Elliot's Dad Visits

We might not have much time left here in New Zealand, but Butch Koop wasn't going to let us come home without sneaking in a visit!  Butch (Elliot's dad) arrived on July 3rd ready to go!  Luckily, we actually had some nice Wellington weather the first few days he was here.  We got to drive around, see some sights, and even hike Mount KauKau, which has an amazing view of the city from the top.  It was quite a hike up, with plenty of breath catching stops along the way, but the hike leads to an amazing view and it was worth it.  I've got some photos of that hike along with our other trip.  Let's start with something else first...

As with our other guests, jet lag started to take hold around dinner time that first night.  I told Butch he'd be in bed by 7pm, but he didn't believe me at first... until about 5:30 rolled around, and he wondered if he would even make it to 7!  Once he was fast asleep in the other room, Elliot and I made our gourmet meal of Skyline Chili Sandwiches.  Thank you Butch for bringing the chili!  I knew he would most likely sleep through the night, but I would have never guessed that he would also sleep right through so much excitement.  At 10:36 a powerful earthquake hit the North Island.  It was a magnitude 7 earthquake, the largest in the region in seven years.  Luckily for everyone, it was far below the surface, so no major damage was done.  You wouldn't have guessed it from the effect it had.  It sounded like really heavy thunder and the floors felt like jello!  Elliot and I even reverted to what you learn in Kindergarten and ran to the nearest doorway to wait it out.  Once we were sure it had passed, we went to the bedroom and listened to see if it woke Butch.  He was still sound asleep!  When we finally told him what happened, he was bummed to have missed all the excitement!  What a way to start the trip.

The earthquake related trip didn't end there, with a visit to post earthquake Christchurch on the trip schedule.  After spending a few days in Wellington, we were off on our trip of the South Island.  We took the Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton.  As it always is, the Ferry was running late so we had to rush from the Ferry to the train station.  Then we boarded the first of our train trips on the Coastal Pacific Train, which took us from Picton to Christchurch.  What an amazing way to see the sights.  With huge picture windows across all the train cars, comfy seats, and an onboard open air viewing deck, it was truly awesome.  There are plenty of pictures to show!  That train took about 5 or 6 hours.  Here is a snippet from the website so you can see the path we took

We spent our time in Christchurch exploring the beauty and the devastation.  For those of you that don't know, here is a quick look at what has happened in Christchurch in the past couple years (thank you Wikipedia)

The February 2011 Christchurch earthquake was a powerful natural event that severely damaged New Zealand's second-largest city, killing 185 people in one of the nation's deadliest peacetime disasters.
The magnitude 6.3 (M_L) earthquake^[1] struck the Canterbury region in New Zealand's South Island. The earthquake was centred 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) west of the town of Lyttelton, and 10 kilometres (6 mi) south-east of the centre of Christchurch, New Zealand's second-most populous city.^[1] It followed nearly six months after the magnitude 7.1 Canterbury earthquake of 4 September 2010, which caused significant damage to Christchurch and the central Canterbury region, but no direct fatalities.
The earthquake caused widespread damage across Christchurch, especially in the central city and eastern suburbs, with damage exacerbated by buildings and infrastructure already being weakened by the 4 September 2010 earthquake and its aftershocks. Significant liquefaction affected the eastern suburbs, producing around 400,000 tonnes of silt. The earthquake was reported to be felt across the South Island and the lower and central North Island.
In total, 185 people were killed in the earthquake, making it the second-deadliest natural disaster recorded in New Zealand (after the 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake), and fourth-deadliest disaster of any kind recorded in New Zealand, with nationals from more than 20 countries among the victims.Over half of the deaths occurred in the six-storey Canterbury Television (CTV) Building, which collapsed and caught fire in the quake. The government declared a state of national emergency, which stayed in force until 30 April 2011^.
The total cost to insurers of rebuilding has been estimated at NZ$20–30 billion, making it by far New Zealand's costliest natural disaster, and the third-costliest earthquake (nominally) worldwide.



