Tulips and Puppies

This week has been eventful...to such an extent that I am considering going to bed within the hour (full disclosure: it's 8:00 pm).

I volunteered at the Best Friends Super Wonderful Magical No Kill Weekend. Michael and I have been volunteering at the adoption center on Sugarhouse, but this event is a pretty big deal--they adopted out almost 500 dogs and cats from local shelters! We unloaded dogs and took them on little walks. It's so fun to visit each morning of the three days and NOT see all your favorite dogs, since they had found families. I am such a fan of this organization and find myself laughing the whole time I'm volunteering for them--even when I'm hosing down a growly dog who rolled in feces. 

Remember what I said about laughing? Here's Michael with General the bulldog.

400 animals adopted on Saturday! Final count was even higher. 

Tonight we went to Thanksgiving Point. It was raining so we had the gardens to ourselves, which was lovely. I'd never been good old Lehi, due to my predjudices about polygamists and blonde people (just kidding, Lehi fans). It was beautiful. 

Heading to the Secret Garden.

Just in case you forgot you were in Utah. 

I'm giving the gardens two thumbs up and the Best Friends weekend three. 

New Zealand, Part 12: Milford Sound

Our last full day in Queenstown was a bust -- as in a budget buster. We went for it. All the way. The whole enchilada. We were so lucky to have so many friends and family that contributed to our New Zealand dreams, because this day in Milford Sound was one of the best I've ever had and certainly most scenic.

We took a charter bus out to Milford Sound, took a ferry out to the ocean, and then a tiny private plane back over the mountains. It was amazing. I am partial to the glowworm caves, but this was Michael's favorite thing.

Our only failure, was forgetting the big kid camera, so iPhone photography it is. We stopped a few times as we drove through the South Island.

At least when Michael is taking the pictures, and trying to make up for a forgotten camera, 

he does a pretty great job.

I had the urge to run quite a long way into the field. The tourists on the bus did not appreciate waiting for me to run back...still worth it though.

 The water was so beautiful and because it was all coming out of springs, 

we filled up our water bottles.

The fresh spring water may have been the thing that Michael talked to people about the most when we got home. "I just filled up my water--right out of the spring!" 

I like him.

 Although we were very pleased (and quite lucky) to have beautifully clear weather, the mountains that we drove through are filled with glaciers and steep cliffs and when it rains the cliff faces stream with waterfalls. We'll just have to go back on a cloudy day, I suppose.

We hopped on the ferry, where we provided a lunch, from the Pita Pit (pronounced Peeta Pet). That was the sight of many a 2:00 am date for Michael and I while I lived in Logan, so it felt right.

The sound opened to the ocean, where I imagined all my whale friends frolicking about. 

We passed by this water fall, while Michael and I were standing on the deck. The captain announced that they were closing the doors, to avoid water blowing in to the cabin. We were unconcerned. The only other lady who was outside was a Japanese woman and her 90 year-old grandmother, who had never traveled before.

Japanese grandma, was very excited about the waterfall and was howling with laughter when...

...we all got soaked.

 

 (This photo was pre-waterfall.)

I'd never seen my husband skip before, but I have to say, we were rather giddy when we saw our little plane.

A nice spot for a plane parking lot.

 Sheepskin seats? Naturally. 

 See? Giddy. 

Driving over the mountains was amazing. It's the same flight that ends the first Hobbit Movie. Although, we preferred our little plane, to an eagle.

Good bye, Milford Sound.

 

 

 Tallest waterfall in the country.

I may have cried. Just a little. When we flew over this blue, blue lake. Apparently the hike to get here takes three days. I might just have to do that. 

 So pretty.

As we flew over the mountains, we could see Queenstown, and it's beautiful lake. Michael and I kept hitting each other and trying to get the other to look at their side of the plane. Both sides of the plane, however, were amazing and beautiful.

 

We might be even giddier than when we took off. 

 Not a bad last day in NZ, eh?

New Zealand, Part 11: Queenstown

I've been avoiding this blog post, because it is the last New Zealand trip. Now what? Hmmm...I'm thinking Iceland in 2015.

Queenstown was a beautiful town and quite action-packed. We were camping, gondoling, bungee jumping, flying, and oystering.

