So that question was painted on the back of a campervan I saw and it made me laugh. Anyway, wow, my time in New Zealand is nearing an end. Tomorrow I fly to Bali. This month has flown by! Before I start with the recap (and I will try and be succinct- I've done so much), a couple of random things from my head... Firstly I don't think I've talked much about the people I've met on the trip. They are awesome! And I keep running into people I'd met previously in the trip which is super fun. Yesterday the world got even smaller when I ran into an Irish girl I had shared a hostel room with in China near the Tibetan border last April. I'm going to her and her boyfriend's place tonight for dinner. Good times. Some more random tidbits about New Zealand. It was the first country in the world to give women the right to vote in 1893. Pretty cool. Also, since I'm so far South, the days are long. Down in Dunedin right now it is light out until after 10 PM. I think I had a few more, but I am drawing a blank so on with the recap.
We were able to get out of Franz Joseph the day after the flooding. So then I went to Wanaka which I loved! It is this terrific alpine village on a huge blue lake with snow capped mountains in the background. I went to Mount Aspiring National Park and did a day hike to a glacier overlook with loads of waterfalls and more snowy peaks. Quite a nice place to have a sandwich. After 2 nights in Wanaka I headed to Queenstown. That was reunion central as I randomly ran into 6 or so people I had met at varying other times on the trip. After a quick night there I headed to Te Anau for a day trek on the Kepler Track. It was grey and drizzly so the views were not so great. The following day I did a day trip to the fabled Milford Sound. I was the only person going from Te Anau so I had a private guided tour of the road to Milford with a conservationist. He knew all about the local animals and plants and we did quite a few short walks and drank directly from an alpine stream on the way back. It was the tastiest water I've had- maybe ever. I did a boat cruise on the sound seeing waterfalls and peaks including one of the Mitre which is one of the highest peaks on earth to come directly from the water. We also saw a bunch of sea lions. The following day I headed back to Queenstown and then to Arrowtown, an old gold mining town, to wander about. Back on the Magic bus the next day I went to Dunedin where I stayed at a really cool hostel that used to be a bishop's residence. It is now called Hogwartz and since it was stormy out I watched a Harry Potter movie to be in the spirit of the place. Met up with a friend from the bus that night and went out for a bit and the next morning we were off to Lake Tekapo. Lake Tekapo is a glacial lake that is a super clear color of blue due to the glacial residue once it moved on. Mount Cook, the largest peak in New Zealand, was spotted at Lake Pukaki on the way in. The night skies in Tekapo are famed for being great for star gazing so a group of us braved the cold to check them out. The next day I was meant to hike in Mount Cook National Park, but another storm foiled the plans. So I spent the day playing games and watching movies with some of the other Magic bus peeps.
Christchurch was the next and my last stop on the Magic bus. I didn't stick around though, I caught another bus up to Kaikoura which is known for its dolphin and whale population. It is a cute little seaside town- very chill and relaxing. I ran into some American guys I'd caught a ride with to the trailhead near Te Anau and had dinner with them (local seafood- yum!). The next day we did a dolphin swim. Seriously, I think it is one of the coolest things I have ever done (y'all know how I love dolphins). They take you out in a boat to a pod with hundreds of dolphins and you are in a wetsuit and have snorkel gear and when they get you to right where the pod is going, you slide off the boat and join the pod. The dolphins are totally wild so you swim and try to act like a dolphin and basically look and sound like a total moron so that they will be interested and play with you. When they start to swim off, we get back on the boat and follow and then repeat about 5 times. I don't think I can describe what it is like to be swimming and looking into deep, cold, murky water seeing nothing and then, out of nowhere, there are 5 dolphins about a foot from your face swimming in circles through the water. I'm so glad I did it! We also saw a sperm whale on the way in and some albatross as well. I headed back to Christchurch which is where I am now. Christchurch is the biggest city on the South Island and I quite like it. It was created to be an English Christian settlement and originally men needed a letter of recommendation from their church to be allowed to move here. Luckily, things have changed.
Um, I guess that is it. Time to leave Western civilization behind. I'm looking forward to it, but of course there is so much more I would like to do here. Maybe I'll come back. We'll see. Oh and my fave wines I've tried are the 2007 Forrest Sauvignon Blanc (Marlbourough) and the Rockburn Pinot Noir (Otago). Beer wise, I like Monteith's Original and Speights.
Photos are uploaded. I'm captioning now. Here is the link:
1 comment:
Hi there, I reckon nakedbus is a much better option than magic. They're prices start at a low $1 which is what I like about them, and even if you don't get that fare, you still get a good deal.
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