Merry Christmas! We have now been traveling for 9 days and still have 8 days ahead of us and 3 more locations to move to and explore.
We woke up Christmas morning knowing we had a very special day ahead of us. Brian had made our dinner reservations 3 months prior- and the whole day was sure to be super fun.
9am- Skyline Gondola (elevation 2000 ft) ride to enjoy the spectacular views of Lake Wakatipu, the mountains, forests and Queenstown itself.
10am- Paragliding (I wanted to go white-water rafting, but was outvoted by the kids who both instead chose paragliding on Christmas day) The Skyline Gondola is the paragliding meeting point
1pm- Bob's Peak hike
4pm- Gondola back up to Skyline to have dinner at Stratosphere, visit with Santa and then luge down
What a day we had ahead of us. The kids weren't thrilled with the fact that there was a Christmas day hike planned, Macy was especially vocal about it as we headed up the hilly streets from our waterfront hotel up to the gondola-
So much fun ahead-
All checked in and we have our stamps like we went to a night club-
The weather wasn't great- it was drizzling and not ideal for a day outside. But the view on our gondola ride up was still pretty awesome-
We get out of the gondola, meet our pilots and then we all take ATV buggy rides up even higher on teh mountain to get to the launch site. That ride itself was quite a thrill!
He are here-
It's a little cloudy, but no more rain! It's going to be a great Christmas Day!
The kids get suited up first. Macy with Thomas-
And Tate with a pilot that we never knew the name of-
Tate and his guy took off fast-
Meanwhile, Brian's pilot, Eddie, arrives and he quickly realizes there has been a mix up and because of weight, Thomas will go with Brian and Macy will go with Eddie.
My guy, Tom, and I take a pic before we take off-
Because Eddie got there last and Macy was already in Thomas' gear, Macy and Eddie ending up being the last to go. Brian took off right after me. So I would often see him as we were flying, which is always fun. And comforting.
Before Tom and and I took off, I'd explained that this was the 3rd time I had paraglided and that I did not want any spirals. I joked and said that this could the shortest flight of the day if he wanted, and we could just go straight to the landing zone.
Little did I know that the exact opposite would happen.
Everything started off great, and for the first one or two minutes, we were comfortable and things were calm, as they should be. Tom mentioned that there were some clouds building up and I told him that wasn't an issue for me because the very first day we ever paraglided in SK, it was extremely cloudy. So I was a pro at clouds. No biggy.
Then there seemed to be a lot of chatter on the radios (each pilot had a two way walkie talkie on their shoulder). Apparently the clouds were worrisome and we needed to get around and out of them. Tom asked if I would trust him to do some spirals, because we needed to move fast.
I did not like it, but we had to do it. Good. Done. But we still had low visibility.
Then we hear over the radio that a pilot has crashed into a tree and I hear someone come on and say say "radio silence."
Tom apologizes and says we must spiral quickly again. Okay, fine. I start praying. Tom is very calm and confident, but I can tell that his jovial manner at the beginning of our flight is now gone and he is very focused.
I ask Tom to radio in to check on Tate and Macy. Turns out that Tate and his pilot have landed safely at the landing zone- a rugby field in town- and they have held Macy at the launch site because of the weather. Okay phew.
I can see Brian every once in a while and Tom is talking with his pilot, Thomas, about an alternate landing zone because they know there is no way we will make it to the landing zone we are supposed to go to because of the clouds/wind.
Now over the radio people are chiming in suggesting landing spots- this park or that, so-and-so's backyard is even recommended at one point. And I start praying more, just wanting to land safely and have this be done NOW. We'd already been in the air double the length of our expected original flight time.
And then it is decided, Tom says we are going to make an emergency landing at Sunshine Bay. He says he is going to try for a very narrow strip of land on the shore, but if he can't get us there he will try for the most shallow water possible. He says landing in the water will hurt and he will tell me last minute weather we will land feet first and run or slide in on our butts with feet extended straight in front of us.
Okay, whatever. I just want to land. I don't care if I get wet. I was praying so hard for God to make a way for us.
AND HE DID!
Tom got us on the shore and we landed on our feet! Praise GOD!
And as soon as Tom on hooked me, we see Brian and Thomas coming in right behind us. I grab Tom's camera and video tape their landing. It was pretty amazing.
Brian lands and I yell "NEVER AGAIN MCCULLOUGH! NEVER AGAIN!" He is ALL smiles and really enjoyed the whole flight. See- he always gets the lame instructors and ends up with a short, boring flight. Not this time!
