Day Zero.
Mom and Whit arrived here in Auckland at 6:30am on April 3rd from Hawaii. I had to work that day, so I didn't get to meet up with them until about 5pm that evening. We all stayed at the Skycity Hotel that night because we had to catch a flight to Christchurch at 650am the next day. That was about all mom and whit knew about the trip. I asked them a dozen times what kinds of things they wanted to do, and all I got back was "Oh, whatever you like, you know the place best". They may be regretting that now haha. Me and Terra went through what we had planned for them. I think they were really excited and very nervous for the week ahead.
Day One.
Everyone was a bit groggy, but we made it to the airport on time. While we were waiting to board we hear an announcement saying that Christchurch airport is closed due to fog. awesome. They took off anyway and were able to land just fine. no worries!
Once we were on the ground we picked up our sweet rental car, it was an old Toyota station wagon; we loaded up on snacks and candy then headed south to Lake Tekapo. After a few hours of driving we came over a hill and saw the brightest blue lake any of us have ever seen! We took a bit of a stroll along the shore then continued on to Mt Cook, which is the highest point in New Zealand. We passed a few more of these blue lakes as we went further into the mountains (we have lots of lake pictures by now). There was hardly a cloud in the sky in any direction except for one fat one sitting on the peak of Mt Cook, so we couldn't get a good view of it. We checked out the visitors center which was really beautiful and had heaps of information and history about the area. Once we found a trail map we took a short walk to a swing bridge crossing a roaring stream, the wind was really picking up in the valley and quite cool coming off the mountains, so we continued on to Queenstown. 
The roads started to get narrow and windy the further we got into the mountains and the sun was going down fast. Mom and Whit were still getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road and I'm pretty sure they were holding on for dear life. Finally around 8pm we make it to Queenstown and checked in to the Rydges lakeside resort (Terra got us a sweet deal through her work!) We ate supper in the hotel bar and watched some convention with people in their 70's dressed up like it was Halloween and party/dance/drink the night away. We were all shattered and in bed by 10pm haha. It was a long day.Day Two
Next morni
ng we woke up and looked out over the lake and Queenstown to a cloudy drizzly view. By the time we drove to town and had breakfast the clouds had cleared and the sun was shining! We split up to go explore the town and do some shopping for a couple of hours. After everyone (as in me) had enough shopping we headed to the gondola that took us to the top of a mountain on the edge of town where we had spectacular views!! There were a few other things at the top of this mountain other than the view. You can go bungy jumping, rope swing, luging and see a Maori Haka show. We chose the last two. Luging was first on the list - its basically riding down concrete paths on little plastic carts... at the top of a mountain. We had a blast zipping down the hill and by the end mom was even keeping up with us haha.
After a half dozen times down the hill we took a break at the mountain top cafe before the Haka show. The views were great looking over the valley as we sipped our mocha's. A few mins later the Haka show was about to start and they needed a volunteer to be "the Chief" to greet the 'Maori tribe'. No one stepped up, so the lady picked me! I had to stand up in front of everyone while the leader of the Maori tribe swung his Taiaha (a spear) in threatening ways in my direction. I was told not to laugh (or even move) and always look him in the eyes. After his war dance he placed a fern on the ground and I was to walk up and pick it up showing that I was a friend of the tribe or not. I picked it up right away... mostly cause I forgot my spear at home that day, otherwise we would have had a major duel!
