Easter Break in New Zealand

April 12 12:40

I'm going to warn you right now, this is going to be a really long post due to the fact that it covers my entire spring/fall break to New Zealand, but hopefully reading it is well worth your time.

Today is Sunday, April 11 and my last day in the fabulous country of New Zealand. So much has happened this week, I hope I can remember it all to write it down now. First off, let me start out by saying how awesome New Zealand is. It really is so good as to get to the point that I do not want to go back to Australia at all. We’ve heard of Australians being really nice people and always willing to help out if they are needed. New Zealanders (Kiwi’s) put them to shame. In Australia, drivers downshift and speed up to try and hit you if you are crossing the street; while in New Zealand drivers will stop and let you across while you are standing on the sidewalk. Not to mention they are just friendly and talkative and do not get disappointed when they find out we are from America. Not to mention the country itself is absolutely gorgeous. Christchurch itself is brilliant, with its many gardens and flower beds and just overall beauty. And the rest of the country keeps up with first impressions...

But enough about that for now, let’s get started with the trip and what all happened while I was here for the week. As you already know, my flight was delayed on Friday the second of April and we were diverted to Auckland for several hours until the fog in Christchurch lifted and we were able to land. Saturday, I walked around Christchurch by myself and got a morning coffee at a coffee shop on the city mall. Realistically I should have gone to bed but it was about 8:00am and my first day in New Zealand so I was not going to waste it by sleeping. I then found myself at Cathedral Square amidst the Christchurch Cathedral, which is a stunning sight. Eventually, I found my way to the Christchurch Botanical Gardens which I spent hours going through. They were absolutely stunning and beautiful with trees and flowers and shrubs and bushes and anything else you could possibly imagine, including a cactus house. I then came back and took a nap from about 5:00 till 10:00, which probably wasn’t a good idea because I was now not tired enough to fall asleep when it was actually time for bed. So I got up and had some KFC for dinner, which I must say is the first time I have eaten fast food this whole trip. I then came back to Hotel So where I watched some movies that were on TV and waited until 5:00am when Casey was supposed to get here from Brisi. Speaking of Hotel So, this place is amazing. It has six floors, with two hallways on each floor. This makes the rooms relatively small but the smallness is made up for with how nice the rooms and hotel in general are. The rooms have mood lights that you can set from a control panel by the bed, a sleep and wake-up system designed to help you sleep more naturally, and a night-light under the beds with the purpose of getting you to sleep quicker and more deeply. Combined with free internet, sauna, and gym, Hotel So is by far one of the most paramount hotel experiences I’ve ever had. Not to mention that I got upgraded from a standard single room to a premium double, which meant a bigger room with a bigger bed. And the beds themselves are the most comfortable I’ve ever slept in my whole life. Now I can’t really remember what we did the next day before everyone else showed up, I know that Casey, Kevin, and I walked around the city some more until Justin, Arty, and Steve arrived.

On Monday, Steve and I got up around 9:00 and got all packed up and ready to go. At a little after 10:00, we hailed a cab and went to pick up the RV that we would be calling our home for the next week. At the RV station, we were helped by a young Kiwi girl who found it necessary to give us a hard time about returning the RV in good condition and how we we’re probably going to wreck it over a mountain and never be heard from again. After giving us the paperwork to do a walk-around of the RV with, Steve and I go back in to say everything looks ok when she tells us that we just wasted our time because we were being upgraded to a deluxe six-person RV instead of the one we had reserved. Steve and I were now thinking that this would be a great trip because not only were our hotel rooms upgraded, but now the RV was being upgraded as well. Steve and I then drove back to the hotel to get everyone’s bags and then we went and met up with everyone else. Driving the RV around Christchurch showed us how hard it would e to find suitable parking this trip, as the RV was so big and not easy to manoeuvre around the small New Zealand roads. Once we finally got everyone together, we hit the road and began our way out of Christchurch and into the open country. Along the way, we decided to stop at a grocery store and stock up on a few things to hold us over until the end of the week. After looking at a map, we settled on Kaikoura as a good stopping point for our first day. Along the road north, we saw a sign for a beach that was only 3km away so we decided to check it out. It turned out to be a pretty good idea because there were some awesome looking sand dunes and then these guys were sand-boarding. At least I think that’s what it is called but I’m not sure. They had these big kites that would catch the wind and then pull them along on a modified skateboard. We then continued on to Kaikoura, all the while following the ocean right up the coast on the eastern side of the country. When we arrived in Kaikoura, we found a parking spot and got dinner at a Thai restaurant in town. Dinner was very good, and during the meal we asked a local where a good place to camp for the night would be. Arty had the directions so we started driving north again to the spot the guy said to look for. Unfortunately it was dark so it was harder than we anticipated. We ended up driving forever and then turned up this gravel mountain road because there was a B&B up the hill supposedly. This road was sketchy as all get-up and very scary looking. Thinking we were all about to die, we quickly turned around and headed back down the mountain after we took a toilet break. We ended up finding the road that the guy told us about and turned onto it. Immediately we were wondering if we were in the right place because the lights from the RV showed us many tombstones and grave sites. Being wary, we drove down the road a bit more until we found a spot where there were some other RV’s pulled over to the side. In the morning when we woke up, we were greeted to one of the most spectacular sights I have ever witnessed: on the right side of the RV was the ocean, and on the left were some of the most beautiful mountains I have ever seen in my life. So, after going from one sketchy place to another, we ended up finding a spot that was probably one of the best places we could have found at that place.