There were a few people on the shore that saw us coming in (the parachutes are bright orange, so it's hard to miss them flying) and they applauded, saying how fascinating it was to watch this happen. They had no idea we both just had to make emergency landings and thought it looked so perfect that it was meant to be. Well done pilots, well done.
I ask Tom to again check on the kids and he says Tate is waiting at the landing zone in town and they are afraid that it is Macy who we heard on the radio that is in the tree. WHAT?!?! No way. Only Macy! Brian and I start laughing, knowing that of all of us, Macy will love recounting this story forever.
See, since we heard the suggestion for us to land in so-and-so's tree, we kind of assumed that they got tangled up in a backyard tree- like the branches of a maple tree perhaps.
I send Tate a text and casually mention that his sister is stuck in a tree-
We just didn't realize how serious all this was yet.
The paraglding company comes to pick us up at Sunshine Bay. Clem starts talking about the incident, not realizing that we were the parents of the paraglider in the tree! And then it gets serious. They say they are trying to locate them and get team members to them. Brian turns on Life 360 and is immediately able to get GPS coordinates for her, and Clem heads to where she thinks will be the closest point of entry for reaching them deep in the forest.
I immediately try to Facetime Macy- and she answers!
Holy moly- she is stuck in a tree!
But her spirits are good and she is smiling. No tears, even though she says her ankle hurts. That's not great, considering it's the middle of her first HS varsity basketball season, but at least it's only an ankle. Hallelujah!
I feel so much comfort after speaking with Macy and we joke that she didn't have to do this to get out of hiking this afternoon. We were also very hopeful that this wouldn't slow us down too much today and we had a very fun and full day/night planned.
Clem shares that this is a "rescue operation" and it will likely take hours. Brian shows me the map of where Macy is, and I quickly realize that we may not get to do all we'd hoped to do today-
She was DEEP in the forest.
The local police and Fire & Rescue arrive and everyone starts making a plan. Clem is itching to get to Macy and Eddie. The fireman even has his Santa hat on-
Clem decideds to go. Brian and Thomas follow. I am going too, along with the fire & rescue-
It was NOT an easy trek. Giant incline and zero path the higher we got. The fire & rescue crew decided that they were going to turn around and call in a helicopter. Brian kept going- and I was so thankful to have a husband that was fit enough, both mentally and physically, to be able to do this. Having him there with Macy would bring us all so much peace.
This was the hike to get to Macy-
I turned back with the fire & rescue crew. Once we got back to the road, a police officer was there and she was NOT happy that Clem, Thomas and Brian were headed to the crash site on foot. I get it, they don't want to rescue anyone else- and that is why I gladly turned around when fire & rescue called it quits. I know my limits. But there was zero chance that Brian wasn't going!
This was the dirt lot that Tom and I would stay in awaiting news for the next 3 hours-
I'd walk the hill, and stop to appreciate the gorgeous view-
Every once in a while I'd look on the mountain behind me, knowing that my sweet Macy was stuck up in a tree somewhere up there with a hurt ankle on Christmas Day.
Then we got news of the plan. Turns out the helicopter would not be able to get to them because of the dense forest. So they called in the alpine search & rescue team who would go up on foot, with a stretcher, get Macy and Eddie down safely from the tree, assess her ankle and carry her down on the stretcher if need be.
Slowly over then next hour, 12 members of the team started arriving and getting briefed. All I could do is watch them and say thank you.
The company, G Force, was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! They never left our sides from the minute they crash happened, even until after Macy had her successful surgery back home in South Korea. But our one complaint was that Tate's pilot left him at the landing zone. He apparently didn't want to be the barer of bad news, so he told Tate to walk somewhere to find wifi so he could get in touch with his parents. Tate ended up walking back to our apartment, but did not have a key. The key was an actual key and it was up on teh mountain with Brian. Thankfully he was able to sit on the patio, enjoy the beautiful weather and access the wifi still. Good ol' Tate is pretty easy to entertain if he has wifi!
THIS WAS NOT HOW OUR CHRISTMAS DAY WAS SUPPOSED TO GO- Macy crash landing with a busted ankle, Tate alone, locked out of our place and on his phone for hours Christmas Day. But- maybe we will still make our dinner reservation? A lot would depend upon the severity of Macy's ankle. We needed to get her to the ground safely and figure out if she was injured.
Turned out that Macy and Eddie were about 6 stories up in the tree. They were able to shimmy to a branch to sit on, but at first were unharnessed to anything. So if that branch broke, they were coming down.