So, needless to say, the downtown area, or lack there of, was practically abandoned, with much of the city fenced off to keep people from entering the most dangerous or "red zone" areas.  You'll have to see the pictures to understand what we saw.  These earthquakes happened after Elliot and I had decided that when we moved to New Zealand we would settle in Christchurch.  Needless to say, our plans quickly changed and that is how we ended up in Wellington.  It was sad to see the city we had hoped to live in being in such shambles, but you could still tell the beauty and character it had before the earthquakes.

After our time in Christchurch we boarded another train, taking us from Christchurch to Greymouth.  The TranzAlpine train trip took us through the scenic Southern Alps and across some amazing landscape.  This one was definitely my favorite of the two trains.  It got quite cold as we neared the top of the mountain, and the few stations we stopped at along the way had snow covered grounds.  The open air car was obviously quite cold, but if you bundled up enough, it was such a cool experience.  Wait until you see the pictures and decide for yourself.  Here is where that trip took us (also from their website)

We didn't have much time in Greymouth with just one night, so we went to the highly recommended pancake rocks and blowholes.  " The Pancake Rocks are a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts though a number of vertical blowholes during high tides. Together with the 'pancake'-layering of the limestone (created by immense pressure on alternating hard and soft layers of marine creatures and plant sediments)"  It was worth the 30 minute drive to see such a sight.  We were lucky enough to get there less than an hour after high tide, so the blowholes were active and the tides were crashing around the rocks. 

We took the TranzAlpine back to Christchurch the next day, stayed one more night in Christchurch, and then flew back to Wellington.  It was a beautiful and sight filled trip.  We still had a few days before Butch left, so we spent a rainy day at Te Papa Museum and some quality time with good food and good company.  We saw Butch off knowing we would see him when we got home a month later!

Okay, here is the link to all the pictures I talked about.  Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eandleenz/sets/72157630799727558/

Australia!

In mid-June we decided enough was enough of this winter Wellington weather!  Good thing we had tropical North Queensland to escape too!  Joined by our work friends Jason and Sean, we headed off to Cairns, Australia.  We had booked 7 nights in a 2 bedroom apartment on Trinity Beach, a small town about 15 minutes from the city.  The trip there was comical to say the least.  We had to be at the airport at 4am, which meant we were all sleep deprived and a bit loopy.  We flew straight from Wellington to Brisbane, where we had to spend 6 hours killing time until the second leg of our flight.  Elliot and Sean decided waiting around sucked, and promptly took a nap on the floor of the airport in the middle of a busy gate.  We got a lot of weird looks, but at least Sean and Elliot got in some good sleep.  Elliot said it was the best sleep he had all week!  Imagine that. 

Once we finally arrived in Cairns airport we looked around for a guy holding up a sign with Elliot's name.  We had arranged with the hotel to be picked up.  there were a lot of people around, lots of shuttles, and lots of names.  No Elliot Koop though.  We found one guy who had the name "Coop" on his board.  Elliot's last name is often mispelled, so we thought this might be our guy.  We got our bags in the back, took our seats with all the others, and waited to head out.  When the guy came around the van to take role call, and he called the name Coop, another group said "here".  Damn!  There really was another Coop and we were on the wrong bus!  We gathered our bags, got off, and headed back in to the airport.  By then, most of the other buses had already left, so our ride was gone (if he ever was there).  We got in line for a taxi and just called it a bust.  The taxi took us to our hotel.  Once we told the guy at reception that we had arranged a pick-up and never found the guy with Elliot's name, he upgraded our room for free.  We decided it was totally worth it to miss our ride because our room was amazing!  It was a big apartment on the top floor (it's only 3 floors, but still, I'll take it).  There was a huge kitchen and den area, a big balcony overlooking the beach, and two large bedrooms and bathrooms.  It was time to get into vacation mode!

