Jordan and I went to the Australia Zoo, Home of the Croc Hunter, yesterday. This is the zoo started by Steve and Terri Irwin. Steve's picture and voice are everywhere. It made me a little sad. Terri still does the croc show there sometimes and Bindi was hanging around the day we were there.
We started off the morning by feeding the elephants. That was really fun and definitely an interesting experience. Their trunks are much wetter than I thought. We saw the croc show after that. They started off by showing us a bunch of birds and elephants and then had a really big crocodile named Mossman come out. They did the tail walk a couple of times and the guy fed him some more stuff on the land. It was pretty cool, though not as spectacular as I'd hoped. Apparently Terri can make the crocs to death rolls and stuff. I can't imagine how cool it would have been to see Steve do it!
After the crocs we wandered around the zoo. Saw lots of alligators and crocodiles, as well as a Tasmanian devil, red fox, camels, more elephants, and otters. We watched the otters get fed. They were super cute and funny. We also watched the play time between the tiger cubs and their handlers. That was really cool and the tigers were so cute. We kind of bypassed the roos and koalas this time around, since we've been to the koala sanctuary twice. They are still really cool though and Jordan and I would like to have them as pets.
I leave to go back to the US on Monday! I can't believe it! I'm headed to the market this morning to do a little more present shopping and then we're going to see a movie with Becca and Beth. My last couple days are going to fly by!
I've got tons more pictures to post, so keep a lookout for those. There'll be 3 new albums: the rest of the pictures from Cairns, take two of the koala sanctuary with my mom and sister, and pictures from Australia Zoo.
It looks like my blog posting will be winding down now. I may do a final post after this. We'll see. I really hope you all enjoyed reading. I know writing was quite beneficial to locking all of this into my memory.
Nicole
Friday, October 31, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef
My mom and sister got into Brisbane on Tuesday last week. Their visit so far has been kind of a whirlwind adventure because Ashley has a lot of school work and Jordan and I are both finishing up classes. We went to Cairns on Thursday and got back this Tuesday. So far, that's pretty much all we've done with them. This weekend we'll be going to Noosa on the Sunshine Coast, the Australia Zoo, perhaps the Koala Sanctuary, and a few other things around Brisbane.
We spent our first full day in Cairns settling in and getting our reef trip set up. The following day we headed out really early to do three dives on the reef. The weather conditions were not ideal, so we only got to dive in one spot, but it was spectacular, nonetheless! I saw a blue-spotted sting ray, a starfish, lots of Nemos!, a loggerhead sea turtle, and lots and lots of amazing fish and coral! I'm working on posting the pictures right now. A lot of them turned out really well. I'm quite pleased with the quality of the camera we rented. The next couple days in Cairns were spent driving around North Queensland a little bit and seeing some of cool stuff around there. We went around some of the rain forest areas and a few cool markets and a coffee plantation. We also made it down to Josephine Falls where there is a natural water slide. The slide was really fun, but the water was quite cold. Not as cold as the water at Springbrook, though.
Overall, we had a really good time in Cairns and the diving made the trip more than worth it! The reef pictures are up now and the others will follow shortly. More about the coming weekend after Mom and Ashley are headed back to the states.
On a side note, I leave here on November 3rd. It's coming so fast and I'm trying to figure out what happened to my time here in Australia!
Thanks for reading. I'll see all of you quite soon!
Nicole
We spent our first full day in Cairns settling in and getting our reef trip set up. The following day we headed out really early to do three dives on the reef. The weather conditions were not ideal, so we only got to dive in one spot, but it was spectacular, nonetheless! I saw a blue-spotted sting ray, a starfish, lots of Nemos!, a loggerhead sea turtle, and lots and lots of amazing fish and coral! I'm working on posting the pictures right now. A lot of them turned out really well. I'm quite pleased with the quality of the camera we rented. The next couple days in Cairns were spent driving around North Queensland a little bit and seeing some of cool stuff around there. We went around some of the rain forest areas and a few cool markets and a coffee plantation. We also made it down to Josephine Falls where there is a natural water slide. The slide was really fun, but the water was quite cold. Not as cold as the water at Springbrook, though.
Overall, we had a really good time in Cairns and the diving made the trip more than worth it! The reef pictures are up now and the others will follow shortly. More about the coming weekend after Mom and Ashley are headed back to the states.
On a side note, I leave here on November 3rd. It's coming so fast and I'm trying to figure out what happened to my time here in Australia!
Thanks for reading. I'll see all of you quite soon!
