Northland Tour

Although I did leave Christchurch, my advenutres weren't quite over - I flew to Auckland 4 days before my flight left for home, so I decided to try and tackle the peninsula North of Auckland - Northland - over those 4 days! Lucky for me, a friend I met while I was in Peru 3 years ago lives in Auckland and was AWESOME and decided to make the trip with me (thanks Mike)! Definitely saw more than I would have if I had been on a bus / tour kind of deal. So on June 24, I flew to Auckland ridiculously early, took the opportunity to store one of my suitcases so I didn't have to deal with it for the next 4 days, and grabbed some breakfast while I waited for Mike! On Sunday afternoon we headed up the east side of the peninsula North of Auckland and ended up staying in Paihia overnight. I was SO tired as it had been about 24 hours since I packed my room / finished exams / flew to Auckland, so I basically just crashed. The next morning, however, I discovered that it was SO WARM - break out the sandals yes please. By so warm I mean probably about 20 degrees - maybe 15 when it was cloudy. But WAY warmer than it had been in Christchurch and I was like WHAT this is winter??? No this is not. Ridiculous. After a brief exploration of the beach, we grabbed some breakfast and hit the road. We kept going North and visited the Waitangi reserve / park, where the Waitangi treaty was signed between Maori chiefs and the British in the 19th century. We lucked out and it was SUPER sunny! We explored the colonial house, the grounds and the marae (meeting house) that were on the property. Continuing North, we checked out a viewpoint and then a Huau (maybe? might be the wrong name) Falls along the way. We then hit Kerikeri, another town along the eastern side of the peninsula. Picking up some ingredients, we stopped on the road for a lunch break and discovered this random pile or pyramid of rocks with a cross on top, that was a cairn marking the graves of some important guys. Then the beach times began! The first one we checked out was Mike's favourite and was called Taupo Bay - as far as I know it is not related to Lake Taupo but I do wonder what the word means. The bar was so nice and the sand was so nice and it was so calm! The tiniest little beach community that seemed like I would just melt into a hammock and chill if I stayed there. It was especially cool because the beach was suuuper shallow and the tide was out, so the beach area was GIANT. After a beach walk, we continuing on our way, our next little side tour was of the Karikari peninsula. We had been advised of another great beach we should check out for sure. So we drove out and ended up at somewherr we don't think was the right place BUT it was still sweet! It was so different from the other beach - it had the grass covered dunes behind the beach and the sand was super light coloured and not gritty. Plus it was SO long. So, we did a little beach investigation and then ended up finding the intended beach on the way out. So beach #3 was sweet. Sand was super white and it was kind of a mix between the first two. We found a hostel not too far out of the next town and called it a day. Day #3 was the out and back to Cape Reinga day! The map is deceiving.... it was farther than it looked! It essentially took us a whole day to out and back from just South of 90 Mile Beach (with stops along the way of course!). Our first stop was to check out an ancient buried Kauri forest! The park was closed but they had a box out for money and said you could show yourselves around! Pretty cool. There were pathways through a forest of mainly manuka and kanuka trees, which were actually growing overtop of a buried Kauri forest - nobody really knows why but the trees are thought to have been destroyed by some cataclasmic event and buried at an angle into the ground.... BUT the trees are massive and were buried in an environment where they basically didn't decompose. So, nowadays, they use the 'swamp Kauri' as it is called, for construction and artwork. The wood gathered this way is usually about 45,00-100,000 years old!! What we checked out though was an old school gumdiggers comp - seemed to me like a mixture of logging and mining... the sap from the Kauri trees or 'gum', was extremely valuable and people made a living of digging holes down to the buried trees and gathering the petrified or hardened sap! Sounds like their lives were pretty rough and dirty... but I now know the reason they are called 'gumboots'!. After checking out the gumdiggers place, we continued on our way. We got to Cape Reinga around lunchtime and hurried down to check it out to avoid a storm we could see coming from miles away - we made it in time BUT had to take refuge behind the lighthouse and wait for a break to run back up to the car! SERIOUS downpour / wind time. The lighthouse at Cape Reinga ISN'T actually the Northernmost point.... there is somewhere else that's 3km further. But probably isn't accessible. Also they didn't tell you that till you got there. Haha. That's ok with me! In Maori belief, Cape Reinga or spirits leap is where the spirits of the deceased leave NZ and return to the ancestral homeland. So it is significant that way as well a geographically! Having to double back on our tracks to get back down the cape, we made some good time and had enough daylight left to check out 90 Mile Beach!! Which isn't actually 90 miles. I think it is actually 90 km. Deceiving but its fine. We did not drive on the beach but rather just walked out and check out the shore - stretched on FOREVER. Couldn't see the end. I could definitely see how you can drive on it though, the beach was super flat again and was like cement at the right distance between the water and dry sand. The good thing about checking out the beaches in the evening meant the tide was always out! Score. We stayed back at the same hostel as the night before and had one more day to check some more sights out and get back to Auckland. BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT to hear about that day cause my flight is boarding!!! :)

Last post from Christchurch!

