Our flight to Christchurh was 3.5 hours. Because we had cheese and nuts with us we had to go through a screening point. They checked the bags and sent us through another scanner where we had to get our luggage xrayed again. There was some confusion as we went through and we were held up at customs. Once we got through and walked out we saw someone holding an AAT Kings sign. We joined a few others and made our way past a few coaches and were told to stop at a small non insulated bus. Daryl and I both hoped that this wouldn’t be an indication of the comfort level of the tour! After checking into our hotel (our first of many hotels) we looked for somewhere to exchange our Canadian dollars. As dinner was still a few hours away we found a Hungry Jacks; aka Burger King. We walked around Christchurch before going back to the hotel for our introductory drinks and dinner. There were 39 people on our tour. 
We were quite worried that we would be the youngest couple. We weren’t even close. Daryl had already been downstairs checking things out and had secured us one of the last free seats. He had already organised our complimentary drinks and name tags.
We met a nice American couple, whom we ended up spending all of our time with at breakfast, lunch, dinners, and outings. The four of us got on very well together.
29 June – ARTHUR'S PASS
We took the Tranzalpine train to travel to Arthur’s Pass. The scenery was amazing. We travelled through mountains and bridges. Due to the time of year a lot of the lakes and rivers were close to empty. The tour guide (Julianne) advised that New Zealand was not in drought and normally has an abundance of water which flood in the spring as the mountain snow melts.
Our driver Tamati drove the bus to meet us in Arthur’s Pass. It was spectacular as we drove through the mountain!!
We stopped on the way to see some pancake rocks and blow holes. It was very beautiful and reminded me of Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. It was pretty calm that day so we didn’t get to see too much action from the blowholes. Our second hotel was in Fox Glacier. After dinner that night Julianne took some of us (all girls with the exception of one male) for a walk in the woods to find some “glow worms” (really maggots that glow to attract their prey). We walked through thick forest on a tiny path – Julianne carried a torch up front and Dennis carried a torch at the back of the line. If I had been asked to go for a walk in the forest in Australia I would have said no... New Zealand does not have any native wildlife (they farm Canadian deer). You don’t have to worry about snakes or killer spiders...which was a relief! So in a line we went all bundled up and giggling as we made our way through the dark forest. The glow worms were quite pretty and looked like fairy lights (Christmas lights for the Canadians...). Later on in the tour we saw more glow worms and they were absolutely spectacular. 
30 June – FOX GLACIER We took a helicopter flight over the Franz Josef Glacier and landed on the Fox Glacier. It was magnificent. Once we got to the top we all got out and took photos and played in the snow. I have to say that I loved being in the snow and playing in it. But I was also happy to leave it behind ;) It was the coldest weather that I have experienced since Feb 2007! And it was only -2 at the top of the Glacier!
1 July – QUEENSTOWN We arrived in Queenstown late in the day. It reminded me of Park City, Utah in the US. It was really pretty there. Our hotel was located 5 minutes out of town. Our room overlooked the lake and mountain. It was an absolutely amazing view! 
Queenstown is known as the adrenaline capital of the world and we had a full “free day” to do what we wanted. Because I am pregnant, I was not able to do anything ... Daryl went bungy jumping (it was freezing) in the morning and then we did a bit of shopping. We stocked up on some thermal clothing as it was pretty cold in New Zealand.
Later that afternoon we took a gondola up the mountain. It was incredibly steep and left us wondering how they built the chair lift to get to the top! At the top of the mountain they had luge runs which I was able to do!! They had two routes – a scenic route where you have a beautiful view down the track, the second one is a bit faster and more hills minus the view. It was a lot of fun. We took some pictures from the lookout and had some yummy hot chocolates while we waited for the sun to set. After we took some sunset photos we went back down the gondola to go for dinner. We went to a burger joint called “Ferberger”. The burgers were massive. 
2 July – MILFORD SOUND
Before we got to Milford Sound we stopped along the road at a place called Mirror Lakes.
Milford Sound was breathtaking. We took a boat into the Sound. Lisa and I ate our lunch while Alex and Daryl were out on the front deck taking photos. Milford Sound reminded me of our ferry ride to Powell River in BC and King Kong. But different at the same time! We saw some seals frolicking on the rocks. The mountains just came out of the water. It was amazing. Looking at the photos now - they can not do it justice. 
On our way to Dunedin: 
3 July – Dunedin was pretty. Daryl and Alex went to the Speight’s brewery and Lisa went on a boat cruise. I went for a walk around the city. 
4 July – DUNEDIN We had some time after breakfast before we were on to our next destination so a few of us walked down to the train station and the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. 
We went into St Paul’s Cathedral as well but there was a mass going on. It was beautiful inside with really high ceilings and wooden pews. 