Nicole
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
New Zealand- Day 7: Monday, October 6th
We got about 7:30 in the morning to go fill the car with gas and return it to the rental place. After filling up the car Jordan took me back to the hotel. You should read his blog for his side of the story from that point. I went back to sleep when I got back to the hotel and slept until about 10:30. I got up and showered and went downstairs to the restaurant for some breakfast. Jordan finally got back to the hotel around 11:30 or so. After he showered and relaxed a little bit we headed out into Christchurch to see the city.
The main area of the city is Cathedral Square. After walking around there a little bit we headed over to the Arts Centre to see some of the Maori art. By this time we were both getting a little hungry, so we decided to try to find a place selling pies. These are a NZ favorite. It’s pretty much just a really light, flaky pastry with some kind of savory filling. Neither of us had had one yet, so we were interested in trying them. The guide book said to try a place called ‘Copenhagen Bakery’ which was just up the street. They’ve won several awards for the pies they sell. By the time we got there they had sold out a lot of the pies. We both had a steak pie since that was the majority of what they had left. They were really great. There’s a NZ couple that has started up pie shops in a couple of the ski resorts in Colorado and they are supposed to open one at Copper (where we ski most weekends) this ski season. After having the pies here we are really excited for this to open at Copper. Pies seem like really good ski food to me because you can eat them quickly and they are really tasty and filling.
After our pie adventure we headed back to the hotel to hang out for a bit. We made plans to meet up with Leslie and Brittany later that day for dinner. I wrote a couple of blog posts for the week and uploaded the first day’s worth of pictures.
At 6:15 we headed back to Cathedral Square to meet Leslie and Brittany. This time around we noticed a large purple sculpture that looked strikingly like a sperm. In fact, upon closer inspection and reading the blurb about it next to the sculpture we discovered that it was, in fact, a giant sperm. There were people coming out of it (some kind of metaphor about life). According to Leslie and Brittany there had been little kids playing on it all afternoon. We had a good laugh about it and wondered what these parents were telling their kids this was- perhaps a sea creature?
We headed off toward the Arts Centre to get dinner at a placed called Dux De Lux. The food was pretty tasty, but they were out of the first two things Jordan tried to order, which I think he was a little disappointed about. After dinner and some good conversation we headed back to the hotel to show Leslie and Brittany our spiffy room. We had drinks in the bar downstairs and called it a night after that.
We had to be up at 3:30 this morning for our 6:15 flight back to Brisbane.
So, that’s the end of our adventures in New Zealand. I’m kind of sad to go. The entire trip was just incredible and I already want to come back. You could easily spend a couple of months just traveling around the two islands. Next time I come I’ll definitely be checking out the North Island. If it’s even half as spectacular as the South Island it will be worth it. We were discussing at dinner the pros and cons between coming to Australia vs. coming to New Zealand. All I can say is that this trip has probably been one of the top things I’ve done on my study abroad and I am so glad I got the chance to come! Australia has been really cool, but I think after going to Cairns and diving in a couple of weeks I won’t need to come back for any reason. So, if you decide to make a trip to New Zealand, let me know. We can give you some great pointers for where to go!
I’ve got a lot of work to do between getting back and when my mom and sister come next week. I’m not looking forward to the work, but I’m really excited to see them and show them around Brissy. This is probably my last post for a couple of weeks (until we get back from Cairns). I hope you all enjoyed reading about our trip. Have fun looking at the pictures when they’re all loaded. There are almost 500 of them. Oh, and when you look at the pictures, make sure you click on the actual album and start from the top. When you go straight to the site it shows the last pictures uploaded first, so everything will be backwards. It might be easiest to read a post and then look at the pictures from that day. I think that’s pretty much it. Hope everyone is doing well!
Nicole
The main area of the city is Cathedral Square. After walking around there a little bit we headed over to the Arts Centre to see some of the Maori art. By this time we were both getting a little hungry, so we decided to try to find a place selling pies. These are a NZ favorite. It’s pretty much just a really light, flaky pastry with some kind of savory filling. Neither of us had had one yet, so we were interested in trying them. The guide book said to try a place called ‘Copenhagen Bakery’ which was just up the street. They’ve won several awards for the pies they sell. By the time we got there they had sold out a lot of the pies. We both had a steak pie since that was the majority of what they had left. They were really great. There’s a NZ couple that has started up pie shops in a couple of the ski resorts in Colorado and they are supposed to open one at Copper (where we ski most weekends) this ski season. After having the pies here we are really excited for this to open at Copper. Pies seem like really good ski food to me because you can eat them quickly and they are really tasty and filling.