So the last 2 weeks have pretty much been nuts.... I managed to fit in 4 exams, a trip to the Antarctic Centre here in Christchurch and a trip to Banks Peninsula. It was a whirlwind trip, but we managed to see a lot!!Including the Akaroa harbour, the scenic route around te peninsula, a family-owned heritage and Maori museum (very cool), and Lyttleton harbour!!! Also during this time I've been getting organized for my journey home! HOME - can't believe it. Time has flown, it has been amazing, and I think I finally realized that I am leaving as I was cleaning out my room today. It now looks like it did when I arrived - ready for someone else!! I've got a few days left in NZ, the plan is a) to head to Auckland BRIGHT AND EARLY tomorrow morning, b) meet up with my friend Mike (who I met in Peru!), c) head North for a couple of days, d) come back to Auckland to head home! We'll just see if they let me leave with the amount of luggage I have..... I mean I have plenty of extra room but they are SO heavy. But all in all, my time in NZ has FLOWN by, as I have said many times before, and I am sad to leave... because there's so much more I would have wanted to do and see!! I guess - that just means a return trip, sooner rather than later :) Next time I 'see' you I may just be across the Pacific! P.S. I WILL be wearing rainboots on the plane.

The End is in Sight

Not only is in the end in sight for my semester (only exams remain), but for my trip as well. Which I basically can't believe. It blows my mind that it has already been close to 6 months since I left. I can't believe how time has FLOWN! Anyways, let's just cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, around the end of classes I did a couple hikes close to town since I actually had to get some homework done on the weekends - classic last week of classes. Everything was due. Did a day hike about 2 hours from Christchurch in the Peel forest (mountain was also called Mt Peel) where we got a fantastic view of the Canterbury plains out the Pacific ocean to the East, and over the Alps to the West. Turned out the be a perfect day too - sunny and great. After finishing the last week of assignments/essays, I took off to Queenstown for a few days to hang out down there and to see Milford Sound (because I figured it is something I MUST see before it is time to leave!) The first day in Queenstown we decided to go out at night - in the freezing temperatures - which was great. Until we tried to leave and I discovered that the 2 layers I had worn were both missing. The coat racks at the front had about 30 coats on them (including NICE ones), and I had smartly separated my 2 layers just in case someone decided to 'borrow' from the coat rack. This did not help. Everyone found their coats except me. And BOTH of mine were gone. I searched for about 20 minutes in every pile of coats I could find and decided to come back the next day to check if they had turned up (no dice). SO awesome. I was beyond mad, and still am. So now I am down one sweatshirt + one raincoat. Perfect, let me replace those with my overflowing bank account (NOT). The next day we headed out bright and early as 2 of the girls had a bungee appointment and one was doing the Shotover canyon swing. I did not go for this. Maybe MAYBE before I leave but it is a pricy 3 seconds.... and slightly terrifying. The 3 of us who did not jump were the camera crew for the jumpers. I thoroughly enjoyed watching haha :) Following the morning activity, we returned to town to grab some Fergburger (necessary) and this time I went for falafel which was the BOMB. There was 6 of us and everyone got a different type of burger - you can't go wrong. In the afternoon we did some shopping around and ate a cheap hostel-made meal and watched star wars. Solid. ALSO a