Sunday, August 12

Sunday, August 12

The cell phone alarm was set for 8:00 but I woke up around 7:45 and went outside to see the most beautiful morning. The mountains were visible and it was so nice! Breakfast time and although we'd bought a huge bag of oats at the store the night before we had leftover Chinese that needed to be eaten.

After breakfast we drove down to the the lake and the Church of the Good Shepherd before driving out to the Mount John Observatory. It was such an AWESOME weather day...so bright and clear. However, we could start to see the clouds coming in over the Mount Cook area and we weren't sure if our helicopter tour would still be a go (although Josh had called them earlier and everything was fine).

After having mochachinos to drink and taking in the view from the Astro Cafe (the two mountain shots below), we needed to hit the road toward Mount Cook. Our helicopter tour was leaving out of Glentanner which was about an hour's drive away.

As we drove toward Glentanner, we passed Lake Pukaki seen below on this fantastic day:

When we reached Glentanner, they told us that the winds had changed and the flight we were booked on to fly over Mount Cook to view the Franz and Fox glaciers wasn't operating. We could still fly around and view the area and make a snow landing on one of the mountains.

We decided we should take the shorter helicopter ride ($100 less per person than the tour we'd originally booked). There really wasn't much of a safety briefing and this helicopter ride was a lot less work than putting on all the gear for the heli-hike we took at the Franz glacier.

We took our photo with the passes they gave us for like 5 seconds before taking them away. I really don't think they were necessary as our tour only consisted of us and one other girl. We hopped onto the helicopter and although it's hard to view in the video below, I was really afraid and I didn't really enjoy the ride due to the whole fear of flying thing. Of course, the views were AWESOME but flying does make me nervous especially when we were flying so close to the side of the mountain!

When we landed on the snow covered mountain, I was relieved. We got out of the helicopter and did a bit of walking around in the deep, deep snow. Apparently, you are supposed to stay on the tracks that the helicopter pilot makes in the snow but I missed that part of the instructions because I went off the trail to take some photos.

After the helicopter tour we went on a hike to try to view Mount Cook, however, while the sun came out for a solid 15 minutes on the hike, by the time we reached the Mount Cook viewing spot it was snowing lightly and as we began our walk back it really started snowing big flakes. It was really cool yet kind of intimidating to be out in nature like that.

After our hike, we stopped into the Visitors Centre for a bit before getting on the road to Queenstown. We ate some snacks as we drove along. We knew we'd have to cross over Lindis Pass in order to reach Queenstown and we hoped to be able to do that during the daylight as that was one road we hadn't driven on our first South Island trip and we didn't know what it was like. The drive typically takes 3 1/2 to 4 hours and we left the Mount Cook area around 3pm.

The Lindis Pass, although there were signs posted for Ice/Grit was not too bad. However, there isn't a lot out in rural New Zealand so by the time we made it across the Pass, we were ready to find the nearest toilets or we were going to burst! We found a small town with public toliets and just as we pulled into the parking lot, the car died. The car must have needed a break too! No worries though as the car started right back up and didn't give us any other trouble on the trip.

Back on the road as we watched a pretty sunset over Lake Dunstan. The last hour of the drive was in the dark...and then, in the rain. Finally, we made it into Queenstown. We were hungry and I had planned for us to eat dinner at Speight's Ale House which fortunately was on the main road as we came into town.

We found some parking and headed off to eat. When we got into the restaurant/bar, it looked really crowded with people sitting very close to each other at smooshed tables (very European style). I approached the waiter at the counter and said, "I heard to ask for something called the Vault Room." Now, I'd read online to ask for this room but I had no idea what or where it was.

The guy asked me how many people we had and I said 4 and then he proceeded to show us into a room right off his counter area that had a table and chairs for six and the roof of the room was vaulted. It was our very own private dining area with room to spread out. We felt like VIPS until ordering and receiving our food took 45 minutes!

However, once the food arrived, it tasted soooo good! I had soup and salad, Josh's mom had black cherry chicken, Josh's dad had fish and chips and Josh had pork chops with veggies. It was a great meal in a great environment. Too bad about the wait (granted it was Saturday night and we were hungry going into the restaurant).

After the great dinner, we stopped in at a grocery store to pick up dessert (two different Sara Lee pies!), snacks and drinks. We were staying in another holiday home but this place was not going to be as big as the last place we'd stayed. This home had 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom but SPECTACULAR views. It was also ridiculously cheap for being just outside of Queenstown in peak season. When I saw the price on this place (after looking at other places that cost $300-$400 per night) I had to book it.

The name of the holiday home was McKerrow Magic and it is located in Sunshine Bay which is a 5 minute drive from Queenstown. Although I had directions to the house (which turned out to be correct~we were just incapable of following them correctly) we got lost and Josh's dad went into a hotel to get further directions and a map. We soon found the proper street but we had difficulty finding the proper address on the mailbox. Eventually, I found the right place using the flashlight on the cell phone to help me out.

We unloaded our gear and settled into our new place. We were going to be staying here for two nights. Josh's dad started us a fire in the potbelly stove and we broke out one of the pies for dessert. We popped in a DVD and hung out for the rest of the night. When we went to bed, Josh and I saw that the green shade over the skylight could be pulled back to view the stars while laying in bed. How cool is that?!?!

