Milford Sound (via Queenstown)

From Christchurch we journeyed to Queenstown, an incredible resort town known for great skiing and extreme adventure.

Our first full day we were scheduled to fly from Queenstown to Milford Sound, cruise around the sound and then fly back home. Ballers! It's quite a drive from Queenstown to the Sound and I'd heard incredible things about the flight (plus a HUGE time saver). It took a lot (A LOT) of convincing to get 5/6 of us on board that plane (with the other 1/6 opting instead to golf with no regrets!). Flights are able to operate about 200 days / year, so they like you to book in for your first full day in Queenstown. That way if weather cancels your trip there's still flexibility to go another day.

Milford Sound is an easy-to-miss-from-the-sea fiord having initially been overlooked by European explorers and Captain James Cook. Its narrow entry from the sea doesn't appear to lead to such a large interior bay. Milford Sound is known for towering Mitre Peak, plus rainforests and waterfalls like Stirling and Bowen falls, which plummet down its sheer sides. The fiord is home to fur seal colonies, penguins and dolphins.

Our pilot told us the cruise around the Sound would be lovely but in reality, the flight would be the most spectacular part. I could not agree more!

We scored with weather! We had the most spectacular clear skies and calm winds on our way to Milford Sound. Our pilot happily noted they get two days / year like that. I will never in my life be able to describe in words the beautiful, pristine, untouched incredibleness we saw from the sky and sea.

Our 16-seater plane!

View from inside the plane

Aaron and the boys on the 3-seat couch at the back of the plane

That other plane was our pilot's dad and his passengers

And some from the cruise!

Beautiful sights from the cruise

Seal rock 

It was a bit chilly on the Sound!

With my mini-me

We snagged some American goldfish crackers at a local shop! And the boys totally represented their American roots with their Detroit sports team gear <3. 

The flight back to Queenstown wasn't nearly as smooth but it was equally as beautiful. Nani even got to fly co-pilot on the way back!

While 5/6 of us did the fly-cruise-fly day, Papi chose to tackle the Queenstown Golf Club! He was thrilled to have the opportunity to play such a beautiful course. We missed him, but we were all happy that everyone found special activities that suited them!

This was only one day in Queenstown. Lots more about Queenstown and surrounding towns next...!

Christchurch

Aaron's parents visited us for a lot of the summer and we adventured all around the region, including New Zealand.

Thanks for the map, Lonely Planet

After Auckland, we flew to the South island to spend a few days in Christchurch. In 2010 and 2011, earthquakes destroyed much of the historic city. Fifteen-hundred buildings had to be demolished and tremendous infrastructure repairs were required to put Christchurch back to operational. A massive rebuilding effort continues still -- it was beautiful to feel the spirit of this small city.

After he got over his brief infatuation with Papua New Guinea, Antarctica captured Micah's heart and imagination. It has held strong. Christchurch is one of the world's five gateway cities to Antarctica and hosts an International Antarctic Centre. Wow! We survived an Antarctic storm simulation, learned about early explorations in Antartica and today's Scott Base, saw Antarctic penguins, rode in a Hagglund and more.

The boys inside the Antarctic storm simulation room testing out the machinery

A rare photo of all 6 of us as we prepared for the Antarctic storm simulation!

We learned heaps about Antarctica and the incredible cooperation among the international community

Penguin playtime!

Nani and Papi Just before the Hagglund ride departed. We had no idea what was in store! Hagglund's are a main mode of transport in Antarctica. They travel over ice, snow and almost any terrain. The ride took us up steep hills, over massive boulders, through giant puddles and more.

Papi standing on melted ice from both the North and South poles!

Boys, listen to Frank Zappa: "Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow!"

Nani trying on some gear

Our weather in Christchurch was pretty dreadful, so we mostly found indoor activities like the Antarctic Centre, Quake City and the Canterbury Museum. We also got to spend some time in Christchurch with our American friends who had been on holiday and were on their way back to the US after living in Sydney for a short time.

Quake City info

Testing building designs against quakes!

Our last morning in Christchurch was gorgeous weather (damn you, Murphy!) but we wanted to check out the Canterbury Museum.

Papi and Micah in the reading nook <3!!

Incredible collection of photographs that travels the world - highly recommend!

I think I fly solo for the adults in our traveling party in saying Christchurch was a highlight! Others were less enamored. From Christchurch we went to Queenstown, which I'll blog about next!

Auckland

Auckland, on New Zealand's North island, is the country's most populous city. About 1.5 million residents live in the Auckland area. At just over 4.5 million residents in the country, that means about 1/3 of kiwi's live in one city.

According to Wikipedia, Auckland is the only city in the world built on a basaltic volcanic field that is still active.