highlight of this trip was the serious amount of Thai restaurants in Queenstown - definitely indulged in some green curry and it was awesome. Another activity one night, we decided to check out a self-serve wine tasting place; essentially, you get a little scan card (kinda like a credit card I guess) and at every station there is a slot for your card, and you can choose what amount of wine you'd like to try (75ml, 150ml or full glass I think it was), all of which are designated a different price. So, whichever amount you choose, the price adds onto your card and then at the end you just pay the balance on your card. PRETTY cool. I discovered I think I like white wine a lot more than red wine? BUT who know cause I really don't know anything about wine.... It was a great time regardless. As the others headed to Dunedin, it was my time to head out to Milford Sound!! WAY easier to book things now, not nearly the same amount of tourists hanging around! But this also means less tours running. I ended up booking a cruise as the kayaking runs pretty infrequently in the winter. I thought it was ok since I got the chance to kayak in Abel Tasman! The drive out to the actual sound was beautiful - we had many photo op stops along the way and were lucky enough to have a SUNNY cloudless day! Perfect! It was quite chilly though. I think I have become a baby when it comes to colder temperatures. I've skipped out on too many Calgary winters recently. I also blame the fact that my wardrobe is basically for temperatures above 10. Anyway, we arrived at the Sound around noon and hopped onto our small (compared to the other giant boats) cruiser where I parked myself upstairs for some outdoor viewing. We went all the way out to where Milford Sound opens up to the Tasman Sea - if we kept sailing we would've arrived in Australia after about 5 days! Another tidbit - Milford SOUND is not actually a sound (a ocean-flooded river valley) it is a FJORD (valley carved by glaciers, filled in by the ocean as the glaciers retreated). In fact, all the 'sounds' in Fiordland National Park are fjords; they got the name of the national park right, except for using an 'i' instead of a 'j'. They're named sounds because that is what the Europeans first named them when they were discovered + the name just stuck. Regardless of what they're called, they were AWESOME. The boat was able to sail SUPER close to the water's edge because even that close to the edge the water is over 100m deep. There is some serious vertical going on. The fact that it had rained the day before was perfect - we got to see a few more waterfalls than normal, and a few of the permanent waterfalls in full force. I took about a million photos basically. After Milford time, I journeyed back to Queenstown for one more day, did some hiking and adventuring around the lake (basically avoided buying anything unnecessary) and headed back to Christchurch at the end of the week. The best thing - the whole time we were getting sunny, cloudless sky weather in Queenstown/Milford, the rest of the country was getting the worst weather, and Chirstchruch had a snow day! Well on the day it snowed school was closed down at noon, and remained closed the next day because it was so icy!! I realized how seriously icy it was when I got back from Queenstown and it was going on day 3 of school closure - walking to my place from the bus was a TASK - sidewalks COVERED with patchy, uneven ice (no 'shovel your walk' rule here) and the roads were essentially paved with a thin layer of ice. Super safe. The snow is pretty much gone now though, as the sun has returned! I am back in Christchurch now, studying away, first final in 2 days! Probably will be hanging out here till I head to Auckland at the end of the month, with the exception of some day trips :)