After this the show went on with singing and explaining of the Maori culture. Then there was a part where they needed people from the audience. Terra and Whit were pulled up on stage and shown a few moves using the 'Poi' where they performed for us. It was a great show, and good to learn about the culture. Before we went back down the gondola we watched the sun go down over the valley, another great sight. That night we had a wood fired pizza for supper at an Italian restaurant and then retreated to the resort and bed... it was another exhausting day.Day Three
The 
next morning we were up early again because we had a 4 hour drive to Milford Sound. It had just finished raining and looked like it was clearing up to be another beautiful day. On our way to the car we saw the brightest rainbow any of us have ever seen! It looked like a painting that ended in the lake right by our hotel, we thought it was a good omen. Unfortunately the sun didn't follow us from Queenstown. A few hours down the road we came to the town of Te Anau where we booked a cruise around the sound and had a bite to eat. It was two hours drive though winding roads in the mountains and the rain was getting thicker. It was the most rain that they have had at one time in a year! We couldn't get a good view of the mountain tops because of all the rain and clouds, but this created thousands of temporary waterfalls which was really impressive. Eventually we came to a mountain face 
with a tiny passage called 'Homers Pass' that cut a tunnel through the mountain. The tunnel was 1200 meters long, took them 20 years to finish and felt like it was nearly straight down though the mountain! We came out the other side to find even more waterfalls before reaching the harbor. After a short wait we were on the ship heading out into the sound. I'm not sure if it was still raining or if the water was just spray coming off all the water falls, but after a few mins we were all soaking wet and gave up trying to stay dry. At a few points you could just barely make out the peaks of the mountains through the clouds and it looked very ominous. The captain of the ship got really close to one of the larger waterfalls and warned everyone who didn't want to get (more) wet to go inside. Me, Whit, and Terra were the only ones brave/dumb/crazy enough to stay out and see what the water fall was made of. It only lasted 30 seconds, but it felt like we had just ste
pped into a hurricane! We could barely keep an eye open for a second and anything that may have been only slightly wet was now fully drenched. After nearly 2 hours of touring around the sound we were back on dry land. Everyone else had the bright idea of bringing a change of clothes... I didn't have this thought and the only dry piece of clothing I had to wear was a hoodie for the 4 hour drive home. nice. We got home late that evening to some warm showers and dry clothes, then went out to an awesome Thai place for supper before heading home to bed.
Day Four
he west coast for lunch, and a quick hike to a gorge just in the hills. The gorge is known for its milky blue water, so we thought it was a good way to break up the drive. After taking all these side roads in what seemed like the middle of no where we finally got to the gorge. The swing bridge that crossed the gorge said "max persons 1" but terra didnt notice the sign and came running and skipping onto the bridge with me haha. She doesnt weigh much anyway, so we lived. It was a pretty cool place and really lush. After 30mins of exploring the area we headed back to town for lunch before continuing on to Arthurs Pass. The road through the mountains was pretty steep, we took a break half way up and noticed the car had a funny burning smell, but it made it through in the end, no problems.
As we were coming out of the mountains we were entering "Lord of the Rings" country. The views were beautiful and we stopped at a place called Cave Stream that looked like it was right from LOTR. Me and Terra had a quick battle to help Mom and Whit remember the scene... didn't really work though.After that it was a straight shot to Christchurch. The family that I lived with in Sydney were now living in Christchurch and had offered their entire house for us to stay!! It was really generous, and nice to see them again - Jonni beagle too this time! We all went out for supper that night to a little italian spot down the road and had some great food, cold beers and good wine.
The next morning we packed up the car and were just about to pull away when Whit noticed Charlie (their 6 year old girl) standing on the sidewalk waving bye. Steve and Charlie woke up early and walked over to see us off. So after we said our goodbyes and many thanks we had to take back our trusty ride. We had driven 2200 Km's in eight days, and it was sad to know that a big chunk of our trip was now over.
Later that afternoon we met up again and decided to go up the SkyTower for a view of the city from 220 meters high! The elevator ride up was actually pretty scary, it had a glass floor and doors so you could see the ground below as we ascended. We pointed out where our house and work was, and could even see a cruise ship just leaving the harbor. After we messed around up top, we came down and had dinner at the Italian restaurant we had our first meal at and went over all the crazy things we had done in the past week. Little did Mom and Whit know I wasn't finished with them yet.
n a platform a few meters off the ground. What fun is that? Again we were kitted out with full wet suits, booties and an inner tube that was sized just right to fit our bums though. We were dropped of at the mouth of the cave where they explained exactly what we would be facing. They said we would have to jump off a few water falls.... backwards, landing in our inner tubes. She said we would all have to do a practice jump as she was standing on the edge of a platform 10 feet off the ground beside the river that was only 3 feet deep. She warned us to make sure we jumped out far enough to avoid hitting the sharp rocks, and not to jump too high so that we didn't hit our heads on the cave ceiling. We all had looks of shock on our faces, how big were these damn waterfalls lady?!!?!? Then she pointed us to the smaller platform only a few feet off the ground that we would be practice jumping off of.... PHEW! That was until we hit the water! Everyone let off a stream of curse words as they landed, man was it cold!!!
