A New Year Begins With A New Truck

In October, while we were parked in the Dallas area for three weeks, we ordered a new F350 XLT from Bob Tomas Ford in McKinney, Texas. This is the third Ford truck we have ordered from this dealer. Our 2008 F450 was over 11 years old. Even though it had only 54,000 miles, it was time for an upgrade to a new model. Ford has enhanced the towing capacity of the F350 to the point that the specs now significantly exceed our previous F450. The engine, transmission and entire drivetrain has been reengineered since 2008. The 6.7 liter diesel engine paired with the 4.10 gear is a beast (40K GCWR).

 

After a couple of months of working for the Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR, we drove our faithful old F450 north to McKinney to make the trade in December. The 600 mile drive back to the "Valley" in January, provided a nice break in for the new drivetrain before hitching our trailer up to it.

We factory ordered the hood deflector as well as the extended cab steps which make it easier to access the truck bed. We had an Access Laredo Roll-up Bed Cover installed at a local shop in Mission.

Ford calls this brown tone Stone Grey.

We installed a new tailgate liner and reinstalled the custom tool box from our old truck.

The factory installed a fifth wheel prep kit, 27.5K Reese hitch, and a high mount bed camera. The new Ford Puck system moves the bed rails to the underside of the truck in order to maximize bed space when the hitch is removed via four simple quarter turns.

 

We also ordered a 43 gallon auxiliary fuel tank from Aluminum Tank Industries in Winter Haven, Florida. We had it shipped to the refuge and Kurt and Virginia installed it. The factory Ford fuel tank is 48 gallons on a crew cab, so now we have a total fuel capacity of 91 gallons. This should minimize fuel stops when towing.

Last Stop - Auckland, New Zealand

We arrived at Auckland, New Zealand, at 7 am on Saturday, December 29. This is to be our last night on the Viking Orion with disembarkation scheduled for Sunday morning. The ship was docked at Prince's pier, right in the city center.

We boarded a bus for our two hour New Zealand "City of Sails" Tour.

Auckland Domain Wintergardens

Michael Joseph Savage Memorial at Bastion Point

Bastion Point Overlooking Auckland

Auckland War Memorial Museum

The Maritime Museum was located on the pier next to the Orion.

The largest exhibit in the Maritime Museum was "Black Magic," the New Zealand sailboat that won the America's Cup in 1995.

 

Post Cruise Extension of Auckland and the Tongariro National Park

After the cruise we boarded a small bus for a four day extension into the interior of the North Island as well as an additional day at Waiheke Island, across the bay from Auckland.

We made a lunch stop at Crosshills, a beautiful private home in the country.

A ham and meatloaf lunch was served on a patio surrounded with flowers. Hokey Pokey Ice Cream was served for desert. We discovered Kiwis really know how to make ice cream.

Beautiful gardens complete with peacocks surround the home.

After lunch, we drove further and stopped for a world famous Waitomo Glowworm Cave tour. We took a tour though a cave and then boarded a row boat for a dark, quiet, ride down the river that flowed through the glowworm cave. Glowworms attract small insects with their florescent light and then like spiders captures their prey in a sticky like strand that extends down from the ceiling of the cave. 

Photos were not allowed in the cave.

We had two nights accommodation at Tongariro National Park Lodge. This Park is over two hundred miles south of Auckland.

The restaurant provided a private dining room for our tour group of 24 persons.

The next morning we headed to Tongariro National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, home of the Tongariro Alpine Crossing Hike. There are two active steam vents.

This strenuous all day guided hike is twelve miles over the top of the volcano.

Four persons in our group opted for the Alpine Crossing, the rest of us opted for a partial hike and seeing other sights within the park.

It didn't take long and we were down to only three hikers. We hiked to the first major hill about three miles and then returned to meet up with the rest of the group.

We drove to a picnic area near the visitor's center.

Our guides, Sarah and Laura, made a full lunch for us.

Tongariro National Park Visitor Center had some interesting displays as well as a movie of the Alpine Crossing. After watching the movie, we were glad we chose the abbreviated hike which gave us more time to see other sites around the national park.

The clouds made the volcano look like it was erupting.

Sarah our Guide.

Paradise Duck

Huka Falls

Tuesday the bus returned us to Auckland where we checked into SkyCity Grand Hotel for the next two nights.

View Out Our 19th Floor Window

Wednesday morning, we boarded a Fuller Ferry for a day trip to Waiheke Island. We noticed that the Viking Orion had already depart for Sydney, Australia.

First stop on Waiheke was the Batch Winery where we will take part in The Botanical Distillery Fragrance Event.

We learned how to mix fragrances to create our own unique perfume.

Flower from the Christmas Tree

The Vineyards around Batch Winery. Waiheke Island reminded us of Hawaii.

Wine Tasting was next.

After wine we visited Rangihoua Estate where olives are grown and processed into olive oil.

Finally, we had a very long and large unbelievable lunch. We were amazed at this six course meal. The highlight was the best lamb chops we ever ate. The final course was plates and plates of petit fours which we were far too full to enjoy, so we shared with the other patrons in the crowded restaurant.

Back toward Auckland

Brianna our Viking Extension Coordinator on the ferry.

Back in Auckland we walked to SkyCity for our last night "Down Under".

Because of the International Date Line, we landed in Dallas on January 3rd, two hours before we left Auckland. Our January 3rd was 39 hours long which made up for totally missing December 12th on the way to Sydney.