Glaciers, a luge experience, a Great Walk and more...

We have been planning for months now for Tim and Gwendolyn (Sarah's parents) to come and visit us here in New Zealand.  It is surreal that they are finally here and we have to stop and say, "Wow, you guys are in New Zealand." All of the planning and cavorting is done and we are actually in the enjoying one another phase of the trip (next comes looking at tons of photos).  Speaking of photos, I want to add a few here from the first twelve days of their trip.  Please feel free to scroll through them and leave us some comments on what you think!  We have been all over the South Island of New Zealand and today we are heading out to visit the Cadbury chocolate factory in Dunedin and then passing through the Catlins to see penguins and such - no biggie.   We will add another more complete post with more photos later as we have time. But for now enjoy these beauties.

(Posing under a tree in Queenstown in their park)

(Some trees were huge and can only be shown in comparison to Sarah and Miriam size!  Wow)

(An upward shot of the same tree!) 

(We visited an active sheep farm via a ferry ride.  Pretty cool stuff.) 

(After seeing a sheep shorn before our very eyes the girls go touch the disgustingly dirty wool)

(Posing on the sheep farm)

(Photo bomb!!)

(Our ride - not bad)

(We got these kids walking!!)

(Oh ya, the luge course.  Highly competitive and dangerous!)

(Sarah and the GW at a winery)

(Winery pose)

(Posing on a walk - she's so pretty)

(We took the parents to go see a glacier of course)

(A walk through an historic town took us to a crazy hill top graveyard)

(Mom and daughter stop to smile)

(Can it get any prettier down here?)

(Tim at Monteith's Brewery - we had a tasting!)

(A nice hike to a beautiful waterfall offers a father daughter shot)

(And one for us - pretty fun getting out on those rocks.)

(Look closely and these rocks look like pancakes - and it's an all natural process of wind and water over many many years!  Hungry??)

(On our great walk we had to pass this guy.  I think we disturbed his nap time and he was not super happy about it - Gordon and Miriam are off to the side where he's showing his teeth!) 

(Tim stops to pose on a bridge on our Great Walk)

(Yes, there were some hills of course)

(Cooking fresh caught mussels for dinner... yum)

(We pose on the bridge near the end of our great walk - pretty amazing scenery we passed on the way.)

(Celebratory dinner after our great walk - Stewart Island oysters.  They are "infamous" as Miriam and Gordon would not say.)

(Gwendolyn opted for the mussels - look how huge they are??)