New Zealand

New Zealand January 2003

Christmas in Bay of Islands
Overlooking Russel
Benjamin's Skydive

We arrived in New Zealand just before Christmas and headed north to the Bay of Islands for a quiet holiday week. We did our best to decorate and do traditional Christmas things, but it just wasn't quite the same thing, being the middle of summer. We still enjoyed our gifts, ate too much and spent most of the days being very lazy. We did explore the area a bit, and Benjamin and his friend Lisa even fit in their first sky dive, which they loved.

Blackwater rafting at Waitamo
Wai-O-Tapu Geyser
Tongariri Crossing

The week over New Years' we hung out in Auckland, but mostly focused on catching up on school work. We fit in a trip up to the top of the Sky Tower and a visit to the zoo to see kiwi and tuatara up close. At the end of the week we loaded into a monster motor home and headed south. Our first stop was Waitamo Caves, famous for their glow worms that sparkle on the cave ceilings like stars. Scott and I took advantage of a unique opportunity to don wet suits, boots, miners' hats and black rubber inner-tubes to hike, jump and float down the pitch black cave river. I couldn't feel my toes by the end, but it was a very memorable couple hours. Our next stop was at Rotarua and the surrounding geo-thermal area. Once we adjusted to the "lovely" sulphur smell, we learned a lot by viewing the geysers, vents and mudpools. We also had the chance to attend a traditional Maori ceremony (haka) and feast (hongi). After this we wound down past Lake Taupo to the Tongariri National Park. We got glimpses of the three great volcanoes through the clouds and had great hopes the weather would improve for our hike across the Tongariri Crossing (NZ's prettiest one day treck) the next day. It poured all night and we awoke to a cold, hazy day. We struck off on the track anyway, but spent the better part of the trail in the clouds, walking non-stop to keep warm. We finished the walk in only 5 1/2 hours, but would love to do it again at a more leisurely pace and with some of those promised views. We finished our travels through the North Island with a couple days in Wellington where we especially enjoyed the new National Museum, Te Papa.

Our motorhome
Abel Tasman
Sea Kayaking

Here's a picture of the motor home we lived in for 26 days. A rumbling diesel truck with no shocks that made even a 200 km drive exhausting, especially through mountain passes and winding scenic roads. We all fit in fairly well, but the wet and cold conditions meant much too much time spent inside. By the time we hit the South Island we were desperate for some warmth and sunshine and it did improve a fair bit. We headed first to Abel Tasman National Park, where we enjoyed the gorgeous coastline by kayaking, hiking and just hanging on the beach.

Wine tasting in Blenheim
Kaikoura
Swimming with seals

We then enjoyed a gorgeous sunny day riding bikes around the Marlborough wineries, tasting and stocking up for the remainder of our trip. Followed by another gorgeous day spent driving down the east coast to the town of Kaikoura. Here you can chose between whale watching, or trips spent swimming with seals or dolphins. We opted to swim with the seals, but almost missed our chance when a front came in the next day with high winds and rain. We decided to go anyway, and after putting on wet suits that covered us from toes to the top of our heads we took a very bumpy ride out to some seal covered rocks. With great trepidation we got into the outrageously cold water, learned that wet suits do work eventually and then waited for the seals. They finally joined us, swimming up to check us out and do a few tricks to show off. It was another truly memorable day.

Gold panning
Hiking Fox Glacier
Mount Tasman

Our next destinations were on the South Island's rugged west coast. We crossed the Alps at Arthur's pass and got our first real look at this amazing set of mountain ranges. We stopped off to try our luck at some gold panning to finance our trip, but didn't have nearly the luck of the original gold miners. Our best stop on this coast was at the Fox Glacier where we took a guided walk up on to the glacier. The highlight was walking through this crevice, but on the way back though we almost lost Scott when the ice crumbled beneath him and he sank to his knees. Just a bit of excitement to remind us how quickly these glaciers move and change. Benjamin spent his day learning ice-climbing techniques on some of the glacier's vertical walls. This last picture is the view from our campground, one of many million dollars views that we got for 20 bucks a night.

"Luge" rides
Queenstown
Mt Cook

We then headed inland to Queenstown, a town best known for high adrenalin activities like bungy jumping. We really enjoyed this beautiful little town and stayed for four days under the pretence of waiting for the weather to clear up so we could take a flight over the Fjordlands. It was never good enough to fly, but was fine weather for us to partake in some great sightseeing and a few heart-pumping activities. Benjamin and Scott started by bungy jumping off the Nevis, a gondola hung across a gorge from which you plummet 134 meters. Zachary went along to record the event and I stayed away. They loved it and would do it again tomorrow. We then took the whole family up to the top of another gondola, with gorgeous views over Queenstown and enjoyed some family fun riding down a luge track. We had a gorgeous drive and hike at Glenorchy, just north of Queenstown, where parts of the Lord of the Rings were filmed. And then on our last day Benjamin and I went white water rafting through some of the scenic gorges. There was still so much more to do, but we gave up on our plane flight and headed for Mt. Cook. The winds were blowing at 100 km/hour when we arrived and most of the mountain was socked in, but we attempted a hike out to the base of the mountain, but the winds eventually stopped us as the gusts were literally knocking us to the ground. The next day we awoke to clear blue skies and fantastic views of the snow-clad mountain. We finished up our NZ tour with a few days in quiet Christchurch preparing for our next adventure in Thailand.

