The long lost update.

Sorry for the delay folks...

When I left off, we were just leaving Punakaiki for Nelson. I hadn't been feeling well so I took the next couple of days pretty easy, and unfortunately quite a bit of time inside sleeping. We stayed at the Beach Hostel outside of the city centre which was a short walk to the beach. We met up with Heather's family friends and they helped us plan out our next few days up in Abel Tasman National Park. On the 14th we headed up to Kateriteri on the water taxi that we boarded in Nelson. We didn't have to catch the bus to Marahau for a couple of hours, so we decided to leave our bags by a bench and enjoy some rays on the golden sand beach. When we got to Marahau we spent the rest of the evening relaxing and deciding on which kayak adventure we would take on the next day.

This is at high tide in Marahau, but at low tide it looks like you could camp out here

These little guys were covering the rocks at Kateriteri, from afar, the rock just looks black

On the 15th we woke up early to meet outside of the kayak office at 830. After a quick safety session, we made our way to the water. In our group there was Emily, Heather and I, a family of 3 from Amsterdam and 2 Germans. We made our way to Watering Cove, having some great views of the coast and getting up close and personal with some seals. At Watering Cove, we were picked up by the water taxi to head over to Bark Bay for a walk back to Torrent Bay. The experience was awesome and definitely worth the money (except for the bee that stung me, I think he was attracted the bright yellow kayak). On the 16th we had a pretty relaxing morning, spent on different beaches before heading back to Nelson for the night.

Our outfits for the day

On the 17th we headed back to Christchurch to meet Karen, as we would be spending our last few nights back in Ashburton with Karen and John. On the 19th, all five of us packed into the car and headed up to Mount Cook for the day. Despite the weather being cloudy and not being able to see the mountain, we still had a great day. We spent the night at Karen's brother and wife's house, which is on a high country sheep station. The next day, we hopped in the back of the truck with the two dogs and climbed a mountain. The station is over 46 000 acres with over 20 000 sheep, and we saw 4 on our trip up the side of the mountain, as most were down below in paddocks.

Heather and Em in front of Lake Tekapo, where on a clear day there is a great view of Mount Cook

Us, with Karen and John, by the Tasman Glacier

Yep, we just climbed that mountain (in a truck...)

 

Roadblock!

On the 21st we made a stop at the Antarctic Center to see the little blue penguins that we hadn't got a chance to see in the wild. We then said our goodbyes at the airport where we would catch our flight to Brisbane. The flight was smooth until we neared the city. The sky became darker and it was pouring rain and storming all around us. The airport was closed so we couldn't land right away, but eventually made it down to the ground before running low on fuel and having to fly to Sydney to land. It turns out we might has well landed in Sydney because our flight to Adelaide was cancelled and we were bused to a hotel for the night and then the next afternoon put on a flight to Sydney and then on a flight to Adelaide.

Our thoughts and prayers are going out to those in the Christchurch area. We are happy to hear that all of our friends our safe, but have seen some pretty devastating footage on TV. We originally saw footage on the flight from Sydney to Adelaide, so I was happy to have a message waiting saying everyone was safe once we arrived here. Our delays suddenly didn't seem so bad when we realized we got out of Christchurch just in time, as they closed the airport after the quake.

Today Emily and I checked out the University, the beach, purchased groceries for the week and spent the rest of afternoon by the pool (we are staying at a homestay in one of the suburbs). Steve, our host, has been graciously showing us around, and we are also enjoying the company of his dog, Marty.

Need to stretch your legs? Try...Biking?

Should have been skydiving...

While we were at Queenstown, Heather and I decided that we would rather skydive over Fox Glacier than bungy jump. So the rest of the day was spent on the ground, minus our gondola ride up over the town for some spectacular views.

