Costco Travel

So I wanted to give Costco Travel a quick review for all of you who are still reading. It was an amazing service. This whole trip was set up in 2 calls. One to get the basic info and the second to book. We paid one price and it included international travel, domestic airfare, bus fare, train rides, each tour we took, plus rides from airport to hotel and hotel to different places. There was not one glitch in the whole thing. Plus they were able to manage our two reservations perfectly. Sometimes it was just us on a tour and other times we were on a bus with 30 other people. If we ever do a big trip again, I will definitely use them again.

We made it home

It is now about 8:30 Phoenix time and I am winding down for bed. I wanted to stay up and try to get on a normal sleeping pattern by getting up at 6:00 tomorrow. we will see how I feel. I think I have been up now for close to 36 hours. I'm tired.

The whole family met us at the airport. Ron, Alyson, the kids and Theresa and Peter. It was cute. The kids were all over me and I loved it!

The flight went well but I didn't sleep at all. It was a readathon and movie watching fest for me. The last leg of the flight was pretty rough. I was running on fumes. Luckily all of our transfers moved quickly and we caught our plane in the states no problem.

I'll report back again to give you the updates post trip. Thanks for following our adventure.

The long trip home

We are all packing up getting ready for our long journey home. We check out of the hotel at noon and will get some lunch. From there we get picked up from our hotel at 1:50 to go to the Queenstown airport. Our flight is to Auckland and we leave at 3:20. The LA flight is around 7:00 something. Arrive in LA at 10:00 a.m. and then off to Phoenix at Noon arriving at 3:00. I think it works out to about 24 hours of travel time. I'm exhausted already.

I had a wonderful trip but I am excited to get home to see my family and sleep in my own bed. In Queenstown, Helen, Jennifer and I have all been sleeping in the same room. A little too small for all of us.

Peter - Didn't you know I had super powers? I can do practically anything I put my mind too. I look forward to seeing you and TR when I get back.

Lord of the Rings

I only have a couple minutes but I wanted to give you a quick update. Today we went on the LOTR Tour and it was awesome. We were in a 4WD vehicle and got to see some romote locations. Awesome. At one point I was almost moved to tears. Maybe I'm just tired but I was moved by the beauty of what I was seeing. I have to bring my family back. I am already mapping out the locations in my head.

A fun point in the trip was when we were panning for gold. Helen was really into it. She found a fleck of gold loved it. She carefully wrapped it up in a kleenex to bring home. The whole rest of the trip she was asking about gold. Pretty cute.

The Downes and Rosier/Giff were split up for the tour today. We went in opposite directions. Sounds like theirs was good too.

Tomorrow is our last tour (Boat ride to a farm) and then we have a long trip home the next day. I think we will be travelling almost 24 hours until we get back to Phoenix. I have a couple good books lined up. So far I think I have read 5!

It is pouring in Queenstown

So I didn't go with the jet boat crew. I slept until 9:00 and took a nice long shower. Jennifer and the Downes went on a jet boat. Around 9:00 I woke up b/c of the rain! I could hear it pouring outside. I went down and got my coffee and got on line. You should have seen the crew coming back from their adventure. They were completely SOAKED! They were all laughing hysterically. It looked like fun but I think I made the right choice.

I'm getting ready to exchange a little more US cash for NZ cash. We have two and half days here and we are trying to map out our possible expenses. We don't want to have too many NZ dollars in our pockets when it is time to leave.

I'm glad we are on the real bus today and not a convertible bus. It should be pretty even in the rain.

I miss my family terribly but I am enjoying every minute of this place. I feel very fortunate to be able to go this trip with some of my best buddies.

Poor Bambi!

Today on the convertible bus tour we saw beautiful sheep farms and deer farms! Poor Bambi! The deer were in a field fenced in like we would cows, pigs and sheep. It was sad to see. Deer are supposed to be running around wild and free. I guess it is just how you look at it. Brad had some Bambi the other night for dinner. He said it was very good. Maybe I should give it a try?

After the bus tour we went up on the gondola. It was pretty. The highlight was the luge. It was so fun we went twice. I had to comfort Jennifer. She was scared to ride the ski lift. Good thing I'm so brave!

Tomorrow is Lord of the Rings tours. FUNSVILLE! The rest of the crew is going on a jet boat in the morning but I think a sleep in day is just what I need. Only a couple more days until I can see my family!

wine and roses

Well this is the last stop on our marathon journey through New Zealand. It has been relaxing, fun and incredibly beautiful and comfortable. Lots of wine, lamb and mussels and sun screen. The weather is comfortable but the sun is intense if you are directly in it for very long. Also the plants are bigger down here--amazing roses that are abundant and fragrant and with larger blooms than I can grow in my back yard, the fig tree are huge, and lavendar is everywhere! We went to a garden today over the lake that had flowers and plants galore. It seemed unreal because it was a place that was out of fairy tale. Tomorrow we go on the Lord of the Rings tour so I know there will be more unbelievable sites ahead.

I am on the fourth book of the Twighlight series and am dying to speak about the story but Kate, Mic and Ann won't let me since they are still on books 2, 3, and 1 respectively. Only Zach wants to hear about what happens because he has his own ideas about vampires. He read the last page.

Jet boating in the morning and more touring in the afternoon. This afternoon I went on the luge that Mom and Dad went on when they were here. I have the same pictures!

