After our time in Dunedin we piled ourselves and our things back into Ellen and made our way to Te Anau. This basically entailed traveling from the east coast to the west coast. An easy task. We thought it was going to take us near 5 or 6 hours, but Ellen and I were a great pair that day, and we made it in about 3.5, I think. It rained for most of the morning, which made driving not that fun, but once we got to Te Anau it was just overcast.
The hostel we stayed at was very nice. We spent the afternoon reading by the fire, watching movies in our room (there was a tv), and eating... obviously. Te Anau is basically the town where people who are going to see Milford sound stay in. However, we had no problem taking in a nice lazy day.
Early the next day, Lauren, Emma, Anja, and I got in the car and made the two hour drive from Te Anau to Milford Sound. The drive is only about 100km and probably could be done in an hour. But there are so many scenic places to stop and take countless photos, that the drive is usually drawn out. We watched as the sun burned the fog off, uncovering beautiful snow capped mountains and the bluest sky you could imagine. When we neared Milford, we had to cross a massive mountain range. This involved very steep, narrow, and windy roads as well as a very long and sloped tunnel which was only one lane. This meant we had to wait on either side for the green light to go through, which came every 15 minutes. It was so neat as we were waiting... we were surrounded by wicked tall mountains on 3 sides of us... including in front of us, where we needed to go. Emma, being from Hong Kong, and a southern part of England, had never seen proper snow before... these 15 minutes allowed her to make her first snowman. He came with us through the tunnel. Once we were through it was another set of steep and narrow switchback roads which led us right into Milford.
For the day we had booked a cruise down the sound, technically a Fiord, and out into the ocean. All of these fiords (in Fiordland... imagine that) had been carved out by glaciers thousands of years ago. The history was extremely prominent when you looked at the cliffs, the waterfalls, the valleys, and how the rock walls went straight down into the ocean. It hadn't rained there in a day or so, and as a result the waterfalls we apparently not that spectacular. But if those weren't good, I can't imagine what the fully flowing waterfalls look like. What we saw was beautiful enough for me! Some were small and trickled down the rocks, others were MASSIVE and were throwing liters upon liters of water over the edge of a cliff and into the water. Our boat was small enough, and the water was deep enough, that we were actually able to drive the bow of the boat under one of these waterfalls. Big, thick raincoats were available and we all donned them and felt the cold water against our faces.
As well as all of the glacial formations and the flora, we also saw heaps of fauna. When we reached the ocean there was a family? of dolphins which, lucky for us, seemed to be excited to see our boat and they gave us a nice 5 minute show. As well as Dolphins we saw a group of seals all basking in the sun when we were headed back down the sound. It was surreal to see all of these animals in their NATURAL habitat, and not behind glass at the zoo. I think it's how everyone should see these animals... it's so much more breath-taking and I'm very lucky to have seen them this way.
After our cruise we decided to do some of the nature walks on the road back to Te Anau. One was very short but brought us to these amazingly beautiful falls that were created from water carving tons of intricate holes out of the rock. It almost looked like a 40 foot drop of Swiss Cheese. It was incredibly spectacular, and sadly my pictures don't do it ANY sort of justice. The second walk we took was a lot longer, but it brought us through a section of the rain forest and explained the different types of trees. The walk took us to the edge of a small lake, and along the river leading out of the lake. The water, like everywhere else, was SOOO clear! The girls continued down the trail a bit, while I was taking photos of the lake. At this point a few birds decided to fly around and check me out. I tried calling them (like I know how to call birds) and one decided to take some interest in my Red Danskos. He came over, right to my feet, and started pecking away at my shoes. At one point, he even was standing on them. I got millions of pictures, and he didn't seem to be afraid of me as I moved around. I tried to get him to sit on my hand, and I could tell that he wanted to do it, but was slightly apprehensive. Nonetheless, I have a friend in those woods.
When we got back to Te Anau, we had to switch hostels, because the YHA we were staying in the night before was full this night. We moved to a hostel on the main drag which was on the lake in Te Anau. We renamed this hostel, "The Holocaustel." When we booked we were told our room had it's own kitchen and bathroom. This really excited us, until we saw that the kitchen was extremely small, had maybe one pot and pan, a spoon or two, and maybe a plate. Okay, perhaps the supplies weren't that meager... but I'm creating an image. Also, we couldn't get the heater to work for the first 5 hours or so, there was one ladder for the TWO bunk-beds to somehow share, and we weren't too entirely sure when the sheets were last washed. After we had decided that the room could have been similar to a concentration camp, the name was solidified when we noticed a giant decorative Star of David engraved into the cement brick walls. Thus, The Holocaustel.
