Farm visit and goodbye to Topdeck: Saturday, 8/8

There was a snowstorm last night and it left a gorgeous layer of white!

On our way back to Christchurch today we stopped at the Church of the Good Shepherd, which was built for the farmers in the region a long time ago. It's a pretty famous church and one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand!

Then we stopped at a farm and had morning tea with a farmer and his wife, which was really personal. It was interesting to learn about the farming life, and we got to see the sheep dog herding sheep as well as feed the sheep little snacks. The farm was a blast!

Finally we arrived in Christchurch and said goodbye to our Topdeck friends. Me and Jen are checked into our hotel and have the day tomorrow to explore the city before flying back to the States on Monday. It's been such a good vacation!

Arrowtown Biking: Friday, 8/7

Good news! The rain and snow held off for the morning, so we were able to do our bike ride on the Arrowtown/Queenstown trail this morning! The ride took about an hour and a half, and the trail was beautiful, but we were clippin at a good speed and all of us were definitely out of breath with tired muscles by the end. After the bike ride we hopped on the bus and made our way to Cromwell for lunch, and we also stopped in a nice farmers market! The Cromwell area grows a lot of fruits and vegetables and the region is also famous for its wines. Even though southern New Zealand is close to Antarctica, wine is still successful because they make sure to spray warm water on the grapes, etc. to prevent freezing. 

After lunch it started snowing and we stopped to take pictures with the flakes along our drive! It's so weird to know it's snowing in August, which means it's summer for Christmas and just completely backwards from what I'm used to.

Tonight we're spending our last night together in a lodge at the bottom of a valley near Lake Ohau. The valley was created by a glacier, and Ohau is the Maori word for "wind". So the Haley is normally windy, but we were lucky and the air was pretty calm today! Mount Cook is also in this valley, and if the fog clears then we'll be able to get a good view of it tomorrow. I'm definitely sad that this trip is coming to a close, and I'm looking forward to spending our last night together in the lodge. 

Te Anau and no Milford Sound: Thursday, 8/6

Today was a bit of a bummer because the downpour of rain caused avalanche warnings which in turn closed the only access road to Milford Sound. So Lana and Reece made the best of it by booking us a trip to visit a series of caves instead, which were pretty cool! We got to walk and take a little boat through caves and one of them was full of glow worms so we learned about their life cycle, etc. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take pictures inside the caves so I don't have much to show from that part of the day!

Next we drove through the Fiordlands National Park, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world, but not the best when it's raining. The reflection lake was full of raindrops so it wasn't reflecting the mountains above, and there was dense fog that limited visibility of the mountains and fiords in general.

After driving through the parts of the park that were accessible, we returned to the small town of Te Anau where we're spending the night. We're headed out for a group dinner in a bit which is always fun! Although the rain puts a damper on things, hopefully our bike ride tomorrow will be able to happen as it's our last full day with Topdeck. Prayers for good weather would be really appreciated!

Skiing in Queenstown (Day 2): Wednesday, 8/5

Update: photos from the ice bar last night

Today was so fun! Me and Jen decided to spend our free day skiing with our new friends Javi and Michael. We rented all of our equipment and hopped on a bus to go to the Remarkables ski fields, which were about 50 minutes away. The weather and conditions were absolutely gorgeous. The views were unbelievable, the sun was shining, it wasn't very cold, and the snow was powdery from the snowfall yesterday. The slopes were about the same size and difficulty as Hidden Valley, so I felt at ease even though I haven't been skiing in a few years. Fittingly, when we got back into town and returned our gear we went to the Koko cafe for some fancy hot chocolate. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect ski day! Tonight is our last night in Queenstown and we leave tomorrow to see the famous Milford Sound! I can't believe that there are only 2.5 days left on our tour :(

Queenstown Day 1: Tuesday, 8/4

We're in Queenstown now, which is the adrenaline capital of the world and home to a lot of tourists and short-term residents. This afternoon for lunch we went to the famous Fergburger!! This burger shop accumulates hour-long lines for a gigantic burger and fries, but we ended up getting there at a great time and only waiting about 20 minutes for our food. I can also attest that my Fergburger was delicious and I can see why they're famous!

We napped for a portion of the afternoon and then walked around town doing some shopping as well as getting a happy hour drink. In an hour or so our Topdeck group is going out to dinner, and then we're all headed for the Ice Bar, where you get bundled in huge jackets and sit in a -5 degree Celsius room and have a drink or two. It should be interesting! I'm still loving New Zealand, and tomorrow we may go skiing if the weather permits!

