Coming Home

Jordy decided that she and my dad needed to take another walk to get chocolate muffins for breakfast. They did that while we packed up, made another picnic lunch, and got ready for our final drive to Picton where we would catch the ferry back to Wellington. We left Nelson around 9:30 am and found out that the road to Picton would be the most windy and hairpin-turny of them all, proved by Jordy’s escalating whining, which climaxed in her throwing up as we rounded one of the curves. We pulled over to let her finish up. It was lovely, especially considering what she had had for breakfast. At that point we were luckily only about 15 minutes from Picton, which thankfully went by uneventfully. Despite the unpleasant curves on the ride, the scenery was beautiful, especially as we got closer to Picton where we could see the gorgeous blue colors of the sea. We dropped off our rental car and went to the ferry without too much trouble, except for the woman at the rental car place yelling at us for being late, explaining that if we had had an accident we would not have been covered by insurance – we respectfully pointed out that we had in fact not gotten in an accident so luckily it was not an issue. We got on the ferry and had a very fun and easy ride back across the Cook Strait to Wellington thanks to a great indoor play area that kept the kids busy, an outdoor part for my mom to read in fresh air, and a TV inside for my dad to watch tennis – all were happy. It was nice to get back to our home here in Wellington. It was our last night with my parents before they leave tomorrow to go back home. We got some Chinese food for dinner and played cards late since it was our last time to play for a while. We all agreed that it had been a really wonderful trip, despite the few weather disappointments and the occasional issues with the kids. It was an amazing trip that we will all remember.

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South Island Trip Winds Down

We got up, and while Tony and my mom played tennis, Jordy got my dad to take a walk with her to get chocolate muffins for breakfast. We made another picnic lunch, and headed out to Kaiteriteri, a town in an area along the coast called the Abel Tasman. It was a beautiful day. We rented three double kayaks and one single one and kayaked around the bay and had our lunch at the little beach across the bay. We did not go as far as we had thought we might, but due to the wind, the guy really suggested not going out where we had planned. Once we were out paddling around, we definitely agreed with his assessment. It was a fun trip. We then went back and Maddy and Jordy befriended (and possibly scared) an 11 year old boy who was in the pool at the hotel. My mom and I were both tired so decided to stay in with the kids and make some eggs and toast for dinner while Tony and my dad went out to dinner. It was our last day of our trip.

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Nelson

Today we got up and after Tony and my mom played tennis and we had some coffee and muffins, we packed a picnic and went back to the beach nearby the playground to see about a fun water park we had read about. We found it, and Tony and the kids had a blast going down this long, circular water slide while I took pictures and video. They then went on the bumper boats which they also loved. Next Maddy convinced my dad that we all, including him, needed to play mini-golf next door. She was adamant about it, declaring that it is a family vacation and so we all needed to play together. How could he say no? Actually, he and she had a lot of fun playing together. My mom, Tony, and I went behind them a bit, Jordy sort of straddled between our two groups, and Zeke was just his wacky self running all over the place trying to whack his ball into various holes. We had to cut our game a bit short because we had to drop my parents back off at the motel and go out to a farm for our horse trek that we had signed up for. Zeke of course fell asleep on the way there, but woke up in time to see Maddy, Jordy, and me going off on our horses. Though a bit groggy, he went through with his pony ride with Tony at his side. The girls loved the horse trek, and Maddy was especially thrilled that her horse trotted part of the time. We went to a place called the Boat Shed for dinner, though Tony and Zeke did not stay long.

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On the way to Nelson

We woke to sunshine, had a nice breakfast again at the hotel restaurant, and continued up the coast to stop in and say hello to Mike and Phyllis Wells (the in-laws of Heidi Wells, parents of her husband, Marty, for those of you that know them from TBA) who have a beautiful home right along the coast in a little place called Charleston. It was just a really special spot with gorgeous gardens and a path that led right down to the beach. After a bit of morning tea with them we went on our way, heading for Nelson. We stopped a couple hours later in a little town called Murchison, and had a good lunch at a place called Beachwoods. We then arrived in Nelson at our motel, The Palm, in the late afternoon. The kids immediately wanted to go for a swim in the pool there, and were surprised to find that it was a salt-water pool, though it luckily didn’t bother them. Afterward, they were still seeming pretty stir-crazy after having been in the car most of the day, so we decided to take them over to this playground I had spied on our way into town for a runaround. We ended up getting takeaway pizza and eating it at the playground. My parents went out for a more grown-up meal. (Today is my sister. Lisa’s b-day – unfortunately we couldn’t reach her – Happy Birthday Lise!)

