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.

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.

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.

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.

The Trip Schedule

Here is the short schedule so everyone knows where we are on each day. We will fill in the rest of the details later.

12/26 - Leave Phoenix to LA. LA to Auckland.

12/28 - 7:25 a.m. Arrive in Auckland

12/29 - Auckland

1. Sailing cruise and tour of the city.
2. Visit to the NZ National Maritime Museum.

12/30 - Auckland/Waitomo/Rotorua

1. Rangiriri Battle Site heritage Centre
2. Waitomo caves (glow worms)
3. Arrive in Rotorua

12/31 - Rotorua: Tamaki Maori village - Maori dinner, tribal songs, dances

1/1 - Rotorua to Napier: Train to Napier

1/2 - Napier

1. Walking tour of the Art Deco city
2. Wine tour

1/3 - Napier to Christchurch (leisure day)

1/4 - Christchurch

1. whale watching tour
2. visit a seal colony
3. wine tour

1/5 - Christchurch/Greymouth/Franz Josef

1. Taking TranzAlpine scenic train - (coast to coast!)
2. End the day in Fran

1/6 - Franz Josef

1. Twin Glacier Flight (visit a couple of different glaciers)
2. Leisure

1/7 - Franz Josef - Queenstown

1. visit glacier
2. scenic visits

1/8 - Queenstown

1. travelling in a convertible bus for scenic wine and art tour
2. leisure

1/9 - Queenstown: Lord of the Rings tour - visit spots from the film

1/10 - Queenstown: Scenic cruise, BBQ, and walking tour

1/11 - Return back to US