Eddie took off his flight harness and attached that to the tree trunk, so at least Macy was then harnessed to something. Eventually Clem and George (another G Force team member) reached them and George climbed up the tree several times to harness them in properly. Macy said she loved when George woudl come up to see them. He did it repeatedly, and earned the nickname Monkey George, like Macy had called Curious George when she was a preschooler.
Brian arrived and realized that they were so far up that he could not see them in the tree when standing below-
The team arrives and gets to work clearing branches to get them safely down-
I loved when Brian sent me a text saying SHE'S DOWN!
When Eddie came down, he made his way to Brian and apologized, with tears in his eyes. He just felt terrible about this situation. We joke that while Eddie received no injuries because Macy was in front of him and took the impact of the tree, his pain and suffering was being suck harnessed to a 14 yr old girl in a tree for 3+ hours!
The assessed Macy's swollen, painful ankle and quickly realized that carrying her down the mountain on the strecher was not going to be the best plan because of the difficult terrain.
So, while the helicopter said no before because it had no where to land, they decided that it didn't need to land. They would winch her up to the helicopter!
Once that decision was made, Brian called me and said to go to the hospital to meet Macy there. He could not go with her, so he would send her off, and I'd receive her. My heart was hurting for them both. They are both so brave!
So Tom drives me to the hospital, about 20 minutes away. As we park the car, we can see the helicopter leaving to go get Macy. That was so cool!
All smiles-
One of the rescuers gave Macy his jacket because she was cold while she waited for the helicopter in her goofy safety goggles.
They got her to a clearing nearby, and the helicopter hovered above-
Up she goes-
And she's off-
I was so delighted to be sitting in the waiting room and hear the helicopter come in. Tom stayed with me and never left my side until Macy arrived.
Here she is, still smiling-
After Macy left in the helicopter, Brian and the crew all hiked back down the mountain. They dropped Brian off at the hotel, he grabbed Tate and our car and headed to the hospital. At this point, we pretty much knew that dinner was canceled.
IV in and Xray taken. I'm talking with Sara, who has called to check in with us-
It sure was nice to hear her voice. We also had the Lombardo's, who we'd spent Christmas Eve with, just a few minutes away with was so comforting. They were willing do do anything they could to help us. Plus our current SK neighbors, the Moses' were also in NZ and just a couple hours away. The kids XC coach was also in NZ for Christmas break, so it was just nice knowing we had people that could be to us quickly should we need anything.
The Xrays showed that Macy had a broken ankle and would need surgery. While waiting for Macy to be rescued, I had thought about how much a broken ankle would impact our trip, but never did I think about what would happen if she needed surgery.
THIS WAS CRUSHING NEWS.
But not for Macy, who was happily on "The Macy Show" where everything was about her. And of course she was facetiming with Bella from the ER bed-
No one had lunch. We were starved. And sad. And since we were on The Macy Show, she got to pick dinner- and she chose McDonalds-
Eating McDonald's for Christmas dinner in an emergency room while in New Zealand felt like a punch in the stomach.
And let's talk about poor Tate. This was certainly going to be a Christmas to remember for hi,. now sitting for hours in the hallway of the ER, eating a vending machine appetizer-
The Queenstown hospital is too tiny to do surgeries. So we would need to go to a bigger hospital, in Invercargill, about 2.5 hours away. But because it was Christmas and tomorrow Boxing Day, surgery could not happen until Wednesday. The orthopedic doc said we could wait until we got home, but it MUST be completed within 14 days. Should we go home early? We still have 9 days until we are scheduled to be home. Could surgery happen so quickly once we get back? We had a million questions running through out heads and everything felt so heavy.
But for now, Macy was being discharged with a bag of meds and instructions to elevate her leg around the clock and stay immobile until surgery. We prayed Macy's pain would stay low and her spirits would stay high.
As we left the hospital, I was in such disbelief that this was how our Christmas Day was ending-
With Macy on crutches. How could this be?! What are we going to do? How do we carry on with our trip now that she has so many limitations? And surgery? In New Zealand? Seriously. This is too much.
Macy actually had a childhood dream to be on crutches. Well, lucky her! And remember how we'd joked about the hot helicopter guys who we witnessed rescuing the injured hiker and how we wished Macy could go too- well, she got that wish too! We tried to keep things in perspective- but it was hard. When I remembered that she could have broke her back or neck instead of JUST her ankle, that gave me some comfort.
We got back to the apartment and tried to figure out how to get Macy showered. We didn't have any of the comforts of home that make broken bones just a little more manageable. And then it was time to finally open Christmas stockings!
