Hello, world! I’m back from New Zealand!
BUT WE HAVE A PROBLEM.
If you have read anything I’ve written since the age of six, you’ll know that I love to write about anything and everything. I could probably write a novella about what I ate for breakfast. This shouldn’t be a problem…until I go to some of the most beautiful, interesting places in the world and can’t write about it for nearly two weeks.
Instead of writing a blogpost the length of a doctoral dissertation (of which I’d bet only my parents would read every word), I decided I’ll give the best summary I can…and what’s a good summary without some good lists? So, I’m going to give you a quick summary and then break this whole trip down into categories. I’ll give you my “Top 5” for each of these, and many will have a story and/or photo to accompany it, but hopefully this will shorten what would be possibly the longest blogpost on the internet.
New Zealand...The Shortest Summary
Honestly, this was one of the coolest trips I've taken. These were some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. This was incredible, spectacular, breathtaking, phenomenal, amazing, awe-inspiring, and super-cool, too.
Day 1: Flight to Queenstown.
Day 2: Wanaka (Roy's Peak hike)
Day 3: Fox Glacier (Franz Josef Glacier, Lake Matheson)
Day 4: Tekapo (Mount Cook, Mt. John Observatory)
Day 5: Catlins/Kaka Point (Oamaru, Dunedin, penguins, lighthouses)
Day 6-8: Te Anau (Glow Worm Caves, Milford Sound)
Day 9-11: Queenstown (Shopping, gondola, gardens)
Now that you have an idea of where all we went, here are some lists highlighting the best, worst, weirdest, most amazing parts of the trip.
TOP 5 UNEXPECTED SIGHTINGS:
• Arm of the Milky Way: During the night we spent in Tekapo, we went out near Mt. John Observatory. We didn't actually pay to go to the observatory since they wanted $100 for that. Instead we drove out right next to it and enjoyed the lack of ambient light in order to view the stars.
I have always loved stargazing, but this was by far the most incredible star watching experience that I can remember. Everything was so clear, stars shone brightly, I saw the International Space Station flyby, and, most spectacularly, the arm of the Milky Way was completely visible.
Since I do not have a DSLR camera yet, I couldn't get a photo of this, but I don't know that any photo would have done the experience justice anyway.
• Yellow-eyed penguins in the wild: When we planned our itinerary, I really hoped we would get the chance to see penguins. I had heard that they lived on the coast of the South Island, but there obviously was no guarantee we would see them. We originally stopped at a penguin colony in Oamaru, but the woman working there told us we would have better luck in the Catlins, where we planned to stay that evening. To our great luck, the rare yellow-eyed penguins arrived from their day at sea just as we pulled up to Roaring Bay in Kaka Point.
• Varied Landscapes: Probably the most shocking thing about New Zealand is its varied landscape. On our second travel day, we drove approximately 4 hours, and we drove by snowy mountains, grassy plains, rain forests, something like the outback, and a few beaches. I couldn't believe how quickly the landscape changed.
• Glaciers: I knew this one was coming, but getting to see glaciers was so cool. It was one of those experiences that makes you rethink your carbon footprint, though, since the glaciers are retreating so dramatically. (The first picture below is of Franz Josef Glacier, which used to cover the entire area shown in this photo and beyond.)
I also got to drink glacial snow melt from a stream on the way to Milford Sound, and it tasted so pure and sweet.
• Sheep: Not that seeing sheep was unexpected, but the number of sheep was insane. Sheep in New Zealand outnumber people. Currently, there are about 4.5 million people and 30 million sheep in the country, but in the South Island, there are fewer people and more sheep. If I hadn't seen them myself, I probably wool-d not have believed it! (Sorry, that was a lamb(e) joke. Oops, that was baaaad, too.)
TOP 5 BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPES:
• Top of Roy’s Peak
• Reflection Lakes
• Kaka Point
• Milford Sound
• Lake Matheson at sunset
TOP 5 UNFORTUNATE/SCARY/WEIRD SITUATIONS:
• Speeding ticket: On our way into Te Anau, we got pulled over by a police officer for speeding. Apparently in other countries, the speed limit is really the max speed you can drive. It's not like in the US where 70 mph really is 70-ish and you probably won't get pulled over until you're driving nearly 80.
Well, said cop had no sympathy for the dumb Americans, even though our rental company failed to give us the proper documentation about NZ driving regulations and told us "it's pretty much the same." (Yes, maybe we should've thought to check, but our driver was 19 and we honestly didn't realize it would be so different.)
