The helicopter we rode on:
close to Mt. Cook:
close to Mt. Cook:
Today's blog is brought to you by guest bloggers Brian and Robin from Riverside, California.
We have been traveling around New Zealand for the last week and a half, and have been staying with Kimball and Amy since Monday night. It has been a great vacation (or "holiday" as the Kiwis say) and we have learned a lot.
One important lesson we learned is that, although there are lots of small towns scattered over the country-side, there are NOT many gas stations available after 8PM. As a matter of fact, if you are not in one of the large cities, do not expect to purchase anything (gas included) after 7PM or so. We thought we would get some gas on the way to Kimball and Amy's house late Monday night. However, as the time went on, and the kilometers passed by it became apparent that we were in serious trouble. In Lumsden, our Ford Focus told us we had 14 km left of gas. Lumsden is 80 km from Invercargill. The only gas station (or, "petrol station") had been closed for a long time. We called Kimball and told him we were going to have to spend the night there in Lumsden, get fuel in the morning and come down to their place in the morning. Kimball, being the good friend that he is, decided that he and Amy could come up to us with a gas can, and get us enough gas to get to Invercargill! That was a great relief, because spending the night in Amy and Kimball's spare room was much more comfortable then our car seats.
Other then that little hiccup, our trip has been great and the weather has been extremely co-operative considering that we are here during the rainy season. We have met some of Kimball and Amy's friends and have been traveling the Southland. We are going to post our pictures in a week or so at www.grattanengineering.com/gallery. Look for them after May 22, 2008. Our only regret so far is that we can't spend more time here! It is really a beautiful country.
We have been traveling around New Zealand for the last week and a half, and have been staying with Kimball and Amy since Monday night. It has been a great vacation (or "holiday" as the Kiwis say) and we have learned a lot.
One important lesson we learned is that, although there are lots of small towns scattered over the country-side, there are NOT many gas stations available after 8PM. As a matter of fact, if you are not in one of the large cities, do not expect to purchase anything (gas included) after 7PM or so. We thought we would get some gas on the way to Kimball and Amy's house late Monday night. However, as the time went on, and the kilometers passed by it became apparent that we were in serious trouble. In Lumsden, our Ford Focus told us we had 14 km left of gas. Lumsden is 80 km from Invercargill. The only gas station (or, "petrol station") had been closed for a long time. We called Kimball and told him we were going to have to spend the night there in Lumsden, get fuel in the morning and come down to their place in the morning. Kimball, being the good friend that he is, decided that he and Amy could come up to us with a gas can, and get us enough gas to get to Invercargill! That was a great relief, because spending the night in Amy and Kimball's spare room was much more comfortable then our car seats.
Other then that little hiccup, our trip has been great and the weather has been extremely co-operative considering that we are here during the rainy season. We have met some of Kimball and Amy's friends and have been traveling the Southland. We are going to post our pictures in a week or so at www.grattanengineering.com/gallery. Look for them after May 22, 2008. Our only regret so far is that we can't spend more time here! It is really a beautiful country.
Posts
.jpg)