Back from New Zealand and guess what? I have pictures!

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

We went up... quick note on temperature. So it wasn''t that cold - I had on a long sleeved light shirt, a shirt sleeved shirt, a sweatshirt and jacket. On the way up the mountain, the people in the group (including me) progressively started shedding clothes...then we got the glacier and the clothes went back on...then on the way back DOWN the mountain off they went again... poor BF was carrying all of them at one point

He said he knew the only way to get me through this was to make sure I was carrying nothing, lol.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

It was pretty dirty where we were hiking since we were still on the (relatively) lower part of the glacier. It''ll be much whiter in my next pics where I got to see the glacier from the helicopter. We got to go through a really cool ice cave at one point.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I was dead by the time we got back. For the last few hours of the hike all I could see was a hot bath and a BIG steak dancing in front of my eyes

The next morning, BF went sky-diving (he had had to cancel skydiving in Wanaka because he was sick). I''m a scaredy-cat so instead of skydiving, I took a helicopter tour of both Fox and Franz Josef glaciers (here was the 2nd time I missed Mount Cook...originally I was going to do the Fox Glacier/Mount Cook heli tour but weather conditions weren''t good for seeing Mount Cook...drat). We got to land Fox Glacier (way higher than where we were the day before). Here''s a view of the clouds from the helicopter.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

This was somewhere between the two glaciers

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Landing on the glacier - not quite so bundled up as I was on the hike

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Big scary crevasses. The ones I had to jump across were babies in comparison - but still rather scary!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Fox Glacier again...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Well I guess not quite so chronological. Before the helicopter ride BF and I went to Lake Matheson, only a few minutes drive from our motel. GORGEOUS!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Following the glaciers we went to Hokitika and Greymouth. Not too many pictures from there although we stayed at this awesome B&B outside Greymouth. The owners had this incredible house and we were the only guests so we had the entire 2nd and 3rd floors to ourselves, including the guest lounge, the sauna and hot tub, etc. They used to be sheep farmers with over 3000 sheep but they sold and bought the B&B. They had about 70 sheep there, eels, fish, dogs, etc. http://www.oaklodge.co.nz/

Anyway, that was definitely our favorite place - we considered skipping knife-making in Barrytown and staying there and hanging out for the day (considering how miserably sick I felt during knife-making I wish we had! lol). But we did and it was a crazy experience. It is REALLY hard hammering the iron so that it''s point and flat. But here are the finished products - BF''s is the farthest one on the right, and mine is the one next to it.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

From Barrytown, we drove to Hanmer Springs. We were exhausted on the way (BF kept having to stop because he was so tired) so we stopped that night at Reefton, a very quaint little town. The next morning we drove to Hanmer Springs where we basically spent the day relaxing in hot thermal springs (sadly they were all booked for massages at the spa though

). Afterwards we headed back to Christchurch, where we saw a Rugby game - Christchurch Crusaders v. Stormers. I know nothing about rugby other than what BF told me during the trip but apparently this was a really big game.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

We spent the next day in Christchurch. We were going to head to a little French village (Akaroa) but we were pretty tired by that point (it was the day before we left) so we just hung out in Christchurch, internet cafes, souvenir shopping, etc. That afternoon we drove to Kaikoura. Here''s a pic from the seal colony...there was one lone seal sunning itself when we were there

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Which is not in my picture. lol. The next morning (the day we were scheduled to fly out from Christchurch at 4 PM) we went on a dolphin swim (at 6 AM). Here's a pic of the sun rising over the Pacific.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Some happy dolphins

Picture''s tilted - the boat was rocking a lot

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

My favorite dolphin pic!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Afterward we ate and drove back to Christchurch - it was a couple hours drive. We got back in time to check out the Christchurch Botanic Garden, which we didn't have time for on our very first day. On the way we saw a penguin crossing sign

And then back to Christchurch, to drop off the car, head to the airport and fly out.

 

[girlie-girl]

Wow it's really pretty there! It sounds like you got to see and do quite a bit. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Rhea]

Amazing photos. The water is so clear.

 

[Sabine]

Wow, what an amazing trip! Thank you for posting those gorgeous pictures! I''m seriously in awe!

 

[luvthemstrawberries]

Such gorgeous photos! That looks like such a lovely place and such a great place for a vacation. Might have to keep that in mind! I think the lake photos are my favorite. Then again, I love seals and dolphins, hehe.

Beautiful photos by the way - you did a great job!!

 

[Maisie]

The photos are fantastic! Can I ask what made you sick? I like to know these things lol!

I don''t think I could cram so much into a holiday. You did very well!

 

[tlh]

What a wonderful trip! I am soo happy you got to enjoy yourself!!! GORGEOUS!!!

 

[cellentani]

Yea for this thread!! I''m so glad you took the time to post all of these great pics. After reading through, I almost feel like I just had a mini vacation. I''m feeling my age though, because I don''t think I would have been able to do all of the things you guys did - man, that glacier hike looked fierce. The horseback riding would have been right up my alley though. You got some fabulous photos, are you going to frame any? My favorites are Kawarau Bridge (the color of that glacier water is unbelievable), the little stream you passed by on the way to Milford Sound and the cloudy morning sky (same trek, I think). And I actually did lol at the seal colony pic - I spent a few moments trying to find the darn seal before reading your next post - stupid me!

I''m so happy that you and BF were able to do this; I dream of traveling like this (sans bungy jumping, of course) once the kids are all away - only 12 more years, lol. Enjoy your many memories, and hope you can transition back to UofC life quickly. Based on your posting times, your sleep schedule is still a little wacky!

 

[Tuckins1]

Wow! Such beautiful pictures! It sounds like you guys had a blast!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Thank you guys! I''ll respond individually later tonight (gotta run to class now) but it was an amazing trip. And would you believe I have way more pics? But I won''t torture you with them

 

[Diamond*Dana]

Wow, those pictures are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing them with us

 

[FrekeChild]

Date: 4/13/2009 4:01:03 AM
Author: Brown.Eyed.Girl
And I got to hold another lamb! Only about 4 weeks old...

This pic is soooooooo cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But it'd be cuter without that big black dot.

 

[zoebartlett]

Gorgeous photos, BEG! Thanks for sharing them.

 

[Skippy123]

I am in awe of your pictures, what a fabulous trip!!!

love the dolphins and the glacier! It looks so gorgeous out there!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 4/13/2009 7:46:56 AM
Author: girlie-girl
Wow it''s really pretty there! It sounds like you got to see and do quite a bit. Thanks for sharing.

It was without a doubt the most beautiful place I''ve been so far (not that that''s saying much since I''m not that well-traveled, but BF ranks it in his top 2 with Vietnam being the other, and I trust him

).

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 4/13/2009 8:02:40 AM
Author: Addy
Amazing photos. The water is so clear.

Thanks! It was incredible - I''d never seen glacier-fed lakes before and the color was so out of this world!