next morning we were up early again because we had a 4 hour drive to Milford Sound. It had just finished raining and looked like it was clearing up to be another beautiful day. On our way to the car we saw the brightest rainbow any of us have ever seen! It looked like a painting that ended in the lake right by our hotel, we thought it was a good omen. Unfortunately the sun didn't follow us from Queenstown. A few hours down the road we came to the town of Te Anau where we booked a cruise around the sound and had a bite to eat. It was two hours drive though winding roads in the mountains and the rain was getting thicker. It was the most rain that they have had at one time in a year! We couldn't get a good view of the mountain tops because of all the rain and clouds, but this created thousands of temporary waterfalls which was really impressive. Eventually we came to a mountain face 
with a tiny passage called 'Homers Pass' that cut a tunnel through the mountain. The tunnel was 1200 meters long, took them 20 years to finish and felt like it was nearly straight down though the mountain! We came out the other side to find even more waterfalls before reaching the harbor. After a short wait we were on the ship heading out into the sound. I'm not sure if it was still raining or if the water was just spray coming off all the water falls, but after a few mins we were all soaking wet and gave up trying to stay dry. At a few points you could just barely make out the peaks of the mountains through the clouds and it looked very ominous. The captain of the ship got really close to one of the larger waterfalls and warned everyone who didn't want to get (more) wet to go inside. Me, Whit, and Terra were the only ones brave/dumb/crazy enough to stay out and see what the water fall was made of. It only lasted 30 seconds, but it felt like we had just ste
pped into a hurricane! We could barely keep an eye open for a second and anything that may have been only slightly wet was now fully drenched. After nearly 2 hours of touring around the sound we were back on dry land. Everyone else had the bright idea of bringing a change of clothes... I didn't have this thought and the only dry piece of clothing I had to wear was a hoodie for the 4 hour drive home. nice. We got home late that evening to some warm showers and dry clothes, then went out to an awesome Thai place for supper before heading home to bed.Day Four
We
were up early again because we had another full day ahead of us. Terra and I had booked in some jumps at the Queenstown Canyon Swing that morning, which is kind of like bungy, only twisted. Instead of swan diving off a ledge and falling for 30 - 40 meters then bouncing back up with bungy; the swing is a platform 109 meters up the side of a gorge where you free fall 60 meters, then swing out 200 meters into the canyon at 150km/hr, and you can jump off the ledge lots of different ways. Sounds like a good time! So first thing that morning the fo
ur of us were taken up to the gorge and we watched a family jump before us. Terra went first and chose the forward jump. You can see the video of it here. The guys running the place get off on messing with everyones head. They asked Terra why she had two clips on her harness while she was coming out to the ledge and mentioned one looked cracked just before she jumped! She let out some odd type of scream/yell as she fell, they said it sounded like a demented bird hahaha. I was pretty impressed that she didn't chicken out or have to be thrown off the ledge, but I was up next. I chose the chair option - video here. They strapped me to a lawn chair and set me up facing backwards to the ledge then toyed with me tilting me over the ledge a few times before finally letting me fall doi
ng backflips in this chair all the way down. It seemed like I was falling for about a minute as I heard the wind rush by and saw a blur of jagged rocks and bushes fly past as I tumbled down into the gorge and tried to catch my breath for a man scream. As I swung out over the river below I couldn't stop laughing... I had to go again! 10 mins later I was back on the platform and this time turned up the "crap your pants" factor a little more. I did the "Gimp boy goes to Hollywood" jump, I don't know where they got the name for it... For this one they attached a teddy bear wearing red latex to me then hung me out over the ledge. I smiled for the camera then put my feet up on the line with my head and arms pointing down to the river below. They started a count down for me, 5... 4... 3... then pulled the pin... i was thinking you fuuuukkkkrrrrrss as I did a superman dive headfirst into the gorge. I wanted to keep going again and again, but we had other plans after this, plus I'm not sure what else 
would have topped that!