When we told other people in town about the ticket, we found out that Te Anau has 4 officers, but the country has hidden speed cameras that can also ticket you. Let's hope that Elise only got one ticket.
• Animals "loved" our car: We almost hit a cow. A bird hit us (Yes, it hit us.). Elise liked to honk at sheep. I don't know what it was about our car and the animals, but somehow they just connected...literally.
• Elise tried to lose everything: On our way to the Catlins, we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders, a quiet little attraction that basically was just some cool looking rocks on a beach. They had a gift shop, though, so we obviously looked around. Sometime during that, Elise set her phone down, and she didn't realize it was gone until we were an hour past there. Luckily it was still there when we got back.
She also left her towel at Tekapo.
...And nearly dropped her phone off of the gondola overlook in Queenstown.
...And left her hat at our last hostel.
...And her sunglasses in the rental car when we turned it in.
Life is really, really hard for the driver sometimes.
• Gas station miscommunication: On more than one occasion, we struggled with gas stations in New Zealand. Sometimes you pay in advance, sometimes after. Sometimes they pump gas for you, sometimes you pump it yourself. Sometimes you pay inside, sometimes you pay at the pump.
At our first gas stop, we went inside to ask, and the cashier misunderstood us and told us, "Ya just pump!" I'm pretty sure she thought we were stupid.
• Antenna Problems: Our very last day in New Zealand, we thought we would be nice and take the rental car for a wash before we turned it back in. WELL, we were so tired and somehow the antenna got knocked off in the car wash...OOPS. But we paid for full coverage insurance so WE'RE GOOD.
That car gave us a lot of trouble, but it did the job.
TOP 5 ACTIVITIES:
• Milford Sound Cruise: We went through JUCY, a tourist company in New Zealand, and they drove us to Milford Sound from Te Anau. Our awesome driver Simon stopped at a bunch of cool photo op locations along the way, and once we boarded the boat, we saw so many cool things, from waterfalls and mountains to seal pups.
Unfortunately, the shuttle broke down, leaving us stranded in the Fiordlands for an hour before another bus came for us. JUCY gave us chocolate-banana muffins to apologize.
• Glow worm caves: Did you know glow worms are real? We took a tour inside the glow worm cave in Te Anau, and while I didn't get any photos (it disturbs the worms), I can tell you it looked so incredible. It was pitch black, but the ceiling of the cave glowed from the star-like light of the worms. Beautiful. And sort of gross, but mainly beautiful.
• Queenstown Gondola: I feel like this is pretty self-explanatory, but just for reference, this is where Elise dropped her phone. It landed on the tiny, eight inch ledge and thankfully didn't bounce off.
• Roy’s Peak Hike: Six hours. Twelve Miles. 4,265 feet in altitude difference. (For those of you who are from Little Rock, that's like climbing Pinnacle Mountain six times.) This hike nearly killed me. On more than one occasion I really thought I couldn't go on. This tested me. I was sore for the rest of the trip. And it was all worth it for that view.
• Mt. John Observatory: We may not have actually gone to the observatory, but coming that close and seeing those stars, constellations, satellites, and the Milky Way basically lets me say that we did.
TOP 5 SPONTANEOUS STOPS:
• Bruce Bay: This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. We stopped here because the view of the Tasman Sea was beautiful. The bay led up to a forest with snowy mountains behind us. Once we got out of the car, though, we saw a pile of rocks.
• Moeraki Boulders: Well, I don't know if this was the best stop since Elise left her phone here. But the boulders were neat nonetheless.
• Dunedin: We spent about 25 minutes in Dunedin. After rushing back to get Elise's phone from Moeraki, we were short on time, so we multi-tasked this town like no other. Jean went to get a few pictures of the architecture. I went to pick up food for lunch. Elise drove in a loop after dropping us off to pick us up again and keep going. The stop was short, but it was funny.
• Queenstown Gardens: I didn't know what all was in Queenstown, but when we came across these gardens while trying to find a parking spot for the evening, I knew I wanted to go. I love macro shots of flowers and birds, so this was a very relaxing part of the trip for me.
• Roadside photo stops: We stopped at lookout points, turned around for pictures and views, and took trails whose names I can't remember (or I never caught) constantly. That was one of the best things about my time in New Zealand. We allowed for extra time so that we could explore more. Every drive was an experience in and of itself. Some of the most spectacular views weren't planned.
Honestly, you don't have to go looking for beauty and adventure in New Zealand. It comes to you.
It's been an eventful couple of weeks, and after a day or two of recovery, I'm going to be back at it exploring Australia. What's life without a little (or a ton) of adventure?
There's a great big world out there, and I want to see it all.
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