That night, Lauren, Emma, and I went and did a Glow-worm cave tour. Basically this entailed taking a boat ride across the lake, and then going up into these completely dark caves, and taking a short man-powered boat ride up into a room in the cave where there are TONS of fly larvae which emit a green glow to attract food into their webs. They basically have the same glowing process as a lightning bug. Once in the boat, we had to be completely silent and have no lights on us, as to not scare the glow-worms. It was so incredible to enter the chamber of the cave with the worms. It was basically like looking at a sky of green stars. On the boat ride back to Te Anau, we were on the top deck (very windy and cold) but the stars were too radiant to not enjoy. One of the crew helped us learn how to spot the Southern Cross, which is a constellation that can only be seen in the southern hemisphere. That was the perfect end to the most magnificent day.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Back in Toowoomba
So this post is out of succession from all of the NZ ones, but I figured I would update everyone on being back in Toowoomba. We got back into town late Monday night and arrived to dinner made by Trina, Casey, and Michelle. It was very lovely, and couldn't have come at a better time. This week wasn't too bad. We had two assignments to do for class. Each of which wasn't that challenging at all. Aside from that, we've just been hanging out, playing cards, and eating. I went to the grocery store today and stocked up for the next week or so. It felt good.
We had originally planned to go to Adelaide this weekend, but we were so wiped from New Zealand (which was AMAZING) that we decided not to go. A nice relaxing weekend here in Toombay (as Casey's grandmother calls it) will really hit the spot. However, next weekend we will be going to Melbourne from Thursday to Monday. I'll be spending my 21st Birthday there. Which should be much more exciting than spending it in Toowoomba. Lauren, Stephanie, Steffen, and Alex are going too. We're all very excited, found cheap flights, an even cheaper hostel, and couldn't be more antsy to go.
Aside from that, I think that's about it. I'll try and finish the NZ blogs... but you all know me: I LOVE to procrastinate. They'll be up before I go to Melbourne though. I promise. It will give me something to do this weekend.
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
P.S. Thanks to Michelle and Doug, as well as Memere and Pepere for the Easter cards! It was wonderful to have a pile of mail when I came back from NZ.
P.P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Love you!
We had originally planned to go to Adelaide this weekend, but we were so wiped from New Zealand (which was AMAZING) that we decided not to go. A nice relaxing weekend here in Toombay (as Casey's grandmother calls it) will really hit the spot. However, next weekend we will be going to Melbourne from Thursday to Monday. I'll be spending my 21st Birthday there. Which should be much more exciting than spending it in Toowoomba. Lauren, Stephanie, Steffen, and Alex are going too. We're all very excited, found cheap flights, an even cheaper hostel, and couldn't be more antsy to go.
Aside from that, I think that's about it. I'll try and finish the NZ blogs... but you all know me: I LOVE to procrastinate. They'll be up before I go to Melbourne though. I promise. It will give me something to do this weekend.
Hope all is well!
Miss you all!
P.S. Thanks to Michelle and Doug, as well as Memere and Pepere for the Easter cards! It was wonderful to have a pile of mail when I came back from NZ.
P.P.S HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! Love you!
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Dunedin
After Wanaka we traveled a few hours from the central area of the southern island to the south east corner of the southern island. After many winding roads through sheep pastures and steep mountains, we crested a final hill which brought us down into the ocean side town of Dunedin. All of the buildings seem to be no taller than 3 or 4 stories... with a slightly Spanish feel.
Once we got oriented with the map and where we were (a task that takes us about 15 minutes when we come to every new town) we found our hostel. On the top of, maybe the steepest street I've ever been on. On a related note, the steepest street in the world (according to the Guiness Book) is in Dunedin. It's a big tourist attraction, but we seemed to not make it during our 2 night stay there. Our hostel was a culmination of 3 little houses all within the confines of a big fence. There was a hot-tub and a sauna. Both big draws. We settled in that day and then decided to walk around the town a bit.
