Hi all,

Hope all is going well for all of you "back
home". We are having a fantastic time already! John has
learned to drive on the left side of the road-with me "back seat
driving". He is going to get it all figured out before I try it!
The camping has been great--very easy. We have mostly been staying
in DOC (Dept of Conservation, like our Forest Service) campgrounds. They
are all very nice.

We visited Aoraki/Mt. Cook and it was beautiful.
Glacier-capped mountains all around, and beautiful hikes to the ends of
glaciers, etc. It is amazing to hear how much the glaciers are
retreating-super scary.

We just spent 3 days in Queenstown, which is the
adrenaline-sport capital. We weren't interested in any of the jet-boat
rides, etc right now, but loved the beautiful lake.

We stayed at Moke Lake about 20 minutes outside of Queenstown
among the Lord of the Rings-type mountains and bleating sheep--it was
beautiful. Today, we are in a little village where tomorrow we leave for our 4
day hike (Routeburn track). It is raining hard, so we are sitting
in a pub and John is watching the 49ers play the Super Bowl. The owner of
the pub put the game on special for John.

Take care, and hopefully hear from you all soon. After tonight, we
will probably check email again in about a week.

Kathy and John