After our pie adventure we headed back to the hotel to hang out for a bit. We made plans to meet up with Leslie and Brittany later that day for dinner. I wrote a couple of blog posts for the week and uploaded the first day’s worth of pictures.
At 6:15 we headed back to Cathedral Square to meet Leslie and Brittany. This time around we noticed a large purple sculpture that looked strikingly like a sperm. In fact, upon closer inspection and reading the blurb about it next to the sculpture we discovered that it was, in fact, a giant sperm. There were people coming out of it (some kind of metaphor about life). According to Leslie and Brittany there had been little kids playing on it all afternoon. We had a good laugh about it and wondered what these parents were telling their kids this was- perhaps a sea creature?
We headed off toward the Arts Centre to get dinner at a placed called Dux De Lux. The food was pretty tasty, but they were out of the first two things Jordan tried to order, which I think he was a little disappointed about. After dinner and some good conversation we headed back to the hotel to show Leslie and Brittany our spiffy room. We had drinks in the bar downstairs and called it a night after that.
We had to be up at 3:30 this morning for our 6:15 flight back to Brisbane.
So, that’s the end of our adventures in New Zealand. I’m kind of sad to go. The entire trip was just incredible and I already want to come back. You could easily spend a couple of months just traveling around the two islands. Next time I come I’ll definitely be checking out the North Island. If it’s even half as spectacular as the South Island it will be worth it. We were discussing at dinner the pros and cons between coming to Australia vs. coming to New Zealand. All I can say is that this trip has probably been one of the top things I’ve done on my study abroad and I am so glad I got the chance to come! Australia has been really cool, but I think after going to Cairns and diving in a couple of weeks I won’t need to come back for any reason. So, if you decide to make a trip to New Zealand, let me know. We can give you some great pointers for where to go!
I’ve got a lot of work to do between getting back and when my mom and sister come next week. I’m not looking forward to the work, but I’m really excited to see them and show them around Brissy. This is probably my last post for a couple of weeks (until we get back from Cairns). I hope you all enjoyed reading about our trip. Have fun looking at the pictures when they’re all loaded. There are almost 500 of them. Oh, and when you look at the pictures, make sure you click on the actual album and start from the top. When you go straight to the site it shows the last pictures uploaded first, so everything will be backwards. It might be easiest to read a post and then look at the pictures from that day. I think that’s pretty much it. Hope everyone is doing well!
Nicole
New Zealand- Day 6: Sunday, October 5th
We got up a little later today and headed over to the Vudu Café, which I had read about in our travel book. I had eggs benedict with smoked salmon and capers and Jordan had a croissant with a sweet filling and almonds. Both were very good and the café lived up to its good reviews. After breakfast we walked around the town a little more and then leisurely made our way back towards Omarama where we were planning on spending the night.
On our way out of town we stopped at several wineries and a cheesery for tastings. We had a couple of Pinot Gris and Rieslings that were very good (this coming from someone who doesn’t like wine). The cheesery had some really good stuff, including a few cheeses made with local sheep and goat milk. Once out of the wine country we came upon a juice/fruit stand. I had a brilliant thought so we stopped in for a minute. I talked to the lady operating the juicer and sure enough she said she could make me fresh apple juice made only with Granny Smith apples! Now to many of you this is no big deal, so I’ll give you the story behind it. I’ve never really liked apple juice. It’s too sweet and I don’t like the flavor. When I was 10, my mom took me to Paris and they had Granny Smith apple juice there. I loved it. I haven’t been able to find it since that trip, though I often look. The juice was amazing and tasted just like eating the apple. Plus it had an appealing bright green color. Just one more reason to love NZ.
We got into Omarama around 4, but there was very little there. Literally a few hotels, a gas station, and a restaurant or two. We decided to press on and get to Christchurch instead of waiting until the morning. On the way to Christchurch we got to see Mt. Cook at sunset and Lake Tekapo. The lake is supposed to have this brilliant turquoise hue, but it was a little hard to see because of the light. I’m a little disappointed about that, but the lake was still gorgeous with the mountains around it and the sun setting.
Around 11 we drove into Christchurch and hastily booked a room at the hotel we were going to be staying at the following night. The hotel was very cool and modern. The room was very small and windowless, but one of the walls was a giant mirror, which helped open it up a bit. There was a very nice LCD TV and a control panel where you could control all the lights and alarm clock. I think the alarm clock was probably the coolest part. 5 minutes before it is set to go off an artificial sunlight above the bed starts to glow and gets increasingly brighter. When the alarm goes off the TV also comes on and is automatically tuned to the hotel’s ‘wake’ channel, which is beautiful scenery from around NZ and some soft music. Though small, the entire space was very modern and comfortable and is probably the best sleep I’ve had since coming to Australia.
