Travel Update

Greetings from Queenstown, New Zealand!

After an arduous journey from Christchurch that included a snowstorm, several closed mountain passes, snow chains, and two nights in a tiny place that sounded like “Obama-rama” (or Omarama if you are looking for it on a map), we were thrilled to get here this afternoon.

The trip thus far has been a wonderful one - blizzard conditions and all. Christchurch was a terrific place to hang out with lots of cool eateries and bars, arts centers and museums. We were able to catch the Tranzalpine Railway from the city to Greymouth via the Southern Alps. The views were jaw-dropping the entire way. Aside from an all too short stop for lunch that required Mom, Dad, and myself to practically run down the street, shovel as much as we could down our throats, and haul it back to the train, it was a leisurely way to spend the day. Back in Christchurch we also checked out the International Antarctic Centre. It was awesome. While we were at the Centre, Dad, Jeremy and I put on some boots and jackets and spent time in the Antarctic conditions tank. It was full of snow and an ice slide and the temps actually dipped to -24 C. The Centre also had a great penguin exhibit! Visiting the Centre also helped us realize how close we really are to Antarctica. What a welcome change from Texas in the summer.

Our hotel here in Queenstown is really nice. It’s a pretty new ski lodge about 1 minute from the middle of the city. We walked to a bird conservation park today and got to see real Kiwis and a tuatara or two. Very cool.

A few things we’ve noticed about New Zealand are that they have very well stocked tea and coffee supplies in every hotel room, and everyone who lives here is incredibly fit. Since leaving Texas we’ve not seen a single out-of-shape person. When in San Francisco we noticed the hills trimmed the love handles off of everyone, and all the Kiwis seem to jog up mountains with regularity. Apparently, folks here can tell Jeremy and I are Americans as they keep giving us hotel rooms for the disabled. Also, all of the toilets give the option of choosing a full or half flush.

We are hoping to check out some Lord of the Rings scenery in the next day or so, although we are certain we’ve seen a few places already. This place is indescribably beautiful.

I'll post pics as soon as I can. For some reason blogger won't let me right now. Grr..