We flew from Christchurch to Queenstown, which was one of the funniest parts of our trip. After our international travel experiences, we arrived at the airport about two hours early, with the hopes that we might have time to eat lunch before leaving. We walked into the airport and were searching for our gate. A nice man complimented my camera lens cover (it was a sock...apparently that really impressed him). Then we realized that we'd actually just gone through security, that camera check was it. A little different than the airport experience in the states, eh? Needless to say, we had enough time to eat lunch. After we boarded the plane and it quieted down a bit, Michael turned to me, perplexed. "Do you hear that?" It did. It was chirping, because the entire front half of the plane was full of chickens. Yes, chickens. Only in New Zealand. The flight attendant told us about all the different things that they transport, including all kinds of live animals. She said they once took 100 cats. That, she said, was the loudest, most awful trip she ever worked. After that story, we were happy to have chickens on board over yowling cats. Michael and I spent the rest of the trip laughing about poultry-sized life vests and Snakes on a Plane 2: When Chickens Attack. When we got of the plane, we were greeted by this view:

Wow. The Remarkables are well-named.

We explored the town a bit, which reminded me of Park City or Jackson Hole, without quite so many cheerful wooden bear statues. The beautiful lake, though, was quite different than anything I'd seen before.

The lake is the focal point, with the town all around the pier.

The water is such a beautiful color, and changes as you move around the lake or hike above the lake. The mountains were also beautiful and so much different than anything I had seen before. 

We decided on a nice lunch, right on the water. Michael then became obsessed with oysters. No, really. It didn't have anything to do with the oysters on the honeymoon idea either. The people next to us had oysters and Michael could hardly help from tipping his chair over from staring. As we went to the little stores around town, buying earrings, slippers, rulers, a rugby or two, and all other sorts of souvenirs, Michael spent about 80 % of the time talking about oysters. So, we made a plan to have spaghetti at our camp site that night, so we could have $50 oysters for dinner the next night. I convinced Michael that we needed to see other parts of the lake, so we rented bikes and covered some serious ground. It was then that we discovered that we look like idiots when we ride bikes.

I am a cute girl.

At least I didn't get a child's size helmet and tuck my sock into my khakis. And to think, I married that guy.

Celebrating our bike to one side of the lake. 

Glacial water is cooooold.

As we rode back, I started to see glimpses of red in the water. There was some sort of 

beautiful algae. 

Can you see the red?

The next morning we escaped from our weird neighbors at our camp site, who seemed to have driven the Queenstoen, in a giant van with a 12 man tent, just to hang out at the camp site. We were three minutes from downtown, but they never seemed to leave their tent area. Did I mention, that the lady was teaching herself to play the guitar? Oh, did I mention that she was breastfeeding her five year old. Oh, did I mention that the parents laughed when their child walked to a neighboring site and peed on a tree about three feet from someone's tent. Ha ha hilarious--not. The bathrooms are 50 yards south.

We took the gondola up to a high point above the lake. 

We totally kissed.

There was wild lupin growing everywhere.

The view from the top was amazing. 

Wonderful.

Here's a noisy video with a town panorama.

We then trotted over to this area:

The platform stretched out a few hundred feet over the mountain. I was ready to bungee jump.

I had to leave Michael right away, because he was a bit nervous. I think he likes me and doesn't like heights. The staff was funny. I asked them to loosen the harness, since it was so tight around my thighs that I thought my legs might fall off. They all laughed for a few minutes, which was a little uncomfortable for me. Then they told me that they had never been asked that question before. One guy had been working there for 5 years. The only thing that made me nervous was the start. I had always pictured a sudden drop, or quick release, but it was a free start, which means you had about twenty feet to run and then you just jumped off the ledge. Whew! 

My poor legs could barely move in that harness, but I set off at what I thought was a dead sprint. When I watched the video that they were trying to sell me in the gift shop, I realized that it was mostly a little skippy sort of dance, that slowed down quite a bit as I reached the edge. I still went for the leap, though. 

I told you that I didn't exactly fly off the platform. I sure felt like I did, though.

 I bet the people it that gondola were a bit interested in my flight.

The swing after the fall was the best part. I felt like the swinging ship ride, but with the prettiest view I've ever seen.

Towed up to the top, they gave me a bit of extra swing time. Good photo work, Michael. I don't usually get to use the sport's mode on my camera.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the town. Oh, also the oysters. Stewart Island oysters.