Since we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, we grabbed some food at a fast food place and took advantage of the free wireless at the hotel (the only free spot we’ve found anywhere). After that it was time for bed so we could be ready to go for our final day in Christchurch.
On our way out of town we stopped at several wineries and a cheesery for tastings. We had a couple of Pinot Gris and Rieslings that were very good (this coming from someone who doesn’t like wine). The cheesery had some really good stuff, including a few cheeses made with local sheep and goat milk. Once out of the wine country we came upon a juice/fruit stand. I had a brilliant thought so we stopped in for a minute. I talked to the lady operating the juicer and sure enough she said she could make me fresh apple juice made only with Granny Smith apples! Now to many of you this is no big deal, so I’ll give you the story behind it. I’ve never really liked apple juice. It’s too sweet and I don’t like the flavor. When I was 10, my mom took me to Paris and they had Granny Smith apple juice there. I loved it. I haven’t been able to find it since that trip, though I often look. The juice was amazing and tasted just like eating the apple. Plus it had an appealing bright green color. Just one more reason to love NZ.
We got into Omarama around 4, but there was very little there. Literally a few hotels, a gas station, and a restaurant or two. We decided to press on and get to Christchurch instead of waiting until the morning. On the way to Christchurch we got to see Mt. Cook at sunset and Lake Tekapo. The lake is supposed to have this brilliant turquoise hue, but it was a little hard to see because of the light. I’m a little disappointed about that, but the lake was still gorgeous with the mountains around it and the sun setting.
Around 11 we drove into Christchurch and hastily booked a room at the hotel we were going to be staying at the following night. The hotel was very cool and modern. The room was very small and windowless, but one of the walls was a giant mirror, which helped open it up a bit. There was a very nice LCD TV and a control panel where you could control all the lights and alarm clock. I think the alarm clock was probably the coolest part. 5 minutes before it is set to go off an artificial sunlight above the bed starts to glow and gets increasingly brighter. When the alarm goes off the TV also comes on and is automatically tuned to the hotel’s ‘wake’ channel, which is beautiful scenery from around NZ and some soft music. Though small, the entire space was very modern and comfortable and is probably the best sleep I’ve had since coming to Australia.
Since we hadn’t eaten dinner yet, we grabbed some food at a fast food place and took advantage of the free wireless at the hotel (the only free spot we’ve found anywhere). After that it was time for bed so we could be ready to go for our final day in Christchurch.
New Zealand- Day 5: Saturday, October 4th
We woke up early again this morning to make the 3-hour drive to Milford Sound. It was pretty rainy, but that turned out to be a very good thing (more on that later).
About an hour into our drive we were behind a camper van that started to slow down and then moved to the other side of the road. It turned out there were a bunch of sheep being moved across the road. I’m no stranger to finding a herd of animals blocking a road (I am from Texas after all), but it was definitely interesting to see so many sheep all packed together.
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, but very beautiful. Because of the rain, there were waterfalls everywhere. As we got closer to Milford we had to go through a very narrow tunnel. On the other side we drove into a valley where we could see literally thousands of waterfalls coming down the mountain sides.
We got to the Sound right around 1, just in time for our cruise. The boat was a little small, especially compared to some of the others in the harbor, but there were fewer people, which was nice. The cruise was pretty spectacular. It’s kind of hard to describe just because it was so big! The mountains tower around the water and you just feel totally encompassed by your surroundings. Towards the end of the cruise we got a chance to see some NZ fur seals hanging out on the rocks. Our captain got super close to the rocks so we got to see them up close. Jordan really loved Milford and I think it was his favorite part of the trip.
The cruise was an hour and a half long, so we grabbed a couple sandwiches afterwards and started to make our way back to Queenstown. On the way we stopped to take some pictures and visit a couple of pretty cool sites. The first is called The Chasm. It is kind of like a waterfall in a cave, but the water rushes out of a riverbed and through the rocks. It was pretty cool to see. I took a video of it because it was very loud, but the sound and images just don’t compare. Hopefully, I can get the video up on Flickr. I’m not sure if it will work on there or not. When we walked back to the car park from The Chasm there were a bunch of NZ birds called Keas hanging around. They are super curious about everything and pretty funny to watch. As a family who was watching them got into their car one of the kea birds hopped onto their side view mirror and started looking through the window at them. It was kind of hilarious.
Our next stop on the drive back was to an area called the Mirror Lakes. These lakes are so still that they reflect the mountains behind them almost perfectly. This was pretty cool to see and I think the pictures turned out really well.