So sad to see Macy open up these stocks in her stocking-
Macy & George-
What a painful reminder of what she will now be missing out on this winter season, She just bought a brand new board and boots with her hard earned babysitting and dog/cat sitting money. And she won't be returning to the basketball court this season. BUT IT COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE. Praise God.
Merry Christmas. Some day we will laugh about this one. But tonight I fell asleep quite frightened.
Tuesday 12/26 we were supposed to have breakfast with the Lombardo's and say goodbye. I could not. I was emotional wiped out. So glad that Brian still went, as Mike really helped Brian gain some clarity about which decision was best for Macy's surgery. He is also the father of a young athletic teenage daughter, so he gets the severity of a lasting injury and having always lived abroad, he gets how had of a choice is it to say yes to surgery in a foreign country while on vacation!
We decided to do the surgery while here in NZ. It was extremely difficult waiting for returned calls from the doctors and schedulers. Today was again a holiday, and nothing would be done until tomorrow- which is supposedly the day of her surgery. This was killing my joy.
We had planned a very special Boxing Day adventure to cruise across Lake Whakatipu onboard the TSS Earnslaw and disembark at Walter Peak High Country Farm. Experience rural New Zealand on a walking tour of the farmyard. Watch the sheep dogs in action while watching a farm demonstration in the outdoor amphitheater. Stroll through the lakeside gardens to the charming Colonel's Homestead Restaurant for an amazing lunchtime buffet.
It was raining. And cool. Not ideal for being outside today. And certainly not a good way to spend the day for a girl with a broken ankle on crutches. Could she do all this walking? Could we keep her cast dry?
Brian went out and found some waterproof bags for Macy and we decided that despite the dreary weather, we would still go. Macy could not stand and wait in the long line to board the boat, so we found her a bench-
Although everyone else in the priority boarding line had grey hair, she got to board the boat with them and we scored amazing seats-
#perspective
The TSS Earnslaw was built in 1912 and is the only remaining commercial passenger-carrying coal-fired steamship in the southern hemisphere. It was cool to watch as the coal was loaded on before we boarded-
As we cruised along, the clouds started parting and blue skies came out-
I do not understand all there is to be wowed about the ship, but I was still impressed-
Time stamp 10:30am and we said yes to ice cream and wine. We deserved it after yesterdays fiasco-
Like my jacket? I am happy to wear it proudly!
As we cruised along, we looked out the window to see Sunshine Bay, where Brian and I made our emergency landings on the shoreline, and up above was the forest where Macy crashed-
Wow.
And ahead of us, the gorgeous Walter Peak High Country Farm-
It's a 5 hour drive to get to this remote farm, or a 45 minute boat ride. which used to be an important sheep farm in the heyday of that industry. There has been a sheep farm (Or station) there since 1860.
This is the original homestead, built in 1908-
The flowers were spectacular-
Check out the blue skies-
So glad we didn't cancel this day trip. It was as up close and personal with sheep as I was going to get on this trip!
Lunchtime-
The dining room was stunning-
While at lunch, Brian started talking with a women about Macy's injury. When he explained what happened, she said that she had read about it in the newspaper- what?! Sure enough, Brian quickly found the article-
Next up- walking to the sheep shearing demonstration-
Not so easy for Macy.
We may have gotten there last, but we go there!
This amphitheater was really cool. The awning rolled away so we could see the sheep dog at work heading all the sheep on the hillside-
What a brilliant dog!
Now for the fun-
It was so cool to watch the sheep get sheared-
Poor naked sheep-
One of my favorite souveniers-
Loved rubbing it in my hands and using the natural lanolin as a natural lotion. Who knew?
Still smiling-
If we weren't so slow, we would have so much more time to explore the farm
Bye bye little sheepy-
On the ride back we got to Facetime with Brian's mom & sister-
What a view! Although all I can see in this picture is the concern in Brian's face-
Today was a lovely escape. But when the day ended and we were faced with the reality of surgery tomorrow- and the logistics of where to go- it all felt heavy again.
Brian purposely picked our accommodations so that we could walk everywhere- to our activities, to grocery stores, to restaurants- but now that Macy can't walk, he was having to shuttle us around. Macy would often get plopped on a bench while she waited for us to pick her up-
Macy did so great. It was not easy and she was in pain. But she did it.
