Swimming with Dolphins in Akaroa

It's our final full day in New Zealand, and what better way to end our trip than with this beautiful view!




Even though our Spaceship does not need power, we opted for a powered site to have the uninterrupted view of Akaroa. Honestly, we could have stayed in almost any site, the views were stunning!




We really took our time this morning, since we couldn't swim with dolphins until 11:30 am. We got a coffee at a deli and sat in the sun enjoying the warmer weather.
When we checked-in, we were told the swells out at sea were around 2 meters and were encouraged to take 'whatever we needed' prior to boarding the ship. Neither Jay or I get full-on seasickness, but to be on the safe side we purchased and took a homeopathic pill. I am so glad we did, we really were thrown around out there.




The other really nice thing about our expeditions on this whole trip is that the companies provide almost all the equipment. We were given wet suites, booties, gloves, hoods, masks and snorkels. Thankfully, we were allowed to bring our own cameras with us. Most places don't allow cameras and will provide you with a picture "for a small fee." Jay has been dying for a chance to use his GoPro camera, and this was the perfect chance.




Above Jay is modeling the nice suits we were given. You can also see his GoPro camera hooked onto his chest. The water here was cold! Our wetsuits were 5mm thick, which is apparently pretty thick. We needed that extra layer to keeps warm. The guide said that the water is usually about 3 degrees C around this time of year (that's 38 degrees Fahrenheit!).




We really had a blast swimming around in the Southern Pacific Ocean. When we exited the boat, both Jay and I got water in our mouths due to the fact that we gasped and were immediately over-taken by waves. Swimming in the wetsuit was also an interesting sensation. It was mainly difficult because your feet want to float, so we were constantly pushing them down and churning them to keep from going belly up.
While we floated, we were encouraged to make noise and, as our guide puts it, "be more interesting than a piece of seaweed." Jay and I need no excuse to look like fools, so we immediately began singing into our snorkel, blowing bubbles and clicking things together. It was kind of like entertaining a 3 year old.




These dolphins are called Hector Dolphins and are the smallest in the world. They are less than a meter long and generally weigh about a kilogram. There's also only about 20,000 of them left, so they're endangered and protected. Because of this, we weren't allowed to touch them since we might be carrying diseases that could harm them.
Not that the Hector dolphin would be too happy about you touching them. It turns out their skin is about as sensitive as our eye-lids, so they weren't too excited to be rubbing against us. With that said, the dolphins still got close! A couple of them (or maybe the same one multiple times) swam right passed me.




After about 35 minutes, the dolphins lost interest in us and swam away (told you it was like a 3 year old) and we re-boarded the ship. Our guide said it was the first time in quite a while that they had had dolphins, so we got a treat. On the way back, we also saw fur seals and blue penguins, but Jay and I have kayaked with seals and gotten within inches of penguins, so we weren't that impressed anymore. The best part of getting on the boat was the hot water hose to put down your back and the hot chocolate. The experience is always good when it ends with hot chocolate!




All too quickly it was over and we were back in dry clothes. After going to a local shop for ginger beer (I looove ginger beer) to settle my stomach a little, we headed to the car and hit the road again for our final destination, Christchurch!

Driving driving driving

Today, like the title suggests, we drove drove drove. We only had a four-hour drive head of us, so we took our time in the morning and made lots of stops.

Our first and most notable stop was to see wallabies in Waimate. Aren't they cute!!




Another pest to New Zealand, the wallaby was brought over in the 1860s and now runs wild on the east coast of the south island. The ones pictured above are caged in the towns' public garden. Wallabies are semi-nocturnal, so to see them in the wild, you would have to venture out at night.

The gardens also housed a little lamb.




It's lambing season here in NZ, so we have seen these babies everywhere. The cutest are the ones that are literally a day old. Although he was a little older, this guy was pretty cute too. Not sure why he's spray-painted green though.

Our next stop was to go on a beach-side hour walk. This turned out to be a bit of a disappointment and we turned around after 6 minutes. Jay didnt even take a picture of it, thats how bad it is. And he takes pictures of everything. We did manage to pick up some necessities and hop on McDonald's free wifi, though.




