So this is it.

It's our last night in OZ.

It's been a great past few days - connecting with family and friends, revisiting favorite places, exploring new ones.

It's a bittersweet feeling. It's really hard to imagine not going to random mid-week Altona markets with Uncle John and Aunt Buelah. It's hard not to think next weekend we'll go out to breakfast with Ally and Anthony. No more meeting Lou and Reub for pizza. No riding on the 96 with Amber and Lee to go to church. No heading out to the farm to see Uncle Peter & Aunt Cheryl. This is the end of spur-of-the moment trips to Bells. The end of sunsets through the palm trees. So many lasts that didn't feel at the time as significant as they were.

Here goes nothing.

The end of a holiday

We're in Auckland, and tomorrow we fly back to Melbourne. It's been a great holiday - I have tons of pictures and cool experiences to share. We're excited to reconnect with people in Melbourne once we return, and are sad that our time there is coming to an end. But, we are super-excited to see the family in USA :)

Just a sneak peek...

Here are a few pictures from our trip thus far :)

Franz Joseph Glacier reflected in a pond

CO and I on a hike (tramp)

Me on the way to Milford Sound


Milford Sound (actually a fijord)

Milford Sound

Aroha from Queenstown

Hello!

Yesterday we drove from Hokitika to the glaciers. It was so cool to see huge things of ice, kilometers long, making their way down mountains! We didn't get to hike too close to them, or on them. We could have at Franz Joseph, but heard it was better at Fox Glacier. So, we drove on to Fox, and all of the public access points were closed due to construction or flooding. Grrr. The only people who could get through were the paid tours. Paid tours that started at $90/person. Um, thanks, but no thanks! We did get in a few good hikes, tramps, if you will, that were pretty cool.

We drove on to Haast, and had a great dinner at a local pub.

Today we drove from Haast through the Haast Pass. It really reminded us of Hawaii - lush green foliage, including big tree ferns and hala. It rained most of the day, and is still raining now. I hope it clears up soon, but hey, that's what makes everything so green, so I'll take it.

The town of Wanaka is pretty cool - it's a ski/resort town in the mountains. We ate lunch there, and it looked cute, even in the rain.

I'm a little disappointed because we don't have enough budgeted to go jetboating, but I'll get over that. It looked like a really cool trip - Dart River Jetboat Safari. CO says I'm whining like a spoiled brat. That could be true, I suppose.

It's kind of funny, after being in OZ for a while, I am beginning to be able to tell different accents - like between British, Aussie, and Kiwi. It's kind of fun. I wish I could imitate them, but alas, no such luck.

Until next time...

Who knew?

We have internet access in our hotel in Hokitika :)

We arrived in Christchurch, full from a meal on the plane. Air New Zealand is fabulous! One of our friends from Melbourne, A, used to fly with them and I could picture her being one of our air hostesses.

Christchurch really has an English feel about it, I think. We found it to be really cute. We didn't stay there long - just overnight- but it was adorable. I can only imagine how cute Lyttleton and Akaroa are... go there if you have a chance!

Today we drove across Arthur's Pass and did a hike in the National Park there. Talk about wonderful views from the moment we left Christchurch! It was one of the best drives we've taken. Hiking in the middle was good too - it helped break up what could have been a long day in the car. We're in Hokitika now and it's pretty good. We ate dinner tonight at Stumper's and it was good and cheap. We might go ponunamu (greenstone) shopping tomorrow!

It's odd how much NZ reminds me of Hawaii. The terrain is beautiful, it's green and volcanic, and the ocean is breathtaking.

I can't wait for the adventures tomorrow will bring!

Entering brief radio silence

It's that time folks, that dreaded time, where I face my worst fear. Packing. And this time, the military isn't here to help me out. Sad day.

We're entering our last few weeks in the southern hemisphere, and packing up all of the stuff we have accumulated in the past few months. And it's A LOT. We leave tomorrow to go to New Zealand for a while, and I'm not sure if/when I'll have internet access next. We'll be staying at the cheap hotels, so Free Wi-Fi is probably not included. I'm excited to see what adventures we will have there!

I am also proud to announce that Christmas presents for CO's family are in the mail. Seriously. It's nice to have that bit of shopping done and over!

Oh, sisters, presents are on! Respond to the email I sent, please :)

Those three little magic words...

There's nothing like the sound of those three magic words as soon as you walk in the door.

In the wrong context, they bring about fear and trepidation.

One should never rush into the three little words unaware, but that is exactly what I did last week.

As a substitute preschool teacher, there's nothing scarier than hearing these three magic words -

Hand, Foot, & Mouth... (disease).

Who hires a substitute teacher and doesn't notify them that there's an outbreak of Hand Foot & Mouth Disease first?

Yuck.