The center of town is called "The Octagon." There is one main street that goes through the octagon, and the outside goes around this street in the shape of... yes, you guessed it: an octagon. There are loads of shops, malls, and restaurants around here... so we had a nice afternoon poking around in them. The other big draw in the center of town is the university in Dunedin. I forget the name, but Dunedin is a college town... and that uni brings in a lot of the population for the 2nd biggest city in the southern island.
The next day we decided to do all of the "sight-seey," tourist things. We got in Ellen and drove to the end of the Otago Peninsula. This road was another VERY windy road which on one side, had cliffs which were RIGHT against the road, and on the other... an eight foot DROP into the ocean. It was fine until a giant Toyota Camry decided it wanted to come around one corner half in my lane. For that split second I was very relieved to have the full insurance on our car. Thankfully, we didn't need it. I recovered and I think the other 4 bodies in the car may have thrown up their middle fingers at the other driver. At the end of the peninsula is the home of the Albatross (I forget which type) mating grounds. From what we found out, the Albatross' only land mating areas are in NZ... while they're not mating they fly all around the world from continent to continent. Their wingspan can get to be over a yard wide and they can fly at speeds over 60mph. Unfortunately, the albatross had left about a month before we were there. I read in Whitney Taylor's blog that she has been studying/marking albatross on Tern Island off of Hawaii. They very well could be the same birds... but she would know more about whether or not they are.
There is an Albatross information center, obviously complete with a gift shop, at the end of the peninsula where we learned some of this information. After we looked around a bit, we walked down the steep trail to she shore where we were told we might see some seals. We were not disappointed. Right there, in the ocean, not in a pool at the zoo, were about 15 seals swimming around and basking on the rocks. It was my first experience, in nature, with an animal I usually see in the zoo... and it was so amazing!
After we took numerous photos of the seals we took the only other road back towards Dunedin... the road on TOP of those cliffs I mentioned before. So the same windy roads, but with a 400ft drop this time. The views, however, made up for this death defying drive. The mountains all run straight down into these beautiful blue/teal/aquamarine waters. We were told at the albatross building that we might have a chance to see a penguin if we went to a certain beach half way towards town. So we traveled to the parking area, and started the hike down the sand dunes towards the beach. It was a steep hike on the way back, but very fun to run down barefoot. Once we were on the beach, we were happily surprised to see about 10 Sealions laying on the sand together. They were spread out in groups of 2 or 3 throughout the beach. At the end of the beach, near some cliffs with rocks at the bottom, there was a trail that lead up to the top of a bluff where some hiding places were stationed. These were basically wooden sheds with little windows to watch the penguin habitat from. The purpose for these is to keep the penguins from seeing humans, so they don't get scared, and leave the habitat. We sat in the "blind" for almost 30 minutes with no sign of a penguin... until we realized that what we thought was a rock, was actually a penguin sitting on the side of the hill. Perhaps sitting on an egg or nest or something. But without a pair of binoculars, there was no way of knowing. After we had taken enough photos on full zoom, that still didn't show much of a penguin, we walked back up the beach towards the car. A few of the Sealions had started to spar with each other. It was rather cool, but I was slightly afraid because I didn't know how close we should get, and blah blah blah. But we made it by safely, got to the car, and went back to the hostel.
That night we took a tour of the Speight's Brewery. Which is right down the street from our hostel. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and very funny. The brewery gets all of their water for the beer from a spring that is directly below their brewery. They have been brewing, and using this spring water for over 100 years. They also use a special type of gravity fed brewing that I think is only used by a few breweries in the world. Most of the copper brewing equipment is around 60-80 years old, and it was very historical. It turns out that Speight's is the Pride of the South for over 100 years (their motto.) At the end of the tour we were able to go to one of the 7 bars in the brewery (there's one on every floor for the employees.) At the bar we were able to pour our own beer, and sample all of their 6 flavors. There was also no limit, and it seemed that throwing a beer down the sink wasn't a waste at all.
Rain came hard that night, so we stayed in the hostel and played some games. The next day we got in the car for a 4 hour drive to Te Anau.
Once we got oriented with the map and where we were (a task that takes us about 15 minutes when we come to every new town) we found our hostel. On the top of, maybe the steepest street I've ever been on. On a related note, the steepest street in the world (according to the Guiness Book) is in Dunedin. It's a big tourist attraction, but we seemed to not make it during our 2 night stay there. Our hostel was a culmination of 3 little houses all within the confines of a big fence. There was a hot-tub and a sauna. Both big draws. We settled in that day and then decided to walk around the town a bit.
