Discovering Dunedin

Mel spent a good week in Dunedin enjoying all the sunshine (ha!).

Here are some pictures of some of the things we did in good old Dunnos.




St. Clair Beach

Me and Aaron at the Botanical Gardens

Aaron at the Harbour Fish Factory

Mel and me on top of Mt. Cargill

Mel at Tunnel Beach

Again at Tunnel Beach

Larnach Castle

Dinner with Richard and Helen - it was about 9:45p.m. when this picture was taken... crazy.

Outside Fleur's Place - Haley's favorite restaurant

Who wants to see a movie in Invercargill? Come on... Anyone?

After Te Anau, Mel and I left Aaron on that Sunday and decided to try the Southern Scenic Route back home to Dunedin. There are a ton of stops along the way so we figured this would take us a good two days, stopping after the first day in the unbelievable southern town of Invercargill (hint of sarcasm). Aaron and I explored the Southern Scenic Route last January when I arrived and we loved it. The sky was blue, the weather was mild and we could have spent so much more time at the different stops along the way. When I was thinking of things for Mel and I to do, this was one that I thought she would love. UNFORTUNATELY, the weather was shit when we left Te Anau and it never got any better of the next two days. Since we had already booked the hotel in Invercargill, we trucked along anyway.

One of the first stops of ours was to see a 1000+ year old tree. We turned off the main road about 12:15 and with Mel's impeccable navigational skills and 25 million miles on horrible gravel roads in my top of the line 1991 car, we finally found the damn tree around 2 p.m. As we were driving down the gravel road, Mel said, I feel like we are in one of those horror movies where it starts out with two stupid american tourists who then get killed somewhere down the line... that was soo us. There was no one around... just old farms, sheep, then forest. Deliverance, anyone? Once we parked, we found ourselves on a 15 minute swampy forest track to this unbelievable tree that was around before 1910. Amazing (no sarcasm this time).



We pulled into the ghost town of Invercargill around 4 p.m. that night. If you don't know about Invercargill, you aren't missing much... maybe just some people without teeth. Mel and I went out to dinner at Lone Star and in New Zealand fashion, we ran into people we knew there and ate with them (aaron's little sister and 3 of her friends happened to be there that night for work). After dinner, we decided to go to see Avatar. I kid you not, we watched the most magnificent movie of 2010 in a small theater with NO SURROUND SOUND. I didn't even know that could still possibly exist. Avatar was played with one speaker in the front. Tourism New Zealand needs my phone number. This should be a highlight of any NZ visitor.

The next day, Mel and I finished the Southern Scenic Route. We couldn't do any of the beautiful beach stuff since the wind and the rain were impossible to see thru, but we had some great hikes thru beautiful tracks to powerful waterfalls. That night we were back in Dunedin and finished with our 2010 NZ road trip.

Video from Milford Sound

Here is a video Mel took while on the boat tour of Milford Sound. I mean, it just doesn't give the experience justice, but you can get a taste of what it was like.

Haley, since you complained about my 4 second video from the Jet boat... here is a 57 second video. Hopefully you are prepared for and happy with the length of this video. hehehehee

Simmer Down Now, Te Anau

On Friday, Jan 8th, Mel and I drove 3.5 hours to meet Aaron in a south West Coast town called Te Anau (sounds like "Teh Ow-Now" when said quickly with a kiwi accent). Te Anau is basically a sad little wet town whose basic job on this planet is to provide a place to sleep when visiting Milford Sound in the Fiordland National Park (yes, Kiwi's misspelled Fjordland). Milford Sound is one of New Zealand's most visited tourist destination and is nominated for the "New 7 Wonders of the World" (winner announced in 2011).

Aaron, being the networker, deal-maker that he is, worked out for us three to take a 3 hour boat tour of Milford Sound - FOR FREE! When we drove in on Friday, the sky was beautiful and Mel and I were blessed with breathtaking scenery. On Saturday, when we woke up, the wheels had fallen off (as the kiwis like to say)... The weather had gone to shit. Major shit. But as we learned later on in the boat, Milford Sound is one of the wettest places in the world, so to get a sunny day in Milford is a rarity.

Rain and all... Milford Sound was incredible. Amazing. Beautiful. A must-do for any visitor of New Zealand. Waterfalls like the ones found here, never ever get boring to look at.

Mel Meets Wanaka

After our time in Queenstown, me, Mel and Aaron came home to Dunedin for 2 nights and then Mel and I were off on our travels again to Wanaka - this time minus Aaron.

Had a great 3 days in Wanaka... Hung out with Steven Bearden (texan working there). Walked around Lake Wanaka. Visited Rippon Winery + about 4 more. All with great wine tastings. Played a mean game of Scrabble and I actually won. Hiked up Mount Iron. Watched the UT Championship game with Mel and Steven. Watched Melanie cry.

Then left quiet Wanaka and headed to meet Aaron in Te Anau (West Coast).

Video from Dart River ride in Glenorchy

Check out the crazy Dart River and a jet boat similar to the one we were in! YIKES!

Bringing in Twenty Ten... in Queenstown

I can not think of a better place to bring in the New Year than in Queenstown, New Zealand! Mel and I flew into Queenstown around 9 a.m. on the 31st and Aaron picked us up shortly afterward. After a quick trip to the grocery and an even quicker nap, we were mixing cocktails with Charlotte, Simon, Stacy, Bails, Dan, Emmy and Billy in our amazing apartment over looking Lake Wakatipu. Around 11 p.m. we headed out to Barluga for the slightly blurry NYE countdown. Impressively, Mel and I both lasted later than 2:30 a.m. at the bar... not too shabby for the lack of sleep and jet lag.

The next day, we were a bit slow, but we managed to head out to Arrowtown - a sleepy town that was booming in the New Zealand Gold Rush era. Although the Gold is no longer there, the town still has all its charm. Mel found some great buys in the little shops and we enjoyed a cuppa out in the beautiful sunshine that always finds Arrowtown.

Following our relaxing New Years Day, Aaron booked us three on a three hour Jet Boat ride down the Dart River in Glenorchy (imagine Lord of the Rings region). It was stunning and wonderful and totally worth the pretty penny, plus we lucked out that the New Zealand Weather Gods were in a calm mood that day (we all know they can get a bit feisty).

The rest of the time in Queenstown, we spent reading our books in the sunshine on the patio and cooking BBQs with friends and enjoying the scenery of Q-town.

Mel and I had a blast for NYE, but we sure did miss ringing in the new year with our big group of friends, but we know you girls had no problems kicking in 2010 in great fashion and style!!