Well I fell in love with New Zealand. I know I have said that that before about Chicago, Santa Cruz, and probably even Australia, but none of them even compare to New Zealand. It is my new favorite place in the whole wide world, and I can tell you for certain that I will go back to the South Island one day. This country is a kind of beautiful I've never seen before. It is a mind blowing, jaw dropping, makes-you-say-oh-my-gosh-every-time-you-turn-a-corner-then-sit-there-speechless kind of beauty.
Abby and I spend the past 8 days taking in the scenery and making great memories. Let me try to explain our trip..but I'm warning you there will be a lot of pictures and a ton of words, so get comfy.
We landed at Christchurch airport pretty late, so our day 1 was spent with about 40 strangers sleeping along a wall in the airport lobby. As soon as the clock hit 4:30 a man who loved his job entirely too much, told us it was time to "wakey wakey" and head out. Abby and I were so confused and just watched everyone, as they packed up their things, and left. Since the rental car place wasn't open yet, we headed to the food court to get a few more hours of sleep. That in itself was an experience.
After not driving for 6 months, it felt so good to be behind the wheel and be the one controlling the car! Notice the headband on my left wrist..just a reminder to stay to the left (as if the sticker in the car, and signs along the road weren't enough). Don't worry yall, staying on the left wasn't nearly as weird as I thought it would be, and there were only a few times that we accidently drove on the right side!
We checked the weather before we left Oz, and it looked like we were going to have pretty crummy weather while we were there. The first half of day 2 looked like this:
so I'm sure you can imagine our excitement when the clouds started to clear and we were able to stop and look at these beautiful lakes on the way to Queenstown.
Lake Tekapo
Lake Pukaki
The water was stunningly beautiful at both lakes. The blue was so rich that it almost looked neon. We tried to come up with a way to describe the color for a while after we left Lake Pukaki, but neither of us could come up with appropriate words.
When we got into Queenstown, we both immediately fell in love! It is such a sweet little town and you can just tell that all the people love everything about being outdoors. It was so nice to be in a place where we wern't judged for looking like a scrub..so different from Melbourne! After we checked into our hostel, we went to the Queenstown Gardens, watched an 8-piece bagpipe band play at the lakeside, and had dinner on the rocks by the water.
Day 3 started off with us driving all the way to Milford Sound and taking a crusie. We forgot to change our clocks when we got to NZ, so we woke up two hours late and weren't able to stop and take pictures along the 4 hour drive, but the good news is that our boat didn't leave us!
Again, not the best weather but the fog added such an eerie and mysterious feel to the whole thing. Thankfully the fog lifted a little throughout our cruise.
Abby and I decided to get the full experience and brave the cold, wind, and rain by sitting on the top deck for the cruise. It was worth it even though we couldn't see everything you could on a clear day.
We were able to take our time driving back to Queenstown, and stopped all along the way to take pictures.
Waterfalls were EVERYWHERE! They said that some of them aren't normally there and were just from all the rain they were having, but I wasn't complaining. I loved them!
This dang bird is called a Kea. We were stopped on the way back to Queenstown, and he landed on our car. Some guys told us they they like to eat the rubber on cars, and if you're not careful they will tear it apart. Are you kidding me?!?
We found a snow tunnel, and if you really think a little sign on the ground is going to stop us from exploring, then you're wrong!
When we finally made it back to Queenstown, we walked around the town centre and had dinner at Starbucks. I'm sure you're thinking 'you were all the way in New Zealand and ate at Starbuks!?' Well people, places close early and it was our only option!
Day 4, the day of the incident. It started off great!
We took a gondola to the top of the mountain.
The mountain overlooked Lake Wakatipu and all of Queenstown. We rode a luge halfway down the mountain and took the gondola the rest of the way down, only to discover this...
