South Island, NZ

Well after four weeks and a month of holiday, we are back to write about our adventures. It is tough to remember it all over again...

First stop on our month long trek...South Island, New Zealand. It was an absolutely gorgeous place and much different than Oz. The South Island is full of snow capped peaks, glaciers, lakes, and forest. It rained for our first four days (even in Nelson where they say is the sunniest place in NZ). But it turned out pretty lucky as seeing all the waterfalls and the glaciers in the rain was amazing and it stopped raining the back half of our trip which included the Fiordlands, where it rains nearly all the time but is best seen in the sun.

We did a circle around the island and put a lot of miles in. Our first stop was Hamner Springs, a cute alpine resort town, where we took the morning to soak in the hot springs. It was actually one of our favorite things and we didnt even mind the rain. Then we headed to the famous Marlborough wine region for a few stops at their great wineries, dinner, and the first night.

The next day we went to Picton, a small small town in the center of the Marlborough Sounds. I am still not sure exactly what a sound is but it is pretty... My guess is something like mountains sticking out of the water. Picton was adorable and we grabbed a cup of coffee and watched the boats head in and out of the sounds before we took off to spend the rest of the day on the Queen Victoria Drive, which wound along the sound and around all the mountains. I bet it was even more beautiful in the sun, especially to stop and take a swim at one of the many beaches. One of the best things we discovered that week was Hokey Pokey ice cream although I cant tell you what it is like but if you are ever in NZ you should try it. Upon a recommendation from our Kiwi friends (that is what NZers call themselves) we also tried an L&P soda, very good too. It is sort of a cross between sprite and smarties. Then to get some real food we stopped at The Mussel Pot, for mussels of course, in the Green Mussel capital of the world, Havelock, just outside of the sounds. The mussels were delicious just as you would expect. We stayed in Nelson that night and got a chance to walk around town before calling it a night. Once again we found more great drinks and food...tasting NZ's local beer at Mac's Brewery and then feeding our cravings for curry at the excellent Indian House.

Day three we woke up early to make it all the way to the Franz Joseph glacier for a helihike but unfortunately it was cancelled because of the rain. Instead we spent the afternoon with some hikes at the base of the glacier and booked an all day hike up the glacier for the next day. It rained all day and by the end we were so cold, hungry and tired but it was one of the best things we have ever done in our life! We were not sure what to expect but we strapped on our parkas and ice shoes and then followed our guide who cut out ridges in the ice with a pick in front of us. Because of the rain, there were tons of waterfalls flowing down the sides of the mountains and the ice. The ice was so beautiful especially being in the middle of ribbons of ice blue and white everywhere you look. It took us all day to hike just a small portion but every ridge you went over there was more crevices to see. You truly felt so small in comparison.

Day four was almost just as exciting but not as exhausting. We were headed to another one of New Zealand's famous sites...the Fiordlands, although the drive there was just as beautiful with lavender, pink , and blue wildflowers and mountains all along the way. We stopped to see the mirror lakes which reflect the mountains above and several other sites. And all along the way we saw the Kea, a mountain parrot. It looks an ugly brownish green on the outside but has bright orange wings that open up when it flies. The keas are everywhere as they are used to all the tourists feeding them. They would come up and land on your cars looking to get a bite. The Fiordlands themselves were very pretty. We took a cruise from Milford Sound. Unfortunately, we didnt get to see any dolphins or penguins but caught a few seals. The day was great though as the sun finally made its first appearance on our holiday! The views were postcard worthy especially since very few get to see it in the sunshine. Because of its geography, clouds cover the tops of the mountains, including the famous Mitre Peak, almost all the time even when it is not raining. Afterwards, we made it back to Queenstown for more postcard worthy pictures. Queenstown is a fun ski resort and adventure town on the lake. Our hotel room had a great view of the lake too. And Queenstown is even more full of great food. Unfortunately we didn't have that many days to spend but we definitely want to go back. We decided upon Winnies pizza for dinner and Patagonia chocolate for dessert. Decisions, decisions.

We had one more day in Queenstown and although there were a million and one adventure sports to try we decided to take it easy and just explore the town. We need to do some souvenir shopping anyway. We had taken an extra suitcase with us in order to grab some souvenirs and gifts for our family. After Jared couldn't take the shopping anymore, we took the gondola ride up to the top of the mountain with beautiful views over the town and the lake. We also took a few rides down on the luge while we were there. While the day was very relaxing after our last few exciting days we would have liked to try out the bungy jump. We watched a few others do it at AJ Hackets. AJ Hackets is the original bungy jump and what would seem to us as the safest place to do it. However, we were all tuckered out so we promised ourselves that we would do it when we come back.

Now we were headed on the last leg of our trip, driving through the lakes region. On the way there were numerous fruit farms and stands. We picked up the most delicious fresh cherries we have ever had for the drive. They were huge! The glacier blue rivers and lakes on the way were like nothing we haver ever seen before too. They seemed to glow like neon lights. We stayed the last night in Lake Tekapo, one of the gorgeous lakes with a picturesque church and wildflowers along the shore.

Our last day was spent in Mt Cook village where we went on various walks at the base of the mountains and glaciers and then finally got a heli ride in. We got many pictures of the snow capped peaks, Mt Cook, and the Tasman glacier with a view from above the clouds. For once though, Jared took twice as many pics as Katie!