Last Few Days in New Zealand

Monday afternoon in Queenstown, we rode the gondola to the top of a hill overlooking the city. The view was amazing! Thad decided to do the bungy swing. I almost did it with him, but April and I found a good deal on a helicopter ride, which I've always wanted to do. So we did the helicopter ride. It was so cool! We landed near the top of one of the mountains and walked around in the snow a little. It was really cold, but the view was probably the most amazing I've ever seen.

Tuesday we did a lot of driving. Once again, the scenery was amazing. We drove to Mt. Cook and camped near the base. It was cold!! We hiked to a lookout in the evening and got a beautiful view. After dark, the star gazing was amazing. The sky is so clear out there far from any lights. In the morning, Thad and I started a hike (which they call tramping) just before the sun came up. It was so beautiful to see the early morning sun shining on the tops of the mountains. We crossed two swinging bridges. There were patches of ice on the trail. The drive back to Mount Cook goes along a beautiful lake. There are many beautiful lakes that we have seen along the way.

On Wednesday we drove back up to Christchurch. We stopped at Lake Tekapo. We saw the Church of the Good Shepherd, which is this really cute little stone church sitting by the edge of the lake with beautiful mountains in the background. When we got to Christchurch, we did a little shopping then found a campground.

Today, we are going to go on a boat cruise around the bay and ride a gondola to a mountain lookout. We may do some shopping and sightseeing around the city as well. Tomorrow, we fly to Sydney.