New Zealand Road Trip!!!

Last week was our long-awaited mid-session break trip to New Zealand. Amy, Andy, and I flew out of the Sydney airport Friday evening and landed in Wellington late that night. Andy has a friend, Sophie, who goes to uni in Wellington who let us stay with her Friday and Saturday night. Wellington the the capital of New Zealand and sits right on the coast at the very bottom of the North Island. The city itself is so nice. We really enjoyed our time there, mostly just walking around and seeing as much of it as we could. It was small enough that we were able to see almost all of it. We went to two museums, the Te Papa Museum of New Zealand and the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. On Friday when we went to Te Papa, it was Argentina Day and there was live music and tango demonstrations. I was really excited about that part given how much I love ballroom dancing. Of course, other than the tango dancing, the museum itself was great. We walked around and saw all kinds of wildlife from ring-tailed possums to sharks to a preserved giant squid. We also learned a bit about the Maori creation story, earthquakes, and prehistoric animals. After the museum, we just walked around the harbor, stopping to listen to some of the street musicians or to go into a shop that looked interesting. Since there were several World Cup Rugby games in Wellington, there were a lot of tourists and the city was really busy. When we went to dinner at an Irish Pub that night, it was packed. After eating, we watched the New Zealand vs. France game with who knows how many other people. We were all so tired from not sleeping the night before, but it was such a fun atmosphere to be a part of, especially when New Zealand won, that we had no problem staying awake.

Sunday morning I made my way to St. Mary of the Angels for church. It was a really beautiful church, and I always love going to mass in a different country. After I got back from church, Amy, Andy and I were greeted by a cold, rainy day. We opted to check out the Museum of Wellington City and Sea. It was such a cool museum. It had three levels with interactive displays about the culture of Wellington, Maritime history, and films about Maori legends and the 1968 Wahine ferry disaster. After spending a few hours in the museum, it was still raining so we decided to catch a movie. That night Sophie came out with us for dinner before we went to the stadium for the Argentina vs. Scotland game. The stadium was really nice, but I was quite surprised to realize how small it was. It was nowhere near full, and the stadium holds 30,000 at capacity. Compare this with Clemson's Death Valley stadium which holds 80,000, and you start to understand how obsessed Americans are with sports. However, I can safely say that I have never, ever seen so many kilts. It was great to be a part of the World Cup experience, but it was so cold and rainy that I soon abandoned my seat for the marginally warmer concession area where I was more than happy to watch the rest of the game on TV out of the rain.

Because the rugby match ended late and we had to check in for our ferry at 5:20 am, we decided that we would just stay up all night and save the money on a hostel. I don't think we had really taken into account just how cold it was going to be. Thankfully, we found a McDonald's where we warmed up with coffee and hot chocolate. Finally, they closed around two and kicked us out, so we made our way to the ferry station. Soon after we sat down on a bench outside the ferry terminal, a night manager walked by and asked us what we were doing. When we told him, he invited us onto the ship for a cup of coffee. His name was Les, and he told us all about life at sea as we savored our hot drinks. He works 12 hour shifts, one week on, one week off, and the ship has everything you could need from a catered kitchen to a living room to a gym. He even gave us a tour of the ship, including the bridge, where the ship is commanded. I half expected to see an old school wooden ship's wheel, but everything was so high-tech and modern. It looked like a grown-up video game.

After our behind-the-scenes tour, it was time to board our ferry. We slept for most of it, but what I was awake for was stunning. Everything was so green and vivid. Between the mountains, trees, water, and birds, the ferry ride itself should be a destination. When we arrived in Picton, we picked up our car and hit the road! We stopped at so many lookout points and cute little towns. New Zealand is definitely worth a visit even if all you do is drive around. We drove all day, visiting the beautiful town of Nelson, and finally stopped at a backpackers motel in Harihari. It was a cozy place, and we ate dinner at the adjoining pub before turning in for an early bedtime.

