New Zealand Jan 2026

Today was the earliest morning yet. Downstairs at the hotel buffet at 6:45 and on the bus at 7:15. The drive to Milford Sound is 120 km and our cruise is at 10:30 so an early start is needed.  The drive was incredibly beautiful. The day started out very cloudy but we started seeing some sun breaks with the mountains peaking out. We started to realize what the New Zealand hype is all about. The fjords are magnificent. Hard to describe. We stopped at Mirror Lake and did a very short walk. We couldn’t see much as it is was too cloudy but there was a billboard picture there and the mountains surrounding the lake are spectacular. We continued our drive with another short stop. By now, we could see more of the mountains. Incredible.  We arrived at Milford Sound at about 10:00. Walked around some and soaked up the incredible beauty. I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. Got on the cruise at 10:30. The boat is really nice and they served us a box lunch which was quite good. W...

On the road again. We were out of bed at 6 am and packed and ready to go at 6:45. Walked up to the cafe where we would eat breakfast. The food is good and the coffee is marvelous. I didn’t sleep very well last night. Had a very vivid dream that David was alive and I was trying to explain all the decisions I’d made since his death. It was a bit unsettling. After breakfast, we boarded the bus and started our trip to Te Anau. It was a beautiful trip. Through the rolling countryside of New Zealand, peppered with sheep and cows. We stopped about half way for a bathroom stop and I bought another Americano at a place called Coffee Bomb. It was good but not as good as the coffees in the cafes.  We drove through Te Anau to the Kepler Track, a hike in the Fjordland National Park. The group divided into two hikes, one longer than the other. We hiked the long one of course. The day was nice, cloudy but pleasant. The foliage reminded me a lot of the Olympic Forest in Seattle, moss and ferns eve...

I woke up feeling like a truck hit me. My head was throbbing and I had a hard time getting out of bed. Matt is always so gracious and got up and showered first.  I finally dragged myself out of bed and showered. We got to the cafe for breakfast and I started feeling better. My ciabatta sandwich was absolutely fabulous. The ciabatta is like nothing I’ve ever eaten. So good. And of course, the coffee was wonderful.  After breakfast, we boarded the bus and headed to Omakau where we will be fitted for our bikes to do our bike ride today. We will be riding a section of the Otago Central Rail Trail that will cover about 18 miles. After everyone had been fitted and worked out the kinks, the bikes were put on a trailer to take to the start of the ride in Oturehua. It is kind of funny. At both the bike rides, there was one bike with no name on it. Both times it was mine. Not sure if the universe is telling me I’m nameless. But I’m ok with it.  We took the bus the rest of the way t...

We packed so much activity into this day. Wow. I’m so tired writing this. Last night, we had a very amusing thing happen. It was about midnight and Matt and I were both asleep. We woke up to someone in our room. The person was profusely apologizing saying she had accidentally gone into the wrong room. We just lay there quiet. I recognized the woman’s voice and realized she was part of our group. She struggled with the door and couldn’t figure out how to let herself out the sliding door into the courtyard which was the way she entered. She finally apologized again and let herself out the front door. After she left, Matt and I both started laughing hysterically. Pretty funny. The good thing was that Matt was now awake and got a chance to go out and see the stars in a dark sky environment.  We started the day with breakfast at a local cafe. Coffee was great. The granola and yogurt could not compare to Hamner Springs but it was ok. After breakfast, we boarded the bus and headed to Bann...

Another early morning. I woke up at 3:30 am when Erika sent me a text and it took me a while to get back to sleep but I still had a good night of sleep. We had our buffet at the hotel again, dressed for our bike ride, got our suitcases into the bus and headed out to where we will meet the company with the bikes. It is a cool morning but more blue sky than clouds. By the time we got onto our bikes and received instructions, the sky is even more blue. So happy to see the sun. We are riding a trail called Alps2Ocean. It is a very long trail through New Zealand and we are riding one stretch of it. A bit into the ride and we could see the godly Mt. Cook! The ride was so beautiful. We rode along the shores of gorgeous turquoise Lake Pukaki with the mountain soaring in the background. Very idyllic and beautiful. The bike ride was a lot of fun, even with many stops. About halfway in, we stopped and had some sandwiches and rested a bit. Now the trail pulled away from the lake. It was still beau...

We woke up to more cloudy cool weather. Today, we are walking the Hooker Trail walk by Mt Cook and we were hoping we would get to see the mountain but it doesn’t look likely. At least it is not raining!  We had breakfast in the hotel and I stuck to yogurt and granola and I paid for an Americano. They have brewed coffee here and it is gross. Not willing to drink it if I have a choice. I did eat some sort of a custard tart too. I’m enjoying the sugar, no doubt about that.  After breakfast, we loaded on to the bus and drove about an hour to the Hooker Track Trail. We will not be able to hike the six miles on this trail that was planned as it is closed half way up. It will be about a three mile hike. It is really windy and cold, temps in the 40’s. But we are dressed warm and using our rain jackets for windbreakers so it isn’t too bad. It is New Zealand beautiful but we are unable to see the mountains very much. The clouds are very low. As we hiked, we started to have occasional su...