Here are some more photos:

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Hike to Seperation Point (Abel Tasman N.P.)

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Quail on the Trail

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More Abel Tasman N.P.

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More Abel Tasman N.P.

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Beautiful Bay

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Fox Glacier

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Looking Down from the Bungy Platform

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Leap of Faith

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Rugby Game

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Near Picton - Queen Charlotte Sound

Here are a selected few of the photos from the trip:

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Diana (a bit queasy on the dive boat)

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One of the dive areas

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The Beach at Whitianga

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Near Cathedral Cove (Coromandel)

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Kiwi Fruits on the Vine (Purangi Winery - Near Whitianga - Coromandel)

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Rotorua - Bubbling Pools

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Black Swan

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Partying at the Hog Rally - Hamilton

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Cheese and Crackers

Ah yes, the post vacation blues (and jetlag). It's nice to be back home, and yet it would be nice to still be down in New Zealand, too. There is so much to see and do down there that even 3 months would not be enough. I will definitely be back. The last month seems like a blurr, but I know that as time goes on, all the things we did and saw, and the stories to go with them, will work their way into the memory banks. It will be fun to talk with each other (and everyone else, especially at the pub) later and see how similar and/or different the stories are (memories can be very selective).

Had breakfast at the hotel in Wellington this morning. Caught a shuttle out to the airport. Flew from Wellington to Auckland (only 1 hour). Hung out at the airport in Auckland for about 5 hours. Shopped, ate, drank, exchanged money, etc... Our flight was about one hour late for bording, so we squeezed in one more bottle of wine and got on the plane at about 8:30pm (March 4). The flight was not too bad considering it's 12 hours. Got into L.A. at noon (March 4). Only had to wait there for about one hour before catching our flight to Minneapolis. No problem going thru customs (although Di had some trouble earlier with some lead pencils, then she got her superglue confiscated - trouble maker). Got back to Mineapolis at 8:00pm (March 4 - before we even left). Back home to cold weather. Said good-bye to Karen, Sal, and Di. My friends Al and Marge picked me up and a friend of the girls' (Jules) picked them up and drove them back to Lanesboro and Preston.

Please stayed tuned here and check back later. I'm very tired right now, but I will write some more parting thoughts and add a bunch more pictures to this site. Also, I will be heading out west skiing sometime in the next few days (as soon as I recover from jet lag), and maybe I will post some more then, too. Overall, it was a great trip! We covered a lot of ground and had fun wherever we went. The NZ people are very friendly and helpful. Can't believe how fast the month went. There are definitely areas in NZ that I will come back and visit someday. More later.

Chuck

Got in to Wellington Thursday afternoon. Basically we just hung out and relaxed. I finally had lamb for dinner (very tasty). Hit a couple pubs that night and listened to some live music. Home to bed early. Tomorrow is the big travel day.

Hello all. By the time you're reading this we are all back in Minnesota. Sorry, the last few days were kind of busy, so I didn't find time to update. I'll do it now, though.

Picton was a great place to spend our last days in NZ. I did catch a few fish (blue cod, sea perch, and one spiny dog shark). No pictures, though, as I was too busy fishing. The girls took a winery tour back near Blenheim that day. Sounds like they had fun. The next day in Picton was spent walking around and enjoying the sunshine. We had the fish I caught for dinner that night - very delicious!

The next day we took the ferry from Picton to Wellington. The ride out thru Queen Charlotte Sound and across the Cook Straight was very cool. This is the ferry we took:

And here is one final shot of the gang from the back of the ferry:

This is the town of Picton:

Here is Queen Charlotte Sound:

See next entry "Wellington"

Hello! Well, we survived the Rugby game. The Highlanders lost to the Blues 30-14, but I think we learned a little bit about Rugby. Lots more action than American football. The girls even ran into the Rugby team at one of the bars downtown that night (I went home to bed early - 11pm). The next day we drove up the coast from Dunedin to Christchurch. Stayed in a beautiful little suburb along the beach just southeast of Christchurch. Had a great dinner that night. Got up and drove to Blenheim yesterday. Stopped near Kaikora and saw a bunch of dolphins swimming and jumping out of the water. We were going to do a bike tour of the wineries around Blenheim today, but the weather was forcasted for rain, so we headed to Picton. Blenheim was kind of an ugly town anyway. Picton is beautiful! And the sun is shining. This is where the ferries between the north and south islands go out of. It's a small, quiet town surrounded by big hills and right on Queen Charlotte Sound. We are staying here for the next three nights (Mon., Tue., and Wed.). There is lots to do here (hiking, fishing, kayaking, etc... and the weather is supposed to be nice). Thursday we are taking the ferry to Wellington and spending Thur. there. Then Friday we fly from Wellington to Auckland and start the long journey back home. I wish we had another month to spend here! I'll try to update one more time before we leave here. I have to go enjoy the sun see if I can go fishing tomorrow. Bye.

Hello everyone. Driving here is great! Left side of the road and twisty and curvy and fast! Not sure if Karen, Sal, and Di are liking it, but I am!! Drove south from Nelson and stayed over at Franz Joseph Glacier. Got up and did a short hike and caught a glimpse of Mt. Tasman (on the left) and Mt. Cook (on the right).

Got to Queenstown Tuesday night. Very cool town - lots of young people from all over. Wednesday I went bungy jumping! Sorry, Mom, I had to do it. Whoever invented this activity must have been insane. It was awesome. I did the Nevis Highwire jump which is the highest in New Zealand and like the 3rd highest in the world (440 feet). Words just can't describe it. I have a DVD of the jump. Here is a photo of the jumping platform suspended over the gorge on the Nevis River.

We hung out in Queenstown that night. Di and I were going to do a flight tour of the Milford Sound, but the weather was crappy, so we headed for Dunedin. Today (Friday) we drove out to the Otaga Peninsul. The girls went for a hike and I went out and saw some Yellow Eyed Penguins (one of the rarest in the world).

Tonight we are going to a Rugby game. It is the start of the Super12 season and we are watching the Highlanders (Dunedin) vs. the Blues (Auckland). Our seats are in the "terrace". The stadium (Carisbrook) is dubbed the house of pain and it sounds like the fans get pretty rowdy. I'm more scared about the rugby game tonight, then I was about bungy jumping. See ya.

Hi all. Just a quick note. We spent 3 beautiful days in Takaka. Did a couple of great hikes up in the Abel Tasman N.P. Saw some seals and some quail (with baby chicks) on yesterday's hike. The views of the ocean and beaches were amazing. Today we caught the early bus (7am) back to Nelson and have rented a car and are going to head south to Queenstown. This should be fun driving on the right side of the road, I mean left, no right, ya, whatever, I'll figure it out. More later.

From Motueka, we caught a bus to Takaka. We found a place to stay and then went and rented mountain bikes again. We rode about 5 miles out of town to the base of a mountain (big hill) and ditched the bikes in the weeds and started hiking up. Note to Steve and Kim: I found some new friends!

The hike was great! The weather was sunny and clear with a nice cool breeze the higher up we hiked. The scenery was really beautiful, too. For all of you Lord of the Rings fans, here is where Frodo and Sam left the Shire.

After the marathon hike and bike, we got back to town at about 5pm and had a few beers and got ready to go out. Took a taxi to the Mussel Inn (about 10 km out of town). Very interesting place! Great food and there was a Ragae band playing. Stayed out late (of course). Just hanging around town this morning enjoying the sunshine. All for now. Later.