At the moment we are in New Zealand and yesterday we went skiing in the middle of July. The temperature was a perfect 32 degrees in the mountains and 40 at the base. It was pretty snowy for the first 2 or 3 hours except for it cleared up and we had an awesome view of the valley where we are staying in Queenstown. If you have a map of New Zealand you can trace our route. We landed in an airport at Chirstchurch and drove down the coastline to Dunedin and then we went to Te Anau. After that we went to Milford sound where we took a cruise and drove to queenstown. So far we have seen many views, went skiing, played at the sand dunes, went to a water park, played at many different playgrounds and stayed at 3 different holiday parks.
I just wanted to add some pictures to Jacob's post. At the sand dunes, a sea lion came out of the water and walked up the beach near us.
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Here's a pic of the boys skiing at Coronet Peak. It was a lot like Alta in Utah, big open spaces, not a lot of trees, good snow, but too many out of control snowboarders. Charlie and I had a terrible wipe out trying to get on a T-bar rope tow for the first time. I’ll never ride one of those again!
Henry was a trooper. He fell a bunch
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of times in the morning, but then he got the hang of it and was skiing down blue runs faster than I could keep up. I can not keep up with my 6 year old skiing. Paul was overjoyed with his progress. It makes me feel old and decrepit!
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of times in the morning, but then he got the hang of it and was skiing down blue runs faster than I could keep up. I can not keep up with my 6 year old skiing. Paul was overjoyed with his progress. It makes me feel old and decrepit!
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Good to hear you all are having such a great time! You need to save all these blog entries and publish a book when it's all over.....
ReplyDeletetony b
I am a friend of Linda Lewelling. She sent me to your Blog. My husband and I have wanted to do exactly what you are doing for 3 years now but just never "gotten around to it" I would love to chat with you more about how you figured out the school aspect and the travel end. Did you get one of the one way round the world airline tickets? Sorry to ask so many questions...I am just excited to "meet" someone who is doing exactly what we want to do!! Heather Forbes
ReplyDeleteDebbie,
ReplyDeleteI'm sad to have reconnected but then have you so far away! But also glad to be able to read your blog and get a sense of the amazingly adventurous tour you and your family are taking... thanks for the link. I will send you a separate email to try and fill you in on some more details of the last 20 years. Just wanted to say hello and let you know I have been keeping up with you.
Heather, we did not buy the RTW ticket, it was too restrictive: only 15 segments allowed, if you go overland it counts as a segment, 39,000 mileage limit, have to stay within one alliance carrier. So we decided we wanted the flexibility, so we are buying one way tickets and going overland. We're home schooling the kids this year, so we will see how that goes. If you have more questions you can email us too.
ReplyDeleteOops! Just typed in a long comment and then it disappeared :( Anyway.. I have your website bookmarked now so I will check in regularly. What an exciting trip, amazing views, and beautiful photos! Memories to last a lifetime.. For certain. Kyla and Kaze loved looking at the photos and seeing what "Uncle Paul, Auntie Debbie and cousins Jacob, Charlie, Henry and Elise" are doing. Kyla said, "Auntie Debbie is in the red coat. Who's in the white, mommy?" I said, "no one's wearing white!" and she said..Yes! The seal!"
ReplyDeleteWow!! I bet you guys had a lot of fun... I wish I had a trip like you guys around the world... I had never really seen a sea lion swimming up the shore before, but I wish I had... If you have more fun, I will be jealous...(Ha Ha Ha).....Well, have agreat time at New Zealand!!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your response. I will think of more I am sure. What company are you using for homeschooling? Did you have to meet with your school district? I am sorry to seem so naive, I am just curious!
ReplyDeleteWe went to our school district and they suggested we use Orange County public school's home school office. So we are using OC's public school curriculum and they assigned us a teacher that is following all 3 kids. And best of all it's free, since we are considered still in the public school system. It is great since we are using their curriculum, their books, so when the kids get back, they will have covered the same material as if they had been in OC schools. We have to finish the work on a monthly basis and mail it back to the teacher so she can track the kids' progress.
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