Tuesday 12/26 we were supposed to leave Queenstown and move on to Te Anau- which known as a gateway to Fiordland National Park and Milford Sound. The region is home to endangered, flightless takahē birds and abundant trout in Lake Te Anau. Te Anau Caves feature a limestone grotto of glowworms and an underground waterfall. To the southwest, the Kepler Track winds through beech forests, glacial valleys and mountains.
Going to Milford Sound was the creme de la creme of our trip!
We woke up anxiously waiting news of Macy's surgery today. What time? What hospital? Could she eat? It was so difficult to plan for this. Thankfully, our New Zealand attache friends (how reside on the north island) were so helpful with calling the hospital and trying to get all the logistics worked out for us. But still, no answers.
But there was another article about Macy's accident and the difficulty of rescuing her-
We decided that off we must go. We wanted to carry on with our trip the best we could, until we knew more about the surgery. And thankfully, our next stop- Te Anau- was on the way to to the hospital in Invercargill. So at least we would be closer to the hospital once we knew more about the plan for surgery.
This was an epic 16 day road trip- not ideal to do the last half of our trip in a cast with a leg that needs to be elevated constantly-
Thank goodness we opted for the bigger car initially! And luckily I don't like sitting in the front on the narrow, winding roads so I switched with Tate and Macy was able to stretch her leg (and heavy cast) out across my lap on our drives. Some of which were 5 hours!
But the beautiful scenery made it all worth it-
Have I mentioned the AMAZING book that Brian made for us to reference our itinerary for this trip?
It was so incredibly helpful. We tried not to time travel and skip ahead to the other days, but because the book was so detailed, we wanted to!
We arrived in Te Anau just in time for lunch at the Sand Fly Cafe (as indicated in THE book) and while sitting outside enjoy the cool temps (IT had been unseasonably warm for the first 1/3 of our trip) the phone rang and it was the ortho doc- it was time!
He explained that all of NZ goes down to a skeleton crew over Christmas & New Years- because it is also summer solstice here- so they were operating with fewer staff and operating rooms available. There was a good chance that Macy could have surgery as predicted tomorrow, but no guarantee. However, if she was already admitted as a patient, that would up her chances greatly. So he suggested that we head to the hospital to be admitted tonight and pray for surgery tomorrow.
It SUCKED to have to separate from Tate and Brian. But, this way they could carry on with our adventures tomorrow (Glow worm caves on Thursday) and Macy & I could go get her ankle fixed. Hopefully we could be discharged the evening of surgery (Thursday) and still make it to to Milford Sound on Friday. This could work!
We checked into the hotel only to pack up overnight bags and then we headed 90 minutes south to Invercargill. Invercargill is NZ southernmost city- so we saw this as a bonus stop on our itinerary. Next stop, Antartica!
#perspective
Because New Zealand has an INCREDIBLE health care system that covers all accidents for residents AND TOURISTS- called ACC- we were so very lucky that we didn't have to pay a penny out of pocket and Macy received wonderful care. The nurses in the ER was the first person to explain how ACC worked and while I knew Tricare would cover this, I didn't think about the fact that we'd likely have to pay out of pocket and get reimbursed for her care. But with ACC, everything was covered and we really didn't even have to fill out much paperwork, one more reason to love NZ!
A quick good-bye to our boys and off we go to the pediatric ward-
This was seriously the most Christmas decorations we'd seen in the whole country-
Thankfully, I wasn't to sad about leaving our motel-like accommodations for this giant 4 bed hospital suite that we had all to ourselves-
Macy loves Highland Cows and if she could have gotten around better while at Walter Peak farm the day after her accident, she could have gotten up close and personal with them. But she sadly missed out on that. However, I found a cute little one in the gift shop there and decided to buy it for her. The line was long and while we were waiting to check out, Tate ran in to tell is that our boat was leaving. Once on the boat, Tate loudly says "wheres the Yak?" We wanted to keep the cow a surprise for Macy until she had surgery. We still laugh about that!
Our first night in the hospital was kinda fun together. We really liked the nurse so that was a plus. After Macy got done showering, I had set the Highland Cow/Yak on her bed to surprise her and she instantly fell in love with him-
she named him George, after the paragliding team member who avidly climbed up and down the tree so frequently on the day of her accident.
I was pretty happy at the hospital because we had a window that opened for fresh air and looked out onto the grassy playground and they had FANTASTIC ice-
Plus I would have a BED!
However dinner was absolutely terrible-
and I usually like hospital/cafeteria food! So you know it was bad.
Thursday morning we woke up to bad news- no surgery. At least not until the afternoon. The surgeon came to meet with us and explained that Macy was a low priority because of all the cases that came in overnight (we heard the helicopter coming and going all night), but there was still hope that it could be done in the afternoon.
