That's a wrap.

I saw two pair of bright white teeth flash by, and i knew Todds fishing trip had been a success. His guide dropped him off at our hotel late on Friday evening, and we spent the rest of the night looking at his photos and Todd telling me stories of his 3 day adventure. You can see his photos in earlier posts.




My days on my own in Queenstown were spent trying to recover from what i thought was a cold - and catching up with Katrina and Abby. Katrina came up around lunch time, we headed to Arrowtown, checked out the old CHinese huts, and then she punished me with a wine tour =) The punishment being that i can only legally bring back 2 bottles of wine. The wine in this region was awesome. Abby joined us for dinner - the three of us remeniced about bad clothing and playing strip poker, and why on earth a group of american kids was taken through the freezing works.





We headed to TeAnau by bus on Saturday to meet up with my old host family when i was a kid. We told the bus driver to drop us off at the house next to the one with the big round window - and he knew exactly where that was! ha, funny. Margaret and Brian Nicoll (Katirnas parents) were there to greet us. We settled into their place, and they took us for a drive to get oriented with the area. I know how lucky i am to have been to New Zealand before, but i am so glad that i returned older, to really appreciate it. Pictures and words just dont do the land justice. We decided to book a trip to see Milford Sound, so Sunday we took the 2 hour bus ride to the Sound, and took a scenic cruise on the Sound. We saw penguins, and seals - and even though the cloud cover was pretty thick - the waterfalls were out in full force making this trip well worth it. Katrina and her boyfriend Jason mey us back in TeAnau, we spent a lot of time catching up and watching home videos from when we were over, and when they were in Tacoma. I felt kinda sorry for everyone else in the room, this video was super long, and just kept going - but we were smiling throught the whole ting, laughing at our 11 year old selves.






I drug myself to the doctor on Sunday - because i was not getting better and i couldnt imagine a 14 hour flight in the kind of pain i felt on the flight to Queenstown. Turns out i had an ear/sinus infection. Doc put my on amoxicillin. We did some damage purchasing some awesome Merino clothing - called Icebreakers..

Then i knocked on the door of the Mansons - my brother had stayed with their family, along with my parents. We had a nice chat. met Derricks wife and new son - then we were off to say our farwells to the Nicoll family who had meat pies waiting for us! yum.

Abby and her boyfriend drove us to Queenstown to catch our flight. Which was cancelled. Queenstown planes have to turn OFF their crash control sensors when they fly in, because you are so close to mountains, so when the bad weather rolls in, its impossible to fly in and out because there are no controls. We werent too sad, becuase now instead of having to make an additional stop, we flew directly to Sydney the next day - but we missed our SF flight by only 2 hours. Hopefully work forgives us. With our extra day in Queenstown, we just enjoyed each other and ate good food and walked around. We flew to Sydney and stayed near the airport then headed in super early - where we found something to do for 4 hours while we awaited our flight home.

Went by fast, and before we knew it we were back in SF - and now im at work. Ready for bed.

Milford Sound

More Fish Pics

The Release...

Kiwi Fly Fishing

So after many years of imagining fly fishing in New Zealand for big Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout, the reality finally came true for me. I have read and researched so many times about fishing in this country, learning about how hard it can be, the fish very wary and difficult to find, casting in the heavy winds and very long walks to get to where the fish are. Well, all that is true and then some...

I was lucky to find a great fishing guide from the town of Glenorchy, NZ. He has been guiding in the South Island for over 15 years and to say we hit it off right away would be an understatement. His name was Gordy Watson and he knew exactly where to find the fish. We fished the Mararoa River and the Oretti. Day 1 the fishing was a bit tough, a strong wind was coming in and the fish were pretty difficult to find with the lack of sun. Here in NZ you mostly sight fish. One person walks the opposite side of the bank, watching for trout while the angler is on the other side, being told where the fish is laying and then hopefully you put your fly in the right spot and he takes it. Day 2 was the best of the three days, the wind layed down and the sun came out, we spotted over 50 fish that day and I made some good casts and was rewarded with some true trophy trout. The Browns are my favorite, very agressive and strong fighters, some thrashing you into the bank trying to get the hook free.

Day 3 was good conditions but most of the fish werent really cooperating with taking the flies. They were either scared of it or simply not interested. Most of the time, if your cast is not perfect the trout will shoot off upstream and out of sight. They have really become very smart in this area, that is why they average 5 to 6 pounds! We spotted a few Browns that were well over the 10 pound mark but they were not interested in anything I threw at them, one of them came to the fly twice and looked but just didnt want any part of it. Just seeing a trout that size was mind blowing.

I cant wait to come back to this part of the world, it really is difficult to describe just how beautiful it is, the pictures just dont do it any justice.

Molly, Jason, and me makes three!

Ok not really.

I have to admit, thanks to Kiley and Tiffany, i watch the Bachelor. Im not proud of this, but its addicting.