The trip ended up being a little different than we expected.  Trinity Beach was beautiful, and there were lots of little shops and restaurants that we enjoyed.  I have to say one thing about it though, we rarely saw other young people and the nightlife was non-existent.  It may have been because it was winter, but we realized then that we were going to have to make our own fun!  And that we did!  Most of the days were filled with soaking up the sun on the beach, by the pool, or walking around.  We had BBQs, enjoyed naps, and enjoyed our fair share of vino.  It was such a relaxing vacation, so no complaints here.  The first couple of days Elliot had a stomach bug, so he saw more of the bedroom then the beach, but once he was recovered we started doing some more exploring. 

We did a few things outside of laying around on the beach.  One day we drove into Cairns, drove around the city, and stopped at a market.  The market was pretty cool.  There were vendors peddling everything from produce to jewelry.  I definitely left a little of my money there!  Another day we went to Cairns Tropical Zoo.  This was my favorite part of the trip.  They have a place where for $15 you can have your picture taken cuddling a Koala.  It was awesome.  The Koala was so cute and soft, although he wasn't exactly smelling like roses.  You'll see the pictures of the Koala cuddles when you click on the picture link.  We also saw plenty of crocodiles, wombats, wallabies, and other very Australian animals.  They even had an area where you could get in with the kangaroos and wallabies and feed them by hand.  I really enjoyed the zoo, and didn't even mind that it was so small.  They didn't bother with elephants, giraffes, or even any large cats.  They stuck to what was local to their area and it allowed us to see it all in just a couple of hours.  Another day the boys decided it was time to do some Go Kart Racing.  The four of us geared up, hopped in, and were off.  Well, at least 3 of us were, Sean ran into the tire wall on the first turn.  I guess he forgot you have to turn the wheel when driving Go Karts!  The staff were able to free him and he was back on the chase.  A rivalry began shortly after between Jason and Elliot.  I started realizing, as they lapped me, that I better get out of the way when they were coming because they meant business.  Elliot was able to maintain the lead the whole time, but I was a casualty of Jason trying his hardest to catch up.  Apparently I didn't get out of the way fast enough and I was slammed from behind and sent head first into the tire wall.  The good news was that on the next lap Jason ran into a wall too, so I thought Karma did it's job!  It was all in fun, but I'm sure the Go Kart people were glad when our turn was up, after all, they did have to free us multiple times and may have been wondering if we knew the difference between Go Karts and Bumper Cars!

Well, that is the top line look at our week in Australia.  No one got eaten by a crocodile, bitten by a poisonous spider or snake, or stung by a jellyfish, so I consider it a success!  Click on the link below for all the fun pictures

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eandleenz/sets/72157630312326816/

Rarotonga

So, I am once again significantly late with this, but I couldn't help sharing.  Elliot and I both turned 30 years old this season, and we weren't home to celebrate with our families, so we celebrated a different way!  Tropical island in the Pacific Ocean, time to party!  To celebrate the big 3-0 we put our butts on a plane and went straight to the tropical paradise of Rarotonga!  Don't get me wrong, we considered Fiji, Tahiti, and many other popular destinations in the South Pacific... but why not use the tools you have, aka, locals!  We got an overwhelming vote from the NZ locals and decided on Rarotonga.  Man, they were so right!!  It was absolutely amazing!  I won't go into too much since the pictures tell most of the beautiful story.  The majority of the week was beach, pool, sun, and relaxation, but we did do a few things story worthy!

Let's see, first off, I hitchhiked for the first time.  Now don't get me wrong, I didn't stand with my thumb up on the side of the road.  Elliot and I were peacefully waiting at one of the few bus stops (they don't have stops often because a bus just stops if it passes you and you flag it down, so simple!).  An older woman pulls over, asks us where we are headed, we tell her, and she offers a ride.  I'm not lying when I say I didn't have any red flags pop up, but you rarely do in a small island community.  I'm still careful though, don't worry mom, but an older woman in nice clothes, driving a decent car, and offering a ride to me and my much-bigger-than-her boyfriend didn't seem like a hug risk!  She was so nice.  Especially since we pretended to know where we were headed... we only knew the name of the place and were hoping the bus driver would tell us when to get off.  So, thanks to her, she dropped us off at the front door.  It was so worth it!  The food and fun service at Captain Jack's remains one of our favorites!

