Pictures to follow when we get a faster connection....
This entry will be the first joint entry by the blog writers in the family. Because we don’t have immediate access to the internet we will be making entries and posting later. It might be days later, so here it goes. After taking the train yesterday morning (Saturday the 22nd, Jim’s birthday) from Paekakariki to Wellington, then the bus from city center to the airport, we flew to Christchurch on the South Island, one of the largest cities in NZ. We stayed long enough to get a car, get some traveling groceries and go to the bathroom before finding our way to Lake Tekapo (teck-a-poe), the halfway point between Queenstown from Christchurch. I have never seen water that was the same green as that in Lake Tekapo. Apparently, because it is fed by a glacier that deposits granular rock into the water as part of the process, it stays closer to green than to blue. Because it was getting dark and there was a heavy cloud cover, we could not get pictures that looked as green as the naked eye could see.
We stayed at a backpacker hostel. It was pretty simple, but cool, because there were people from all over the world who liked the simplicity of being able to cook meals, sitting by a fire (wood-burner) and generally “roughing” it. Each of us slept in our own single bed in one medium sized room. It was neat, for sure, but what was even neater was the appearance of the Easter Bunny. She (if you know the book The Country Bunny, you’ll know that there are five Easter Bunnies, one of whose name is Mrs. Cottontail, who wears golden shoes to hop half way around the globe) came to Tekapo, left three clues for each of the children to help them find their toys and lollies, and didn’t wake us up in the night. She’s good! We had a quick breakfast in the morning and took off for Queenstown by 8:30 AM.
Because it was Easter morning (or perhaps just because this is New Zealand and there aren’t many people here!), we had a lovely, solitary, drive from Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook on a spectacular, crisp, early autumn morning. The morning began with low clouds hanging around high peaks and later cleared to a brilliant cloudless sky. We arrived at Mount Cook Village (for you Lord of the Rings fans, Mount Cook is the famous “Mount Doom”) before 10am and, after much oooo-ing and ahhhhhhh-ing, took a quick walk through an open field looking directly at a massive glacier. The kids kept saying “We’re in Narnia!”
It was a short visit because the day’s big event was to be meeting up with Cal, Lori, Emily, and Ethan, who had arrived from the States just this morning in Queenstown. We knew they’d be tired and that our job was to keep them entertained and awake until bedtime so that they could avoid jet lag. We finally got to Queenstown around 2:30 and went off to look for them at a café where they said they’d be. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice….”Carolyn!” It was Lori. After many hugs and ice cream cones, we all headed up the gondola to a spectacular view of Lake Wapatika and luge rides for the kids (including the Dads).
I’m not posting a picture of the Cal Harris family today, because they might not want their jetlagged photos shown to the world!!! Everyone has hit the hay now, and we’re looking forward to heading off to Te Anau, the starting point for our cruise on the magical Milford Sound. We are so grateful to have some of our beloved family here with us. The kids are overjoyed to see each other….strangely, we didn’t get any pictures of them all together today, but stay tuned…..
This entry will be the first joint entry by the blog writers in the family. Because we don’t have immediate access to the internet we will be making entries and posting later. It might be days later, so here it goes. After taking the train yesterday morning (Saturday the 22nd, Jim’s birthday) from Paekakariki to Wellington, then the bus from city center to the airport, we flew to Christchurch on the South Island, one of the largest cities in NZ. We stayed long enough to get a car, get some traveling groceries and go to the bathroom before finding our way to Lake Tekapo (teck-a-poe), the halfway point between Queenstown from Christchurch. I have never seen water that was the same green as that in Lake Tekapo. Apparently, because it is fed by a glacier that deposits granular rock into the water as part of the process, it stays closer to green than to blue. Because it was getting dark and there was a heavy cloud cover, we could not get pictures that looked as green as the naked eye could see.
We stayed at a backpacker hostel. It was pretty simple, but cool, because there were people from all over the world who liked the simplicity of being able to cook meals, sitting by a fire (wood-burner) and generally “roughing” it. Each of us slept in our own single bed in one medium sized room. It was neat, for sure, but what was even neater was the appearance of the Easter Bunny. She (if you know the book The Country Bunny, you’ll know that there are five Easter Bunnies, one of whose name is Mrs. Cottontail, who wears golden shoes to hop half way around the globe) came to Tekapo, left three clues for each of the children to help them find their toys and lollies, and didn’t wake us up in the night. She’s good! We had a quick breakfast in the morning and took off for Queenstown by 8:30 AM.
Because it was Easter morning (or perhaps just because this is New Zealand and there aren’t many people here!), we had a lovely, solitary, drive from Lake Tekapo to Mount Cook on a spectacular, crisp, early autumn morning. The morning began with low clouds hanging around high peaks and later cleared to a brilliant cloudless sky. We arrived at Mount Cook Village (for you Lord of the Rings fans, Mount Cook is the famous “Mount Doom”) before 10am and, after much oooo-ing and ahhhhhhh-ing, took a quick walk through an open field looking directly at a massive glacier. The kids kept saying “We’re in Narnia!”
It was a short visit because the day’s big event was to be meeting up with Cal, Lori, Emily, and Ethan, who had arrived from the States just this morning in Queenstown. We knew they’d be tired and that our job was to keep them entertained and awake until bedtime so that they could avoid jet lag. We finally got to Queenstown around 2:30 and went off to look for them at a café where they said they’d be. Suddenly I heard a familiar voice….”Carolyn!” It was Lori. After many hugs and ice cream cones, we all headed up the gondola to a spectacular view of Lake Wapatika and luge rides for the kids (including the Dads).
I’m not posting a picture of the Cal Harris family today, because they might not want their jetlagged photos shown to the world!!! Everyone has hit the hay now, and we’re looking forward to heading off to Te Anau, the starting point for our cruise on the magical Milford Sound. We are so grateful to have some of our beloved family here with us. The kids are overjoyed to see each other….strangely, we didn’t get any pictures of them all together today, but stay tuned…..
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