Day 6 started off pretty much the same as the others, rain and snow and plans canceled. We were scheduled for a jet shoot over ride at 10:30 and a bungy jump at 1:30. The jet boat was delayed until noon, so that meant our bungy would not happen, or we cancel the boat. So much of our morning was spent walking around the quaint town of Queenstown window shoping and deciding what to do. If you want anything that has to do with Rugby and the World Cup that will be here in September, you can't even get a hat for under $40 NZ dollars. We also tried to see what else we could do, but apparently when it snows in this ski town everything shuts down. Can't get to teh Sounds, roads closed. Can't ... read more

Today was the first day for a real active adventure. We were disappointed the night before to learn that the heli-hike was canceled, so we signed up for the half-day glacier hike at Franz Joseph Glacier. We of course woke up at the crack of 3:30 and tossed and turned for a few hours, since the hike wasn’t until 10:30. We arrived at the office to learn that this hike too, was canceled because of rain and wind. We also learned that the heli-hikes only operate about half the time anyway. The rain has been constant since we arrived on the West Coast from Greymouth all the way down to Franz Joseph. After some scrambling, we were able to book an afternoon glacier hike 45 km away at Fox Glacier. They were still running tours and ... read more

So the second night is always the hardest to deal with jetlag. Chester was so tired she didn’t take her Ambien, but then she woke up at 2:30. Kirsten woke up around 4 and realized Chester was awake so they started an intense game of hangman on her phone. With some help form Chester, Kirsten got her high score. Around 5:30AM there was a slight shake of our beds. You guessed it; Chester lived through her first earthquake. Well really an aftershock that probably didn’t even register on the scale. But it still counts. We finally got out of bed and headed over to the train station to catch the TransAlpine Express from Christchurch on the east coast of the south island across to the west side ending in Greymouth. It was about a 4.5 hour ... read more

It took Kirsten and Chester 6 airports, 5 flights, and 35+ hours to get to Christchurch, NZ; and we both came from different parts of the world. We truly did travel half way around the world. But the last flight for both of us had its highlights. Tired and groggy and dreading having to listen to another safety briefing, when who do you think appears on the screen. No other than the 80's fitness icon, Gene “Sweating to the Oldies” Simmons. Complete with curly hair, blue sequined tank top and satin short shorts. The cast of characters around him all donned 80's workout apparel including the headbands. Our first day was fairly uneventful. We walked around town and witnessed the devastation of the earthquake that hit this city about 6 months ago. Many of the streets ... read more

Day 7 - On the 7th day God rested, so did we Day 7 started with sleeping in and getting up when we wanted, which was about 8:30. We made breakfast and relaxed around the house. We had a big agenda: find the spa and a place to eat lunch. We got 1 hour massages in groups of 3 in town. As the first group hobbled to the spa the second stayed back and watched the original Terminator on TV. The spa was quaint and nice but lacked one major amenity: A/C. It was a very hot, humid morning to we were fighting for position in front of the fan. We each lined out our body parts that no longer functioned properly to the therapist and an hour later emerged like new 30-year-old women. Group 2 ... read more