My roommate, Elisabet, and I ventured out of Gold Coast for an excursion to the land of Lord of the Rings, New Zealand. We decided to stay on the south island, as that is a little less populated, and housed 2 very exciting things: a Cadbury Factory,and Bungy Jumping.
We landed late in Christchurch, and took a shuttle to stay at our first exciting locale: Jailhouse Hostel. The entire hostel is built into an old prison, and is rumoured to be haunted. If there were any ghosts, I missed them, as I passed out quickly after our arrival, I was pretty tired.
Early the next morning we were off to pick up our camper van, our hotel and transportation for the trip. We affectionately named her "Dolly," taking into consideration the copious amounts of sheep we would see on our travels. We spent the first day stocking Dolly with groceries, and treated ourselves to a great brunch at an "American Style" breakfast place. My pancakes were amazing, and Elisabet's breakfast burrito was a sight to behold. Because Christchurch has been hit by so many earthquakes, driving through it was a tedious task, and a lot of the city itself has been closed down. We checked into our campground for the evening and had a quiet night, settling into the camper, and learning how everything inside of it works.
We decided next to drive to Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park. My mentor, who is from New Zealand, told me this is a must see, so we added it to our itinerary. The problem, however, was that through the pouring rain, there wasn't much we could see. What we did see was plenty of cows, sheep, and a pig farm, and an inkling of great scenery, beyond the fog we were surrounded by. There is a lake similar to lake Louise that we stopped at, Lake Tekapo, although the rain was falling so hard, it was difficult to appreciate its beauty. On the road there were 3 cars including us, and the 2 that were in front of us ended up getting into an accident when one car missed its turn and decided to slam on its brakes, on a highway, getting rear-ended by the camper van behind it. Due to some quick thinking, and excellent evasive driving skills, Elisabet quickly swerved the cars, narrowly avoiding a 3 car pile up. It was then we knew we had made the right decision purchasing the extra insurance. Insurance is NOT compulsory in New Zealand, and had we got in an accident, we would've had to pay it all. Not good.
When we reached Aoraki, it was clear that the New Zealanders can't handle a little rain; the entire town was deserted! We found a self serve gas pump that were were in dire need of, only to discover it did not take any of our cards. We had to climb the slushy hill up to the hotel that ran the gas pump to finally get a bit of gas in our car. We had originally planned to camp at Mount Cook, and look around a little, as it was only 1pm when we arrived, however, due to the sleet that was now falling, there was little to see. We decided to soldier on, and after eating lunch in a grocery store parking lot, like the classy ladies we are, we drove to Omarama for the night, and both marveled at how much the snow made us feel like we were at home.
After a freezing cold shower in the campground bathrooms, we packed up and headed to Oamaru. We were first delayed by mass of sheep crossing the road, and then a quick stop on the highway to do an homage to Lord of the Rings ("You Shall Not Pass!"). We spent the afternoon touring the Victorian Prescient of Oamaru, and then bought tickets to see the Blue Penguin Colony return from sea at dusk. The Penguins have light sensitive eyes, so they spend most of their day underwater, and come back to land in the evenings, when they can see clearly. These adorable little creatures only get to be about 1.5kg maximum, and their waddle was so cute. Because this was a wildlife sanctuary, and the animals are light sensitive, I was unable to take pictures, but seeing those little penguins fight the tide, climb up the rocks, and get into the burrows for a long nights rest was really adorable, and something I am so glad I got to do.
We woke up bright and early, and drove 1 and a half hours to Dunedin, arriving right on time for our 9:00am tour of the Cadbury Chocolate factory. We got plenty of free chocolate, Elisabet especially, since the guide had never met anyone from Iceland before. We saw how a variety of different chocolates were made, and 1 ton of chocolate being poured through a waterfall. I was terrified during the waterfall, because, like an idiot, I decided to wear a white sweater that day. I, thankfully, did not end up covered in liquid chocolate. Relief!
After the tour, Elisabet and I drove to see New Zealand's only castle, Larnach Castle. William Larnach made it for his wife, after they settled in New Zealand, and after some very tumultuous family drama, he ended up killing himself. The Castle is now owned by another family, who restored it to its previous glory. It was breathtaking, with unbelievable detail work, especially in the ceilings. The tour had a great, 360 degree view of the cliff face and surrounding Ocean. We then did some walking down to Pilot beach, to see some more wild penguins and seals, then headed into the center of town, known as the Octagon, which is the hub of Dunedin.
Our Sunday itinerary had us heading to Invercargill, near the bottom of the south island. We did have a little car trouble, hit a patch of ice and slipped into the ditch, but some pushing from myself, and 2 helpful guys who stopped, had us out in no time. I did end up a little muddy from the knee down. Upon arriving, we found the majority of shops closed, and the town a little sleepy. We did find a Starbucks, the only open cafe around, and after enjoying some warm drinks found out this was the southern-most Starbucks in the world. Kind of neat! I found out afterwards that it is assumed the northern-most Starbucks is in Alaska. After that we checked into a quiet little campground and had a lazy night, watching hilarious episodes of New Zealand Cops.