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Shantytown

We very sadly woke up to lots of fog and light rain. Our trip to the top of the glaciers had to be cancelled. It was a real disappointment, especially after having missed out on Milford… Well, what can you do?... We decided what we could do was leave town and continue on our way up the coast. It was quite pretty along the way. We made a pit stop in a little town called Hokatika which was very charming, and then just by Greymouth (which is nothing to write home about so I won’t) we went to a little place called Shantytown. The kids loved it – they had a little horse and buggy ride and a steam engine train that we went on up to a spot where we could then walk down a little path to pan for gold. Jordy and Zeke were so excited by their little jar of souvenir gold – Jordy kept shouting, “we’re rich!” and they made elaborate plans to buy a chocolate factory with their riches – they promised Maddy that they would also stock white chocolate at their factory just for her since she doesn’t like regular chocolate. I thought that was very kind of them. We took some pictures of the kids posing on the his-and-hers loo and then continued up the coast to Putakaiki where we were staying at a hotel called “The Rocks” for the night. Putakaiki is a really beautiful spot that is right on the Tasman Sea and has these incredible rocks right there. After we checked in and the kids explored the beach a bit, we went to the specific spot to see the famous Blow Holes and Pancake Rocks, aptly named for the way that they are very long thin rocks piled up on top of one another. We were there at high tide which was perfect for seeing the water spurt up out of the blow holes. It was an incredible place, despite the fact that it began to downpour during our walk around the viewing spots. We had a really lovely dinner at the restaurant at the hotel overlooking the sea.

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Wilderness Lodge

We got up, had breakfast and packed the car so that we could check out before going to do an activity and then moving on. The girls were desperate to go on another canoe ride so Tony agreed to take them again. Meanwhile, my parents and Zeke and I took a 45 minute walk along a path through a rainforest that led to beautiful and remote Munroe Beach. It was an incredible walk through just amazing trees and shrubs that often intertwined or grew off of one another. And the beach was quiet and isolated and just a really special spot. We looked around for penguins that are known to mate and hang out there, but we apparently just missed them. Oh well – still a great walk. And on the way back Zeke and I even managed to get ahead a bit and jump out to scare my dad! Of course he paid us back later…
We met back up with the other three when we returned to the lodge. Not too surprisingly, Jordy had lost it a bit on their canoe ride having been confined in the boat for longer than she wanted to be. We left Lake Moeraki and headed up for Franz Joseph Glacier. We arrived at our hotel and walked around the corner to the little town to get a late lunch. We explored and signed up for a helicopter ride for the next morning to go to the top of the glaciers. We hung out at our hotel for a while and later my parents continued relaxing while the five of us went into town for a bite to eat.

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Puzzling World

Our last try at flying to Milford was again a disappointment, but this time due to weather there. Oh well… Instead we stopped in town for coffee and muffins and let the kids play at the “dinosaur playground” they were dying to go to. There was also this huge hand that the kids climbed upon and a cool old tree that they decided was their “tree-climbers club” clubhouse. While we hung out there my parents explored the cute little town of Wanaka. We then went to the unique tourist attraction called Puzzling World. Although the American tourist jerk that wouldn't get out of our picture annoyed us all, we still had a great time. The main building had
four rooms each featuring different optical illusions. Outside there was this huge labyrinth. You had to find your way through the maze to the four different corners where there were these different colored towers, and once you did that you had to find your way back through to the exit. It was very tricky. There were emergency exits for those who didn’t want to persevere until the end. Again, I won’t mention names of those who cut out early through “emergency” exits, but let me just say that my mom, Zeke, and I were very proud to be the only ones in our group to stick it out until we got out the proper exit. As we left Wanaka we all agreed that we liked Wanaka a bit better than Queenstown as it is not as touristy and just a bit more quaint. We then left Wanaka to drive over to the coast. We stopped at a little café on the way where there was a basket of toys that the kids had fun playing with, but no food that Maddy or Zeke wanted. Luckily we had the makings for PB & J so they had that while the rest of us had sandwiches offered there.
We arrived at the Wilderness Lodge at Lake Moeraki in the late afternoon. It was a beautiful spot. It is a neat place where they are really into nature – they have guided walks, etc., but are not the most kid-oriented place. Tony and the girls went for a canoe ride while the rest of us hung around and plotted out our plans for the next few days. We had a really nice dinner there that night. Around 10 pm Tony and my dad went out for a guided walk along the state highway (They said that 2 cars went by while they were out for the half hour or so) to see glowworms. They said it was magic.

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T.S.S. Earnslaw - Farm Visit

We got up hoping to fly to Milford Sound today, but again it could not work due to weather concerns. Instead we took a ride on the T.S.S. Earnslaw boat across the lake to a farm. It was a nice boat ride, with the kids having a special kids sing along with a dragon and an older guy playing piano. Jordy of course made herself comfortable on the piano bench next to the pianist and Maddy sang her heart out, especially when Sound of Music songs came up. The farm was very pretty. We walked around and got to feed some deer and sheep, had afternoon tea there, and saw a dog round up some sheep, followed by a sheep-sheering show. We all had a fun time. On the boat ride back there was a general sing-a-long which Tony wholeheartedly joined in on, though he’ll deny it if you ask him. When we returned to Queenstown the girls begged for one more turn on the bungy-trampolines, so we stopped there before heading out of town for Wanaka. By the time we got to Wanaka it was almost dinner time, but some children who will remain nameless were starting to melt down, so my parents and I went out to dinner with Maddy while Tony stayed at our motel with the two nameless ones. We stayed at another great place with a beautiful view of Lake Wanaka, with the snow-capped mountains in the background.

