NEW ZEALAND
03 May 2007
I took the flight to Christchurch from Melbourne Airport yesterday. The flight itself wasn’t all that great. There was like 9 of us that went here at the same time, so we were all talking and stuff on the flight and taking the busses together and all that. 3 of us played cards for half of the trip there (I didn’t realize that New Zealand was so far away from Australia), specifically a game called Asshole. We got to New Zealand at 11:30pm local time (9:30) and then got to the hostel at around 12:30 or so.
K I’m in the car waiting for some friends to come back... Anyway, we got to the hostel at around 12:30 and basically went straight to bed. I woke up at 8 and picked up a car at 8:30 and then got food at McDonalds. We started driving toward Mt. Cook, which is the location of our 2nd hostel.. But we actually ran into a small problem..
So we got 3 cars, one’s being driven by myself, one by a girl named Erin (nickname Evozz) and the last by a guy named Nick. So we’re driving along and Nick is in front. We get to a light and he’s looking at a map to see where we’re going. And then all of a sudden, he (by mistake) let go of the break and his car basically lurched forward into another car, which then went into a third car. This is at 11am so basically we’ve been here since 11 working on the police reports and everything like that. :-( Everyone’s okay though, which is all that matters in the end. Nick had to bring his car back to the car rental place, and hopefully he’ll get another so we can still drive along here. I don’t have that many pictures yet, but I’m working on it. I also hope to find some nice New Zealand-ish jewelry (necklace or something like that) for myself.
Ok so we’re at our hostel in Mt. Cook. I just have to say that this place looks AMAZING. It was really dark out when we got here so I wasn’t able to get any good pictures, but I'll be taking some in the morning. It’s just spectacular here! Tomorrow I think we’re going hiking and then heading to Queenstown for a few days.
04 May 2007
Hey from Queenstown. We woke up this morning and took a tons of pictures of the mountains and surrounding area in Mt. Cook. It was AMAZING to say the least. I have a lot of pictures that I’m going to put online and then post links. We hiked afterwards and passed the “Blue Lakes” also known as the “Green Puddles” because that’s all they were. We then climbed a bunch of rocks and saw some “glaciers” even though they were really just rocks with ice on them. But they were really picture-esque and beautiful. We then drove for a long time to Queenstown and we just checked into the hostel.
05 May 2007
OMG today has been amazing!!! And it’s only 3pm. So last night we went to dinner and then just hung out for a bit to chat and everything. We then went to bed for the night. Today, 4 of us went to this thing known as a canyon swing. http://www.canyonswing.co.nz to find out about it. It was AMAZING!!! Basically, we jump off a platform into a canyon and do 60m of freefall. Let’s just say that it was so sweet. I put some pictures onto my facebook and I need to upload my movies later (probably when I get home). That was definitely one of the most exciting things that I have done in my life! I also went souvenir shopping for some things. I got stuff for my parents and for myself.
06 May 2007
Today actually wasn’t that exciting over-all. This morning I went with 3 others to a breakfast place and then we went onto a gondola in Queenstown which had an amazing view. At the top, we actually did some luge rides which was really fun. Basically, we sped down these tracks as fast as we could, trying not to break at all. It was so funny because I thought I was going to flip the luge thing over multiple times each run. It was fun overall.
The afternoon was kind of boring. Half of the group went to Te Anau in order to do sea kayaking tomorrow morning. The other 5 of us stayed back and just chilled for a while. We walked around Queenstown for a bit and didn’t really do anything overly special.
At night, we played some 5-person asshole and then went to a place called “Minus 5 Ice Bar” which is basically a place with only ice. When you pay the cover charge, you get gloves and parkas in order to not freeze half to death in there. And then from there, you walk into this huge igloo thing. There are lots of ice sculptures and things of that nature. We each got 2 drinks there (which were made in ice glasses, by the way... And we got to break the glass afterwards) and just took lots of pictures and had plenty of fun. The only downside is that you can only be in there for half an hour, but it’s still worth it.
After, we just came back and I tried to call you and then we watched about 1/4th of a movie and then went to sleep. So all-in-all, an alright day (not as fun as canyon swing). More tomorrow!