^ view of the snow capped mountains from our hotel room

Fox Glacier: Monday, 8/3

We woke up early to buckets of water pouring down from the clouds as we geared up to hike to the terminal end of Fox Glacier. The company prepared us well for the weather, though, by giving us head to toe rain gear. As we hiked to the glacier, our guide explained how quickly the ice has thawed and frozen, changing size drastically within just a few years. In just 2008, some of the rocky areas that we hiked on today were covered in glacier. Since the weather has been warming, the glacier has retreated and melted back, but it's expected to be back to the size it was in 2008 within the next 10 years. It was really important for us to be with a guide because there is rainfall in the Fox Glacier area 200 days a year, causing many rock avalanches and sometimes gushes of water to break through the glacier. The experts trained as guides kept us together in a big group during dangerous sections of terrain, and I felt very safe overall!

The cool part about being there for the rain was seeing all of the beautiful waterfalls in the canyon area! The rain acts to clean the ice off and also filled some of the streams and waterfalls that aren't active every day.

We then continued on a scenic drive to Queenstown which took about 5 hours (see pictures below), and we'll be here for 3 nights! We're headed out for a group dinner soon and then getting rest before tomorrow's adventures!

Hokitiki: Sunday, 8/2

Today was a huge travel day as we left Christchurch (which is on the east coast of the South Island) to drive all the way to Fox Glacier (on the west cost). Like the past few days, the ride was extremely scenic and time passed quickly as I looked out the window trying to soak in as many views as possible.

For lunch we stopped in a town called Hokitiki, where we got to stop in a museum to see the endangered Kiwi bird! Some things I learned: the Kiwi bird is nocturnal. When we went in to see it, the room was extremely dark so the bird thought it was night time even though it was day (tricky tricky museum). It's also bigger than I thought it would be - about the size of a chicken! Finally, the Kiwi has remarkable similarities to mammals that make it an unusual bird. Like mammals, the female Kiwi has ovaries. It's feathers also resemble more of a fur, and it has bone marrow like a mammal. The Kiwi also doesn't fly, and there are extreme laws about protecting the endangered bird because they often fall victim to family dogs as well as other predators. It was great to check that off of the NZ to-do list!

When we eventually made it to Fox Glacier, it was a bit rainy out and a few of us have been feeling exhausted/sick so we took a short rest in our hotel rooms before playing pool and eating dinner together in the hotel's bar. Tomorrow we hike to the terminal end of Fox Glacier and then drive to the adrenaline capital of the world- Queenstown!

Kaikoura and Christchurch: Saturday, 8/1

We departed Nelson around 7am this morning and stopped at Kaikoura on our way to Christchurch. This is going to sound repetitive from my last post, but the scenery here is ridiculous. It feels like I'm looking at photo-edited mountaintops, beaches, and rolling hills rather than seeing them with my own eyes. In Kaikoura we had fish and chips at the second-best rated place in all of New Zealand! Then we did a peninsula walk to admire more of the views, and along this walk we passed hundreds of seals and baby seal pups. They're so adorable! But it's important to stay at least 10 meters away because seals are surprisingly fast and vicious and can outrun a human, even though that's hard to believe looking at their bodies.

After leaving Kaikoura we arrived in Christchurch; this part of the trip was pretty sombering. In 2010 and 2011, the city was hit by massive earthquakes that eliminated the entire central business district and took hundreds of lives. The earthquakes were completely unexpected because the fault line in the area was previously undiscovered. The city has yet to recover, and there is not much around currently in terms of cityscape. (There was a Deloitte building though, making it the 4th NZ city I've spotted one.) Christchurch isn't expected to be fully rebuilt until 2025. As we passed memorials and the original cathedral in Christchurch, built in the 1800s, in shambles, it was draining on my emotions and overall a pretty big shock. Lana tried to put it into perspective for us by telling us to imagine our own country's second-largest city being destroyed and ripped apart by an unexpected earthquake. What used to be a city full of skyscrapers and life has turned into one of abandoned buildings and construction on its way to rebirth. We only had time to walk around for about an hour before it got dark, but me and Jen return to Christchurch for 2 days before flying back to the States so I will have more to talk about after that! Tomorrow we leave for Fox Glacier!

