I am now going to start writing about the last week of break. On Monday we left Franz Josef and headed for a long bus day to Queenstown. (did you notice we did not get lost in Franz Josef, it would have been hard considering there were only three streets) The first stop that the bus made that morning was not very far to a trail to the lake that we kayaked in the day before so everyone could see the reflection. It was around a 30 min walk through a tree area and then we came to a dock that looked out onto the lake with the reflection of the mountains on it.
We then all piled into the bus and continued our way down. Another stop we made along the way was at a waterfall (I do not know the name of it sorry).
Cam our bus driver told us to stare at one point on the waterfall for 30 seconds and then look to the rock next to it. When you did this it looked like the rock was moving up. I understand why this happens but it is still cool when it does. We then got back onto the bus and continued making our way down to Queenstown. One of the activities that we were told about that we could do was to go bungee jumping. We were going to make a stop at the original buggy places and if anyone wanted to jump they could. I decided that I would jump again. I ended up being the only one from the bus jumping so they were all able to watch me jump. I think I was a little more nerves this time because I knew what was coming and everyone was watching. This jump was 43ft high. It was really fun.
As you can see from this picture and I was told after I did a great swan dive off the edge. After jumping the bus headed the rest of the way to Queenstown. That night many people from the bus met up for pizza and drinks that night. It was nice to be able to hang out with the people from our bus from all around the world. After a while Ashley and I headed back to the backpackers. The next morning, Tuesday, we had all day in Queenstown. The original plan for the day was to go skydiving in the morning and then hang out in the afternoon. We headed to the skydiving place around 8:30 and got there only to find out that due to wind they had put all flights on hold until 9 and they were going to check again so they told us to come back at 9:10. We walked down to the water edge and walked around until 9:10.
We then headed back up to the skydiving office to see if the hold had been taken off. When we got there they said it had not been yet so we could reschedule for some other time. We first thought that we would go back around 1ish. We then walked around some of the shops. After about 15min we decided that we would rather try to skydiving earlier so we went back for a third time and decided to rescued for 11:30. After that we walked around more of the stores. We walked back to the backpackers to drop off a couple things and then headed back to the skydiving office around 11:10 to see if the hold had been lifted. The hold had been lifted so we walked around for a little longer and then headed back to the office. We went in filled out paper work watched the video and was about to decided if we want to get photos of our skydive when one of the workers walked in and told us that the wind has picked up and they were going to have to cancel all flights for the day. This was a disappointment because we really wanted to go skydiving. We decided we should do some sort of activity in Queenstown so we went to an information center and asked what we should do. We decided that we would go jet boating. The lady who was booking it for us said that the company said that we were the only two signed up for that time and they need at least 4 people to do the trip. She said that there was a good chance that two people would sing up so we should get to the dock about 10 min before the trip. We went to a fish and chips shop on the water that had good food. We then went to the jet boat place about 30 min before the trip was going to leave to see if anyone else had signed up and no one had but they told us to come back in 20 min to make sure. We were a little disappointed because at this point it seemed that even though we were in the adventure capital of NZ we would not do any adventure. We went to a bench on the water and sat there for a while waiting to go back to see if the trip was on. We ended up losing track of time and only got there five min before the trip left instead of ten. When we got there a group of four people had signed up so the trip was on. They handed us huge black raincoats and life jackets, we put them on and then they had Ashley and I stand together for a photo.
We then got on the boat and went off. Jet boats were designed in NZ by a farmer, he build them so they could travel in shallow water. These boats were also able to travel fast and make really sharp turns. This made them into a tourist attraction also. We went out onto the water and we did our first spin. The driver said it was not going to be the fastest because the water was choppy from the wind. I am glad the first spin was smaller because then I realized that I really did need to hold on tight during the spins. We then headed across the water and into some of the rivers. We did many spins along the way and had a great time out on the water. After the boat ride Ashley and I went to the store and got some food that we were going to cook with two people from our bus. We cooked and ate food and hung out. After cleaning up we played skip-bo and Elise may have won but don’t tell anyone. The next morning we got up early and headed to Dunedin. We got to Dunedin around lunch time so we checked into our backpackers and ate some sandwiches and then headed out. We went to an internet café to check our email and on the way out Ashley noticed a poster on the wall for Avenue Q. On the way up to Dunedin Ashley and I listened to the songs from Avenue Q so the chance to see the show seemed like coincidence that we could not pass up. On the poster it said the name of the theater so we went to an information center and asked them where the theater was and headed to the theater to see if we could get tickets for the show that night. There were three sets of two seats available and the ones that we chose were front row just off center. After getting the tickets we were excited to see the show that night. We then headed over the Cadbury world factory for a tour. Here we went around and saw many of their assembly lines where they make different packages of chocolate. Throughout the tour we were asked questions and were rewarded for correct answers with some form of chocolate. At the end of the tour there were two of the old Cadbury cars.