Photos: Twalk

Just some landscape / views of where the event took place. About an hour and half from Christchurch

Speed through May..

I've really gotta step up my game on coming up with names for my blog posts.... they're getting all literal and lame. Next time. Alright. So. Let's take a (month long) step back - After I returned to Christchurch I had a (rude?) reawakening that yes, I am indeed in school. Back to classes and homework. But not to fear - I did fit in my share of weekend adventures when I wasn't too busy. Which was most of the time. Of course. The first weekend back, we attempted to go on a day hike somewhere North of Christchurch.. buuut that didn't happen. So instead, I caught up on some of the work I had disregarded during my 3-week break and had the chance to hit up the South Island's largest farmer's market! I scored myself a sweet $16 backpack after my other one broke (it may or may not have flames on it). Seriously ANYTHING you need is at that market. Its crazy. Sheepskin rugs, produce galore, homemade items of every kind, music, clothing, etc. So the weekend was not a complete bust! Another week of classes passed before I had the chance to get out of the city again. The second weekend of May, I think it was the 6-7, I participated in a 24-hour orienteering event put on by Canterbury University Tramping Club! I 'competed' on a team of 4 and we got an 'honoourable mention' for our costume and we actually did pretty well I think.. middle of the pack-ish. I say 'compete' because there were super serious people who actually competed in orienteering (or 'rogaining') and were sponsored, and as a result completed the 24-hrs in running / biking gear and for the most part jogging. They were in a league of their own! There were 5 legs for the event - the first leg was mandatory as it led us to the 'hash house', and then the others it was basically how much you can get done in the remaining time. Each leg was probably around 15-16km long, and YUP we only got to leg 3... but so did everyone else. There were only a few teams who got up to legs 4 and 5. We hiked probably around 30km I am going to guess, over about 18 hours - we slept / took breaks for the other 6 hours, including a cozy 3 hour nap at 3am with the 4 of us in a 3 person tent. OH and we collected clues from 25 checkpoints along the way. There's the orienteering part of it, along with the fact that we were armed only with a topographical map of the area, our compasses and our sense of direction (don't trust the sun in the Southern Hemisphere...). The best part about this was that it did not take place on trails whatsoever - alright sometimes we could walk down tractor trails BUT there was a fair amount of bushwhacking and we may have become extra friendly with the lovely matagouri bush - YES. There was plenty of scratches, falling into holes between the tussock, wading through streams, and dodging WASPS. On the positive side, there was awesome views, plenty of mud and a GREAT TIME. I managed to lose my amazing Costco water bottle in the bush.... NO idea when it happened but didn't notice it was gone for forever, and was not willing do go digging around searching in the prickly stuff especially when we had a time limit. But I am SAD about that. After the first leg we got to the 'hash house': essentially a home base where there was food, a live scoreboard, our overnight things and space to rest / sleep (amongst bushels of wool). Needless to say everything smelt like SHEEP afterward... and I didn't entirely realize until we were back in the city. We managed to have perfect weather - sunny days and mostly clear night with a pretty much full moon!! It was awesome and I would definitely do it again!! Sunday afternoon we drove back to Christchurch and this is the first time in a while I can say I PASSED OUT on the bus within about 10 minutes, hahaha, went to bed at about 6pm (with full intention of waking up a few hours later for dinner) and slept right through until Monday morning. Probably the best. P.s. about that rugby photo in the last post - I may have forgotten to mention that when I was in Christchurch for one day the day after Mom and Dad left (yup sorry Dad you JUST missed it!) I went to a Canterbury Crusaders game! Vs. South Africa. And the All Blacks are playing in Christchurch in a couple weeks!!! Not going to that.... the tickets sold out SUPER fast and I am obviously not that organized. You know.

