What a "Poopy" Day!!!

So I picked up Ike this morning after letting him go out to the bathroom.  After I set him back down, I noticed a strange smell.  That little dirtbag had rolled around in his poop outside and I had it all over my shirt. Gross!!!

Does this look like an innocent face to you?  I think not...

(Yes, I know his eyes look creepy from the glare of the flash.)

Thanks Ike, for needing a bath and making me late for work this morning. I love you too.

Akaroa

Last Saturday we drove the the little French village of Akaroa.  This is one of the only French settlements in New Zealand.  When the British took over, the people of Akaroa wanted to stay and became subject to the British empire.

The village is very quaint with some nice views of various bays around the southeastern tip of the south island.  

The first five pictures here are of one of the harbors as we got closer to Akaroa and driving in the hills.  We think we are getting to be pretty good photographers!  Check out the bird photo bombing my picture and the crab we found on the rocky beach...

These following pictures are from Akaroa itself.  We had a great time walking around with Ike!

Memorial to Akaroa French settlers

Rue Jolie

Cute little French style house

Views from Akaroa and the surrounding mountain...Loot at that gorgeous water!!!

We also took a short walk through Stanley Park. By this time, the sky had cleared and it was much warmer.  The funniest part was when we left Ike on the other side of the fence and watched him figure out how he was going to back to us.

Ike's Journey

Where did they go?

Nope, that's not going to work 

Maybe under will be better

He made it!!!

Heading Towards Helm's Deep

An awesome point you may not know, is that the approach to Helm's Deep is right beyond the location for Edoras.  

If you watch The Two Towers extended edition, you will see Aragorn on the little hill at the bottom of the photo at about 2:31 minutes into the movie.

Our picture taken today

Still of the movie location

Here are some additional pictures taken of the Helm's Deep location and the plains that Saruman's army traveled across to reach the deep!

Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld

Rohan - Home of the horse lords

We decided to take a short drive west of Christchurch today and visit Mt. Sunday (aka site of Edoras in Lord of the Rings).  We took the scenic route on our way there and saw some really pretty scenery.

This is a picture of Kristynn in front of Mt. Misery.  It was overcast and hazy this morning.  We felt like we were driving around the Misty Mountains.

A little further down the road we approached Rakaia River. The pictures below show Brian and Ike from a lookout above the river. Such gorgeous scenery!

We also stopped just above the Rakaia Gorge.  We couldn't get a great picture of the gorge itself, but you get the idea of how wide the glacier cut the valley.  Amazing what frozen water can do...

And yes, that's water behind Brian and to the right. A lot of the rivers looked grey and sand-like today. Not sure if it was the weather or just the fact they they are really shallow, braided rivers.

We dub the, Misty Mountains (detailed in The Hobbit)

And last, but not least - Edoras!!! Check out these side-by-side pics with stills from the movie. Sorry about the poor picture quality - it was still really overcast at this point. We may be dorks, but today we were dorks having a great time.

 Here are a few more pics of us climbing up Edoras (Mt. Sunday)

A really nice couple took a picture for us on top of Edoras!

We hope everyone is jealous!!!

Ike is Safely in Quarantine!

Today was so great! We got to visit Ike in quarantine after being here a month without him.  We were almost giddy with excitement as we drove out to see Ikey but it was pretty sad when we first walked into his "suite".  He was pretty nervous when I first walked in, which is sad because if you've ever seen Ike excited, it's pretty funny.  He just sort of walked over to Brian for protection.

After we were alone with him for a few minutes, he warmed right up to us.  I guess he had a right to be upset with us.  First we ditch him and Aussie, then he gets shipped on a plane with no familiar face to greet him.  I'm just glad he made it over here safely.

We spent about 45 minutes with the cute little guy which involved a lot of cuddling and kisses.  He just wanted to be held and loved the entire time.  I almost cried when we left him because he didn't really understand why we left him behind again.  He just stood looking at his door as if we would come back and get him.  As we got out to the car we could hear him barking to let us know he was still there waiting to be let out.

Even though the end was sad, it was wonderful to see him.  I can't wait for the next 10 days to go by quickly so we can bring him home!!!