New Zealand
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:
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| Trip to New Zealand & 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:
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| Trip to Milford Sound - Flight and Boat |
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:
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| Arrowtown, Lake Tekapo, and Geraldine |
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.
