Milford Track Day 2

Broke out of the trees into a splendid mountain meadow...





Just in time for a cuppa...

Can't beat a view like this...

Or a face like this!

Milford Track Day 1

The day we set sail across Lake Te Anau was blustery and cold but that couldn't diminish our excitement to be finally on the world famous Milford Track!

Sandflies everywhere inspired a bit of artistic humour from one hiker.

We loved that the entire track was along water of some sort. Clear lakes and streams, majestic valleys with waterfalls and even water in the form of snow!

Kimball even got a chance to practice his Zen and the art of rock jenga.

Coconut Grove Cottages, Taveuni

Our first day of unemployment. We think everyone should take off from their jobs for a 5-week trip. I found this gem of a spot in Fiji while looking for the best snorkelling in the world. I have to say that's the best I've ever seen! We highly recommend getting off the beaten path at coconut grove if you're going to Fiji: http://www.coconutgrovefiji.com/
Tropical fruit smoothies any time of the day. And a view of the three islands from the deck where we ate all our meals.

The food was delicious and fresh from their garden. I didn't have time to take the free cooking class but I didn't pass on the free massage.

Here's our beach and home for the week. The buildings are called bures (boo-ray) and are quite rustic on the outside but inside it's quite a different story...comfy beds, hot showers with a view of the beach, tropical flower bouquets everywhere.

Taveuni, Fiji (The Garden Island)

Kimball trying to decide whether to jump on the man scuba diving just below.
While hanging out in Fiji we saw tons of wildlife. My favorite was this little guy. "Brownie" had been rescued with his brothers and sisters. Here he's actually 8 months old. He was being held until he was a year old and safe to swim out into the big ocean alone

I liked the hammock a lot but I got heaps of mosquito bites that day.

Blue Penguin

Blue Penguin
Originally uploaded by amy&kimball

My name is Elvis...I live at the Christchurch Antarctic Center

Flickr

It's amazing what you can do with technology these days...

Now that we've got almost our entire life in pictures on flickr I don't think you'll ever run out of armchair adventures.

Check it out...but make sure you have lots of time on your hands before you start...actually, we've got another dozen countries to add!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/getoutdoors/collections/

Anyway, upcoming is our trip home September 1 - October 8...we'll try to divide the time between Loma Linda family and friends, Georgia and N.C. family and friends...then we might slip off to Peru with Mindi if time allows.

I've been doing health lectures in Queenstown (the adventure capital). Yesterday we had a great time discovering the hidden meaning behind food advertising. Here they have athletes advertise for lamb and beef, milo (a chocolate drink), and who knows what other "health" foods!
The scary thing is, people buy it! I'm forever having my patients tell me what is good for them and what they "need."

Colostrum, hot peppers....all sorts of disgusting things they can't live without. You'd be surprised at the health remedies I hear daily.

Well, more later, patients arriving as we speak.

Buy a view!

We've been looking at homes lately. Maybe just for fun but seriously...I didn't know you could still buy views like these!

Riverton is the next 20 minutes over and you can get a beachfront home from 300K (NZ). Views like this might cost you an extra 200K. It reminds me of New England...say Bar Harbour, Maine or someplace like that. The view you see here is just 5 minutes from the nearest surf beach and 10 minutes from another.