The end of the tour dropped us at the Cadbury store. Throughout the tour many people were talking about the roses and Ashley and I did not know what they were so we each got one of each kind to try later. We then headed back to the backpackers, ate dinner and got ready to go see Avenue Q. I think it was a great atmosphere to see the show because most of the audience members were young adults. It was also interesting because some of the songs reference American culture and things in NYC and Ashley and I were the only ones who laughed at those references. It would have been cool if they had changed those references to things in NZ. Over all it was a great experience and I am really glad we happened to go to that internet café and that Ashley saw the poster and there were still seats available. The next morning we got up and got in the bus and headed up to Lake Tekapo. On the way up the bus stopped at the Moeraki Boulders. The Moeraki Bloders were very round rocks on the beach. Some of them were cracked and looked like eggs.
We then continued our way up and happened to drive through was we think is Richie McCaw’s home town. (for those who do not follow ruby he is the captain of the All Blacks) They had painted these straw bales to show their support for the world cup.
The next stop before Lake Tekapo was a hydro power plant. The water was very blue.
We were told that it was that blue because it is all from the glaciers so it is very pure. We then stopped at Lake Pukaki. From this lake you would be able to see Mount Cook if it was not cloudy .
Sadly when we were there the only clouds in the sky happen to be covering the peek. We finally made it to Lake Tekapo around 3:30 that afternoon. The backpackers was very conveniently placed. It was right near the lake, a place to go sledding and ice-skating and a playground. Ashley and I decided that we were going to walk over and see what the prices were for the sledding and ice-skating were but we got distracted first by the playground. They had an elephant jungle gym like thing that we had to play on. After many attempts and a couple of bruised knees we ended up with this photo.
We then went to look at the prices and decided that we would have more fun taking photos by the lakefront than sledding. We had a lot of fun taking the photos and after many different photos we ended up with this great photo.
On the bus Ashley and I had signed up for a tour of the observatory. We were being picked up down the street from our backpackers but when we were waiting we were starting to get cold so we did some jumping jacks. They ended up getting us very warm. We went to the office where we were meeting up with other people who were going on the trip, including our bus driver Cam and one of his friends Chris. We were given big warm jackets to help keep us warm up at the observatory. When we got to the observatory there were some people who worked there with telescopes to show us different things in the night sky. My favorite part was seeing the southern sky including the southern cross. It was sometimes confusing for me looking at the night sky because some of the constellations I could see looked upsidedown compaired to what I have seen in the northern sky. Over all it was really interesting to be there looking at the sky. The next morning, Friday, we got back on the bus for the last time and headed up to CHCH. Ashely and I were dropped off not that far from campus and walked back to my flat. We then made a shopping list for things that we were going to cook. We then went the store and got a lot of food and then headed back. We then spent the rest of the day in the kitchen cooking. We started by boiling some potatoes for mashed potatoes that we were going to eat for dinner that night. We then started making cookies.
We continued to make many cookies, so many that I could not even stack them well on a plate
While in CHCH we did a lot of cooking. We made over 100 cookies, mashed potatoes, chicken parm, and fried rice. (I think we broke my burning evertything that is pasta and pasta sauce record, YAY) When we were not cooking we were hanging out and cross stitching. Sadly on Sunday evening Ashley had to leave and head back to Wellington. Over all those three days were really fun and relaxing.
The two weeks I spent traveling around NZ were amazing. They were really busy but full of many adventures. I am now back to everyday life at uni. I hope you enjoyed reading about these adventures. Until next time have fun and smile :)
P.S. If you want to read what Ashley thought about break you can read it here at http://lifeinwindywelly.blogspot.com/
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