Come fly with me...

Well today we had to turn in Fia T. And to be quite honest, it was a little hard. She has been a great travel companion and home-on-wheels. It was strange leaving. We took a shuttle to the airport, repacked our carry-ons a few times to meet weight restrictions (where did the extra come from? How will it be at the end?) and checked in. The security on domestic flights here is much easier than at home. A quick flight of about an hour had us back in Auckland and the smiling faces of Anita and Maurie. So good to see them. Back at 'home' we started some very needed laundry, petted Stripy the cat (boy he looks/acts like our cat) and went next door to have a real nice time of drinks and appetisers with Trevor and Libby, Maurie and Anita's friends who we met on our first pass. They too are great people and we had a very nice time talking of travels and such. We are so lucky. This evening we had another wonderful meal and wonderful conversation. And heart shaped chocolates on our pillows for Valentines Day. We feel truely loved and blessed.

Wicked

There are lots of campervan companies in N Zed. But there is one company, wicked that is quite unique, if not a bit bizarre. They paint-up all their Toyota Previa minivans. Often they are based on a musical group or other personality. Quite 'different'. Here are a few samples.

Turquoise

We woke this morning to a bit of rain and some pretty cold temps. And it is cloudy so the mountains are mostly hidden. So we were in no big hurry to get up and about today. But after awhile it started clearing up a bit so we drove out to the Tasman Glacier and went for a hike/walk. There is this big lake in front of the glacier (the longest in NZ, but very dirty and covered with rocks) and just a few days ago a bunch of the leading edge broke off into the lake. So now it has a bunch of icebergs in it, It must have been some sight. After the hike we started to headon out of the valley since the clouds were not lifting very much. But as we got close to lake Pukaki the sun shown on it and the brilliasnt blue came out in full force. So awesome. We stopped at a viewpoint near the bottom of the lake just in time for the peak of Mount Cook to poke out the top of the clouds. It is really tall and beautiful. And the we headed on to neighboring Lake Tekapo which is also the same brilliant blue. There also is this great little stone church right on the edge of the lake, Church of the Good Shepard. They also have a statue to the sheep dogs that have changed the way they can herd. Good stuff, and now the sun is out and a short nap and an ice cream prepped us for the rest of the day. As we have to turn in the van tomorrow we are driving close to Christchurch tonight. We passed thru great rolling hills, farm lands and herds of sheep and cattle. It will be strange turning in the van tomorrow. It has been a great ride and I would fully endorse this type of touring.

Queenstown to Cook

Raining this morning and it has cooled off also.Sometimes, even though you are off to have fun, it is hard to leave someplace. Today was like that. We are leaving Gill's this morning. And in these few short days she has become such a good friend. We feel very blessed. But on we must go, so we might as well do something fun, in this case a jetboat ride on the shotover river. What a rush, flying down this rock walled, zig zag river, turquoise colored from glacial silt, inches from the rock face, spinning, darting, splashing, laughing, hooting. Hard to put into words. Good stuff. Then, once our heart rates were back to normal and our fingers had thawed out the heated grab bars-pretty nice), we got on the road towards Mount Cook, the highest in N Zed.On the way we drove through low clouds and drizzle thru such varying terrain, from rushing river canyons to rolling mountain sheep strewn passes to huge plains. Then as we started up the turn off to Mt. Cook the bottoms off the clouds turned the most interesting color of blue. So strange until we peaked a small hill to look down upon the most striking aqua-turquoise lake. Really unique, even if you have seen the likes of a Lake Louise in Canada or such. We kept on towards Mt. Cook though we can only see it's base as it is shrouded in clouds. A brief glimpse of a glacier teased us on with the hope that the morning will bring a clear sky. The visitors center hear is excellent with all kinds of dispalys about the Southern Alps and the history of mountain climbing in N.Z. ( This was Sir Edmond Hillary's training ground for his Everest climb). There is also a big hotel here, quite nice and I am sure quite pricey. But we have Fia T, so we are well and good if not a bit chilly ( It really has cooled off!). The big fluffy duvet will be extra nice tonight.

Queenstown

Ahhh, easy going morning. We realized today that we have been on the go alot, ther is so much to see and do. But we slowed down this morn. But not to slow. We are off with Gill to take the steamship TSS Earnslaw across Lake Wakatipo to check out a sheep farm outpost/farm. The steamship is a piece of living history from the goldrush days here when the lake was really the only way to get here. It is a nice journey across and very relaxing. Once on the other side, we enjoyed a brief showing off of the different types of sheep they raise in N.Z. alog with a 6 point red deer. Then off to a lovely tea with Scones and Piklets (like pancakes) with cream and jam (they make good sandwiches for the less initiated). Shared a table and some good conversation with acouple from Paris. Fun to watch all the little kids of different nationalities play together dispite the language barrier-fun has it's own vocabulary). After tea we watched a sheep dog herding demonstration and a sheep shearing. Then back on the ship. On the way back they have a sing along with Chinese, German, Irish, Scottish, English, Americanm etc. all sing classic tunes. That and a beer made for a very fun trip back. We continued the day with a gondola ride up to an overview on the city (beautiful) and luge ride and finally a very nice diner with excellent food and best of all conversation with our new friend. And once again we have managed to pack so much (and yet only a fraction) into the day. Time to sleep.

Milford Sound

We had to rise very early today for our Milford trek. As it rained very hard last night we were a bit worried how the weather would be. But once again we have been blessed with a beautiful day. We caught the coach (bus) at 6:40 in the morn and had a great 4 hr ride to Milford Sound. Allen the driver was so good with history, syories and funny quips the whole way. It went by very fast. And moer than half of the trip is through really beautiful areas.Too much to describe, and then you come to the Sound itself. Well, that's not quite true, it really is a fjord not a soundThe glaciers have carved numerous paths to the sea in this part of NZ and as it is a world heritage site, it is protected and will remain very natural. The boat ride on the sound itself was awesome. Really cannot find proper words. And the crew kept saying how the weather was perfect and they couldn't believe it after yesterday. How can one area have so many waterfalls? And huge cliffs covered in lush greens. Pretty special. And to top it all off, we were able too fly back to Queenstown and get even more of a view of the fantastic area. And for those who know Sandra well, she did great in a little cessena plane flying over and around mountain passes. I loved it as the mountains and scattered puffy clouds were just too cool. And then back to Gill's. It's so good.

Over the river and thru the woods..

...to cross the alps we go.Last night we stayed in a little campsite near a pretty little lake with tons of biting little sandflies and mossies (mosquitos). They are a fact of life in certain parts of NZ. The route up the pass was very nice with some great little walks to see various waterfalls and strikingly blue pools, dispite an on-&-off drizzle. On the other side of the pass the land is dryer, more alpine looking. We had lunch at Lake Wanaka which is very big and VERY windy. It didn't stop some crazy guys from swimming though, Burrr. The good thing about the wind is it is moving the weather around quickly. No rain on this side. We passed by another big lake with beautiful high mountains than down to the town of Wanaka. Unfortunetly we missed out on the local microbrewery, just closed. But a trip into the local I-site (the really good information site system) and we were able to book a trip to Milford Sound tomorrow. Our new friend Gill (Anita's dear friend) suggested that we stop at the Cadrona Hotel & Bar for dinner. Though the outside of the place looks totally ancient and ready to drop, the remainder has all been redone and it is a totally cool place. We had a great dinner, venison pot pie and steak and a guiness, in the backyard/courtyard. So nice. Then a trip over the highest pass in NZ before we dropped down (almost literally) into the valley were Queenstown is. We met up with Gill who is so charming, and after a lovely cup of coffee and a quick shower hit the sack.