Mackenzie Valley, Mt. Cook

This is our beautiful B & B (farmstay) outside of Fairlie. The grounds are in spring bloom and we got to feed the baby goats and the other farm animals.

This is Lake Tekapo on the way to Mt. Cook National Park.

Christchurch

We arrived in Christchurch today. As you have heard they had a 7.1 earthquake last month. Our B & B is fine and at first glance the city seems good. When you look closely and some of the older brick buildings are damaged. The are still having afterschocks of course. This is the cathedral and we climbed into the top of the tower.

Everything downtown is within walking distance and these pictures are of the beautiful botanical garden.

Kaikoura

Today we drove to Kaikoura, a beautiful beach town on the east coast. Andy and I went kayaking to see the fur seals. As you can see in the pictures below we were up close and personal. It was great fun to watch them groom themselves and swim right up to us.

South Island

We are staying at the Old Mill B & B and they had bikes for us to use in the wine fields.

This was the view from the ferry as we came into Picton.

On to Wellington

We left Rotorua this morning on our way to Wellington. We stopped by Huka Falls...quite amazing. In Wellington we took the cable car to the top of the mountain where we walked through the botanical gardens. It is a beautiful city...much like Hong Kong. We leave from here to take the ferry to the South Island.

Rotorua Thermal Area

This is a geyser that goes off at 10:15 every morning with a little help from some soap that the ranger puts in. Evidently it breaks the surface tension and allows it to start. It would erupt without it but this way it goes on schedule.
It looks very much like Yellowstone in areas.

In the afternoon we went for a hike in the "California Redwood Forest" that was planted in 1901.

New Zealand

Today the Frazier's and we landed in Auckland, New Zealand. We picked up a car and drove to Rotorua. We visited the old bath house that is now a Museum. Very interesting tour and the flowers in town are beautiful.