Last Week, on Traveling with D & R

(For your information, D & R stands for Deanna and Rachelle) Where to start?! I don't even know where I left off, and I'm too lazy to re read my blogs! So, We'll start with the arrival of the infamous Rachelle. And not a moment too soon, either! I was about to go insane stuck in Queenstown for another day! So, off we went to DOUBTFUL SOUND! It was BEAUTIFUL! We kayaked for a whole day! Beautiful weather, and we spotted not only one, but THREE crested penguins! Apparently it's really rare to see any of them at this time of year, so we were super lucky! They were so cute! We also saw dolphins. I assumed they were bottle nosed dolphins because they were pretty big. It was an amazing experience, and we got along famousely with the rest of our paddle group. The guide was from Canada as well. Ontario, but Canada none the less. Lol

After that, we continued to have beautiful weather up until today. But more on that later. :) So, from my memory (and it isn't always the best, so the following order may be slightly scewed) the next few days went as follows...

From doubtful Sound we went to Wanaka. So I've been there probably about three or four times now, i don't remeber any more. Again, gorgeous weather, so for those of you praying that I'd see the light, I did! We did some toodling around town in some of the shops, sat outside and read in the sun, went to Puzzling World (again) and ran the maze (super fun!) And finally got some pictures in the slanted room (My camera ran out of batteries last time) that evening we made rice pudding - or at least tried, it flopped. My third batch of rice pudding since I've gotten to this country, and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. Any pointers mom? - then we headed off to the fabulous theatre to have home made cookies and ice cream! Yum!

Oh! I totally forgot about our picnin in the back of the car in the pitch black in the underground parking lot of the supermarket in Queenstown on our way through from doubtful to Wanaka the night before! I'll post pictures. It was pretty great! We slept in the car on the side of the road half way up the Crown Range Road on the way to Wanaka that night too! Was a little chilly, but an exciting experience anyway!

After Wanaka, we moved towards the west coast, and Haast. Took a bit of a detour to see the forest that they used as the Fanghorn forest in the Lord of the Rings, very pretty! And when I stopped to use the outhouse, Rachelle locked me in it! I could see her through a small hole in the wall, standing and laughing under her breath! I was lucky it didn't stink! Hot though, very hot! I will be getting her back though. she's standing here watching me write this, so Rachelle, when you're least expecting it!

So, I'm about to run out of time, and we just got overrun with a tour bus. We're presently at Franz Joseph, and our beautiful weather didn't hold up. It's pouring like it's never going to stop. We're heading out now (without climbing the glacier... boo) in search of the sun, or at least some free glow worms. FREE IS GOOD!