Abel Tasman National Park: Friday, 7/31

Any nature junkie needs to make it to New Zealand because the amount of seemingly untouched, beautiful land here is insane. Breathtaking.

Today almost all of us on the Topdeck trip decided to go kayaking and hiking in Abel Tasman National Park. The day started off pretty cold when we woke up and took a bus to the park, but by the time we hopped in our 2-person kayaks it was gorgeous and sunny. We kayaked around to see a famous split rock and some caves that we could paddle through. 

After getting back to shore, we breaked for lunch and had some fun on a jungle gym and zip line before taking a boat to the location where we would hike. While on the boat we saw a handful of seals basking on a few rocks, and that was really exciting! There were baby seal pups playing in a little cove as well, gaining their confidence before taking the plunge into the exposed water. 

Spot the seal?

We then hiked around for about 2 hours along beaches and up mountains to get better views of the water and scenery. Overall it was an amazing day and the pictures I have on my phone don't do NZ nature justice. You'll have to come to New Zealand to see it for yourself!

Cook Straight and Nelson: Thursday, 7/30

Today is Thursday? I'm completely losing sense of time here!

Today we woke up early to board a massive boat that is part of the Intercoastaler fleet in order to cross from the North Island to the South Island. And when I say the boat is massive, I mean it. It's as big as a cruise ship, and our large Topdeck bus (along with other large cargo trucks) drove onto the boat to be transported as well. Our tour group had our own lounge on the ship, which was pretty nice as it gave us some privacy to sleep and play card games. One important thing to note is that the Cook Straight is well known as one of the roughest stretches of water in the entire world. The first hour of the journey, when we were in the Wellington harbor, was the rockiest boat journey I've ever been on. There were 3 km high waves and the boat lurched for a good 45 minutes, causing anyone who tends to get seasick to freak out. Luckily my stomach is strong from all of the rollercoasters I love so much, so I could handle the waves, but it was an interesting experience to feel the rocking like that on such a large boat! The next 2 hours were pretty smooth and scenic though, and we got a special tour of the boat's Bridge (or command center), which was a nice addition. The views from the boat made me super excited for the South Island!!

The South Island is larger than the North in terms of land size, but the population is much smaller. To put it in perspective, Auckland (the northern city that I flew into) has more people than the entire South Island combined. The land is full of mountains and beautiful hills, trees, parks, rivers, and pretty much anything you could wish for. 

Right now we're in Nelson, where we stopped at a local vineyard called Forrest Winery. We were able to taste 5 different wines, and I bought a bottle of their award-winning Reisling to bring back and share with Mom and Dad at home! 

After settling into the hotel, we went to the beach a block away to watch the sunset. There was a crazy guy who decided to go swimming in the freezing winter water, but other than that silliness, the sun was gorgeous as it set behind the mountains. Tomorrow we're headed to Abel Tasman National Park for a day full of kayaking, hiking, and hopefully spotting some seal puppies!! Can't wait!

Windy Wellington: Wednesday, 7/29

After waking up super early at the lodge, we made our 5 hour trek in the bus to Wellington, the capital of New Zealand! Once we arrived, Lana and Reece drove us around in the bus for a quick tour of the city's highlights before checking into the hotel. After that we had a free day, so me and Jen made our way to Te Papa, a free six-story museum full of exhibits on culture, animals, war, and art of NZ. It was a beautiful museum, but after we reached floor 4 we got a little stir crazy and couldn't absorb much more information. We still ended up making it through the entire museum!

After visiting Te Papa we got sweet treats at a cafe and walked to Cuba Street for some shopping. There were a bunch of cute shops that we stopped in, and we got some souvenirs and gifts.

We spent the rest of the evening getting drinks and dinner at a few highly recommended local places, and now we're back at the hotel for an early bed time (we have another 6am wake up tomorrow). Overall, Wellington has DEFINITELY been my favorite place on the North Island so far. The city has a lot of small businesses and an eclectic, quirky vibe, which I love. It was fun going in each shop and restaurant and seeing what makes the place unique.

Tomorrow we make our way to the South Island via the Cook Straight, which includes a 3 hour ferry ride. In case you were wondering about the blog post title, Wellington is nicknamed "Windy Wellington" because all of the wind hitting New Zealand comes through the city and the Cook Straight. I can attest that my hair was blowing in my face almost the whole time- it certainly is very windy. I'm excited for the next adventure, and today was amazing!