Still Roaming Around...

Sorry no photos with this entry, but we just got back into Christchurch after a week `on the road` and sorting through the thousands (literally) of photos we have is more that we are capable of. James, Ilhye and little Youri greeted us with dinner, an early birthday cake for myself, and some farewell from NZ gifts. It is nice being back somewhere familiar after a new place to stay every night this past week almost.
We headed to the West coast with the Waghorn family last Saturday, and it was a drive to remember. We crossed the country, which meant driving through the Souther Alps, via Arthur`s pass. It was one of the most amazing, and at times terrifying, roads one can ever travel, and easily the most amazing one I have personally driven. We wound our way up, and then down through the Alps, through several climates and biospheres. We had alpine, sub alpine, rainforest, and coastal vegitation along the way. The mountain views were spectacular. Arlo was loving　the drives, and being a great traveller all along the way.
We had fantastic weather the whole trip down the west coast, which is all but unheard of over there. The sun beat down on us giving great views of Mt Cook from the west as we trekked around Fox and Franz Joseph glaciers, and hit great beaches all along the coast. Pictures can`t explain the experiences we have had around the country here, but the ones we have taken are fantastic with the gleaming blue skies, crisp white snow capped mountains, and aquamarine blue water all along the coasts.

We ran into some sandfly issues, with bites that seemed to get worse a few days after they got us, but other than that we have had only wonderful experiences during our time here.

From the coast we headed inland to through the mountains to Queenstown, which is probably now at the top of my list for dream cities to live in. Beautiful outdoor loving place, nestled in the Remarkable Mountains, along side a beautiful crystal blue lake. Relaxed and full of energy at the same time. This was our highest night of sleeping (altitude), and the air was so crisp and the skies so clear that we could see nearly every faucet of the milky way in the night skies. From there we headed to Te Annau so we could get out to Milford Sound in Fiordland (not spelled fjiord here). We checked out the famous glow-worm caves (Te Annau is actually a Maori name that refers to these caves) and headed out on the sound for a cruise. Breathtaking is all I can say about the views on Milford. We had such good weather on the day we were out the sound that it acually made the national news here (might have been a slow news day). There we went into an underwater observatory to check out unique black coral formations that grow at an unusual depth due to the cold freshwater layering on top of the saltwater from the Tasman Sea. I would not have expected it, but we saw sea life that reminded me of coral reefs I have snorkelled on in the Phillipines or Costa Rica. Beautiful colours and incredible diversity. (and we learned that black coral is actually white, until it dies)
Well, we headed to Dunedin, out onto the Otago penninsula, to visit the Royal Albatross observatory. The Royal Albatross has a wingspan of up to 3 meters, and is one of the biggest flying birds in the world (if not the biggest). We wanted to see one fly, and after seeing five of the males sitting on the eggs from the observatory we thought we would head off without seeing them fly, and just then a giant teenage albatross swooped in over our heads from the sea. It was an amazing site, and one none of us will soon forget. Even Arlo was excited as it came back for several fly bys. Unforgettable.
We are heading up the coast starting tomorrow. A few days of trekkiing along the coast are planned, before we head to Wellington to spend some time with friends of friends. We hope to post some pics in the near future. Gotta go and share some beverages with James as it might be a whiile before we get back this way.
Take care, Ray, Jenny, and Arlo