Flying business class was the right decision. After consecutive flights totaling about 18 hours Elke and I arrived in Christchurch, New Zealand, feeling quite refreshed. I am sure the Ambien sleeping tablets helped. Good sleep, no drowsiness afterward, great stuff. While browsing through the brochures at the airport info center, Elke discovered a cute B&B (Mariner Inn) in Sumner. Sumner is located just outside Christchurch, on low mountain, steep cliff terrain dropping to the ocean.

Since we felt so good, we first walked along the beach and later hiked the cliff trail to the village of Taylor's Mistake. The trail was rugged but the views were spectacular (sorry, no web pictures); lots of birds, and great rock formations separated from the coast by years of wind, rain and ocean abuse. We left the next morning, Thursday, October 14, for Mt. Cook, New Zealand's highest peak, and the Southern Alps glacier region.

We took this picture on the way, in Rakaia Gorge, and discovered that our little digital camera will not capture the big nature portraits. We'll include some pictures anyway. Otherwise you'll have to accept our word that New Zealand should not be missed; the scenery is stunning and the people are lovely. Except for very short stretches of four-lane highway in Christchurch, all the roadways were two lane. Driving on the left was no problem, and the twisty mountain roads were fun to navigate. However, they did increase travel times dramatically. We recommend a minimum of three weeks for the south island.

This is a picture of Mt. Sefton taken at sunrise from our room at the Hermitage Hotel in the village of Mt. Cook. All the snowy mountain tops were blazing in the early sunlight. The weather was excellent for our 1.5 day stay at Mt. Cook and for the first week of our NZ tour. Upon arrival in Mt. Cook Thursday evening we took a hike to Key Point to enjoy the majestic views of Mt. Cook, moraines formed from rocks left over by the receding glaciers, and milky blue glacier lakes left by the melt. The next morning we added a three hour hike across numerous single track suspension bridges to the Hooker Glacier. The lake was filled with huge chunks of glacier ice in the forms of swans, mushrooms and other objects.

After, we drove to the foot of the Tasman Glacier and hiked to the observation point which was ringed by four bright green glacier lakes. The glacier valley looks like a huge rock quarry stretching one mile across the valley, but upon closer inspection you can discover the ice face of the glacier. As glaciers recede they leave behind large amounts of rock and dirt called a moraine. Nine kilometers up the valley the glacier turned white. We would see this 20-mile-long glacier during our final excursion for the day: a fifty-minute plane ride above the Southern Alps region in a Cessna single engine airplane. A bit scary, especially when I noticed the fuel tank gauge was just above empty. Fortunately, there were no mishaps and the views took our breath away. The mountain peaks seemed to fly toward us. Endless glacier ice flowed down into deep valleys. A silent world very few set foot on. That night outside of Mt. Cook valley, we decided to camp. Big mistake! After a cold, clammy, uncomfortable night, we longed for hot coffee and sunshine. The latter we found upon our arrival at Queenstown, a quaint spot situated on a mountain lake. Obviously we did not camp anymore in New Zealand.

Queenstown is an excursion fantasy land. Whatever outdoor activity you are interested in, you can probably find it there. We stopped at the information center and asked an attendant about the "must-dos." She gave us forty brochures. We had to pick two during a two day stay. We chose white water rafting and an all-day hike.

We selected the Shotover River for the rafting trip. After clothing ourselves in wet suits (for water temperatures of 45 degrees) we rode in a bus up and down Skippers Road, a single lane dirt road cut on the side of the mountains, no guard rails, steep vertical drops, and two way traffic. In my opinion the scariest part of the trip. After a quick briefing we hopped in the raft with our guide Linda and took on the white water. We went through a series of exciting level five, four and three rapids and finished with a dark 900-foot-long tunnel leading into another cascading rapid. Great fun!

