Alex's Surf Party

Alex turned 14 in New Zealand. His current obsesion is surfing. In fact, he wants a ukulele. Every birthday, I try to bake a cake that translates his favorite activity. He wanted a surf dude in a half pipe. Luckly, Alex already fashioned a surf board in woodshop class and he found the Avatar action figure. Good on ya!

Nanna in New Zealand!

My Mom arrived on April 8th after 4 flights and two days of traveling. She braved nearly 24 hours of flight travel to come all the way down to see our lives in New Zealand. We were super excited to have her here with us for almost 20 days. My mom is an amazing traveler. Super fun to explore new places with. She is very flexible and willing to do just about anything!  



Jen and Mom at St Clair - First day in New Zealand!

 

Alex and Nanna Karen at the Otago Museum with Kiwi Bird

Jen and Mom at Waikawitii Beach for Alex's Surfing Birthday party





 

Ellie and Nanna Karen at the Dunedin Train Station

  

Nanna Karen and Ellie at the Botanical Garden down the street from our house in Dunedin.



So begins our adventure tour of the south island. Mom and I drove all the way too Milford Sound to explore the glow worm cave, Southern Alps, Fjiordland National Park, Queenstown and central Otago.

We saved our pennies for the excursions and camped in a tent for 4 days. Mom was super tough to sleep on the ground with me (Did you know that NZ is really really expensive!!!)

The Milford Sound boat cruise was really amazing. Glacier carved rocks with waterfalls flowing down into Fjiord. We went on a 3 hour ride all the way to the Tasman Ocean and then went down 40 feet below in an underwater conservatory to witness the beauty under.

Mom at Lake Te Anau with a gorgeous rainbow touching down.

Getting ready to board on our cruise down the Fjords at Milford Sound.

Milford Sound

Mom enjoying a Fall day in Queenstown, NZ

Mom and Jen in Paradise Valley in the Southern Alps near the Glacier fed "Dart River"

Me up front for our jet boat adventure - Mom in back with hood over her head. She did not want to get wet, but probably got the most wet! Awesome ride up the Dart River - this boat only needed 3 inches of water to Zoom up the the river. It was insane!

Dart River and Southern Alps in the distance. Gorgeous!

Mom was cool as a cucumber on the jet boat - must have been all those years snow-mobiling in Montana!

Chinese food + Wine + Queenstown = Awesome!

Great view and night in Queenstown!

My mom and me!

Castle in Dunedin, The only castle in New Zealand Click here for castle website

The Routeburn Tramp - New Zealand "Great Walk"

Yes! This was amazing!
Although John and I were literally running on fumes after racing a 7 hour mountain bike race the day before, we still packed up the kids to backpack  the Routeburn. The Routeburn is one of the "Great Walks" in New Zealand. Situated near Glenorchy outside of paradise valley, it is a stunning place to behold. Wow!
The southern Alps are amazing! Routeburn Info website

Here is my adventure film featuring this great backpack. It features some new sports that the kids developed....(Fern jumping and Hat Wrestling) Plus, Alex talks to a tree.Yup!

Click here Routeburn Adventure Film