So we wait. We read, nap, watch mindless Tv, play games-
Notice the markings on her leg? The surgeon did that when we were admitted, so she was ready to go!
While we waited for the call that morning/afternoon, I was thankful for that playground out our window! We went out there and I made Macy play ring toss until she successfully got 5 in a row! We also got a roommate at breakfast- a teenage boy who was anxious to get his kidneys functioning properly in time for his NYE party. Sigh.
Then the bad news came- no surgery today. We will try again tomorrow morning. Macy had been on NPO (No food or drink) restrictions since dinner, so the good news was that she could now eat. But the bad news was that we knew the food was crummy. Our fav nurse from the night before was back on, and I'd read that the McDonalds here in Invercargill boasted about being the southernmost McDonalds in the world. So I knew what we were getting for dinner!
I said I was just going to take a taxi to go get it and the nurse told me about a delivery app that we ended up using. But while we were chatting about it, an older nurses aide was also in the room and overheard me say I was going to take a taxi. Well, the sweet older woman came back into our room and said she was getting off shortly and would be happy to drive me back & forth to McDonalds after work so that I did not have to take a taxi.
So sweet, right? I will never say that there is anything simple about the people of New Zealand, but I will say that they still have a sense of community, trust, kindness and caring for others that I would imagine is reminiscent of the simpler days of our American past.
(Mind you, Macy was like a celebrity-lite here, because many people knew she was the Christmas Day paraglider who had to be rescued by helicopter)
Dinner, night 2 in the hospital-
Night 2 was not so fun. Our boy roommate left (in time for his beer drinking NYE festivities) and we got another roommate- a younger girl who was suffering from having only 1 kidney. And it was her birthday.
#perspective
But we were no confused about what was best. Tomorrow, Friday, was our day at Milford Sound. We had already missed some great hikes and the once in a lifetime opportunity to see the glow worm caves. Brian was encouraging us to leave and continue on with our vacation. But I felt like we should give it one more chance. Friday morning may be surgery, and then we would be discharged Friday night and ready to move on to Dunedin as scheduled on Saturday morning.
It was a tough call, but we stayed.
And again heard lots of helicopters come and go throughout the night.
We woke up to bad news again- Macy would not have surgery this morning.
I went into Mama Bear mode now- we needed a plan. I knew we couldn't keep staying just to be hopeful that she'd have surgery the next day. The weekend was coming. And then New Years Eve. I felt that our chances of surgery were slimming. But we needed a plan.
Surgery would have to happen back in South Korea. But how? We were having such a hard time connecting with the hospital on base. Who did I know? Oh wait- a neighbor mom! Her husband RUNS THE FREAKING HOSPITAL! I didn't need a phone line when I had Facebook Messenger! DONE! Seriously- that is how we got Macy's surgery scheduled. Never underestimate the power of a mom in a hospital room with Facebook. Brian was able to finalize everything and we felt good about asking to be discharged.
Meanwhile, over the 3 days that Macy & I were in the hospital, Brian & Tate had some great adventures together and were able to stay on schedule. Not sure which pictures are which places, but they hiked the Lake2Lake Trail/Rainbow Reach, boated to and hiked through the Glowworm caves, hiked the Kepler Track and went hiked to and cruised through the Milford Sound/ Fiordland National Park.
The sunset from our hospital room on the same night looked nothing like this-
Brian found the most perfect mushroom ever-
While we were eating terrible hospital food, they were trying not too feel too guilty about still enjoying all the restaurants that we were supposed to go to together!
Friday started off sunny apparently-
But then when they got into the sound, the weather was rainy. Not ideal for hiking and seeing the gorgeous glacier carved fiords.
I told our newest roommates about how we were missing out on this adventure and that it was a rainy day there- and the mom explained that sometimes people try to go on rainy days because of ALL the waterfalls that appear with the rain.
#perspective
Brian and Tate actually got lucky with the rain! TONS of giant waterfalls-
After they hiked in the rain (which Macy would not have been able to do, so I was glad we were in the hospital awaiting surgery for this activity actually), they took this cute water taxi-
Return water taxi-
Okay, it's now Friday morning and we have been told no surgery and asked to be discharged with a solid plan for surgery on base once we return to SK. I hated the thought of Brian and Tate driving 4 hours to get us- and for us all to miss out on our dinner reservation Friday night. So I got creative and tried to find a 1 way ride back to our hotel so that Tate and Brian could enjoy a full day at Milford Sound, avoid a long car ride AND we could all go to dinner together still!
