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New Zealand—Nov.22nd-Dec.16th
Auckland- The majority of my first week in New Zealand was spent in The City of Sails, Auckland!My week there was a combination of relaxation at the beach, shopping, and touring the beautiful city.I had a great week, met great people and went to some terrific places!
Coromandel-I took a day trip over to Coromandel from Auckland.Coromandel is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, but I pretty much feel that way about everywhere I've been in New Zealand.The ferry ride to the peninsula is a couple of hours each way and incredibly scenic.
Upon arrival we were shuttled into town where we were met by our guide.We were then taken on a train (originally used for acquiring clay to make pottery, Coromandel is home to many of New Zealand's finest artists) all around a mountain for a historical tour.Coromandel is best known for its gold mining to which our next stop was at the oldest running mining station.Gold was discovered in 1852 bringing a boom to the town.We concluded our tour in town with a bit of shopping…lovely day.
Christchurch-The second week spent in New Zealand started in Christchurch after a quick flight from Auckland.Christchurch was the starting point of my fifteen night tour of the north and south islands.After a quick overview about the tour, I spent my first night out to dinner in downtown Christchurch with a great bunch of gals…that will continue to be par for the course because out of the 50 tourees, there are 40 ladies and 10 "men"...to start.
Ohau- Our first official day was spent driving to Lake Ohau.It was quite a long drive but thankfully we don't ever drive longer than a couple of hours at a time without making a stop at a historical town, beach, etc.
After arriving in Ohau, the manager of the place, Pauly, jumped on board and gave us a rundown of the place in "border talk"..shred this and hella that….Ohau, is an awesome skilodge-esque place sitting on a breathtaking beautiful plot of land.Its busy season is the ski season as it's located in the middle of several snow fields.The place had a cozy spot for all…flat screen viewing room, "spas" aka hot tubs, in-lodge bar and restaurant etc.We had a fabulous night, the tone and dancing moves were set for the trip on this very night!
Milford Sound-After Ohau we headed southwest for Milford Sound.Milford Sound is located on the Fiordland National Park where we boarded the Milford Wander for a night on the water.We first took an hour tour around the sea; this was followed by your choice of activity.Myself and ten others opted for sea kayaking on the Tasmanian Sea.Between the Fiordland Penguins, waterfalls, and the scenic location, I'd have to rank this as my best kayaking experience to date!We then had a wonderful dinner prepared for us, followed by an evening cruise!
Queenstown-Queenstown…"The Adrenaline Capitol of the World".Three months into this sabbatical, I can saw without hesitation that if I do not return to Chicago it will be because I'm living in Queenstown (this may change at some point but I'd love to see what would sway me from here!).There is not a single thing I don't like about Queenstown.For the three nights we were in Queenstown we were at a great hotel overlooking Lake Wakapito, and it was game on from the moment we arrived.There is SO much to do in Queenstown its truly insane…canyon swinging, river boarding, jet boating, horseback riding, helicopter rides, rafting, skydiving, luging, bunging (the first bungy was constructed in New Zealand spurring the adrenaline induced activities) and much, much more.
The first afternoon there was spent in Arrowtown at the original bungy sight with eighteen people taking the plunge into the water below…pretty amazing to WATCH—no bungy for me!We quickly checked into the hotel, got ready for a night out and headed into town!Myself and a smaller group o' gals went to an unbelievable pizza joint called Winnies…the food, the ambiance and the setting make it very clear why it's such a famous place.After dinner we sampled the local watering holes which turned out to be quite wonderful too!
My second day in Queenstown was very memorable.I opted to do a full day hike on the Routeburn Track located in the Mt. Aspiring National Park.It was a 20K hike complete with beech forest, beautiful waterfalls, alpine scenery and swing bridge crossings that gave me a small heart attack every time we went over them (which was not helped by our guide, with whom I enjoyed very much, jumping up and down to heighten the experience L).It was a fabulous day followed by a great night.Tonight's dinner was at the hotel and then we were off…first stop was Minus 5, an ice bar, very cool experience to have at least once, everything down to the glass you drink out of was ice!, but after freezing for 45minutes or so it was time shake it! to warm ourselves back up…and shake it we did, our group is not so shy when it comes to getting our dance on!
