So here are a few more recent pipctures of ours...
First off is a seal pup jumping towards its mother in Abel Tasman...











Next is a shot of one of the bays in Able Tasman..















3rd is a shot of the Pancake rocks in Punakaiki... the sun was still out for the 4th consecutive day (a new record!)















And the last 2 are shots of Franz Joseph Glacier... what a sight!

Picture Gallery

Here are a bunch of photos to let you know what we get to see here on a daily basis... except the sun which we saw in Abel Tasman... what beautiful water don't ya think?

First off is Rainbow Mountain in Rotorua... then Rachel next to Redwoods in Rotorua as well... Then some scenery on the way to the far North... Then A shot of Wellington from the ferry, and finally, split apple rock in Abel Tasman! Cheers!

Glacier time...

So now to get all of you up to date - we are in Franz Joseph:
That is a glacier.... AND what a glacier! We did a small walk today and it is seriously spectacular! You have to see it for yourself to really understand...
Since our last entry, we have made it safely across Cook Strait (inc spell.) to the south Island and much more (up until now) picturesque scenery. And it helps that the sun has been shining non-stop. Seriously. The water looks magnifiscent in the sun-light and only really nice when the clouds are out... but since Tuesday we have had sunlight. Tuesday afternoon through Thursday was spent tramping through the park, getting taken around by AquaTaxis and seeing seals and other marine wildlife while walking our sore butts off. We are still tired from our 3 day, more than 30 km hike. We even got a bit of a tan...
Thursday we headed further south along the west coast and stayed in a pretty little hostle in Punakaiki where the main attraction is Pancake Rocks (look it up!) and relaxed in a cozy house-style place with the best home-made bread and chilled out travellers. Not that we haven't met some nice Germans and Dutch ones....
Next on our route as we head further south includes Fox Glacier and then Wanaka...down to Queenstown (Q-T). Then a little Milford Sound here, some Te Anau there, a Mount Cook to top it off and then back up.... We are prediciting a little bad-weather and have given ourselves some breathing room in case but there are plenty of other activities to do if the weather holds up...
We hope the weather is holding up back home and that all of you are doing well and all.. summer is just around the corner... although here we are in full swing!
Pictures shall be posted soon so do not fret. Take care for now!

Jay and Rachel

Arrived in Wellington

Hello all!
We have arrived in Wellington at the tail-end of a storm that has hit the NZ since Thursday... the days we were supposed to be spending in the beautiful bay of Islands.. we might never know how beautiful they are!
After a lot of driving since Saturday morning (having stayed Friday in Keri Keri in a mansion of a house of our friend Chris Warren's) we arrived in a small backpackers hostel, and the weather seems to be settling. it is Sunday evening and we want to treat ourselves to some of the best food on both Islands... tomorrow we hit up the ferry to Picton and the scenery of the South Islands!'
In response to some questions, no I do not smell (Linda). And I have had few problems with the round-abouts... I have tried calling home once with a cell but there was not enough time on it..
The weather has been disapointing but I am hopeful that the South Island will blow it all away! That's it for now!

NZ Insights

Here in Rotorura, every now and then you can smell the geothermal sulfer...you can see heat vents and thermal pools when walking along forest trails. The hot acidic ground makes for interesting vegetation...maybe you can see on some pics.

Anyway, insights on NZ...well, Jay and I have gotten used to driving on the other side of the road but we did tend to hug the left hand side of the raod too much at first...and I always turn on the wipers instead of the flasher since the sticks are reversed. The people around here are really nice and helpful. The food is good...we've been taking advantage of the nice kitchen in the hostel here for the past two days...so we've saved money and cooked up nice meals. Instead of the HI (hostel international) accomodation you see in Europe - here they have YHA (i think it stands for youth hostel australasia). It costs us 60$ NZ for a night between the both of us but we get to cook our food and it's not that much more than the price of sharing a dorm. One night we stayed in the car since its a hatchback...but we froze all night...so no more of that for now! We'll be camping later on in our trip...maybe staying in huts when we do longer hikes in the forest.

More insights...i was disappointed that McDonalds, KFC, and Starbucks found they're way to NZ...but happy that the large majority of the produce here is from the island. Supermarkets are pretty much the same as in America but there are a few things that are surprisingly expensive...like garlic and limes. The local kiwis are different than the ones back home...good stuff. But we didn't see any kiwi birds and probably won't cause they're apparently very rare.

All in all, life is great and we're all smiles ...i'll post more observations later on.

Cheers!

Rachel

New Zealand!

Rachel and I arrived in Auckland this past Friday on time, and after a little time, got our little Mazda Familia and headed to meet Chris, my New Zealand friend. The day was spent lingering around the neighbourhoods of Parnell, New Market, and even K-Road where we had supper. But called it an early night nonetheless.

Day two had us headed west, and although the weather was not looking great, and after some confusing directions, we made it to Piha beach and climbed Lion rock in the warm sun. We even jogged up and down the beach. We then headed for a short hike in the Waitekere Ranges and then off to Devonport for supper, although we missed the Food and Wine festival.

These last 2 days we have spent in Rotorua, known for hot springs and many hikes. There is much Maori culture to see also, but we find it has been commercialized.

We head north as of tomorrow to Goat Island Marine Reserve and by the weekend will be chilling with Chris and his family, either sailing or fishing or hiking in the Bay of Islands, and we might even swim with the dolphins if weather permits!

Hope all is well and freezing back home, because it makes this trip all the more worth it!



Miss you tons, take care all!



Jay and Rachel

p.s. I am having problems with the memory card reader here so I will post photos when I learn how...

Imminent Departure

Okay, so we are just about T-minus 12 hours away from a trip of a lifetime. And I am still unpacked. Have no fear, I am a pretty organized person. And I can always count on Rachel in case I am missing something.

So for those who do not know the general itinerary we are taking, here goes nothing:

Montreal - Toronto - Hong Kong - Auckland in 3 days... (must take time change into consideration!)

New Zealand for 4 weeks.

Auckland - Hong Kong - Bangkok - Manila in 2 days.

Philippines for 40 days.

Manilla/Cebu to Bangkok.

Thailand for 4 weeks.

Bangkok - Denpasar.

Bali for 2 weeks.

Denpasar - Bangkok - Hong Kong - Alaska (drop-off or pick-up) - Toronto - Montreal in 2 days...

Montreal June 3rd...

Any questions????? I thought not... ... Montreal June 3rd...