New Zealand

Our New Zealand holiday started in style with us travelling in an A380 from Sydney to Auckland. Its such a smooth and quiet experience compared to all the other flights we have been on. Our first night in New Zealand we were woken at 2am by the fire alarm going off!! We hoped this wasn't a bad sign of what might continue to happen on our holiday, luckily it wasn't.

The next day we caught a bus to the Bay of Islands.The weather was perfect, sunny and warm. We picked up the boat, a Noelex 30 that would be our home for the next 5 days. We both loved just relaxing, enjoying the sun, sailing around a little then anchoring in one of the many bays and swimming before one of the magical sun sets. On our last day with the boat, we were woken early by the coastal marine service advising us of a tsunami warning being issued and we needed to listen to the emergency radio for further instructions. Fortunately nothing happened, but it was still a little scary.

After giving the boat back, we went back to Paihia for one more night before heading back to Auckland for our flight to Queenstown. Uwe made a friend while we were there - Rocky the parrot. The parrot had fun eating a button off his shirt and didn't want to get off. He would bite at people who tried to get him off!

The flight to Queenstown was spectucular. The southern alps and lakes were amazing and then there was the tricky landing into Queenstown to avoid the many mountains surrounding the town.

For two nights we stayed in the Balmoral Bed & Breakfast in Queenstown. It had a spectacular view of the mountains and Lake Wakatipu from our room. Uwe went out on the town with Brendon for his bucks night and came home a little drunk.

The next morning. we drove up to Lake Wanaka to do some hiking, but we arrived too late and didn't have enough time to do the long walk before the sun set. We went part of the way and the scenery was spectacular along the way.

Then we drove to Glenorchy for our Dart River safari with some friends who also came over for the wedding. We got on the bus and drove through some forest and took a little walk to where the jetboats were. We got on the jetboat for a fun, and sometimes a bit scary, ride up and down the Dart River. After the jetboat ride, we drove to the lovely historical town of Arrowtown, where the wedding would be the next day.

Anita and Brendons wedding was lovely. They got married in a tiny church in Arrowtown, then the guests were driven in a red double decker bus to the reception, a lovely winery just outside of town. It was a lovely evening, enjoyed by all.

We had one final night and day in Queenstown before we headed home. Again another spectacular sunset, then in the morning before the flight, we took the gondola up to the top of one of the mountains for an amazing view over Queenstown. If we had the time we would of paraglided down the mountain, maybe next time!