I know, I know....

But no one really looks at this crap anyway. Not even Google. Which is sayin' somethin'.

New Zealand...the Beginning

Well, this blog is a small record of the 600 pictures we took while in New Zealand...we had a ball. Unlike the usual blog, the listings below are in chronological order (instead of the latest thing appearing at the top)....

The kids only mockingly got grumpy on the 24-hour trip down to Queenstown NZ in the south island. The trip required an hour drive to Seattle, a two-hour flight to LAX, a 12-hour flight to Auckland, and another 2-hour flight to Queenstown. The kids were troopers during the whole trip (and the 7-inch TV's in the seatbacks didn't hurt!)...
Here's the gang on the way through Auckland's International Airport.

BEFORE Queenstown Kawarau River Jetboat

Jetboating is cool...about 50 MPH in about 4 inches of water. They fly down the canyon getting WAY-too-close to the rocks and trees on the shore...The kids really liked it...although, at the end, the outside-seats got a bit wet with the wind and water getting really heavy....

AFTER Queenstown Kawarau River Jetboat

See Mom soaking wet? See Dad nice and dry?

Queenstown Gondola

In Queenstown, a gondola takes you up a mountain for great views of the area from about 4000 ft above Lake Wakatipu. Very steep, very pretty!

Queenstown, Luge and views at the top!

Upon arriving at the top, we saw the Hackett Swing and bungy platform...no better place for this exists in the world, if you ask me! Also up there on the mountain is a luge, and we just had to have some of that! We got some great speed on our way down...and once you got down, a ski-lift took you back up for another ride...

Queenstown Bouncin' and Climbin'

The kids had bun climbing, and flipping out on the "reverse bungy"...

Kawarau Bridge, Skipper's Canyon Bungy

We stopped on our way to Dunedin just outside of Queenstown at Kawarau Bridge, the home of bungy jumping, to watch some of the action. No, we didn't (for heavens sake, we have responsibilities now...ten years ago, if we'd have bit it, it wouldn't have made much difference, now, would it?)....And the kids can't until they're ten. But the kids both saw what nuts Mom and Dad were, once upon a time, ten years ago....

Cadbury Factory, Dunedin

We stopped in Dunedin for the sole purpose of touring the Cadbury Factory. Cadbury is the largest supplier of candy in NZ...and their factory was amazing. We were lucky they let us in after the kids threatened to beat the doors down. We got lots of candy out of the tour, and the tour guide was forced to dress like an Oompa-Loompa, which was entertaining...

Moeraki Boulders

Moeraki Boulders

En route from Dunedin to the Banks Peninsula, we stopped at a site where some strange, perfect sandstone spheres seems to emerge from the cliffs into the sea. There are about 50 of these massive stones scattered around the beach...

Banks Peninsula

We drove to our place on the Banks Peninsula, a huge remnant of a dormant volcano that last erupted about 25,000 years ago. The road there was stepp and windy, but the views were nice!

Banks Peninsula, near Akaroa

We stayed on the Banks Peninsula about one hour outside of Christchurch with the intention of heading out for a cruise to swim with dolphins and seals. Unfortunately, the weather stunk...Our place was nice, though...on Akaroa Harbour (Duvauchelle, to be exact), and the property had a donkey named Eeyore, a sheep and lots of ducks to play with. It would have been great if the weather had been better.