Day 11

We woke up this morning at 4:00 am to phone the hot air balloon hotline. We were very sad to discover that our flight had been cancelled due to wind and clouds in the vicinity! It was back to bed for a few more hours before embarking on the other adventures we planned for the day. Luckily we were able to reschedule for the following day. Fingers crossed that the wind and clouds wouldn’t be a problem again.

We started the day watching a volunteer fireman competition. It was a hot and sunny day, so those guys had to work really hard! Jeremy we brave enough to stay in the sun for a quick game of chess.
By mid-day it was already 34 degrees (93 F), so we decided to cool off by visiting the Antarctica Museum. Christchurch is the world’s gateway to Antarctica and is home to the New Zealand, United States and Italian Antarctic Programs. At the museum we learned a lot about Antarctic exploration, met some penguins and rode on a Hagglund which is an all terrain vehicle used to explore the area.

We also experienced the snow and ice room which simulates a storm in Antarctica. We were given warm hats and rubber shoes, but no extra pants, which is why we look a little silly!

After a nice cool off we headed back into the city. We saw this guy driving with his girlfriend buckled in to the back seat. We told him it was rude to make her ride in the back, but he didn’t seem to care!
Tonight was our last night of vacation, so we enjoyed a nice celebratory dinner. We did have one final adventure planned for our last day so we went to bed praying that our hot air balloon ride would “take off” without any problems in the morning.

Day 10

Today we got up very early in hopes of getting on a whale watch. We were on standby and ended up catching the second boat out! There were warnings of rough seas so we were sure to take sea sickness pills. Sure enough, the seas were rough! Within a short time, I was already getting sick. Our trip was enjoyable because we ended up seeing three whales and tons of dolphins! Next time I’ll just have to take some stronger medicine.



After our whale watch we had a delicious lunch at the Kaikoura Seaside BBQ. This famous restaurant is literally a woman cooking on a grill by the side of the road. The fish is fresh, cheap, and delicious – one of the best meals we had all week!

We then hit the road towards Christchurch. The drive to the city took about 2.5 hours. When we go to the city we checked into our hotel and then did a walk around town – stopping at the Botanical Gardens to enjoy the flowers and fresh air. We enjoyed yet another early dinner because, you guessed it, we had another early morning adventure planned. Tomorrow we were going on a hot air balloon ride!

Welcome J.J.!

We're taking a break from our holiday posts to welcome J.J. Warden to the family. Little J.J. was born Thursday January 24th. Weighing 7 lbs. 6 oz, he sure is a cutie!!! Congrats Jake and Katie!!

Day 9

Today we drove across the country from Greymouth to Christchurch on the east coast via Arthur's Pass. We did a nice uphill hike to The Devil's Punchbowl - one of the waterfalls in Arthur's Pass.


Along the way we also stopped at Castle Rock which is a unique and GIGANTIC rock formation. We were able to climb amongst the rocks which was really fun. Can you find the tiny Jeremy along the rocks?

We decided to head north to a town called Kaikoura which is the best place in New Zealand to see whales. After checking in to our hotel, we did a quick walk along the ocean and saw a seal sleeping near the parking lot!


We had a nice seafood dinner and nestled in to bed. Tomorrow was another early morning as we were on standby for the 6:15 am Whale Watch!

Day 8

We got up nice and early this morning to capture some more photos with our new camera. Unfortunately we were greeted with a whole lot of fog! Rather than taking photos, we slept a little bit longer and then headed off to Franz Josef for our heli-hike. Upon arrival we learned that the heli-hike was cancelled due to the fog. We were so sad, but decided that rather than sticking around for the day to see if the fog cleared, we would head off on our adventure and head back to Franz Josef at a later date.

Next stop: Monteith's Brewery in Greymouth for a tour. This was the best tour ever! We went behind the scenes and saw everything that goes into making beer. Then we got to taste seven beers and practice serving our own beers from the tap! We weren't that good at pouring the perfect beer, but we had fun trying.

After our beer tasted was hit the road towards Pancake ROcks which is an amazing site. Somehow these rocks came to be, I can't remember how, but they were really neat.
Finally we hit the road to our hotel. We saw a huge Koru (fern), which is a baby in this picture, growing into the green plant that we know.

After dinner we enjoyed some Monteith's on the beach watching the sunset. A perfect end to a great day, even though we missed out on the heli-hike!

Day 7

After dropping Jochen and Susanne off at the airport we started our drive north, up the west coast towards Fox and Franz Josef Glaciers. The drive took most of the day, but like every other day of our trip, we really enjoyed all of the amazing views! We did a few short walks, but our most exciting one was around Lake Matheson where we enjoyed a view of Mount Cook reflecting in Lake Matheson. Mount Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand.


Once again we hit the hay early as we wanted to get up early to capture some more photos of Mount Cook before heading off for a heli-hike on Franz Josef!

Day 6

Today was our last day of travelling with Jochen and Susanne. It was also the first time that we had rain on our entire vacation! We had hoped to do a hike first thing in the morning, but the rain postponed that, so instead we had a delicious breakfast in the town of Wanaka, which is north of Queenstown. By the time we had finished breakfast, the rain had started to clear, so we drove off towards the Rob Roy Glacier Hike that we hoped to complete.


