Axel was quite tickled with both articles, and very pleased at the Google response!

I can't complain about our trip home, we made it door to door, including a stop to pick up Tinto The Terrier, in under 5 hours from Las Vegas to San Marcos. Although I didn't get much sleep last night either as I woke up at 4:00 to get all the press photos out before deadline.

New Zealand was a wonder. I'm still processing the trip mentally, a month later. Not only are there a gazillion pictures on my site, I wrote a travelogue as well that you might be interested in: www.terrimiller.com/news/

Imagine an area the size and diversity of California with twice as much rain and only 4 million people. Imagine that the vast majority of that population seems to be friendly and good-natured. Imagine that all of the beef and lamb is grass fed, that the fisheries are carefully managed, that almost all the produce is locally grown.... If only it wasn't so far away -- but if it was closer, it would probably be paved over by now.

Flying: If you go via New Zealand Air out of LAX, you'll probably be on the new 777-200ER. Coach is configured 3-3-3, go to www.seatguru.com when you have more flight information. I highly recommend booking the two aisle seats on the center row of 3, if there's no one sitting between you it's quite comfy. Good food, good wine, movies on demand. The problem with the seats is that the arm rests do not retract into the seatback, making getting out of a center or window seat difficult. I actually had to stand up and walk across the seats to the aisle when the folks in front of me had their seats reclined.... I wrote to New Zealand Air and told them how nice the plane, the food and the service were but how scary the window seat was -- it would have been difficult to get out of in an emergency.

Three weeks is a good length of time to go. That was how long we were there, although we didn't get to play tourist as much as I would have liked because we were at two CDI competitions during that time. But the trade off was getting to spend time with some really wonderful folks in the horse world down there. We started in Taupo for the National Championships show. That's an interesting area because of it's geologic activity -- Lake Taupo is the remains of a volcanic caldera, and there are hot springs throughout it. Much of the electricity there is generated by geothermal power. There are several volcanos in the area, one of which, Ruapeho, formed a lahar (a flow consisting of crater lake water and lava) on the last day of our trip. Rotorua about two hours north, is the most active area, hot springs, geysers, etc., but we never quite got there.

Definitely spend some time in the Marlborough Sounds, at the north end of South Island. Be aware that some roads in the Sounds area are so narrow, twisty and precipitous that they make driving an aerobic activity. Many areas are easier to get to by boat than by car. We stayed at a b&b owned by a couple of "retired" horse show folks, it's a bit like camping, but Pat and Helen are a trip! See my travelogue entry about their place; if you like, I'll get you their contact info.

If you enjoy wines, oh, where to start? Hastings/Napier for Chardonnay? Blenheim/Marlborough for Sauvignon Blancs, Reisling, Gerwurstraminer? Queenstown for Pinot Noir? There's some incredible stuff, we were very impressed, more with what we found on South Island than North Island.

Anyway, check out the travelogue, let me know what you think, & I'll try to fill in the gaps.

All the best,

Terri Miller-Steiner