There and Back Again

Day 1
Decemebr 28: Auckland to Christchurch to Queenstown

It’s 3:00am and I hear that familiar yet annoying tone of my alarm waking me from my short night of sleep. I don’t even think I slept that much because I was so nervous that my alarm wouldn’t go off but now I’m wishing it didn’t. But I get myself up and somewhat presentable to head to the airport. I am both nervous and excited as I pack up my 70L backpack, praying I didn’t forget anything. This is the first time I’ve done a backpacking trip so I didn’t really know what to expect. But I was up for about anything. We got a shuttle to the airport and the man driving told us that we better have packed warm clothes. We giggled because we thought he was joking... He wasn’t…

Anyways... A few hours later and we were hopping off the plane in Christchurch. We were on a pretty tight schedule. Our plane landed at 7:35am and we needed to find our way to the city central to catch our bus at 9. We had no idea where to go, great start haha! But we asked a lady at the airport and she directed us to where we needed to go and all was good! We hopped onto our bus for the 9 hour drive down to Queenstown! Pretty excited to catch a view zzz’s. We made a view stops along the way for drop offs and pick ups. We took a lunch break stop at Lake Tekapo. We got half an hour to sit, eat, enjoy the sights and flying fox!

Katja, Olivia and I waiting at the Christchurch bus stop
Queenstown Bound!

Sleeping on the way to Queenstown

Another nice bus stop: Wanaka

By 6pm we were in Queenstown! The sun was shining and our spirits up! We made our way to our hostel and had many people laugh at us on our way. We did look quite funny! We settled into our hostel and walked around Queenstown before hitting the sheets pretty early. Our bus tour started at 8am the next morning and we had been traveling since 4am. We wanted to be well rested because we were heading to one of New Zealand’s most popular tourist destinations: Milford Sound.

Day 2
December 29: Queenstown to Milford Sound to Gunns Camp

Just when I thought mountains couldn’t get any taller, water bluer and grass greener; it did! We made our way from Queenstown to Te Anau and then onto to Fiordland where Milford Sound is just a tiny part of a massive National Park. Fiordland National Park is the largest of the 14 national parks in New Zealand, being 12 500km squared. As we drove from Te Anau to Milford Sound we had ‘Mike’ (an audio tape) tell us about the history, plants, animals, basically everything we needed to know. Here were some of his facts:

90% of people that visit Milford are international
8-9meters of rain a year
mostly covered in forest existing from dinosaur times
the glaciers formed the flat parts/valleys
the mountains are still rising (which is crazy because they were already breaking my neck looking up at them!)
has gone through multiple ice ages
drove through the Homer Tunnel which is 1.2km long through the base of a mountain
because of the massive amount of rain and run off from all the waterfalls, the top layer of water in the sea is fresh water, then turning to the usual salt water

Here are a few pictures on the way:

Top of the morning

Fiordland

The pressure from the water
made really cool marks in the rocks

Mirror Lakes

We hopped on a boat and got extremely lucky with the weather! It rains more days then it is sunny but we were blessed with one of those sunny days.

Mitre Peak

Sea Lions

Instead of heading back to Te Anau our bus tour stays the night in Gunns Camp a hostel in the middle of the Hollyford Valley aka ‘middle of nowhere’. The hostel is run off of generators that get turned off around 10pm. So it was just us and nature. Our bus tour all sat down to eat dinner together and some good conversations got started. Of course we all go around and say our names and where we are from. Then from there it never takes long for conversations about our different countries to get started. We had American, Finnish, German, Dutch, Belgian and British so we talked for a few good hours. Some of the boys decided to make a fire after dinner (since there was nothing else to do and the lights were about to be turned off, I thought that was a pretty good idea) and we joined. It was so refreshing to get away from the business and technology. We went to bed shortly after to escape the sandflies and we were all keen to get up and go on a 3 hour hike at 6am before we were headed off to our next destination. It was so dark though that we could not see anything, including our way back to our cabins. So thankfully Jenni had her camera with an excellent flash! We all made a train and Jenni would take a picture, we would walk a few steps and we repeated this until we made it to our doors haha! Everyone laughed at me as we made our way and I white knuckled the person in front of me because I hate the dark! And apparently this is Canadian stereotype... so sorry Canada but I fulfilled that to my fellow international travellers.

Sandfly Reserve. Please Close Gate.
Haha!

Day 3
December 30: Gunns Camp to Stewart Island

Our 5:30am alarms went off unwelcomed! We looked out our windows and saw the down pour and fog and made an anonymous decision to go back to sleep. (None of us were too upset about it) We boarded the bus at 8:30 and headed South, really South! We were on our way to Stewart Island, which could technically be New Zealand 3rd island. It is the most southern point you can go in NZ.

