New Zealand is absolutely, drop-dead gorgeous!  And the people there are as friendly and outgoing as are the Aussies. We only visited the South Island, and unfortunately were only there for 7 days. This was just an extension to the Oz Tour, but what dynamite! Christchurch is lovely, very European. 

Queenstown is stunning with its lakes and snow-capped mountains. Incredibly, it turned cold and snowed on the peaks just as we got there. This was a mixed blessing. The snow made for a stunning scene;  on the other hand, we were COLD!  In the end, I think the cold was worth it for the bonus of the gorgeous photos. 

We spent a day in the fiords of Doubtful Sound, yet another paradise, but with doubtful weather. 

In New Zealand, even on a bus out in the middle of nowhere, I wanted to keep yelling "Stop the bus!" There was always some gorgeous panorama unfolding, seemingly around every bend! Even their sheep are photogenic!

And we ATE! In general, I thought the food here WAS overcooked English. Not all that good. But their hokey-pokey ice cream and their Pavlovas are to die for! Yvonne introduced us to both; by this time we were all stuffing ourselves shamelessly. We had cookies on the bus, ice cream at the stops, and Pavlova after meals. Oh, and the Easter Bunny brought us all chocolate eggs and bunnies. There really IS an Easter Bunny! (Her name is Yvonne!)

We ate and we laughed! On more than one day my stomach muscles were sore from laughing. What a great time!

So it was with a few tears that we left Yvonne in the Auckland airport on the interminable 3^rd day of April. We dragged ourselves to LA, where we said our good-byes, and went our separate ways. We all have great impressions and terrific memories of the land Down Under!