Other than that daring experience, wink wink, we enjoyed a few other great ocean activities.  For all of those that know me well... yes, I did get in the ocean, multiple times!!!  My favorite activity was ocean kayaking.  Now, this may be partly due to the fact that when I'm in a kayak I don't have things swimming around my ankles, but mostly it's because it's a great way to explore.  It also helps that there was free access to the kayaks from our resort.  There was also free access to snorkeling gear, which we used, but it just wasn't as fun.  I did like snorkeling, but the tide was low and you had to be careful to avoid the coral... which I didn't manage once and scraped my knee up a little.  Not enough to worry about blood drawing in the non-existent sharks, but enough for me to pout about :)

One last thing, we did two tourist trips.  One was a glass bottom boat cruise.  It was the most amazing tour.  The boat took us to an ocean wildlife sanctuary.  We got to snorkel in the amazing, un-fished waters.  The fish were so amazing.  Every color, size, shape, and type.  I loved it!  We also had a BBQ on a close island where they cooked us up some fish caught that day.  We were lucky, catch of the day was yellow fin tuna... yum, yum, yum!  Those island boys can seriously cook.  Besides the amazing fish spiced to perfection, they had local fruits and veggies that were super mouthwatering!  We also had the coconut tree climbing champion (yes, it's a real competition... for island folks, it's like the Olympics... this guy traveled across the pacific island kicking coconut tree ass!!).  He gave us a demonstration, and it was something to behold.  This guy got to the top of a gigantic coconut tree, picked a coconut, and was back down in less than 10 seconds, amazing!

Last thing to mention was the Highland Paradise Cultural Experience.  Our last night we signed up for this unique experience.  They pick you up, take you into the mountains, and show you a very authentic representation of life on the islands before the settlers came.  It was moving, amazing, and educational.  To top it off, there was a show after dinner by a group of locals doing some island dancing that would blow your socks off.  I can't quite describe this night without too much detail, so I'll let the couple of videos posted below tell the story.  What an amazing trip

To conclude, if you have the chance... GO TO RAROTONGA!  amazing.  Below are pictures and a few videos from the dancing!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eandleenz/sets/72157630021804811/

Jamie and Derek Visit

I've been very lazy about the blog lately, so I am trying to catch up.  Jamie and Derek Ammons, friends of mine from Louisville, came to visit us in New Zealand! They came in late March, and it was such a treat.  While it was only for a few days before they headed off to Australia, we definitely made the most of it!  The trip started off a little bumpy, since Jamie and Derek's luggage didn't arrive in New Zealand with them, but luckily they both had their luggage by the next day.  One big difference between Air New Zealand and many other airlines worldwide...  Air New Zealand actually sent someone to our house to drop off their luggage when it arrived.  Talk about service!  While they were here we did some sight seeing of Wellington, and even took the Interislander Ferry to the South Island and stayed in Picton for a mini-trip.  St. Patrick's Day gave us a chance to take them downtown to experience the nightlife of Wellington.  There is a very big "party scene" in downtown Wellington, and it's quite a sight to see.  St. Patrick's Day was no exception.  I have to be honest though, we were heading home about the time the majority of the people head out, but I'm just too old to stay out that late!

