Adios New Zealand & Hola Chile

We leave New Zealand tomorrow. The natural beauty of New Zealand has left us in awe. It is a place we would love to visit again. We will say goodbye to our friends Lorena and Gaz. Our short stay with them was filled with good conversation and laughter. Thank you! The plan is to catch a ferry that leaves from the harbor down the road. The ferry will take us to a wharf located in Auckland. Then we will catch a bus to the airport. Our next destination is Santiago, Chile. Mariella and I are excited to visit with our Chilean family.

From New Zealand, Lorena and Gaz B

More Beautiful N.Z. Rainbows

We went on a nice walk yesterday past a newly developing area around a golf course. We thought of our friend Paul P. It would be fun seeing him play the course. Hole 17 had some amazing views. I was realy excited about seeing another rainbow.

Hanging out in Whangaparaoa

Mariella and I are spending a few days with our friends Lorena and Gaz. Lorena is a family friend of Mariella's. I also worked with Lorena at Commonwealth Elementary School in Fullerton. She married a good guy who is a Kiwi. They live in a beautiful area North of Auckland on Whangaparaoa Peninsula. This morning Mariella and I enjoyed a nice walk around the area. We spent a good amount of time soaking in the day from a cliff top bench dedicated to a praying man.

Bye Megan

Megan thank you for joining us for the past few weeks. We enjoyed a our final day together walking around the "city of sails", Auckland. We had lunch with our friend Wayne and his wife. Thanks guys for the tickets to the Skycity Tower. We enjoyed the views of the city from the top.

Back to Christchurch

Heading to Auckland to visit some friends. Final pics of the South Island of New Zealand. Mariella was hanging out with a hedgehog last night. Don't touch the animals Mariella!

Final Days in the Campervan

Lake Tekapo area. Sunrise!

Todays drive from Deer Flat to Queenstown

Around Milford Sound

We arrived in the Milford Sound area yesterday. There was a lot of clouds and rain which made it difficult to see the tops of the stunning mountains. Milford Sound is New Zealands Yosemite. The mountains are humbling. All the rain in the area created a spectacular seen of hundreds of waterfalls. Many of the scenes in Lord of the Rings were shot in New Zealand. We also saw the place where the battle scene in the Chronicles of Narnia movie. Beautiful stuff!

Queenstown Area

We left Fox Glacier a couple days ago and drove to the town of Haast. We camped meters from Haast Beach. The sunshine is gone and rainy weather is in the forecast. The sights are still beautiful. The rain stopped for a little bit when we reached Queenstown. We were given a beautiful rainbow to enjoy. We do not particularly enjoy the storms, but after the storm passes it makes for great beauty. It is a reminder to us about the storms of life. God can take the trials and difficulties and turn them into things of great beauty. We are making our way south to Milford Sound.

Lake Matheson

We camped near this lake. Megan and I (Craig) woke up early to wathc the sunrise.

Fox Glacier

Two days ago we hiked around beautiful Fox Glacier.

Franz Joseph Glacier

New Zealand!

We arrived in New Zealand on the 7th of April. We spent the Birthday (Craig’s) sleeping in the Auckland’s international arrivals terminal. That is until the customs guys woke us up and asked us to be processed through immigration and customs, one of them adding that we could be prosecuted …blah blah blah. The other guy, the nice one, quickly shut the other guy up, and they led us through a private and quick escort through customs. We caught a plane early on the 8th to the South Island of New Zealand. We picked up a campervan that we plan on venturing around in for ten days. Last night we arrived at Franz Joseph Glacier. Today we are hiked around the glacier. The past two nights we parked the campervan on the side of a road (free camping!). A couple days ago we drove 300 km from Christchurch to Punakaiki soaking in the scenic drive. The days journey took us through green fields and a steep mountainous area called Arthur’s Pass. The sunny and warm weather has been fantastic. Unfortunately the forecast calls for seven or more consecutive days of rain, but for now we are soaking in the sun and the glorious days. We’ll see what happens.