2/9/12 (Thursday):  Today we're going to do laundry and pack for our South Island trip.  We've had to do some changes to the tentative itinerary I'd made because it was too long and would have involved more driving than sightseeing.  Mark helped me plan this new route:  South Island Itinerary.  I'm feeling more than a little nervous about driving a motor home on the left side of the road in a strange country, but I'm not going to let a few nerves keep me from having the adventure of our lives!

I'll try to download some pictures from yesterday and post them later.  We went into Wellington to the Tepapo museum.  We saw a giant squid, learned a little about the Maori people and the plants and animals of this unique and beautiful area.  Great fun!