After dawdling all day, we finally made it to Akaroa. This is our final tourist stop in New Zealand. I must admit I really like this town. It has a small-town feeling and it's nice to step back in time with all the old shoppe lined streets. The sunset was also spectacular.



Besides playing with the timer on my camera, we will also be swimming with Hector dolphins tomorrow (the smallest dolphin in the world). It looks like the New Zealand part of our trip is coming to a close very soon :-(

Bungy Jumping and the Blue Penguin Colony

Yup, today was the big day, the day we went bungy jumping. Now this day didn't turn out in any way that I could have ever imagined. On Friday when we rolled into Queenstown, we booked our jump for Monday morning. The bridge we jumped off was the site of the first commercial bungy and is located confidently on our way out of town.




When we arrived we watched a few other jumpers. You jump into the river (optional water touches later in the day) and I wanted to see how the jumpers get down.

After my fears were reassured, we checked in and got our harnesses on. Next thing I know, I am standing at the edge of the bridge getting ready to jump. Since the harness is at your feet, you pretty much hop and waddle to the edge and then dive or fall off.




And there I go!



The picture above shows exactly where you go, straight down. When you're done swinging, they lower the rope and pull you into a large yellow raft. From there, they take off all your harnesses, reattach them to the bungy and send everything back up (except you of course). Lucky for me, I then got to climb back up about 100 stairs to where the bridge is.




But I did take a second to turn around and watch Jay take his leap!




Once it was all said and done, we both looked at each other and wanted to go again. We had evening plans, but they were flexible. Not wanting to have any regrets, we turned around and headed back to Queenstown to jump again, but this time at the Ledge Bungy.




Now let's back track a few days when we first went up the gondola (above). Sitting up there I thought to myself, I really want to jump, but I knew that we would be going in a matter of days.




Above is what Queenstown looked like when we arrived on top of the gondola Monday... We hoped for the best, but sadly jumped off the ledge into a cloud. The frustrating part: it cleared for the person ahead of us, then got all foggy again as we harnessed up. 'Tis life, I suppose. We contemplated a third jump, but were told that we could literally be jumping in clouds all day because of the weather. I am just glad that we went back for our second jump. I know I would've regretted not doing it.




Since Jay got to fly his stunt and, he let me jump first when it wasn't as cloudy... The view was actually still pretty good from my harness. I am sort of sad that I didn't get a better pose. I dived down instead of diving out like I wanted. Yes, I am becoming a bungy jumping enthusiast... I just loved the feeling!




Above is Jay trying to do the flying squirrel into the cloud. He may not have got the pose spot on, but all his pictures turned out great!

After our two jumps, we said goodbye to Queenstown a second time and sped (adrenalin pushed us around 130k/hr on windy roads) over to Oamaru to see the blue penguin colony. Just before dark, the blue penguins come ashore at the visitors center. The penguins are a protected animal, so sorry no photos were allowed.

We opted for premium seating for an extra $7. If you are ever in Oamaru, pay the extra money for premium seating. The difference in distance from the penguins was amazing. We were literally feet from the creatures as they scurried on shore. The cheap seats were a good 20 feet away and they couldn't see the penguin rafts (groups) come in from the ocean or climb up the beach. we also got to walk through the breeding colony where the babies stay until they're old enough to fish for themselves.

We stood with the conservationist who's job it is to count the penguins as they come ashore. That's no easy feat considering they scurry on shore at 30-50 at a time! After an hour in the cold, all the penguins counted for the evening, we called it a night. It was a very exciting and unplanned day that I know I will remember for a lifetime.

Milford Sound

Today we took a coach (charter bus) to Milford Sound. I have to say this is probably my least favorite 'day adventure'. We opted to ride the coach bus because we were told it was easily a 4.5 hour drive and we could possibly need snow chains if it snowed (we booked 48 hours in advance). In reality, it takes 4.5 hours to drive with photo stops, 3.5 hours straight and we didn't ever need snow chains because New Zealand has had such a mild winter.




