Back from New Zealand and guess what? I have pictures!

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

So as some of you know, I spent the last couple weeks of March in New Zealand (on the South Island) with BF. We rented a car and went around the island, and it was AMAZING. I so wish we had longer - we barely had enough time to do all the things we wanted to do (he wanted to go bungy jumping and sky-diving, I wanted to go horseback riding, etc). So here are some pictures - sorry there''s a lot! I came back with over 1500 pictures (not counting the 500 BF took) so it was a struggle to cut them down.

So in chronological order: Christchurch. We went punting on the Avon - VERY relaxing, gorgeous day, we fed some ducks from the boat, etc. We had just arrived from 24 hours of traveling, slept for a few hours on the trans-Pacific flight, and got into Christchurch at 7 AM and hit the ground running. This is from that first day.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I love ducks.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

I love ducks

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Christchurch Cathedral

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Towards the end of the long first day, we went to the Willowbank Wildlife Preserve. I have a ton of pics from there but here are just a couple. With a friendly llama:

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

We also watched a Maori show

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Whoa poor quality on that last one.

So the next day BF and I got up early and drove to Mount Cook. On the way we stopped at Lake Tekapo:

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

And Lake Pukaki. Lake Pukaki had the most heavenly blue color - both it and Tekapo are glacier-fed, resulting in the pale color. Pukaki was definitely my favorite lake

 

[FrekeChild]

I bet that llama wanted to taste your hair!!!!!!!!!!

(I''ve had that happen before!!!)

 

[FrekeChild]

And WOW to both lakes. They are just GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Hi Freke! I loved the llama - the big Clydesdale though was SCARY. Apparently he was used to being fed treats (which you could buy at the front before entering the preserve and which we didn''t get) and when we just walked by he started kicking his trough, lol.

So after the lakes we went to Mount Cook and it poured. I''ve actually missed two different chances to see Mount Cook because of weather - darn. So no pics. But after that we went on to Queenstown. On the way, we stop by the Kawarau Bridge, site of the first bungy jump, where BF did his first (of four!) bungy jumps.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Next up was Queenstown proper. Our townhouse there was awesome (instead of a hotel we had a two-floor townhouse - and I think it was less than $100 USD - it was on a massive hill though - I thought I was going to die walking up there!). Here is a view of Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu from the top of the Queenstown gondola - which was where BF did his 2nd and 3rd bungy jumps).

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

From Queenstown we drove to Glenorchy (which was a major filming site for Lord of the Rings). The roads were really winding but the views were incredible.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

In Glenorchy, we went horseback riding.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Afterward, we drove to Te Anau and spent the night there. Early next morning (REALLY early) we drove to Milford Sound. Here are some sights we encountered on the way...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

We were driving INTO that...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

A short walk we did before getting to the sound (which is actually a fjord)

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

We finally made it Milford Sound! We took the first cruise of the day - BF insisted on going on the smallest boat possible and it was definitely a good call. We got way closer to the sights (seals, waterfalls, etc) than some of the bigger boats

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

When I said we got close to the seals...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

And the waterfalls... (the boat took us right underneath it - I got drenched but it was so amazing!)

 

[FrekeChild]

Oh my.

What amazing pics!!!! Seriously. These are just stunning.

Where did that "PS Travels" thread go? Because these need to go in there.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Date: 4/13/2009 3:36:57 AM
Author: FrekeChild
Oh my.


What amazing pics!!!! Seriously. These are just stunning.


Where did that ''PS Travels'' thread go? Because these need to go in there.

Thanks Freke! Although I did say to BF that when you take that many pics, at least ONE has to come out well

I hope you guys aren''t bored yet - I have more pics!

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

So after Milford, we visited the Te Anau Glowworm Caves (sadly they don''t allow pictures because they disturb the glowworms). We then drove back to Queenstown, spent the night, and the next morning we went back up to Glenorchy to do a farm tour. They had some really cute lambs I fed...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Here they are closer. I feel better knowing that these two will never be sold for meat - they were bottle-raised so they basically became pets of the owners.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

And I got to hold another lamb! Only about 4 weeks old...

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

From Glenorchy we headed to Wanaka. Unfortunately BF got sick so we spent an extra day there just enjoying the lake, the sun, playing some mini-golf and going to Puzzling World. Here is Lake Wanaka.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

And sometime during the drive (I''m not exactly sure where but I think it was earlier in the trip - probably on the way to Queenstown) we came across a road block.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Oh that was our car in the picture before this. Who knew this happened outside postcards??

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

From Wanaka we went to Fox Glacier. Fortunately BF was feeling better by that point so we signed up for the all-day glacier hike. This meant that we hiked up a mountain for 1.5 hours, then spent about 5 hours on the ice, then hiked back down. It was HARD. I feel proud that I made it (just barely) but I''d never do it again. Following the glacier hike, I promptly became sick. lol.

 

[Brown.Eyed.Girl]

Here I am, struggling to make it up. They provided us the hiking boots, the pants (jeans are NOT a good idea for this but I had nothing else - they were soaked in sweat by the time I got back to the motel), the crampons and the stick. Our guide had to stop every once in a while to cut steps into the ice for us. For someone with short legs....eek!