Tuesday we travelled back into Kaikoura to see what all the small fishing town had to offer. We started walking along this road that led down to the beach, although instead of sand it was a rocky beach. It was really cool though because the water running up and over them all the time really smoothed them out and made them really round at the edges and flat on the top and bottom. We then drove up to the Kaikoura Peninsula where there is a lookout tower that you can climb. The views from up here were extraordinary. If you looked right down the middle of the peninsula, it looked just like Ohio: rolling hills with cows in pasture fields. However, look to the right and left and all you see is water and ocean...definitely not something we have in Amish country. After we had seen everything up there and taken a few group pictures, we headed to what we heard was a seal colony at the end of the peninsula. So we get there and start walking around these rocks that are at the base of these cliffs but still out of the ocean. We walked for a while until we came around this corner and there was this big hill in front of us. Being a bunch of 20 year-old guys we got the brilliant idea to climb up this very steep (almost vertical) cliff so see what is at the top of it. Being the first one up, I went straight at it, pulling myself up with grasses and whatever else I could grab onto. Upon reaching the top, we were treated to remarkable 360^o views in all directions and with no railing, we could walk right up to the edge of the cliff. A little further down was a small lighthouse and a park bench overlooking the water. We had to jump a fence to get to the bench so we weren’t sure if we were on private property or not but we went anyways...you only live once right? We ended up taking a group pic of all of us facing the ocean with the camera to our backs...it is a pretty epic picture. On the way back down, we finally were able to pick some seals out on the rocky landscape below us so we went over to investigate them. They were really cool to see out in the wild and up close – there were several times that we even walked right into them because they blended in so well with the rocks. We named them Winifred, Beatrice, Madison, and George. Winifred especially was very camera conscious, even posing on several different rocks in several different positions so we could get many different shots of him. On the way back to Christchurch we saw a cave that looked appealing so we pulled over to check it out. It was a cool cave, it actually went back kind of far and we had to crawl through it at one point on our hands and knees. When we got back to Christchurch, we all went into Hotel So once again to use the showers offered at the gym since we hadn’t showered since we left on Monday. We then got on the free computers they have in their lobby and checked up on fbook and email while we had the chance. Once Moe got here, we set out for Franz Joseph Glacier for a hike that we needed to be ready for at 9:00am the next morning. I got a chance at the wheel for a few hours starting at around 2:00am so that was kind of cool... I just wish we could have gone through this road in the daytime because it looked absolutely gorgeous but we didn’t really have a choice so it’s all good.