We stopped in Bluff for a couple photo opportunities before catching the ferry across to Stewart Island.

The chain symbolises the anchor chain of the demigod Maui
who fished up the South Island and anchored it to Stewart Island

We were warned before we got the ferry that this is one of the roughest ferry rides. I didn’t really believe them until we were 10 minutes out and I felt like I was on a roller coaster. Luckily I do not get sea sick very easily but this was not the case for everyone. Katja got up after the first 5 minutes and ran to the back, luckily not getting sick but the back is smoother and the fresh air helped her feel better. Jenni and I sat in our seats giggling like little girls as we bounced up and down the waves. When we docked about an hour later we got off and into the freezing cold and rain! This seemed to be a pattern, but fairly normal for the residents living on Stewart Island. We were told that it rains 265 days a year here. Only leaving 100 days of dry weather. But hey it’s just water and we were not going to let it ruin our trip. We were all pretty exhausted and some still a little queasy so we relaxed and got warm with some tea in our hostel. After dinner we walked down to the harbour to spot the penguins.

Our bus driver told us that his last 2 trips had seen a kiwi bird while on the island, so we decided to test our luck and waited until midnight to go kiwi spotting. Kiwi’s are extremely shy and nocturnal, so it is quite difficult to see them in nature. It was pouring rain but we went out anyways, but had no luck. I did see this one though:

The only kiwis we saw...

Day 4

December 31: Stewart Island back to Queenstown

We had the day to explore before our 3:30pm ferry back to the South Island. We got very lucky with weather! Remember only 100 dry days and we got one! We did a beach walk that took us about 2 hours.

We packed up and were back on the ferry. Then grabbed our bags and back on the bus for the 3 hour ride back to Queenstown. This was probably my favourite stretch of travel, not because of the scenes outside my window but the conversations that happened inside the stuffy bus. It didn’t take long for our surface conversations to turn into real deep topics. These conversations required a lot of open mindedness and humility and are some of the deepest, most sincere conversations I’ve had. And I just want to reiterate that we had just met these people 2 days ago!

We arrived in Queenstown around 8:00-8:30pm and the city was hopping with people. It was New Years Eve and Queenstown is one of the busiest cities to be in on this night. With a population of 30 000 people it triples on New Years to 90 000! So we checked into our hostel and cleaned up before heading out for a night on the town. There was a fireworks display at the waterfront at 12 and my night ended with Olivia, Tabea and Rieke (German friends) at McDonalds having ice cream! Pretty perfect night!

Day 5
January 1: Queenstown

We decided to stay for the week in Queenstown, it is a very touristy town so it gave us lots to do. We were all pretty eager to try out the famous Ferg Burger. Whenever you walked by the store there is always a line out the door and down the street. We got in line and 20 minutes later we ordered and then waited an hour for our burgers to be made. We sat inside and watched the hustle and bustle. We were sooooo hungry when we finally got our burgers. My goodness was it worth the wait!

YUM!

Met some friend along the way...

And enemies…

After our massive burgers, Jenni and I went on a city walk. This was a route around Queenstown including the waterfront, Botanic Gardens and some of the city streets.

"Paint me like one of your French girls" pose

'Saving for a Ferg Burger'

Being a German tourist!

Jenni got picked to be part of a magic trick!

That night we all gathered in the kitchen after dinner and Jenni taught us a new Finnish card game which we would end up playing for hours every night.

7! Such a fun game!

Day 6

January 2: Queenstown

“It is such a small world” has never been more true to me then this morning!

While eating breakfast with Katja, Olivia and Jenni; we were joined by 3 guys from Ireland that were doing some traveling just like us. They asked us all where we were from because our accents weren’t quite as recognizable as theirs. I said I was from Canada, north of Toronto. One of them asked me if I knew Fenelon Falls and I was like yes of course. So he asked which town I was from. So I say Stouffville... And he was like ya I know it, I’ve been to the Strawberry Festival there. Ummm.... haha I just had to laugh! Crazy eh!

Queenstown has a really cool gondola that takes people to the top of one of the mountains where you can do lugging and a bungy and other fun stuff. But we wanted to save some money so we decided to do the gondola walk instead. It took us about an hour to get up, man it was steap! At the top we got to look out over Queenstown. It was beautiful! And reminded me even more of Vancouver!

Such tourist!

Day 7
January 3: Queenstown

This morning we spontaneously decided to go kayaking. We got all dressed and headed down to the water only to be told that the water was too rough and couldn’t go out... We went back to the hostel and took a look in Katja’s German Guide Book. We had wanted to go to Arrowtown, a small old fashioned town 20 minutes outside Queenstown. So now was as good a time as any and we grabbed the bus and away we went. On the bus ride I introduced Heads Up to everyone and we had some laughs over that. We spent the day exploring the shops.

