Each of the cities we spent time in had its own character and charms. We loved the free tram that circled the center of the city in Melbourne; the harborside parks of Cairns; the bustling harbors of Sydney and Auckland; the beautiful setting of Queenstown. We never spent more than a few days in one place, so we got no more than a quick overview of these places, as viewed from a moving bus and chosen by a tour company as the best features to show to tourists. In every city, I know there would be a lot more to explore were we ever fortunate enough to make a return visit.

Part of Chinatown in Melbourne	Alice Springs, in the middle of Australia	The School of the Air, Alice Springs
Heavy rain in Alice Springs	Streams flooded briefly, but the desert soon soaked up every drop	Our hotel in Cairns, a tropical city
Inside the Sydney Opera House	View from one lobby of Opera House to another performance hall	Encountered traffic jam of tourists wanting to sit on famous chair; Marguerite content to sit nearby and watch
Note sizes of cruise ship (left, behind trees), Opera House, Sydney Harbor bridge	Modern Sydney's busy harbor: racing yachts, water taxies, tall ship, historic fort	Bungee jumper, harbor bridge, Auckland
Looking back at Mike on Devonport hill, across the harbor from Auckland	Mike contemplates next part of climb up Devonport hillside	Franz Josef, near the Southern Alps
Queenstown, from Skyline gondola	Our hotel survived 2011 earthquake; cathedral across the street did not	Christchurch has much rebuilding to do