I am so glad I kept a journal and took 1200 (literally) pictures over the span of those ten days. Otherwise I might have no idea where to start. This whole trip is going to be super detailed (aka long) because, well, I know you want to know all about the adventure that was me and four other Americans traveling the South Island. First off, so you know what I'm talking about, here is a map of the South Island. My travels went like this: I flew into Dunedin (bottom right hand corner), went to Queenstown, through Te Anau to Milford Sound, back through Te Anau and Queenstown to Wanaka, went up the West Coast and saw Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, up north of Greymouth, through Arthur's Pass (which isn't labeled on this map but is the line that connected Greymouth to Christchurch) and finished the trip in Christchurch. Whew.
The trip. I got up at 5am (yes, 5am) after only a few short hours of sleep to finish packing and head toward the AirBus which brought us to the Airport. Maddi, Meagan, Nicole, and I (group photo to the right) were flying together so we hung out at the airport (after a slight hang up because Maddi accidentally pressed "yes" to having dangerous goods) until our flight left for Christchurch! I had a window seat which was awesome because flying over New Zealand, cheesy as it is, reminds me of how beautiful this country really is and that it is possible to fall in love with a piece of land. Minnesota, you are my home and my love, but you are not as landscape-beautiful as NZ. Also, I knew we were over the South Island when I could see huge mountains beneath the clouds which was beyond exciting. Pretty sure I had a really stupid grin on my face for the majority of the flight.
There was yet another hiccup in the flights when we realized about 5 minutes before we were supposed to board the plane that Nicole was on a different connecting flight. Our tickets read 13:20; hers 15:30. Dyslexic? But the three of us got
on our little jet to fly to Dunedin to meet Beth, who had had an earlier flight and was already there. We met up with her and decided to take a shuttle to the hostel so we could claim beds and then explore Dunedin a little before Nicole flew in. We ended up going to Cadbury World! Sadly, we had just missed the last tour, but the shop was still open so there was chocolate galore and I bought a few days worth (I mean, let's be real. A big and little bar of chocolate and a Cadbury egg won't last me long) of chocolate to survive on. We walked around the (centralized) "octagon" in Dunedin, where we saw some beautiful churches overlooking the city before heading to get food with Nicole.
(First Church)I was exhausted and crabby because I was cold and unprepared for the cold weather, but I was convinced to go with them to Baldwin Street after dinner - the steepest street in the world. I put my leggings, jeans, sweatpants, two hats, two pairs of gloves, a scarf, a tank top, a tshirt, two long sleeved shirts, my fleece, and my raincoat (for a windbreaker) on and then we walked there. Yes, it was that cold, and of course my friends kept saying, "aren't you from Minnesota??" as if I should be acclimated to horribly cold weather. Yes, I am from Minnesota, but in Minnesota I have learned the art of layering, down coats, and tall boots with the fur. Nonetheless I was told I looked like I was going snowboarding because I was so bulky. Thanks guys. In my second defense, it was 2 degrees Celcius that night, which is just above freezing, and I'd come from the warmth and (repetitive) unprepared for that kind of weather. However, the walk was about an hour so by the time we got there I'd taken off the sweatpants and one of the hats. :) I know, try to keep your clothes on, Rachel.
I wish I could have seen Baldwin Street during the day because it was SO steep - and I could have gotten a certificate for beasting it. When we were passing by some of the streets leading up to Baldwin I was comparing them to College Ave (the road that goes up to Gustavus). However Baldwin? Yeah. Steeper than College Ave. We walked up part of it, and ran up part of it, and hoped that the cars driving up it wouldn't turn off so we could see it just once. Alas, that didn't happen. It was really cool though, and totally worth it, besides the fact that it gave me sore knees the next day. And we sang loudly the entire walk back to the hostel. It was great. I displayed my human jukebox abilities. I bet the neighborhoods we walked past were SUPER STOKED to hear us belting it out. Obv.
We'd booked a shuttle the next morning to get from Dunedin to Queenstown, but we'd booked it before we knew where we were staying, so we hauled butt across the octagon in the morning (I was limping, sadly) and barely caught the shuttle that was picking us up from another hostel. The driver was not pleased. Apparently he was honking his horn like crazy when Meagan was speed-walking up the street. The shuttle was alright. The views were gorgeous but I'm pretty sure that I'm a better driver than our shuttle driver. It was a little nauseating - is it that hard to drive in a straight line? Anyway. We stopped in Roxburgh for a lunch break where I had my first mince pie! Pies are big here, and not the fruit or chocolate kind. I was expecting to be displeased by it was $3.80 so I decided to try it and really enjoyed it. Actually, I'm craving one right now. Mmm.And because I have to go to class and this has already been long, I will take a break and pick up with Queenstown in a bit. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment