Looking Back

Hello to the few folks out there still checking this.

Its been well over a month since we returned from New Zealand. We were on our trip for 6 weeks but it feels now like a blink of an eye - something so fleeting that it is difficult to grasp. As you know from previous posts it was an amazing trip, an experience that Julie and I will treasure forever. If you ever get a chance to leave it all behind and travel the world a bit, please don't hesitate. It's worth it.

When we last left you we had just completed the best (and by far longest) hike of our lives down in Milford. From Milford we boarded a bus for the 3 hr trek back to Queenstown. Queenstown is the capital of sorts for the lower portion of the South Island and has been made famous as the 'adventure sport' capital of the world. Here you can bungy jump, skydive, parasail, luge, jetboat, white water raft, and whatever other crazy thing you can think of. Everywhere you go there are tour operators, gear shops, and bars to get you drunk enough to do one of these things.

The other side of Queenstown is its lovely location - along one of NZ's largest lakes, ringed by majestic mountains (most notably the Remarkables, home of some of the best skiing in NZ), with plenty of parkland by the lake to soak it all in.

Unsurprisingly, Jules and I concentrated more on the latter part of Queenstown for the two days we were there at the end of our trip, while sampling the former. Check out the pics...

After Queenstown we flew back up to Auckland and immediately hopped in a car to drive up to the 'Northland', the dramatic spit of land at the tip of the North Island. This area is renowed for its beachs and sunny climes...and apparently its thunderstorms. We had constant rain while we visited, but hey it was still a good time.

The main purpose of our trip was to see the giant Kauri trees. These are the second most massive trees on earth after the Sequoias in Cali. The trees didn't disappoint - some were as wide as the biggest sequoias though not as tall. Just these squat behemoths. Pretty cool.

So in the raining north, which is supposed to be the sunny north, we ended our epic journey. We flew home with few difficulties, besides lugging the australian wine that Jules spoted at the duty free store. Keep that girl away from duty free wine, yikes. :)

...Now, six months later, trying to finish the post with a quick comment!

Hard to put a capstone on the trip which is why this post never got finished. A trip of a lifetime. Absolutely. A surreal dream, something that seems apart of someone else's life, certainly not the humdrum normality of our everday. Hmm, a bit melodramatic perhaps. So no more words.