Planes, Trains, and Automobiles...oh yea, and Ferries! (The South Island)

I can officially say that the South Island of New Zealand is by far one of the most stunningly beautiful countries I've ever seen. In a matter of 6 days I saw white sandy beaches, barren dry deserts, snow caped mountains, and rain forests. The Clark Family (Mr. and Mrs. Clark, Will, and Nicky) and I covered so much in a few days so I will do my best to break it down.

SATURDAY:We started with an 8am ferry ride from Wellington to the northern most town of the South Island, Picton. The trip took about 3 hours to cross the Cook Strait. Apparently the ferry ride can go either really good OR really bad depending on the weather. Well, we lucked out! The weather was stunning and the ride was smooth and warm. Nicky and I spent a majority of the ride standing outside, watching the world go by. The water here is a blue I have never seen before and so is the sky. From the Interisland Ferry.

After a quick lunch, we boarded the train from Picton to Christchurch. The train ride took about 6 hours and follows through rocky coastline where dolphins, whales, sea birds, and seals can be spotted on a regular bases. The locals here would often wave to the train as we flew by, which I thought was amazing. You wouldn't see that in California, that is for sure! We then passed through some pretty dry areas which blew my mind considering how much rain New Zealand gets. The weather was the warmest at this point, around 90 degrees.

We arrived in Christchurch and after getting settled in our hotel headed off to dinner just as the sun was setting, a little after 9:00pm. We didn't really get to see much in the twilight but it is a cute little town with some amazing buildings. (The Starbucks is in an old train station!) From the train.

A sculpture from the heart of Christchurch
A really cool church.

SUNDAY: We boarded the next train that would take us from Christchurch to Greymouth. It was pretty uneventful. We arrived to Greymouth with the pouring rain and let me tell you, if you ever decide to go to New Zealand, you can avoid Greymouth. It was pretty boring. We mainly just layed around watching movies and went in the spa.

MONDAY: We were pretty stoked to get away from Greymouth so after a quick breakfast of McDonald's we hit the road in our rental car. The drive would have pretty cool if it hadn't been POURING rain for the entire 3 hours to Franz Josef. We arrived in "Glacier Country" with flying colors. Franz Josef has the Fox Glacier which you can climb (with proper tour guides and equipment). Well, we got to Franz Josef and you couldn't even see the mountain due to the fog and rain. The Clark's glacier hike was cancel due the MAJOR flooding in the area. (I wasn't going to go due the fact that I can barely walk on the sidewalk without making a mockery of myself...image me on ice. Scene from Bambi, anyone?) So out of sheer boredom we headed to the hotel bar for a few drinks. Well, as we were finishing our beverages we look out the window and the clouds had burned off and the rain had stopped. We immediately got in the car and headed for the Glacier. We took a quick 20min hike to the observation deck and WHAT A SIGHT!!! The glacier was right there, between two huge mountains with water falls dotting each side. It was amazing. I wanted to hike that beast right then and there but the tours were still cancelled the next morning.

New Zealand is known for it's sheep!

Catching rain....it actually tasted really yummy! Fox Glacier

TUESDAY: Well, we hit the road pretty early on the way to Queenstown because the drive is suppose to be one of the best in the world. 5 hours of nothing but beauty. The people that say that are definitely 100% correct. It was AMAZING! We stopped at Lake Mathewson, which is on the other side of Fox Glacier, and we took a hour and half hike/walk through a rain forest (a rain forest at the base of a glacier?!?! How does that work?) and came out to "Reflections Lookout" and in a lot of my pictures you can't tell which is the reflection and which is the scenery. We stopped at so many waterfalls and lakes, I have NEVER seen this much water in my life. To pass the time of the drive we started to play the "Celebrity Name Game" (Take the first inital of the last name to start the first name. EX: Brad Pitt, Pam Anderson, Allen Thicke, Tom Cruise...etc). 4 hours later we were STILL playing, but every 20 minutes someone in the car would just stop the game to say "Wow." It was literally a speechless kind of beauty. Cramming 3 grown adult into the backseat of a Nissan was definitely worth it!
A typical view from the car.Lake Mathewson, Reflection Look out. Just another great water fall! (Yes, my feet are going numb...this is water from a GLACIER!)

WEDNESDAY: Well, we arrived in Queenstown which was, by far, my favorite part and place of the trip! This town is on a the 3rd largest lake in New Zealand and really reminds me of Santa Cruz. It is named the "Adrenaline Capital of the World" for its invention of the Budgy Jump, Bridge Swing, and the Jet Boat. Due to the Adrenaline events and activities, the average age of the 7,000 people that populate Queenstown is early 20's. We checked out the gondola (I didn't go up) in the morning, did a little shopping, and then proceeded to do my FAVORITE thing of did the WHOLE trip! We went sailing....but just not any kind of sailing. We booked a 2 hour sailing trip on the America's Cup Yacht! (This boat was retired after its win in 1995) Jealous yet, Uncle Jim? It was SO much fun! We got to rig the sails up and down and I even got to steer for a little while. That boat can haul some speed too! I can't even imagine what it must be like during competition, which 17 crew members working together. (I also had the BEST burger of my life that night for dinner....Fregburger. Check it out if you ever go!)

The Queenstown Gondola. "I think I just dislocated my shoulder...."
"Where can I get me one of these things?"

THURSDAY: We, unfortunately, left Queenstown around 10am to head to the college town of Dunedin. 4 hours later of watching mountains covered in wild flowers (and sleeping for 2 hours) we arrived in Dunedin with about 2 hours to hang out before our flight back to Wellington. This will probably be the furthest south I will ever be in my life. There is a 3 hour drive to the tip of the island and a quick boat ride to Antarctica. We checked out the town center and the historic train station. Occasionally you would catch the awesome scent of chocolate. Come to find out the Cadbury Chocolate Factory is right across the street from the train station. No wonder it's a college town!! We grabbed a quick bite to eat and boarded the plane back to Welly.

Dunedin Town Centre

The Historic Train Station

It was an amazing trip and I'm so stoked I had a chance to see the island. FINALLY! Thank you so much to the Clark family for inviting me on their family vacation. I will never forget this and the beautiful country we saw. Oh yea, thanks for putting up with my 6 foot frame in the backseat! (And anytime you want me to beat you at Hearts, I'm IN!)

Well, back to normal life. I will basically hanging out for the next week till I have to move. I do have a diving lesson on Saturday and I head back to work on January 14th. I also came hope to numerous Christmas cards and a few boxes, which I will save for Christmas morning. So expect a few emails.