QUEENSTOWN

We left Wellington with great anticipation to visit Queenstown. We had a great visit in the airport with a very nice gentleman in a wheelchair. He was meeting Steve Williams, Tiger Woods' caddy. Steve Williams is the richest sportsman in New Zealand. The man in the wheelchair was in his chair because of car racing. He built and rebuilt racing cars for Steve Williams and was meeting Steve at a race.

The airports are very interesting inside the country of New Zealand. Their security is different than we are used to in the U.S. You are allowed to take drinks and you do not have to pass through any security screenings at all. Of course, some of my anticipation was seeing the small prop airplane we would fly in. Flying is not my favorite passtime. Surprisingly, the flights on our small planes were relatively smooth and allowed us amazing views of the landscape underneath us.

Mount Cook

Stunning blue lakes

Queenstowns started as mining town in 1860. Now Queenstown is the resort area for the entire country located in the Southern Alps. The location is majestic with mountains surrounding beautiful Lake Wakitipu.

Lake Wakitipu

The tourist town is typical of Park City or Jackson Hole. There is a great downtown area with MANY tourists walking around the shops. We tried a Mexican Restaurant that was interesting. John and Johnny ended up with Fish and Chips and Brittney and I chose Subway later in the day. What the food lacked, the scenery, ice cream, and shops made up for.

Our hotel was just across the street from the lake.

Brittney, Johnny and I spent the afternoon browsing in the shops while John went back to our hotel. We had loads of fun laughing and looking at different shops.

Johnny and Brittney modeling Kiwi and Sheep headgear.

Brittney's hat had the gloves attached.

I loved this quaint chapel in the middle of town.

We had to get up very early the next morning to drive 4 hours to the Milford Sound.

Notice the steering wheel (John) on the right side of the car)

We were taking a 2 1/2 hour boat trip through the Fjords. Some of the Lord of the Rings movies were filmed in this area. We recognized the setting in several places we passed.

We saw these tame parrots, Kea, on the side of the road. We stopped and they were extremely friendly. Of course, the sign tells visitors Not to feed the Keas, but we did smash a few crackers for them to snack on. The bird nearest Britt was the aggressor and wouldn't allow the other bird to share the crackers. We saw quite a few Kea along the road.

The scenery we passed

We arrived at the boat dock and we were immediately covered in Sandflies.......they loved Johnny and bit him over and over. We had to purchase $10.00 oily smelly mosquito repellent to slather on ourselves. Sandflies have folklore told about their ability to keep people away from one of the most beautiful places on earth. Rudyard Kipling described Milford Sound as the 'eighth wonder of the world.'

Our boat is behind us

The day was windy and cold on the water, but worth the weather to see the sights

The only Hobbits I saw---such a cute couple

We saw beautiful waterfall after more

beautiful waterfall

We saw sea lions and penquins

Mitre Peak

As you exit Milford Sound you see the Tasman Sea with unending water to the view

On the way home from Milford Sound, we stopped in another small tourist town and ate at a GREAT Italian Restaurant, La Toscana. Britt and I were so excited for such a good dinner.

The next morning before we had to leave for the airport, we drove out of town to Kawana, the very first bungee jump in the world. A tall bridge is built over the river for brave souls to jump

The river the bungee cord falls down to

We were smiling because we WEREN'T going to bungee jump

Johnny and Britt decided to bungee jump. As they went to pay, a sign indicated that the workers were on break until 3:00 pm --- the EXACT time we had to be at the airport. Next time!!!

A young father vaulted from the bridge. The boat is waiting to capture the jumpers as they reach the water.