First of all, New Zealand is a beautiful country that must be seen and experienced. Couple that with awesome guides and a great itinerary and you get a fantastic trip. Lots of time just being a passenger the first couple of days. But we did do short hikes to break up the hours. However, the scenery is wonderful so the hours went by fast. The weather was quite variable. I think we saw all seasons on our trip. But it was spring at the time so that was expected , and also forewarned by Active Adventures. Probably good to have some hiking experience. The Crucible Lake hike (Day 3?) is listed as about a 4 mile hike with about a 2000 ft elevation gain. However, the first two miles is down the valley, so it's all flat. Then, about a 900 ft elevation gain in about 3/4 mile, pretty much hand over hand on tree roots, and branches grabbing here, then a steady climb to the lake. We also crossed streams a few times that were a couple of times nearly as deep as our knees. Lots of hours in soggy boots. I suppose you could insist on changing into Tevas. But we cross enough streams that I think changing footwear that many times would add too much time to the hike. Just have dry socks and sandals ready for the end of the day. However, Crucible Lake is worth the effort. Once we got past the steep bit the sight of the glacier carved valley and the rock formation that buttressed Crucible Lake are sights to behold. The lake was mostly frozen when we got to it. That was pretty cool. We were fortunate that this day was sunny then overcast and cool. Perfect for the flight in (which was spectacular) and the hike. I also highly recommend the helicopter option to Franz Joseph Glacier. Definitely the easiest walk all week. We spent a lot of time just standing around since the contracted guides were doing all the work cutting steps. But the experience of the being on the glacier is hard to explain. We're glad we did. Milford sound is stunning. Lives up to the billing for sure. Hike up to Key summit (Day 6 or 7) is one of those hikes with a lot of "bang for the buck". Not a difficult hike on a great trail but the views are amazing. We opted not to do the optional hike on Day 5, the day off at Queenstown. It was pouring down rain that day, anyway. (That's my excuse). But we went wine tasting instead. Lots of stuff to do at this cute resort town anyway. I'd give Kaleb, Lauren, and Emma, our guides, 10 stars out of 5. They were just wonderful. They were knowledgeable, very friendly, very accommodating, and just really nice people. They worked their butts off. They also had great leadership and group management skills. It was like herding cats at times during our adventures, I'm sure. The contracted guides for the glacier tour and sea kayak paddle were also great. We were also lucky to be in a group that had really good chemistry too. Wonderful scenery, awesome guides, great traveling companions. Wonderful trip !!!

| January 1970