After a few days of Wellington exploring and March Madness watching, we headed for the Ferry!  The Interislander Ferry is a really great experience.  The scenery is beautiful and the ride to the South Island is about 3 1/2 hours.  You land in Picton, which is where we stayed for a night.  The ride was smooth (although Jamie slept through most of it!) and we got some great pictures.  Once in Picton we walked around for a while, watched some more basketball, and then headed to Lochmara Lodge.  "Lochmara Lodge Wildlife Recovery and Arts Centre is set on the tranquil shores of the Queen Charlotte Sound in the Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand." (from their website).  A boat picked us up in Picton and took us to the lodge in the sounds.  It was a little cold and windy, but that didn't make it less beautiful.  It was such a great place.  We had dinner scheduled for an hour after we arrived. So we took the hour and walked around.  We looked at all the animals and took in all the views.  There are some great pictures you can check out by clicking on the link at the bottom.  Dinner was absolutely delicious!  After a little relaxing in front of the lodge's big fireplace we headed home.  The next day the weather was awful.  After several cancellations and delays due to weather, we finally boarded a ferry back to Wellington.  The winds and rain we so severe that the boat ride back was nothing short of nerve-wracking.  These are REALLY big boats, and usually you can't feel much at all while on it, but not this day!  We were tossing and swaying the whole time.  It took an extra hour longer than normal to get home just because of the weather.  A good chunk of people on the ferry got seasick, but luckily we weren't in that group.  To be honest, Elliot had a blast.  He loved the excitement!

The next day we sent Jamie and Derek off on the next leg of their journey, and Elliot and I were left with a gift from them of several cans of Skyline Chili.  Yum, yum, yum!!!   Some of the pictures of the trips are on Flickr, so just click on the link below!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eandleenz/sets/72157629983946257/

Auckland!

It's been a while since we did anything blog-worthy, but I finally have something to tell you about (have a few more coming soon too)!  We took a trip to Auckland a couple weeks back.  While Wellington is the capital of New Zealand, Auckland is by far the biggest city in the country.  That was the first thing that hit us when we arrived; it was so crowded!  We were staying in a hotel right in the heart of downtown, and the sidewalks were full of people.  This was a good thing, since it felt a little more like home!  Our main reason for going to Auckland was to go to the Roger Waters concert, but we did a few other fun things while we were there too.  The concert was AMAZING!  It was by far one of the best stage shows I've ever seen.  There were no cameras allowed, and since we both have the cheapest, most generic phone money could buy here... we were probably the ONLY ones without cameras on our phones.  Therefore, I must admit, we did not record these little videos.  We found these on YouTube, and they are from the actual concert we were at. So that should count for something.  Roger Waters performed "The Wall". It was like going to the theater because there were so many amazing things going on on-stage.  Here are a few of my favorite videos:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acS5FDc0cvk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZZzb1PLbds&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5JQqVTDKv0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12YpJI9FLRY&feature=related


Once we had the concert out of our systems, it was time to play tourist.  We were only there a couple nights. So we hit only the major stuff.  One of the cool things we did was have dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Sky Tower, which is the highest point in the city.  It afforded great views and a nice time, but the food was way too pricey for what we got...  I guess that's what happens at tourist traps!  The cool thing is they do these Sky Walks where they strap people to the top of the tower, and you can walk around the outside of the tower.  It was terrifying... to see other people do it (you didn't think I would actually get out there, no way!).  In addition to a few great restaurants and watering holes, we also visited Kelly Tarlton's Arctic Encounter.  Basically, it was an aquarium.  We were picked up downtown by the "shark bus" and taken about 10 minutes outside of the city to the aquarium.  For the first hour we walked around to the different exhibits.  Nothing was too impressive to be honest, but still fun.  I especially loved the penguin enclosure.  You ride in a little cart around and through the exhibit so you can see everything.  Got some great pictures.  We went through the hamster tubes that all aquariums have so you can see all the fish and sharks from every angle.  That was cool.  It was good to see the sharks at a safe distance to start with, considering what we had already signed up for... Shark Swim!  The shark swim was basically this, you pay money, a employee/diver takes you back behind the scenes of the aquarium, gives you a wet suit and snorkel, takes you to a shark cage, and drops you in the aquarium.  So, while we weren't free diving with the sharks, we definitely got up close and personal, and it was so cool!  I was a little nervous at first, considering the "shark cage" was simply some PVC pipe as a frame and some mesh netting.  It keeps them out, but since it was just mesh we were told to keep our "bits and pieces" inside the netting.  If I ever do it again I'm totally buying a waterproof camera!  Needless to say our digital wouldn't go on that trip with us, so the best I can do is give you the awesome photo-shopped marketing picture... see here (pretend that is Elliot and me)   :)

So, lots of fun in Auckland.  Here is a link to the rest of the pictures (the ones we actually took ourselves).  Enjoy! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eandleenz/sets/72157629712919739/




















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Visit From The Parents!