On our drive back we had stopped a couple of time to see if I could get one of the baby lambs to let me pet it, but they were all really scared and I couldn’t get close to any of them. We came across a farm-animal petting zoo type thing after our many failed attempts, so we stopped there to see if they would let me pet the lambs. They were closed for a private function, so we drove around the back where we could see some animals. In a small fenced in area there were two baby lambs, a miniature horse, and a goat. One of the lambs got up and came close enough to let me pet him- he even licked my hand. I’ve decided that if it was possible I would totally bring one back to the US. Lambs are way cool. Anyway, I tried to entice him back with an apple after he wandered away, but the horse wasn’t having any of that so I gave him the whole thing instead. I think it’s safe to say we made that horse very happy.
The rest of the drive back was pretty uneventful. More nice scenery and such. We grabbed some fish and chips for dinner and called it a night after that.
About an hour into our drive we were behind a camper van that started to slow down and then moved to the other side of the road. It turned out there were a bunch of sheep being moved across the road. I’m no stranger to finding a herd of animals blocking a road (I am from Texas after all), but it was definitely interesting to see so many sheep all packed together.
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, but very beautiful. Because of the rain, there were waterfalls everywhere. As we got closer to Milford we had to go through a very narrow tunnel. On the other side we drove into a valley where we could see literally thousands of waterfalls coming down the mountain sides.
We got to the Sound right around 1, just in time for our cruise. The boat was a little small, especially compared to some of the others in the harbor, but there were fewer people, which was nice. The cruise was pretty spectacular. It’s kind of hard to describe just because it was so big! The mountains tower around the water and you just feel totally encompassed by your surroundings. Towards the end of the cruise we got a chance to see some NZ fur seals hanging out on the rocks. Our captain got super close to the rocks so we got to see them up close. Jordan really loved Milford and I think it was his favorite part of the trip.
The cruise was an hour and a half long, so we grabbed a couple sandwiches afterwards and started to make our way back to Queenstown. On the way we stopped to take some pictures and visit a couple of pretty cool sites. The first is called The Chasm. It is kind of like a waterfall in a cave, but the water rushes out of a riverbed and through the rocks. It was pretty cool to see. I took a video of it because it was very loud, but the sound and images just don’t compare. Hopefully, I can get the video up on Flickr. I’m not sure if it will work on there or not. When we walked back to the car park from The Chasm there were a bunch of NZ birds called Keas hanging around. They are super curious about everything and pretty funny to watch. As a family who was watching them got into their car one of the kea birds hopped onto their side view mirror and started looking through the window at them. It was kind of hilarious.
Our next stop on the drive back was to an area called the Mirror Lakes. These lakes are so still that they reflect the mountains behind them almost perfectly. This was pretty cool to see and I think the pictures turned out really well.
On our drive back we had stopped a couple of time to see if I could get one of the baby lambs to let me pet it, but they were all really scared and I couldn’t get close to any of them. We came across a farm-animal petting zoo type thing after our many failed attempts, so we stopped there to see if they would let me pet the lambs. They were closed for a private function, so we drove around the back where we could see some animals. In a small fenced in area there were two baby lambs, a miniature horse, and a goat. One of the lambs got up and came close enough to let me pet him- he even licked my hand. I’ve decided that if it was possible I would totally bring one back to the US. Lambs are way cool. Anyway, I tried to entice him back with an apple after he wandered away, but the horse wasn’t having any of that so I gave him the whole thing instead. I think it’s safe to say we made that horse very happy.
The rest of the drive back was pretty uneventful. More nice scenery and such. We grabbed some fish and chips for dinner and called it a night after that.
New Zealand- Day 4: Friday, October 3rd
Jordan and I got up around 9:30 this morning and, after checking out of the hotel, headed off to Queenstown. After getting in around 11 we headed over to AJ Hackett Bungy to show them our 2 for 1 voucher. We got everything settled with them and spent an hour or so walking around the town. Queenstown is full of tourists, but isn’t tourist-y feeling. It’s a very nice little town and pretty easy to walk around.
We filled up on some Thai food and then went off to ride the gondola and luge. The gondola went up a very steep mountain where there were, not surprisingly, a few brave sheep. The views from the top of the gondola were awesome. We then found the luge track and had a fun time riding little carts down a twisty track.