07 May 2007
Today in general was a really boring day and I feel really bad for saying it. 3 of the 5 of us went to do something known as “Fly By Wire” and I tried to do it, but they were booked (booo) so myself and the other guy (Ben) just walked around and looked in shops. I sent my mom a card for mother’s day and that’s about the excitement from that.
In the afternoon, we drove to Te Anau from Queenstown and then sat around in the hostel watching movies and stuff. I feel really bad though, because I broke my camera so I can’t take anymore pictures :-( I have to get it fixed in the States :-\ oh well. I’m getting pictures from friends of mine because I can’t take them myself.
That’s about it. I believe we’re going to hike for a few hours and then drive to Dunedin (or however you spell it) tomorrow.. And then the last day is PURE driving to Christchurch.
08 May 2007
Today was nothing too special really. We woke up and went to a beach and skipped rocks for an hour or so. And then we drove from Te Anau to Dunedin which is where we’re staying tonight. Once we checked into the hostel, we went to this AMAZING dinner place called The Terrace. It was so good. I got a beef fillet on a stone grill.. And basically, they bring out raw meat for you to cook on this 400 degree stone block. I cooked mine very rare and it was TASTY :-) I’m not sure what we’re doing tonight, but if it’s nothing, I’m just gonna end up going out and randomly looking for places tonight because this place is a big city and we’re not here for long.
Tomorrow’s going to suck though, because we have to drive all the way back to Christchurch and then we’re camping out in the airport until our flights back. I hope to write some more later tonight about what exactly I end up doing tonight. :-)
Haha so apparently, no one ever goes out on Tuesday nights here. We all walked around for like 30 minutes trying to find a semi-decent bar and we didn’t find anything. So now I’m just sitting here waiting to watch a movie.
09 May 2007
Basically my last day here :-( I’m so sad that I have to go.. But excited to go back to Australia. I wore my Australia Cricket World Cup shirt all of today :-D hehe anyway. Basically, all we did was a WHOLE bunch of driving. We left Dunedin at like 10am and drove to Christchurch.. It’s now around 7pm and we just got back and settled down and everything.
Anyway, I’m not sure exactly what else to talk about with this. I am staying at the airport tonight with everyone because we have to check in for our flight at like 3 or 4am (ewww)
I took the flight to Christchurch from Melbourne Airport yesterday. The flight itself wasn’t all that great. There was like 9 of us that went here at the same time, so we were all talking and stuff on the flight and taking the busses together and all that. 3 of us played cards for half of the trip there (I didn’t realize that New Zealand was so far away from Australia), specifically a game called Asshole. We got to New Zealand at 11:30pm local time (9:30) and then got to the hostel at around 12:30 or so.
K I’m in the car waiting for some friends to come back... Anyway, we got to the hostel at around 12:30 and basically went straight to bed. I woke up at 8 and picked up a car at 8:30 and then got food at McDonalds. We started driving toward Mt. Cook, which is the location of our 2nd hostel.. But we actually ran into a small problem..
So we got 3 cars, one’s being driven by myself, one by a girl named Erin (nickname Evozz) and the last by a guy named Nick. So we’re driving along and Nick is in front. We get to a light and he’s looking at a map to see where we’re going. And then all of a sudden, he (by mistake) let go of the break and his car basically lurched forward into another car, which then went into a third car. This is at 11am so basically we’ve been here since 11 working on the police reports and everything like that. :-( Everyone’s okay though, which is all that matters in the end. Nick had to bring his car back to the car rental place, and hopefully he’ll get another so we can still drive along here. I don’t have that many pictures yet, but I’m working on it. I also hope to find some nice New Zealand-ish jewelry (necklace or something like that) for myself.
Ok so we’re at our hostel in Mt. Cook. I just have to say that this place looks AMAZING. It was really dark out when we got here so I wasn’t able to get any good pictures, but I'll be taking some in the morning. It’s just spectacular here! Tomorrow I think we’re going hiking and then heading to Queenstown for a few days.
04 May 2007
Hey from Queenstown. We woke up this morning and took a tons of pictures of the mountains and surrounding area in Mt. Cook. It was AMAZING to say the least. I have a lot of pictures that I’m going to put online and then post links. We hiked afterwards and passed the “Blue Lakes” also known as the “Green Puddles” because that’s all they were. We then climbed a bunch of rocks and saw some “glaciers” even though they were really just rocks with ice on them. But they were really picture-esque and beautiful. We then drove for a long time to Queenstown and we just checked into the hostel.