We swam at Cheltenham beach, visited the Auckland Zoo and Bug Lab, went to the top of the Sky Tower and visited Hobbiton. We also relaxed. The kids were wiped out from a long (and wonderful!) school year + loads of activities.

M at Cheltenham

One of the highlights at the zoo was seeing the kiwi bird. Kiwi are flightless birds about the size of a chicken. They're related to the emu, ostrich and cassowary but are far smaller than any of those. They're nocturnal and tend to mate for life. Their population is declining and there are massive efforts across New Zealand to save the country's national symbol from extinction. 

Kiwi's are incredibly challenging (at least for me!) to photograph. Thankful the San Diego Zoo has a kiwi and shared this great photo. There are a few American zoo's and wildlife parks that have kiwi's!

Consider:

- Only half of kiwi eggs hatch

- About 90% of chicks that have hatched die within 6 months

- Fewer than 5% of chicks reach adulthood

If you live near Washington, DC; Boston, Massachusetts; San Diego, California; Toledo, Ohio, or a few other American cities, your zoo or wildlife park has kiwis for you to visit!

The Auckland Sky Tower was a great arvo (afternoon) activity on a clear day. At 328 metres, the Sky Tower is the tallest manmade structure in New Zealand. On a clear day, you can see about 80 kilometres in every direction! If you're feeling really adventurous (read: crazy!), you can walk along the perimeter outside or bungee jump from the tower. We passed on those options, but enjoyed our visit nonetheless. 

Some of the Auckland CBD from the Sky Tower

Our final full day in Auckland we journeyed to the Hobbiton movie set near Matamata. Hobbiton was a major filming location for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. The movie set is on a (still operational) family farm! After all the filming wrapped, Peter Jackson left behind some of the set for visitors.

The Fidler crew at Hobbiton

E checking out the Hobbit homes

M tackling the (trick) axe challenge!

Auckland was nice but not somewhere I'd rush back to. There's a lot to do within a few hours, but we just weren't feeling the long car rides. All that said, I'm glad we checked it out!

From Auckland we went to Christchurch on the South Island. Stay tuned...

The land of the long white cloud

New Zealand consists of two main islands, referred to as the North- and South island. I'm pretty sure at some point in the not so distant past I thought New Zealand was part of Australia. New Zealanders, referred to as kiwi's, do not appreciate this. New Zealand is far from a little sibling of Australia.

Thanks for the cool NZ & AUS flag pic, Quora.com

I'm not sure I had a huge desire to visit New Zealand until I got to Australia. Once you're in Oz, you hear a lot about the magic of New Zealand; you realise how close you are to NZ; and you realise how far you are from most everything else in the world. Thrill seekers flock to New Zealand!

New Zealand history dates back about a thousand years when it was discovered and settled by Polynesians. These indigenous people developed a distinct Māori culture centred on kinship and land. Today Māori make up almost 15% of New Zealand's population. Aotearoa is the Māori name for New Zealand. Aotearoa commonly translates to the land of the long white cloud.

With school out for summer, Aaron's parents in tow and some public holidays, New Zealand seemed like a great place for a holiday. It did not disappoint!

Our itinerary was as follows:

     Five nights based in Auckland
     Two nights based in Christchurch
     Four nights based in Queenstown

Thanks for the map, Lonely Planet

Read more about Auckland and the rest of our New Zealand adventure in the coming blog posts!

We are thankful!

Aussies don't celebrate Thanksgiving, which when you think about it should seem obvious.

We had a visitor from the US during the time of Thanksgiving (Julie's oldest brother, Marc) and some amazing American friends who were super keen on hosting a blowout meal. Whoa! The hostess and I split a lot of the cooking so no one person was overwhelmed.

Sourcing traditional Thanksgiving food is not an easy task.

Turkey, for starters, is a very uncommon meat in Australia. Finding a kosher turkey felt daunting! But I (Julie, for future reference as you're reading) asked the kosher butcher a month in advance and he told me he stocks turkey in the freezer year round. Bingo!

I had never cooked a whole turkey before (I know, what kind of Jewish woman am I?!?) but it was quite delicious!

Our friend found IQF cranberries that worked a treat for cranberry sauce. She drove ~45 minutes each way for these! That is insane dedication.

My brother brought us (contraband) corn meal from the US so we could have corn muffins. They were a bit hit!

Putting all the food out, complete with labels identifying each item.

Once we started eating, I didn't take many pictures. Here's J and A with full stomachs and happy hearts!

We are thankful this year more than ever for our friends who are like family all over the world. We are also thankful for the support of our family; our good health; and the adventures of life!

Canberra, part 2

After our crazy journey getting to Canberra, we were ready for a few days of FUN in Canberra!

First stop was Questacon with our friends.

