Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Technically this isn't a photo from our trip, but I think everyone needs a little Bubba in their life (even though Nelly thinks I am crazy "dog lady". At least I am not as crazy as my parents who dressed him up like this!)



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Location:Wellington

Our Lady of the Alps

Mom and Dad,
I just want you to know that I tried going to mass but it is only said once a month here and I was a week late.









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Location:Franz Josef

Still On The Road....

I think I have driven more in the last 5 days than ever before! It's been the most beautiful drive though so it has been well worth it.

We woke up in Milford Sound to pouring rain, which lent for this scene upon leaving our room. All of those waterfalls were not heavy the day before. Supposedly it rains 180+ days a year there.

Once we got to drier land we started seeing these views.

Our goal for driving up the coast was to see the glaciers and to attend the Wild Foods Festival at the recommendation of some friends back at home. There really is no other way to describe it other than Bay to Breakers except drinking is encouraged, you are penned in a festival arena and they serve everything from chocolate covered grubs to worm truffles to pork sausages.
There is live music all day and costume contest for the best costume fitting the theme of that year.

Being at the festival was the first time since being here that I have gotten emotional because my best friend's first baby shower was taking place at the same time back at home. Literally 30 seconds later God sent me this angel.

See, Aubrey's family is from Kentucky...it was a sign!

After the festival there was a concert with local bands that we stayed for. It was really good, however it made for an extra long day. So when we got back to our hostel at 2:00am we were not too happy to find the front door locked and we did not have the code to open it. I had to crawl in through the laundry room window to let Nelly in. Yep, that really happened.

This morning on our way out of town we stopped at the Monteith's Brewery for a tour and a tasting. It's pretty much the only beer we have been drinking (cider for me).

After we got a tasting of all of their brews, they let us pour a full glass of whatever we wanted. Nelly had their Original Ale whose recipe dates back 200 years and I had their seasonal Summer Ale which tasted like Ginger and honey.

I'm not a big beer drinker, but boy can I sure pour a good one!

Next we are off to the Franz Josef Glacier. Stay tuned!

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Location:Hokitika and Greymouth

On The Road Again

Our week in Queenstown sadly had to come to an end. But not before adding some more adventure! On our second to last day we took the gondola to the top of the mountain and went luging and zip lining. The views were amazing, not just the landscape but the activities. From one park bench you can sit and watch people skydive, paraglide, parasail, bungee jump, luge, mountain bike, zip line...all in the same sitting.



We only did the zip line and luge. So boring, I know.















Our last night in town we spent at my new favorite bar, Winnie's, with our new friends (no, not the bar stools). Four out of our last five nights in town were spent here because the bartenders were so fun. They liked us just as much and gave us the employee discount and bought our dinner on the last night. The great thing about Queenstown is that no one is local, so we got to meet people from all over the world. The bartenders, Adrian and Lynda, were from Argentina and Sweden respectively and the manager was from Ireland.



The next day we drove to Milford Sound in Fjordland for the night. It was quite possibly the most beautiful drive I have ever taken. Once there we hopped on a boat to see the Sound.







Neither pictures nor words can describe what it was like. Although both beautiful in their own ways, now I understand why people say the North Island can't compare to the South Island (sorry Hop).

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Location:Queenstown and Milford Sound

Off The Ledge

I am sorry to report that this post will not be as exciting as the last. After our entire day of extreme jumping, the last few days have been a lot more low key.
We went wine tasting on the Queenstown Wine Trail which has really good Pinot Noirs. The people working were really nice and spent a lot of time with us. They told us that the majority of the Americans they see are from San Francisco because most of us are used to being in Napa, etc and
like wine tasting!
New Zealand wineries have a problem with birds, so from this photo you can see they net all of the vines.











Then we went on a hike along the beach at Jack's Point. It was a bit chilly but very beautiful. There is a sky diving take off/landing right there so as we were hiking we watched people jump out of planes.





Then Nelly spotted these mushrooms. I thought they were really pretty and he thought I was crazy. Sometimes you got to stop and smell the mushrooms (in a totally sober way!)





We've also gone to the movies 3 times, found a favorite bar that we have gone to every night and made friends with the managers and bartenders (we have even started getting employee discounts!)
It's been a great few days!

Location:Queenstown

Mom and Dad...Don't Look

The events of this day are pretty indescribable, so I'll let the photos do the talking.

The world's first bungee jump at the Kawarau Bridge, 142 feet high.

It looks like I got more wet than I did. My shirt was pretty dry. Nelly on the other hand came prepared to go all the way in. Surprisingly I was not scared at all, I psyched myself into being excited instead of nervous. I didn't even hesitate on the jump!
From there we headed over to the Nevis bungee which is nearly 3 times as high as the bridge. The jump is from this pod which is suspended over the canyon. I went into the pod to watch him and began having a panic attack. That thing sways and is definitely not for the weak of heart.




After Nelly survived that jump, we headed over to the Nevis Arc which is the world's highest swing. We did it tandem first and then Nelly did it alone, upside-down. This picture is from the pod we swung from.

Nelly on his solo swing. First person to spot him gets a big hug.

Needless to say, this is how we ended the day.

Location:Queenstown

Take It Easy

This post is going to be sort of random because the past couple of days have been pretty mellow. We had a 7:00am flight Thursday morning from Auckland to Queenstown, so Wednesday we didn't do much in preparation for such an early flight...Other than drive through scenery like this.

And stop lunch at places named this.

Thursday morning we arrived into Queenstown, and let me tell you, it is beyond words. I have been lucky enough to travel to some pretty spectacular places, but I think this town ranks right up there (other than the extremely bumpy descent into the airport).

This is what we woke up to this morning, right outside of our window.

We visited a puzzle/illusion park yesterday while waiting for our room to be ready. This is Nelly and I in the same room. Alice In Wonderland!

Today on the other hand has been less than mellow and will require it's own post.

But to give you a tease of what we spent the day doing...

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Location:Queenstown