They took us back to Queenstown just in time for us to grab some lunch and get on another bus that took us Whitewater rafting. Now when Me and Terra were planning this trip we asked about a dozen times what kind of things they wanted to do... they said that they trusted us to plan it. I am pretty sure Mom and Whit were regretting this now. We were taken to the end of the river where we were kitted up with full wetsuits, jackets and booties because the water was freezing!! Once we geared up they took all of us in two buses on this crazy narrow home made looking road through the mountains. Luckily I was on a different bus than Mom, cause she would have killed me (I forgot to mention the road of death, and basically described the whole thing as a nice cruise down a river...hehe). We all made it safe and sound to our entry point, Mom looked like she wanted to wring my neck, but there were too many ppl around. So you may remember me mentioning all that rain we saw in Milford Sound, well funny thing is, all that water goes to rivers... for example, the one we were about to go down on a rubber dingy. High water = fast water. We had a quick safety lesson on what to do if you get thrown out and if the raft flips over. For some reas
on the girls didn't seem to be as excited as I was for this, haha, it was more of a 'beat Nathan with these nice wooden paddles they are handing out' type of feeling. We were grouped up with a guide and sent afloat on the river. He showed us how to paddle and hold on, get down and basically survive the trip. Our first set of rapids were coming up and I looked back and saw Whit and Terra with blank faces and white knuckles. I couldn't see moms face, but I'm guessing it was similar. We took a few sets of rapids, managed to stay in the boat and their faces even had a smile on it. The further we got down the river the bigger the rapids seemed to get, we took a couple of huge waves over the front of the raft, but fared pretty well. Eventually we got to the last set of rapids. These were the biggest of the day, and all the guides were set up along the edge to catch anyone who fell out. Three boats went first, and two flipped right over. We could all see this from our anchor point, everyones faces were the blank 'Holy S**T' variety. We were still confident we could make it through, even Mom was ready to take these rapids on. About 30mins later some of the guides came back to us and said that no one else would be taking the rapids because it is too dangerous. I guess someone broke their leg and another kissed a rock with their face. Everyone was a bit dissapointed about not having a go at the last monster, even after hearing about the carnage happening down stream. It was still a great time, and I think the girls forgave me for making them do this haha. When we were back on dry land and out of the wet suits we had a steamy sauna waiting for us, and it felt so great you have no idea.
Once we were dropped off back in Queenstown we were walking down the street when we ran into Javier; a buddy of mine from Spain that I did the 3 day mountain trek with in northern Thailand!!! I didn't even know he was in NZ! I couldn't believe the chances of that happening. When we got home to the warm showers and beds there was no way any of us were leaving to go out. So I'll have to catch up with him when he gets to Auckland. It was another really long day.
Day Five
The next morning we had to check out of the resort and do some last minute shopping (me this time!) in Queenstown before heading off to our next stop - the West Coast. We stopped and had lunch in a small town called Wanaka. We were only there a few hours, but all of us fell in love with it. It was similar to Queenstown set in the mountains at the side of a lake, only with out so much in your face tourism. It was a really laid back place.
Strange thing happened while we were waiting for lunch too... me and mom grabbed a picnic table in a sunny spot while I talked to my Dad on my cell and waited for Terra and Whit to bring the food. We were sitting there for a few minutes when two people from this family of 7 sat down at our table. Then a few more came, and then another and they all started eating lunch and talking all the spots... like WTF?? I had to say to them "Um, Hi guys, we kind of need these seats and we were here first..." They looked up as if they just noticed we were sitting there and then all pissed off like slammed their food down and moved to one of the other 8 open tables right beside us... who does that?? This still blows my mind to this day and I had to share it with someone.
After we did a bit of exploring the town we were back on the road. Which turned out to be the wrong road, and also the first time we got lost. We even said to each other, huh, there aren't many cars o
n this road, but were enjoying the scenery too much to bother checking a map. Pretty soon the road we were on turned into a dirt road which led us into a cow pasture. Once we could reach out of the car and touch cows was around the time we assumed it was the wrong way and turned back.
We found our way pretty quickly, and made it to the first stop at Fox Glacier just before sunset. When we got there I was determined to sprint the 30minute walk to the face of the glacier before we lost the light. We passed a lady on the trail who said that there was a rock fall and you can't get to the face. I thought, well you walk over the rocks then lady... wimp! I soon realized it wasn't that easy. The rock slide was more of an entire side of the mountain collapsing over the trail and half of the river. We were only able to get to the view point a few kms away from the face, which was still some pretty nice views. We still had another 20kms to Franz Joseph glacier where we would be spending the night. Turns out that 20kms takes a while in the mountains. The road between the glaciers was some of the twistiest we had come across yet. With all this driving in the mountains, I couldnt help but wishing I was on my motorcycle touring around. My Dad would love this! Next trip I guess. It was a silent white knuckle ride in the back seat, but we made it safe and sound to our Backpackers hostel in Franz. A quick meal and a few beers later and we were off to bed early again... it was a long day.
Day Six
Up early again (you may notice a trend by now). This morning we were going to climb Franz Joseph glacier. We went to the glacier guides shop and got kitted up with thick wooly socks, heavy hiking boots, crampons (boot spikes) and a rain jacket. The sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day. Before long we were all packed into a bus and off to the terminal face of the glacier - no road of death cliff drives this time. We got to the river bed a few km's away from the face and had to walk the rest of the way, which looked like a 10min walk. The trail took us through loose river rocks and steep and narrow trials through the rainforest that crossed streams and sharp drop offs. 
