A Leap Of Faith

It has been a busy last week with lots of miles covered here on the south island of New Zealand. After the last post we were heading for Queenstown to see the sites and to see if the kids could bungy jump.

Queenstown is basically like Banff as far as the town itself with lots of bars, restaurants and souvenir shops. However, they have a tonne of activities for the adrenaline junkie specifically bungy which is the home of AJ Hackett (www.bungy.co.nz) who are the pioneers.

Turns out Elyssa is much too light but they told E upon his initial weigh-in if he drank a big water and ate a burger he should be heavy enough to jump. So he followed their suggestion and we even wet his socks but he came up just shy of the necessary weight. He was devastated and it didn't help that he had been sick for a couple days prior and had not ate much. So we decided then to head to Milford Sound and come back via Queenstown and try another other weigh in.

So off to Milford Sound we went stopping along the way. Milford Sound is a phenomenal stop to see the fjord but can only be seen by boat. It is amazing that the land can be formed by glaciers the way it has been with steep rock cliffs and 3000 feet of water beneath us. However, after the cruise of the fjord there is absolutely nothing else to do in Milford. So back to Queenstown we went.

Upon arriving back in Q'town we were able to meet up with Jacquie's parents who have been traveling New Zealand as well but have always been 2-3 days ahead of us.

It was bungy time again, and E was ecstatic to see he was of weight at initial weigh in but just to be safe he drank 1 1/2 liters of water, wore two layers of clothing and he soaked his socks again. Surprisingly his Mom and Grandpa also decided to jump (I have jumped here a couple times in the past so didn't do it). All three generations completed the jumps and were extremely excited afterwards. Jake said it was scarier than when she skydived.

It was time to go and we headed for the southern tip of the south island at the Catlins. There we saw sea lions, penguins, wind swept trees, sunken ships and the most southern tip of New Zealand. Not a very busy part of the world for tourism or traffic but it was definitely worth the visit.

North we then went towards the destination spot of Oamaru to see more penguins. This is where we again met up with Jake's parents as well. If anyone has ever paid to see penguins, we are told it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them come out of the water at dusk. However, if you were like us and watched them for free coming out of the water it was money well saved and very anti-climactic to watch birds waddle up a beach in the dark. I guess I prefer the larger marine mammals.

So off to Kaikoura we went which is home to whales, fur seals, sea lions, dolphins....we were lucky enough to see all of them from shore. We also took in an interactive sheep shearing demonstration. This is also the place where we said goodbye to Jacquie's parents after spending the last couple days with them.

Upon leaving we have pointed ourselves back towards our exit point Christchurch making stops at Hamner Springs and various surf beaches. One more post before we leave New Zealand...

Bye for now!