Tuesday morning we woke up early and drove to Franz Josef Glacier. We wandered around town, popping into cute shops to buy souvenirs and postcards and found a nice cafe to enjoy a hot cup of tea and write a few of the postcards. Finally it was time for our glacier walk, and we were so excited! How often do you get to walk on a glacier! So we bundled up in boots, waterproof pants and coat, hat and gloves. I felt like the Michelin man, and we were all sweating before we even got out of the door. A bus took our group to the start of the trail where we had to hike about 20 minutes through the rainforest to get to the foot of the actual glacier. Franz Josef is actually one of only three glaciers to be surrounded by rainforest. We also learned that a glacier is not defined by any particular size, but only by the fact that its snow and ice accumulation in winter must exceed what melts away in the summer. Once we had gone as far as we could without crampons, we strapped on the spikes to our boots and stepped onto the ice. We hiked all over the glacier, between crevices, through tunnels, and into caves. In lots of places, the ice was even blue because of the intense pressure exerted by the glacier on itself. We even saw an alpine parrot. It was so strange to see a parrot on ice like that. It was an incredible experience!

After the glacier walk, we received a free pass to the Glacier Hot Pools. It was such a nice way to warm up! There were three pools, 36, 38, and 40 degrees Celsius. It was a great way to end the glacier experience, and after we forced ourselves out of the pools, we headed back to the car for our overnight trip to Milford Sound. We switched drivers every three or four hours so the drive wasn't bad at all. We arrived about six am and snoozed for a few hours before we went to book a cruise. My friends had told me to make sure I went to Milford Sound, no matter what else I had to cut out of the trip. It didn't take long into the cruise to understand why! The mountains jutted out of the dark water up into the sky, and waterfalls wound their way through the trees and moss that covered the mountainside. Clouds hovered below the peaks of the mountains, creating the illusion that they went up and up endlessly. On the rocks along the coast were sea lions and tiny yellow-eyed penguins. Because of the way glaciers carved out the Sound, the boat was able to pull up right beside the rocks and the mountains seemed to be only an arms length away. It was absolutely the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. It is truly incredible how stunning the scenery was.

We were so sad when the cruise was over, but the scenic drive to our next destination, Lake Tekapo, soon distracted us. Mountains provided the backdrop for rolling green hills covered with sheep, cows, and horses. The lambs were my favorite. They were just so cute and fluffy! We drove through Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world, but didn't have time to stop there and do anything. We finally stopped in a quaint little town called Arrowtown to walk around and get some dinner. We didn't want to leave, but it was getting dark and we needed to get as far as we could before we stopped for the night. We made it to Omarama before we found another backpacker's motel to stay in. We were surprisingly energetic and chatty, but finally forced ourselves into bed so we could get up early.

The next morning just before arriving at Lake Tekapo, we took a wrong turn and came across a breathtaking lake called Lake Pukaki. The water was a beautiful aqua blue and snow-capped mountains stood behind it. Trees and brush surrounded it and we climbed up on a huge rock to get a better view. We took so many pictures, trying somehow to capture the entirety of the view before us. Back in the car, we decided to bypass stopping at Lake Tekapo, confident that it couldn't surpass our lake that we'd found. We stopped instead in the town of Tekapo for lunch, coffee, and some souvenir shopping. Back on the road again, we made our way towards Christchurch, our last stop. Arriving in Christchurch, we spent some time walking around. The city itself is still absolutely wrecked from the two major earthquakes in September and February. It is always sobering to realize how fragile everything is. Some buildings were completely sunken in, some had faces falling off, and most of town was still blocked off. Since there wasn't much to see, we took our car back to the rental place. Amy has extended family in Christchurch who were generous enough to let us stay with them that night. After picking us up, we had dinner and visited. Keith and Marilyn were so nice, and it was great to have a home-cooked meal. They told us all about their travels and what it was like being here during the earthquake. All too quickly, it was time for bed, as we had a four am airport pick-up the next morning.

The shuttle picked us up right on time, but all of us were so sad to be leaving New Zealand. It had been an incredible trip and I for one was officially in love with New Zealand. We had covered 1,244 miles, driven for 25 hours, seen countless breathtaking views, and experienced far too many once-in-a-lifetime things than one person should be allowed. And all in only four days! I only hope that one day I'll get to go back!