The center of town is called "The Octagon." There is one main street that goes through the octagon, and the outside goes around this street in the shape of... yes, you guessed it: an octagon. There are loads of shops, malls, and restaurants around here... so we had a nice afternoon poking around in them. The other big draw in the center of town is the university in Dunedin. I forget the name, but Dunedin is a college town... and that uni brings in a lot of the population for the 2nd biggest city in the southern island.
The next day we decided to do all of the "sight-seey," tourist things. We got in Ellen and drove to the end of the Otago Peninsula. This road was another VERY windy road which on one side, had cliffs which were RIGHT against the road, and on the other... an eight foot DROP into the ocean. It was fine until a giant Toyota Camry decided it wanted to come around one corner half in my lane. For that split second I was very relieved to have the full insurance on our car. Thankfully, we didn't need it. I recovered and I think the other 4 bodies in the car may have thrown up their middle fingers at the other driver. At the end of the peninsula is the home of the Albatross (I forget which type) mating grounds. From what we found out, the Albatross' only land mating areas are in NZ... while they're not mating they fly all around the world from continent to continent. Their wingspan can get to be over a yard wide and they can fly at speeds over 60mph. Unfortunately, the albatross had left about a month before we were there. I read in Whitney Taylor's blog that she has been studying/marking albatross on Tern Island off of Hawaii. They very well could be the same birds... but she would know more about whether or not they are.
There is an Albatross information center, obviously complete with a gift shop, at the end of the peninsula where we learned some of this information. After we looked around a bit, we walked down the steep trail to she shore where we were told we might see some seals. We were not disappointed. Right there, in the ocean, not in a pool at the zoo, were about 15 seals swimming around and basking on the rocks. It was my first experience, in nature, with an animal I usually see in the zoo... and it was so amazing!
After we took numerous photos of the seals we took the only other road back towards Dunedin... the road on TOP of those cliffs I mentioned before. So the same windy roads, but with a 400ft drop this time. The views, however, made up for this death defying drive. The mountains all run straight down into these beautiful blue/teal/aquamarine waters. We were told at the albatross building that we might have a chance to see a penguin if we went to a certain beach half way towards town. So we traveled to the parking area, and started the hike down the sand dunes towards the beach. It was a steep hike on the way back, but very fun to run down barefoot. Once we were on the beach, we were happily surprised to see about 10 Sealions laying on the sand together. They were spread out in groups of 2 or 3 throughout the beach. At the end of the beach, near some cliffs with rocks at the bottom, there was a trail that lead up to the top of a bluff where some hiding places were stationed. These were basically wooden sheds with little windows to watch the penguin habitat from. The purpose for these is to keep the penguins from seeing humans, so they don't get scared, and leave the habitat. We sat in the "blind" for almost 30 minutes with no sign of a penguin... until we realized that what we thought was a rock, was actually a penguin sitting on the side of the hill. Perhaps sitting on an egg or nest or something. But without a pair of binoculars, there was no way of knowing. After we had taken enough photos on full zoom, that still didn't show much of a penguin, we walked back up the beach towards the car. A few of the Sealions had started to spar with each other. It was rather cool, but I was slightly afraid because I didn't know how close we should get, and blah blah blah. But we made it by safely, got to the car, and went back to the hostel.
That night we took a tour of the Speight's Brewery. Which is right down the street from our hostel. The tour guide was extremely knowledgeable, and very funny. The brewery gets all of their water for the beer from a spring that is directly below their brewery. They have been brewing, and using this spring water for over 100 years. They also use a special type of gravity fed brewing that I think is only used by a few breweries in the world. Most of the copper brewing equipment is around 60-80 years old, and it was very historical. It turns out that Speight's is the Pride of the South for over 100 years (their motto.) At the end of the tour we were able to go to one of the 7 bars in the brewery (there's one on every floor for the employees.) At the bar we were able to pour our own beer, and sample all of their 6 flavors. There was also no limit, and it seemed that throwing a beer down the sink wasn't a waste at all.
Rain came hard that night, so we stayed in the hostel and played some games. The next day we got in the car for a 4 hour drive to Te Anau.
Wanaka
We have free, UNLIMITED internet in the hostel we're staying in tonight... so I decided to make good use of it and update the blog a bit.
