So we have returned after our amazing (albeit, at times, exhausting) tour of the scenic South Island of New Zealand. We travelled for the last 2 weeks of February with Aunt Carolyn and Uncle Bob (on Bill's side), and I must say it was hard work keeping with them at times!
Here's a link to the photos... many of Carolyn's photos are in there, so if it was a good photo, it was hers! There are 204, so you might want to settle in with some popcorn :)
http://picasaweb.google.com/kersti.miller/NewZealand
Below is a summary of the trip's highlights courtesy of Kersti:
Sky Diving in Wanaka... You can't go to NZ and avoid the adventure! We were about to sign up for bungee jumping, but for $10 more, we could go sky diving. So, easy choice! I thought I would be more terrified than I was, but it turned out to be really easy-peasy. I felt more safe doing this than river surfing!
River Surfing... you wear a wetsuit, helmet and short fins, and clutch a boogie board as you go down class IV rapids. Yes, it is insane. It looked pretty tame in the brochure, but it was far from it! It was really fun, but of course scary. We went down the Kawarau River outside Queenstown, and actually went under the famous bridge where bungee jumping was first invented. A guy jumped off and dipped his head in the water while we were approaching the bridge! We did end up with some injuries... Carolyn nearly broke her foot, Bob paralyzed a nerve and I got the early stages of hypothermia. But we all thought it was worthwhile. Carolyn has nerves of steel so she wouldn't let us miss a beat.. we went kayaking the next day and hiking 3 days after the injury as planned, despite her ballooning ankle. :( Hopefully it is healing well. 
Climbing on Franz Josef Glacier.. fun! We went on a full day tour... which after all the walking to and from the glacier included 6 hours on the ice. Well worth it! We had time to explore the glacier and realize the enormity of it... so many nooks and crannies
Hiking the Kepler Track... we abbreviated the walk to avoid sand flies, give Carolyn's foot a break and to give us more time to explore other areas. So we went up to the first hut and then came back down the next day. It was really beautiful and we lucked out with weather. Oh and a note about the hut in the picture above... Would you call that a "hut"? To our pleasant surprise, it was more like a ski lodge with running water, beds w/ mattresses, gas cookers and a nice large dining/relaxing room where we met loads of other hikers.
Kayaking in Doubtful Sound... the fjord is very remote and hard to access, so very few tourists venture that way. The kayak was so peaceful and we felt so small beneath the towering fjord walls. Seals, dolphins, birds... really an experience. The company we went with cancelled the 2nd day of kayaking due to inclement weather reports. So we didn't camp out on the fjord as planned, and instead stayed in a youth camp, which is the only building in the fjord. So we felt like we were in 5th grade camp again and woke up to the most unwelcomed sound of banging pots and pans! As a result of the change in plans, we paddled two days worth in one day and then on the 2nd day, boarded a boat for an extremely comfortable tour of the fjord. Our elevated view gave us spectacular views of a pod of dolphins that came around the boat. The following day we drove to Milford Sound where we boarded another boat for a cruise out to the Tasman and back. I don't think we saw dolphins on that trip... but we did see some beautiful waterfalls from the rain that came down over the previous days.
Camping... we found fantastic camp sites along beaches on lakes and the ocean. And we had great times with Bob and Carolyn.
Wildlife... watching the penguins and hector dolphins at Curio Bay and the albatross outside of Dunedin were really special experiences. And of course all the other great animals... kea birds, seals, takahe birds, bottlenose dolphins, etc... Did you know that NZ has only one native mammal? It's some sort of small thing we never saw. You go into the woods and there is nothing to hurt you... no snakes, spiders, bears, cats, etc... amazing.
Beautiful landscapes... everywhere we went there was another beautiful something... lake, river, mountain, ocean view, beach, cliff, glacier... and so few people.
It was an amazing trip, and it definitely lived up to our high expectations. Carolyn and Bob get three more weeks to explore New Zealand, and they plan on exploring the Abel Tasman and the North island. Kersti and I are back at Ormond, with classes and work starting up. So we won't be traveling for a while, but the life at College I'm sure will keep us entertained!
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