Tuesday, June 16th: We got up early to start the day - Brian and Jerry went for a run and Amy went for a nice walk. We found the bakery but resisted as we knew breakfast was waiting. Good bread, liverwurst, ham, salami - breakfast of champions - can’t beat that to kick off some sight-seeing. Around lunch, Osse was nice enough to take us for a drive through the wine country - lots of vineyards and even some white asparagus farms. We went to the ruins in Burg Neuleiningen. The overlook lets you look out across the wine country. Then we were off to Freinsheim where the town is surrounded by a stone wall. Brian and Amy went for the walk around the wall path while Peggie, Jerry and Osse lounged in a lovely café. ... read more

Sunday, June 14th: We’re off on another trip - this time to Germany. All started well as we headed to the airport in the evening. The dogs and cat (Griffin, Skye and Dixie) were all safe and sound with a Pet Sitter room-mate back home. Brian grabbed some running shoes on the way to the airport (really hideous silver, orange and blue - Florida Gator colors! - what do you expect from 15 minutes shopping). He said we’ll have to run and exercise to cancel out all the great German food we’ll be eating. We got to the airport in plenty of time and that was a good thing - United had some real process problems with international check in - Brian had to tell Amy to MYOB because she wanted to jump in and try ... read more

We slept in as late as we could in order to be rested for the long flight. Our shuttle to the airport wasn’t until lunch so we used the morning to explore our Chateau on the Park. They have beautiful gardens, a tiny vineyard and a little putting green. They even offer free golf at the course across the street but we didn’t have enough time. We goofed around and then walked all around Hagley Park, strolled around the Avon River, and saw the Christchurch Botanical Gardens. We watched people playing golf, tennis and croquet. You should have seen the (surprisingly young) guys playing croquet so seriously. We couldn’t make heads or tails of it, just like cricket, rugby and netball. We’re getting itchy feet to get home so we caught the shuttle to the airport ... read more

We slept in and had a good breakfast at the Fox Glacier Lodge. A great place. This was a pretty light day with a two hour drive to Hokitika. This small town is known for artists that carve Jade (Greenstone) found here on the west coast of the South Island. We walked around the town and bought some nice souvenirs. Brian even found a New Zealand Sheepdog whistle carved from Jade. They are tricky to use but Brian has had a few weeks to practice using one we found in the North Island (much to Amy’s enjoyment). The cabin was right on the beach and also had a bunch of different animals as part of the compound including sheep, boars, cows, goats, alpacas, assorted birds, and one sheepdog. We walked on the beach but didn’t stay ... read more

At the break of dawn, we fell out of our bunks in hopes of spotting Crested Penguins. Amy sighted several waddling out of the trees and swimming in a bunch and Brian even saw one. The little guys don't photograph well with our camera so this is the best we have. Hopefully Jim and Edna will share. A nice way to start the day. After some breakfast and much-needed coffee, we began our return route back through the sound. We made a brief stop for an up-close inspection of a waterfall with the bow almost under the fall. That capped off our tour and by 0900, we said goodbye to our new friends, and loaded up on the bus back to Queenstown. The rain made the moutains brim with waterfalls during our trip back, so we ... read more