New Zealand, Part II

Our next stop was the dazzling Lake Pukaki at the foot of Mt. Cook, New Zealand's highest peak. Ben managed to find a group of Chinese tourists and entertained them for a while.

It was another glacial lake with blinding color.





More fields of wildflowers. I'm sure they have some sort of season and we were so fortunate to see them at their peak.

Another oops! Turn your back on Ben for a second and he'll be peeing in your yard.

Another great photo op in front of Lake Tekapo. Both the lake and the little town were charming.


Another thing we loved about camping - the view changed every day. This one was particularly good with the lake in the background and the kids loved the campsite because it had resident ducks that came to our door begging for food.

One very unhappy camper early the next morning. He wasn't quite as interested in the fresh snowfall overnight. We all woke up cold on our last day but didn't realize just how low the temperature had dipped overnight until we looked at the dusting on all the mountains almost down to our elevation.


Here's a look at our trusty ride. We saw some great scenery from her windows during the trip but decided to park her for an hour and take a scenic flight.

Ben and Daddy on the 1-hour flight.

A channel coming from Lake Pukaki used for hydroelectric power.

Enormous glacier fields littered with random boulders.

Glacial valley in the Southern Alps.

Flying directly towards Mt. Cook, elevation 12,316 feet. We had perfect flying conditions with clear skies and great visibility.

The base of the Tasman Glacier (covered in dirt) and a big iceburg floating in its lake.

Mt. Cook

Fresh snow packed along the side


The top of the Fox Glacier that we had seen several days before and the ocean beyond it.






The kids did amazingly well on our crazy driving adventure. We averaged about 5 hours in the car each day but stopped often for pictures and sightseeing. Otherwise, these two were sleeping or engaged in their favorite activity - watching movies.

Lush farmland outside of Christchurch.

We had exactly enough time to return our campervan, get to the airport and check our bags in, then take 4 more flights to get to Houston. When we got off I asked Ben if he wanted to ride in another plane and he said "yes!". We are blessed with good travelers! Of course, we'll give them anything on the plane to keep them entertained...

I can't say enough good things about New Zealand because the scenery is unbelievable, the people are so friendly, and the towns are quaint and welcoming without being touristy. We didn't begin to touch the surface of all there is to see and do so maybe we'll be fortunate enough to go back one day and see more of it.