A taxi? Nope. $700. Even though the paragliding company said they'd cover it, we wanted to be good stewards of their money and generosity.
Bus? My NZ friend Silena tried to help me navigate that route and the timing was not going to work out.
Then someone (nurse, Selina, not sure) told me that each town/city usually has a FB page and suggested I post a note on the page for the city where the hospital was and the town we were staying in asking if anyone was going our way Friday that we could possibly hitch a ride with. HMMMM. Hitchhiking in NZ with my 14 year old daughter after being released from the hospital? WHY NOT?!?!
Well, it worked!
We got several offers of people willing to give us a ride- because they were going that way, and a few who were willing to come get us just out of the goodness of their heart.
We hitched a ride with Katherine, who lives in Invercargill, where the hospital is, and has a vacation home in Te Anau. They were headed there to spend New Years weekend, so she grabbed us after work and off we went. The timing was perfect and she was SO lovely. A bit older than me, with a son who'd broken his leg in the last year- we had so much to talk about during what could have been a very awkward 2 hour car ride. She took the back roads- which provided jaw dropping scenery (that of course is lost on her) and was so mindful of getting us "home" in time for our dinner reservation.
I absolutely would have taken a cab. But I would have been so sad in the back of that cab. Macy's accident was traumatic for us all, and leaving the hospital without surgery after 3 days was disappointing. So having Katherine there to drive us just felt like a big warm hug from a family friend.
Off we go to dinner and only about 5 minutes late for our reservation. God had his hand all over this! Reunited and it feels so good-
We enjoyed a lovely dinner back together. The boys told us about their adventures and we told them all about the- nah, we didn't tell them much.
Saturday morning we packed up and headed to our next spot- Dunedin.
But first a couple spots around Te Anau that the boys wanted to show us, which included a great breakfast spot, pharmacy to get more pain meds for Macy and a local bird santucary-
The boys had learned about the once thought extinct Takahe bird and took us to see it-
After being in the hospital for 3 days, this was a beautiful stop on a a gorgeous day!
Road trip time-
Wow, a Christmas decoration-
We were supposed to stay in a hostile in Dunedin. No one really wanted to do this, but we were all curious enough about it that we were all in. It was mostly to save some money, and we knew we wouldn't be there long as we had lots of things to do. But, with Macy's ankle/limited mobility we knew she needed some more comfortable accommodations, so Brian canceled the hostile and upgraded us to an airbnb which was bittersweet.
We got into town and headed out on our first adventure- to Larnach Castle.
The drive there was WILD! So gorgeous and so frightening. I noticed some of Macy's favorite Highland Cows in a pasture-
So we turned around and she hobbled out through the brush and tree roots up to the fence line to see them-
I LOVED this castle-
It was the perfect little castle for me. It's my new fav and has bumped the Lichtenstien Castle in Germany out of the running.
Macy was pretty comfy too-
The only Christmas decoration to be found-
More perfect green fences-
A neighboring farm-
I'll take it!
That evening we were headed out to watch the blue penguins- the smallest penguin in the world- come ashore to nest after dark. I was afraid we'd have to take the same drive again we took to the castle- but Brian found us the most gorgeous drive along the waterfront at sunset-
We arrived and quickly realized that this would be hard for Macy. She'd need to get down to the shoreline-
But she was committed to trying-
And she took a stumble on the stairs which was frightening. Everything was just hard to get around now. And she was in pain. And on painkillers. So while she was willing, she was still very limited. Thank God she was in such good shape! A lot of people could not do the sigh seeing she did (while on crutches, in a cast, in pain, etc etc) while in good health!
The penguins made it all worth it-
We watched them all swim ashore, with a giant sea lion close by, and then waddle up to their nests. We also saw a seagull come down and capture a tiny baby and fly off with it hanging from it's beak.
I was so relieved to get Macy into the car that night and know that our major adventures were over. They were originally supposed to surf again the next morning. But besides that, we didn't have anything planned for the next 2 days until we flew home.
Well, we did have our longest drive back to Christchurch ahead of us tomorrow, but once there- that was the city we were flying out of and our trip was mostly a wrap. So sad to have it come to an end, but we had a new mission now- keep Macy safe and comfortable until we can get that ankle fixed.
