Baaaaaaaaa (insert sheep jokes here)

Let me start off this post by reading you what this red sign says, "Play more, work less, spend more time out less time in, let the environment entertain you rather than a black box, you'll like the channels sun, sea and air...live longer, live happier" (seen in a coffee shop in Greymouth, NZ) This sign is the best way we can describe our experience in NZ. We had a long Labour Day weekend and one of Brian's last days off for the year to escape somewhere. A 3 hour flight later, we were in the land of kiwis, (both the animal and fruit) the long white cloud , and the most sheep I have ever, ever, EVER seen. (ever)

Before we get to photos, you must watch this commercial that currently runs on tv here. It obviously pokes fun at Americans and Kiwis, the two favorites that Aussies like to rip on, but the jokes about the sheep in NZ were beyond true. Brian and I were in disbelief at the number of sheep we saw (something like 7 sheep live in NZ for every one person?) but had heaps of fun honking at them as we drove!

Won't bother you with too many sheep pix, but you get the idea. New Zealand= land of sheep

Our journey began by flying into Christchurch where we spent the night in a hostel (surprising find, but ate at a Denny's restaurant at 1 a.m.!) and boarded the Tranz Scenic train the next morning.

This 4 hour train ride was the most spectacular view we've ever seen, and it brought us across the south island, through Arthur's Pass, and to the city of Greymouth. "Breathtaking"," jaw dropping" and "bloody freezing" are all words I'd use to describe that journey :) :)

Whilst in Greymouth, I experienced a new favorite: a cinnamon cappuccino! (I thought it deserved its own photo, it was so yummy)

Paying tribute to our deceased Corolla, we rented (or "hired" as they call it) a new Corolla to zoom around the island! Take a closer look and you'll see they put a nice big sticker on here for Americans :P (yes, they drive on the left here as well) Also, you'll notice that it was a refreshing 12 degrees celsius this afternoon. Officially one of the coolest road trips of all time, I even took a turn driving since we didn't have to worry about hitting kangaroos that jump out at you :P

Stopping at the Monteith's Brewery where we did a tour, and happily took sips of our favorite Kiwi beer! (I adore their "Summer Ale"...and no, I'm not biased... its just so delicious with its citrus and honey flavors!)

From Greymouth we headed south down the west coast, where we stayed at another hostel in the town of Franz Josef. This town was built around this famous glacier! We braved the cold to walk up to the viewpoint to have a closer look.

Along our west coast drive were amazing views like this pebble beach, lake Wanaka (below) and green rolling hills where I was hoping to see hobbits! (Lord of the Rings was actually filmed up on the North Island, not where we were)

This photo doesn't even begin to illustrate how incredible our views were. There are just no words....if you've been there (Jody) you'll know what I mean...

The last part of our 72 hour adventure included driving through the east coast town of Oamaru where we watched little blue penguins nesting while a fur seal was napping nearby ("choice, bro!"), saw the mysterious boulders at Moeraki Beach, met some cool people at the "Chillawhile" hostel we stayed at, watched a movie on famous Kiwi author Janet Frame and saw the house she grew up in, huddled by every fireplace we could find, chatted with locals, ate the obligatory "fush and chups" while laughing at the Kiwi accent (which is quite different than the Aussie accent) honked at sheep some more, soaked in glacier hot pools, sipped on more Monteith's and sauvignon blanc from NZ's famous wine regions, and ultimately dragged our exhausted selves back to the Christchurch airport to thaw while waiting to fly home.

Now for the Q & A portion of this blog post:

Q: Where are the rest of your pictures?
A: I (Summer) was too enthralled with the scenery (a.k.a. my hands were frozen) that I only took a few snaps here and there. I chose from these few pictures to post some highlights for a blog since our readers were getting antsy! :) Brian will post all our glorious photos on the galleries as soon as he gets back from the business trip he's on right now. (Work sent him up north to Mackay, Queensland for the week)

Q: Why didn't you guys go bungee jumping at the adventure capital of the world, Queenstown? You were so close to it!
A: We physically didn't have enough time to drive those few more hours and ultimately chose penguins over bungee jumping. (Cheaper, and just as cool) We ran into many travelers who were exploring NZ in a campervan, and they recommended staying for a month or two at a time to see absolutely everything NZ has to offer!

Q: What are "fush and chups"?
A: This is "fish and chips" but when the Kiwis pronounce it with a thick accent, it sounds like "fush and chups". The Kiwis also always say stuff like "sweet-as" or "cold-as", adding an "as" to every adjective to enhance its meaning. We actually always say "sweet as"! This famous little youtube cartoon (over 4 million hits) has people in Aussie and NZ wearing t shirts with this little whale and pelican on it, check it out HERE.

Q: Why is it so cold there?
A: NZ has a south and a north island (for those of you who know our Kiwi mate Daniel in AZ, he is from the North Island- Auckland, to be exact) and we were all over the southern part of the south island. It is extremely close to the Antarctic and the most south we've both ever been in this world! (again, "bloody freezing") Oh, it is also wintertime here in this hemisphere too, mind you.

Q: Did you catch the swine flu?
A: No, but we both glanced at each other and shuddered each time the man behind us on the plane let out a disturbingly vile cough and/or sneeze. We were thermally-scanned when we got back to Brisbane, though.

Well folks, back now in warm, sunny Brisbane and have a long, long list of what we want to see the next time we head "across the ditch" (across the Tasman Sea) to N-ZED! (the letter "z" is "zed" in pretty much everywhere but America) Cheers till next time, and Happy Mother's Day to all, and to all a good night! :)

~Sum & B, your friendly American ambassadors :)