When I last left off we had left Mt. Cook and we were on our way to Wanaka. Wanaka is a very tiny town right on the lake... lake Wanaka. Imagine that. It's a very quaint town with a very friendly feel. The hostel we stayed in had a very nice garden with picnic tables which I used for a meal or two as well as some journaling. During our day there we decided to go kayaking for a bit on the lake. While it was pretty cold, and we got pretty wet, it provided for some amazing views of the mountains. The mountains here are so tall and so steep, and they all tend to plunge deep into a lake, ocean, or river of some sort.
After kayaking we went to a place called Puzzling World. Basically it was like a corn maze. There was a huge maze with towers in each corner (4) and the object was to find your way to each tower... in order. I think it took us about an hour or so. Some people finished before others... but those people also didn't find the towers in the correct order. Cheaters. Needless to say, that after all that walking, about 6km the place estimates, we were quite hungry.
Luckily, there was a BBQ on the green put on by the local christian churches in Wanaka. Now, the food was free... but we also were preached to a little. A small price to pay for free food. The sausages hit the spot and paved the way for a night of indulging in junk food. There is a terrific little movie theater in Wanaka that plays up to date (for Australia and New Zealand) movies 3-4 times per day. The theater is different though because in the actual theater there aren't rows of chairs... there are about 25 old comfy couches all mashed together. There is also an old VW Bug with the top off the you can sit in to watch the movie. It was very much like the drive-in. The feeling was laid back, you could spread out on the couches, and when the reel broke the owner stuck his head out from the projection room and told us it wouldn't be much longer. At intermission... yes, intermission... everyone goes back out to the lobby to buy homemade, still warm, cookies that are as big as your face. Popcorn, dinners, and wine are also available. I got popcorn and asked for butter to be put on it. The kid behind the counter had a confused look on his face and asked his boss if that was ok... she paused for a minute and said "Yeah, we can do that." About five minutes later she came back out with my popcorn with butter spread on it. Butter that she had to melt on the stove. Special. For me. We've been joking since we've been in Toowoomba that we are fat Americans because we always bake and we eat chips and things frequently. We've even converted our German roommate Steffen into a Fat American. But that night... I was a fat american.
Wanaka was a fabulous little town with such a feel of community. The man who rented us our kayaks (who also told us the lifestory of more than one of the townsfolk) also worked at the movie theater. Wanaka seems like a town where I could see myself living later in life. Everyone knows and cares for everyone else in the town, there are beautiful views, and it has a nice laid back feel.
On to Dunedin.
Miss you all!
When I last left off we had left Mt. Cook and we were on our way to Wanaka. Wanaka is a very tiny town right on the lake... lake Wanaka. Imagine that. It's a very quaint town with a very friendly feel. The hostel we stayed in had a very nice garden with picnic tables which I used for a meal or two as well as some journaling. During our day there we decided to go kayaking for a bit on the lake. While it was pretty cold, and we got pretty wet, it provided for some amazing views of the mountains. The mountains here are so tall and so steep, and they all tend to plunge deep into a lake, ocean, or river of some sort.
After kayaking we went to a place called Puzzling World. Basically it was like a corn maze. There was a huge maze with towers in each corner (4) and the object was to find your way to each tower... in order. I think it took us about an hour or so. Some people finished before others... but those people also didn't find the towers in the correct order. Cheaters. Needless to say, that after all that walking, about 6km the place estimates, we were quite hungry.
Luckily, there was a BBQ on the green put on by the local christian churches in Wanaka. Now, the food was free... but we also were preached to a little. A small price to pay for free food. The sausages hit the spot and paved the way for a night of indulging in junk food. There is a terrific little movie theater in Wanaka that plays up to date (for Australia and New Zealand) movies 3-4 times per day. The theater is different though because in the actual theater there aren't rows of chairs... there are about 25 old comfy couches all mashed together. There is also an old VW Bug with the top off the you can sit in to watch the movie. It was very much like the drive-in. The feeling was laid back, you could spread out on the couches, and when the reel broke the owner stuck his head out from the projection room and told us it wouldn't be much longer. At intermission... yes, intermission... everyone goes back out to the lobby to buy homemade, still warm, cookies that are as big as your face. Popcorn, dinners, and wine are also available. I got popcorn and asked for butter to be put on it. The kid behind the counter had a confused look on his face and asked his boss if that was ok... she paused for a minute and said "Yeah, we can do that." About five minutes later she came back out with my popcorn with butter spread on it. Butter that she had to melt on the stove. Special. For me. We've been joking since we've been in Toowoomba that we are fat Americans because we always bake and we eat chips and things frequently. We've even converted our German roommate Steffen into a Fat American. But that night... I was a fat american.
