Here is the "Ent" picture.

Franz Joseph Glacier

Catching up on yesterday, we went to Franz Joseph Glacier in the morning and several parks in the afternoon as we traveled down the west side of the South Island. The pictures from the trip are of the glacier and the "Ent" trees (from the filming of the "Lord of the Rings". Enjoy!

I am posting from my phone and hope for success. We are spending two days in Okarito on the west coast of the South Island. This the rain forest. Today we went out on kayaks and enjoyed beautiful views and lovely bird calls.

hokitika nz

We are taking a quick break in this little town. This morning we hiked about 2.5 hours up one river, over the ridge and down another. Then viewed the blowholes at Punakaiki, then had lunch on a beach dodging big breakers. The west side of the south island is not swimming territory. Too many big waves here from the Tasman sea.

We are happy to have dry weather. Apparently they've had 1.5 meters of rain since the first of the year. We do have muddy boots.

The flowers are marvelous. We can't post photos right now, but I've got some great hydrangea and other photos that will get posted eventually. Phone and internet are spotty so don't get worried if you don't hear from us daily. Having fun!

Well, sorry to leave you for a couple of days but had no internet access. Our group was split up into hikers, bicyclists, and kayakers. Anne and I were in the bicycling group. We stayed and a wonderful bed and breakfast--a couple of pictures are of the group and the grounds around the B&B (the fern). The other two are pics of the bicycle trips. We are are the northwest side of the South Island, which is a series of Sounds. The Maori story of it is a warrior fighting with a giant Octopus that grabbed land as it finally died and sunk into the water. Hope I can connect again soon.

Kiakoura beach

We met up with the Rima active NZ group and took a bus ride down to Kiakoura beach, a hangout for furry NZ seals. We put on wet suits and snorkeled, hoping to catch a seal in the water. The seals stuck to their idle positions on their rocks. However, one of our snorkelers with gloves picked up a couple of Abalone and our guide sliced it up and we ate it raw on the beach--you can see this in one of my pictures. The other two pictures are of the beach, one with Anne and the other of a tractor being used to pull a boat out of the water and getting it off the beach! Our Rima group consists of 14 people, a mix from US, Canada and one from Norway.

Christchurch

We arrived to the South Island at one of the main cities, Christchurch. It is called "the garden city". We spent several hours in another spectacular botanical garden. Anne recognized many of the species from our own Pacific Northwest--Rhodies by the dozen, dahlias, and a huge rose garden. However, we were most impressed by the size of some of the trees. Hence, the attached photos of the day. Tomorrow, we will begin our multisport tour with Rima, a local tour company. We will be glad to quit the flying for a few days!