Tell me Doctor, where are we going this time? - 11 - 13 January 2009

Welcome to the wayback machine.  After finishing at Mt. Cook, we loaded up the trusty Toyota Camry and drove our happy way to Christchurch.  We only spent the night there, and left bright and early the next morning.  So early, in fact, that the gas stations weren't open and we got charged a fee for returning the car without filling the tank.

We flew from Christchurch to Auckland, and used some more points to stay at the Hilton there.  Of course we had to do (yet another) repacking exercise.

Since one of the most common questions is about how you pack for a trip like this, I thought the following photo might be interesting:

These are my toiletries.  Packed, this all fits into two 1-gallon zip-locks and 2 1-quart zip-locks, excluding the water bottle, of course.

We really enjoyed New Zealand - one of the continuing jokes is that we'll move here someday.  It's relatively unpopulated, with gorgeous scenery and lots of activities.  Mountains, oceans, glaciers - really most of the stuff we really enjoy.

One other thing about NZ - they've got lots of interesting commercials.  From the campaign to prevent driving while tired, to the campaign to stop drinking, it's obvious they've got a different outlook on what's acceptable on TV than we do.

My favorite commercial, though, is the one below.  Mostly because it reminds me of playing basketball with one of my friends from college back in the day.  Enjoy! Or be grossed out - your choice.