Abel Tasman Photos FINALLY

Canterbury Crusaders vs..... South Africa

View from the Abel Tasman Track

Start of the track

Another view - not bad

Silver Fern

Beach at Anchorage Bay

Accomodation for the night!!

Sunset from the boat

Hello little guy

EXTREME tides where we finished our kayak!! The water taxis had to be boarded at the pier, and then, full of people, be towed out to the water behind tractors. Haha the tractors had to fully back into the water so that the boats could be taken off the trailers - serious tides! This is just a taste of the photos - I have many many more. This is why my computer hates me. Haha

Photo Delay

Soo here is a pretty pointless post - BUT my computer is (literally) full.. and I am slowly clearing some space so I can upload more photos. It is a process but I am making progress!! Will upload photos ASAP.... they are just hanging out on my camera waiting to be shared!!

Abel Tasman and Nelson

So after Mom and Dad left NZ for home I stuck around in Christchurch for the weekend, hit up a rugby match, and then decided it was time for me to be off again and continue taking advantage of my 3 week easter break! So, early on Sunday 15 April, I headed out on a bus to Nelson - about 7 hours from Christchurch - but 5 hours were along the coast and it was amazing scenery and the rest of the time I had my book, so time FLEW by :) I arrived in Nelson in the evening and checked into my hostel (which I may or may not have picked based on free chocolate pudding and ice cream every night). At this point I didn't get to see Nelson at all because I was just staying there for the night - the next morning I got picked up bright and early at 7am and taken to Abel Tasman National Park where I began my 2-day hiking / kayaking tour, INCLUDING an overnight stay in a houseboat. Score. Apparently I'd been the only one who had booked my exact type of tour I was on, so the first I did my 13-km hike along the Abel Tasman Track by myself, and then met up with the 2-day kayaking trip at the end of the day to go the houseboat. The next day I just continued along with the kayaking for day 2! The hike was AWESOME - the Abel Tasman in one of the popular 'Great Walks' in NZ - I think it can be as long as 4-5 days (can't remember how many km's) but you can choose to do it completely self-sustained OR you can choose to have your packs transferred to your next campsite for you every night. What?! Hah so I just did a portion of it for my hiking day - I hiked from the SE entrance to the park to Anchorage Bay, where the houseboat was parked. It was SO nice out. Beautiful turquoise water, gold sand, endless amounts of bees/wasps... my favourite. Haha. But no really it was so warm, t-shirt and shorts all the way it felt like summer again! Mom and Dad missed out on the warm weather! On my hike I walked through serious rainforest area and then nearing the bay I had to go over this headland and it was like DESERT. Sandy, dry, hot, it was so bizarre! From rainforest to that. Descending onto the beach was awesome - the bay was super protected from the open ocean and the sand was so gold it was awesome. The water was very chilly though. I had the chance to eat a late lunch and lounge before the kayaking group arrived and we headed out to the houseboat for the night. The houseboat was essentially a.. boat with cabins underneath. Not your standard Shuswap houseboat haha like it was capable of being on the ocean. My bunk was so cozy and right beside a porthole... neat-o. We enjoyed the sunset and homemade dinner / bbq from the crew - it was delicious! Afterward we played some scrabble then early to bed. I had a good sleep, surprisingly, once I got bundled in the down duvet. The next morning we woke up to a breakfast spread to fuel up before our day of kayaking. At around 9 we headed back to the beach to get our kayaks ready and head out. Super sunny again, cloudless skies which was awesome! We kayaked along the shore and out to an island called Adele Island where the seals like to hang out. Along the way we saw some blue penguins, lots of birds, plenty of seals and we tried to hunt down some stingrays but they weren't having it. For lunch we just pulled up on a beach and our guide pulled out all the ingredients for a great picnic - complete with a plaid blanket. We had some warm beverages and made some sandwiches for lunch, and were just about to head back out when this seagull came and STOLE OUR LOAF OF BREAD. I just looked over as he was taking off and thought 'he won't be able to carry that whole bag...' and he took off. The bag was open and he was dropping pieces all the way down the beach as we ran after him - it was hilarious. He finally dropped the bag and took off when there was about half the loaf left. So funny. After we had collected the bread off the beach, we headed off again. We continued kayaking along the shore / beaches and saw some more wildlife - so many seals! One followed us for about half an hour, popping in and out every so often to say hello. As we were coming in on the home stretch, we tried out a little 'Kayak-sailing': Loee and Lauren did this I remember! It was sweet - just propped up the sail with our paddles and sailed along! A nice break from paddling and it sped us along. We got back to the beach where we had to unload our kayaks and had to walk about 1km from the water to the road - because the tide was out. Serious tides here, so much that they have to launch the aquataxis with tractors that fully drive into the water. Its necessary, so the boats get deep enough underwater they can get them off the trailer! After a bus ride back to Nelson, I walked to the store to get some dinner and went to bed early - I was pooped and planned to catch the bus the next morning to Kaikoura. NOPE that plan failed. There is literally one bus that leaves Nelson. All day. To anywhere. And it was sold out. The bus driver let me wait right till they left to see if there were any no shows - but no such luck. So, I stuck around in Nelson for an extra day and checked out a few hikes, some churches, the downtown, and the 'Centre of NZ' hike. WHERE I of course forgot to take a photo of the monument. You'll just have to believe me hah :) It is not the geographical centre, but simply where the different regions of the country are based on.. if that makes sense. So, After a relaxing day in sunny Nelson (sunniest part of the country!) I went to bed early AGAIN because I had to get up AGAIN to catch the bus. This time I made it! And because I'd had an extra day in Nelson just came straight back to Christchurch. Maybe Kaikoura another weekend?? We'll see, my weekends are becoming NUMBERED!!!!! Photos soon!! P.S. HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all the moms out there :) Especially my mama!! Love you!!