Wanaka was a fabulous little town with such a feel of community. The man who rented us our kayaks (who also told us the lifestory of more than one of the townsfolk) also worked at the movie theater. Wanaka seems like a town where I could see myself living later in life. Everyone knows and cares for everyone else in the town, there are beautiful views, and it has a nice laid back feel.
On to Dunedin.
Miss you all!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Mt. Cook
So I am still LOVING and having the most amazing time in New Zealand. I'm going to do a bunch of posts: one for every place we've been. I think it'll make reading easier and it will also help me compartmentalize the trip... if that makes any sense.
So Mt. Cook:
We took off from the airport in Christchurch in our rental car... a 2000 Nissan Primara Wagon. We named her Ellen. I took the wheel, and driving on the left proved to not be that difficult. Actually, by now I don't even have to remind myself of things like "little left, big right" or "stay left." It's all second nature. Although, when I go to change the volume on the radio my right arm instinctively thrusts straight into the door. I may have bruises...
After about 6 hours in the car driving through wine country, HUGE mountains (much like Colorado), and beautiful green hillsides, we made it to Mt. Cook. The views here were absolutely stunning. I have no way of doing them justice. Not with my descriptions, and not with my photos either. It's just too beautiful for anything to capture it.
The road to Mt.Cook just goes to Mt. Cook. It is 50km long and ends in Mt. Cook. The Village in Mt. Cook is basically just a 5-Star hotel, a cheaper motel, a cafe, and our hostel, and a gas station with gas 2X as much as everywhere else. There also appeared to be a school... but I can't believe that anyone actually lives in that town. Although, the nearest town is 40 minutes away, so that is probably why they have to have a school. We weren't really sure what to expect from the town, but once we got there we realized that we would probably be spending the evenings playing boardgames in our hostel. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. The drive was so exhausting that we passed out early the first night.
The next day we thought about what we wanted to do for the day. There were heaps of options: half and full day guided hikes up the glacier and Mt. Cook, some self guided short hikes, helicopter/plane rides over the glacier, kayaking in the glacier lakes, and even an AUTHENTIC Lord of the Rings tour/sightseeing adventure (I'm not even kidding, these are EVERYWHERE.)
We settled on a short day hike which we did in the afternoon (our alarm was still set on Australian time... so we got up 3 hours late. whoops.) We hiked up Hooker Valley and towards Mt. Cook. We didn't gain much elevation, but we did get some incredible views of the mountain peak. At the end of the trail was the base of the glacier as well as the lake from it's melting. There were huge chunks of ice floating in the water and it was SUPER windy. We hid behind a rock to have lunch, and then hiked back down. It was happy hour at the cafe when we got back, so we enjoyed some New Zealand beer called Speight's (you'll hear more about this in the Dunedin post.)
That night was again a lazy night... we played boardgames at the hostel and went to bed early. The next morning we got up and did our drive to Wanaka.
I'll try and update some more of these soon... but internet isn't terribly cheap here, so I have to ration myself. Pictures probably won't be posted until we're back in Australia... but we'll see. I should take advantage of not having a cap on how much data I can transfer.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
So Mt. Cook:
We took off from the airport in Christchurch in our rental car... a 2000 Nissan Primara Wagon. We named her Ellen. I took the wheel, and driving on the left proved to not be that difficult. Actually, by now I don't even have to remind myself of things like "little left, big right" or "stay left." It's all second nature. Although, when I go to change the volume on the radio my right arm instinctively thrusts straight into the door. I may have bruises...
After about 6 hours in the car driving through wine country, HUGE mountains (much like Colorado), and beautiful green hillsides, we made it to Mt. Cook. The views here were absolutely stunning. I have no way of doing them justice. Not with my descriptions, and not with my photos either. It's just too beautiful for anything to capture it.
The road to Mt.Cook just goes to Mt. Cook. It is 50km long and ends in Mt. Cook. The Village in Mt. Cook is basically just a 5-Star hotel, a cheaper motel, a cafe, and our hostel, and a gas station with gas 2X as much as everywhere else. There also appeared to be a school... but I can't believe that anyone actually lives in that town. Although, the nearest town is 40 minutes away, so that is probably why they have to have a school. We weren't really sure what to expect from the town, but once we got there we realized that we would probably be spending the evenings playing boardgames in our hostel. Which turned out to be a lot of fun. The drive was so exhausting that we passed out early the first night.