05 May 2007
OMG today has been amazing!!! And it’s only 3pm. So last night we went to dinner and then just hung out for a bit to chat and everything. We then went to bed for the night. Today, 4 of us went to this thing known as a canyon swing. http://www.canyonswing.co.nz to find out about it. It was AMAZING!!! Basically, we jump off a platform into a canyon and do 60m of freefall. Let’s just say that it was so sweet. I put some pictures onto my facebook and I need to upload my movies later (probably when I get home). That was definitely one of the most exciting things that I have done in my life! I also went souvenir shopping for some things. I got stuff for my parents and for myself.
06 May 2007
Today actually wasn’t that exciting over-all. This morning I went with 3 others to a breakfast place and then we went onto a gondola in Queenstown which had an amazing view. At the top, we actually did some luge rides which was really fun. Basically, we sped down these tracks as fast as we could, trying not to break at all. It was so funny because I thought I was going to flip the luge thing over multiple times each run. It was fun overall.
The afternoon was kind of boring. Half of the group went to Te Anau in order to do sea kayaking tomorrow morning. The other 5 of us stayed back and just chilled for a while. We walked around Queenstown for a bit and didn’t really do anything overly special.
At night, we played some 5-person asshole and then went to a place called “Minus 5 Ice Bar” which is basically a place with only ice. When you pay the cover charge, you get gloves and parkas in order to not freeze half to death in there. And then from there, you walk into this huge igloo thing. There are lots of ice sculptures and things of that nature. We each got 2 drinks there (which were made in ice glasses, by the way... And we got to break the glass afterwards) and just took lots of pictures and had plenty of fun. The only downside is that you can only be in there for half an hour, but it’s still worth it.
After, we just came back and I tried to call you and then we watched about 1/4th of a movie and then went to sleep. So all-in-all, an alright day (not as fun as canyon swing). More tomorrow!
07 May 2007
Today in general was a really boring day and I feel really bad for saying it. 3 of the 5 of us went to do something known as “Fly By Wire” and I tried to do it, but they were booked (booo) so myself and the other guy (Ben) just walked around and looked in shops. I sent my mom a card for mother’s day and that’s about the excitement from that.
In the afternoon, we drove to Te Anau from Queenstown and then sat around in the hostel watching movies and stuff. I feel really bad though, because I broke my camera so I can’t take anymore pictures :-( I have to get it fixed in the States :-\ oh well. I’m getting pictures from friends of mine because I can’t take them myself.
That’s about it. I believe we’re going to hike for a few hours and then drive to Dunedin (or however you spell it) tomorrow.. And then the last day is PURE driving to Christchurch.
08 May 2007
Today was nothing too special really. We woke up and went to a beach and skipped rocks for an hour or so. And then we drove from Te Anau to Dunedin which is where we’re staying tonight. Once we checked into the hostel, we went to this AMAZING dinner place called The Terrace. It was so good. I got a beef fillet on a stone grill.. And basically, they bring out raw meat for you to cook on this 400 degree stone block. I cooked mine very rare and it was TASTY :-) I’m not sure what we’re doing tonight, but if it’s nothing, I’m just gonna end up going out and randomly looking for places tonight because this place is a big city and we’re not here for long.
Tomorrow’s going to suck though, because we have to drive all the way back to Christchurch and then we’re camping out in the airport until our flights back. I hope to write some more later tonight about what exactly I end up doing tonight. :-)
Haha so apparently, no one ever goes out on Tuesday nights here. We all walked around for like 30 minutes trying to find a semi-decent bar and we didn’t find anything. So now I’m just sitting here waiting to watch a movie.
09 May 2007
Basically my last day here :-( I’m so sad that I have to go.. But excited to go back to Australia. I wore my Australia Cricket World Cup shirt all of today :-D hehe anyway. Basically, all we did was a WHOLE bunch of driving. We left Dunedin at like 10am and drove to Christchurch.. It’s now around 7pm and we just got back and settled down and everything.
Anyway, I’m not sure exactly what else to talk about with this. I am staying at the airport tonight with everyone because we have to check in for our flight at like 3 or 4am (ewww)