WARNING:
This blog is Rated R for Adult Content. Reader discretion is advised.
We departed Franz
Josef on the morning of the 16th.
It was another day full of beautiful scenes that made me think about how
I’d love to enjoy a morning coffee taking them in on a regular basis. Our first stop was at Lake Matheson. We had an hour and a half hike that we were
able to catch an unbeatable mirror image view of Mt Cook and the Southern Alps
on the lake. Our other stops included
Peak Viewpoint where we were able to see Fox Glacier, Bruce’s Bay where we were
able to take in the coast with hopes of seeing dolphins (but we didn’t),
Knights Point which was of more gorgeous coastline views, Pleasant Flat where
we were able to see Mt Hooker (yes, Mt Hooker), Gates of Haast where we were
able to see views of the river by bridge, and lastly Lake Hawea Lookout where
we had views of Lake Wanaka. As Bods
(our Kiwi Experience Bus Driver) says, “Our drive to Wanaka was done Japanese
style: Stop and take photo!” (Imagine that sentence in Japanese-mocking accent
tone)
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| Lake Matheson |
When we
arrived in Wanaka and got settled, my mom and I went out to explore the city
with our first mission being to get another memory card for the camera. Yes, we already took over 1000 pictures in a
week, and that was just on one camera (the nicest one of course). Next we had heard you could maybe feed
dolphins in the bay that was close to our hostel. Unfortunately, once again, we were unsuccessful,
but it was awesome to see the views as the sun set over the city.
I had quite
a problem the morning I woke up in Wanaka.
NZ does not have screens on windows.
Our bathroom in our hostel was tiny, so in an effort to keep it cool my
mom had opened a window that was in our shower to let in some air. Well, this window had a ledge and when I got
in I set my shampoo and conditioner on the ledge. As soon as I let go of them my shampoo fell
over and right out the window. We were
on the second floor. So there I stood,
naked, ready to take a shower, with no shampoo.
Long story short, I had to get the man from the front desk to take me to
the bar which was two floors below our room to get my shampoo, but could not
find it. It had fallen onto a ledge that
I noticed while eating breakfast after we had already ventured down there. Luckily it all worked out and I got my
shampoo back. This is my life,
seriously.
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| The beautiful city of Wanaka |
We left for
Queenstown the next morning around 9. We
made one stop on our way and that was at the Kawarau Bridge, one of the bungy
jumping sites of AJ Hackett. We learned
about how bungy jumping started. A lot
of people on the bus had to pay for their jump from the Nevis Bungy, which is
134 meters high—the third highest in the world.
I have no intentions of doing this particular bungy, but I do hope to
make it back to Queenstown to do the smaller bungy off of the Kawarua Bridge. Everyone start praying for me so I have the
courage to do this within the next three months.
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| Sights from our drive to Wanaka: Lake Hawea |
Upon our
arrival in Queenstown, we went down to the waterfront and took a group
photo. It was tough saying good bye to
the friends I’ve made through the Kiwi Experience bus, but there are a few that
I know I’ll see again. Everyone stayed
at various hostels in Queenstown. Our
bus driver left us with an inspiring message about how life isn’t about fancy
cars and nice clothes; we are put on this Earth to live and enjoy it. I plan to carry this way of life with me
forever. I saw quite a few people that I
knew once we got to Queenstown including some fellow AustraLearn participants,
my tour guide that I had at the Waitomo Glow Worm Caves, two of my roommates,
and my friend from UWL, Natalie (who just completed an internship in NZ). Queenstown brought a very “at home” feeling
to me right away. My mom and I took the
Gondola to overlook the city. I also
decided to feel like a kid again and do the luge. It was fun riding a little cart down a
hill. I only went twice, but it was
worth it. That night we met my good
friends: Suzanne, Kayla, and Cameron at Fergberger to have a HUGE
cheeseburger. It was great introducing
my friends that I have made here in NZ to my mom. We chatted for about two hours while enjoying
our dinner.
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| Queenstown |
On April 18th
my mom and I were able to see Milford Sound; it is one of the most beautiful
places in the world according to National Geographic. We went on a cruise so we had to leave
Queenstown at 6:25 in the morning! While
waiting outside of our hostel to be picked up, I noticed someone waiting so I asked if he
was doing the Mitre Peak Cruise in Milford Sound. He was and after introducing ourselves we
learned that all three of us were from Wisconsin. It is crazy how small this world can feel at
times! Our coach arrived and we began the nearly 6 hour trip to Milford
Sound. It took 6 hours because we picked
up other people around Queenstown and Te Anau.
We also had a half hour break before we ventured towards Fiordland
National Park. We did a number of stops
along the way. We stopped at Eglinton
Valley Veiwpoint, Mirror Lakes, and The Chasm, all of which allowed us the
opportunity to stretch our legs and get some exceptional photos. We even went through a 3.81 meter long tunnel
through the mountain. Our cruise in
Milford Sound was absolutely beautiful.
We had a gorgeous day and a boat with about 30 other people on, compared
to maximum capacity of 75 so we were able to get lots of good photos (which is very important to me while traveling). We went all the way to the Tasman Sea and
like every other time we had the opportunity to see the dolphins, we did
not. The two hour cruise was worth the
10 hours of travel we had for a roundtrip back to Queenstown. We had a CHEAP AS dinner in the bar at our
hostel that night: pizza AND a beer for only $5. It was my cheapest meal ever so far in
NZ. We met with our friends from Kiwi
Experience and my friends from Wellington before heading to bed. It was quite a long day.
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| A view from Milford Sound |
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