Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

We are spending Dec. 24 and Dec. 25 in Wanaka, NZ. It is a small town that sits on Lake Wanaka. The weather is absolutely beautiful here, and lots of people were swimming, boating, skiing, and laying out in the sun yesterday. It's such a crazy way to spend the holidays compared to the U.S. The Christmas decorations just don't seem to fit in with the climate.

Fox Glacier Helihike Adventure

On Tuesday, Dec. 23rd we did our first big adventure. We took a helicopter ride to the top of a glacier and did a 2 hour hike up on the glacier. The glacier is basically 150 meters (about 500 feet of ice) that has been compressed from snow fallen over the years. This particular glacier moves about 1 meter a day, and even 5 meters a day in the steepest parts. The pushing causes beautiful caves, ripples and water holes full of the bluest water you will ever see in your life! It was truly unbelievable. Fortunately, Fox Glacier is still growing despite the state of our environment. Here are a couple of pictures from the helicopter and the hike.

The Mobile life...

Our campervan is quite comfy, with all of the necessities of home. Everything's just a bit smaller! It's actually been really fun driving from place to place. The views are breathtaking, so it makes the trips seem to fly by. Here is a picture of a chance sighting on our way from Fox Glacier to Haast on Tuesday. A local shepherd was moving the sheep from one pasture to another and we had to herd them ourselves to drive past.
The other one is us at Arthur's Pass, one of the first National Parks that we went through on our journey.

Papeete, Tahiti

After the first leg of our trip was complete, we spent the night at The Sofitel (courtesy of Air Tahiti Nui due to our flight change) in Papeete, Tahiti. We got in late, but enjoyed a stroll on the beach this morning. Check out the view in the pictures!

Our "home for the holidays"

Well, it's not quite like our real homes, but this is what we will be calling home while we are in New Zealand. Of course, we will decorate a bit to get into the holiday spirit!

Links to the activities we are doing

Click on the links below to see the activites we will be doing while on our trip.

Hike the Fox Glacier:
Dec. 23 http://www.foxguides.co.nz/helihike.asp

Whitewater Rafting:
Dec. 27 http://queenstownrafting.co.nz/index.cfm/Shotover


Cruise of the Milford Sound:
Dec. 28 http://www.mitrepeak.com/cruises_pricing


New Year's Eve:
Dec. 31 http://waterfrontrestaurant.com.au/home.asp?pageid=C9B5600A1371BD05


Harbour Bridge Climb:
Jan. 2 http://www.bridgeclimb.com/default.htm

Preparations

Well, the week is already here. With everything else that is going on in December we are pulling together the final details of the trip.
What are we supposed to pack?
What in the heck are we going to do on those long flights?
How are we going to make it without Coco and Leroy for 2 weeks??
What are we forgetting?

Since our possible suitcase items include everthing from swimsuits to fleeces and hiking boots to nice NYE clothes, this will be quite an interesting journey.

We have attached just a few of the links to activities we will be doing while in New Zealand and Australia. You can also follow the map to see where we are headed.

If you following closely, here is a quick rundown of where we'll be and when.
New Zealand (starting out in Christchurch) from Dec. 20- Dec. 30 (flying out from Queenstown).
Sydney is where we will spend Dec. 30- Jan. 3