Arrowtown, NZ - Day two

The good news is that our farm stay went really well. The bad news is that now the girls want to live on a farm. We tried to convince the owners to delegate some manual labor to give a true farm experience but it didn't pan out. The kids loved the independence of waking up and heading outside to feed carrots to the horses. 

In addition to the horses, the farm has two mini donkeys, two ponies, several ducks, a herd of cattle and a herd of sheep. They also have two very friendly dogs. I have to confess the dogs were a significant factor in my choice of Redlands Country Lodge. We miss Monty a ton! 

Emily loved the novelty of having a dog that actually fetched. She ran around all day throwing the ball for Sophie and neither of them ever tired of it. For an extra challenge she even started bouncing on a trampoline while throwing a ball to the dog. I tell you, she was in heaven - and so were we.

The owner of the farm used to run a riding school on the premises. We happened to catch her while she was working out one of the horses and she was kind enough to take Emily for a walk around the ring. It turns out this horse was a retired racehorse. Pretty cool. Tess preferred to watch from a safe distance. I would love to take these girls out to Arizona to the Circle Z ranch some day. Frankly, with as well as they traveled on this trip I began to imagine a lot of places I'd love to take them.

After a fun farm morning we decided to go check out the famous Karawarau Bridge bungy jump site. This was the first commercial bungy site (back in 1988) and it remains one of the most beautiful. Brian decided to give it a try because when in Queenstown that is just what you do. I opted to do the much tamer zip line. Our kids greeted both of us like returning heroes. As you'll see from the professional photos below Brian also chose to do the dunk option. I'm also amazed that Brian doesn't look remotely nervous. Check out the full video here.

 This is the view back to the Kawarau bridge.

The girls are still making fairy houses wherever we go. 

As if all of that wasn't enough for a beautiful New Zealand day we topped it all off with an amazing lunch at a local vineyard bistro. This was hands down the best meal we have had since leaving the US. I had written off fine food and wine as something we wouldn't get the chance to do while traveling with kids. To our delight, the Amisfield Winery happily served us a multicourse, locally sourced gourmet meal in a stunning setting while also happily allowing our kids to sit with us. They  even provided a boxed lunch of grilled ham and cheese, fruit, yogurt and chocolate mousse for the kids. 

In nicer weather you can sit outside by the fountain and let the kids play on the grass. As it was, we stayed inside while it drizzled, enjoyed the fire and the view and the kids dipped into the toy bin for distractions. I wish more restaurants would take this kind of an approach. 

When the skies cleared up we even had a little impromptu Bocci lesson. All in all, we had another amazing day in a long string of amazing days.