It was so cold and windy that day, but look at their feet - it was that time of year to be barefoot despite the temperature.

We had a lot of fun with the Davis family. At dinner the night before they shared a number of family stories with us, including driving on the other side of the road. It was difficult to tell if the children had heard Mom and Dad's stories before because they enjoyed them as much as us. Peter made us a fabulous breakfast. I remember Tommy bartering to go to a game about 100 miles away, he got his way, but only after he finished his chores. School was out for break. They did call it winter. Classes resumed in February.

We returned to Tarras and regrouped, but not until we purchased a few items at the wool store. Not all sweaters. Deanne bought out all the shepard whistles. We had lots of fun. I don't know if Tim was too happy with our constant whistling, but it was funny that not everyone easily picked up this talent. In fact Rouel and Chuck had yet to master this talent by the time we left New Zealand.

The boats in Milford Sound, no photo can give the size of these fiordlands justice.

This was quite a day. Lots of attractions from dawn until dusk - which was a really long day. After breakfast a bus picked us up at the hotel for the airport. It stopped along the way at other hotels for more adventuresome folks for flights to Milford. We all fit in a tiny plane. This was in addition to the cost of the tour and well worth it. The view out of the plane was spectacular. Sometimes we were lower than the mountains. The routes used were sort of a circle. The flights to Milford went north, and then we returned south, which provided a view of Sutherland Falls, the largest falls in New Zealand. It really looked like three waterfalls, one right after another.

Arriving in Milford we hopped yet another bus for a very short trip to the boat docks, we really could of walked. I was not sure what to expect for wild life. It is supposedly a wild life mecca, or so I believed. Dolphins would be around a month earlier. But for now there were plenty of waterfalls and seals basking in the sun. We had real good views of them as you can see from this photo. The boat tour was about 90 minutes and at one time the boat docked beneath a waterfall that was very fine. We could see more planes flying in and out, but to take a photo, they would just be a dot on the image. This place was massive.

This was our little plane. Everyone wanted window seats, and since it was so small we just about were able to accommodate everyone. The flight was pretty smooth and perhaps just 30 minutes from Queenstown to Milford Sound. Yet another beautiful day. We were almost too early at Milford as the shadows on the water kept us a bit chilly, we felt much better once we were in the warm sun, I guess we were like the seals, basking in the sun. Plenty of room to move around on the boat as well.

....Returning to Queenstown it was now adventure time for some. Others went golfing, and the rest of us went horseback riding. The guides were Aussies and let a group go to gallop. Poor Rouel went down and cracked a few ribs, which let him in the bus keeping a guide company for our remaining few days. He still had a great time and recovered in time to fly home without too much pain. The landscape here is near the Shotover River. The jet boats would come through here. In this photo it would just be a red dot. After the ride the guides served us drinks and cookies before driving us back to our hotel. The little ride before the ride was a little wild. Perhaps our wildest in NZ. As there was a give way bridge on our journey, and our guide gave way just in time!

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Queenstown has some mountain ranges nearby called the Remarkables, One night we had dinner at the top of the Gondola where we had a neat panoramic view of the city. The second night we were on our own and found some nice restaurants in town. Moreover, a few sneaked off to a Maori feast with singing and dancing. Here Joe and Bob learn the appropriate technique for sticking out one's tongue. The Maori are believed to be Polynesian like the Hawaiians and folk tunes speak of the journey to New Zealand.