Melissa here. Bribed by Amy and Kimball with promises of great adventure, my parents and I flew out for a summertime Christmas. Hopefully my descriptions will encourage you to come visit the happy couple. After roughly 16 hours from LAX to Invercargill, we received a warm greeting at the airport. We had plenty of entertainment on the flights to pass the time quickly: movies, games, t.v., sleep, food, and conversational people. Our first perception of New Zealand was created even before we arrived. The people are friendly. Our second perception: the land is beautiful! Flying down the South Island, the Southern Alps rose to our right graced by crystal blue lakes at the base followed by luscious green plains. To our left, the plains continued into the ocean. Such variety.
Day 1 in New Zealand (Saturday): We learned the way to overcome jetlag is to push through it. If you ignore your tiredness, it will go away. We arrived in the afternoon and started playing right away. First, we had to see Amy and Kimball's house. So quaint. It will be our Bed & Breakfast for the next couple weeks. The house boasts three dome windows overlooking beautiful flower gardens. These gardens are the pride of every house and encourage pleasant walks through the neighborhood.
After settling at the house, we set off on our first adventure at Curio Bay in the Catlins. Driving along the Southern Scenic Route to the Catlins, wild pink and purple lupine flowers shared fields with the sheep. Raising sheep is one of the most common industries in southern New Zealand and fields are dotted with them everywhere.
Arriving at Curio Bay, we found rugged rocks jutting off the peninsula cause incoming waves to spray up magnificently. This rough side of the peninsula is famous for fossilized remains of a 160 million-year-old forest from the Jurassic period. The other side of the peninsula (just a minute's walk away) hosts a sandy beach where surfers compete with the dolphins for waves. The Hector's dolphins are the smallest in the world. There seals and sea lions also. We saw one of those, but couldn't decide which because it never moved. To console our uncertainty, we got two-scoop ice cream cones.
Next, we took a ten-minute walk through a beech tree forest to see an amazing waterfall Purakaunui Falls. The falls cascaded down the rocks creating a magnificent water show. Another short hike through a koru (fiddlehead fern) forest ended at the second waterfall Matai Falls.
A fabulous start to our vacation. We can't wait for tomorrow.
Day 1 in New Zealand (Saturday): We learned the way to overcome jetlag is to push through it. If you ignore your tiredness, it will go away. We arrived in the afternoon and started playing right away. First, we had to see Amy and Kimball's house. So quaint. It will be our Bed & Breakfast for the next couple weeks. The house boasts three dome windows overlooking beautiful flower gardens. These gardens are the pride of every house and encourage pleasant walks through the neighborhood.
After settling at the house, we set off on our first adventure at Curio Bay in the Catlins. Driving along the Southern Scenic Route to the Catlins, wild pink and purple lupine flowers shared fields with the sheep. Raising sheep is one of the most common industries in southern New Zealand and fields are dotted with them everywhere.
Arriving at Curio Bay, we found rugged rocks jutting off the peninsula cause incoming waves to spray up magnificently. This rough side of the peninsula is famous for fossilized remains of a 160 million-year-old forest from the Jurassic period. The other side of the peninsula (just a minute's walk away) hosts a sandy beach where surfers compete with the dolphins for waves. The Hector's dolphins are the smallest in the world. There seals and sea lions also. We saw one of those, but couldn't decide which because it never moved. To console our uncertainty, we got two-scoop ice cream cones.Next, we took a ten-minute walk through a beech tree forest to see an amazing waterfall Purakaunui Falls. The falls cascaded down the rocks creating a magnificent water show. Another short hike through a koru (fiddlehead fern) forest ended at the second waterfall Matai Falls.
A fabulous start to our vacation. We can't wait for tomorrow.
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