Ugliest decorated trees!

Olivia, Dennis, Katja, me and Rutger having lunch.
Jenni taking the picture.

Taking a break and waiting for
the bus back to Queenstown

Day 8

January 4: Queenstown

Well today was the day! We had booked a canyon swing at the beginning of the week and it was finally here. We walked down to the Shotover Store where we would be picked up and taken to the canyon. We had to fill out some paperwork and do all the little formalities before being shuttled over to the cliff. All of us were feeling pretty nervous except for Olivia, who wasn’t scared at all! The employees thought their was something wrong with her because she was so calm haha. The employees were amazing, so personable and sarcastic. When we got in the van our driver Chris said “It’s a good day to die” before closing the door. And every time someone asked a question about the ropes or harness they would always be like “good enough” or “I hope that’s right”. Jenni and I did a tandem jump because it was the only way Jenni would do this. So we got strapped in toegther and stood on the edge of the platform. I was positive Jenni was going to faint! All I could think was I better be ready because if she faints we are going down. So we waited a bit and then counted down and then jumped! Seriously NOTHING could prepare you for the feeling of free falling 60m. But it was pretty quick and then we began to swing. It was incredible! We got pulled back up and I think that was the scariest part, just hanging at the top before getting pulled back onto the platform. Legs shaking we stood as best as we could to get unharnessed. Before we went I thought that I would do 2 because I wanted Jenni to go, so we did the tandem and then I would do one after on my own. But when they started asking for people to have their second turn and my legs were still shaking I said nope I’m all good! On an adrenaline high, we spent the rest of the day wondering the local shops. We headed back to the hostel for another night of fun and games.

The medical conditions list…

Nothing can describe what
I was feeling at this moment

It wasn’t long after getting back that I got a Facebook message from my sister Amy saying that they were picking up my Oma and heading to the hospital because my Grandpa had passed away peacefully in his sleep. In a moment of panic I ran out of the kitchen and up to our hostel room which was thankfully empty. (A rare occurrence when you share a room with 8 people). I got the chance to Facetime with my Oma and Dad at the hospital. I can’t help but admire my Oma’s strength in this moment, it will forever amaze me. As I sat on my end crying she was calm and collected and knew the right words to say to make me feel better and closer to home. It was just a short chat, since it was 3:00am their time. Not long after we hung up people started coming into the room. Feeling very overwhelmed I decided to go for a walk by myself. I walked down to the water, sat and just listened to the waves as I talked to God. I began to feel a peace that I know is only God given. I think I have realized during this trip and my time in New Zealand that I experience God the through nature. So I was glad that we were traveling back to the mountain the next morning.

Day 9
January 5: Queenstown to Mt Cook

We woke up bright and early to catch our bus at 7:30am bus to Mount Cook. As we left the city life behind and headed for the rising mountains and blue lakes I couldn’t help but feel happy as I pictured my Grandpa smiling and laughing like he used too. My eyes welled up with tears as Jenni grabbed my hand and I started to talk about him. Some tears escaped down my cheek as I began to talk about my Oma and family back home, but it felt good to get it out. We made our way to Mount Cook, New Zealand’s tallest mountain! We had amazing weather on the way and made a few stops.

Jenni, me, Katja and Olivia

Dennis, Jenni, me, Katja, Olivia and Rutger

Mount Cook is also known as Aoraki, which means “cloud piercer” in Maori. So we weren’t surprised as we got closer to see the rain. Since we decided to stay longer here we had one last night of cards with our Dutch friends Dennis and Rutger and said our goodbyes before calling it an early night.

Day 10
January 6: Mt Cook

The next morning we were shocked to wake up to sun and warmth! So we anonymously decided to do the hike to the base of Mount Cook. It took us about an hour to all get dressed in our warmest clothes and then 5 minutes out the door we all had started to strip off outer layers haha. Since the weather was gorgeous and we had nothing else to do we took our time to enjoy the views.

All ready to go!

Summer holidays with sweaters and hats...

This was one of my favourite days and places from the entire trip. Here is why:

Day 11
January 7: Mt Cook

We woke up to rain this morning but it didn’t get any of us down. I think we were all secretly excited about it. We didn’t do anything and I think we just needed a day to relax and what better then on a rainy day. We had to remember that we were on holidays and that it was ok to just relax. So we camped out in the TV room and watched Pretty Little Liars. It reminded me a lot of my university days in the Penthouse and basement apartment. When Vicki, Jacquie, Katie and I would make coffee and watch TLC Bride shows all day long!