South Island Mini Tour Photos

Keas

Walk in the LOTR forest

Inuksuk of course

Tiny Dad, giant waves

One of our many stops in Haast pass

Windy Wanaka

Queenstown hike gate

Pre skydive. Jumped out of that plane

View of Arrowton

Mt Cook

South Island Mini Tour: The Thompsons (-1) rent a campervan. Hilarity ensues

OK I am sorry. I seriously put this like 17 burners back and then 3 weeks somehow slipped away and I need to UPDATE!! It has been almost a month since the events I am about to relay actually occured, so let's hope my memory serves me well. Although, it is times like these where I plan to do a small post, and as I am writing things just keep coming back to me and it goes on and on.... we shall see. So where did we leave off? Right, world's shortest flight from Wellington to Christchurch. We arrived the evening of Friday the 6 of April, Mom and Dad found a sweet bed & breakfast to stay in and I headed back to res for the night!! We were probably only in the city for about 15 hours, and to Mom's delight, there was a little aftershock in those 15 hours. Dad slept through it of course, and mom got no sleep. But kind of (?) a cool experience for them.... maybe not if you ask Mom haha. So, the next morning, M & D picked up the campervan, then me, then we were off!! We were seriously high rolling in our camper - two double beds, a fridge, microwave, stovetop, sink, the whole works. We were pretty much equipped to 'freedom camp': you can pretty much camp anywhere (that is a designated distance away from roads/property) as long as you are contained. Our first day, we drove across the island. That's right, East Coast to West Coast. Pacific to Tasman in roughly 4 hours!! Amazing. Along the way we stopped at a pie shop and got some delicious pies (of every variety, including cherry for dessert) and some viewpoints on our way through Arthur's Pass. At one viewpoint, we stopped for a break and there were an abundance of keas: a mountain bird that is not shy in the least and 3 or 4 promptly hopped on top of the campervan and started pecking away at the rubber molding on the roof. Awesome. We were probably driving about 60kph by the time they decided to leave. Arriving on the west coast, we turned south and continued for a short while before seeking out our camping spot for the night. We had to do this relatively early during the day (around 4pm) as the whole country was on Easter break and there was no shortage of travelers. We found a sweet place off the highway and decided to get settled and cook ourselves some dinner in the 1 cubic metre of space we had. We set up our little table and had some dinner, did some crosswords, and then decided it was bed time. This is where the fun began; setting up the beds was a TASK. The first night we did not even find the 3rd section of the main bunk and I was prepared to sleep lengthwise on the seat... but we found it after all. Mom and Dad slept on the double bed that was formed from the back seats, and I slept in the 'double' bed up above - literally about 1 foot from the roof. I had to army crawl around to try to make the bed and there was a light fixture about 20cm from my face. Good thing I don't move when I sleep. After crashing hard and getting a good night's sleep (I have somehow trained my body to refuse to get out of bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, I wake up and am just like 'NOPE' then go back to sleep. It is a great skill) we awoke the next morning and decided to check out a trail we had seen close to a nearby stream the night before. Just a baby walk cause we had to be on our way, but it was so cool!! Definitely felt like we were in LOTR.... actually... at least once a day someone would say 'I feel like we are in Middle Earth...'. The forest was very overgrown and the path covered in a thin layer of moss... the light coming through the branches was so neat too. After a short stint, we hopped back in the van and continued South. About halfway through the day, we arrived in Franz Josef - we checked out the deal with tours, and since it was Easter weekend, everything was booked for A WEEK AND A HALF. LAME. So, we decided to leave the crowds and do our own walk at Fox Glacier, just down the highway. We got closer to the glacier and there were way less people. It is CRAZY how fast these glaciers are retreating. But also amazing how low in elevation and close to the coast they still are. After our hike, we continued on our way, planning our next stop in Haast, right on the coast. Another 10 minute stop to build inuksuks and we got anihilated by sand flies (THE WORST). We had been warned but still - I'd say they are a combination of mosquito bites and duck mites. Worst. Anyway, we found our campsite, which wasn't the nicest, but we wanted some power for lighting / heating and needed to do some laundry, so we toughed it out. We got a 'tourist radio' with the campervan for the rental, and it was the coolest. It would ding everytime we passed somewhere of interest or somewhere to stay and tell us all about it. Pretty much like an airplane or like the voice on the train that tells you what stop is next. So this is how we found a few of our campsites! The next morning we decided to drive down the road and have our breakfast on the beach - too bad it was a torrential downpour. We parked just behind the beach and walked out to check out the ocean anyways - it was SERIOUS. Hugest waves. Breakfast was so cozy at our little table while it was raining and waves were bashing outside. We continued our drive, this time heading South and East towards Wanaka and Queenstown. We drove through some serious looking rainforest all the way to Okanagan-looking landscapes, the vegetation changes SO fast, each day we drove could've been a totally different country. Driving through Haast pass, we stopped for a few little walks along the way to waterfalls, blue pools, and viewpoints. Serious road trip day. Like HEY LET'S STOP HERE! OK! We arrived at Lake Wanaka a little after noon and stopped at a viewpoint for some lunch. It was nothing short of a hurricane out. SO windy but nice and sunny. Dad met two kiwis there attempting to get out on the water to windsurf, and watched their launch to see how things were going to go. They were succesful! And were going SO FAST. A short while later, we got to the actual town of Wanaka, and attempted to get in on the last skydive of the day - but we were too late. So, we booked a skydive for