The next day we thought about what we wanted to do for the day. There were heaps of options: half and full day guided hikes up the glacier and Mt. Cook, some self guided short hikes, helicopter/plane rides over the glacier, kayaking in the glacier lakes, and even an AUTHENTIC Lord of the Rings tour/sightseeing adventure (I'm not even kidding, these are EVERYWHERE.)
We settled on a short day hike which we did in the afternoon (our alarm was still set on Australian time... so we got up 3 hours late. whoops.) We hiked up Hooker Valley and towards Mt. Cook. We didn't gain much elevation, but we did get some incredible views of the mountain peak. At the end of the trail was the base of the glacier as well as the lake from it's melting. There were huge chunks of ice floating in the water and it was SUPER windy. We hid behind a rock to have lunch, and then hiked back down. It was happy hour at the cafe when we got back, so we enjoyed some New Zealand beer called Speight's (you'll hear more about this in the Dunedin post.)
That night was again a lazy night... we played boardgames at the hostel and went to bed early. The next morning we got up and did our drive to Wanaka.
I'll try and update some more of these soon... but internet isn't terribly cheap here, so I have to ration myself. Pictures probably won't be posted until we're back in Australia... but we'll see. I should take advantage of not having a cap on how much data I can transfer.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
New Zealand
We landed perfectly in New Zealand. Sadly, it was dark when we landed so we couldn't see any of the beauty. However, when we wake up bright and early in the morning at our terrific accommodation... the arcade in the international terminal, we will go pick up the car and start our adventure. We have all of our bags stashed away, we have makeshift beds, we had a splendid dinner from the vending machine, and the last incoming flight came about an hour ago, so it has quieted down some. We bought some "supplies" at the duty free and will probably make use of them to enjoy the night more.
Here are some pictures of our set up.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
The Toowoomba Show and Brisbane
The Toowoomba Show... Oh boy. Now I'm sure you've all been to a state fair, the Tunbridge Fair being a good example of one of those... so take the greasy food, the rides, the games, the animals, and the "less than clean" people and multiply it all by 3. That is the Toowoomba Show. Lauren and I hopped into a cab and went to the Toowoommba Show for the night last week. It was a fun night filled with lots of tasty, yet artery clogging food, walking through animal barns, people watching, and sitting and watching "The Biggest Fireworks Show Toowoomba has ever seen." This fireworks, or sparkler, show clearly didn't surprise me that it was the biggest Toowoomba had ever seen. It was weird how they did it... there were 3 rounds of fireworks, each lasting roughly ten minutes. Each one slightly better than the first. By the third round they were some decent fireworks... but they were definitely on the "Toowoomba Level." The one really interesting thing about the Toowoomba Show is that it is a town Holiday. So on Thursday (the day the show starts) practically everyone in town has the day off. This of course means that the bus doesn't run. Obviously. All in all... it was a really fun night. I'm glad I went. There will be some pictures coming.
Brisbane was really fun! The excitement started off Friday morning when Casey and Michelle came back from downtown Toowoomba with our RENTAL CARRRR! I was like a kid in a candy shop. Finally we had a car that was our own. No schedules of when the bus left, no Toowoomba Transit, and no taxi. It was perfect! Casey let me take a spin in our compact car around the student village. While pulling out of our driveway onto the street I turned the wipers on while trying to use the turn signal, and I pulled into the right side of the road... WHOOPS! The wiper and turn signal/headlights are are on the opposite sides of the steering wheel. After we finished packing our clothes and our food for the next two days we climbed in, selected a good radio station and proceeded on our way to Brisbane. Obviously we got lost in Toowoomba on the way out... you can't leave! But eventually we got on the highway heading east. We had the windows down, the music blaring, and we were free! Casey did a BEAUTIFUL job driving. Never once was he on the wrong side of the road or anything like that. Although I think the wiper instead of blinker tally was up to 6 by the time we got back to The Village.
