We stayed in Twizel, New Zealand last night - we have fun calling it twizzle - it always makes the locals laugh.

Our schedule called for us to drive back to Christchurch today but we panicked again and became concerned we might be missing some of the very best parts of New Zealand by not seeing the western coast. We debated for a long time last night. We settled and consoled ourselves that we would simply go back to Christchurch as planned and treat ourselves to lovely, relaxing, expensive dinner there.

Wouldn't you know, however, we started chatting with the inn-keeper this morning who said, you must go! With weather like we are having today, you must go! The other side of NZ is rain forest while this side is arid. You must go! You will never forgive yourselves! So, we were on the road again!!!

And now here we are this evening sitting on a lovely little patio outside our lovely little room at the Sunset Motel in a lovely little town called Fox Glacier at the base of the other side of Mt. Cook, planning to see the actual Fox Glacier in the morning. Yes, we drove 5 or 6 hours today, but guess what, the scenery was glorious and yes, we would not have forgiven ourselves had we missed it. We drove through mountain passes, saw many incredible rivers and streams, walked through a section of rainforest, and waterfalls. We had lunch at a cute, cute, cute little outpost sitting between the mountains. It offered a gorgeous setting, good food and they decorated their bar with American license plates from folks who visited them and mailed their plates later--dag!! Why couldn't we have been the ones to send our plates?? I had maybe the best tuna sandwich I have had in my life there along with Diet Coke and a cup of REAL ICE. As we moved on northward, we saw the Tasman Ocean, several national parks, Mt. Aspiring . . . and we have a whole day of wonderful things to see again tomorrow. We must get back to Christchurch sometime tomorrow because we have an early flight out to Wellington on the morning of March 7. Nothing like cutting it close.

I want beyond belief tonight to see the stars that I hope can be seen at this southern point in the New Zealand Alps.