Para glider over Queenstown

On the 10th, we left Queenstown at 810 and arrived at our destination at 330. It was a long day on the bus and I was now prepared to jump from 12 000 ft over the magnificent mountains and glaciers. I had a pit in my stomach, but nothing was going to change my mind. Except the weather... At 430, our scheduled time of the dive was postponed to the strong winds. We waited until 530, and it was still too windy. The divers convinced us to stay until 7pm as sometimes the winds will drop suddenly late in the day. No luck, they wouldn't take us, and as we were already booked elsewhere for the next few days, we decided it wasn't meant to happen. But we may try again up in Abel Tasman, which will be over beaches, which is no mountains or glaciers, but I'm sure it will be equally as thrilling. After waiting for so long, we decided the best way to get to the Fox Glacier before sun down would be to bike. We left our hostel around 745 and biked mostly uphill and made it back just before dark.

On the way to Fox Glacier, getting out to stretch our legs from the bus ride

Fox Glacier

Yesterday, we left Fox Glacier and headed for the small town of Punakaiki, home of the pancake rocks. When we arrived we didn’t have our accommodation booked, so we headed to the iSite, only to discover that the hostels were completely booked out because of a couple of events going on this weekend. We found a place to stay at a little bach about 5 minutes from the beach. It has been kind of a nice change, staying at a place where each of get our own room and don’t have to share the space with many others. But this will probably be the only time, as it has been about double to what we have been spending every other night. However, we did get free internet again, another bonus. Yesterday we spent some time at the pancake rocks around high tide and then watched the sunset on the beach.
This afternoon we are catching a bus up to Nelson, and then spending the next few days in that area and up in Abel Tasman National Park. If we have time, we may catch a bus up to the North Island for a day or two until we head back down to Karen and Johns.

Heather at the Pancake rocks

Pancake rocks

That’s all for now!

Son of a Beech

Well due to the fact that I have free internet tonight, I thought I'd better take the opportunity to update you all.

On the morning of the 6th, Heather, Emily and I boarded a bus headed for Milford Sound. Our meals packed for the trip included bread, peanut butter, noodles, pasta, chips and a bunch of fruit (student budget, if you will). As we passed through the mountains, the beautiful weather slowly turned to cloud, and then to showers, and then to torrential downpour. We made a few touristy stops along the way, taking some pictures and walking in the rain. The bus driver, who was quite the tour guide, entertained us with many stories. He described the forest to us, mostly consisting of red beech (the bark is red), silver beeches (the leaves are silver), mountain beeches (they grow on mountains) and the son of a beech (the ones that fall on the road and block traffic for hours, on the only road into Milford Sound). The bus driver dropped us off at the end of the drive into Milford Lodge, as he had to keep heading right to the wharf to drop the rest off for a boat tour. We marched up the lane, soaking wet from our previous stop, and made our way to check in. We decided to just relax for the rest of the day as we were getting pretty tired from all of the traveling, and because it was pouring rain outside.

Stopping for a picture along the Milford Rd.

Mirror Lakes

Watch for pedestrians!

On the morning of the 7th, we woke up to sunshine beaming into our dorms, which made for excellent weather for our nature cruise later in the afternoon. We enjoyed the morning walking around the area and taking in the sun and scenery. At 4pm we boarded the M.V. Sinbad for our cruise. I took waaaaay to many pictures, so I'll only leave you with a couple.

one of the many waterfalls

Mitre Peak

Now, I don't want to rush, but I've got 5 minutes left to finish and post this. So, I won't leave you with any pictures from today but I will make sure to add some later.

Yesterday, we waited for our bus to Queenstown at the Milford Wharf that didn't leave until 3pm. We arrived in Queenstown last night around 8 and were happy to enjoy the rest of the evening checking emails before calling it a night. Today, we took the gondola ride, went for a luge run, found milkshakes at mcdonalds, walked around the lake, took many pictures, and planned out our next few days.

Sorry for the rush but gotta sign off!
Sending love and hopefully some warmth back home

I wish I were a glow worm

I wish I were a glow worm
A glow worm’s never glum
cause how can you ever be grumpy
when the sun shines out your bum - Te Anau Glowworm Caves

I left off by mentioning that Heather, Emily and I were going to visit the Botanic Gardens two days ago in Dunedin, before heading off to Te Anau. Once we got our things packed up, we headed out to catch a bus up to the Gardens. The site was beautiful, and full of fresh flowering smells. The city of Dunedin is very hilly, so we got a good work out wandering the gardens, lugging around all of our things.

