Kia Ora!

Well, that's all she wrote. Literally. It's time now to return to our normal lives and the working world. (sigh) Thanks for following my blog. We had a wonderful trip and will have many stories and photos to share with you all.  See you back in WI! 

Cheers!
Janie 

Antarctic Center

Well, our vacation has come to an end...sadly.Today is our last day in NZ, but there was still time for some fun to be had at the Antarctic Centre.

A Hagglund (a vehicle used to drive on the snow in Antarctica - it can event float in water)

Yes, that is a penguin mascot.

Mattie pretending he's a penguin slipping down an icy slide.

A little blue penguin

The penguins here had either been injured or are unable to return to their home for their own protection

Playing around on the snow equipment - I'm pretty sure they encourage that sort of thing here

That's about right...Penguins and children only - just like the sign says

Mattie enjoying a light snack and holding the cockroach in my bagel bits bag. It was crawling on the window next to me, and I just about jumped over my seat when it turned and shook its hairy legs at me. Gross!

Last day in Christchurch

Today was our last full day in Christchurch. We went to the U17 cricket tournament and walked around the city center for some good food and people watching.

A game of cricket at the Queen Elizabeth II Park

The game was supposed to last some 4 or 5 hours. Considering the fact that we had no idea how the game is played or what the heck was going on, we stuck it out for 2 hours.

Enjoying a few samples of beer at the Dux de Lux

Acrobat performers, warming up for the World Busker's Festival

The festival is in downtown Christchurch from Jan 21-31 and draws over 300,000 people to watch street, circus and comedy performances

The floral clock in Victorian Square

There's no hiding the fact that we're tourists!

The ad doesn't exactly say that McDonalds uses free range eggs, just that they love them. We're still not going to eat there!

Cathedral Square at night

Hiking in Arthur's Pass

Today, we got out of the city and took a drive to Arthur's Pass (about 2 hours west of Christchurch). We hiked for about 4 hours on several trails in the area.  The weather was perfect - party cloudy and warm with a nice breeze.

The view from Cave Stream Scenic Reserve

Approaching the Kura Tawhiti / Castle Hill Conservation Area

Look closely and you can see me standing on one of the boulders in the center of the photo

Now that's a nice boulder

I bet no one else has done this before.

The Waimakariri River as seen from West Coast Road

Entrance to Arthur's Pass National Park

This waterfall is called the Devil's Punchbowl

A picnic lunch at the Chasm (along the Bealy Trail)

PB&J with Chardonnay (straight from the bottle)...classy.

A swing bridge on the Bealy Trail

The swing bridge on the Otira Trail.

There was no way we're crossing that! So, it became our turnaround point.

A cyclist riding into a cloud

Christchurch

Today we bummed around Christchurch.  Stopped by the botanical gardens, art museum, cathedral and watched some of the street performers in the town center.

In the morning, we went for a run and noticed this sign. I took the picture for our friend Chris, who once had an unfortunate accident with his bike and some railroad tracks.

A hedge row in the botanical gardens

An entrance to the rose garden

Mattie picked me a rose. How sweet!

A sculpture representing falling leaves

Punting on the Avon (similar to a gondola ride in Venice, Italy)

The largest gumtree in the world (world famous in New Zealand, of course)

In the city center, there were two young men playing a life-size game of chess. We also saw tap dancers, singers, jugglers, and more.

Next we rode the Christchurch gondola ride up to the volcano rim to get a view of the city and surrounding area.  The bohemian town of Lyttelton is pictured above.

The view of Christchurch from the rim

A friendly little bird seen along the Crater Rim Walkway Trail

At night we enjoyed dinner with Katie's old classmate Emily and her husband Steve.  They live in a lovely house just south of the city center. We got to met their baby Lucy, only 4 months old. So adorable!  :)

Dunedin to Christchurch

Not much going on today, just needed to make our way to Christchurch by evening.

We started out the day by taking a stroll up Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world

Length is 350m and average climb is 1:5

Next, we visited Dunedin's Botanical Gardens

A nice resting place after the long trek up a hill

Then it was on to the Cadbury Chocolate Factory for a quick tour.
Yea! Cadbury World! Boo! Scary oompa loompa people.

So nice of them to provide us with chocolaty breakfast and lunch.

Next, we visited the NZ Sports Hall of Fame.

Matt is trying to beat New Zealand's fastest female cyclist.

This is the championship belt awarded to the fastest speed walker in 1888. My, how times have changed!

Moeraki Boulders

The Moeraki Boulders are number of huge spherical stones, found strewn along a stretch of Koekohe Beach near Moeraki. They originally formed in ancient sea floor sediments during the early Paleocene some 60 million years ago.

Fun on the boulders

Mattie go stuck on the rocks when the water rushed onshore 

Burger Wisconsin

"Home of the world's best burgers"

To tell you the truth, the Burger King down the street actually looked better than this place. :)

Dunedin

We got up super early this morning to drive to Dunedin (a 3.5 hour drive). As we got closer to Dunedin, the weather was improving and things were looking up.

We started our day at the Farmer's Market, just like back home.

The Otago Farmer's Market (just like the sign says)

They sold fresh fruits, meats, eggs, plants, and more. The fruits in season included raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries, cherries, and apricots.

The weather was a bit nippy, so it wasn't overly crowded. Matt got a salmon and parsley meat pie.

Next to the farmer's market was the Rail Station (pictured above). Also home of the New Zealand Sport Hall of Fame.

After that, we drove over to Otago Peninsula for a Wildlife Nature Tour.

The tour took us to overlooks of the area. To the right of my head was the southeastern most point.

Mattie (pretending that he's) driving the 8-wheeler that drove us around on the wildlife tour.

A mama seal looking for her pup

A baby seal (pup), unfortunately not the one the mama was looking for.

A rare yellow-eyed penguin sitting on the sandy beach.

A mama blue penguin. There was a baby sitting under her. So cute!

The Larnach Castle (the only castle in New Zealand)

Alice in Wonderland (a statue that was part of the gardens surrounding the castle)

Speights Brewery Tour

Mattie trying to figure out how they make the beer

The tour ended with open bar for about an hour. That alone was worth the admission fee. :)