After dinner the other Stray bus arrived, Jenni and I were excited because this bus had all the Dream Au Pair (our Au Pair organization) girls on it and we knew quite a few of them. After dinner Katja and I were feeling a bit cooped up so we decided to go for a short walk through a little forest. When we got back we were greeted by the Dream Au Pair bus. I think their entire bus was all German girls except for 2 Dutch boys (lucky them, eh!). It was fun to catch up and swap stories about our trips.

Day 12
January 8: Mt Cook to Rangitata

So we were now on a new Stray bus, which means a new driver. He went around took attendance and stopped at us and asked our names and then the countries we were from. I said ‘Canada’ and he (Twinkle, his Stray name, Blair his actual name) was like ‘cool where abouts in Canada?’ I said ‘north of Toronto’ and he was like ‘no way I lived there.’ So I said ‘well I’m actually from Stouffville’ and responded with ‘oh ya I know Stouffville, you know Jared? Probably not.’ And then we just continued with the attendance. So when we stopped I asked what he was doing in Canada and he told me that he was sponsored by a small company Pocket Change. So I was like no way I know the Jared you mentioned earlier! So then we got talking a bit more Stouffville and Pocket Change and stuff. Crazy small world!

Anyways! We were heading from Mount Cook to Rangitata today. The drive in between we were told was used to filmed Rohan in the LOTR and Hobbit. There were 2 activities we could do in Rangitata: rafting or a horse trek. The girls wanted to do the horse trek... If you know me you know that I HATE horses! So I was not particularly excited but I just told myself that I would be like a hobbit running from orces or Sherlock Holmes on one of his many journeys. So we got saddled up and I got the oldest horse, Charlie. Apparently he was really good for inexperienced riders. We set out into a foresty area with rivers and stuff. At some points it was kind of scary, the ground got pretty rocky and went into some pretty deep water. But since I had the oldest horse it didn’t take long for him to get to the back of line and even so far behind that Jenni would stop her horse and wait for me haha. But when I came around one the corners and as Jenni was waiting she just burst into laughter and said ‘you just had your Sherlock Holmes moment!‘ We both laughed and nearly fell off our horses. So in the end I actually had fun!

On the way to Rangitata

It happened..
Let's not make a big deal about it haha

We went back to the hostel, another hostel in the middle of nowhere. We warmed up with some coffee and tea and did some more catching up the others. Since it was a new group of people Jenni taught her Finnish card game and it wasn’t long before we were all laughing. A small group of us ended up playing card games and talking until 1:30-2am. It was great! We had quite a diverse group: the Dutch boys Jarah and Matthijs, an American girl Hilary, the Germans Maren, Nadine, Olivia and Katja, Finnish Jenni and myself. It was a perfect last night to end my trip off. We debated whether or not to just stay up until our bus left because we were leaving at 7:30am, but we all drifted to our bunks for a few zzz’s.

Cool eh!

At 1:30am, getting loopy and really tired haha!

Day 13
January 9: Rangitata to Christchurch to HOME

I couldn’t believe that it was my last day.

NZ traffic jam…

We got dropped off at the airport around 10am but my flight wasn’t until 9pm, so we stored my luggage and went out to explore Christchurch. While we were waiting for the bus a van drove by us and stopped and the driver asked us where we were going. We said we were headed to the city and he said that if we helped him drop off a van that he would take us into the city! Sweet deal! He was a personal driver for small groups and families touring the South Island. He had just dropped off a family of 12 and was heading to Wanaka to get a family of 4 and spent a couple weeks showing them around! Pretty cool job!

Christchurch was hit with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake in 2011 which demolished the city, with most of the damage occurring in the city central. It was a little eerie walking around the city and seeing buildings half destroyed and fences lining almost everything. But the city has done a really good job at making the place looking more lively by having artwork everywhere. Take a look for yourself.

People weaved various things through the rope

For Stouffville!

Even the cross walks were colourful

We explored the city central:

The Re:Start Mall

After the earthquake the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal Trust donated money for the Re:Start mall to open up. It is a retail hub made out of shipping containers because it was the easiest and fastest way to built a shopping centre at the time.

Cardboard Cathedral

The Cardboard Cathedral is a transitional cathedral seeing as the Christchurch Cathedral was significantly damaged in the earthquake. It is made from cardboard, wood, steel, a polycarbon roof and shipping containers.

Some of the stain glass mimicked the
original ones from the damaged Cathedral

Dance-O-Mat

This might have been one of the funniest things I have ever done. It was a big platform with speakers on each corner and a washing machine on one end. You put $2 into the washing machine and plug in your music device and for 30 minutes you get to rock out to your favourite tunes.

One Direction pose

I headed back to the airport in the late afternoon. I was exhausted and ready to come home. This had been 2 of the best weeks of my life! And I will forever cherish the memories and experiences I made.