Arriving in Milford Sound

Editor's note: We are back to finish off the New Zealand photographs over the next couple of days.

After a long day we decided to press on and drive into Milford Sound to see it while the weather was still good. It turned out to be a good choice, but more on that later. Milford Sound is a spectacular glacial fjord. We were quite lucky to see it with blue sky and sun. Here are a couple of photographs, including us waiting to go through the Homer Tunnel which is cut through the mountains.

At it again

This time we are at the Qantas domestic terminal heading to Alive Springs to visit Uncle Mat. SV is examining one of the planes, it seemed to check out OK.

Christmas lunch at Carlos'

For Christmas lunch we went to meet up with Carlos and his family along with a number of our good friends. Yoselyn was there as were Mat, Cheyane and Becky. It was really good to catch up and for SV to be reminded of the people she already knows. Carlos and his family put on a great spread and we had a fun time. SV even managed to squeeze in a nap.

Christmas morning

SV was quite excited this morning because she knew something was up. She wasn't quite sure what, but she was happy to be let loose on her stockings and then presents. She was enthusiastic but not rude. She even let the rest of us open our packages. It was fantastic to see her really enjoy it. Thank you to everyone for your thoughtful presents she has liked all of them so far. She has only managed to get through half of them, but we'll open the rest tomorrow.

Christmas Eve presents

On Christmas Eve we made a light dinner more appropriate to the hot weather of salmon, potatoes au gratin, pear and goats cheese salad, and pecan pie. It was gone in a flash and lead to the first of the gifts being opened by mostly SV. She had a blast opening everything and playing with it regardless of who it belonged to. It was fun watching her though. Thanks for all the pressies so far. Hopefully everyone has a lovely christmas with their loved ones like we get to have.

SV and Santa 2013

Merry Christmas to all of you from SV and Santa. Hopefully you were good this year.

Gingerbread house building

Editor's note: We are taking a break from the New Zealand trip to provide up to date coverage of the Christmas holiday, but we will return with the rest of the photographs from NZ after a few days.

KT bought a gingerbread house kit that her and SV were going to build. When SV saw the project she got very excited and then became very focused on using the 'glue' to affix all of the goodies to the house. TV and even Richie joined in to lend a helping hand.The finished product is at the end, including a skilful application of sugar snow.

Bartender and the new dress

We went out to a pub to try some of the local beers when SV decided she should bar tend. She did a good job and as a reward she got to wear her new red rockabilly dress. Naturally she had to check it out in the mirror, and then struck a few poses just for good measure.

Glenorchy

A short drive from Queenstown is a small town called Glenorchy which is situated right at the end of the azure Lake Wakatipu and surrounded by massive snow covered mountains. It is the area where several of the majestic scenes from Lord of the Rings was filmed. It is a spectacular location and one that SV was very ready to tramp through. We took a gentle trail that went near the lake and led us along some boardwalks over a few of the marshes. We had some great views and saw some wildlife along the way.