The next day, Monday, October 17, we hiked the famous Routeburn Trail. It was a beautiful day, and our guide Glen informed us extensively about New Zealand's history, the rain forest vegetation, and native and introduced species in NZ. The trail took us through a beautiful valley and up to a gorgeous waterfall. The left picture shows a typical mountain lake in NZ: crystal clear blue water at the foot of high mountains with little or no human population living around them.

We proceeded to Fjordland National Park, where we had booked an organized boat cruise in Doubtful Sound and a dive in Milford Sound. The rain began to fall Monday night upon arrival in Te Anu and stayed with us for most of the rest of the trip. Although we were hoping for sunshine in the fjords, we were assured by all the tour operators that rain is the more normal and more beautiful condition for this area. A definite bonus was the abundance of waterfalls. Hundreds of them came crashing down the sheer mountain faces. We also saw playful seals and the world's rarest penguin called tawaki (fjordland crested penguin).

The day of our dive in Milford Sound was also quite rainy, and the water very cold at approximately 45 degrees Fahrenheit. For so much suffering, we had hoped to find a greater abundance of fish and coral. The rain had increased the tannin layer (tea-colored fresh water dyed from the vegetation on the fjords) on the surface of the salt water, making the dive environment very dark. During our surface wait before the second dive we had a close call. We were viewing a waterfall dropping about 1000 feet when we heard a big explosion next to the boat. After a second hit we finally figured out that large rocks were falling off the mountain into the water around us. We quickly fled the scene.

Heavy rains darkened our drive to the west coast. We stayed that night in the cute village of Arrowtown and then crossed the Crown Range and Mount Aspiring National Park into Haast, a small seaside town. During rain breaks we hiked into the most amazing rain forests along the coast. An unbelievable variety of ferns and mosses covered the grounds and huge trees. The abundance of plant life was hard to comprehend. On my birthday we stayed at a lovely B&B in Greymouth, and ate dinner at a surprisingly wonderful restaurant (Cafe Collage) recommended by our charming Innkeeper Pam. It was like dining in Chicago, an experience we didn't expect in such a small town. The next day we hiked at the Pancake Rocks, a phenomenon of limestone rock layering on the coastline that geologists aren't quite able to explain. We also found a few hidden beaches between the cliffs, with the angry ocean crashing 20-foot waves against them.

We soon realized that we didn't have enough time to complete our desired tour of the south island. So we headed straight east for the coastal town of Kaikora and this beautiful B&B called Carrickfin Lodge, hosted by Roger Boyd of the Boyd klan of Ireland. Being entertained by this charming and extremely friendly man, a typical example of all New Zealand people, we had a most enjoyable stay. Kaikora is known for whale watching, dolphin and seal swimming, and scuba diving excursions. We managed only two out of four.

The whale watching was canceled due to stormy weather. We selected the dolphins over the seals. We had hoped to see seals during our dive, but no such luck. Swimming with wild dusky dolphins was nothing short of amazing. Dressed again in wet suits and and armed with our snorkel, masks and fins we were directed to sing into our snorkels and flop around in the water to entertain the dolphins and keep them interested. What a ghastly choir! Two or three pods of five to ten dolphins seemed to like it. They would swim very close and look right into our eyes. It was an incredible feeling to play with them in their natural environment. We dove in the afternoon in a small cove filled with a variety of kelp species. We saw a beautiful octopus and other marine life including a huge cray fish, a lobster cousin without claws. The weather was beautiful for this day, but the rain came back Tuesday ruining our whale watching plans. Back to Christchurch that evening, and a 6:50 flight the next morning put us en route to OZ, that being Australia.

New Zealand surprised us with its beauty, its relaxed, friendly people, and an abundance of things to see and do. In 14 days, we were able to see only a third of the south island, a sixth of the whole country. We are hoping to return in the future, to once again drive through the green valleys dotted with thousands of sheep, along the snow-covered mountain ridges and the rugged, desolate coast line hugged by endless thick rain forests. What a start! We are already spoiled with countless unique experiences!