Finally after about 45mins of walking in these heavy boots we reached the terminal face where we had to strap on the crampons and started up into the ice. We spent nearly two hours climbing up the ice passing melt streams and small caves before we started to loop back down. The trail we took back was amazing and by far the best part! 
There were towering and narrow crevases to slip though, walls of blue ice, and tiny waterfalls where me and Whit filled up our water bottles - it was the purest water I've ever tasted, and tasted much better than the water that was already in the bottles. We reached the bottom and hiked back to the bus that took us back to town. The whole excursion took us just over 6 hours to get our gear, get to the glacier, climb a quarter of the way up and then get back to town. Everyone was completly exhausted and in need of some TLC (booze), so we went to some hot pools down the road from our hostel. It was a beautiful place set out doors in the rainforest
with naturally heated pools. It was exactly what everyone needed. We finished the night off with a few cold beers and a tastey meal. Bunk beds never felt so good.
Day Seven
Today we were completing the loop and heading back to Christchurch. We stopped in Hokitika, a town along t
were up early again because we had another full day ahead of us. Terra and I had booked in some jumps at the Queenstown Canyon Swing that morning, which is kind of like bungy, only twisted. Instead of swan diving off a ledge and falling for 30 - 40 meters then bouncing back up with bungy; the swing is a platform 109 meters up the side of a gorge where you free fall 60 meters, then swing out 200 meters into the canyon at 150km/hr, and you can jump off the ledge lots of different ways. Sounds like a good time! So first thing that morning the fo
ur of us were taken up to the gorge and we watched a family jump before us. Terra went first and chose the forward jump. You can see the video of it here. The guys running the place get off on messing with everyones head. They asked Terra why she had two clips on her harness while she was coming out to the ledge and mentioned one looked cracked just before she jumped! She let out some odd type of scream/yell as she fell, they said it sounded like a demented bird hahaha. I was pretty impressed that she didn't chicken out or have to be thrown off the ledge, but I was up next. I chose the chair option - video here. They strapped me to a lawn chair and set me up facing backwards to the ledge then toyed with me tilting me over the ledge a few times before finally letting me fall doi
ng backflips in this chair all the way down. It seemed like I was falling for about a minute as I heard the wind rush by and saw a blur of jagged rocks and bushes fly past as I tumbled down into the gorge and tried to catch my breath for a man scream. As I swung out over the river below I couldn't stop laughing... I had to go again! 10 mins later I was back on the platform and this time turned up the "crap your pants" factor a little more. I did the "Gimp boy goes to Hollywood" jump, I don't know where they got the name for it... For this one they attached a teddy bear wearing red latex to me then hung me out over the ledge. I smiled for the camera then put my feet up on the line with my head and arms pointing down to the river below. They started a count down for me, 5... 4... 3... then pulled the pin... i was thinking you fuuuukkkkrrrrrss as I did a superman dive headfirst into the gorge. I wanted to keep going again and again, but we had other plans after this, plus I'm not sure what else 
would have topped that!They took us back to Queenstown just in time for us to grab some lunch and get on another bus that took us Whitewater rafting. Now when Me and Terra were planning this trip we asked about a dozen times what kind of things they wanted to do... they said that they trusted us to plan it. I am pretty sure Mom and Whit were regretting this now. We were taken to the end of the river where we were kitted up with full wetsuits, jackets and booties because the water was freezing!! Once we geared up they took all of us in two buses on this crazy narrow home made looking road through the mountains. Luckily I was on a different bus than Mom, cause she would have killed me (I forgot to mention the road of death, and basically described the whole thing as a nice cruise down a river...hehe). We all made it safe and sound to our entry point, Mom looked like she wanted to wring my neck, but there were too many ppl around. So you may remember me mentioning all that rain we saw in Milford Sound, well funny thing is, all that water goes to rivers... for example, the one we were about to go down on a rubber dingy. High water = fast water. We had a quick safety lesson on what to do if you get thrown out and if the raft flips over. For some reas
