The South Island

Our time here in New Zealand is coming to an end soon.  Sad but true, we soon will be back to the bone chilling cold we have been fortunate enough to avoid.  We've had an awesome time in New Zealand.  Sweet as...as they say here.  The stunning scenery of the South Island has been amazing.  The Nelson area and Abel Tasman National park gave us our fill of beaches.  After Nelson we drove down to Hamner Hot Springs and had a nice soak in the thermal hot pools.  Our last week has been in Christchurch doing some of the more touristy things, including taking in a cultural show about the Maori people, which of course meant seeing the famous Haka warrior dance (google haka dance).  On Saturday we fly to Hawaii to soak up just a bit more sun and then it's back to reality.  The kids are kind of ready to go back.  More just to see there friends and get back into their sports.  Mom and dad are only ready to go back if all the snow has melted.