Beautiful. Gorgeous! Wish you were here...New Zealand!

The world is full of so many beautiful places. Recently, I was fortunate to travel to New Zealand - a place that immediately tops my list of places you must go. It is the most unique combination of all that is wonderful about  other beautiful places I have visited like Cape Cod, Banff, San Francisco, and Scotland. A country that overwhelms you with its natural beauty and forces you to join along for a high adrenaline journey through all it has to offer.

The first objection many people have to traveling to New Zealand is the flight time. This worried me too as (believe it or  not), I am somewhat afraid of flying. However, for several reasons, the flight time is no longer a valid excuse in my mind. First of all, you leave LA at night for what is actually about a 12 hour flight, however, arriving in the very early morning (two days later - I know, it's confusing!) But, if you are able to sleep on the plane, this falls right in line with your natural sleep rhythms and you arrive ready to face the day. We flew on Air New Zealand which was recently voted the best airline in the world and due to our upgraded seats, we flew in comfort.

Typically bathrooms on an airplane are not something worth noting but not the case here. The bathrooms were HUGE and even include a wall mural "library" - check out some of the book titles.

We arrived for a whirlwind 5- day adventure that included airplanes, jet boats, helicopters, touring, eating, wineries, and a jump off a 14-story bridge. Whew! Following are some of the highlights from our journey which is impossible to sum up with any amount of words. I'll let the pictures tell the story.

You arrive into Auckland - which is a city that is all about the water and the harbor.

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I found a Cala Lily (my favorite flower after lilacs) growing wild!

New Zealand is famous for its wine and you have to take advantage of the many opportunities to visit any number of wineries for samplings.

This is a Cork Tree (part of the Oak family). The winery uses this cork to bottle their wines.

The cultural museum in Auckland allows you to peek into the history of the island. It is thought that the original inhabitants, the Maori, were from an island called Hawaiiki. Many thought that this was Hawaii but current theory actually is that "Hawaaiki" actually means the entire region of islands from Hawaii through the South Pacific. People moved from island to island until finding their way to New Zealand. The water, which many might think of as something that would separate the people, was actually the thing that brought them together.

Queenstown is everything you might think of when you imagine New Zealand - big and beautiful. We got to experience it firsthand upon our arrival from the seats of a very small plane. This is the pilot - I was the co-pilot.

God Moments

Yikes! Glad I didn't know this until we landed...safely!

Prior to my trip, my dad told me that there are more sheep in New Zealand than people. He was absolutely correct - they are everywhere!

Future Sheep Herder

More sheep...or in many cases...our dinner.

Jeeps took us high into the mountains on narrow roads that tempted you to look down...which you then quickly regretted.

Panning for gold in the river.

Driving up the river...quite literally. (This is where the "running of the horses" scene was filmed in Lord of the Rings.)

A beautiful stop on the jet boat tour.

When in New Zealand, dress for the elements.

And just enjoy the ride!!

Spectactular!