1.16.2006


So after our Q-town Christmas and New Years we came home to Christchurch (ChCh) for a few days and my friend Mim came over from the States. She slept a night and then we drove back down to Q-town. The day was clear for the drive down and at Lake Tekapo there is this lil stone church and wedding was going...what a setting. Here are some pix from our adventures with Mim. Posted by Picasa

Trip to Queenstown


Its amazing how many different landscapes one can in a little drive around NZ. Posted by Picasa

Mt. Cook was clear again for this trip as well. Posted by Picasa

On the drive down past Mt. Cook. Posted by Picasa

Lake Wakatipu by Ben's house. Q-town Posted by Picasa

I like these. Posted by Picasa

Landy to Masetown


The next day we landrovered into this ole Goldminer's town. It's on this 4x4 road with tons of river crossings. It was heaps of fun. Posted by Picasa

Nice faces everyone. Posted by Picasa

There are so many Lupins. I love lupins. Reminds me of that book I loved when I was little,
"The Lupin Lady" Posted by Picasa

pretty. Posted by Picasa

The crew up on the old....oh, I forgot what it was called and what it did...something to do with Gold though. Posted by Picasa

The Landy crew Posted by Picasa

Masetown. It was an old gold miners town back in the day. There are a few remnants left today. Posted by Picasa

good times. It was a great trip but sadly when we got back on the main road it stopped working all together...Ben had bought it the day before. Ash and Mike were notorious for their maniac ways when they were younger but I atest to their good natured driving skills this day. I do want to thank Ben, because it was a really fun trip of lots of river crossings. Posted by Picasa

There is a Gondola in Q-town that takes you up to the top of the hill above the city. There is a restaurant, an alpine slide, bungy jumping, and a Maori cultural performance...quite the lil one stop shop. We walked up and hung out. Posted by Picasa

Great photo on the chairlift to the alpine slide. It's quite the little tourist world up on top of the hill there in Q-town. Posted by Picasa

I don't know why its red but it makes it look even cooler. This was after the Kiwi Hake performance. I had seen many at school in Hawaii but this was Mim's first and some of the Maori performances can seem a little aggressive. Thanks to Ben for the free tickets. Posted by Picasa

Trip to Milford Sound


From Queenstown is the road that takes you into the Fiordlands of NZ. I hadn't ever been and it had been years for Mike so we headed over. In acuality, it's not very far from Q-town in kilometres but the road loops around to get there. It is one of the most beautiful drives I have been on and totally worth the day trip to go out and back. Once you get to Milford Sound you can take a boat down the sound so you can really sense the immensity of the cliffs. It got darker and rainier as we got into the drive, but it turned out to make the sight even more incredible. Yes, me like. Good day. Posted by Picasa

These are some of the shots of the drive into Milford Sound. Even if you didn't go on a boat ride, this drive is incredibly beautiful. The rain made it even more dramatic but I'd love to see it on a clear day as well. Posted by Picasa

Here we are in front of our boat. We opted for the longer (and more expensivs) cruise but it was worth it and the rain and wind made it feel like a real adventure out there. Posted by Picasa

The first big waterfall which I forget the name of. Lots and lots o' water. Posted by Picasa

The cruise begins....ohhhhh Posted by Picasa

This is Mim's rock star yell out to the waterfall. Posted by Picasa

Love it. Posted by Picasa

I'm not sure which emotion was meant to be portrayed because I look like a psycho-killer and Mim looks sort of goofy...really we were just being blown around from the wind. Posted by Picasa