the following day in Queenstown, and decided to sit by the lake at a pub and have a beer! RELAX!!! Wanaka was a cool town. Picking up a few groceries for dinner, we decided we'd better get to a campsite closer to Queenstown so we didn't have to drive very far in the morning. We found a very cool sounding one that was on a Lake about 3-4km off the main road.... turns out it was 7km, in the dark, on a tiny dirt road, in a campervan. And it was just a giant open area. Hahah very random but it was pretty nice! Fantastic view of the stars :) The next morning we awoke to cloudy skies and were afraid that the skydiving might be cancelled.... we checked in at the office and they had said it was postponed due to low clouds and to check back at 1pm. So, we hit up plan b. We did a hike... It was about 2-3 hours and I feel like we hiked through 5 different forests/landscapes. Crazy! But very cool. We saw paragliders coming down from the top of Queenstown hill and hoped that meant skydiving was a go! Coming down from our hike, we headed back to the skydive office to check on our status - and found out it was a GO!!! oh my god we are going to jump out of a plane in 30 minutes? It's fine. With 15 minutes to spare Dad and I ran back to the campervan to change (I had to wear real shoes so things weren't flying off my feet and also pants cause its COLD AT 12 000 FEET) and grab our heart rate monitors. Why not? I knew my heart rate would probably 250 but why not check it out?? Running back to the office, we had our little prep session - signed forms, they tried to sell us the hoto packets, and we watched a dvd. Before long we were on our way. Dad and I went in the van with other 'jumpers' and Mom drove the van out to the launch site, were she was able to watch. Once we got to the base, we were in the first group to go so it was ALRIGHT let's get suits on, helmet/hats, goggles, mitts, harnesses, introduced to our 'jumpmasters', "act like a banana" briefing, ready, GO! We went up in the tiniest plane I have ever been in, there was only 7 people in the back and I am pretty sure that was max capacity. There was one other girl and then dad and I. Holy moly. Our jump masters had altimeters on their wrists and kept updating us on the elevation. About halfway up we were attached to our jump masters by our harnesses and put on our hats, mitts and goggles. It actually felt very secure, the attachment to the jump master, but hey they're also going to be plummeting towards Earth. It took us about 15 minutes to get up to 12 000 feet and it was now or never. The door opened and it was COLD. The girl went first, Dad second and I went last. As Dad said afterward, 'it is almost like you go into submission', we were up there and there was only one way down so it just had to happen. Watching the two others go before me was crazy. Like BYE SEE YOU DOWN THERE. We shuffled over to the door and I was literally not touching anything, just hanging, as my jumpmaster prepared to leave the plane. We swung out once, back once, the out for good. It was so cool. SO COOL. We tumbled for about 5 seconds and then he opened the mini chute to balance us out and make sure we were falling stomach first. We were freefalling for about 45 seconds before the chute was opened and it was AWESOME. I did not have that falling sensation whatsoever - it just felt like I was going REALLY FAST. After the parachute was opened, I was able to take off my goggles/talk and enjoy the view.... WHAT? The view was amazing: the lake at Queesntown, the Remarkables, and endless farms with tiny white dots (sheep). We did some twirly loops on the way down (Dad got to steer his!!!) and I may have felt like I had vertigo afterward... Dad and I were walking into each other/sideways for the rest of the afternoon. It was so cool though. I would definitely recommend it. If you are thinking about, DO IT. Post-skydive, we headed back to Queenstown for the evening and got some Fergburger for a late lunch (a must if you are in Queenstown) before heading to Arrowtown for our next campsite. We stayed in another powered site so we could use the heating (haha) but this one was super nice and recently renovated. We did a little walk through the town at night and it was SO COOL. Basically like a functioning heritage park. We saw so many places that we decided to come into town for breakfast and check things out when they were open. We had a delicious breakfast at one of the cafes on the main road, then walked around the town and checked out the Chinese village (from the gold mining days) and the town lookout from the top of a cemetery hill by the world war memorail. I never associate NZ with the world wars, because it is so far away, but they were there!! The town was so neat, one of our fave places on the South Island leg! After Arrowtown, we began to head North toward Mt Cook - gotta see the country's biggest mountain if you are there! We drove through the strangest landscape - it looked like we were on Mars. We stayed at a powered site in a town called Glentanner RIGHT by Mt Cook village (but probably slightly cheaper) and did a hike in the Hooker Valley (same one I did with Sarah and Hannah!). It was cloudy and not the warmest when we started off, and we couldn't even see Mt Cook! But as the day progressed, the clouds burnt off and the mountain appeared out of the mist. Kinda cool actually :) We stopped and the Hooker Glacier terminus and had a mini photo shoot / lunch, which cause pretty much everyone else there to give us funny looks. Apparently people don't eat lunch mid hike?? Returning to our humble camper, we had to continue our pilgrimmage, as Mom and Dad's time was coming to an end :( We stayed in a little town called Geraldine for our last night on the road, and had our one and only dinner in a restaurant: FISH AND CHIPS! Of course. Had to do it. Our drive back to Christchurch the next day was short and sweet as M & D had to be at the airport at about 1. We did manage to stop along the way and check out some GIANT PIGS we saw on the side of the road. Yes tourists. After dropping me off on campus, they returned the campervan and headed to the aiport to begin their journey home. I wouldn't have wanted to spend my break any other way! I can't believe it has already been a month since they've left!!! Time does fly.. and I've gotta make the most of the time I do have left here :) Also - BRAVO if you read this far... this is a marathon entry. More to come...