After the luge and gondola, we headed over to our hotel, about 10 minutes from town. We checked in and got all of our stuff from the car. Then it was time to head back to town for the 20-minute shuttle ride to the Kawarau Bridge. This bridge is over a beautiful gorge, about 43 metres above the river. We checked in and got weighed and then headed out onto the bridge to do our jump. By this point I was getting pretty nervous, but there was no turning back. Jordan and I got strapped into the harnesses and had our ankles wrapped with towels and various cords. We were doing a tandem jump, so they told us where to hold onto each other and then we were ready to go. Within a minute we were leaping off the platform toward the river below. It was a truly incredible experience and I would have done it again in a heartbeat if it weren’t so darn expensive. We got a free t-shirt after the jump and I bought a couple of photos since there was no one to take pictures with my camera.
When we got back to town it was past 5, so we walked around town to check out all the restaurants and see what sounded good. We ended up eating at a restaurant I had read about in a couple of brochures. When we got there we discovered that the first 7 tables seated before 7 pm got 50% off, which was an exciting discovery. The meal at threesixty was amazing! We started off with fresh baked bread with garlic butter, served with three different spreads- sundried tomato, garlic hummus, and pumpkin-cream cheese. This was followed by local rabbit ravioli with an orange sauce. The second course was a pressed pork belly with bok choy and an asian style sauce. After the pork, we had a white miso risotto with artichokes and wild mushrooms. Dessert was a mango crème brulee with black sesame seed ice cream and fresh berries. I also had a pineapple pomegranate sour with my dinner (lemon and raspberry vodkas, fresh pineapple, pomegranate molasses, and fresh lemon juice). Everything was fabulous and was a great end to an incredible day.
We filled up on some Thai food and then went off to ride the gondola and luge. The gondola went up a very steep mountain where there were, not surprisingly, a few brave sheep. The views from the top of the gondola were awesome. We then found the luge track and had a fun time riding little carts down a twisty track.
After the luge and gondola, we headed over to our hotel, about 10 minutes from town. We checked in and got all of our stuff from the car. Then it was time to head back to town for the 20-minute shuttle ride to the Kawarau Bridge. This bridge is over a beautiful gorge, about 43 metres above the river. We checked in and got weighed and then headed out onto the bridge to do our jump. By this point I was getting pretty nervous, but there was no turning back. Jordan and I got strapped into the harnesses and had our ankles wrapped with towels and various cords. We were doing a tandem jump, so they told us where to hold onto each other and then we were ready to go. Within a minute we were leaping off the platform toward the river below. It was a truly incredible experience and I would have done it again in a heartbeat if it weren’t so darn expensive. We got a free t-shirt after the jump and I bought a couple of photos since there was no one to take pictures with my camera.
When we got back to town it was past 5, so we walked around town to check out all the restaurants and see what sounded good. We ended up eating at a restaurant I had read about in a couple of brochures. When we got there we discovered that the first 7 tables seated before 7 pm got 50% off, which was an exciting discovery. The meal at threesixty was amazing! We started off with fresh baked bread with garlic butter, served with three different spreads- sundried tomato, garlic hummus, and pumpkin-cream cheese. This was followed by local rabbit ravioli with an orange sauce. The second course was a pressed pork belly with bok choy and an asian style sauce. After the pork, we had a white miso risotto with artichokes and wild mushrooms. Dessert was a mango crème brulee with black sesame seed ice cream and fresh berries. I also had a pineapple pomegranate sour with my dinner (lemon and raspberry vodkas, fresh pineapple, pomegranate molasses, and fresh lemon juice). Everything was fabulous and was a great end to an incredible day.
New Zealand- Day 3: Thursday, October 2nd
We woke up around 5:45 in the morning so we could leave for Wanaka by 6:15. Leslie was leaving us around 10 to head back to Christchurch, so we had to be up kind of early to make the 3 and a half hour drive. We had about a quarter tank of gas, so decided we could make it to the Fox Glacier before getting more. Unfortunately, none of the gas stations were open and we couldn’t get our cards to work at any of the 24-hour ones. This meant we had about 160 km before getting to Haast and we were getting very low on gas. The last quarter of the trip was quite stressful as the gas needle continued to dip below the empty line. We were running on the last wisps of fumes when we came upon a gas station. I paid NZ$96 to fill up a 45 litre tank. Completely ridiculous.
The rest of the drive to Wanaka was quite enjoyable (after I was done being totally stressed out) and about halfway through we drove across a bridge which went over an area called the Gates of Haast. It was absolutely gorgeous. One of the best spots we’ve seen so far. It was just a really strong river rushing over some really cool rocks. The pictures look pretty good.