on the girls didn't seem to be as excited as I was for this, haha, it was more of a 'beat Nathan with these nice wooden paddles they are handing out' type of feeling. We were grouped up with a guide and sent afloat on the river. He showed us how to paddle and hold on, get down and basically survive the trip. Our first set of rapids were coming up and I looked back and saw Whit and Terra with blank faces and white knuckles. I couldn't see moms face, but I'm guessing it was similar. We took a few sets of rapids, managed to stay in the boat and their faces even had a smile on it. The further we got down the river the bigger the rapids seemed to get, we took a couple of huge waves over the front of the raft, but fared pretty well. Eventually we got to the last set of rapids. These were the biggest of the day, and all the guides were set up along the edge to catch anyone who fell out. Three boats went first, and two flipped right over. We could all see this from our anchor point, everyones faces were the blank 'Holy S**T' variety. We were still confident we could make it through, even Mom was ready to take these rapids on. About 30mins later some of the guides came back to us and said that no one else would be taking the rapids because it is too dangerous. I guess someone broke their leg and another kissed a rock with their face. Everyone was a bit dissapointed about not having a go at the last monster, even after hearing about the carnage happening down stream. It was still a great time, and I think the girls forgave me for making them do this haha. When we were back on dry land and out of the wet suits we had a steamy sauna waiting for us, and it felt so great you have no idea.Once we were dropped off back in Queenstown we were walking down the street when we ran into Javier; a buddy of mine from Spain that I did the 3 day mountain trek with in northern Thailand!!! I didn't even know he was in NZ! I couldn't believe the chances of that happening. When we got home to the warm showers and beds there was no way any of us were leaving to go out. So I'll have to catch up with him when he gets to Auckland. It was another really long day.
Day Five
The next morning we had to check out of the resort and do some last minute shopping (me this time!) in Queenstown before heading off to our next stop - the West Coast. We stopped and had lunch in a small town called Wanaka. We were only there a few hours, but all of us fell in love with it. It was similar to Queenstown set in the mountains at the side of a lake, only with out so much in your face tourism. It was a really laid back place.
Strange thing happened while we were waiting for lunch too... me and mom grabbed a picnic table in a sunny spot while I talked to my Dad on my cell and waited for Terra and Whit to bring the food. We were sitting there for a few minutes when two people from this family of 7 sat down at our table. Then a few more came, and then another and they all started eating lunch and talking all the spots... like WTF?? I had to say to them "Um, Hi guys, we kind of need these seats and we were here first..." They looked up as if they just noticed we were sitting there and then all pissed off like slammed their food down and moved to one of the other 8 open tables right beside us... who does that?? This still blows my mind to this day and I had to share it with someone.After we did a bit of exploring the town we were back on the road. Which turned out to be the wrong road, and also the first time we got lost. We even said to each other, huh, there aren't many cars o
n this road, but were enjoying the scenery too much to bother checking a map. Pretty soon the road we were on turned into a dirt road which led us into a cow pasture. Once we could reach out of the car and touch cows was around the time we assumed it was the wrong way and turned back.We found our way pretty quickly, and made it to the first stop at Fox Glacier just before sunset. When we got there I was determined to sprint the 30minute walk to the face of the glacier before we lost the light. We passed a lady on the trail who said that there was a rock fall and you can't get to the face. I thought, well you walk over the rocks then lady... wimp! I soon realized it wasn't that easy. The rock slide was more of an entire side of the mountain collapsing over the trail and half of the river. We were only able to get to the view point a few kms away from the face, which was still some pretty nice views. We still had another 20kms to Franz Joseph glacier where we would be spending the night. Turns out that 20kms takes a while in the mountains. The road between the glaciers was some of the twistiest we had come across yet. With all this driving in the mountains, I couldnt help but wishing I was on my motorcycle touring around. My Dad would love this! Next trip I guess. It was a silent white knuckle ride in the back seat, but we made it safe and sound to our Backpackers hostel in Franz. A quick meal and a few beers later and we were off to bed early again... it was a long day.
Day Six
Up early again (you may notice a trend by now). This morning we were going to climb Franz Joseph glacier. We went to the glacier guides shop and got kitted up with thick wooly socks, heavy hiking boots, crampons (boot spikes) and a rain jacket. The sun was shining and it was going to be a beautiful day. Before long we were all packed into a bus and off to the terminal face of the glacier - no road of death cliff drives this time. We got to the river bed a few km's away from the face and had to walk the rest of the way, which looked like a 10min walk. The trail took us through loose river rocks and steep and narrow trials through the rainforest that crossed streams and sharp drop offs. 
