Mountain High, River Wide, So Many Roads To Ride

So many roads, so many roads.

This week, we decided it was time to take an old fashioned road trip. The locals tell of a town called Wanaka, where Autumn leaves change colors like they do in Vermont. It would take 2 days to drive there, but driving in NZ is not like driving from San Diego to Tucson. This place is dramatically beautiful.

At one stop, a bird came and sat on the mirror and kept staring at us. Aren't these things normally afraid of humans?

We made a coastal town called Hokitika after the first day, where we met up with Jamina Shupak, a student I had at Lincoln Middle School 9 years ago. I taught all the Shupaks, and we went to a few Bar Mitzvahs too. Her dad is a Rabbi in Oregon. We had a great visit and when it got dark, we went across the road and gaped at glow worms. Jamina tried to photograph them, but the worms refused.

We went out to dinner and I told her the truth about the backpack incident. If you don't understand to what I am referring, tough.

The following day took us past magnificent glaciers. Kimberly has always refused to ride in a helicopter, as she believes they are dangerous, but the day was so perfect, she actually considered it. In the end we continued driving and saved 500 bucks.

On the day we were here, a couple of Americans had a bad fall and one died. We could have seen it if we had taken that ride.

There is a road called Haast Pass which everyone should drive before they die. These pictures cannot really show what the scenery is like. Lets just say that we should have taken 4 hours to get to Wanaka, but it took 9 due to stopping and weeping in awe.

This is why we came here.

Wanaka is our new favorite holiday spot. There are about 5000 inhabitants and a great big lake. The place has a Tahoe feeling and is a famous ski resort. There is a golf course with stunning views and is practically free to play.

We had rented a place on the Internet and it was way better than it looked on the web site. my sister Lauren could have moved right in. The kitchen was so modern, they even had a built in latte machine. Of course, Dr. Joe figured out how to make it work and it was coffee coffee coffee 24/7.

Apparently, we missed the best colors by a week... Oh well, we will be back next year.

We returned a different way, through Christchurch. More spectacular scenery.

There were heaps of wineries all the way, so we finally stopped at Montana Wine to buy a case. Turns out the grocery store has better prices than the winery..even if you want a case.

Wine snobs.

Just got home, Kimberly already went to Yoga.

I feel like I need a vacation.