We knew that the drive was an hour outside of town, but then learned that 40 minutes of that was on an unpaved road. We decided to take a risk (why not, we'd taken so many already), and test the road. After crossing several fords:

(A ford is a much cheaper form of river-crossing than a bridge but it may become impassable after heavy rain or during flood condition. A ford is therefore normally only suitable today for very minor roads. Most modern fords are shallow enough to be crossed by cars and other wheeled or tracked vehicles - a process known, fittingly, as "fording"), we made it to our destination.
The uphill hike (felt like both ways!) took us a little over three hours, but was well worth it for the views of the glacier that we saw.

We had officially exhausted ourselves with one final hike and filled out tummies with steaks and ice creams before spending the evening relaxing with drinks under the stars, by an outdoor fireplace at Barmuda in Queenstown.

Day 5

Today was another day packed with adventures in Queenstown.We started the morning with a ride on the Skyline Gondola, which provided us with amazing views of the city.
Then we took a few rides (that might be an understatement, it was more like 7 rides!) down the Luge before heading back to town to meet up with Jochen and Susanne.
Our next stop was the Shotover River where we rode the Shotover Jet. Here we are all ready for some more adventure.
This was a high speed boat ride that took us twisting and turning through narrow canyons while spinning 360 degrees at various times. Good thing it was hot out, as our clothes got a little wet!
After that we geared up with wetsuits, life jackets and paddles to raft down the Shotover River. The river was rather low, so the rapids were sparce, but it was a fun adventure in the end - plus our raft never flipped, which is always a good thing! Once back in town, we hit up Winnie's Gourmet Pizza. The food was delicious and we were impressed with the roof that opened up like a skylight. Another busy day had us to bed by 11, but I guess that happens when you do one adventure after another!

Day 4

Today a few brave souls decided to do one of the highest bungy jumps in the world: The Nevis Highwire Bungy in Queenstown! The Nevis is 134 meters (440 feet) high and includes 8.5 seconds of free-falling. After a nervous ride back to Queenstown, we boarded a bus for the 40 minute ride to the canyon where the jump would occur. Everyone (spectators like myself included - apparently I have a major fear of heights) was suited up in harnesses, for the trolley ride to the jump station which dangles high above the canyon:
Jeremy had an awesome jump:
Everyone had a great time and we were starving after the experience! We stopped at Fergburger, a Queenstown favorite for some burgers and fries before settling in for the night. We had another day full of adventure awaiting us in just a few hours!

Day 3

We made the beautiful drive to Milford Sound (which is actually a Fiord) this morning and did a Milford Sound cruise which was beautiful and we were able to see many water falls and dolphins.


I met a RedSox fan on the boat from CT who was living in Perth Australia, so we talked about the World Series and some of the talk which has been occurring in the post season.

In the afternoon we did a 3 hour hike (tramp as it's called over here) to Lake Marian which was absolutely beautiful. It was so hot on the hike and I had high aspirations of jumping in the lake at the top, until I actually put my feet in the water and realized that it was probably 40 degrees.

Day 2

On Day 2, we had a guided hike on the famous Milford Track planned which we were very excited about. Our original plan was to walk the track for a few days, but the huts were booked out months in advance and we couldn't get in.

Hunter was our guide on the trip and was able to tell us about the area, the various tree's, birds, and other wildlife. On the way back to the boat, we walked a little bit of the Routeburn track and stopped at nice river for a little break and a fill up for our water.

At night when we got back to the town, our main focus was to find a place that would serve us some good venison so that's what we had for dinner (and of course wine and beer).

Day 1

Our Flight to Queenstown was amazing as there are mountains all around and you fly very close to them. We got some great pictures from the plane as you can see below (this one is from the plane not the hot air balloon like the other one that we posted). After landing in Queenstown we hit the supermarket for some snacks and drinks for the next week and drove 2 hours outside the town to Te Anau where we would be staying the next 3 nights. We watched a short movie on New Zealand, ate some good Italian food, and of course drank beer and wine. It was an early night to bed as we had a nice hike planned for day 2.

We're Back!!

After twelve days of travelling New Zealand's South Island, we have returned to Auckland safe and sound. Our time was filled with lots of adventure, fun, great weather, amazing sites and some totally new experiences. We'll post details and pictures each day this week. Until then, here is a picture from the hot air balloon ride we went on this morning for you to enjoy!

What a wonderful new year

After a wonderful visit to the US, we are now back in New Zealand. We enjoyed visiting with everyone and it's just too bad that we didn't have more time to spend with people. The 11 days went by very quickly and a special thanks to my parents, Erin's Mom, Erin's Dad, American Airlines, and the Park Plaza hotel where we spent our nights while visiting the US. As we discussed with many of you while we were home, start making your plans for a visit to this side of the world.

We celebrated 2007 and welcomed in 2008 with a bunch of friends in the city. We watched the fireworks from their balcony and had a great night. Today we went to the beach as it was a hot/sunny first day of 2008.

We are heading away for another 11 day trip to the south island. We will most likely not be blogging while we are away, but check back in mid-January for the update on our trip and all the adventures that we went on.