large flask in middle of Christchurch at night

same flask

sculpture during the day. the sides are made of various leaves found on trees in New Zealand

Me, in front of the tree flask sculpture (Christchurch)

Cathedral Square, Christchurch

The Cathedral in Christchurch

Lake Tekapo, a glacial lake with the blue-est water I have ever seen.

This was right next to the Church of the Good Shepard.

Lake Tekapo

Ducks on the lake.. i don't know how they stayed warm. The water was frigid.

Right outside our hotel, in front of Lake Ohau.

I'm bundled up with some wooly gear I purchased from a small farm en route.

A small gold rush village outside of Queenstown called Arrowtown. This is the main drag.

There is a small restaurant on the left hand side which made the best veggie burger I have ever had. In general, the veggie burgers all around New Zealand were fabulous, made fresh, and always a different local taste. It was very easy for me to find food in this country.

At a random stretch of highway, VERY early in the morning. The air was delectably frosty.

Here you can see the frost on the long grains of straw.

Picture spot on the way down to Milford Sound. I see ?, ?, Rachel, Lyn, Julie, and myself.

Roseanne and Jennifer

Simon, Steve, Gabi, and Krisada

Marcus, Me, Hidei, Lisa, Simon, Steve, Helen, Carolyn, Julie, Kris

Andrea, Gabi, and Sarah on the Milford Sound cruise ship.

?, Lynette, Julie

Marcus, Julie, Helen

Sam wants to show us something

We finally got out of the shade of the tall mountains and everyone rejoiced

Sarah Harvey even decided to come up to the observation deck! Mitre Peak might be in the background.

Andrea decides to accost Krisada while Gabi strikes a pose.

Gabi's hair is flying in the wind

Everybody is sick of the cold and wants to go the main deck for hot chocolate!

Waterfall in the fiordland

All this is still in Milford Sound

Nice scenery while driving

Sam, Hidei, Me, and some random Canadians dining at the Skyline Restaurant at the top of Queenstown. President Clinton ate here when he visited Queenstown in 1998. I wonder if he also went bungee jumping.

The very long and narrow Lake Wakatipu.

The water level rises and falls at 20cm on a set schedule each day, and the legend says it is due to the monster that was slain and is now buried under the lake.

Random forest scene

We went on a wilderness safari...

...and on the way there a flock of sheep was blocking the road!

A farmer came out and started to shoo the sheep off the road.

This is apparently a frequent occurance in New Zealand.

One dog and one farmer were able to handle all these sheep!

After they pushed the sheep off, our bus could pass.

Confused sheep

Here we are on a jetboat. This area is where the Tower of Orthanc stood when filming LOTR.

Here is our guide, the crazy jetboat driver.

This water is also spectacularly clear, being runoff from the mountains.

Andrea, Sarah, and Kathy, bundled up

These mountains were used in LOTR.

I think one of them is Caradhras.

The water was remarkably clear. It is about 1.5m deep here.

Or maybe this one is the mountain...

A mossy forest.

Andrea, ma, and Gabi

We're standing on the waterfront in Queenstown with Lake Wakatipu in the background.

Gabi, Hidei, and Andrea. We had just come from one of the most authentic Mexican restaurants, according to Gabi.

We found this large stone Kiwi and decided it was a Kodak moment.

This was an early morning shot in the coach. Krisada is wondering what is going on.

Me, discovering the west coast of New Zealand.

The body of water in the background is the Tasman Sea.

Here, we begin our hike to Fox Glacier.

Fox Glacier

Our guide is the dude with the hat. As you can see, everyone (including Gabi) is paying attention to what he is saying.

Here is our other guide.

Sam, ?, Lyn, and Jess's blond hair.

Crossing a stream

Looking cool in front of the glacier

Fun warning sign

We were going up at such a rapid pace that this picture got fuzzy.

Going up through the rocks

A short respite so we can don our crampons. Renee is on high ground.

We venture out onto the ice.

A view up the glacier

Me and my walking staff

Closeup

We got up high enough that the ice wasn't dirty anymore. The pure blue was really beautiful. These crevices actually were 3-4 meters deep.