We made it to Wanaka just as Leslie's bus was pulling into the station. After dropping her off, Jordan and I found a little café called Ritual where we had pasta salad before walking around town. After that we headed over to the Puzzling World where there is a 1.5 km, two-story maze. It took us about 45 minutes to make our way to each corner of the maze and then back to the start. It was much harder than I thought it was going to be.
After the Puzzling World we checked into our hotel and I took a long nap. Jordan went off and explored the town a little bit more. When I got up we went ahead and booked our bungy jumping for the following day and the Milford Sound cruise for the day after that. Later, we drove around and got some take-away from a gourmet pizza place. The pizza was quite good. After dinner we headed over to the pool (nicely heated) and hot tub. We called it a night after that.
The rest of the drive to Wanaka was quite enjoyable (after I was done being totally stressed out) and about halfway through we drove across a bridge which went over an area called the Gates of Haast. It was absolutely gorgeous. One of the best spots we’ve seen so far. It was just a really strong river rushing over some really cool rocks. The pictures look pretty good.
We made it to Wanaka just as Leslie's bus was pulling into the station. After dropping her off, Jordan and I found a little café called Ritual where we had pasta salad before walking around town. After that we headed over to the Puzzling World where there is a 1.5 km, two-story maze. It took us about 45 minutes to make our way to each corner of the maze and then back to the start. It was much harder than I thought it was going to be.
After the Puzzling World we checked into our hotel and I took a long nap. Jordan went off and explored the town a little bit more. When I got up we went ahead and booked our bungy jumping for the following day and the Milford Sound cruise for the day after that. Later, we drove around and got some take-away from a gourmet pizza place. The pizza was quite good. After dinner we headed over to the pool (nicely heated) and hot tub. We called it a night after that.
New Zealand- Day 2: Wednesday, October 1st
We had a really hard time waking up this morning, but finally got up at 10. We had breakfast in the hotel as we had bought some cereal bars the previous day and were given milk at the hotel when we checked in. After breakfast we checked out of the hotel and headed into town. Hokitika is famous for the jade that they produce there. They find it in certain areas of the town and it is made into jewelry and other unique items. We looked around one the main jade stores a little bit and then wandered around to a couple other artsy boutiques. After looking around Hoki in the daylight we made our way toward the Franz Josef glacier. The drive was incredible. Once again, the scenery was awesome. Most of my pictures are of the scenery from our drives. I hope you enjoy them because they can’t come close to portraying how gorgeous this country really is.
We got into Franz Josef around 2:30 and checked into our hotel. It was a nice little spot in the town and the views from the hotel were great. After checking in we went to look around and find some information on hikes to see the glacier. We got in a little too late to do a guided hike onto the glacier because it was a rainy morning. We did get to do a couple of different hikes and got fairly close to the glacier, though. It was breathtaking. Completely magnificent and indescribable. Seeing the glacier and its surroundings was kind of a religious experience for me. Once again, pictures won’t do it justice. Do yourself a favor and get to NZ at some point in your life. After the glacier, we headed back to town and Jordan and I did some ice climbing at an indoor ice climbing wall. It is the only one in this country and is the 3rd largest of only 13 in the world. The ice climbing was great fun, but very tiring and it was interesting to try. After ice climbing we had a good dinner and then went hot-tubbing for a little bit.
That was pretty much it for the day. So far everything has been pretty amazing.
We got into Franz Josef around 2:30 and checked into our hotel. It was a nice little spot in the town and the views from the hotel were great. After checking in we went to look around and find some information on hikes to see the glacier. We got in a little too late to do a guided hike onto the glacier because it was a rainy morning. We did get to do a couple of different hikes and got fairly close to the glacier, though. It was breathtaking. Completely magnificent and indescribable. Seeing the glacier and its surroundings was kind of a religious experience for me. Once again, pictures won’t do it justice. Do yourself a favor and get to NZ at some point in your life. After the glacier, we headed back to town and Jordan and I did some ice climbing at an indoor ice climbing wall. It is the only one in this country and is the 3rd largest of only 13 in the world. The ice climbing was great fun, but very tiring and it was interesting to try. After ice climbing we had a good dinner and then went hot-tubbing for a little bit.
That was pretty much it for the day. So far everything has been pretty amazing.
New Zealand- Day 1: Tuesday, September 30th
I got up at 4: 45 this morning and we got a cab to the airport at 5:15. After checking in we had a couple hours to kill. I got a meatball sub at Subway, which was odd at 6:00 am, but enjoyable. The flight left about 15 minutes late and got us into Christchurch, New Zealand around 2:15. The lady at customs asked a lot of questions and wanted to know why we were spending a night in Hokitika. She did not seem satisfied with our answer, which was that it was on our way to the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. Oh well.
