The Horton's Trip

After we dropped off the Hoffman's we went back up to Kaikoura and Hanmer Springs.  This was actually just a cool piece of drift wood on a beach outside of Christchurch.  
While back in Kaikoura mom, who hates to be in or near water, convinced us to all go out on a whale watching boat.  We saw lots of albatross and other sea birds as well as 3 sperm whales only 20 ft. from the boat.  I'll try to attach a video of one of the whales diving.  We were all very glad we braved the sea for the 8 miles we had to travel out.  Back at Lyell Creek Lodge, Johnnie had another BBQ ready with free crayfish, Mae picked out this monster.
This is the bloom of the Pohutukawa Tree, a New Zealand symbol that blooms around Christmas and assures kiwis that summer is near.  The whole tree could be covered in these dark red blooms, it is quite a sight.
While mom and Mae got massages in Hanmer springs, dad and I walked up to this little waterfall.  It was barely hot enough to get in and we couldn't stay long, but it was really refreshing while it lasted.  It was a really pretty walk and we got to see quite a few birds, fantails and bell birds to name a few.  
A horrible 18th hole on my part gave my dad a one point victory in this little competition.  It was so great to have both sets of parents here, it was really hard to see them go.  

Cheers, Johnny
We thought we would put a picture of my ring up since it will be a little while until everyone sees it.  But isn't it beautiful?  I love it so much, and it was such a surprise!  Here's how it happened- after we dropped off Johnny's parents and got back to Dunedin he thought we should go for a walk.  So we went to a beautiful beach where we were all alone, he pretended he had to tie his shoe but when I went to push him over into the sand he pulled out my ring.  And now we are engaged!  

We are leaving Dunedin in about a week to sea kayak and hike the Routeburn Track.  We are planning on settling up on the north part of the south island after a couple weeks of traveling.  We'll let you know how it goes.

Kia Ora,

Maegen

The Hoffman's Trip

We were back in Christchurch at this point to take the Hoffman's to the airport.  Unfortunately it was time for them get back to the States.  Here are a few more pictures of their adventures around New Zealand.

Queenstown Again

It was here that we finally got to see live kiwi, and they were so awesome.  They are much bigger than we thought they would be, around the same size as a turkey, and really fast.  They can live up to about 50 and they are laying eggs literally to their last day.  The mate for life but don't raise their young at all.  Unfortunately they are quite endangered due to the introduction of the stoat and the possum.  It was really cool to see them running around in the dark.  
If mom looks nervous, it was nothing compared to how George felt in the Gondola below us.  Neither being very fond of heights, they didn't love getting up the Gondola or the viewing deck all that much.  We all did love the luge!  There were some classic pictures taken of us while racing which mom and Linda bought.  Mae says the Hoffmans split the title with herself and her dad each winning a race.  As for the Hortons, believe it our not, mom won both races!
These are my favorite trees in New Zealand, although these aren't the best example in the whole country.  They are called cabbage trees, and they look like the Truffula trees that the Once-ler cuts down to make thneeds, in "the Lorax" by Dr. Suess.
Unfortunately there aren't any pictures of our paragliding trip on our camera, but it was a riot.  Mom and George were not that excited about it, but wanted to come watch so we had to follow in the van.  At one point we had to jump in with the pilots, leaving George to drive the van on the wrong side of the road to the landing point.  Sure enough we couldn't jump from that site so Agnes, the boss, called George on the cell phone to tell him the plan.  Our parents couldn't really understand him in person, let alone on the phone.  Needless to say, mom and George were quite surprised when a car pulled over and four South Americans jumped in with them to guide them to the next landing site.  George later said that the driving was fine.  Mom later said that George's driving was "fine".  Once we had all jumped and flown down to our landing sites, the four who rode with our parents said it was the scariest thing they had done in quite some time, and they do scary things often.  We enjoyed the paragliding but couldn't help feeling like we missed out on the real adventure.  
Here we are back in Christchurch at the botanical gardens.  It looked to us like this tree was flexing it's muscles at us, so we flexed back.  They call Christchurch "The Garden City of Britain" as it was modeled after Britain.  After walking around Hagley park and the gardens it is easy to see where it gets it's name.  