Hanging out on the ice

Sam and Phil. Looking back, we did come up the mountain a good ways, eh?

And looking forward, there is quite a ways to go!

Looking straight down into a crevice. Good thing I didn't drop the camera in there.

Rachel.. Tara.. Sam.. and others having a good time.

Hidei and I decided to explore a natural ice cave.

How deep does it go?

Sam takes his turn in the cave.

Walking back down to the rocky area.

Renee, caught in a moment.

Rachel, being pensive

Jess, in silent repose

Hidei, master of his domain

A few random Canadians

Walking back down the mountain

It's getting pretty late into the evening. Perhaps 5pm. It gets dark quickly in winter, of course.

I was sweating so much, I stripped down to my tshirt.

Renee spinning the rugby ball. Those Aussies are so obsessed with that game...

The gang, ready to party.

Seahorse at museum in Christchurch

another seahorse

Some ducks in a river, as we are traveling towards Picton to catch the interisland ferry.

I think we are near Kaikoura now.

Seals, laying out on the rocks at the shore in Kaikoura.

Some more seals

Even more seals!

Me, with Wellington in the background. It looks like the world is about to end or something...

Wellington is the capital of New Zealand.

Here we have Jen, our wonderful tour manager. Also there is Hidei, Florian, Meaghan, and Rah-shel.

Bou-bou and Meaghan

The gang in Wellington

Jason, the kewlest bus driver, with Rachel.

Rugby obsessed fools.

Lisa and Sarah

Girlies

Hesh and Lisa

Making faces

Sarah, busting a move. Sarah was voted to have "nicest ass on the bus."

And here it is, courtesy of Jason.

And here is Jason firmly grabbing Sarah's ass.

Marcus and Jason, with Sarah, Tara, and Lisa

Jason, leading us in circles around the streets of Wellington.

Jason and Rachel

Meaghan and Kylie

The streets of Welllington

This city definitely was the windiest metropolis I have ever been in. And I'm from Chicago.

This particular windy spot was right outside "Te Papa", the Kiwi National Museum

Hidei, trying to brace himself against the fury of the wind

Wellington harbor in the background.

An exhibit in the museum; Maori art.

This is inside a Maori meeting house.

Politicians and chiefs used to congregate inside these, for meetings, as well as for prayer.

The bright spots in the back are carved opals stuck on the wall carvings.

Anyone need a passport?

Yeah, yeah they aren't real.

Outside parliament

Another government building in the capital

A rooster

Another rooster

A peacock

A lamb

Rooster again

Meaghan and Florian getting a rest

Ok, so here we are at the Rock'n'Ropes confidence course in Taupo. I am standing on a single wire 12m above the ground, with another wire each for my hands.

It may not show in this picture, but I am in the process of completely freaking out. Notice that I haven't moved since the last picture.I am ready to come back down. The problem is that I am not balanced properly because my arms are too close to my body. Once the instructor yelled to me to straighten my arms, this became a whole lot easier.

Guess what this contraption is called. It's the "Rickety Bridge". What a great name.

The goal here is to walk straight across, and then all the way back, backwards. (and then back to the middle for dismount).

Backwards is a lot scarier since you don't really have an idea of how far you are from the pole.

Look at the other, scarier contraption in the back- one wire and a few dangling pulley things for balance. My group didn't have the guts to do something like that.

This is the trapeze. Climbing up and standing on top of this telephone pole was by far the scariest thing I have done in my life. The hardest part was moving my feet from the top rungs of the telephone pole, up to standing on top of it. My muscles just wouldn't extend for the longest time! It didn't help that I was sweating like crazy. The thing was swinging about 4 inches back and forth at the top, too. The second part of this mission, of course, is jumping off. The trapeze swing is about as far as it looks in this picture.

So I climbed 13m (42ft) to the top, and jumped out about 7ft. I was told that about 60% of the people who climb to the top, and jump, are able to grab the bar. It's easier if you are taller. I got it with a couple inches to spare in my leap. The adrenalin rush to end all adrenalin rushes. :)

So after all that rope climbing and jumping, it's time to get on a boat for some singing and drinking! Gabi and Kathy are representing the women...

