It has been a while (not counting the dolphin tale) and I have neglected my New Zealand stories. I wanted to do this in smaller increments but at this rate, it would never get done.
So hunker down for a long update from the land of kiwis, sheep, and of course, the All Blacks.
Kia Ora!
We arrived in New Zealand at Christchurch and had booked our hostel so late, that all was left was a 30 year-old (perhaps older?) caravan in the parking lot of the property, a good 1.5-hour walk from town. We fit in so well, that by the end, we considered ourselves honorary trailer trash.
It was...cozy...
Christchurch was a bit eerie and had a quiet, sad feeling to it. The effects of the 2011 earthquake were still very much felt, especially since the one year anniversary was just around the corner.
The Cathedral
Most of the downtown shops had been relocated temporarily to another part of town, and set in containers. Cool, hip, urban art looking containers. I wonder if they were not better off there as they created a very hyggelig little area.
The Botanic Garden was pretty too.
After we had trailer trashed outrselves out, we made our way south to Dunedin. It was coolish. And rainy most of the time. The highlight was "The steepest street in the world" So we walked up it. It was pretty freaking steep.
After Dunedin, we made our way to Te Anau, where we had a good little rest for a few days. It is a cute small mountain town on a lake where we rode bikes into town. We took a walk from our hostel down through the woods, to the lake. The only challenge was that the path that finally led us down to the lake's edge was not really a path at all. If we had machetes, we could have made a path but really, there was no path. So Michael went forward to see if we would pick up something that even resembled a path or if we were doomed to die in the New Zealand bush by sinking into the wet mud. (No, no really scary animals here to threaten our lives, like in Australia, home of the top 10 most dangerous animals in the world, mostly snakes...).
Me looking a wee bit worried (but trying to mask it with a smile) that I had just lost Michael to the New Zealand bush
I heard a distant "It's ok!" from somewhere in some direction and started toward the voice I hoped belonged to my boyfriend. It did, and after getting both my hiking boots stuck in the mud, I joined him at the water's edge. Beautiful views but I'm pretty sure no one had ever stepped there before. That was until we made our way back up the non-existent path, where we picked up a properly overgrown trail strewn with bones. I tried to think back to my various anatomy lessons in the past to decipher if they were human or just probably sheep. We weren't sure so we took pictures just in case we had to be called witness to tampering with a crime scene. We're pretty sure they weren't human...We think....
Size comparison to Michael's thumb
Vertebrae
Yes, this is the kind of stuff I take pictures of
While in Te Anau, I took a a day tour to the Glowworm caves. Really cool.
This was the coolest thing ever. It looked like tiny blue/green LED lights in the ceiling of the cave.We had to be totally quiet in order not to upset the worms, otherwise, they would shut themselves down.
Sticky snare lines that the larvae use to catch prey
On one of our last days in Te Anau, we took a cruise of the Milford Sound. It was the one nice day in Te Anau. We felt truly blessed by the weather gods by this point.
On our way back, we stopped at Monkey Creek, home of the most pure water in the world (or so they say) 99.999 % pure. We tried it. It tasted like rock.
After our nature experiences in Ta Anau, it was time to move on to Queenstown, the home of the daredevil.
Queenstown is the town in New Zealand where you can do any and all the possible extreme sporting activities you want. You can go skydiving, bungy jumping, canyoning, river surfing, jet-boating water-skiing...They apparently do not think that is enough so they have added "heli-mountain bike riding. " Sounds like you're on your bike on the side of a helicopter but really, they just fly you and your bike (you're inside but your bike is on the outside) to the trail head at the top of the mountain. Then they drop you at the top of a mountain and let you ride down. So basically, it's a really cool but expensive chair lift.
I did go jet boating where you go down the river really fast, and then spin you around in a 180, a lot.
We also went on a lovely biking wine tour. This time, we tried almost 20 different wines. Yum.
We also stopped at a cheesery and bought 2 different kinds of cheese to go with our wine, enjoyed at the lakeside. Ah bliss!
Some random shots of Queenstown, my favorite place so far in New Zealand.
Jetboating...
I went water-skiing for the first time in..ahem...22 years. Yes, it was a bit scary and very exhilarating. I even crossed the wake and got up on one ski on my first go! Woo hoo!
From Queenstown, I went back to Australia, to Byron Bay, where I participated in the Groove Retreat for a week. I won't to get too in to it here but I will say it opened my eyes to a lot of things about myself and big changes are on the way. I frikken loved it!
Grooving on the beach. Bloody awesome!
Our last night, getting ready to hit the dance floor.
After a week in Australia, I joined Michael again in New Zealand, this time on the North Island.
Flying into Wellington
A colossal squid at the Wellington Museum. I think it looked like the dead alien in Independence Day
Cicada
This bird is called a Kaka. No kidding.
Takahe. Thought to be extinct from 1898 to 1948 when it was "rediscovered."
Not sure what this is but it reminds me of the Partridge Family. So maybe it's a partridge...
Tuatara, New Zealands lizard
From Wellington, we went north and stopped one night in Rotorua, a Maori-heavy area. Of course, we went to a Maori village to get a sense of the culture. It was a bit like a renaissance fair, minus the turkey legs. But they did have amazing food.
Random cactus in macro
Doggie-shaped tourist information center.
Feck! Gurls! Tea!
Tutukaka. The cousin of Titicaca?
From Auckland, we made our way up to Paihia in the Bay of Islands for one night where I was fortunate enough to have an experience that would add to the top 5 experiences of the trip; swimming with dolphins. For that story, go to the post under this one.
Final shots of Auckland.
Our hostel room in Auckland, just to give you a sense of it. There were four beds in this room.
At the airport. Classy.
This is a shot of the safety video that Air New Zealand graces its customers with. Why no one has ever documented this, that I have seen, is beyond me. I am mesmerized by it every time. In case you can't recognize him, that's Richard Simmons. The All Blacks are in there as well. It's so ridiculously entertaining, you can't help but watch.
