New Zealand's South Island
Some things you just can't put into words...
How about we skip the whole writing thing this time, and I just show you photos from my recent travels on the South Island of New Zealand? Hopefully, that doesn’t sound too much like the vacation slideshows my dad used to make our dinner guests watch when I was a little girl. It’s just that there is nothing I can say about this glorious island that a picture won’t say a thousand times better.
So, go ahead and make yourself a cup of tea or pour a glass of wine. Don’t worry. I’ll be here when you return. Get comfortable and prepare to be transported – if only for a few minutes – from the frenetic pace and frantic uncertainty of this day.
Who needs museums when you can walk through nature’s own sculpture garden: a grand limestone outcropping on Arthur’s Pass. Kura Tawhiti is a place of cultural significance for the Ngai Tahu, which is the principal Maori tribe on the South Island.
That color….
We took a helicopter and spent several hours hiking on the Franz Josef Glacier. I had to tamp down the guilt over my contribution to climate change, but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you it was one of the highlights of my life.
I am not afraid of heights. I am not afraid of heights…..(Spoiler: I’m terrified.)
Watch out for those early evening traffic jams….
New friends, Janice and Warren, invited us for a “walk around the neighborhood” and then dinner at their home in Christchurch. Who knew that “walk” means an 8-mile hike along the coast? Good thing we packed our boots along with our dress shoes….
And, as always, there is wine…
We’ve wrapped up our trip, but I’m trying to retain the beauty, the kindness, the sense of safety and security that enveloped us like the low-hanging clouds twisting their way through New Zealand’s valleys and mountain peaks.
I’m hoping that for you, too.
Stunning photos. I wanna go….
Just catching up on the posts I missed, and man am I glad I did because these pictures are INCREDIBLE. I think our next family trip with the in laws will be to New Zealand, so I'll be picking your brain about it!