New Zealand

Hi all-Sarah here. Sam and I have arrived in Russel, Bay of Islands this afternoon. This is a small hamlet of towns in the north part of the North Island. We are staying at an amazing little B&B that used to be a church. The room has it's own garden, hot tub and a stunning view of the town. so basically, we're in heaven.

Since our last post we have done a lot of driving! After Leaveing Abel Tasman, we stayed in a British couple's b&b that was also a small farm (baby animals all over the place) and an olive grove; they made and sold their own evoo. the couple was wonderfully hospitipal and their lifestyle very inspiring. After that we headed to Wellington; which is very much like SF. We cruised up to these amazing volcanic mineral springs before driving throught the day to get here. I'm a bit rushed as the internet shop is closing...

New Zealand is like this: if Switzerland and Hawaii had a baby and populated it with Scottish people. It is that good.

Tomorrow we are heading out on a sail boat to swim with dolphins and go snorkeling- we're hoping the weather stays nice. And then we (maybe just me) head back home...

As Sarah said, Fjordland Natl. Park and Milford sound is one of the more awe inspiring places on earth, however the town of Te Anau, which feeds the park with tourists and hikers, is pretty bad. We ate at this place called The Ranch, which was decorated with a corny cowboy/indian motif and all of the food had the word steak somewhere in it. The waiter did have a great mullett though so it all evened out.

So after leaving Te Anau we headed north and returned to Queenstown to tie up a few loose ends. First and foremost I had to pick up some antibiotics for a toothache (infected gum) I've had since we got here. It's prevented me from sleeping quite a bit. We also traded in our car for a fresh one. Our old one lacked a warning signal to remind you when you accidently leave the lights on, which we did twice, each time having to ask around for a jump.

From Queenstown we drove to Wanaka, a nice mountain town on the shore of some big lake. We hiked to the top of Mount Iron and got a 360 degree view of the surrounding valley. It was very picturesque with the snowcaps in the distance (seems like that's a constant) and the sheep grazing the paddocks (also a constant). We spent the night in a nicer hostel and headed out to the North of the south Island in the morning, the target being an 8 hr drive to nelson. Well, we didn't quite make it to Nelson but are in Motueka, which is sort of a hippie town at the mouth of the Abel Tasman national park. We are planning to kayak the park tomorrow and hopefully get to some wineries nearby.

I'll try to get some pics up tomorrow.

We are in the town of Te Anu, which is the southern most city we will be visiting. Yesterday we took an amazing drive through Fiordland Natl' Park, a boat trip through Milford Sound and out to the Tasman Sea. The ride to the sound takes you through the massive Southern Alps and alpine rainforest (complete with alpine parrots). It rained and snowed the first part of our trip but on the way back, the sun was in full-force. It's Spring and many early flowers are blooming all over the mountain side; the grass and trees are almost a hyper-color green.

Days prior we were in Queenstown for a few days. We stayed at a great B&B (thanks Dianne and Joe!) and caught up on sleep and scenery. We also took an afternoon and went for a few luge runs down this moutain and for a small bungy jump. Lots of fun!

The internet is expensive here and we don't have access to our gmail accounts so we're keeping this short and sweet. Sorry. We'll try to post pictures and more detail later.

love, sarah & sam

Sarah here. After our first leg of the trip, we had a long layover at Auckland airport. Thankfully the rugby world cup is happening these next two weeks so we were highly entertained by watching the All Black v Ireland. We finally got our car and hit the road. (Sam's note - Paul, the guy who brought us to the rental car from the airport talked more than anyone I've ever met, and when I asked if I could change into shorts in the company's bathroom he showed me toward the company office, not the john, and stood just outside the door while I changed). We started along the East coast of the South Island so we could get to a town called Oamaru, which is a tiny seaport town.

Oamaru is known for its historic buildings, penny farthing contests, penguins and cheese. We happened upon the Annual Victorian Fete faire (the largest in New Zealand)! It was closing up but we got the gist of it. We stopped at a local pub for beers and watched as retired and young folks dressed in bustles and sportiong handlebar mustaches played on an old piano and sang classics such Wooly Bully and I Can't Get No Satisfaction. There was a turf war when the lone Scottsman tried to play his bagpipe outside; he had to be shut down. Thankfully no blood was shed and the kilt-wearing solo artists left quietly.

We are heading to Queenstown today; which is going to be a beautiful drive.