Look who's back.....back again

This is my sister, Laura. She's my best friend. She will be traveling to the south island with Rick and me, so....... let the adventure begin.

Dunedin

The train station in Dunedin - really elaborate with stain glass windows and marble floors.

This is where we saw our first penguins - right down the beach from where we were staying.

Dunedin

The mokey bar - church turned into bar.

Near Aramoana where we stayed. At high tide you couldn't get to the house and the drive way was on the beach.

Fiordland at Doubtful Sound

We took an over night trip through doubtful sound, which was incredible. It had the most amazing waterfalls, wildlife of seals, penguins, dolphins and birds, and a calmness you wouldn't believe.

Doubtful Sound

Queenstown

How did Rick get us under here - looks like he just told Laura a joke - and she's actually laughing.

Sweetness of Queenstown

The Coolest Spot To Be....in Queenstown.....

Minus 5 degrees bar - only serving vodka! Yes, you need to act like a hip-hop star when freezing and wearing an oversized coat with fur. Even the drink glasses were made of ice.

Crossing Hooker Valley at Mt. Cook

Mount Cook

Mt. Cook at 3755 meters has the tallest peak in Australasia. Really incredible!

Icebergs on Lake Tasman

500 year old islands of ice.

Sheep Crossing

All trafic stops for the sheep crossing. Pack of working dogs used for the crossing.

Bollywood in New Zealand....Who Knew?

Our favorite little Indian restaurant in New Plymouth hosted a Bollywood night. We took our friend Donna and her husband Paul out for Donna's birthday. Lots of Indian food, dancing, and techno Indian music. That's Donna above sitting next to Rick. Make sure you take a close look at the Indian dancer hip hop style in the background.

Cambridge.....

...our new favorite town in New Zealand. Cambridge is a really sweet town. The main street and city center is lined with huge sycamore trees. The shops are real trendy and there are many galleries and New Zealand supported arts.

It looks bad, but its not.

This is actually just a test. Rick attended a PRIME training for work and one of the sessions was a real assimilated accident. They took a car that had been in an accident, put actors in it with fake blood on them and dropped the doctors off at the scene. The doctors and nurses had to stabilize the patience and do what they do best - all under extreme pressure. The ambulance and fire department showed up as well and joined in the exercise. The ambulance, however, was called to a real scene and had to leave, but the fire department took over and used the jaws of life to cut the doors of the car. It was like being at a real accident. I got to be the photographer and I was tense at the end of it all. Shewwwww.. they all did a great job!

Robert at Massey

We went to visit Robert at Massey University, which is about 2 1/2 hours from Stratford. The campus was really nice. It was lined with trees and had a park feel. The campus is just outside of Palmerston North. He seems to like it a lot and has made a lot of new friends.