Wednesday we pulled into the gas station right as the RV started sputtering and ran out of fuel. We had brekkie at a local joint that was delicious: I had hotcakes, sausage, bacon, and eggs. It wasn’t as good as Boyd and Wurthman but it was decent... We then went back to the RV to finish getting everything ready and figured out before we went and checked in for the hike. Once we finally got on the bus to head up to the glacier, our ten minute journey was turned into a much longer one because they were working on the one lane bridge leading up the side of the mountain. Kiwi’s, for some reason, love their one lane bridges as they are all over the country no matter where you are driving. Some are just about as wide as the RV too so one wrong jerk in any direction and you’re going to get bumped around on a bridge that is most likely over some kind of ravine you don’t want to be messing around with. Oh and I almost forgot, on the way to Franz Joseph we stopped at this one bridge that had the most scenic view I have ever seen in my life: there was a river that was wide and blue as all get out, capped off by a huge mountain that was snow capped and just majestic. And the whole thing was taking place during the sunrise so the mountain was illuminated from the sun but we were still in shadow...all in all a very cool sight. Anyways, once the road crews finally got out of the way we continued on up the mountain towards the national park on which the glacier rests. When we got out, there was this immense rocky kind of river bed that completely floods during the really rainy season. Behind that, sitting in a crevice between two mountains, was the Franz Joseph Glacier. After walking a ways across this rock bed, we finally reached the base of the glacier. We started the hike by going up this hill of stones until we reached the starting point of the actual glacier hike. After attaching our crampons (spikes that just attach to the bottom of the boots to give you grip on the ice) to our boots, we set foot on the ice and began this new journey. It was a really cool experience. We saw many crevices and holes and peaks and whatnot and it was just really cool. We got to go through this little hole kind of thing on which everyone scraped themselves up pretty good. It was actually kind of hard to get out the other side because the ice was jagged and kind of dropped off so you couldn’t just slide out. We also saw like an actual cave that we could walk into and the whole walls and roof were all just the bluest ice you’ve ever seen in your life. We also went through this thing where you kind of walked into it and then we had to climb up the ice steps our guide (Jason) carved out for us to get out the top of it. Climbing up the sides of the crevices was also an experience. There were times when we were literally going straight up the ice to get out of a crevice that was just wide enough to put one foot in front of the other to begin with. When we finally got to the top, we were treated with magnificent views that were capped off by the clouds parting around the peak of the tallest mountain there so that there was this brightly illuminated mountain top visible through this hole in the clouds. The trip down was a lot shorter than the journey up, which suited me ok because by this time my toes were numb and had no feeling at all in them. Overall, the experience was a fun one, I just think that I would have rather done a half day just because I was cold, wet, and tired by the end of it and getting slightly repetitive while still going up. We then got dinner at the same place we had brekkie before hitting the road towards Queenstown. The plan was to stop along Lake Wanaka and spend the night and then get up in the morning and finishing the drive into Queenstown. That didn’t exactly happen as planned. The first place we stopped at was some kind of reservation that I guess people pay millions of dollars to stay at or something. The guy that woke us up was pretty angry, especially after he figured out he was standing right where we were going to the bathroom, and told us the cops had our plate numbers and that we should get out of there ASAP. So Steve got up and drove us further on down the road until we were actually really close to Queenstown when we stopped again to get some sleep. We were woken up again, this time by some guy who thought we had stayed the night there. We told him that we had only been there for like two hours because we had already been kicked out of one place and he just told us to leave and find somewhere else to go. So we ended up trying to find a campsite in Queenstown that we could actually stay at, a task that doesn’t seem too difficult but considering we didn’t have a map of the city it was a task in itself. We finally found one and hooked up to electricity for the first time which meant we could charge cameras, laptops, and phones for the first time since being in NZ. They also had shower facilities so we all got a much needed shower as well. We then went to the reception area where you can book all the activities the city has to offer. Some of the group immediately decided to go jet-boating but I held off on that. It was over $100 and the guy said you’re only on the water for 25 min so it didn’t seem worth it. When all the guys came back though they said it was awesome and were actually on the water for a lot more than 25 min but oh well. I spent the time walking around exploring what all Queenstown had to offer and ended up buying some souvenirs. We then checked in on booking bungy jumping, but were told everything was booked through until Saturday. This caused us to make some amendments to our travel plans because we were planning on going to Milford Sound Saturday and only spending Thursday and Friday in Queenstown. But we booked the Saturday bungy and decided to figure things out later. I can’t remember what we did for dinner that night, but we did end up deciding to stay in Queenstown the next day too, rather than driving to Milford Sound.

Friday we went golfing at the Queenstown Golf Club at Kelvin Heights. It was advertised as the most picturesque golf course in New Zealand, and the 7^th most scenic course in the world. Once we got out and hit the links it was pretty obvious why: surrounded by mountains and lakes as blue as the sky, we were given views that are normally only seen in Golf Digest or something similar to that. Our tee time was set to be at 10:00, but we kind of got lost along the way and got there a little late. This kind of got us in a pickle for the course because they were very busy that day and had lots of ‘real’ golfers out there doing what they do best. I, of course, had the worst round of my life and couldn’t hit the ball good to save my life. It was fun but it was a long day. I think it took us about eight hours total to finish the round, which is four longer than normal, and by the end some guys weren’t even playing every hole. That night we ate dinner at this Mexican place that was supposed to be really good. It took them forever to get our food out to us, but when it did come it was very good. Unfortunately it wasn’t like American Mexican restaurants: they didn’t give you free chips and salsa and sour cream, jalapeños, and guacamole were all $4 extra. I went to bed pretty early that night, like 9:00, and didn’t wake up until about 9:00 the next morning then so I was nice and refreshed. I forgot to mention that when I woke up this morning I could not find my wallet anywhere in the RV. I checked both my bags, my pants from the day before, the counter; pretty much everywhere and couldn’t find it. During the night, I had a dream that someone found it and threw it at me in my sleep, and when I did wake up I was ecstatic for about 30 seconds until I realized it was a dream and it didn’t really happen. However, when of the guys on the trip got up to get showered and dressed, he found my wallet in his bag. This is the second time he has taken my wallet on accident because mine and his do look similar but I was just happy to have found it and not have it sitting around Queenstown somewhere.