We arrived in Christchurch the afternoon of New Years Eve. Our condo was wonderful- minus the fact that the kids bedroom and bathroom were on the 3rd floor. Macy quickly learned how to scoot up and down stairs on her butt! No time for sightseeing as we had two big jobs ahead- get ALL OUR STUFF into our suitcases to fly home tomorrow night and upgrade Macy's seat so she can lay flat during the long flights home. So not my favorite day!
We bought everything from pottery to wine to new clothes- and luckily a new suitcase too! However there was nothing new about this suitcase except that it was new to us. We all managed to get everything sorted and repacked, then Brian and I headed off to the airport to try to talk with someone about a seat upgrade for Macy because we were unable to do so. Well, we were unable to do so at the airport too. They told us to come back tonight when the ticket counter would be open. Sigh.
So we headed out for an early NYE dinner at Little High Eatery and we loved it!
Stopped off for some NYE snacks and Tate got to push the tiny cart-
Then we headed to the airport, again. We dragged the kids with us this time too, hoping that they'd show some sympathy when they saw Macy on crutches! They could not upgrade us today, but assured us that they would reserve seats and would finalize everything tomorrow at check-in. UGH! I didn't love that answer, but it seemed promising.
NYE we stayed in, played games and watched TV. We bought scratch tickets and had a bit of fun playing Left, Right, Center to win the chance to win a million bucks! Sadly, only Brian won a buck.
Happy New Year! Our flight didnt leave until 10pm, but unfortunately, our Airbnb could not give us a late check out. So off we went at 10am, loaded up and ready to fly home, with zero planned for the day. I would have been SO happy just enjoying a lazy morning and afternoon- but that was not in the cards. So off we went to see Christchurch.
More unique and christmas-y flowers-
In 2010 & 2011 there were a series of earthquakes that destroyed this city, killed 185 people and injured thousands. Some buildings have been beautifully restored, such as St Peter's Church-
We stumbled upon Riverside Market, which is a very cool indoor food hall- and this amazing mural was painted on the exterior of the market-
inside, Brian did a whiskey (or brandy or sherry) tasting-
and i did a gin cocktail tasting-
We parked the kids at a nearby table with their phones and some snacks (since Macy wasn't very mobile in this bustling market), like they were in elementary school again!
And then we hopped on the trolley-
The trolleys in Christchurch were all beautifully restored-
Normally we would have opted to walk this beautiful city, as there is tons of green space and its very walkable- but taking the trolley was a great plan B. And the conductors all gave history lessons as we passes notable landmarks.
We got off at New Regent Street- a pedestrian friendly area built in the early 1930s with 40 shops in Spanish Mission architectural style- to try the best gelato in town-
We were so relieved that the Earthquake Museum had a wheelchair to loan out-
It was a great musuem and really made me appreciate the rebuilding that has taken place over the last decade.
Okay, time to go check out the coast. First we headed north, then we headed south!
And then we headed HOME!
We were so relieved that upon check in, we were able to upgrade Macy's seat. And she needed a travel companion too, so one parent would get to fly with her in business class for each leg of the flight home. (I offered to let Tate take my spot, IF he would help her- to/from the bathroom, wake her frequently to walk, dispense her pain meds) and he quickly said No Thank You.
We were so grateful to the paragliding company for covering the cost of the upgraded seats. They had offered so much- from covering our gas, to our meals, to any lost money due to canceling hotels or excursions- and we never needed to call on them for any of that. But Macy's doctors recommended her leg be elevated during the 16 hours of flying, so due to it being medical, we asked them to cover the upgrade fees. And Thomas was more than happy. And last minute it almost didn't happen, because they would only take a New Zealand bank transfer. Thank God Thomas answered our call!
Check out this beauty-
We told Tate that he had to take that suitcase to college now!
Two very happy travelers-
They cut a 1 inch slit out of the front of Macy's cast prior to us being discharged from the hospital, to allow for swelling during the flights. And they prescribed her a blood thinner also. We were all a bit worried about how she would do on the flight, but everything went exceptionally well! And it was great having her in a wheelchair because we flew through all the lines.
Our neighbors picked us girls up from the airport- Brian and Tate rode the bus home with the luggage- and we came home to an amazing homecooked meal from them as well. It was a lovely way to return after a very stressful few days of traveling, and knowing that surgery looms early tomorrow morning still.
After returning home, Thomas sent us a gift certificate with no expiration date for all 4 of us to return and paraglide with their company. I will not be going. Macy says that she will paraglide again, but only with them! They also sent us some of the pictures from that day-
We knew that Macy & Eddie would soon be crashing into a dense forest like this one below-
So glad that Eddie thought to take this picture-
Praise God for all the blessings that came from this "situation."
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