Finally after about 45mins of walking in these heavy boots we reached the terminal face where we had to strap on the crampons and started up into the ice. We spent nearly two hours climbing up the ice passing melt streams and small caves before we started to loop back down. The trail we took back was amazing and by far the best part! 
There were towering and narrow crevases to slip though, walls of blue ice, and tiny waterfalls where me and Whit filled up our water bottles - it was the purest water I've ever tasted, and tasted much better than the water that was already in the bottles. We reached the bottom and hiked back to the bus that took us back to town. The whole excursion took us just over 6 hours to get our gear, get to the glacier, climb a quarter of the way up and then get back to town. Everyone was completly exhausted and in need of some TLC (booze), so we went to some hot pools down the road from our hostel. It was a beautiful place set out doors in the rainforest
with naturally heated pools. It was exactly what everyone needed. We finished the night off with a few cold beers and a tastey meal. Bunk beds never felt so good.Day Seven
he west coast for lunch, and a quick hike to a gorge just in the hills. The gorge is known for its milky blue water, so we thought it was a good way to break up the drive. After taking all these side roads in what seemed like the middle of no where we finally got to the gorge. The swing bridge that crossed the gorge said "max persons 1" but terra didnt notice the sign and came running and skipping onto the bridge with me haha. She doesnt weigh much anyway, so we lived. It was a pretty cool place and really lush. After 30mins of exploring the area we headed back to town for lunch before continuing on to Arthurs Pass. The road through the mountains was pretty steep, we took a break half way up and noticed the car had a funny burning smell, but it made it through in the end, no problems.
As we were coming out of the mountains we were entering "Lord of the Rings" country. The views were beautiful and we stopped at a place called Cave Stream that looked like it was right from LOTR. Me and Terra had a quick battle to help Mom and Whit remember the scene... didn't really work though.The next morning Toni and Steve took us to a local market near the city center. After the market we checked out a bit more of the city center on our own before we hopped in the car to see how lost we could get. We came across a huge mall that was busier than any mall I've seen even at christmas. It took me nearly 2 hours to get all 3 girls rounded up and out of there! We went to Hagley park afterwards to check out the botanical gardens and lay in the sun on a nice patch of grass we found and snuck in a quick nap. Once the sunny bits of grass were all gone we decided to check out a movie, Mom was really pumped for it once she found out that you can order wine and beer in the theater!
After the movie we managed to get un-lost and ended up back home. We dropped mom and Whit off at the house and met up with Toni and Steve at Dux de Lux bar in the city. Their butcher invited them to his gig that night. I guess he is something like an Elvis impersonator, only different. Same Same, but different, as they say in Thailand. He walked out on stage wearing a white diamond covered blouse and black flared spandex pants, with a wicked handle bar moustache. His own interpretaion of what elvis would be like today i guess... The guitar was excellent, and the lyrics hillarious, but he never broke a smile and was totally into it. Eventually the shirt came off revealing an open back, V cut spandex body suit. I thought it was funny stuff, and really entertaining. I think Terra was mostly scared from it all. It was a fun night, and good to have a couple more beers with Toni and Steve before we left in the morning.
Day Eight
The next morning we packed up the car and were just about to pull away when Whit noticed Charlie (their 6 year old girl) standing on the sidewalk waving bye. Steve and Charlie woke up early and walked over to see us off. So after we said our goodbyes and many thanks we had to take back our trusty ride. We had driven 2200 Km's in eight days, and it was sad to know that a big chunk of our trip was now over.We got to the airport an hour and a half early and went to check in. The lady said that the flight was already closed, but was able to squeeze us in, only if we ran quickly to the international terminal. We were all a bit panicked/confused by this and rushed over and got through security, then ran to the gate only to find no one there... We still had an hour to wait before we could even board the plane, plus the flight was delayed! Thanks for the heart attack lady!
That afternoon we arrived in Auckland and picked up our second rental car. It was a little Mitsubishi Lancer that had a bit more kick than our wagon! Mom and Whit checked into the hotel and we went home and gave our bed a big hug.