Wow! Questacon is amazing! Questacon is the National Science and Technology Centre. There are more than 200 exhibits to see, touch, experience, interact with, read about, explore and more. We spent an entire day at Questacon. Highlights included:

• Robot hockey where you compete against a robot / mechanical arm in a game of air hockey. The robot outscored the humans ~8 to 1 the day we were visiting.

Here's a terrible pic of E vs the robot

The robot whomped human in almost every match

• Free fall where you experience the thrill of weightlessness for a brief second. I'm not much of an adrenaline junkie but I really enjoyed pushing myself for this! No one else in our group tried it that day.

If you're thinking about going to Questacon but aren't sure if it's worthwhile, let me assure you -- it is. We spent the whole day there and probably could've done another half day. Wow!

The next day we learned it was a public holiday -- Family and Community Day (only observed on this day in Canberra; and 2017 was the last day it was observed in the spring) -- but were still able to visit the Royal Australian Mint, shop at Costco, see a movie and make Build-a-Bear stuffies.

Making coins at the RAM

The fruits of our labour

M is worth about $450AUD

Interesting fact from the RAM

The boys loved Costco, though they kept saying they'd been there before. We determined it felt just like Sam's Club in Bentonville!

Very thankful we didn't build one of THESE giant bears!

Final stop of day 2 was a shopping mall for Build-a-Bear Workshop. We also caught a movie (read: nap!) and had a nice dinner.

They love BABW!

Our final day was reserved for Floriade. Floriade is a month-long music / arts / floral festival. I wasn't sure what to expect and it did not disappoint!

We started with a train ride to take you through the event and gardens. There were food trucks, artists and crafters, activities for the kids, reptiles to see, live music, beautiful flowers, garden demonstrations and so much more! We didn't plan to, but ended up spending the whole day at Floriade.

A beautiful floral display, as seen from the ferris wheel

I tried far too many times to get a nice picture of these two!

Floriade, as photographed by E

Bubble bowling on water (E)

Bubble bowling on water (M)

They couldn't get enough of this potato sack slide!

Truth: this trip happened in September. It's now December. Lots has happened between now and then. I'm working on getting caught up!

Canberra, part 1

During the most recent school holidays, the boys and I took a 4-day trip to Canberra. Canberra is Australia's capital city. It is a planned city, much like Washington, DC. It was chosen as the capital in the early 1900s as a compromise in distance between Sydney and Melbourne. Again, much like how Washington, DC, was chosen as the US capital. (At the time of its choosing, Washington, DC, was the very near the geographic center of the country!)

Before I can tell you about our adventures in Canberra, I have to tell you about our adventure getting to Canberra.

Like many humans traveling by car to a new / unfamiliar place, I popped the destination address into the car's GPS and off we went.

Traveling along the motorway in Oz is quite different from the US. There aren't billboards promoting McDonald's, Starbucks or Subway at the next twenty seven exits. There simply aren't billboards or advertisements. Every so often there would be a directional road sign, but playing the ABC game along the Aussie motorway is a no-go. There are emergency phones every kilometre with small directional signs between them so you know which way to walk to the nearest phone. That's about it.

At some point along the route, I saw some mobile signs warning that the Hume highway was closed. I paid little attention to these signs as a) I thought "they can't just close the one motorway between Sydney and Canberra!"; and b) I didn't know the motorway I was on was called the Hume. You know where this is going...

When we hit the backup, I was still perplexed. We had passed some rural fire brigade trucks waiting (presumably) to be called into action. We had seen the signs of the motorway closure. And yet still, I was perplexed. I was quite focused on safely getting to Canberra before the boys became too unruly. And before dinner. And before our petrol ran out.

At the point of the standstill we happened to be near an exit. I figured we'd take our chances. The GPS lady (in her brilliant Aussie except, no less) kept telling us to "turn back where possible." I had a hunch, though, that we had to stay the course. And then the road became unpaved. The anxious child was growing very concerned. The adventurous child was loving the bumps and uncertainty.

Whenever the GPS lady told us to turn, the road would be blocked. So we just kept following the few brave cars ahead of us. Through the dirt and mud, the ups and downs, the Aussie hillside. When we were nearing what looked like a paved road ahead, I realized we'd just driven through a sheep farmer's land. He was standing at the gate waving drivers through his gates.

Once we were back on the Hume, it was smooth sailing. And suspiciously almost no cars on the motorway alongside us. It wasn't until we reached our hotel in Canberra that we learned of bushfires along the Hume that had forced its closure.

Photo courtesy of the Canberra Times / Lisa Martin

The road was reopened later that evening; I heard only one lane in each direction for some time to help control the massive backups. 

I'm quite thankful we arrived to Canberra safely with only some delay. I'm even more thankful no people were hurt and no homes destroyed. 

More on Canberra next...