In Brisbane we did a lot of walking around, some shopping, we went out to dinner, and then to some clubs. Lauren and I went on a massive ferris wheel that provided great views of the city... much like the London Eye in London. It was a great way to see the sights! We called it an early night though, because we wanted to get up early to make the most out of Saturday. On Saturday morning we remembered that there was a concert in downtown Brisbane promoting safe decisions for teenage youth. The host of VideoHits (Australian MTV) was there as well as the personalities from the local radio station. There were three bands that performed (we saw the last two) and they were pretty good. The first was a singer named Bob Evans, he was very good! The second was a band called The Butterfly Effect. They're apparently a famous band in Australia? The fame of all of these people was lost on us.
After the concerts we decided to cross the river and go to the man made beach that Brisbane has. Thankfully, this beach is not on the river... as it is a gross shade of brown. Instead, there are 2 man made pools with chlorinated water surrounded with beautiful white sand. It was so fun... we sat there for the afternoon until a MASSIVE rain shower came out of nowhere and soaked us. We hid out in the bathrooms until the rain passed. Once the sun came back out we remembered that there was a market (regarded highly in our travel books) right behind the beaches... so we did some looking and walking until it was time to leave. Like always, getting back into that car to head back to Toowoomba wasn't high on our list of things to do. But it had to be done.
Once back in Toowoomba we basically drove around all night. We loved our car so much that we didn't want to do anything without it. Sunday morning we took the car to a HUGE farmer's market downtown with INSANELY cheap fruits and vegetables. Yes, I even bought some. After that it was a rush to bring the car back and continue our slow lives in the Village.
Pictures from Brisbane will be coming soon.
New Zealand is coming right up - THURSDAY! I can't wait at all! I'm glad I was able to be the passenger in the car in Brisbane with a good driver, because I think it will be good practice for my driving in New Zealand.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Brisbane was really fun! The excitement started off Friday morning when Casey and Michelle came back from downtown Toowoomba with our RENTAL CARRRR! I was like a kid in a candy shop. Finally we had a car that was our own. No schedules of when the bus left, no Toowoomba Transit, and no taxi. It was perfect! Casey let me take a spin in our compact car around the student village. While pulling out of our driveway onto the street I turned the wipers on while trying to use the turn signal, and I pulled into the right side of the road... WHOOPS! The wiper and turn signal/headlights are are on the opposite sides of the steering wheel. After we finished packing our clothes and our food for the next two days we climbed in, selected a good radio station and proceeded on our way to Brisbane. Obviously we got lost in Toowoomba on the way out... you can't leave! But eventually we got on the highway heading east. We had the windows down, the music blaring, and we were free! Casey did a BEAUTIFUL job driving. Never once was he on the wrong side of the road or anything like that. Although I think the wiper instead of blinker tally was up to 6 by the time we got back to The Village.
In Brisbane we did a lot of walking around, some shopping, we went out to dinner, and then to some clubs. Lauren and I went on a massive ferris wheel that provided great views of the city... much like the London Eye in London. It was a great way to see the sights! We called it an early night though, because we wanted to get up early to make the most out of Saturday. On Saturday morning we remembered that there was a concert in downtown Brisbane promoting safe decisions for teenage youth. The host of VideoHits (Australian MTV) was there as well as the personalities from the local radio station. There were three bands that performed (we saw the last two) and they were pretty good. The first was a singer named Bob Evans, he was very good! The second was a band called The Butterfly Effect. They're apparently a famous band in Australia? The fame of all of these people was lost on us.
After the concerts we decided to cross the river and go to the man made beach that Brisbane has. Thankfully, this beach is not on the river... as it is a gross shade of brown. Instead, there are 2 man made pools with chlorinated water surrounded with beautiful white sand. It was so fun... we sat there for the afternoon until a MASSIVE rain shower came out of nowhere and soaked us. We hid out in the bathrooms until the rain passed. Once the sun came back out we remembered that there was a market (regarded highly in our travel books) right behind the beaches... so we did some looking and walking until it was time to leave. Like always, getting back into that car to head back to Toowoomba wasn't high on our list of things to do. But it had to be done.
Once back in Toowoomba we basically drove around all night. We loved our car so much that we didn't want to do anything without it. Sunday morning we took the car to a HUGE farmer's market downtown with INSANELY cheap fruits and vegetables. Yes, I even bought some. After that it was a rush to bring the car back and continue our slow lives in the Village.
Pictures from Brisbane will be coming soon.
New Zealand is coming right up - THURSDAY! I can't wait at all! I'm glad I was able to be the passenger in the car in Brisbane with a good driver, because I think it will be good practice for my driving in New Zealand.
Hope all is well at home!
Miss you all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)