New Zealand!!!!

Last week I traveled to the great country of New Zealand with Shelley. We flew into Christchurch (where they have had some pretty big earthquakes the past couple of months) and then took a bus the next morning to Queenstown or also know as the Adventure Capital of the World. It took about eight hours to get to Queenstown, but the scenery on the way there was absolutely beautiful! For lunch we stopped at Lake Topeka and it took my breath away! I have seen many beautiful places, but this definitely beat them all! The aquamarine water was brighter than the sky and with the snow capped mountains (Mt. Cook) it look ever prettier.

In Queenstown we stayed at the Base hostel and it was close to the beach. It was just a pebble beach, but it was packed everyday. The water was so clear and it was relaxing to listen to the water, while gazing at the mountains. The weather was perfect too and I even got a nice little tan before we left.
While in Queenstown we were busy trying to fit in as much as possible into each day. We went bungy jumping on the tallest bungy (134 meters) in Australasia called the Nevis and it was over a canyon. Then our adrenaline was really pumping so we decided to go on the World’s Highest Swing together. Shelley sat backwards, while I hung upside down attached to her. It was over a canyon too and it was a great view!

The next day I went river surfing down a river where Lord of the Rings was filmed. River surfing is where you lay on top of a body boarding and you swim through rapids and whirlpools. I had a blast, but it was a bit of a challenge! We also got to jump off some cliffs into the river. The water was freezing so we wore wet suits, which helped. Later that evening we took the gondola up to the top of a mountain that overlooks the entire city. We went a little bit before sunset and the city looked amazing!

On our last day, we went on a tour of the Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a fjord land and some call it the 8th wonder of the world. We started out on a bus and we really enjoyed our guide because he had quite the sense of humor! Along the way we stopped at a rainforest and got to explore. We also stopped at this freshwater river to refill our water bottles and we were introduced to the Kui bird. These little critters are jokers and they like to get on top of people’s cars and will just ride as they drive off. They also like to get on you and play games with you. They were funny to watch. Once we arrived to Milford Sound we jumped on a boat and had lunch as the cruise began. On the cruise we saw lots and lots of waterfalls, seals, penguins, dolphins, and the beautiful fjords. Our boat also stopped at the Underwater Observatory where we got to see what kind of animals and fish live in the water. We went down 60 meters and through the glass windows we saw the fish, starfish, coral, and so much more. After the cruise we jumped back on the bus and headed home. On the way back we watched a movie called Boy and it is about a Maori boy growing up in New Zealand.

The next morning we caught the bus back to Christchurch and did some exploring there. We did not get to do much because we had to get up at 4 a.m. (2 a.m. Australia time!) to catch our flight back to Australia. We had the best time and both of us agreed that this was our favorite trip while being abroad. I did not want to leave! The scenery was amazing, the air was so fresh (freshest in the world!), and we made a lot of new friends. We met people from England, Brazil, Germany, New Zealand, Canada, and even the U.S. (they knew Butler and Gordon Hayward! It was fun talking to them and they were from Washington State).

The next morning (Sat. the 6th) I had my last exam and then I started packing for home and my last week of travels. I am going to Cairns (where the Great Barrier Reef is ) for 5 days and then Alice Springs (outback) for three, coming back to Tassie on Tuesday and then leaving for the States on Wednesday morning. On Sunday, I said my good-byes because heaps of my friends will be gone when I come back on that Tuesday and it was very sad. We also had a pretty big thunderstorm that night, which did not help. Shelley leaves for the U.S. on the 8th and then Stew leaves for Sydney on the 10th to stay with a friend before he leaves on the 19th.
I have had beyond a great time here and it will be very bittersweet to leave. I have met some amazing people and have seen some great things while being here and I will miss it all!
Random:
-A person from New Zealand = Kiwi
-Popular phrase in NZ = Sweet as
-When we arrived at our hostel in Queenstown it was Halloween and they gave us pumpkins to carve, but we didn’t do it and heaps of people bagged us out because we didn’t and we were American.
-Our roomie from Brazil carved his first pumpkin and he did a great job! He also plays the ukulele and liked to serenade us.
-Bungy Jumping began in NZ and the first one ever made was from a bridge and we saw it after we did our big one and it looked soo tiny!
-We didn’t get to see a kiwi bird, which was disappointing. Every time we went to places that had them, they were closed.
-I had sooo many people think I was Canadian while in NZ… Shelley and I think that my “southern accent” throws them off so that is why they say I am Canadian
-At the beach there were these little black ducks that would dive underwater and stay for a good amount of time and then come up and fly away…They were crazy!

-We saw LOTS of sheep and also quite a few ostriches and these little deer from Africa.