New Zealand Part 3 (Queenstown)

Wednesday morning we left for Queenstown. We only made one lakeside scenery stop along the way. I loved the way the clouds were hanging around the mountains.

Rolling into Queenstown on a drizzly day wasn't so bad. It gave us time to plan our next couple of days and the kids time to get outside of the clown camper for some much needed playtime.

Hannah was terribly disappointed. She had had her heart set on bungy jumping for weeks leading up to our trip and turned out to be old enough 9 kg to light. Devastated was perhaps the better word, so much so that she had a very firm conversation with the girl who weighed her about how unfair the whole thing was! She's completely unconvinced, but we do keep reminding her that being little will work to her advantage one day!

And then we packed into the clown camper and got some much needed rest for our next big day!

First up, a drive up one of the worlds most dangerous roads to Skippers Canyon for some jet boating.  There were 2 choices, we could have driven a few minutes from our campsite to the river and taken a tour on the iconic original Shotover jet boat tour. For $4 extra we opted for a family run operation (the still live up on this crazy road!) and got the tour of our life through the mountains and a jet boat tour. Everything is so expensive and touristy in Queensland it was nice to be able to get a bit extra for our money.

It was a seriously crazy drive. I got a few shots but most of the time I was too afraid of rocking the van over the edge so you'll have to youtube it yourself!

There were some amazing views of Queenstown the higher up we got. That's one giant farm in the valley owned by one family.

We got all rugged up and had an amazing, high-flying, screaming fun jet boat ride on the Shotover River and through Skippers Canyon. 

Next on the itinerary, zip lining with Ziptrek Ecotours.  4 zip lines through the forest all along side 

Luging fun and it all happens beside this incredible view of Lake Wakatipu.

Scott and I got in a couple of rides with the kids and then sent them off on their own. 

A couple of treats were had along the way of course. 20 different varieties of jellybelly's and 4 of the famous Ferb Bakery's cream doughnuts.

It was a great day. Sadly no bungy jumping, but we did get another rainbow :)

New Zealand Part 2 (Dunedin and Te Anau)

Our stay in Dunedin was brief but we found a gem - the Cadbury Chocolate Factory!

The chocolate factory was conveniently located across from a supermarket so we stocked up our mini-bar fridge and headed across the street for some treats.

We treated ourselves to a "made in Dunedin" collection of goodies. Over the course of the trip we personally taste tested them as a family.

Results:  Buzz, Chocolate Fish and Pinky were all hits. Perky Nana, Peppy Chew and Caramel Chew were a bit of a bizarre combination of flavoured marshmallow covered chocolate. Finally, Pineapple lumps was a definite "no".  

And then we were back on the road again. Final destination for the day: Te Anau. 

It was a short drive so there was plenty of time to get in a visit to the nearby Te Anau Glow Worm Caves

This was one of those tours that needed a scenic boat tour to get to the next part of the tour. Luckily it was one of the rare warm and sunny days so hanging out on the boat deck really wasn't too much to ask. 

The tour took us to the limestone caves past whirlpools and waterfalls where 1000's of glow worms native to New Zealand make their home.  An underground riverboat took us through the caves to see the amazing lights of the glow worms.

No pictures allowed so I borrowed this one from the Te Anau tourist website.

It was dark and the worms glittered. Did I mention it was dark? So dark I couldn't see my hand in front of my face. And in a rowboat. Disorienting and all, it was a fun afternoon. 

The cruise wasn't quite as captivating on the way back so we took the opportunity to snap a couple of family selfies.

The next morning started off early, misty, foggy and vaguely Lord of the Rings-ish and it was time to get started on the 120 km scenic drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound to catch our river cruise. In the interest of getting on the road the kids stayed in their jammies and we figured that since we were travelling in our house we could always stop and make breakfast along the way.

We were told that the Milford Road is one of the more dangerous public roads in New Zealand, with higher than average injury crash rates. Still we decided to trust our savvy Canadian driving skills and save the extra $100 a person fee to take one of the many coach busses into the Sound.

Mirror lakes was first scenic/brekkie stop. Lakes so clear and still that the mountains are perfectly reflected in the water.

Once the little people were fed and dressed with continued on with our aforementioned "treacherous"  drive.

The drive took us around turns and corner and across a number of one way bridges until we arrived at the Homer Tunnel.

While waiting our turn to travel through the tunnel I googled why this was was such a tourist attraction. Turns out it's 1.2 km long is only a single lane and the tunnel walls are the same unlined granite from the original construction through the mountain. I concede, it was pretty cool.

We were advised that the best way to tour Milford Sound was to take a 2 hour cruise through the fiord. It was spectacular. Still waters, towering cliffs and waterfalls and seals were all part of the scenery.

It was amazing how grey and misty all my photos of the fiord out towards the sea were, but when I turned around I got these beautiful coloured shots of the cliffs and waterfalls.

                  

Of course who could resist the urge to take a few more selfies while hiding inside from the rain. 

Poor Tyler got the short stick - mom would much rather kiss him than duck face for the camera!

The cruise was great, but not really up to the kids expectations as far as excitement went so we took advantage of the many beautiful tracks on our way back down the mountain. 

We even got to meet one of these cute little guys. He's a Weka, he's flightless and super curious which is why we found him wandering around the carpark checking out the tourists!

Scott and I finished off the night with a well earned hour over looking the lake in one of the holiday parks spas for hire. For an entire hour I forgot that I had been sleeping on the back seat of a car for the last week!

Next up...Queenstown and some highflying adventure!