Dunedin Botanic Gardens

Heather relaxing with all of her baggage

After enjoying the scenery, we grabbed lunch from the New World supermarket, consisting of bread, chicken and fruit and made our way in the direction of Baldwin St., the “World’s Steepest Street.” The streets steepest grade is 1 in 2.86. We opted to climb it with our eyes, but we did watch a few members of a tour group which was stopped there, bike down it. One guy couldn’t even stop before going through the street at the bottom, lucky for him no cars were going by.

Emily & Heather at Baldwin St.

After our morning adventures, we caught the bus to Te Anau, where we arrived to at about 7pm. The drive didn’t feel too long though, as it was a time to relax and take in the mountainous view. We got to our hostel, which was located along the lake with a great view of the mountains behind. After quickly checking in and seeing our room, we headed onto a boat to take us to the Te Anau Glowworm Caves. We already felt we got our moneys worth just from the 30 minute boat ride over to the location of the caves. The tour was pretty neat, but unfortunately no pictures were allowed, as everything needed to be completely dark. The best way I can describe it though, is it’s as if you are laying back watching the stars, the only difference being that you could reach up and actually touch them if you wanted to.

Yesterday, we spent most of the day hiking around Lake Te Anau, where I will leave you with a couple pictures. The landscape here is breathtaking, and today we are heading to Milford Sound, with our grocery supplies in tow, and a cruise booked for tomorrow.

Me, in front of Lake Te Anau

Heather & Emily, posing for a picture on our hike

Hello from Dunedin!

Well, I guess I better start off by introducing myself and the idea behind this blog. My name is Alison, and I am a Canadian student studying landscape architecture. In our program we our given the opportunity to go on an exchange in another country for a school semester. Yes, I am writing this blog to help keep friends and family updated on my adventures, but mostly I am writing it for myself, to reflect on the different experiences. Over the years I have taken up the hobby of photography, and look at this as an opportunity to expand my skills. I am excited to begin my travels with two friends, Heather and Emily, and with my camera alongside.


We have been pretty busy so far, and I am just getting a chance to sit back and write something now. Our flights were long but good, with no problems once we got in the air. We met a few others traveling to New Zealand, both on the plane and in the airport in Los Angeles. As soon as we arrived in Auckland, we picked up our bags and dug around for our shorts. Having another 5 hour layover, we decided to go out and enjoy the fresh New Zealand air.

Emily enjoying the summer air outside of Auckland airport

Once we arrived in Christchurch, we hopped on a shuttle to our booked accommodation at the Dorset House. Hungry, Heather and I set out to find some dinner, and settled on a  take away pizza, before coming across a delicious chinese restaurant that I had enjoyed three years ago, just down the street!

On the morning of our first full day, we walked to a fruit market down the road and picked up some pastries and fresh nectarines. We stopped and enjoyed the street scape (budding landscape architects here), before meeting Karen back at the hostel. I met Karen 3 years ago while I was traveling with my parents in New Zealand, and was happy to see her and her husband John again! Something about familiar faces just makes this big adventure seem a lot more fun and less stressful to plan out! On the trip from Christchurch to Ashburton, we drove home by making a quick stop at the University of Lincoln, so Heather could see where she’d be staying once Emily and I headed off to Adelaide. We enjoyed our first meat pies outside under some shade for lunch at Ali and Grahams, and then finished our journey by saying hi to John in the fields, who was out busy harvesting.

Hanging out by the letter box men

Standing infront of the big fish in Rakaia, Salmon capital of New Zealand

Sharplin Falls

After doing some planning, we decided that first we would head south to Dunedin today to see the penguins and albatross colony (only sadly to find that to do this we would need a car). So not letting this dampen our spirits, we booked our next few days up to Te Anau, Milford Sound and Queenstown while in an internet cafe. We wandered around Dunedin today and and saw some breathtaking architecture and caught the tail end of the Chinese New Years parade. Tomorrow we are going to walk to the Botanical Gardens, which are the first in New Zealand and then catch a bus to Te Anau. That’s all for now! Sending lots of love back home!

If you forget to stop, remember to Give Way!