Yup, we came down the mountain and we had a flat tire. We called AA to come help us change the tire, and after waiting almost 2 hours we decided to take matters into our own hands, and started changing the tire with the help of some strangers. Of course, the AA guy shows up about half way through, and after he kicked one of the nuts down the drain, he had to go back to his office to get a super magnet to fish it out. The guy ended up being hilarious and even though we were really annoyed with him at first because he was late and he wouldn't admit that he kicked the nut down the sewer, we had some good laughs with him and he really was helpful.
That took most of the afternoon, so we spend the evening walking around Queenstown. We ate at this place called Fergburger and it was incredible. I haven't had a hamburger that good in who knows how long, and they had real BBQ sauce!!
As we were walking around after dinner, we found a pub called Cowboys. It was like a piece of stereotypical Texas! There were American flags all over, a mechanical bull in the corner, the barstools were saddles, the fabric on the benches said 'God Bless America', and there were a few longhorn head hanging on the wall. The only thing that didn't fit was the music. You would think they would be playing country, but instead they were playing songs from the late 70's and early 80's. Weird, I know.
After exploring, we took the highest sealed road on the South Island and drove to Wanaka.
Day 5 I was able to scratch something off my bucket list. I WENT SKYDIVING!
And not only that, I did it in the most beautiful place in the world. I wish I could show yall the views I saw as I was free falling for 45 seconds at 120 mph!
After we went skydiving, we went on a hike with Karen, the lady we were staying with. Karen met my uncle Dave when the both lived in Alaska, and thanks to that connection we got a place to stay for two nights, breakfast, dinner, a hiking buddy and our own personal tour guide!
Diamond Lake
Lake Wanaka
When we got back from our hike, Abby and I explored the town, and spent some time at the lake just taking in the beauty, and enjoyed the dinner Karen made for us!
That night, we went to see Sherlock Holmes 2 at Paradiso. It was a small movie theater that had comfy old couches everywhere for people to sit. There was an intermission where they sold freshly baked cookies, and homemade ice cream. It was such a neat atmosphere! I loved it!
On day 6, we woke up early to head to Fox Glacier. We took our time driving, and stopped multiple times along the way.
Lake Wanaka
Blue Pools
Fantail Falls
Pretty coastal drive
We got to Fox Glacier just in time for our half-day hike. We had a blast with our guide, and he loved having us in his group even though all we did was laugh at him the entire time. Thanks for the entertainment Dino Dean.
After the hike, we drove 20 minutes out to the coast to watch the sunset.
If you looked over your shoulder as you walked onto the beach, you could see Mt. Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand.
Seriously, there is nothing better than a sunset on the beach!
Day 7 was our long day in the car. We left the west coast at 10 am and got to the east coast at 1130 pm. I love that we can say we drove from one side of a country to the other in one day! We made plenty of stops along the way, and had a blast blaring country music the whole time!
Just another pretty lake
Rivers were all over. I didn't expect to see so many!
Lunch on the beach. I can't get enough of the coast.
This part of the drive was voted one of the top ten most beautiful drives in the world, and I'd have to agree!
Pancake rocks. Scientist have no explanation as to why the rocks have formed this way.
When we finally made it to Kaikoura, we just pulled over at a scenic lookout and slept in the car! That night, I think I saw more stars than I have ever seen before. I've heard that you can see more stars from the Australian outback than any other place in the world, so if I make it out there I'll let yall know which one was better!
On day 8, we woke up early and watched the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean before heading back to Christchurch. We spent some time walking around the 'red zone' in the city centre of Christchurch, and while it is very obvious that the city is still rebuilding from the earthquakes that keep happening there, it was actually in much better condition than I was anticipating.
And yall.. the sheep!!! No one can go to New Zealand and ignore the sheep. They were EVERYWHERE!!! There are 60 MILLION sheep in that country, and we passed so many fields filled with them!
Everyone needs to go to this country at some point in their lives. Seriously, the most gorgeous place I have ever been! I can't wait to go back!
To my besties, I know I said we should all go to Sydney, but scratch that. We are going to New Zealand, so start saving now! YOU WON'T REGRET IT!! xoxoxoxoxoxo
