Hey folks,

The South Island of NZ was amazing. First, the ferry ride itself was pretty magnificent as we coasted by dozens of inlets before arriving in Picton. The plan was to carry on to Abel Tasman NP but we didn’t really feel like driving so we just booked a room in Picton. The next day was beautiful and sunny so we hiked the Queen Charlotte Track, which had some spectacular views. Incredibly, we ended up hiking about 14 miles (~24 km). Our feet were killing us by the time we returned, but uckily we got to soak in the hot tub later that evening. The previous evening Jason chatted with an older male kiwi who’d been all around and had a crazy tale about Cairo, Egypt; after arriving in the middle of the evening, he (never got his name) and his wife got harassed by a cabbie who tried to scam them by taking them to a shady hotel. Having spotted something they recognized on the way, they had the driver drop them off at a different place, the entrance of which was down a dark alley. Upon arriving at the front door, they discovered it was locked. As they walked back, a “police officer” accosted them and demanded cigarettes or money. While trying to talk their way out of a confrontation, the man grabbed his wife’s breast. She screamed and then he shoved the scumbag and they fled down the alley, fully expecting to be shot in the back! That’s basically the end but it could easily have been much worse. Hopefully our time in Cairo isn't quite so harrowing.

Back to the trip, the next day we took a short jaunt to Renwick, which is in the heart of the Marlborough wine region. We "hired" (=rented) bikes for the day and went to about eight wineries. The region is apparently famous for their Sauvignon Blancs and most of the wines we tasted were whites and generally justified the high praise they’ve been receiving in recent years. We weren't even fans of Sauvignon Blancs but we are now. It was a perfect day for biking and the scenery was beautiful. Also, the staff didn’t pressure us to purchase anything, which was nice considering almost all of the tastings were free. Our favorite place was called The Villa, but sadly they don’t export any of their wines to the US. We joined up with a couple Brits, Ben and Graham, who were doing geological research in Kaikoura. Interestingly, during the course of our discussion, the absurdity of the official story of 9/11 came up. Apparently the British public is very skeptical and most are convinced that there was a cover up of some sort. If only the American public were that well-informed.

Unfortunatley, our plans were disrupted again by inclement weather. I think I forgot to mention but we had planned to visit Tongariro NP (home of Mt. Doom from Lord of the Rings) but it was closed. This time, we were going to take a helicopter ride up to Fox glacier to see ice caves and due some ice hiking. The weather was only getting worse so rather than try to wait it out we just left for Queenstown. What should have been a scenic drive down the west coast was anything but as it was pouring rain the entire drive and stuck around the first two days we were in Queenstown. There was a small respite when we stopped in Wanaka, another ski town. We stopped at the wacky world of puzzles that housed many illusion exhibits along with a giant maze.

Our first night in Queenstown we again hung out with the Nebraskans. We went and saw some Reggae music, which is the big thing there, so Jason was in his element. The following day, while it poured, we were finally able to find an internet café that had a good connection and were able to download all of our pictures. This was a huge relief as we were beginning to fear that we would never have sufficient time to download them. The weather cleared the following day so we took an insanely steep gondola ride and at the top rode these go-cart like contraptions called luges. They were propelled by gravity, meaning you could pick up some serious speed. There were many hair-pin curves so they were also designed not to flip over; rather, brake pads slowed them down if the rider lost control.

The locals were saying the weekend rain/snow had resulted in the best conditions of the entire season so we figured it would be fun to give it a go. What a great decision as the snowboarding was awesome! We went to the Remarkables and despite some annoyances getting there, including getting our windshield chipped and realizing the snow tires provided by the rental agency were too small, we had a blast. In the morning we joined one of their beginner classes but there were too many people and it seemed a big waste of time. So, in the afternoon, Jason upgraded to get a lift pass. In just 2 ½ hours he had about 10 runs and was the last person off the mountain, mostly because he spent most of the time on his bum. We have a feeling we’ll be taking many more trips to Flag when we return to Arizona.

The next day we were set to leave Queenstown to head down to Milford Sound, one of the iconic tourist destinations of NZ. Before we left, we took a jet boat ride around one of the nearby lakes. The jet boat ride itself was pretty cool, we did a bunch of 360s and he drove so close to the shoreline that we're still not sure how we didn't wreck. We wish we’d have brought our camera because the reflection of the mountains off of the lake were stunning. It was also really cool to see two rivers meeting, as we could actually see where they met due to differences in the color of the waters. On of the rivers was just six inches deep. Jason had planned to go bungy jumping at Nevis, a whopping 134 meters. However, he was informed the night before that there is actually a larger bungy in South Africa; supposedly it’s 200 M! Considering bungying is all about facing his fears (i.e., ego), he decided to hold out for the biggest in the world. Apparently, NZ is working to reclaim the title of the highest bungy jump but have yet to begin building it.

We drove to Te Anu and stayed in an actual motel. It was a big relief considering for the past four days we’d been forced to leave our building just to use the bathroom. Milford Sound itself was pretty spectacular; we took 130 pictures in one day! (Many are redundant so our apologies). There was this one stopoff on the way called Mirror Pond which was the setting for about 15 of them. Because we hold the camera differently to get taller shots, Priti and I were taking mirror image shots of a mirror image…far out! Ironically, the wettest spot in NZ had not a cloud in the sky which allowed for some great pics but meant we didn't get to see the hundreds of waterfalls it is known for. Because the boat we were supposed to take was unavailable, they gave us free passes to the underwater exhibit, which was nice considering we were going to do it anyway. Thus, we were able to get underwater pictures without doing a photography dive. The divers had displayed this rope that was from 30 M deep and it had all these funky coral on it, very cool.

Our drive to Christchurh was looooong. We tried to break it up by stopping in Dunedin to see penguins but that was a whole side trip and so we just passed through. Our hostel was pretty crappy but it was centrally located so we decided to have a night on the town. The following morning, we groggily attempted to go swimming with Dolphins in Akaroa but once again the NZ weather gods were having none of it. Three meter high waves meant the boats weren't going out that day. Since we’d saved some money by losing out on the swim, we decided to splurge on dinner at Dux de Lux, which was right across the street from our hostel. Priti ordered a tasty dish of rata (some white fish), and Jason's salmon dish was divine. It was so tender it nearly fell through his fork (a la sting ray). We went to an Irish pub and drank some Guiness and danced some jigs before returning home on our last night in NZ.