Greetings from the Southern Hemisphere

Well, everything they have said about New Zealand is true -- and more!  We spent the day of arrival resting in the hotel, but the next day, an Ole Miss grad and his wife introduced us to the North Island.  We spent the day perusing supermarkets -- they have purple sweet potatoes! Next we drove to a place where Jurassic Park was filmed -- it makes our term "virgin forest" look elementary. It is absolutely primeval.  I have lots of film of it -- ferns over 60' tall, trees that are 1,000+ years old -- not redwoods, either.  And an amazing world of birds -- which you know attracts Vaughn's attention.

After the long -- 30 hours in the air and 8 on the ground or tied up at the gate -- trip -- we appreciated the business class....however, on the plane to Queenstown we were back in the normal, coach seats.  What a difference.

We arrived in Queenstown to rent our car, and drive (on the other side of the road) and drive down here to Te Anau where we are in a b 'n b, looking at the fjords, seeing the sheep, and learning how to interpret the Kiwi speech.

Believe me, when people speak of the kindness and friendliness of the New Zealanders, they are right.  They are eager to help, and do it with a smile. No tipping allowed in the country, because they earn a living wage anyway...when they say 65 miles an hour they mean 65 KILOMETERS AN HOUR -- not 67 -- when they say your plane check in is 30 minutes before departure...they will NOT check you in prior to 30 minutes.  And guess what?  They "cue" in the most civilized manner to board the plane...

And....gas is (we DID convert it from liters and kilometers!) -- sit down -- $8 a gallon.  Guess we cannot complain too much.

I will try to attach a picture -- if you get it, great, if you don't well, better luck next time...love to all. Sndy and Vaughn

PS -- I did see the Southern Cross -- their version of the Big Dipper and the North Star -- that constellation that the sailors cued off of....