Milford Sound

These flowers, which looked like huge lupine, covered the valley floors as we drove in towards Milford Sound.  It was a bit of a curvy drive in, and longer than we expected, but it was beautiful.  We made it without stopping until we saw the Kea from the previous posting bouncing around a little turnout.  They are incredible birds.  They are the only alpine parrot and their intelligence compares to that of a chimp.  They have been known to kick snow off a cliff and fly out to see if they hit anyone, and then repeat that until the people below don't think it is as funny as they do.  They like to chew on soft stuff like the rubber on windshield wipers and tents.  Anyway, we stopped to watch them for a minute and then made it in time to get on our boat about three minutes before it left (a little close but not unusual).  
It was raining on and off while we were out on the Sound.  They say there are only four permanent waterfalls, this being the first you pass.  On the day we were there the waterfalls were to numerous to count, literally feet apart all falling quite a distance down the rocky, forested walls around the Sound.  I've never seen so much water, it was truly incredible.
This was another one of the permanent waterfalls which they actually stick the bow of the boat under.  Legend says that if women are touched by even a drop of the water it will make their faces appear to be ten years more youthful.  The ladies standing down there in the picture may or may not have lost some wrinkles, but they definitely didn't expect the boat to go forward as far as it did, and they were screaming and running seconds after we took this picture. 
One of these long cracks which water is often running down is actually where the two techtonic plates meet below New Zealand.  Obviously they are the cause for the mountains along the west coast and they said they are stilling raising about an inch and a half per year.  
We were lucky with weather.  The rain made the Sound so incredibly mystical and yet the sun came out for spells of the trip so we could be up on the deck with blue skies and water falling all around us.  
Waterfall after waterfall after waterfall.  Easily one of the most beautiful places I have seen.

Cheers Johnny

Around Dunedin

Sorry about some misspelled words in the previous blog, we did it late last night and didn't proof read it.  Anyways after New Year's Eve we drove to Dunedin in our huge 12 person van (it was all the rental place had left), stopping by Moeraki Beach where there are spherical boulders.  It was so great to be with our parents again, we were excited for them to see Dunedin.  While we were in Dunedin we went on an awesome tour of the tip of the Otago Peninsula.  We rode in a large four wheeler that took us to see yellow-eyed penguins and a colony of seals with many young pup seals.  We saw two pups wrestling with each other, it was really cute.  We also got to see a couple penguins waddle out of the water.  It was a pretty cold ride, but well worth it, the views from the top were spectacular.  

We also ate at Johnny's restaurant, and of course my favorite part was shopping down town.We  went and watched the blue penguins come out of the water and make their way to their nests.  Johnny's dad had a penguin walk right between his legs and peck at his foot!  After Dunedin we headed to Milford Sound which will be our next post.  The last picture in this blog is the bold and cheeky mountain parrot, the Kea, which we were entertained by on the way to Milford Sound.     

Christchurch and Kaikoura, the First Time

We just had a wonderful couple of weeks with our parents.  That is why we haven't been calling or posting or anything else.  It was a busy and excellent trip and we'll try to show you the best of it.  First we picked up Linda and George in Christchurch and went up to Kaikoura.  This first picture is the backyard of Lyell Creek Lodge where we stayed in Kaikoura.  Below the pampas grass were the Hoffmans eating the enormous crayfish we caught when we went fishing with Johnnie George (the guy who runs the hostel).  Kaikoura is a really cool little town where the mountains literally meet the sea.  Sorry this is underlined, I don't know how to fix it.
At this point we were just getting back from fishing with Johnnie.  We were so happy, one cause Mae's parents were in New Zealand, two, because we didn't get sea sick and we were sure we would, and finally because our newly purchased sun protection keep us away from the dangerous, cancerous UV rays so prevalent in NZ, and made us look really cool!
We got pretty close to these wandering albatross while out fishing.  They say that their wing span can be up to 10 feet, they were absolutely enormous.  Instead of flapping their wings they just glide and use their feet like a water ski.   
This is lake victoria (more of a pond really) in Hagley park in Christchurch.  It is a much better city than we first gave it credit for when we drove threw four months ago.  Mostly it was always sunny and warm, kind of the opposite of Dunedin.  
This is the Cathedral that is in the heart of Christchurch, with the rose window behind Mae and Linda.  When my parents arrived it was New Years Eve and there was a big party in Cathedral Square.  I was the only one who stayed up until midnight to hear and see a few of the fireworks.  We had all gone to bed and I couldn't fall asleep due to the contents of my mothers fanny pack, and my contemplation of how to best present it to Mae, more on that later.