Last Day in NZ and of course the sun is shinning! Auckland Hotels were booked solid last night because of a sporting event and two events at local Vector Arena. Went out for Thai dinner last night with all of Whit's roommates. Going to tour campus while Whit registers, then we're off to spend some time in the sun. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Spending two days around Coromandel. Here's some shots of the girls at New Chumms Beach and of the 3 of us at Cathedral Cove. [View Full Entry]

---

---

After a quick day in Christchurch, we flew back to Auckland (the BIG city). I think the girls were anxious to get back to some civilization and real stores! Saturday night after we watched LOST, the girls got dolled up to go out, and I went the local (actually attached to Unilodge) el-cheapo motel. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Our helicopter took us up for a view of Mt Cook (NZ's highest peak at 3,000 meters). Torrie arranged for the clouds to part just as we flew by. We landed on a snowfield on another mountain top just across from Mt Cook for these pictures. [View Full Entry]

---

---

We arrived in Christchurch on Friday, in time to ride the Gondola and then drove back into town in time to have dinner and ride the Tram tour of the city. Saturday (3/01/08) we fly back to Auckland. Can't load pictures from this airport kiosk, more later. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Had a long bus ride, but glorious scenery! Got a lot of rain when we arrive and boated on Milford Sound, but still spectacular stuff. Lots of pix, but this internet cafe in QT doesn't seem to handle the upload of photo's directly from digital camera's. More later. [View Full Entry]

---

---

Long bus ride from Queenstown, NZ to Milford Sound, but the scenery along the way is amazing. Having a great time, though it rained while we were on the boat. But the Captain explained that we got to see some waterfalls that don't ordinarily exist! [View Full Entry]

---

---

Whit, playing our travel agent, has come up with a great set of plans for our trip. * Monday morning, Feb 25, we plan to fly from Auckland to Queenstown; probably staying at the Pinewood Lodge ($90NZ) on Mon, Tue, and Wed night. * Tuesday is our Milford Sound all day sidetrip. * Wednesday is our 1/2 day Lord-of-the-Rings tour! Go Frodo, Merry, and Pippin! * Thursday we rent a car and start driving to Christchurch (about 6 hours total). Probably stop along the way and stay at Lake Tekapo for an overnight, since we are probably not overnight-mountain-climbing due to [View Full Entry]

---

---

Torrie and I just booked our flights for Auckland, New Zealand! Thanks Werner, Marianne, and Marc for making this trip possible! Whitney, doing a study abroad there for 6 months, is our on-the-ground travel agent for our upcoming NZ adventures. She's come up with some great suggestions so far, including a hike to a South Island mountain top for an overnight! I'm interested in some South Island train excursions, but so far Whit is pushing for the fly & car routine. [View Full Entry]

---

---