Saturday we got up and had to be checked out by 10:00am, so that was pretty much us waking up at 9:30, quickly getting unhooked, and driving down to the check-in area. We then parked there for a few hours while we cleaned up and grabbed another shower for the road. We then drove around the surrounding area some more before we had to be back in Queenstown to tackle the world’s second highest bungy jump. We drove to this one peak that ended up being a ski resort that wasn’t open and got some sweet pictures overlooking the valleys in between the mountains. We threw the Frisbee around for a little bit, and Kevin launched it off the side of the mountain to see how far he could throw it...luckily it didn’t get very far and we were able to drive down and find it. When we got back down, we still had some time left so we drove over to Arrowtown, which is really small and doesn’t have much there at all. We were there for maybe a half hour and saw everything in town. By this time, we needed to get on the road back to Queenstown so we could find a parking spot and get to the bungy place in time. Once we got there and got checked in, my adrenaline started pumping. Bungy jumping is something I have always wanted to do so I was ready for it. We then had like a half-hour bus ride out to the site. They are on private property so there was this little bitty dirt road going right up the side of the mountain and we’re just getting higher and higher and higher and its getting to be really sick. When we finally get to the top you can see the jump pod hanging out over the canyon and you know that this is for real. You have to take a cable car to get to the pod, so you get a good couple minutes to look around and see how high you actually are before you get out there. When we got out to the pod they strapped these ankle cuffs around us and then Arty was the first one to take the plunge. Watching through the glass in the floor got me all the more excited for it. When I finally got to jump off, I’m not going to lie, I may have been scared for a split second after I started falling. It felt so unnatural, my body was telling me to do something but there was nothing to do. After that split second though you get used to the fall and then you get to enjoy the rest of the 7 second freefall. I couldn’t even scream. The feeling was so weird cause it felt like my stomach was in my throat and I couldn’t get any noise out at all. When you come back up the second time, you pull this strap at your ankles that releases your feet from the bungy, so you can get towed back up sitting in the harness. That was really cool too because it took a second for the harness to catch so it feels like your falling again for about a second. That was one of the most exciting things I have ever done in my life. The adrenaline rush, combined with the scenery, combined with just the feeling of freefalling over a canyon was amazing. 134m/440ft, 7 second freefall, world’s second-highest. I really want to go to Macau know and hit up the world’s highest, which is 234m/772ft. The only thing that is going to hold me back is the price of getting there, but I will definitely do it if I ever have the chance. After bungy, we got back in the RV and headed back towards Christchurch. We were planning on stopping, but we ended up just driving to the outskirts of the city before we stopped. In the morning, we went back to Hotel So where I would be staying an extra night since I didn’t fly out until Monday morning. I took the longest shower of my life, playing with the different lighting schemes and just enjoying the fresh, hot, free water. Then I worked on uploading pictures to fbook for the next few hours, Skyped mom, dad, and Philipp for a while, and then watched some movies that were on TV. I set my alarm for 4:00 since I had a 4:30 pickup time scheduled to get me to the airport. I got up, finished packing quick, checked out, and was waiting by the curb when a shuttle pulled up. Thinking it was mine I walked towards it, only to be told it was for a group of old people. I was like, y’all have an extra spot couldn’t I jump in so I’m not late but the driver wouldn’t let me so I had to wait. By this time, I thought it was quarter to five and was starting to get worried. Some taxi driver said he’d take me for $20, then asked me where I was from. After that when I asked him again the fare was $30 so I guess not all Kiwi’s like Americans after all. Finally the shuttle got there at what I thought was ten till five. He then told me we had to make another stop and I asked him what time it was since I needed to be checked in two hours before I’m scheduled to leave. He said it was 3:55. I was mad for a split second, then realized he said 3:55, not 4:55. The alarm clock in my room was an hour fast, so I was up an hour earlier than I needed to be. After I figured that out, I was more annoyed with the hotel than anything but at least I knew I’d get to the airport in plenty of time. As I’m finishing this entry, I am sitting at the terminal getting ready to board the plane in about ten minutes. I’ll upload this when I get back to my room and I have internet again. Scheduled arrival is 9:00am Brisbane time, or 7:00pm EST.

We ended up taking off right at sunrise in Christchurch, New Zealand. It felt so good to have the plane speeding down the runway towards takeoff speed and knowing that I’d be in my own shower, using my own soap, and being clean in just a few hours. It was a fun-filled break, a good time, but part of me is really happy to be back in Brisi where life is normal again and runs along in the same rhythm. Living out of a suitcase just doesn’t seem as much fun as it used to... But now it’s time to get back into the whole school routine, which I need to start working on again because this next two months are going to be very busy with school. Until next time...good bye from the other side of the world.