After exiting the airport, we headed to the rental car place to pick up our car. It took an hour for them to get us ready to go. The lady we were dealing with was not very friendly and was quite rude. Overall, it was a very frustrating process and, to top it off, the car is quite a piece. No power locks or windows. The stereo will only play on the speaker on the driver’s side in front. However, it does get good gas mileage- its only redeeming quality.
Leslie, Jordan, and I finally started our journey a little after 4 and drove into Christchurch to find some food before hitting the road. We stopped at a cute little café called ‘blax’ to get sandwiches. The Kiwis there were very friendly and immediately pegged us as Americans. They were our first good impression of the people of New Zealand and it was great. I had a bagel with lox there. Very tasty. After the café we found a grocery store to load up on snacks for the drive. Let me first say that the exchange rate in NZ is quite favorable, about .67 US cents to one NZ dollar. The grocery store had incredibly low prices! With the exchange rate factored in they were even better. Definitely cheaper than Brisbane.
Once on the highway heading toward Hokitika, NZ lived up to its name and gave us many, many sheep to look at. They are all over the place here! It’s a sight for sure. The drive was pretty long, but the scenery was beautiful and reminded me a little bit of Colorado at parts.
We got into Hoki around 9:30 pm and stopped off to check out the Glow-Worm Dell. It’s just a rock wall at the end of a path, but there are all these larvae that light up. It was a bit reminiscent of my childhood, many summers spent catching lightning bugs. It’s quite chilly here though. Certainly not like summer in Austin. We made it to the hotel after taking a couple wrong turns and got settled into our room. We asked the guy who checked us in to point us in the direction of dinner. Hoki is a pretty small town and there wasn’t really anything open. We stumbled upon a bar called the Red Lion Tavern. They were open late because the bar was switching owners the next day and they were having a little closing party. We were welcomed in with open arms. A very friendly man in his 70s or 80s bought us all a drink and the owner made us a big bowl of chips (fries) and brought us some bread with butter. There wasn’t really much else in the kitchen because of the owner-switching stuff. Their hospitality was great and we had a fun evening chatting with the locals. Before departing, we were coerced into singing our national anthem. It was great fun. After the bar we headed back to the hotel to get some much-needed sleep.
*Pictures from Day 1 are posted and the rest are on the way*
After exiting the airport, we headed to the rental car place to pick up our car. It took an hour for them to get us ready to go. The lady we were dealing with was not very friendly and was quite rude. Overall, it was a very frustrating process and, to top it off, the car is quite a piece. No power locks or windows. The stereo will only play on the speaker on the driver’s side in front. However, it does get good gas mileage- its only redeeming quality.
Leslie, Jordan, and I finally started our journey a little after 4 and drove into Christchurch to find some food before hitting the road. We stopped at a cute little café called ‘blax’ to get sandwiches. The Kiwis there were very friendly and immediately pegged us as Americans. They were our first good impression of the people of New Zealand and it was great. I had a bagel with lox there. Very tasty. After the café we found a grocery store to load up on snacks for the drive. Let me first say that the exchange rate in NZ is quite favorable, about .67 US cents to one NZ dollar. The grocery store had incredibly low prices! With the exchange rate factored in they were even better. Definitely cheaper than Brisbane.
Once on the highway heading toward Hokitika, NZ lived up to its name and gave us many, many sheep to look at. They are all over the place here! It’s a sight for sure. The drive was pretty long, but the scenery was beautiful and reminded me a little bit of Colorado at parts.
We got into Hoki around 9:30 pm and stopped off to check out the Glow-Worm Dell. It’s just a rock wall at the end of a path, but there are all these larvae that light up. It was a bit reminiscent of my childhood, many summers spent catching lightning bugs. It’s quite chilly here though. Certainly not like summer in Austin. We made it to the hotel after taking a couple wrong turns and got settled into our room. We asked the guy who checked us in to point us in the direction of dinner. Hoki is a pretty small town and there wasn’t really anything open. We stumbled upon a bar called the Red Lion Tavern. They were open late because the bar was switching owners the next day and they were having a little closing party. We were welcomed in with open arms. A very friendly man in his 70s or 80s bought us all a drink and the owner made us a big bowl of chips (fries) and brought us some bread with butter. There wasn’t really much else in the kitchen because of the owner-switching stuff. Their hospitality was great and we had a fun evening chatting with the locals. Before departing, we were coerced into singing our national anthem. It was great fun. After the bar we headed back to the hotel to get some much-needed sleep.
*Pictures from Day 1 are posted and the rest are on the way*
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
