Hello again! We hope that you are all enjoying your summers. We have seen in the news that it has been quite hot in the US, so we will try to send some relief your way with some winter photos from our travels around the South Island of New Zealand.
After Melbourne, we flew across the Tasman Sea to Queenstown, NZ. Ali and I visited Queenstown on our 2019 trip and found it to be a great base to soak up views of the Southern Alps. Queenstown is famous for adventure sports – bungy jumping, skydiving, etc. – and is also right near the major New Zealand ski resort of Cardrona. Overall, Queenstown is sort of like the Kiwi version of Aspen, Colorado.


We had the chance to revisit one of our all-time favorites hikes in Glenorchy. (By the way, if you have ever seen New Zealand on tv, in a movie, or a computer screensaver, it was probably Glenorchy!) Here are some photos from our hike.





Driving around the South Island is a key part of the experience. The mountains are simply spectacular and there are dramatic views everywhere.



AND, New Zealand has one of my absolute favorite peanut butters! I’m not staying you should fly around the world for a peanut butter, but if you’re there anyways, it’s worth a try.

Unfortunately, it rained quite a bit of the time we were in Queenstown, but we made the best of it with lots of reading, coffee shop sitting, and short hikes with our rain gear on. It was that much sweeter when we did get those brief sunny moments you see in the pictures.
Our final stop on the South Island was Milford Sound. Milford Sound is actually a fjord and sits on the southwestern coast. It’s all drama – mountains rising up from the ocean, waterfalls galore, and heaps of wildlife (esp. fur seals). After a somewhat harrowing drive (although easier than we had feared) in our budget Mazda Demio through a steep mountain tunnel and around many switchbacks (don’t look at the dropoffs!), we boarded a short guided cruise to fully appreciate the sound. The pictures do not do it justice, but you get an idea. I’d recommend a quick Youtube of Milford Sound if you’re interested.





After 9 days on the South Island, we flew north to Auckland. One last look at the Southern Alps!
