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/
