Too much for just one shot - panorama time!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Kia Ora...or hello in Maori (New Zealand native). The last post was a quick and dirty run down of the bulk of our trip and we were traveling so I couldn't finish it in a nice way. Now, since we are back in Sydney for a few days before our final homecoming, I wanted to share the last few days of our beautiful, awesome, wonderful vacation.
July 8th- Today, we decided to drive to Lake Te Anau, which is supposedly very pretty. It took us five hours but in the mean time, we took plenty of time and just took in the scenery. I never knew how mountainous this country was and well, its just WOW. I just can't get over it. Most beautiful place in the world, for sure.
So, we got to the lake and it was quite cloudy and bitterly cold. We didn't think this would deter us...but when you get there and you are eating a PB&J with nothing too gorgeous happening, you start thinking the car is an awful warm place. So we drove around and found a hike around a lake called Lake Mistletoe. The sun tried to come out, but nothing doing. Oh well. We did get a few photos out of it.
But the best part of this day by far is when we got to experience the epitome of that which is New Zealand....WE SHEEP MUSTERED!!!!
We were driving and found all these sheep trying to cross the road...but we wanted to drive, so we mustered them and it was absolutely awesome
Sheep mustering
After our fun, we went to Queenstown for the night, bought a few souvenirs and then went to bed.
July 8th- Our last big day!!! We had to drive around six hours from Queenstown to Christchurch because we had our flight from there, but that didn't mean we wouldn't have any adventures.
On our way to Christchurch, we found a beautiful bridge and I was really mad at Paul so I told him that he should just go jump off it...and he did. It was quite embarrassing because Paul screamed like a dying gorilla on the way down. It was pretty funny. He survived though, so no need to be scared for him. He finished it and he's healthy and annoying again :).
We also stopped at Lake Tekapo and saw heaps of snow, which tickled Paul who has rarely seen snow.
Well, that was about it. That's it for our fabulous happy time in New Zealand and Australia. We will be leaving Sydney on Monday for the States and will be in on...well, Monday.
Thank you, for everyone who followed our blog. We hoped you enjoyed this crazy, fun filled adventure. I know we have. We are so sad to see this wonderful country and experience go, but hey, it's on to our future. I don't know what's behind that next bend in the road, but I sure do have good company with me :). Thank you for all the love and we will see you very soon.
Also, to my past students, I will see you very soon...
July 8th- Today, we decided to drive to Lake Te Anau, which is supposedly very pretty. It took us five hours but in the mean time, we took plenty of time and just took in the scenery. I never knew how mountainous this country was and well, its just WOW. I just can't get over it. Most beautiful place in the world, for sure.
So, we got to the lake and it was quite cloudy and bitterly cold. We didn't think this would deter us...but when you get there and you are eating a PB&J with nothing too gorgeous happening, you start thinking the car is an awful warm place. So we drove around and found a hike around a lake called Lake Mistletoe. The sun tried to come out, but nothing doing. Oh well. We did get a few photos out of it.
But the best part of this day by far is when we got to experience the epitome of that which is New Zealand....WE SHEEP MUSTERED!!!!
We were driving and found all these sheep trying to cross the road...but we wanted to drive, so we mustered them and it was absolutely awesome
Sheep mustering
After our fun, we went to Queenstown for the night, bought a few souvenirs and then went to bed.
July 8th- Our last big day!!! We had to drive around six hours from Queenstown to Christchurch because we had our flight from there, but that didn't mean we wouldn't have any adventures.
On our way to Christchurch, we found a beautiful bridge and I was really mad at Paul so I told him that he should just go jump off it...and he did. It was quite embarrassing because Paul screamed like a dying gorilla on the way down. It was pretty funny. He survived though, so no need to be scared for him. He finished it and he's healthy and annoying again :).
We also stopped at Lake Tekapo and saw heaps of snow, which tickled Paul who has rarely seen snow.
Well, that was about it. That's it for our fabulous happy time in New Zealand and Australia. We will be leaving Sydney on Monday for the States and will be in on...well, Monday.
