New Zealand Day 1 & 2 &3

Hi all!
I figured I should update you all on our trip to New Zealand!

So we left on Sunday December 23 at 10:40 PM. We arrived the next day, Monday December 24, at 2:00 PM. The flight was smooth and uneventful.

Day 1: Dec. 23:
We arrived in Auckland and met our driver. He took us to our hotel where we were left to fend for ourselves. Most of the shops and such were closed because it was Christmas Eve. We ate at a restaurant called the Waterfront. It was a very good restaurant overall. After that we walked around, up and down streets. Dad wanted to see if the old Church building was still there. So owe walked up Queen's Street to find it. And it was still there! Amazing. So we took some pictures and what not, then went back to the hotel, where the kids went swimming, and I promptly fell asleep! We also found out that our driver is some how related to a teacher at school. Crazy!

Day 2: December 25:
The next day we met our driver at 10 for a driving tour around Auckland. Dad wanted to see where his old flat was, so we drove around and down the street where he used to live on. It looks as if his old house (which was a large house) had been destructured and made into 4 or 5 houses. So we drove around and ended back up at the airport, where we flew to Queenstown. When we got to Queenstown, we walked around (it was now Christmas day) and went up the gondolas to the top of a montain so we could look out everywhere. All the stores were closed, as were the restaurants. So we ended up eating room service, which was still good!

Day 3: December 26:
Today, we started out the day looking at our options for what we could do. We knew we wanted to do a Shotover Boat Ride, and a Lord of the Rings tour. So we booked the LOTR tour for tomorrow morning, since its a 4 hour 4WD tour!! And we did the shotover jet boat ride this morning. It was way fun! At the beginning, Camille didn't want to do it, so mom and her decided not to go, but then Noelle began to not feel well, so she stayed and Camille ended up going! It was so much fun! The driver does all these cool tricks and such! Before that though, we went up to Arrowtown which is where most of the gold was found. It was a really small town that we walked around. Oh and mom and dad have been driving us around! They didn't have a van, so both parents had to drive. So after the boat we went back to town and drove around looking at shops and got a small snack. And that puts us here! Another funny bit of info: This morning when we were booking what we wanted to do, I saw a familiar face! We knew one of my teachers and his wife were coming to New Zealand, but never thought we would see them. Then in he walks!!! It was so funny! And then we saw them again later on in the afternoon.

Anyway! I don't have any pictures right now, but I will post them when we get back!


Hope you all had a great Christmas, and we hope you all have a wonderful New Years!

I am going to try and post every couple of days, but it all depends on the internet connection!


Love, The Busaths