And boubou and the Brazilian are representing the men. The task is to drink the beer, the wine, the weird looking shot, after each putting the glass on your head.

Gabi, being the heavy drinker she is, totally smoked everyone, and we can see her finishing the shot just about now. She won a bottle of champagne.

The bartender was defintely trying to get us all liquored up. I think Harvard tried to order some hoity-toity drink, Sam the bartender didn't know about it, and slammed a tequila in face.

Hidei, Mahesh, Meaghan

Florian has something to say.

Gabi esta borracha y baile con mucho gusto.

Rachel, Meaghan, Kyle, Kathy

Florian on deck duty

He just can't get enough

The food was fabulous too!

The bartender is at it again.

Here, Rachel is feeling up a willing Florian, while an Meaghan eagerly awaits her turn.

Florian reverting to his primal self. All the girls he swooned didn't see this picture, did they? I'm not really sure what Jason is up to in this picture...

Boubou, touching his own boubous

Meaghan finally gets her chance to service Florian. Jen, our tour manager, gives encouragement.

Rah-shel and the Frenchman

Oh oh.. here we are doing karaoke. Di you know that kara-oke literally means "drunken singing"? That is pretty much what we are doing here.

Tainted Love. That's what is on my lips.

Harvard decides to make an appearance. Jen is like "c'mon dude, sing like you mean it!"

Gabi thought she was going to sing LaBamba for everyone. By the time she realized she picked a different song, she was already up there and dumbfounded. Jen's got her back, though.

The New Zealand Girls Choir

Rachel and Meaghan are swingin it! Harvard looks like he needs to take a dump. Bathroom is outside, dude.

Rachel and Mahesh

Now here is a rare shot! Hidei dancing with both hands up! Woohoo!

Gabi and Rachel

Huka Falls, upstream

Same waterfall, looking downstream.

Craters of the Moon national park, in Rotorua.

The geothermal activity was so great, all this steam was rising from the ground.

Here, I am seen contemplating the rising steam

This was a huge crater with boiling water in the bottom.

Gabi wanted to jump into the crater. We had to hold her back.

A view of Rotorua from the top of a hill

Helen, Joanna, Sarah, Hidei

Jason and Gabi sitting on some very warm rocks in a geothermal zone. Hey Jason, you got a hot ass!

This pool of mud was so hot that it was boiling.

Man, this place smells.

New Zealand had some of the weirdest landscapes and rock formations. It was awesome!

Hot rocks

We went to a traditional Maori song and dance show!

Before mammals came to New Zealand, the natives had to make their clothing out of the native plants, some of which contained fiber. Flax is the main one they used for skirts.

Sticking one's tongue out in defiance is a way to scare the enemy.

The group invited a bunch of us onstage, and we learned how to do the Ka Mate Haka! Unfortunately I don't have pictures of this awesome event. Maybe someone else has some they can share. :)

Song and Dance

They started swinging these poofy balls, and they were glowing in the dark.

I was amazed at how well the Kiwi's treat their natives. The Maori's are treated with more respect than any other natives I have heard about. Many of the white people know some of the Maori language, and most of the geographical landmarks are in Maori.

Oooh, look at the cute little Maori children, who are up way past their bedtimes. :)

The Agrodome!! Here we learned about the nineteen different variety of sheep!

Here is our slightly fruity host, Steve!

He has a sheep stuck in between his legs because he is demonstrating how to shear it. Steve said they have sheep shearing competitions, and that the record is something like 600 sheep shorn in one day.

The sheep was shivering afterwards, but they say the sheep gets used to the cold in a couple of days. The hair grows back pretty quickly as well.

Here is a look at some of the sheepdogs pouncing on the unsuspecting sheep.

We made it! Hobbiton, or "the Shire." This sign is in a town called Metameta.

Good thing Hobbiton has a UnitedVideo. Otherwise, those lazy shire-folk wouldn't have any place to rent movies.