Yay!  I thought the time would never come.  I was so anxious leading up to my parent's visiting. I just missed them so much.  We got our house nice and clean, bought a second bed for the spare bedroom, and made room in the spare closet.  It was sooooo worth it!  It was 10 wonderful days.  Here is what we did (it is a little lengthy, so feel free to go straight to the pictures if you aren't interested)!

Day 1 - My parents arrived the morning of New Year's Eve.  We picked them up at the airport and it was rainy and glum outside.  This was not a bad thing though, because after a long flight we knew they would want a nice night in.  We cooked dinner, watched some TV, and relaxed.  We were all in bed shortly after the ball dropped... wait, technically we didn't see a ball drop.  Weirdest thing; they don't show any sort of NYE concerts or coverage on any of the 4 major stations.  It was really weird.  Anyway, that concludes day one.

Day 2 - New Years Day, and everything around here is closed.  Luckily, the weather participated and we had a nice day.  We took my parents on a drive around the peninsula to see all the beautiful scenery and beaches.  We stopped as we were driving to have some lunch at the Chocolate Fish.  It has some great local seafood and other yummy choices.  This is one of our favorite places.  It was a great afternoon followed by a great dinner of salmon (marinated in Sweet Chili), rice, and salad.  Yummy.  After dinner, we took my parents to the newly rebuilt Roxy Theater to see Tin Tin in 3D.  The movie was decent, but the theater was AMAZING!  It was torn down and rebuilt using photos so that it was as close of a replica to the original Roxy built in the 30's.  It has some amazing murals, old movie equipment, and wonderful artwork and statues.  The seats all have little tray tables on the arm rests and are leather.  One thing was a bit strange... no popcorn.  They don't sell it, and they don't allow it.  I guess if you are going to spend that much money and time rebuilding a place to be as nice as it is, you don't want people getting it messy.  They only sold "lollies" and ice cream cones. 

Day 3 - January 2nd, which was a Sunday back home, so we woke up and headed down to the waterfront downtown so Elliot and Dad could watch a little football while we had lunch.  We took them to an American bar called Chicago because we knew they would have ESPN on!  After filling up on some good American food and watching a little football, we headed out to a sunny day in downtown.  We took my parents around some of the hotspots in downtown Wellington.  We spent a little time walking up Cuba street going in all the cool little shops.  We even bumped into several of our friends and got to introduce them to my parents, which was great!  Once we were ready to go, we stopped by the grocery store and headed back to the apartment to cook some dinner and relax.  In the evening we even drank a little wine and went head to head, girls versus boys, in a game of Cranium.  The boys won, but barely!  I will be ready for a rematch when we return.

Day 4 - January 3rd, which is Jan 2nd back home.  Jan 2nd=college bowl games.  You know what that means!  Mom and I dropped Elliot and Dad off at the local sports bar after having some lunch at the Chocolate Frog (same owners as the Chocolate Fish).  While Elliot and Dad watched football, mom and I went to the beach.  We took Belle with us, because Belle refuses to be left out when it's beach time.  It was a wonderful afternoon!  Later that evening we made a chicken recipe we had seen on a cooking show earlier in the day.  We had some fun experimenting in the kitchen and even found out what Tamarind Paste is... I had no idea until now!