With all that said, it was nice to not have to drive. The aggravating part was that Real Journeys, the company we booked with, decided to double book the coach we were on. As a result, we went at least 30 minutes out of our way for an additional drop off, waited another extra 30 minutes for late guests going to Doubtful Sound and did not get all of our promised photo opportunities on our way out. In fact we only got one at Mirror Lakes (below). Bottom line, for the first time on this whole trip, I regretted our decision. We should have driven ourselves.




But that is all in the past now. And on the positive side, Jay got to study and I got to nap so it wasn't a total loss. As for the cruise on Milford Sound, it was worth it. We took a Nature Cruise which included a picnic lunch with hot soup and we had a trained guide about the wildlife.




Just as we started eating lunch, we got lucky and saw a bunch of dolphins with calves. She said its the most calves she has ever seen in the sound! Dolphins normally ride in front of boats so they can coast on the pressure wave the bow creates. Our guide said that's called 'cruising'

She also knew a lot about the surrounding wildlife and vegetation. A few fun facts, birds and bats are the only native animal to New Zealand. All other animals were introduced by humans.




Aside from the dolphins, we saw a decent number of Fur Seals. Unlike the ones we saw at Abel Tasman, these seals are adolescent males who were kicked out of the colony until maturity. Just like teens, they were being lazy.




The views were amazing, too! Above is what is called a floating valley because the walls of the valley are above the water level of the neighboring valleys. Even though it was a wet day and slightly disappointing, I am glad we went to Milford Sound, I would just do it differently next time. Jay and I would drive ourselves. The drive really is not that bad even though you have to backtrack to come home.

If you're short on time, I would say you could skip Milford Sound. I have seen a similar sound on the east coast of Canada. Honestly, just like a brewery, a sound is a sound. I would say we saw a bit more wildlife on this cruise, but the scenery was more dramatic in Canada.




After our long day, we headed to Winnie's for pizza. Winnie's is a gourmet pizza bar that is known for using different ingredients. Jay and I both got small pizzas and split them. I took a coworkers' advice and got toppings that sounded interesting, i.e. Moroccan Lamb. My pizza had deliciously cooked lamb, a mint yogurt drizzle and zucchini. Jay got their version of the meat lovers which was loaded with game meat. We washed the pizzas down with locally brewed beers and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

It was a long day with a few frustrations, but it's our vacation, so we tried to embrace every last moment and enjoyed them all. Now we're getting ready for some bungy jumping!

Queenstown

Before I get going about Queenstown, let me preface that these posts are a couple of days behind. I have been writing daily thanks to an iPad app that doesn't need Internet, but have been having trouble posting to the internet.

Welcome to Queenstown, home of The Remarkables. The Remarkables are the mountains in the background of the picture below. They are well named and are quite stunning in person. Jay and I both agree pictures don't do them justice.



Of all the towns we've visited in New Zealand, Queenstown is the one I would want to move to if I were to ever move to New Zealand. It is a little bigger than most towns (as in, it has more than 1 gas station) but it doesn't have the congested feeling like Wellington or Auckland. Plus the view, you really can't beat that!



As I mentioned yesterday, we slept in this morning after our pub crawl and left our day a little empty. The only plan we had was jet-boating!

Jet-boating was an activity neither Jay nor I intended on doing when we initially envisioned this trip. When we were at the Maori experience, a Brit who has a lot of family here in New Zealand highly recommended this activity in Queenstown.



The jet-boat is a New Zealand invention that can ride on as little as 3 cm of water and fly up to 80 km/hr. The Shotover Jet is the 'original' and speeds down a canyon twisting and turning as it goes. Because it can sail on such little amount of water, its able to get very close to the canyon walls, and the driver was not shy at all about getting paint-scrapingly close. As our friend said, you think they are going to crash but never do. I was certain we would crash at least twice, but we narrowly missed each time.

I am so glad we decided to do this activity. It was exhilarating and really amazing to ride so close and so fast through a canyon.



Afterward, we headed to Fergburger. We're honestly not sure why it's so famous, but it provided a very hearty lunch. As you can see from above, our burgers were huge!



Jay got the traditional Fergburger while I opted for the Sweet Bambi (what can I say, I love venison). This burger did not disappoint! What made the burger sweeter was a delicious chutney sauce.



