Kiwi Country

Most of what we wanted to do in New Zealand was on the lower half of the South Island. We spent the first couple of days cruising down the scenic east coast.


Around 10:30 pm on our first night driving we ran out of gas and steam and needed to stop for the night. We ended up in the small town of Oamaru and moseyed into the towns lone bar. Our arrival was untimely, as we just missed the end of the speed sheep shearing competition. We did have the fortune of seeing two well lubed locals receive a mullet shearing, which we then noticed was the haircut of choice for the towns gentlemen. After an interesting night, we retired to the luxurious hotel Mitsubishi.
Our First destination was the Otaga Penninsula in Dunedin,, in order to get there we had to drive down windy waterfront roads that’s allowed about a foot between the car and a drop into the ocean. Seth held on for dear life as Benjy navigated the wrong side of the road. The views were well worth the drive.
After several days of travel we finally made it to Queenstown, better know as the extreme sports capital of the world.

Here we had planned to throw ourselves out of an airplane. Unfortunately, the kiwi’s have a strict weight limit for skydiving and needless to say, Seth did not make the cut. He’s not fat, just big boned. What we did get involved in was white water rafting and skeet shooting.
After 10 days of not shaving, Benjy decided to try out a new style. Parents of Queenstown- hide your children.From Queenstown we made our way to the Milford Sound or God’s Garden as we came to think of it. You cant help but feel as though this is a part of the world where humans do not belong. There are 3 million square km of uninhabited, conserved land. The long windy track through mountains and along majestic lakes to the sound would have been more fun in a Porsche, but the sights were no less beautiful. The water way is surrounded on all sides by cliffs larger than the Empire State Building , some of these cliffs have giant waterfalls flowing down their tree covered sides that continually dump water into the sound. The only signs of life are the handful or boats, birds and a couple of seals lying out on their rocks.





Inspired by Sly Stallone’s iconic performance in Cliffhanger we decided to spend a full day ice climbing on a glacier. Oddly enough, the glacier we accented, Frans Joseph, was located in the middle of a rain forest. Benjy felt right at home in his crampons, while Seth relaxed in his perfect glacier lazy boy.


Before we returned to the north island, back to the airport, we spent a couple of nights in the port town called Picton. Located just south of Picton is New Zealands wine region, know best for its celebrated Sauvignon Blanc.