The Rugby Sevens is a rugby tournament where smaller teams compete. "Seven" refers to the number of players on each time, as opposed to the usual 15. Because there are less than half the players on the field, the game has much more offensive ball movement, and the scoring is higher. The tournament in Queenstown was for all New Zealand and lasted several days. J had a great time talking with people in the crowd about the Rugby rules. Apparently, the Sevens are kind of a minor-league, where the best players go on to be running backs for the larger rugby teams. We saw two streakers run out into the field, both to be tackled by security. A dog also ran out onto the field when a guy parachuted in, but that was more understandable.... read more

Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of New Zealand. The world's first commercial bungee operation started here, and jetboat and other extreme activities abound. Unfortunately, the price for these activities is incredibly high. J "would have" bungee jumped, if it were not for the $100 price per jump. You can go skydiving or paragliding in the States for cheaper than that! We decided to watch the jumpers and jetboaters today, and get the feel for Queenstown, since we have several days here. The setting of the town is absolutely incredible, and has to be one of the most beautiful natural environments in the world. The town itself is quite a bit like Whistler - with many condos, hotels and cafes lining pedestrian only streets. Each day we saw street performers down by the beach ... read more

One of the most unique things about New Zealand is it's incredibly varied landscape. The glaciers in the Southwest are a big attraction, and we decided to hike to both of them in the same day. Franz Joseph is larger, although currently more difficult to walk directly up to. Fox glacier is a bit smaller, but you can walk right up to, and onto, the ice if you dare. There are also guided hikes with crampons and ropes, as well as helicopter flights to the top of the glacier. Like all things New Zealand, the prices were quite high, and we were happy to just see them on foot. The glaciers were spectacular, and definitely worth seeing - IF you haven't seen a glacier before. We enjoyed them, but they reminded us a lot of the ... read more

Since both of us finished the dolphin swim this morning almost totally seasick, the thought of driving over six hours to our next planned destination of Franz Joseph glacier wasn't appealing. We decided to drive just a few hours into the mountains and stop at a little town on the way named Reefton. Reefton ended up being a really cute, backwoods type of town that you could say was "Small town New Zealand" - and if you've been to Alaska, it was very much like a small Alaskan town. There was an "oriental restaurant" and a couple of other restaurants and shops, none of which was open for dinner the weekday evening we were there. That was OK - we weren't too hungry and ended up buying peanut butter, jelly and snacks from a grocery store. ... read more

We went into a local dive shop this morning and got suited up for the snorkel with seals. We each wore a 7mm "farmer john" wetsuit (overalls), and a 7mm long sleve wetsuit jacket. Plus of course booties and a hood. This is the coldest water that we've ever snorkeled in at about 12C (53F). With us we had a guide, boat pilot (from the very similar Tofino, Canada), underwater photographer, and two other customers that had never snorkeled before. We took a gutted out van down to the docks, and hopped on a small boat that took us out to a cove where hundreds of seals laid out on the rocks. We basically then jumped in the water, and half swam, half crawled over seaweed covered rocks. Initially the water was really cold, but once ... read more