Vacation within a vacation Part II :)

After beautiful Arthur's Pass we stopped in Hokitika, a great little beach town.

They were having a driftwood art contest on the beach. Hope the tide doesn't come in too far!

We had lunch with this guy at Moorhouse Beach.

Ang and Daddio at Moorhouse Beach:)

Then we headed south to introduce our visitors to the stunning glaciers. The end of December and the beginning of January brought heavy rains and lots of flooding to this area. This is what the Warning sign at Franz Josef Glacier looked like on Dec. 21, 2009.

This is what it looked like on Jan 27, 2010. Water is very powerful!

What do you think this is? Ten points for the correct answer. :)

Fox Glacier

Lake Hawea on the way to Wanaka.

In Wanaka we stayed at an awesome B&B. We climbed up the hill outside the back door and this was the view. Wow!

A tulip, my favorite!

Lake Wanaka, so beautiful!

There is a place in Wanaka full of illusions called Puzzle World. How many people in this photo are real?

Wow look how strong we are!

In Queenstown we took a ride across Lake Wakatipu on the TSS Earnslaw, built in the early 1900s. This ship uses steam created from burning coal to get across the lake. It was built to cut the travel time from one end of the huge lake to the other.

Beautiful Lake Wakatipu.

After Queenstown we continued our adventure to Fiordland where we visited Doubtful Sound, a very remote area of the country. The start of our journey was a one hour boat across Lake Manapouri.

Enjoying the ride on Lake Manapouri.

From there we loaded in a van for a 45 minute drive over a very curvy Wilmot Pass Road. This is the view of Doubtful Sound from the top.

At the bottom of Wilmot Pass Road the Sea Finn of Deep Cove Charters was waiting for us. We loaded into the overnight fishing boat for our adventure on Doubtful Sound. We had an absolutely stunning day, beautiful weather!

Don't worry even though the boat in the distance looks like a pirate ship it's not a real one.

Beautiful Doubtful Sound:)

Since the weather was so favorable we went out into the Tasman Sea to try our luck at some fishing. Yeah, John got one!

I caught a blue cod too!

When Chris, our skipper, was filleting the fish, the birds were swarming us. This is an albatross checking out the tasty fish scraps.

The next morning we were greeted by dolphins playing in the wake of the boat. Neat!

We then took a flight from Queenstown back to Auckland.

We ate dinner as the sun was setting in the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower. This is the view from the top.

The Sky Tower all lit up at night.

Chris, our skipper from Doubtful Sound, gave us three huge crayfish tails (aka lobster) to take along and eat. They were quite tasty!

Vacation within a vacation :)

On Friday January 22 we added two travelers to our adventure. :) After whisking Bob (aka Angela's Dad) and Brenda (aka Angela's step-mom) away from the airport, we visited the beach, enjoyed a nice drive through the country, and then ventured to Rotorua. This area is known for the Maori culture (the native New Zealand people). We visited Hells Gate thermal park. This is the only thermal area in New Zealand still owned by the Maori people. This is the entrance.

The heat from the center of the earth bubbles up through these areas in the crust and creates steam. It sort of looked like Yellowstone National Park.

Here is a mud boil.

Lots of steam in the background. :)

This is Kakahi Falls in Hells Gate. It's the largest hot water falls in the Southern Hemisphere, with a normal temperature of 40 degrees Celsius. This was a sacred site for the local Maori tribes. They would bathe in the sulphur water to heal battle wounds.

Kids will be kids:)

We attended a traditional Maori dinner and entertainment at the Mitai village. We were greeted traditionally (Powhiri) by the Maori people in their waka (war canoe).

This is the stage where they performed traditional dances and we learned about their culture.

Then we participated in the hangi (traditional meal). They cooked all this food in the ground. It was very yummy!

Resemblance?

After our quick Rotorua tour we hopped on a small plane headed for Blenheim.

Highfield Estate Winery has a tall tower we climbed up for a great view of the valley.

We stopped at Wairau River Wines for lunch. Great little place.

This is the view from Seresin Estate. They are known for their organic wines and organic olive oil.

We took a beautiful drive along the Marlborough Sounds on Queen Charlotte Drive.

All aboard for Christchurch!

We took the Tranz Coastal train down the east coast of the south island from Blenheim to Christchurch.

This tram ran a loop through downtown Christchurch. We hopped on and off during our exploration of the city.

Watch out cyclists!

This is a lake in Hagley park in downtown Christchurch.

Christchurch has a beautiful botanical gardens. They have lovely flowers and huge trees.

We went for a little ride down the river on a Traditional English Punt. Very relaxing and beautiful!

The famous cathedral in downtown Christchurch. We climbed 134 steps to the top for a wonderful view of the city.

Almost there!

The plaza area from the top of the tower.

Then we hired (kiwi for rented) a car and headed west over Arthur's Pass. Beautiful mountains!

At the top of the pass, Aurthur's Pass National Park.

Danger! Don't cross the tracks!

Beautiful!

Yahoo!!! We Love New Zealand.