With our stomachs pleasantly full, we rode the sky gondola up to the chalet on top of Queentsown. The views were remarkable! We got lucky and grabbed a great seat right by the window as we enjoyed an afternoon beverage.

This spot was perfect for viewing the scenery and watching some bungy jumpers. Jay and I opted for the original bungy jump (honestly b/c we had a coupon for it) but watching this one made me a little envious. The picture of you jumping has Queenstown and the mountains in the background! I'll let you know later this week if I am still envious after we do our jump. I am so excited!

Driving to Queenstown

Each of our destinations have been stunning, and so have the drives. Yesterday we ventured from Fox Glacier to Queenstown.



On the drive we stopped whenever a lookout looked appealing, we had to go to the bathroom or were seeking a short hike. The photo above was from our first stop. This stop was solely to use the bathroom (there are public toilets everywhere). We were pleasantly surprised with a beautiful lake as well.



Our second stop was to a waterfall. The short hike was a great way to stretch our legs. This picture above is a great example of the joys of the self timer :)



Our final stop was overlooking the Tasman Sea. This stop really reminded me of Route 1 in California. Especially the part where Jay acts like a fool.



Around lunch time we rolled into Wanaka and grabbed a quick lunch. Wanaka is Queenstown's sister town, only a short (but windy!) drive away.

The lake it is situated on is beautiful and the food was delicious. I got the lunch special of a chicken pie on mashed potatoes and gravy. I can now say that New Zealanders make great meat pies!



Once we arrived in Queenstown we arranged our adventures for the next couple of days. We have a lot planned and a good amount of down time too.

Our first activity was a bar crawl. Queenstown has a few ice bars which Jay and I wanted to visit. Our american friends we met at Fox Glacier told us about this pub crawl where you get free admission to the ice bar. It was a no-brainier, we had to join.



The evening was a lot of fun and it was nice spending time with the group we had met a few days earlier. We went to six different bars, had a free shot at each and the admission to the ice bar made it well worth the $25. The experience also made me realize that I don't mind Jäger. This may be a dangerous thing to be learning now.

After sleeping in this morning (aka 9am), we have a lot to explore. First stop is the jet boat!

Fox Glacier

Today we spent the entire day hiking Fox Glacier. Our all-day guided walk was well worth every penny. I feel like we had ample time on the glacier.

We started out hiking through rain forest to the glacier. Upon arrival we made sure we had all our gear on correctly. The coolest part of this expedition is that they will lend you almost everything you need. We were given boots (which were ironically my backpacking boots that I left home), crampons, wool socks, waterproof coats, mittens and even hats. We only borrowed some of their gear, but it was nice to know that if we forgot anything, they had us covered.

Then we spent the rest of the day on the ice, including lunch. Our group of 11 were all American. These next two weeks are spring break for the local universities. Besides Jay and I, everyone else in our group is currently studying abroad. I know I have mentioned this a million times, but I love hearing traveller's stories and learning about all our options when traveling. Most of our group is on a similar itinerary, so it was fun to hear what they have in store. One of the groups is doing a pub crawl tomorrow night and we're debating about following suit.

Like many of the guided adventures we have been on, the guides try to give us the most bang for our buck. On this track we went through ice tunnels and crevasses. Above is Jay coming out of the tunnel and below is me in one of the nice (big) tunnels.

These tunnels are formed by water melting off the glacier and flowing down hill. It's truly amazing what nature can do.

While I still think the caves were the most daring things we've done so far, this trek was pretty cool. And unlike the caves, my heart wasn't thumping the entire time. It was nice to see the sky, and our guide gave us plenty of opportunities to absorb the surroundings and get pictures.

The glacier moves all the time, causing Fox Glacier Guides to groom their paths daily. Even while we were hiking, our guide was fixing the path and making sure it was safe to trek on.

Before we knew it, we were as far as we could go safely. The ice becomes unstable further up and even the guides won't go up there right now. It was pretty amazing!

And of course I had to pose with our guides' axe. You know I look pretty cool ;)

While it felt like we spent the entire day hiking up the glacier, we were down in what felt like minutes. We've been traveling for exactly two weeks now and the time has just flown by. I can't believe we have less than a week left here. New Zealand is truly a magical place but definitely not for the light hearted!