We are thrilled to be back in New Zealand! This time we have eleven days at our disposal. While many people choose to drive all around one or both islands in that time we chose to concentrate our trip in two main areas: Queenstown and Fiordland. Both areas boast spectacular scenery and we figure this will allow us a chance to try several different activities and also hedge against bad weather on any one day.
Today we explored the downtown of Queenstown in the morning. It really looks and feels like Fall here. We knew it would be cool but today's high of 46F and some intermittent drizzle got us quite chilled. As it turns out there is an outdoor gear store on every corner so we picked up some adorable fleece hoodies for the girls and a warm hat for me.
We decided this backpack looked a touch big for Tess.
After lunch we headed out on Lake Wakatipu on the TSS Earnslaw. This turned out to be a great activity for a cold day as the inside of the vintage steamship is heated and makes for a relaxing way to watch the scenery.
Getting out onto the water helped us get a sense of the grand scale of the lake. There are mountains in all directions. The snow capped Remarkables range remained in the clouds for much of the time. We admired the beautiful yellow beach trees and the clear blue of the water.
On the far side of the lake we stopped at Walter Peak Farm for a tour. The setting is lovely with a little house and some well tended gardens.
We got to feed several animals including these red deer.
Tess seemed less interested in feeding animals and more interested in picking up tiny rocks.
The sheep provided the main attraction. We got to feed them and pet them.
After that we watched the sheep dog work.
Lastly we saw someone sheer a sheep. I was most impressed by how the man turned the sheep on her back and how she lay docilely while he shaved her.
To our delight the girls also befriended the other kids on the tour. They particularly hit it off with a 7 year old named Maddy who lives in Sydney of all places. Fun.
I should note it has been surreal to be so far from Boston during this last week. With the kids around we have avoided all tv coverage of the Marathon bombings. We have relied on social media and the web for our news. We were alerted to the chaos in Cambridge and Watertown shortly after it began. While it was 3am in Boston it was 7pm here and we were eating dinner and checking in our phones using the hotel wi-fi. We followed the coverage for another four hours as our kids went to sleep and we searched for details and answers. As Belmont was waking up to a lockdown situation, we were just going to bed. When we woke up in the morning things were still unresolved. It wasn't until we returned from our boat trip that we were able to check in and hear the good news about the capture of the second suspect.
Three different families from Emily and Tess' preschool live in the 20 block radius where the suspects were cornered. I was able to hear from all of them. They and their kids are fine. Two of the families had young enough kids that they stayed fairly oblivious to what was going on. The third family baked cookies for the SWAT team and generally focused on the heroics of law enforcement. Still, I can't imagine how terrifying it must be as a parent having this all literally in your back yard. We have explained just the broad overview of what happened and so far the girls have not asked many questions. We love Boston and feel our hometown pride now more than ever. As parents we dread the day we have to explain about intentional acts of senseless violence. For now, we have put off that discussion a little longer.
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