Saturday, May 29, 2010

This evening Coy and Tyler flew back to the states. It was so good to see them again and spend time. I thought you would enjoy hearing about a few things we did.

Boys at our Sims Flat

Coy and Tyler flew in about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, May 18th. It was a cloudy, rainy day that would plague us the entire time. But they told us at the beginning of this adventure… “if you wait for it to quit raining you will never do anything.” So off we went.
Because of Jack’s schedule, we needed to work around a few things. Jack had lined up a tour of a powdered milk plant. New Zealand exports a lot of milk but most of it goes out as powdered milk. The Lincoln professors were amazed that Jack could get into this plant. The students enjoyed it…we all did.

Drive from Hanmer to Kiakoura

The next day we were off to Hanmer Springs, a hot springs north of Christchurch about 2 hours. It was fun to sit in a warm pool of water while it rained down on us. The next day we headed to Kiakoura, a small village on the east coast where there are several seal colonies. We saw lots of seals, some you could walk right up to, but as the boys were shopping in the village, one of the shop owners told them of a hike where you could see lots of baby seals. What an amazing find! North of one of the colonies there was a hike up a creek, through rain forest type jungle. There were several baby seals playing in the creek. But when you walk up about ¼ of a kilometer there was a small pool at the base of a waters fall and there were about 50+ baby seals playing in the water.

Baby seals

They didn’t seem to be at all worried about the people watching them. Tyler knelt by the rocks and a seal came up and touched his hand. Jack said it was probably the highlight of his New Zealand experience.

Tyler and the baby seals

We came home to go to Stake Conference. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake. Elder Packer ended the meeting by giving the children of New Zealand an apostolic blessing. It was very prophetic and touching for the Kiwis.

Waterfall at Arthur's Pass

After Jack taught the dairy class on Tuesday morning, we left to go to the west coast. Floods had been predicted for the South Island so we had to work around them. It only takes 3 hours to drive to the west coast but you pass over some beautiful country. At Arthur’s Pass we stopped to hike the “Punchbowl”. It was a beautiful waterfall but the 335 stairs one way were difficult for the old parents. Tyler and Coy ran up and back in about 30 minutes. It took Jack and me at least three times that long. The boys were amazed by the transformation to more of a tropical rain forest that exists on the west coast.
We spent the night at Franz-Josef and hiked to the glazier the next day, up a wide river bed. We were all snapping pictures of the lush forest, the waterfalls, the wonder rocks and the large flow of ice.

At the Franz-Josef Glazier

Dipping toes in the Tasman Sea

We drove down the coast and enjoyed views of the Tasman Sea. Notice the sunshine. It was about the only sunny day the boys saw during their stay in New Zealand. Welcome to winter. We had a nice SUV which gave us confidence as we traveled.

Our car for our travels

We were able to get to Wanaka which is inland, an hour drive from Queenstown. Again, weather was directing our travels. Snow was expected over the pass so we stopped at dusk. Wanaka is a beautiful mountain town. We were able to watch all three of the Bourne movies in our evenings at the motels. It was fun.

Coy watching movies

The next morning, we stopped at Puzzle World and enjoyed the illusion room. Notice that all the lines and squares on this wall are even.

Even lines - Even squares

The Illusion Room

Several of the illusions found in this museum were used in the filming of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.

Puzzle World - Wanaka

We were able to drive over the pass this day to Queenstown. It had snowed and it was cold. Queenstown is located on a beautiful lake. It is the adventure capitol and specializes in things that make Moms very nervous: bungy jumping, skydiving, motor boat racing, etc. Coy, Tyler and Jack were able to drive the segways around the lake but the helicopter ride was canceled.
We ended our visit by going up the gondola to the top of the mountain. The view was breathtaking…the height was breathtaking.

View from the top of the gondola

We were extremely blessed with all the weather that was around us. We drove home in Wyoming winter-type weather. For those Kiwis who say that it doesn’t snow in New Zealand, they need to drive up into the mountains.

Driving back to Christchurch

Jack and I loved having our boys in New Zealand and showing them this beautiful country and the lovely people we have met. New Zealanders are so kind and will go out of their way to help you. They are very proud of their country…as they should be and love to share it with you.
We realize that our family will continue to change. We loved the short time we got to be together, to get away from our lives, our stresses, our responsibilities to get to be together and love each other again. We have the greatest boys. We loved sitting back and watching the wonderful adults they have become. Thanks guys, for coming to New Zealand to be together as a family.