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!

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.

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.

Home sick

Even though I am on a trip of a life time here, I am getting home sick for my little family. This is the longest we've been apart. Luckily, Ron gives me updates on the kids and I've been able to call home a couple of times. Ron has been a trooper!

Tomorrow we go on a helicopter ride over the glaciers. I'm excited to see it. Helen is a little nervous but she is up for the adventure. What a trooper.

I'm still sucked into Twilight. I'm half way through the second book now. Jennifer is now starting the last book.

Tired. I'll try to write more tomorrow.

Twilight

During this trip we have been eating, drinking, sight seeing, and relaxing. As part of our relaxation we have been reading for leisure. It feels good! Jennifer, Mick and I are all sucked into the Twilight series. Jennifer and I have both read the first book Twilight since we've been here. Jennifer read Mick's copy of the second book New Moon and has started the 3rd book in the series. I am reading a different book right now waiting for Mick to finish New Moon. I was going to buy New Moon but all of the books stores in NZ are sold out of it! We got the last copy in the local book store of the 3rd book yesterday that Zach found for us. I think it fair to say we and all of NZ are hooked on vampires.

If anyone is interesting in a romance, this is for you! Edward the vampire is dreamy.

7 Sperm Whales

Today we went on a whale watching tour. We saw 7 Sperm Whales while we were out there. SEVEN! I was hoping we would see one let alone 7! At one point the boat was about 30-40 yards away from one. AMAZING! The best part was the final showing. We came across two who were swimming together. They had their breathing sync with one another and were blowing water at the same time. After about 5 minutes of watching them the dove at the same time and both of their tails came up at at the same time! BEAUTIFUL! We couldn't have planned it better if we tried.

It has been a long day. We started at 7:00 a.m. and got home around 7:00 p.m. We are all getting pretty tired. We had a long bus ride, another game of scrabble (Jennifer won), whale watching, lunch, wine tasting, and a long ride home.


I need to fire up. I have another week!


Tomorrow we get up early again. We are heading to Franz Josef by a trans alpine train. It is supposed to be beautiful. I'm thinking it is a train that has the glass roof and big windows so we can see everything. I think we will be able to blog more tomorrow when we get in to our next destination.

Scrabble victory

I just wanted to mention that Mick, Zach, Jennifer and I played travel scrabble on the way to Napier. Zach beat us all. I can't wait to have a rematch tomorrow as we travel to Christchurch. That 11 year old is going DOWN!

Kate's day in Napier

My day started out nice with a run along the bay. I started out running with Ann Marie but she is a champion runner. She will down play it but she is FAST LIKE LIGHTENING! I made it about 3 miles and then walked the rest, she must have went about six miles. It was a beautiful place to run. On one side was the ocean and the other side the beautiful city. Pretty cool. Great way to start the day.

Today we went on two tours - A walking tour of the city and a wine tasting tour. Here are the highlights.

1. Walking tour - Napier is an Art Deco city. The city was wiped out in the 1930s by an earth quake. When the rebuild they did in Art Deco architecture. I didn't know what that was but i learn alot. It is basically 20s 30s style buildings. Picture pastels, geometric shapes, zigzag patterns, sun bursts and you will know what I am talking about. It was neat to learn the history of the town.
   
2. Wine tasting tour - We went on a HawksBay winetasting tour with our guide Karl and an Aussie named Vince. We hit about 4 wineries and tasted about 30 wines. At one stop they talked to us about wine/food pairings as we sampled from a delicious tappas plate. they have great wines but the NZ production only makes up about .28 of the world's wine industry. We had a nice day and great conversation.

After dinner and a walk along the beach we are settling in for the night. Tomorrow we fly to Christchurch. Christchurch is supposed to be the most English town outside of England. We'll see how it goes.

All I can say is Wow!

I can't believe I am doing this. Each place we go to is even more beautiful then the next. I feel very blessed that I can do this trip with my friends. It would only be better if Ron and the kids were with me. I know Ron would love it. I do have to admit that the kids are probably a little too young to really enjoy and remember it.

So Maori day was wonderful. We did a museum tour first, went back to the room and then went to the feast night. As part of the museum tour we got to see the geyser. It was really cool. I think it was one of the best parts for me. Yes, I think I love the Geyser and the hot mud pools. It may sound weird but the nature Amazed me. I was in awe! You could feel the heat from the geyser just going near it. You could see the mud bubbling! What was interesting was seeing a cold stream running right next to the hot geyser and the vegetation living right next to the mud pit and the geyser. COOL! How does that happen? All I can say is Wow!

As for the bus ride and the "Imagine This" Hypothetical song that Brad wrote about earlier . . . I don't want to talk about it. I want to pretend it never happened. Can we leave it at that!

Today was a good day. We are in Napier now and it is even more beautiful than Rotorua. Our hotel is across the street from the beach. As I write this I can look out on the Pacific and hear the ocean waves. All I can say is Wow! One interesting thing about this beach is that there is no sand. It is all little tiny black pebbles and rocks with white sea shell pieces scattered in. Zach and I found several pieces of sea glass in 3 different colors mixed into the rock.

Tomorrow Ann Marie and I are going to go on a run next to the ocean. They have a running/walking path that follows the ocean for a few miles. I'm pretty excited about it. After that we have a walking tour of the city, followed by wine tasting.

I miss ALL of you and I hope you had a very Happy New Year.

PS - Costco Travel is awesome. Things have been going so well. I will definitely use them again for trips!