Thank you, for everyone who followed our blog. We hoped you enjoyed this crazy, fun filled adventure. I know we have. We are so sad to see this wonderful country and experience go, but hey, it's on to our future. I don't know what's behind that next bend in the road, but I sure do have good company with me :). Thank you for all the love and we will see you very soon.
Also, to my past students, I will see you very soon...
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
It's been a while, but it's time for an update. July 1-8, Paul and I are romping through the land of Lord of the Rings, New Zealand! We are so excited about our little vacation before returning to the US. So, on to the post!
July 1- Arrived in Christchurch really late due to some terrible, terrible flight things from US and from Sydney. Paul had to wait for me in the airport, but then we drove to Arthur's Pass.
Night mountains
July 2- After a very long night, we had a fabulous time exploring Arthur's Pass, one of the greatest scenic routes in the country. It was completely gorgeous. One of the most amazing things about this country is that every place looks like an amazing. It's almost an overload!
Arthur's Pass
We also got to do a beautiful hike to the Devil's Punchbowl and met the infamous kea. Keas are cheeky little parrot birds who hang out at car parks to mess up cars. They are hilarious in that they are unfazed by anything...even if you try to make them get off your car door while it eats the rubber lining.
Devil's Punchbowl
Dangerous keas
Later, we went to Castle Hill, where they filmed the final battle scene for The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. We got to play around there for a while in the snow. Paul absolutely loved getting to see big snow. After a beautiful day, we went back to our accommodation.
Our reenactment of the Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe
July 3- Although New Zealand is infamous for having finicky weather, we have been quite fortunate with having sunny, clear skies. Save on this day. But, we were lucky because we essentially just traveled from Arthur's Pass to Franz Josef glacier. It's also incredible that this country is so remote and that you can be completely alone without actually having to try. It's amazing.
We did a couple of hikes and then got to Franz Josef glacier at around 4:30, in time to see the sunset. We then headed off for the "glacier hot pools". Pretty much, it was justa bunch of jacuzzis, but it all felt amazing.
July 4- Happy July 4th! We were a little sad to miss one of the major holidays back home, but also really excited because today, we got to climb a glacier! After doing a hike down near a lake, we picniked next to a crystal clear river. We were taking our time before the long hike before we realized...we're at the wrong glacier! We were supposed to go hiking on Fox glacier! It was 30 minutes away but our guides were really nice about the whole thing.
So, we did a heli-hike, which means that we took a helicopter to a good ways up the glacier, put some clampons and then walked all over the glacier. It seemed very odd for there to be a glacier in the middle of a temperate rainforest. But it has made a home there and Fox glacier moves about 1 meter a day, which is quite fast for such a mammoth thing. It was so beautiful and such a unique experience, we were quite excited about the whole thing.
Happy 4th of July! That's what our sign says...I am a wonderful artist.
After the heli-hike, we traveled to Wanaka.
July 5- We got to spend this day seeing Milford Sound. We took a scenic flight from Wanaka to Milford Sound with our trusty pilot Tom. It was gorgeous and I even got to fly the plane. You never get to see snow covered mountains and glaciers in an untouched landscape ever!
On the flight
Once in Milford Sound, we took a cruise and got to see the beautiful waterfalls. You can tell why Peter Jackson chose New Zealand to film his movies because it was just an impeccable landscape. We got to see dolphins and seals too!
We returned via plane again and saw the Sutherland Falls. Afterward, we went to Wanaka and went to A Puzzling World, which is a place just full of puzzles and mazes. We did the Great Maze, which was super fun but challenging as well.
July 6- Another fun day in Wanaka. We went skiing today! It was Paul's first time and I haven't been skiing in a very long time. We did a couple of lessons and enjoyed the bunny slope :). Also, Paul fell...twice. He's okay, I just like to mention it :). We like to learn things together so this was a lot fun for the both of us. Later we went to the hot tub for a relaxing moment after a long day of skiing.
We have so much more planned, but I felt like I needed to update with the things we have done. It's a beautiful, beautiful vacation and we are so lucky to be here!
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