Day 5 - January 4th.  I honestly can't remember what we did, but I'm sure it involved driving around, showing them sites, and soaking in the sun.  At night I took my parents to dinner at The Gasworks (the restaurant Elliot and I work at).  Elliot had to work that night. So, while he was slaving away in the kitchen, we were enjoying the night :)

Day 6 - January 5th.  We are off to Queenstown!  We all got up early, headed to the airport, and went to sunny Queenstown.  It was so amazing and beautiful there.  I haven't seen a place like that before in my life.  The weather was sunny and hot and the town was abuzz with locals and plenty of tourists.  You'll see in the pictures, that most of them were taken in Queenstown (or on the plane heading into Queenstown).  After looking at all the pictures we took, we all agreed there was no way any of those pictures would do this city any justice.  The towering mountains and turquoise blue water (the colors, because it is melted glaciers, are absolutely breathtaking) must be seen in person.  Our first day there we walked around the town checking out the scenery.  We had dinner at Flame, a restaurant in the main part of the little town.  It was soooo good!

Day 7 - We woke up early to get ready for our all day trip to Milford Sound.  The tour coach picked us up at 7:30am and we were off!  The trip to Milford took about 5 hours, but that includes several stops along the way for photo opportunities.  We went through some amazing scenery, and our driver Ernie had a great corny sense of humor that kept us entertained.  Once we finally made it to Milford Sound, we had a 1.5 hour cruise on a tour boat to check out the sound.  We even got up close and personal with a few seals and waterfalls.  Check out the pictures.  After a 4 hour ride home and a late dinner at the hotel restaurant, we called it a day!

Day 8 - Lake Day!  We decided to use this day to really enjoy the lake that is the center of Queenstown.  First we went to inquire about the Jet Boat rides.  The price was right and the weather was good. So we booked a trip.  They rides last about 1 hour, and these boats fly around the lake and the rivers.  They get up to 95km/hour and do 360 degree turns.  It was like riding on a roller coaster... except I got wet.  Next, we walked along the lakeside street where they were having an art sale of sorts.  Apparently every Saturday they have this market where people sell their goods.  There was everything from jewelry and home goods, to clothing and food.  We bought some cherry plums (they are plums, about the size of a cherry and tart), some cheese, and a cool clock.  Mom even bought a possum shawl (possums here are soft, furry, and nothing like the possums back home, but just as big of a pest).  We finished off the afternoon with a quick swim in the lake (the sun was hot but that water was cooooold) before heading back to the hotel for a break before dinner.  Dinner was at the local Mexican restaurant.  I can't remember it's name, but the food was good!  Once full we headed back to the hotel for some hot tub time!  A nice relaxing dip in the spa pool followed by a few glasses of wine rounded out a great day!

Day 9 - Headed back to Wellington.  Our mini vacation was over and we left a sunny, warm Queenstown to land in the middle of a rainy, cold, and windy Wellington afternoon.  The weather was so crappy all day that we pretty much just hung around the house, cooked some dinner, and watched a movie.

Day 10 - I had to go back to work.  It was a bummer after having off so much time, but the bank account was running low after an expensive trip to Queenstown.  I worked a short afternoon shift while Elliot and my parents went to the beach and for a nice scenic drive.  When I got off we went to the store and got all the supplies we needed for a cookout!  Hot dogs, baked beans (mom added a little southern love to the beans), salad, chips, and fruit were all on the menu!

Day 11 - Mom and dad's last day :(    They didn't have to be at the airport until later in the afternoon. Therefore, we decided to go on the Wellington Cable Car.  It is popular with tourists, and Elliot and I hadn't ridden on it yet.  It was a cool little cable car that took you from the top of a big hill in Kelburn down into the city.  We parked up the hill, took the cable car into town, and had lunch at the Bruhaus downtown.  When we were finished we took the cable car back up and walked around the Botanical Gardens and Observatory.  There are some killer views of the city from up there!  It was a nice ending to a wonderful visit.  I am so happy they came!  Now, back to the grind....

Here is a link to the pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eandleenz/sets/72157628893181361/