Photos: North Island Mini Tour

Auckland Sky Tower

Mom and Dad! Shakespear Park

Sheep always, Rangitoto in the background

Coromandel View - too bad it was cycloney

Waiheke Island

Waiheke Island - hiking through wineries

Biking in Rotorua

Wanganui geothermal area

Wanganui

Falls below Taupo

North Island Mini Tour

It all began at 330am on the 31 of March... I caught a painless flight to Auckland and made my way to the hostel I'd be staying in till mom and dad arrived on 1 April. I did a little sightseeing before they arrived, enjoying the sun, checking out the skytower, around downtown and the university, and the Auckland museum. On April 1, I caught a shuttle to the airport to meet them from their marathon trip!! So exciting to see them, it had been 3.5 months since I had left for Asia/NZ. On task, we picked up the rent-a-car, dad navigated his way through the streets of Auckland (here, get off a 13 hour flight and drive through the country's biggest city on the wrong side of the road!!!) and we arrived at our accomodation: a cute flat above someone's garage that they rented out to travelers. We dropped our bags and headed out for activities!!! I was impressed, the first thing I did after flying here was not activities...it was a NAP. We headed to Whakaparoa, a peninsula/community just north of Auckland, and did a hike in Shakespear park, seeing countless numbers of sheep, birds, cows, and AMAZING views! Was a beauty sunny day and a great way to start the trip. The start and end of the hike were also in a reserve area protected by fancy fencing, so we saw some protected native Kiwi plants and birds. We tucked in early to prepare for our day trip to Coromandel peninsula the following day. About an hour from Auckland, the Coromandel peninsula was HAMMERED with rain the day we decided to explore.... later we found out this was because of 'Cyclone Daphne' making its way from Fiji. Awesome. Regardless, we explored some seriously windy roads through rainforest, checked out mini towns, Cathedral Cove, Hot water beach, and Coromandel itself. We had a great view from the top of one of the passes, but it would've been AMAZING if it was sunny. Oh well, can't win them all, right? The next day, we ended up planning and booking things in the morning, renting a GPS from the iSite under the skytower (best idea ever) and didn't get started too early so we ended up just doing a ferry trip to the nearby island of Waiheke. It is a SWEET island where wineries and giant houses abound.... we saw the world's most expensive organic food store, walked through a winery, it rained a tad on our hike and we may have cut through some farmers fields but it was still great. Heading back to our place, we had to pack up for our departure for Rotorua the next day. Hallelujah, out of the city! Driving is so EASY on the highways! On our way to Rotorua, we checked out a map and saw that Hobbiton was not too far out of our way, so we decided to go check it out. We made it - after some serious driving through surreal scenery that basically was Hobbiton all around - and ended up NOT taking the tour, because we had plans for Rotorua. We took a break and enjoyed the sun at the Shire's Rest Cafe, but that's as close to Bag End as we got. Continuing to Rotorua, we checked in to our hostel, rented some bikes, and left the sulfur smells to check out the mountain biking in the nearby Redwood forest. We got a couple of hours of biking through beauty terrain in before we had to return our bikes and hit the grocery store for dinner ingredients. Cooking dinner in the kitchen, we met some other travelers and heard some stories, as always in a hostel :). The next morning, we headed to Waimangu, a geothermal reserve between Rotorua and Taupo. It is actually the world's youngest geothermal hotspot, only about 100 years old, but miraculously all around it is already regrown with serious vegetation. We did a 3 hour hike/walk through hot springs, geothermal formations and lakes, ending at Lake Rotomahana. After our hike, we drove to Taupo and only stopped for a bit to check out the falls and the lake, continuing on to our accomodation close to the East coast of the North Island, a farm in Norsewood, just South of Napier. Arriving at the farm, we were greeted, shown to our rooms and served dinner!! Bonus! They had the COOLEST farmhouse, 3 fireplaces and the best dog. We found the farmstay on Airbnb, a bed and breakfast website for NZ. It was so cool - we heard some serious stories at dinner, got our own upstairs part of the farmhouse for our stay, and had a tour around the farm in the morning before we left. After a breakfast of homemade bread and jam, we saw their property, fed the sheep and horses, and visited the two 'ginger' pigs they had. Haha it was very cool. Unfortunately we had to be on our way to Wellington to catch our flight to the south Island! On our way we stopped at a little town called Greytown for lunch, and did a cruise through Wellington before we had to get to the airport to return the car and hop on the plane. It was the first flight I have taken with mom and dad SINCE we visited Lauren in France 7 years ago. How did that happen?? Crazy. We had a painless 35 minute flight (world's shortest flight) to Christchurch, arriving just in time for sunset. I spent the night in my room on campus and mom and dad found a really neat bed and breakfast. The next morning was our morning to pick up the camper van and get BACK on the road! But... that's another island so I'll leave that for another post :)

Overdue update

Ok, how has it almost been a month since my last update??? I know - just got back from a 2 week road trip around the country with my PARENTS who made the trek down here to see me / see NZ over my 'easter' break from school!! I have so many photos that both my memory cards are full and I have had to be more selective with my subjects... but now that I am back in Christchurch I can upload them and start fresh. Since my last post, I finished off 'Term 1' of the semester with a few tests and 'practicals', and in the wee hours of the morning of 31 March, I made my way up to Auckland to meet with mom and dad who were on their way from Calgary. We did a whirlwind tour of the country (ish) and I am impressed with how much we saw. Every day seemed as if we were in a different country. One day, rainforest, next day, giant mountains and glacial lakes, the next day, rolling green hills and endless amounts of livestock. We did indeed see parts of both islands so I'm going break it down into North and South Island times :) Hopefully it won't be such a marathon post then! Mom and dad left yesterday at about 230pm Christchurch time, and have just arrived back at home. Hope the trip was painless, guys :)

Photos: Mueller hut!

Good Morning Lake Tekapo!

Lunch at Sealy Tarns

First part of the trail - stairs

Thought this rock looked like a cougar.... or bear.... or something

Top of Mt Oliver

Up!

At the top before going around the other side to the hut

Climbing up Mt Oliver

Angry skies in the morning!

Hut from a distance

Mt Cook sunset

Climbing down from Mt Oliver

Avalanche! Looks tiny but its really not...