Okay - so I have been asked a million times about our New Zealand pics 
I still do not have them sorted well/cropped/etc., but thought I would share them regardless. Beware: there are over 600 pictures altogether!
First album with pics from Sydney to New Zealand and while we were in Christchurch:
Highlight of the trip for me: Milford Sound. I wanted to take a plane to Milford Sound from Queenstown. If you take a coach (bus) then it is 9 hours roundtrip for the bus plus the two hour boat ride, so yes, does not sound appealing with the kids! or for adults for that matter, but it is alot cheaper that way. The weather forecast for the week did not look good, but we were very fortunate that the first full day there was supposed to be the best of the week. I set the alarm for 6am to start calling the air carriers to see who had availability to take the four of us. Luckily a pilot owned carrier had room for us on his 9:30 am flight. Plenty of time to feed the kids and get our gear ready. The weather is so important due to the small plane - it rains over 200 days a year and the small plane cannot make it under rainy/low visibility conditions. It did look like it was going to be bad at the beginning of the trip as you will notice from the gray pics, but then it started to clear. We took a very small plane - it held the four of us, a pilot (thank goodness) and another couple - to the fiord from Queenstown. We then hopped on a boat to take a two hour return trip up the fiord to the Tasman Sea and then back to the dock. We encountered a seal, many waterfalls, a few kayaks, and a beautiful bird. It was a beautiful trip. The kids loved the small plane and the boat ride. We were so blessed that they were up for a journey that day. And special thanks to my wonderful husband for knowing this part of the journey was important to me and making it happen for me! The plane through the mountains and landing on a small strip truly reminded me of Fantasy Island!
Pics of Milford Sound:
On our journey from Queenstown to Christchurch we stopped at a number of places. Most noteworthy is the gold mine town of Arrowtown, a produce stand near Cromwell (the fruit capital of the South Island), Lake Tekapo (where the lake is turquoise) and Geraldine. Here are pics from those places:
Anyway, we had such an excellent time. Our last day there Ben and I sat in a McDonalds (which was very relaxing due to the slow pace of everyone and the awesome play place) and contemplated transferring money (to a better exchange rate thus doubling it) and moving the family to New Zealand. It is so very, very beautiful that words cannot describe. Some of our pictures do it a slight justice. It is hard to capture in words and you will notice the first part of our pictures are blurry due to the camera going out (yes, we had to buy a new one while we were there). Anyway, every moment you drive through the South Island there are wonders to view, lakes, mountains, countryside, quaint and charming towns, livestock, rocks, etc. I highly recommend this place to be visited when you are looking to unwind. We LOVED our time in New Zealand.
Over the Christmas Holidays we visited the Southern Highlands of New South Wales. We stopped at a beach along the Grand Pacific Drive for the kids to play. We then visited Fitzroy Falls to see the waterfall and walk the nature path. Jack liked looking at the giant termite heap on the path.
The attraction highlight while Danny and Montine were in Australia, was a visit to the Tobruk Sheep Farm. It is one of the best days we have had in Australia. They are open on special days for families to learn about sheep farming and enjoy their farm. The day started off with damper (warm bread with syrup, yummy!) and tea. We then learned how the dogs work to herd the sheep into the corral and other sheep knowledge. We were shown how a sheep is sheared, and yes, I got to participate. We got to practice throwing a boomerang (oops, Jack got hit in the head by one) and cracking a whip. Lunch was served and we had salad, steak, vegetables and traditional desserts, anzac cookies and lamingtons. Singing and dancing were provided during the meal. Jack and Ella loved seeing the animals.
Hello, we had a wonderful time in Georgia! We were there almost two weeks and stayed in Danny and Montine’s new house. We love the house and in true Montine style, it is beautifully decorated! They have a room set-up for Jack and one for Ella.
Danny had organized a fish fry for the first weekend we were there. Lamar and Danny cooked grouper, flounder and frog legs - - it was all great! I wish I had some now.
Jack and Ella went with Nana and Papa to Offerman. It was the first time for Ella to ride the tractor. They love going with Nana and Papa.
Almost every evening we took the kids out in the wagon to ride through the subdivision.
I will post pictures soon. I left all the pictures on Danny and Montine’s computer in Brunswick and it will take awhile to get them uploaded to my site.
Hey! We are having a blast with Jennifer in town. Please view her blog to check out what we are up to! http://www.jenniferwene.blogspot.com/. Make sure to bookmark her site as we (ha, ha, she is doing all the work) will mainly post to her site during the month of August.
For Father’s Day we took a trip to Surfers Paradise, Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is very much like Orlando, but is on the Coast. It has amusement parks and many hotels. We went to the Gold Coast because I had read about the Top 10 Kids Clubs in Australia, rated by parents.
Kids waiting for bus to get to the airport:
The Paradise Resort has a multi million dollar kids club. The children are entertained by different themed sessions everyday. Ella’s room had a ball pit, lots of little cars to ride, a sand pit and lots of toys. Jack’s area had a submarine, a pirate ship, a play village to ride cars around in (with a gas station)… His favorite session was Pirate day with a treasure hunt.
We could view the outdoor area from our hotel room and saw Ella playing:
One night the hotel had a Polynesian barbque and dance. Ella and Jack loved the dancers and watching the band play the music.
We left on a Thursday morning and returned Sunday. It was a nice getaway for us all. Ben and I were able to go out and eat a nice dinner, a breakfast while reading (how nice!!) and play with the kids on the beach together. Ben had never been to play with Jack on the beach and so they really enjoyed that time together.
All other pictures:
We had a packed weekend for Mother’s Day. We all got in the hot tub on Saturday. Don’t worry Grandma’s, the water is not as hot as it is in the States.
Jack and Ella posing before the hot tub… Ella was checking out her new princess shoes from Nana Montine.
They were exhausted and fell asleep together in Ella’s pack ‘n play.
Ben took us to the Blue Mountains outside Sydney for Mother’s Day. The Three Sisters rock formation is in Katoomba, New South Wales, Australia. We enjoyed getting out of the city for the day and seeing country similar to North Carolina.
There were telescopes you could look through that Jack did not get to parktake in and so this was what he looked like for awhile…
And Ben wrote this poem for him to remember the moment…
I went to the blue mountains
The three sisters I did see
I needed to see them closer
To use the telescope I did plea
The cost was 2 dollars
But no money was to be had
I had to look with only my eyes
And for that I was so sad.
We ended the day on the couch - Ella is in a new nightgown from Nana Wene and Jack in his Superman shirt. He still wants to wear his pajamas all day long. And yes, I have let him wear his SpiderMan shirt out and about so everybody can see his web.