Nice day so far!

This morning I got up and went for a jog down to the lake. It was beautiful. Everything is clean, safe and green. After that we walked to a market and got some fresh fruit and coffee for breakfast. Perfect!

Today we are heading to a Maori museum and then to an interactive cultural show in the evening. It should fun. I think this will be Helen's favorite day. This evening Jennifer and I are going to try to stay up past 10 to bring in the new year at the local pub. I am going to try my best to stay up until midnight, but I think it will require a few cups of coffee this evening.

Thanks for the tip on the tie Peter! The day is even better now knowing that I beat Jennifer at scrabble!

TJ - I reexamined the toliet. It is just a powerful burst of water that goes straight now. Sorry. No swirl.

Tomorrow we get to sleep in and then pack up and head out to Napier. I don't know how much blog time we will get between now and then. If I don't talk to you until tomorrrow, have a great New Year!

Interesting facts

We are learning alot about New Zealand thanks to the excellent tour guides. Here are some facts I thought you would all be interested in.

1. New Zealand has the highest boat ownership percentage in the world. The city of Auckland has a 1 in 4 boat ownership ratio and the country has a 1 in 8 ownership ratio!
   
2. Did you know that New Zealand still has active volcanos? Several of them in fact.
   
3. New Zealand has no predatory animals. Yep! Nothing here that can kill you. In fact, New Zealand doesn't have any snakes!
   
4. So the national bird is a Kiwi bird. It is a bird without any wings! I think we are going to try to see one tomorrow. They only come out at night so they have special viewing rooms set up so the birds think it is evening.
   
5. The glow worms are actually glow "maggots"!
   
6. Did I mention Rotorua smells like sulfer? It takes some getting use to and I'm not there yet.
   
7. The Maori history in New Zealand is almost identical to the history of Indians in the US. (Broken treaties, land encroachment, bloody land wars.) Very interesting if you want to take a look.

Wow! What a couple of days!

We are now in Rotorua and have 24 hour internet access. I think this will give us enough time to catch everyone up.

We had no time to blog yesterday. When we woke up the Rosier/Giff party decided to go on the city bus tour. You know the tours where the bus takes you around to all the sites and you can get off at any one you want . . . that's what we did. It was pretty awesome. We felt like we were able to see the whole city and get more details then we would have otherwise. This was perfect for us b/c it was raining and dreary out.

The tour hit everything from the zoo, museum, harbor, two markets, rose garden, mt eden, eden park, and many others. I think there were about 14 total. It was very beautiful. One of our favorite parts were going up to the top of mt eden. You could see the whole city from that vantage point. We also got off at the museum. We checked out the Maori cultural section, and the dinosaur exhibit. The TRex named Sue was being featured so we had to go see it.

We were going to get off at other stops but we had a tour at 2:30 we needed to get to. Once we got off the bus, we freshened up and went to meet the Downes at the "Yacht" for a little sailing. Yes, we all went sailing and we each steered the boat for a while.

After sailing the harbor we went to the maritime museum. I learned more about boats then I probably needed too.

One of my favorite parts of the day were sampling the Green Muscles, a local favorite. The Muscles were HUGE! Jennifer and I shared a kilo! Helen treated herself to a lamb roast.

By the time we got home were exhausted! We had to be up early in the morning for our bus ride to Rotorua. It was BEAUTIFUL! Green rolling hills and cute little towns sprinkled in. On the way here this morning we had morning tea and then went into the caves to look at the glow worms. It was quite a day already.

We are going to be heading out to dinner soon. I will write more later and try to upload a couple pictures.

Couple quick things:
- TJ, the toilet flushes down. It doesn't swirl. I know! I was ready to see the counter clockwise swirl.
- The town we are in now smells like sulpher. It is supposed to have natural hot springs that we might check out in the morning.

What a couple days!

Our trip has been a whirlwind so far. It started off with me forgetting my cell phone, our flight being delayed out of Phoenix and having to speed walk to the International terminal in LA. It all worked out ok though. Oh, I also left my coat in the taxi but the driver brought it back to me! (YIKES!)

The Flight - It was LONG! But it was the coolest plane I've ever been on. Each seat had its own TV screen built into the seat in front. We could choose from 100s of TV shows, movies, games, and music stations. The food was good, they served a decent wine, and the servers were nice! We all tried to sleep. I logged the most sleep hours with about 4 or 5. Ann Marie, Helen and Brad hardly slept at all. The flight was pretty bumpy so it got scary at times. I finished a book on the plane and played a lot of tetris.

We had a nice day so far today but everyone is tired. Our cab driver told us not to sleep until at least 5pm or it would mess us up for the whole trip. Oh course we are trying to listen. I think it is about 3:00 New Zealand time (Sunday here). We will see how we do.

For my family reading this, Helen is doing really well. She is tired and is now resting in her room. She was a trooper and walked all over the city with us. I can tell she is tired though. We have two ajoining rooms so she will be able to get some good rest while Jennifer and I stay up. I really miss my little family. As I walking around today, I saw things and thought "Ron would LOVE this!" I know the kids would love it too. Please tell them I miss them and I am still wearing the necklace Ty made me.

New words:

• lift = elevator
• motorway = freeway

Quick observations:

• People have been calling us darling and dear alot. I like it!
• Also, cars have the steering wheels on the passenger side AND they drive on the wrong side of the road. It is throwing me for a loop!