We woke up to overcast skies and it wasn’t long before it was rain was falling.  We had hoped to get up early and see the sun rise over a lake, but the weather didn’t cooperate.  Our next stop was to be Franz Josef Glacier, but again the weather made hiking in to see it difficult so we kept driving north and toward the west coast of the South Island.

By lunch time we found ourselves in Hokitika – a gold mining town.  We decided to walk around town and look in some shops. Today was my birthday and Tim was encouraging me to pick out a present from New Zealand. The first stop was a glass blowing shop.  They had beautiful pieces, but truthfully, after just packing up the house in Dallas, I don’t want more knick knacks in my life.

The next shop we visited was a jewelry store specializing in jewelry made from locally mined gold.  We found a small sterling silver pendant filled with tiny gold nuggets.  I decided that it would make a good souvenir and it’s easy to pack!  So i picked out one and we went on our way.

We wanted fish and chips for lunch and checked the restaurant next door to the jewelry store.  The fish and chips were $20/plate which was too much. So we stopped a teenager and her grandmother and asked where we should go for fish and chips.  They sent us to a small shop on the beach front.

The total bill for the three of us was about the same as one plate at the other restaurant.  This shop didn’t accept our debit card so we had to go to an ATM and get some cash.  We have been in New Zealand for more than a week and today was the first time we had to get cash.  Pretty incredible.The fish and chips were yummy and we enjoyed sitting in our car and eating lunch.

On the road, we drove along until we came to the “Pancake Rocks”.  We got there just at dusk.  From there we drove on to Westport where we are staying in a backpacker’s lodge for the night.

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Today we left beautiful Queenstown and drove up to the top of the mountain to see one of the ski resorts.  From there we drove through Arrowtown – an old mining town which was quaint and full of beautiful cottages.

Then we took the road less traveled through the mountains to the west coast.  The road took us alongside two beautiful lakes and the views were just stunning.  The amazing blue color of the water surrounded by majestic mountains was almost unbelievable.

Once out of the mountains the scenery changed and we began to signs of agriculture again.  The road led to the coast where the sun was beginning to set over the pounding surf.

We arrived in Fox Glacier just in time to take a walk up to where we could see the lower end of Fox Glacier.  It was getting dark, but tomorrow may bring rain so we wanted to see it while we could.

The place where we are staying tonight has a small kitchenette so we bought some groceries and we made our own dinner tonight.

It’s hard to believe in less than a week we will be in the Solomons.  We are enjoying this trip very much, but I think we will be ready to be done with long days in the car and settle into our home in Honiara and our work.

Enjoy the photos from today – which REALLY don’t do justice to what we saw with our eyes!

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We woke to overcast skies and before long the heavens opened up and it was raining quite steadily as we left the home of our hosts. Our first stop was the Dunedin Train Depot – Victorian era building which boasts being one of New Zealand’s most photographed buildings.  It was interesting and had an art gallery upstairs that we walked through.

From there we went to find the worlds steepest residential street.  We drove up to the top and then had to turn around as it is a one way street.  Now we can say we’ve been there and done that.

We traveled through some amazing country today.  We decided some of it would have been perfect for Lord of the Rings filming (but it wasn’t as far as we know).  The rain slacked off as we traveled and the sun started breaking through.

After arriving in Queenstown, we traveled on to Glenorchy – a small village at the end of Lake Wakatipu. The lake is surrounded by steep mountains and we were told that the lake is as deep as the mountains are high.

Tonight we are being hosted by a family in Queenstown – again, friends of friends.  Soooo grateful!

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Today we traveled on from Christchurch to Dunedin.  It was another beautiful day and we were blessed with warmer than usual temperatures and more clear skies.  The scenery was breathtaking in places as the ‘Southern Alps’ stretched out before us. We traveled a more interior road for most of the way rather than the coastal road which would have been a bit faster.

Our hosts last night told us of a place where Lord of the Rings was filmed.  We were interested in seeing it but were sure where to go and if the road would be open due to the heavy snow last week. A farmer was working with his sheep, so we stopped and I asked him about the film location.  He thought the road was still closed so we gave up on that idea.  However, we did get to watch the farmer on his ATV and his sheepdog herd the sheep from one pasture to another.  It was fun to watch them in action.

We stopped in a town called Oamaru.  It was so fun.  Many of the old buildings in the city were built of marble because the close proximity of a quarry.  Walking the streets in the older part of town truly felt like a walk back in time.

We also managed to visit a beach were penguins come in.  It was so fun to see some penguins in the wild.

We are in Dunedin tonight.  The sister of a  friend in the Solomon Islands helped us hook up with this lovely couple.  We have been truly blessed by the hospitality of New Zealanders.

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The ferry arrived in Picton – the tip of the South Island at 9 pm, 30 minutes earlier than scheduled.  We stayed at a backpacker’s lodge and took off in the morning.  The South Island looks less green, but still has pastures of cows, sheep and even deer.

One of our stops was Kaikoura where we wanted to see seals.  We stopped at one point where we could pull off and saw a man climbing on the rocks.  It turned out that he was with the Department of Conservation and was looking for a seal wrapped in fishing net.  He asked us to help him look for the seal and when we spotted it, he put Tim to work to try and help corner the seal.  The seal evaded capture and slipped into the sea.

The man then invited us to go to a nearby waterfall where the seal pups navigate the river and go play in the falls.  Each year the new pups find this waterfall.  We had a delightful time watching the pups play.
From there we traveled further south.  The views are amazing. We stopped in one small town and bought buns filled with cream.  A yummy treat to enjoy as we walked along the boardwalk.

Then on to Christchurch.  We drove through downtown where so much damage was done a few years ago by two earthquakes.  There is much construction going on.

Today we travel on to Dunedin.

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Our opportunities to be online are not predictable.  I’m trying to catch you up on our travels and will let the photos tell you about yesterday in Wellington. The photos are in a new format – be sure to see all of the photos by clicking on the ‘next’ button.

We had a lovely visit with Heather, our family friend who we got to know in Honiara.

We took the ferry to Picton – in the South Island and head to Christchurch this morning.

His eyes followed us everywhere

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