This was it, we had made it to "B Day." Being afraid of heights, I think Elisabet was dreading it a bit more than I was. We packed up,and drove from Invercargill straight to the Kawarau Bridge, outside of Queenstown, to prepare to jump 43 meters from the first professional bungy jump in the world. It was excellent, and the free fall felt like flying. The scenery was idyllic, and the snow just added to the excitement. Even better, the guy operating the boat that picks you up at the bottom was from Edmonton. As I hung there upside down, him and I had a nice chat about where we lived in the city, and how he used to work at the West Ed Bungy. Queenstown is very similar to Banff, and the little ski town was busy, as all the recent snow had brought the hills to prime condition.
The next day, following our Bungy adventure, Elisabet and I had planned a Canyon swing from a ledge that overlooks the entire city. We talked to the main office at the bottom of the hill and they told us we were good to go. Upon arriving at the top, however, we found out the Ledge was closed, due to too much snow (what's that?). We found out a lot of local attractions were closed because of the snow, including the ski hills, which blew my mind. The main office apologized for the blunder, and after a refund, the girl pointed us in the direction of Patagonia, an amazing hot chocolate place that has cups of real chocolate, and the spectacular lava cake you see in the picture. After eating all the desert, I realized I was hungry for lunch (whoops!), so we went to Les Alps where I had the bowl of French Onion Soup I had been craving since we entered the chillier temperatures of New Zealand.
After entering a food coma for a few hours, I emerged, and Elisabet and I decided to hit up the town for the evening. We were walking to a bar when we were offered spots on a pub crawl, and figured this would be the best way to see the town, as it pub crawl was run by locals. We ended up at 6 different bars, danced a lot, and overall had a lot of fun!
The next day we relaxed, recovered from the night before, and prepared to wake up early the next morning, as we had to begin making our journey home.
The trip home was massive. We were up at 6:00 am, to clean up the camper, pack up the last of our things, and hit the road. We drove 5 and a half hours, with a few stops, from Queenstown back to Christchurch, and arrived at the rental return station at 1:00 pm. Our flight was set to leave at 3:20 pm, and we got to the airport around 1:30, to discover it had been delayed until 3:50, and the check in wasn't open until 1:50. We sat around, and went back to the line at 1:50 to discover a load of people. The line was around 50 minutes long, and when we got to the front, we discovered the flight had been delayed AGAIN, and wouldn't be leaving until 4:20 pm. We were already exhausted at this point, from our morning of driving, and were not impressed with the news. When we finally got on the plane, we figured we could relax a little. Not likely! We sat in front of 2 of the most out of control children I have ever seen on a plane, and I've been on vacations with Jeff and James ;). I swear, I think my tubes tied themselves while sitting there. They argued for the entire 5 hour flight, and their dad did little to stop this, not even separating the two by sitting in the middle. I usually love kids, and have been on a plane with my sister and newborn niece, who flew like a champ. This was an unfortunate situation.
Once we finally got through customs, it was around 8:00 pm, Gold Coast Time (which is 10:00 pm, New Zealand time.) After 1 and a half hours on the train, and a 10 minute drive in our friend Alana's car, courtesy of Joe (thanks again!), we were finally home.
I've been back for a few days now, and am so glad I got to see everything I did. The drive was beautiful, with great scenery and views Elisabet and I got along great regardless of being in cramped quarters for 10 days. I'll miss Dolly, and the comfort of her heater blowing on my feet all night long, but I am exhausted from the busy days we had on the trip, and excited for some deserved sleep in my own bed. Below is a map outlining our driving routes.
So, first day of classes was today. I woke up on time, got to class a few minutes early to find out that class is cancelled. What kind of university am I going to? Oh well, will try again tonight with my 6:00pm class. Instead, I went to bu y my textbooks. Everyone was super helpful, and the bookstore ladies did all the leg work for me, and all I had to do was pay.
So, I am 2 weeks into my 5 week break, and have been pretty busy. Last Saturday, Elisabet and I went whale watching. It was an early morning for us, and we piled onto the boat, excited to see some of the humpback whales that migrate from Antarctica to have their babies. Apparently they cannot have babies in the cold Antarctica waters as the calves do not have the protective coating of blubber and would freeze instantly. Talk about a shock to the system! Elisabet and I picked someseats on the right side of the boat, and had a feeling we were in prime whale viewing
spots. Boy were we wrong! As we pulled away from the docks, the captain announced that while we werefree to move around the boat, they would ensure the boat would be constantly turning, to allow everyone to see the whales from every seat. This turned out to be a lie! Every time we would see a whale on our side of the boat, they would turn it so the people on the left could see. Eventually, most of the people on the boat migrated to sit on the left side to see the whales as wecouldn't from our side. We, however, stupidly stayed in our seats, assuming the boat would be eventually turned. The captain came out to tell us finally that they "weren't going to turn the boat for just 2 people." We had to make our way through the throng of people on the front of the ship, but did finally get some prime spots. We got to see some whales breaching, and a few great tail shots.
Landsbourough and then drove to Mount Ngungun. The hike was very scenic and entertaining, and at some points a little treacherous. It was all worth it when we go to the top, and saw the mountains much closer, and the rolling valley of Maleny. For our last day, we drove to the Eumundi markets, did some shopping, and had lunch with a few Maleny locals. We had a leisurely drive home, stopping frequently, and finally visiting the local IKEA. I can't wait to go back, to visit the Australian Zoo, and see what else the great little town has to offer.