Day three, d-day for me!I was up and having heart tremors first thing in the morning thinking about voluntarily jumping out of an airplane.However, when we arrived at the air field in the middle of Lake Wakatipu and the Remarkables Mountain Range I became very calm and amazingly remained so until I was done with da dive..I think my lucky sparkly eye shadow and red lipstick helped too!I can't wait for everyone to see my video, it was indescribably awesome and so worth trying at least once…but I'm already ready to do it again!Skydiving was followed with a bit of shopping and poking around Queenstown.For our last night we went to Fergburger, another great local spot and then tore up the town to an inappropriate time of morning but in the process met some great people and had some more fantastic times!Queenstown is phenomenal!!!
Franz Josef-You'd think that after multiple days of hiking mountains, hiking around a hilly town and dancing for hours each night I'd want a bit of a break but NO….we had a few hour bus ride from Queenstown to Fox Glacier where many of us were geared up for a half-day hike on Fox Glacier.
Fox Glacier is 13K's long, and at its peak it's over 10,000 ft.We had a bit over an hour hike up, just over an hour on the ice, and the hike back down and out.Twas crazy to think the day previous I was flying through the sky and today I was on a glacier..It's making my life seem very surreal.
From Fox Glacier we drove into the town of Franz Josef for the night to which the last few months started to catch up with me…I ate dinner and went to bed at about 8:30!
Christchurch-Today we retreated back to Christchurch to drop off people only doing the south island portion of the trip and picking up those who were joining for the north island…we went from 40 girls and 10 boys to 40 girls and 4boys J.We arrived into Christchurch early evening so a few of us went out for sushi and had a quick stop at an English Pub before calling it a night but not before the lovely singer sang me "Sweet Home Chicago!".
Wellington-We had an early start in Christchurch to get us to Picton at the tip of the south island to catch the ferry to the north island.Our first night in Wellington was a rainy Sunday, but our whole group wasn't fazed…we went to dinner as a group, and danced on the tables as a group, good times!Our second day in Wellington was beautiful and spent at museums, the wharf, shopping and other such things.After an eventful evening the night before everyone rested up to head off to Lake Taupo!
Taupo-Lake Taupo is only a few hours drive from Wellington so we had the better part of the afternoon there…some went for adrenaline activities such as ATV's, bungy, skydiving etc. I, however, opted for a long run along the lake, swimming, and a picnic dinner with some of the gals!Wish we would have had more time here but it was a quick stop.
Rotorua-Rotorua is the Maori capitol of New Zealand; the Maori are the original inhabitors of New Zealand.Rotorua is a geo-thermal area…complete with the ever-present stench of sulfurL, on the plus side there are healing muds and spas everywhere.The Maori use the heat from the ground to cook their food.
The morning and early afternoon were spent Zorbing and Luging.The later part of the afternoon was spent out running and spending time on Lake Rotorua.Our evening consisted of a Maori dinner and performance.The Maori performance was one of the most interesting parts of the trip thus far. It was great to learn more about such an interesting culture.
Waitomo-Waitomo is known for its caves filled with glow worms.These glow worms are specific to New Zealand.The Glow worms attach to the rocks in the caves, and drop several string-like sticky lines to catch prey from the river below, the glow attracts the prey.
The first part of my tour led you through the caves itself, which were gorgeous!The second part of my tour took you on a boat tour to see the glow worms in action; it looked like a star filled night underground!
Paihia (The Bay of Islands)-Our last two nights of the tour were spent in ,The Bay of Islands which is located at the top of the North Island and consists of 144 islands.Everyone was starting to feel pretty exhausted at the end of the tour but I managed to get in some kayaking out on the Pacific Ocean as well as some horseback riding.Our last night we all went out for a 'last supper' to say our goodbyes!
If it's not inferred enough through my quick re-cap, New Zealand, is one of the most breathtakingly beautiful places to visit with something for all to enjoy!I can't wait to come back some day but for now I'm very excited to fly home for the holidays!After the holidays it's off to South America…
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