Day 15… Queenstown to Christchurch

Another long day on the bus… it was a 9 hour trip with quick bathroom breaks every couple of hours. We drove through snow-capped mountains though. I mean seriously... you never can see enough or get sick of the views in New Zealand. It's all stunning!

I'm addicted to the sight and taste of glacier water. It's indescribable.

Kelsey and I explored Christchurch some more and visited their Botanical Gardens. I could have stayed in the gardens for days. It was so gorgeous.

This flower bed was huge and reminded me of my mom because it displayed about 20 different purple flowers. She and Kelsey both love purple.

Kelsey and I "splurged" on a nice hotel for our last night. We stayed in little backpacker hostels the entire holiday and were quite ready for private shower and sleeping quarters. It was such a fun room with lots of high-tech gadgets. We took showers in a circular shower stall. We had a fire crackling on our flat screen television. We woke up to the gradual rising of the sun... the light above the bed gradually turned on and the alarm music increased in volume over a 5-min period of time. If that doesn't wake you, the television turns itself on to the hotel's complimentary "Good morning" station 10 minutes after the alarm time starts. It was a crazy experience and the perfect end to our holiday.

Day 16 was our 6:20am (yikes!) flight to Auckland, a shuttle bus ride home, and a blessed homecoming to my fantastic family. I missed them!

Day 14... Queenstown/Gibbston Valley/Arrowtown

Today was a kind of bum around the town day as 1. we were sore from our day of skiing adventures and 2. the weather was yuck. We rented a car with our friend James and drove out to Gibbston Valley. NZ is known for its dairy, so we visited the best cheesery. Our sample tray was fabulous!

On the way back to Queenstown, we visited Arrowtown. Several Lord of the Rings scenes were filmed here... including my favorite when Arwen carries Frodo across the river on horseback (in The Fellowship of the Ring). She turns, looks at the enemy, and says "If you want him, come and claim him." James and I took a picture in front of that river to commemorate the occasion.

This sign is all over NZ. I love how environmentally friendly they are.

Day 13... Queenstown

I went skiing once when I was about eight years old. All I remember is doing lots of slow runs on the bunny slope and the fun rope lift uphill. Then my Dad took me for one run on the easy slope. I remember flying downhill, not knowing how to stop, crossing my skis and sitting down. It was terrifying, and I didn't like that feeling of being out of control.

Fast forward to today… Kelsey and I went skiing. I had a fantastic lesson in the morning. My ski instructor was awesome, and I really enjoyed the bunny slope. Kelsey and I met for lunch at the lodge (she did the level of lessons that start with the chair lift runs… superwoman.) Then I decided to go on an easy chair lift run with her. It was exactly like I remember. I flew downhill, leaned forward (not backward like you’re supposed to), and ended up doing some impressive vertical splits as my legs flew over my head.

So I think skiing is not my thing. I would like to try it again, but wow. Quite the experience. Kelsey and I walked around town and ate really nice pizza. I really like this wall I saw in Starbucks.

Day 12… Invercargill to Queenstown (Milford Sound)

Today we took a boat tour around the Milford Sound. Much of the Lord of the Rings films were filmed here. It was raining the whole time but still stunning as you can imagine. We got to see several waterfalls that only appear when it rains and a few hours afterward. The whole trip was breathtaking. Mountains rise from the water next to you. It's another one of those times when a camera can't capture it... sorry. This waterfall was HUGE, but it looks tiny in a picture.


We saw yellow-eyed penguins and more seals. Part of the boat tour was a trip to an underwater observatory. To make a long explanation short, we saw plants, coral, and other animals at 10meters that are supposed to only grow 50-60 meters below the water surface. This is a picture of the very rare black coral and an eleven-armed starfish.


We ate Fergburger for dinner and walked along the lake before going to bed.

Day 11… Dunedin to Invercargill

Today was a ridiculously long day on the van. We switched drivers in Dunedin. Our new driver really likes to stop at every nature sight. We stopped at least once an hour. This made a 3 hour drive a 12-hour day on the van. I saw lots of cool nature things but honestly got a bit numb after a while.




The majority of the trees below are growing on this water algae plant thing. I was a horrible person and zoned out in the middle of his speech. It was super neat to watch our driver gently push a tree and see the roots shift below the water.



We saw fossilized trees...

and a sea leopard...

This is going to be a locket... I'm excited.

Needless to say, Kelsey and I were a bit tired and stir-crazy from the day, so we got pizza from Domino’s (NOT the same as American Domino’s by the way) and watched License to Wed on television before bed. It was a nice way to redeem the night.