Later that afternoon we met up again and decided to go up the SkyTower for a view of the city from 220 meters high! The elevator ride up was actually pretty scary, it had a glass floor and doors so you could see the ground below as we ascended. We pointed out where our house and work was, and could even see a cruise ship just leaving the harbor. After we messed around up top, we came down and had dinner at the Italian restaurant we had our first meal at and went over all the crazy things we had done in the past week. Little did Mom and Whit know I wasn't finished with them yet.Day Nine
This was our last full day all together, so I wanted to make it count. We drove 2 hours south of Auckland to Waitomo where we would be doing Blackwater rafting. This is kindof like white water rafting, only you sit on an inner tube and float down a stream through a cave. Sounds simple enough, and thats pretty much all the details I gave them haha. Turns out there is a bit more too it than that. The caves there are famous for its glow worms that line the ceiling, and most people come to see them by walking through the entrance and standing o
n a platform a few meters off the ground. What fun is that? Again we were kitted out with full wet suits, booties and an inner tube that was sized just right to fit our bums though. We were dropped of at the mouth of the cave where they explained exactly what we would be facing. They said we would have to jump off a few water falls.... backwards, landing in our inner tubes. She said we would all have to do a practice jump as she was standing on the edge of a platform 10 feet off the ground beside the river that was only 3 feet deep. She warned us to make sure we jumped out far enough to avoid hitting the sharp rocks, and not to jump too high so that we didn't hit our heads on the cave ceiling. We all had looks of shock on our faces, how big were these damn waterfalls lady?!!?!? Then she pointed us to the smaller platform only a few feet off the ground that we would be practice jumping off of.... PHEW! That was until we hit the water! Everyone let off a stream of curse words as they landed, man was it cold!!!After our practice jumps we were off to the mouth of the cave. I
t was a narrow bit that you had to squeeze through and climb down into. I'm sure mom was looking for a large rock to bash me with, it wasnt exactly the nice easy cruise down a stream with pretty lights on the ceiling that I had painted... haha. We navigated our way though the cave following the stream and came to a part so narrow that you had to lay flat across the tube and tilt your head so that it would fit between the cave and the water. I was going through this part right when one of the guides slammed his tube down making a huge booming thunder noise through the cave. I thought the place was coming down and nearly crapped my wetsuit... everyone else saw him do this but me... bastard.
t was a narrow bit that you had to squeeze through and climb down into. I'm sure mom was looking for a large rock to bash me with, it wasnt exactly the nice easy cruise down a stream with pretty lights on the ceiling that I had painted... haha. We navigated our way though the cave following the stream and came to a part so narrow that you had to lay flat across the tube and tilt your head so that it would fit between the cave and the water. I was going through this part right when one of the guides slammed his tube down making a huge booming thunder noise through the cave. I thought the place was coming down and nearly crapped my wetsuit... everyone else saw him do this but me... bastard.We came to our first waterfall and all lined up to jump off it ass first. We all did pretty good and the cold water wasn't so bad anymore... mostly because we were numb. From here we could see the first glow worms and got a nice close up view. It looked like stars in the sky, but we were warned to watch out for 'falling stars', because the glowing bit is actually their poop. This was the cruising bit and we floated down the stream looking at the glowing worms above. Before long we came to another waterfall... same drill as before. After a while we came near the end where the guides wanted to play a little game called find your own way out, the only rule was you can't turn your light on or you lose and had to walk ba
ck to the shop. Nice guys haha. While we were finding our way out I was hit in the face with a falling star, awesome lol. Eventually we found our way out and into the daylight. This is when Terra and Whit noticed that the falling star was still stuck on my face... Whit dry heaved while Terra helped me get it off my face haha.
ck to the shop. Nice guys haha. While we were finding our way out I was hit in the face with a falling star, awesome lol. Eventually we found our way out and into the daylight. This is when Terra and Whit noticed that the falling star was still stuck on my face... Whit dry heaved while Terra helped me get it off my face haha. We had nice hot showers, tomato soup and a toasted bagel waiting for us when we got back. It was an awesome experience and I think everyone was pretty satisfied with what they just put themselves through.
We drove home that night and had a relaxing dinner at our place as we went through some of the pictures and video from the trip over a few glasses of wine.
Day Ten - Homeward Bound
Today was our last day together in New Zealand. The girls went and did some last minute shopping at the Victoria park markets and hit up a few shops on Queen street. The sun was out, and it turned out to be a nice day so we headed for Piha Beach just outside of the city. One last winding road through the mountains for fun. We chilled out on the beach for a few hours before heading back to the city for supper. It all went by pretty quick and before long we had to drop Mom and Whit off at the airport for their 22 hour journey home. It was harder than I thought to say goodbye to them, usually I am the one doing the leaving! It was an awesome trip, full of adventures, and beautiful scenery, one that none of us will ever forget. So.
Who's coming next then??
Nate.
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