Our Romantic Getaway in the South Island, NZ

While Mom and Dad graciously played with our kids all week in Auckland, Rich and I ran away to the South Island for a much-needed break. We hardly knew what to do with all the quiet, the wide open spaces, and the breath-taking beauty!

Rich posing in front of a roadside field of lupine flowers. Delicious. We almost felt like we were home on Grandma & Grandpa Key's farm with the bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush in full spring bloom. G&G Key's Farm + Utah-like Mountains = Paradise!
The boat we took to explore Milford Sound. This is a must-see spot in all the tour books, but we had a difficult time capturing its grandeur on camera. You've gotta just go see it for yourselves.Posing in the rain by one of the many temporary waterfalls in Milford Sound. It rains almost all the time here and it was cold!
Cycling around Lake Wanaka. We stayed at the Mt. Aspiring Hotel and they loaned us some bikes to ride. We had a great time, but we eventually discovered you can't ride around the lake! So if you ever go, don't try it. But I did get a taste of some tame mountain biking, which Rich loved and I liked more than I thought I would.

I have to include these pictures because for some reason they tickled me so much. Maybe because cows are so present in India and these are so different from what I've become accustomed to. I stopped to take a picture of them and they all turned and looked at me blandly.
Within a few minutes, all the cows in the field had mosey-ed on over and were all just standing there staring at me as if waiting for me to entertain them or tell them something they hadn't already heard. I found it hilarious for some reason!
In front of the Fox Glacier. I'd never seen a glacier before. Fascinating.Us in the window of the train we took that crossed the South Island from Greymouth to Christchurch.Our last stop in Christchurch. We stayed at a great hotel called Livingspace and ate Mexican food.
As we got off the train we saw this scene of a cyclotouring company picking up their clients. On this trip we discussed an idea for our next life adventure of starting a cyclo-touring company near Niagara Falls and doing cyclotours to Church history sites similar to what we did in 2002. One of us could teach school to get the medical insurance and a steady income and then we could run the business between us and even get the kids involved when they get older. I thought I'd write it down here so we don't forget!