We took a cab with Alex and Lisa to the world’s steepest street. It was incredible that there are houses built on this street. It would be a nightmare on an icy day! The cab took us right to the top (we had a time limit of 20 minutes to meet back up with the bus) and let us get out and take pictures. When we got back to the bus we were excited and told them where we went... that was our next stop on the tour!! However, we were not going to be there long enough to walk to the top and buses are not able to go up as it is too steep and would not make it. So in the end the four of us were quite happy that we made the extra stop! 
Our stop that night was in Omarama – which is in the middle of no where. It was pretty cold ...that night after dinner we went for a walk with Alex, Lisa, and Andrea to look at the stars.
Daryl got to witness a traditional Maori greeting between our driver Tamati and another driver. They greeted one another by shaking hands and touching foreheads.
5 July – CHRISTCHURCH On our way back to Christchurch we stopped to take photos of Mt Cook.
After we checked into our hotel Daryl and I went for a walk and had some hot chocolate and coffee. We had made plans to meet up with Alex, Lisa and Andrea to go for an anniversary dinner. We went to a restaurant called “Sticky Fingers”. Just after we finished eating the fire alarm went off and we had to evacuate!! It was pretty exciting!! When we finally got back inside they gave us a free round of drinks. We finished up the night trying to teach Daryl to play Euchre. 6 July – ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY IN PICTON Picton was beautiful. This was the last place that we stayed on the South Island. Julianne organized for us to have really nice room with a great view of the harbour. We had a card on our bed and some chocolate. One of the couples gave us a bottle of champagne so Daryl and I went to the store and bought some more champagne so that we could have a toast at dinner and share with everyone. We bought some sparkling grape juice for me and the two kids on the tour. My husband is very romantic and vocal. He made a very nice toast. The hotel gave us a beautiful dessert. The plate had “Happy Anniversary Tracy and Daryl” written in chocolate. In the centre there was a piece of cake with cookies and raspberry sauce and a bowl of ice cream. It was quite nice. We didn’t have our camera with us so we have to source a photo from Lisa and Alex.
7 July – WELLINGTON We caught the ferry from Picton to Wellington first thing in the morning. It was a three hour ferry ride. We saw some dolphins swimming in front of the boat. They gave us a quick tour of Wellington and dropped us off at a museum that was free. It was a beautiful museum. Before we had to meet up with the bus again, we went for a walk with Alex and Lisa. We didn’t get to see too much of the city but it was quite pretty. 
8 & 9 July – ROTARUA The drive to Rotarua took 8 hours. We watched “Whale Rider” – a New Zealand film about a Maori family. After we checked into the hotel we took a walk around Rotarua. I really liked Rotarua. We had dinner at a restaurant called “Matariki”. Dinner involved a Maori show. It was really entertaining. We were invited up on stage to join in and we got some good footage of Daryl and Alex learning the Haka. 
8 & 9 July – ROTARUA The drive to Rotarua took 8 hours. We watched “Whale Rider” – a New Zealand film about a Maori family. After we checked into the hotel we took a walk around Rotarua. I really liked Rotarua. We had dinner at a restaurant called “Matariki”. Dinner involved a Maori show. It was really entertaining. We were invited up on stage to join in and we got some good footage of Daryl and Alex learning the Haka. The next morning we went to a sheep show at the Agridome. The show was quite comical. Our next stop was Te Pia. We got to see geysers explode. Rotarua is famous for it’s thermal baths.
After Te Pia we went to do some adventure things.. well I went to watch Daryl take part in some adventure things! Daryl did the Zorbe, Jet Boat and Free Fall Skydiving. After we left there we did the luge which I was able to do!! It was a lot of fun. The track was longer than the one in Queenstown. 
After Rotarua we started on our way to Auckland. We stopped to see glow worms and caves. They were amazing and there were so many of them!! After the glow worms we stopped at a angora farm. And we saw a bunny get shaved!!! The lady came out with this beautiful fluffy bunny and then tied him up and shaved him!! He just lay there relaxed. Afterwards we walked around the store to look at some of the products... and the bunny just lay there stretched out and calm and then all of a sudden started shaking like crazy! I guess because the lady forgot about him and he didn’t want to be tied up anymore. He was a beautiful bunny! The have to shave the bunnies because they can die from heat exhaustion if the fur is left on them.
We got to Auckland late afternoon. We took a walk to the “Sky Tower” which boasted that it was the tallest tower in the world!! Negative!! The CN Tower is still the tallest tower ... we looked it up once we got back to Australia :)
We had our last dinner with everyone and said our good byes as we had to get up at 3 am the next morning to start our way home.
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