Kristin Laura

We had big plans for the day, but our rafting trip was cancelled.  Instead we drove into town for lunch and a bit of souvenir shopping.  Something I really like about New Zealand is all the outdoor dining.  I think almost every eatery we've been to from roadside cafe to brewery to fine dining has had both indoor and outdoor seating.  When it rains, people either come inside or get closer to the umbrella.  The outdoor wood furniture is made of local woods in rich red tones and is very heavy.  After doing a bit of shopping (a few of you are hard to buy for), we went to Atlas Beer Cafe on the recommendation of the girl at the bungy jumping gift shop.  You've gotta get the inside info from the locals (which she probably wasn't).  Shawn opted for lunch, while I had breakfast because I couldn't pass up a last chance for smoked salmon. Seagull taking a break on the giant kiwi sculpture Atlas Pork belly sandwich with Chimichuri sauce and ja...

We left Te Anua this morning for the the final destination on our trip...Queenstown.  The countryside near Te Anua is very barren and dry looking compared to the green rolling hills we've seen during most of the trip.  The hills are covered with short tufting grasses and smaller bush-like trees, but still you see sheep hugging the hillside with their heads buried in the grass.  The wind was very strong in the valleys between the hills.  Eventually we emerged into greenery again and travelled along a beautiful lake. Devil's Staircase Lookout Outside Queenstown, we stopped in Gibbston Valley for lunch and wine tasting.  The area is known for Pinot Noir.  Gibbston Valley Winery had a great outdoor restaurant and a cheesery (we could all use more cheeseries) along with their tasting room.  We were lucky to finish our lunch before the rain came again. Shawn had fresh blue cod and potatoes with chorizo, and I had mushroom soup, bread, brie...

At 7:00 AM we were standing in the rain waiting for our bus to Manapouri and our final destination of  Doubtful Sound in the Fiordlands.  We switched to a ferry to cross the lake, and then back to a bus  to finally reach Doubtful Sound.  The sound got its name when catain Cook got close to its entrance in 1770.  Fearing he would not be able to sail his ship Endeavor back out, he noted that it was Doubtful. We travelled through the fiords for 3 hours.  The rain was a curse and a blessing.  There are only a handful of permanent waterfalls in the sound, but when it rains there are waterfalls everywhere.  If it had stopped raining (which it did not), our guide said the waterfalls would be gone within 4 hours.  So we had low visibility with the rain and mist but lots of waterfall sightings.  The pictures do not do justice to the beauty and vastness of the fiords.  You'll just have to trust us, or better yet plan a trip! We g...

This morning we had breakfast at the B&B (hence the second B).  Our hostess Lisa was in a bit of a tizzy because she had forgotten the electricity would be turned off on her street from 9:00 to 4:00 today while they replaced wooden power poles with concrete poles.  She was trying to figure out if she should wake all the other guests and let them know, and she was also trying to figure out how she was going to get all the linens washed for the next  batch of guests.  Maybe running a B&B isn't as quaint as we thought, so we'll have to come up with a new retirement plan (just kidding Carol and Martie, we're not moving to NZ). The couple at breakfast with us was from Scotland.  They visit NZ quite often because their only child lives here.  About ten years ago, she took a gap year after college and travelled down the west coast of Mexico and South America finally ending in New Zealand for ski season.  Unfortunately, it was a bad snow season that ...