Today, im minding my own business getting a pastry and coffee at a bakery and Queenstown, when some guy in an american accent steps infront of me taking about buying a pepsi. I didnt think anything of it, until i recognized him as Jason, from last seasons Bachelor. I turned around, and there looking through the bakery glass was Molly. She's dyed her hair super dark.

he was in a blue baseball cap, she wore a grey ski cap. Both in sunglasses. I cant figure out if they were trying not to be recognized, of if they were just bundled up for the cold. In any event, this silly American recognized them, but didnt say a peep.

I left the bakery to go check out a jazz festival, and there again, walked jason and molly. I will say this, they look genuinely in love. She looked up and smiled and he put his hand on the small of her back and lead her across the street. Hand in hand they walked away - and i thought - they may actually last.

Kiwiland

Its the kind that makes your nose hurt, your eyes water, and your chest hurt from coughing so much... but as i woke up this morning and headed downstairs to the chocolate shop and had a cup of dark hot chocolate over looking the lake in Queenstown, i smiled anyways. I might be sick, but im in New Zealand.

We flew into Christchurch really late on Monday, woke up and spent the day there. We started our day walking around the city - and decided we'd try our hand at punting. No, not the kind of punting that requires kicking a football, the kind where you get in a flat bottom boat and get punted up and down a river. As i took the step into the boat that sat extremely low in the water, i thought to myself, gee i hope we dont tip over. Well, that didnt happen, but as our punter pushed us off of the dock, i felt a gentle squirt of water followed by a huge splash - when we looked back, there was our punter, floating in the water!! he had fallen into the river - did i mention how cold it was in New Zealand? COLD. The poor guy, he hurried back in the boat, trying to play it cool, but we all know the poor thing was dying of embarressment.

The following morning we wqere up early to catch our flight to Queenstown. Being American, makes you hyper airport savy, or at least i thought. But here, arriving to the airport with only 30 minutes before departure is normal, and oh, we ust happened to go through security just for fun, because our gate wasnt even behind a security screening, you can just walk right through and sit on down, but we had no idea, so we took our baggage through security, and then discovered we needed to go back out to get to our gate. Humorous, but nice to be in a place where there is no threat.

It might have only been an hour flight, but it was the worst one ive ever taken. My ears immediately plugged up, and today, two days later, my right one is still plugged. Landing into Queenstown the plane swayed from side to side, mountains surrounded us on everyside - i was personally waiting for the plane to grow skis and for us to land skiing down the mountain. Instead, the pilot took the safe route and landed us nicely on the tarmac, where Todds fishing guide was waiting for him. Now dont forget, my ears are plugged and i cant hear a thing, but i managed to talk to this guide long enough to realize he was just like my husband. I turned to him and said, you dont understand, Todd has been waiting for this forever, nothing else has mattered, until today - he gets to go on his fishing trip. To which Gordy (the guide) responded, "oh i understand." Duh, of course he understands. They offered to take me to my hotel before they were off on their 3 day adventure, so we loaded up in his truck... Behind the truck was a trailer with one of those 4x4 buggee things, to take them im sure, to places most cant get to. Im so excited to hear all about this fishing trip.

I spent the day relaxing at the hotel and wandering around. Then 230 strolled around and my friend Sheree and her mom and dad and son stopped by for a visit! It just so happened that she was arriving in Queenstown the same day, (she lives in Perth, Australia now, but is back in NZ to prepare for her upcoming wedding!!!) Bad perms and horrible clothes... we laughed at the old memories of when we first met. Luckily we've both outgrown the perms! Cooper, Sherees son is adorable. Perfectly round face - big blue eyes, think Gerber baby. We chatted over coffee at Starbucks of all places, before they had to take off to return to Invercargill. If i would have planned better, i couldve stuck around for her wedding, i think its in the middle of November sometime. oh well - Sheree you have to send me photos even if i dont get on Facebook =)

I caught a movie, ate at a local pizza place where the pizza was served on wooden slats and had a delicious sour cream, cream cheese, sort of sauce blobbed on top of it. Holla.

This brings us today. Im feeling better, but decided to not take in any extremem activities. I was close to signing up to go on canyoning tour, or jetboat ride, but i figure i still have tomorrow, i should try to get better first. I did stumble on a fantastic place for PJs, Its called Peter Alexander. I think he's an Australian designer, but i spent a good hour in this store. Tiff - youd LOVE this place. Google it, im sure its on line somewhere. Tonight im thinking about taking a sail on the lake, and taking in the scenery. Did i mention the snow topped mountains are are as beautiful as anything ive seen, and im glad now, as a 28 year old i can finally appreciate the landscape of this country. As an 11 year old the first time i was here, and even as a high schooler the second time - i didnt fully appreciate this place.. but you know what they say, i guess third times a charm.