Christmas in Bay of Islands	Overlooking Russel	Benjamin's Skydive
We arrived in New Zealand just before Christmas and headed north to the Bay of Islands for a quiet holiday week. We did our best to decorate and do traditional Christmas things, but it just wasn't quite the same thing, being the middle of summer. We still enjoyed our gifts, ate too much and spent most of the days being very lazy. We did explore the area a bit, and Benjamin and his friend Lisa even fit in their first sky dive, which they loved.
Blackwater rafting at Waitamo	Wai-O-Tapu Geyser	Tongariri Crossing
The week over New Years' we hung out in Auckland, but mostly focused on catching up on school work. We fit in a trip up to the top of the Sky Tower and a visit to the zoo to see kiwi and tuatara up close. At the end of the week we loaded into a monster motor home and headed south. Our first stop was Waitamo Caves, famous for their glow worms that sparkle on the cave ceilings like stars. Scott and I took advantage of a unique opportunity to don wet suits, boots, miners' hats and black rubber inner-tubes to hike, jump and float down the pitch black cave river. I couldn't feel my toes by the end, but it was a very memorable couple hours. Our next stop was at Rotarua and the surrounding geo-thermal area. Once we adjusted to the "lovely" sulphur smell, we learned a lot by viewing the geysers, vents and mudpools. We also had the chance to attend a traditional Maori ceremony (haka) and feast (hongi). After this we wound down past Lake Taupo to the Tongariri National Park. We got glimpses of the three great volcanoes through the clouds and had great hopes the weather would improve for our hike across the Tongariri Crossing (NZ's prettiest one day treck) the next day. It poured all night and we awoke to a cold, hazy day. We struck off on the track anyway, but spent the better part of the trail in the clouds, walking non-stop to keep warm. We finished the walk in only 5 1/2 hours, but would love to do it again at a more leisurely pace and with some of those promised views. We finished our travels through the North Island with a couple days in Wellington where we especially enjoyed the new National Museum, Te Papa.
Our motorhome	Abel Tasman	Sea Kayaking
Here's a picture of the motor home we lived in for 26 days. A rumbling diesel truck with no shocks that made even a 200 km drive exhausting, especially through mountain passes and winding scenic roads. We all fit in fairly well, but the wet and cold conditions meant much too much time spent inside. By the time we hit the South Island we were desperate for some warmth and sunshine and it did improve a fair bit. We headed first to Abel Tasman National Park, where we enjoyed the gorgeous coastline by kayaking, hiking and just hanging on the beach.
Wine tasting in Blenheim	Kaikoura	Swimming with seals
We then enjoyed a gorgeous sunny day riding bikes around the Marlborough wineries, tasting and stocking up for the remainder of our trip. Followed by another gorgeous day spent driving down the east coast to the town of Kaikoura. Here you can chose between whale watching, or trips spent swimming with seals or dolphins. We opted to swim with the seals, but almost missed our chance when a front came in the next day with high winds and rain. We decided to go anyway, and after putting on wet suits that covered us from toes to the top of our heads we took a very bumpy ride out to some seal covered rocks. With great trepidation we got into the outrageously cold water, learned that wet suits do work eventually and then waited for the seals. They finally joined us, swimming up to check us out and do a few tricks to show off. It was another truly memorable day.
Gold panning	Hiking Fox Glacier	Mount Tasman
Our next destinations were on the South Island's rugged west coast. We crossed the Alps at Arthur's pass and got our first real look at this amazing set of mountain ranges. We stopped off to try our luck at some gold panning to finance our trip, but didn't have nearly the luck of the original gold miners. Our best stop on this coast was at the Fox Glacier where we took a guided walk up on to the glacier. The highlight was walking through this crevice, but on the way back though we almost lost Scott when the ice crumbled beneath him and he sank to his knees. Just a bit of excitement to remind us how quickly these glaciers move and change. Benjamin spent his day learning ice-climbing techniques on some of the glacier's vertical walls. This last picture is the view from our campground, one of many million dollars views that we got for 20 bucks a night.
"Luge" rides	Queenstown	Mt Cook
We then headed inland to Queenstown, a town best known for high adrenalin activities like bungy jumping. We really enjoyed this beautiful little town and stayed for four days under the pretence of waiting for the weather to clear up so we could take a flight over the Fjordlands. It was never good enough to fly, but was fine weather for us to partake in some great sightseeing and a few heart-pumping activities. Benjamin and Scott started by bungy jumping off the Nevis, a gondola hung across a gorge from which you plummet 134 meters. Zachary went along to record the event and I stayed away. They loved it and would do it again tomorrow. We then took the whole family up to the top of another gondola, with gorgeous views over Queenstown and enjoyed some family fun riding down a luge track. We had a gorgeous drive and hike at Glenorchy, just north of Queenstown, where parts of the Lord of the Rings were filmed. And then on our last day Benjamin and I went white water rafting through some of the scenic gorges. There was still so much more to do, but we gave up on our plane flight and headed for Mt. Cook. The winds were blowing at 100 km/hour when we arrived and most of the mountain was socked in, but we attempted a hike out to the base of the mountain, but the winds eventually stopped us as the gusts were literally knocking us to the ground. The next day we awoke to clear blue skies and fantastic views of the snow-clad mountain. We finished up our NZ tour with a few days in quiet Christchurch preparing for our next adventure in Thailand.