Trip to New Zealand

We had a wonderful opportunity to visit Queenstown New Zealand. We got back a week ago and here are some of the highlights. After traveling for about 35 hours we arrived on Monday in time to eat dinner and go to bed. Tuesday we went on a bus to see the town and all around the surrounding area to get a feel for where we were. Wednesday we took a steam boat called the T. S. S. Earnslaw that was almost 100 years old across lake Wakatipu (the lake was about 53 miles long) to Walter Peak. This is a historic English sheep station. They have restored the farm house and it is surrounded by gorgeous English rose gardens. One thing I found interesting was that besides sheep they also farm deer and the cattle there are very different looking. That night we visited Arrowtown which is a nearby historic mining town. We went to a theme dinner where the locals put on a show. There was this man who had to have been pushing 70 years old. He was playing in a band with some other folks about his age. You know stuff like She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes ye ha! Anyway, about the time it was getting really boring there was smoke and the curtains opened and this young band of 20 somethings started rocking out on popular songs. This old guy gets an electric guitar and starts rocking out with them. It had to have been one of the funniest things I have seen to see someone in that generation playing rock music and doing it very well. It turns out that the whole band was made up of his kids and the show ended up being quite entertaining. On Thursday we visited Milford Sound. It was about a 4 hour drive from where we were so we rented a car and Jason got to drive on the wrong side of the road. Milford Sound is a place where glaciers have carved an area out of the mountains and the ocean comes in. We took a cruise to see it. There was a lot of spectacular scenery and waterfalls. New Zealand is where a lot of movies are made, the most popular being Lord of the Rings because of it's stunning scenery. On Friday Jason went fishing on a river with a guide while me and Savannah did a little shopping. Jason caught a good size trout and he was able to take it to a local restaurant and have it cooked for dinner. That night we took a ride up the gondola where you can get a nice view of the city. There is also this luge ride that Jason tried out and said was fun. Saturday we drove the car to a place called the puzzling world. It is this place that has a bunch of rooms and each room is a different optical illusion. It was really interesting. But the big finale was Jason went bungy jumping. New Zealand is the capital of extreme sports and there was a lot of crazy stuff to try out. Jason said it was fun but I was so scared I could barely take the video. Anyway, it was a once in a lifetime experience and we were very grateful to be able to go.