The Adventures of Tintin, vol. 7: The Castafiore Emerald / Flight 714 / Tintin and the Picaros (3 Volumes in 1)

Three classic graphic novels in one deluxe hardcover edition: The Castafiore Emerald, Flight 714 to Sydney, and Tintin and the Picaros.

The Castafiore Emerald was Herge's third-to-last completed Tintin story, and the most unconventional. Rather than a globe-trotting adventure, it takes place completely at Marlinspike Hall, where an incapacitated Captain Haddock is being nursed back to health by an unwelcome visitor in the form of Bianca Castafiore, the "Milanese Nightingale" who then suffers a devastating loss ("Mercy, my jewels!"). It's disfavored by some fans due to the lack of action, but the locked-room mystery, character interactions, running gags, and crazy Calculus inventions keep it fun and definitely worth reading.
Flight 714, Herge's second-to-last completed Tintin story, is a high adventure featuring a gallery of returning characters, though it's a new character, Laszlo Carreidas, "the millionaire who never laughs," who starts the trouble by inviting Tintin and his friends to skip their commercial flight to Sidney to accompany him on his private jet. That leads to a complicated ransom plot, and the action just gets more outlandish from there. Suspend disbelief, though, and Flight 714 is one of Tintin's more thrilling rides.
Finished in 1976, Tintin and the Picaros was Herge's final completed Tintin adventure, and interestingly, he used it to return to a scene from 40 years earlier: The South American republic of San Theodoros, where Tintin met General Alcazar in The Broken Ear. Alcazar is again facing trouble from his rival, General Tapioca, and numerous other characters from the past weave themselves into the story. While Tintin and the Picaros is entertaining, Herge was slow to finish it, and his world-weariness is reflected in the attitudes of some of the characters.
The 3-in-1 format provides excellent value, but the small size (about 40% smaller than the single-story paperbacks) makes it harder to enjoy the detail in Herge's layouts. --David Horiuchi

Dolphin leaping alongside the boat. The dolphins are very social (according to the announcer and captain), and come up frequently enough that the crew has given each dolphin a name :)
This was on our Bay of Islands boat tour. It was an awesome tour where we saw dolphins up close and RODE THROUGH HOLE IN THE ROCK on the boat. :)

This was taken on Day 4 of our family trip to New Zealand & Australia. On this day we took an all-day motorcoach tour to the Bay of Islands and the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
Our Trip Summary:
Day 3 (June 15): Spent the day walking around Auckland. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand with almost 1.4 million people, nearly ? of New Zealand's population.
Day 4 ( June 16): All-day Motorcoach tour to Waitangi (pronounced why tang eee), and the Bay of Islands, where we went on a long boat ride.
Day 5 (June 17): All-day Motorcoach tour to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves (pronounced like why toe moe), and from there we went to an awesome and fun farm just outside of the city of Rotorua (population 68,000, named after Lake Rotorua, a lake formed from a volcanic caldera), and from there went to a Maori (pronounced Maw ree) reservation where we saw an aboriginal performance, and also went to the Rotorua Hot Springs.
Day 6 (June 18): We took the Overlander passenger train from Auckland (on the north side of the North Island) to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, on the south side of the North Island. The New Zealand rail gauge is 3 feet 6 inches (107.7 cm), which is 3/4 (or 75%) of the North American standard gauge.
Day 7 (June 19): We spent the day in Wellington, going to a cool museum and riding on their steep cable car. New Zealand cities are very hilly (with very large hills), kind of like San Francisco.
Day 8 (June 20): We took a ferry from Wellington, on the North Island to a small town called Picton, on the South Island, and then took the TranzCoastal train from Picton to Christchurch, New Zealand.
Day 9 (June 21): We went skiing on Mount Hutt at Methaven, about 71 miles (115 km) outside of Christchurch. It was so fun!!!
Day 10 (June 22): After touring the Christchurch Cathedral in the morning, we took a flight from Christchurch to Sydney, Australia.
Day 11 (June 23): We spent the day around Sydney. We went to the aquarium, then in the afternoon, we took the SydneyLink electrified commuter rail train, with standard 4 foot 8? inch (143.5 inches) gauge to Mount Colah, Australia, where we ate at a friend's house.
Day 12 (June 24): We took a coach tour to a nature center near Sydney, and from there went to the Blue Mountains where we rode the world's steepest railway and saw the Three Sisters. We then went back to Sydney
Days 13 (Sydney to Los Angeles) and 14 (Los Angeles To St. Louis) were spent getting back home to the St. Louis area. 14 hour flights suck, and that's the only negative part about having to take an awesome trip like this (besides, of course, the cost, LOL :)
Since my dad's a pilot, we got huge discounts on flights and hotels, so it was almost as cheap for us as it is for an average person to take a domestic flight on a domestic trip. :)

View of the Hole in the Rock Island from our boat, as we were heading towards it on our Bay of Islands boat tour. It was an awesome tour where we saw dolphins up close and RODE THROUGH HOLE IN THE ROCK on the boat. :)
We went right through the hole in the rock! :D

This was taken on Day 4 of our family trip to New Zealand & Australia. On this day we took an all-day motorcoach tour to the Bay of Islands and the Waitangi Treaty Grounds.
Our Trip Summary:
Day 3 (June 15): Spent the day walking around Auckland. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand with almost 1.4 million people, nearly ? of New Zealand's population.
Day 4 ( June 16): All-day Motorcoach tour to Waitangi (pronounced why tang eee), and the Bay of Islands, where we went on a long boat ride.
Day 5 (June 17): All-day Motorcoach tour to the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves (pronounced like why toe moe), and from there we went to an awesome and fun farm just outside of the city of Rotorua (population 68,000, named after Lake Rotorua, a lake formed from a volcanic caldera), and from there went to a Maori (pronounced Maw ree) reservation where we saw an aboriginal performance, and also went to the Rotorua Hot Springs.
Day 6 (June 18): We took the Overlander passenger train from Auckland (on the north side of the North Island) to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand, on the south side of the North Island. The New Zealand rail gauge is 3 feet 6 inches (107.7 cm), which is 3/4 (or 75%) of the North American standard gauge.
Day 7 (June 19): We spent the day in Wellington, going to a cool museum and riding on their steep cable car. New Zealand cities are very hilly (with very large hills), kind of like San Francisco.
Day 8 (June 20): We took a ferry from Wellington, on the North Island to a small town called Picton, on the South Island, and then took the TranzCoastal train from Picton to Christchurch, New Zealand.
Day 9 (June 21): We went skiing on Mount Hutt at Methaven, about 71 miles (115 km) outside of Christchurch. It was so fun!!!
Day 10 (June 22): After touring the Christchurch Cathedral in the morning, we took a flight from Christchurch to Sydney, Australia.
Day 11 (June 23): We spent the day around Sydney. We went to the aquarium, then in the afternoon, we took the SydneyLink electrified commuter rail train, with standard 4 foot 8? inch (143.5 inches) gauge to Mount Colah, Australia, where we ate at a friend's house.
Day 12 (June 24): We took a coach tour to a nature center near Sydney, and from there went to the Blue Mountains where we rode the world's steepest railway and saw the Three Sisters. We then went back to Sydney
Days 13 (Sydney to Los Angeles) and 14 (Los Angeles To St. Louis) were spent getting back home to the St. Louis area. 14 hour flights suck, and that's the only negative part about having to take an awesome trip like this (besides, of course, the cost, LOL :)
Since my dad's a pilot, we got huge discounts on flights and hotels, so it was almost as cheap for us as it is for an average person to take a domestic flight on a domestic trip. :)