Queenstown

We finally made it to Queenstown where 6 members of my family are meeting us for Christmas. My mother, escorted by one of my nephews, arrived yesterday and hit the ground running. We have already been out to wine country, been bungy jump watching and to the kiwi bird life park. The rest of the crew comes in tomorrow. I have really enjoyed your comments so keep them coming. If you don't want to "sign up" just send me an email. We usually check in every day though that may change while the family is here.

Today was the first time we have seen a kiwi. They are endangered because stoats were introduced to get rid of the rabbit population and found kiwi eggs and chicks an easy meal. Kiwis, being flightless, lay eggs on the ground. Having nearly wiped out the national icon, there is a big push to rid the land of stoats and breed kiwis to grow the population. They are nocturnal making them difficult to see. At the bird center, we viewed them in a very dim red light where no photos were allowed.

This is bungy jumping at the Kawarau Bridge where the whole craze was started by AJ Hackett in 1988. The gorge is spectacular and people seem pretty nuts but it is fun to watch. Only about $140 US for a huge adrenaline rush from the 145 foot bridge. Look closely to the left and near the top of the bridge shadow, to see the jumper. He/she will be retrieved by the raft at the bottom of the screen.

This is the land of all things extreme. We have never seen this before!

View of Lake Wakatipu from Queenstown. This is New Zealand's longest lake.

Cut her off! She said she might have a few sips while we sat on the wharf. This came with 4 straws but she really liked it so good thing we had the wheelchair to get her back to the car. This is my 87 year old mother.

This is a tuatara, a living dinosaur. There are 4 orders of reptiles and this guy is the only member of one of those orders. This grouped has been around over 200 million years, retains some skeletal structure from fish and has a "third eye" in the forehead (covered with skin) that is believed to monitor circadian rhythms and UV rays.There is a local craft beer with this name that has a very cool bottle bearing the bumps of the skin and the sawtooth ribbing of his back running up the bottle neck.

This is the most rare duck in the world. It is from subarctic Campbell Island, south of New Zealand. It is flightless.