatherwood honey. The trees only grow in Tasmania. We did a lot more.
We went to Uluru in Australia which is so magical.  Then we went to the Great Barrier Reef and snorkeled for four days.  
In Hervey bay there was a huge colony of fruit bats that were flying at night.
We also saw lots of kangaroos, koalas, wild parrots, sulfur crested cockatiels and wombats.We visited friends in Melbourne. Stayed overnight at the zoo in Sydney. It was fun seeing the zoo at night and when it was quiet. That’s just some of the stuff we did.  Our next trip is to Ireland in a few months.   Take care — Emily Harvey Shepard '72