April 27th

     Hi everyone! Hoping all of our friends and family are doing great back in the states, and enjoying some warm weather!  We have been quite busy since the last time I wrote.  Danika celebrated her 6th birthday, which was so hard for me to believe.  She is already asking how many days until her next birthday.  Funny how kids always want to speed time up, but as adults, we always want to slow time down.  Maybe this is the true tell tale sign of becoming an adult, when you want to stay stuck at your current age for at least 10 more years!  We also were blessed with a visit from Chris's parents.  We had fun showing them around town and immersed them into our daily schedules.  I think I heard them mention several times "wow, you guys walk a lot."  We were covering about 10 miles each day (according to my vivofit),  just by going back and forth to school and kids activities.  They did great keeping up with us!  We also all experienced our first Easter hat parade.  Of course, I found out about it the day before and spent that night quickly gluing together the best hat I could.  Luckily Danika seemed happy with it and it did not fall apart:) The parade took place at the school and was for grades parade k-2.  We were not quite sure what to expect, but it turned out to be quite cute and entertaining.  Some of the hats were very elaborate, and the kids marched around the playground proudly showing off their hats.  The parade concluded with a dance party!  This also marked the end of Term 1 for the girls and the start of a two week Easter holiday, which we spent in New Zealand. 

     We arrived in Queenstown, New Zealand the day before Easter.  I love having Chris plan all the travel details because then I am always surprised at where we end up staying.  He never disappoints, and we arrived at a beautiful house overlooking a lake with mountains in the backdrop.  Queenstown reminded me of a town you might find in Colorado or Canada, similar to a ski resort town.  It was beautiful and filled with many things to do.  We probably could have spent a week or more here but made the most of our 4 days.  We did a lot of adventure based activities such as luge riding, zip lining, hiking and digging for gold!  Many of these activities took place off the central mountain. We could take a gondola to the top of the mountain or hike to the top, which we decided to do the day we went zip lining.  The luge riding was very fun and we had amazing views of the town below.  Not that we were paying much attention to the views, as we were all trying to beat each other in our cars:) I was a little unsure about Danika and Kendall doing the zip lining, but agreed that they could try the first of the six lines and if they decided not to continue, that was okay and one of the guides would drive them to the bottom of the mountain.  Of course, after doing the first line, there was no stopping them!  All of the girls had a great time and were even trying out different tricks such as hanging upside down, or starting the line by jumping off the platform backwards.  We were all disapointed when we finished the final line.  I think we could have done this all day.  Most of us were okay with just doing the luge and zip lining, but Chris and Skylar wanted more, so why not try bungy jumping!  As a mom, I will admit, my heart was racing at the thought of my daughter jumping off a ledge only to dangle by a rope, in mid air.   But Skylar was determined to go, so I pushed aside my fear and just started praying.  They both decided to start with the bungy swing, which none of us had ever seen before.  Instead of jumping, you are lowered down, just a few feet off the platform, and then pull a cord which quickly releases you and sends you flying through the air like a pendulum.  They both later admitted that the swing was a bit more intense.  After the swing, they both decided to have a go at the bungy jump.  I tend to be openminded in trying new activities, but I can honestly say that I was fine just taking pictures.  My heart was racing fast enough!  I am sure this is a day both of them will remember forever. 

     Just outside of Queenstown is a small town called, Arrowtown.  It was established when gold was discovered in the 1860's in the  Arrow River which runs through the town.  It is a small quaint town rich with history.  One of Chris's employees was raised just outside of Arrowtown.  She arranged for her parents to teach us how to pan for gold in the river.  We had a lot of fun.  We took a 4 wheel drive vehicle down the river (literally driving in the water with water up to the window) to a spot where gold had been found before.  They taught us where to dig and how to sift the sand through the water in special bowls, until only the tiniest particles remained.  I think the girls were banking on hitting the jackpot, as they worked really hard for the first half hour.  After only finding a few specks, they decided this may not be their answer to financial security.  We did have a great time though! After giving it our best, we decided to head into town and visit the local gold shop to catch a glimpse of true nuggets.  I do not remember the exact amount, but I think the jeweler said one nugget was worth about $25,000.  After hearing this, we did think about hitting the river for a second attempt, but instead we went and had a great lunch at a local restaurant.  We enjoyed our day in Arrowtown and were very thankful for our wonderful guides!  This would end our time in Queenstown we looked forward to our next adventure in the town of Te Anau.

     Two hours south of Queenstown is the small town of Te Anau.  The town consists of one grocery store a few small motels and a few restaraunts.  Chris chose Te Anau as a stopping point because it is a midway point to Milford Sound which was our ultimate destination for exploring, but there are limited hotels by Milford Sound especially for a party of eight.  We arrived in Te Anau mid-day with just enough time to do a quick hike and and early dinner.  We woke early the next morning to begin our journey to Milford Sound.  Milford Sound is actually incorrectly named as it is really a fiord (just thought I would add in that as my dad would be sure to point it out). It is located in the southwest of New Zealand's South Island within Fiordland National Park.  It is acclaimed as New Zealand's most famous tourist destination and sometimes referred to as the Eighth Wonder of the World.  The fiord is surrounded by steep cliffs and rainforest and a few waterfalls.  The drive to Milford Sound was amazing.  Chris kept having me take videos of the view as we were making the 1.5 hour drive, but the videos do not do it justice.  There are many recommended scenic stops along the way, one being Key Summit, part of the famed Routeburn trek (one of the top four multi day treks in NZ), which we chose.  This hike started off deep in the forest and ended on top of Key Summit with one of the most amazing views I have ever seen, surrounded by mountains with a small lake at the top.  A strenous hike at times but so worth it!  We eventually made our way to Milford Sound as we had booked a 2pm boat ride through the fiord.  Unfortunately, by this time, the clouds condensed overhead and the rain started to fall.  The views from the boat were still amazing and during the trip you could really gain perspective on the size of the cliffs. I can only imagine what they would be like on a clear day.  I guess we will just have to come back here someday:) but I also included two pictures from the internet so you can get a better sense of the beauty. 

     This ended our first week in NZ.  I have decided to break our trip up into two weeks because there are too many pictures I want to share.  So please look for part two of our journey! 

Love to you all,

Cindy      

  

     

My big birthday girl!

Easter hat parade at Bondi Public

The view from our house in Queenstown!

Girls with their nana and papa at a park in Queenstown.

View from the bungy jump.

View from bungy jump.

Chris and Sky waiting for their turn.

No fear here!

Sky after the fact.

Receiving instructions on how to operate the luge car.

The luge track.

Hike we took just a short drive outside of Queenstown.  It was very quiet and peaceful.

Looking for the big nugget!

I wouldn't mess with these gold diggers:)

Hike to top of mountain for zip lining.  

Here goes Rich!

Skylar taking in the view upside down.

Here comes Kylie!

Kendall with a smile on her face!

Danika- I wonder what she was thinking?

View from zip line.

Starting our hike to Key Summit.

Almost there!

Yeah, we made it!

Top of Key Summit

Picture of Milford Sound before boat ride and rain. You can see how small the boats look when near the massive cliffs

Waterfalls in Milford Sound

On the boat, a little wet, but still having fun!

Pictures of Milford Sound on a clear day.

This is a Kea bird.  The world's only alpine parrot.  They are known for their intelligence and curiosity. They love playing pranks on people.  When we saw them, traffic was stopped because they were jumping on cars and windshields.  They are very funny!