The convertible bus was nice

Today we saw Queenstown on an old convertible bus. It was nice. It makes me want to get convertible and cruise around town. We went to 3 art galleries, wine tasting and to lunch in a cute town called Arrowtown. One of the art stops was a jewelry maker. We each got some nice items. Wait until you all see Jennifer's beautiful ring. It was a nice slow day. We are taking a quick break and are going to go up to the top of the mountain on a gondola. We may luge down. We'll see. I'll keep you posted.

Our final stop - Queenstown

We are at our last location - Queenstown. I'm very excited that we are here. We have a small room but it overlooks the beautiful lake. It is a nice way to end the trip. As we were driving on the bus today we saw waterfalls, lush forest mountains, and beautiful lakes. It was a very nice drive.

Tomorrow we do an art and wine tour in a convertible bus. I am really excited about it. I think it will be a fun way to see the city. The next day is Lord of the Rings tour. FUNSVILLE.

We are all getting tired. I'm glad we have some time to relax.

We will report back soon.

hot chocolate helicopter ride

HYPERY JITTERY HYPER AND JITTERY

That's how i felt drinking my dark chocolate hot chocolate. They a delicious!!!!!!

The helicopter ride was awsome and we landed on the Fox Glacier and i got to sit by the pilot. It's definetly in my top ten.

last stop: queenstown

hey everyone...were in queenstown..not much for me to report that hasnt been already. ummmm long bus ride today...ugh...rainy...but yummy gelato when we got here!! wohoo...!! well thats all for now..

ta ta.....

Happy Birthday Anna Maria!

Tonight we celebrated Ann Marie's "special" birthday. We started the night with a little in room happy hour and then went out to eat at our favorite Franz Josef resturaunt "The Landing". We ate here 3 times during our stay. On the menu was lamb pizza, lamb salad, soup and kababs. It was a nice night out.

Tomorrow we get up early and have an all day bus ride to Queenstown. It is supposed to be pretty awesome there. This will be the last stop on our journey.

PS - Did we mention that tipping isn't customary in NZ? Crazy huh? We try to tip for people who help with our luggage and wait staff who actually care about our table. Sometimes we are left alone for a LONG time until we flag someone down.

A ride to remember

Well, today's venture was in everyone's top one or two adventures of the trip. It was the helicopter ride to the glaciers. This morning the weather was nice but getting cloudy. We got to the helicopter check in and Helen was noticeably nervous. She asked lots of questions about how long we would be up and was very anxious. We all tried to reassure her that it would be ok. They split up the Downes and the Rosier-Giff party into two different groups. Our group went second. Jennifer and I put Helen right in the middle of us so she would feel a little safer.

We went up and went first to Fox Glacier. On the way up we got very close to the mountains. We saw water falls and beautiful trees and snow capped mountains. AWESOME. The helicopter landed on the glacier and we were able to get out and walk around. It was pretty cool.

We were heading through the pass to the second glacier when our pilot decided that the weather was getting to bad to go through. We went around to the Frans Joseph glacier and got to see bits of that one as well. Our pilot said we were one of the last planes to go up. We were lucky!

When we got off the plane Helen said that whale watching and the helicopter ride were tied as her favorite adventure. These were the two things that scared her the most before she started.

Although I am home sick and missing my family, I am so glad that I was able to come on this trip. I have decided that I am going to bring Ron and the kids some day. It is too beautiful. They have to see it with me.

Tonight our villa is hosting a wine and cheese party before we head out to dinner. We decided that this would be Ann Marie's birthday party so we are trying to make it a special night.

January 5, 2009 – Christchurch to Franz Joseph

We took the Tranzalpine Express train from Christchurch to Greymouth. Again, amazing scenery. Breathtaking views of the mountains. Beautiful valleys. Many sheep and cattle. Huge rivers and great history as provided by the train conductor. At Arthur’s Pass, a small stop on the way, we learned that the town receives approximately 25 feet of rain per year. Greymouth is a quiet port city on the Tasman Sea. We stopped for lunch and enjoyed whitebait fish, hamburgers, salad, etc. It looked like a neat place.

We continued on a wild ride in the bus to Franz Joseph. The bus driver clearly knew the road well and drove the bus pretty hard. To say the least, it impacted the travel scrabble game as people and the game board (and letters) went flying a couple of times. We enjoyed dinner at The Landing – a local restaurant recommended by the Glenn Fern Villas hotelkeepers – Sue and Roger, and by the taxi driver - Murray. A good recommendation. We enjoyed lamb pizza and lamb salad. I highly recommend the Glenn Fern Villas in Franz Joseph.

Now reading “Moneyball.” I recommend it to all.

January 4, 2009 – Christchurch / Kaikura

We enjoyed a terrific bus ride from Christchurch to Kaikura. Amazing scenery. Kaikura is a peninsula with a high mountains (with some residual snow) overlooking the ocean. The beach city is very environmentally conscious and promotes a buy a tree program and several other programs aimed at making the city environmentally friendly. The whale watching was fabulous. The catamaran style jet propulsion boats delivered us to the viewing grounds. We were fortunate to see seven whales. One was sleeping, but we saw six dive. Two of them dived simultaneously. Sperm whales are both resident near Kaikura and transient through the area. There is a huge canyon off-shore from Kaikura that dropped from approximately 200 meters in depth to approximately 1,600 meters. Apparently, the underwater currents provide a mechanism to deliver plenty of food to the sperm whales that eat over a ton of food per day.