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Queenstown Day Two

Woke up and noticed that the mountains across the lake that we look out on had become snow-capped over night. Really beautiful. Unfortunately another day that was back and forth being clear and rainy, though more continuous drizzle than yesterday, less heavy downpours. Tony and my mom played tennis in the morning, but finally got tired of the drizzle and came in for coffee. Jordy had been running around in her new little sleeveless dress to be their ball-girl. It was rather chilly, but she didn’t care. Then Tony and the kids went to the pool and I went for a run/hike up through this wooded area nearby. After lunch we all went up in the gondola to an incredible view of Queenstown. We took the chairlift at the top up to the start of the luge ride. We all looked pretty funny in the bike helmets that we had to wear for the ride, but I think that my parents took the prize, as they put their helmets on over their baseball caps so had the brims sticking out under the helmets. Zeke and Tony doubled up in their luge car-thing, but the rest of us had our own. I was in front of Jordy, and as we were coming to our first curve I hear her call out, “I’m totally out of control!” She was of course smiling as she said it, not particularly worried. She did fine around that corner, but further down was going too fast when trying to round a corner and smashed into the dirt along the edge of the track. Luckily I was there waiting for her so together we pulled hard and got her mobile out. I then started calling her “Crash Hurley.” When we got down she reported to everyone else that she never screamed despite the fact that she had a little crash. We all had fun, and then took the gondola back down.
At the bottom of the gondola we saw the Bungy Trampoline (see the video), which the girls couldn’t wait to go on. It is a thing where you stand on a hard plastic mat and get strapped into a harness and then can jump and go really high up in the air. The girls loved it and kept jumping high and doing forward and backward summersaults up in the air. It was great watching them. Zeke decided to give it a go – he had fun, but was a bit more cautious than the girls. I pulled his legs down so that he would bounce up higher since he wasn’t pushing off very well – he smiled and laughed a bit as he went higher, but then told me to stop. He enjoyed it in his own way. We then went down to the wharf area to see about parasailing for the girls who were dying to do it tandom with each other. We were told however that they weren’t doing it today because the lake wasn’t calm enough. We got a snack along the pedestrian mall street and the girls watched a magician performing there. Zeke and I went into a shop to get him a new sweatshirt, and he picked out one that has a hood with sheep ears on it. He looked absolutely adorable in it, and is convinced that if he wears it around sheep they will come over to him because they will think that he is one of them. Maybe we’ll try it one day when we need a little break from him!

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Queenstown

Happy New Year!!! I can’t believe it is the new year here. We drove over to Helen and Geoff’s to return the little mattress they lent us for Zeke, and to say good-bye. Then we went over to the little stone church that Tekapo is famous for. It is a really sweet little church, and when you walk into it, it is very simple with a big window behind the pulpit that looks out onto the lake and mountains. It gives it such a nice, open, natural, spiritual feel. We then stopped in town to get coffee and treats for the kids and headed on to Queenstown. Jordy had a hard time being back in the car and was whining for a while. I tried to come up with ideas of how to help her, but she was just really having a hard time. Eventually I switched seats with her and gave her my i-pod and she immediately became a different person - was singing along happily (and monotonally) with the music. My dad joked that her singing that we all had to listen to then might have been worse than her whining was. We stopped for lunch in Cromwell where they have a little café and lots of good fruit. At one point we thought that Zeke and Jordy were just off running around to get some energy out (as we had instructed them to do) when we found out that they had gone off into an orchard and were eating apricots off of the trees. We explained to them that that was not allowed and showed them how Maddy and I had actually gone into the store and bought some fruit. When we were in the store Maddy had spotted this cool machine where they put in ice cream with fruits of your choice and they got mixed together and came out as a fresh blueberry/strawberry ice cream or whatever. We made an agreement that they could each have one as long as none of them would “winge” (a.k.a. whine) in the car. They loved them.
We then arrived in Queenstown which has a bustling little downtown area with information and booking offices in practically every other storefront. We are staying in a 3-bedroom villa at a place called Heritage which has a wonderful view of the lake and mountains. The kids wanted to immediately go over to the pool so Tony took them while my parents and I went to investigate different possibilities of things to do over the next few days. We were only supposed to stay here for two nights, but we ended up changing things around to cut out some driving. Instead of driving down to Te Anau and then driving from there to Milford Sound, we decided to stay here longer and fly to Milford. Later, Mom, Dad, Maddy and I went out to dinner at The Lone Star restaurant while Tony stayed in with Jordy and Zeke. Maddy is really enjoying the times that she goes out with just the grown-ups.

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