Saturday, August 11

Saturday, August 11

5:00 morning which really turned out to be a 5:15 morning by the time we got out of bed. We had to be out of the house by 6:00 and we were. We loaded up in the car and drove the empty Palmerston North streets towards the airport. At one intersection, we sat at a red light that would not change to green although no one else was on the road...no one else besides the police car that pulled up behind us, that is. After the cop sat behind us for awhile, he pulled ahead of us and waved us through the light just as it turned green.

We drove on through town and stopped at another red light. Just as that light turned to green, another cop who was behind us turned on its lights and pulled us over. What the heck?!?

Josh was driving and his dad was in the front seat. Josh's mom and I were in the backseat. I could hear what the woman cop was asking Josh and apparently he had to say his name and address into some sort of machine.

I thought the cop was recording Josh's details for a database but apparently that is how they test for drink driving in New Zealand. The cop didn't even say if Josh had done something wrong like in the states they have to have a reason for pulling you over. Here, she just pulled Josh over for NO REASON other than we were driving out in Palmerston North at 6 in the morning! After checking his driver's license she was like, "Do you know you can only use a foriegn driver's license for a year in New Zealand?" Josh said yes and we were free to continue on to the airport. Man, if that was me I would have given the cop some attitude. I told Josh he handled the situation VERY WELL.

We reached the airport without further incident and stood in a bit of a line before checking in and checking our luggage. Again, they didn't ask us for any identification. We paid our departure tax and waited about 15 minutes before boarding the flight. We were on a bigger plane to Christchurch (2 seats by 2 seats) rather than the 1 seat by 1 seat we took to Nelson. Josh's parents were seated one row up from us and Josh and I were in the emergency exit row seats...lots of leg room.

The flight started off well enough and although it was pretty cloudy below, I think I could make out the top of Mount Taranaki...but it definitely wasn't as good as on a clear day. As the flight attendant started going down the plane with the coffee she told Josh's mom that it was going to be bumpy as we went to Christchurch. GREAT.

That girl wasn't lying about it being bumpy either. Oh-my-gosh, it was crazy wind causing us to have a bumpy ride. It was managable until we turned inland toward Christchuch. I swear I heard the wind howling hard against the side of the plane and it became so intense as we were turning I had to say pretty loudly "IT'S JUST THE WIND" to try to calm myself down. Even the landing seemed tipsy because of the winds...but at least we did land safely. WHEW!

Now in Christchurch, we waited for our checked luggage to come off the plane as Josh called the car rental company who would shuttle us to their location about 5 minutes drive from the airport. 10 minutes later we went outside to the bright green shuttle van (the color of the Jucy/Ezy rental car company...they are changing their name from Jucy to Ezy).

Josh and I sorted out the paperwork and then the guy showed us our rental car. Uh, we didn't need a super flash car to go where we wanted to go but man, this car was looking ROUGH. Seriously, both the front and rear fenders were about to fall off and the walk-around-the-car-inspection wasn't really necessary as the guy could just draw a big X over the whole vehicle and it would have been an accurate representation. The suitcases fit in the trunk but the 3 backpacks would have been a challenge. Then, I saw that the car was a 1999 and I thought I'd rented us a car that was at least a 2001.

I asked if that was the type of car we had rented. The guy looked up some stuff on his computer and said it didn't say on his system but that there was another car out back that he would pull around for us to look at. Immeadiately upon seeing the next car I knew it was much better than the first. Nothing was falling off this car and it was a 2001. Plus, ALL the bags and our jackets fit in the trunk! It took an extra 10-15 minutes to switch cars but it was worth the time to make the change especially since the newer car was the same price as the first. Although we had a "JUCY" sticker on the back windshield, we nicknamed the car "Flash Dos" (dos meaning two in Spanish because the original Flash is our Palmerston North car). The white car in the picture below is our rental car.

We went onto the Antarctic Centre which is right across the street from the airport. We were some of the first people there as it opened at 9 and we got there at 9:15 or so. We saw some cool exhibits and then donned heavy winter coats and shoe covers and went into a room that simulated a winter storm at -17 C which is 1.5 F. There was an ice slide over an igloo and we had some fun in there before going to watch the penguin feeding.

All the penguins had something wrong with them that prevented them from being able to live in the wild. After watching the feeding, we viewed some more exhibits and then we headed out of the centre in search of lunch at Dux de Lux...the place Josh and I ate at our last time in Christchurch. I read the map PERFECTLY to lead us to our destination...I was so proud of myself. We easily found parking on the street and there was an outdoor market going on.

Lunch at Dux de Lux was alright...not as good as last time. My veggie samosa was not so tasty. The food looked good but just didn't taste good.

After lunch, we walked to Cathedral Square where we were able to catch the last day of the art display. Here's a picture of some inflatable flower art. Josh's parents went into the cathedral while Josh and I stayed outside soaking up the sun and watching what had to be the worst street performance we've ever seen. The guy was just not entertaining.

After catching back up with Josh's parents we looked in a souvenier shop or two for them as they were on a mission to find some New Zealand t-shirts. We were also on the lookout for the Harley Davidson shop so Josh's dad could buy some gear. We found the street that the Harley shop was located on, however, it would be a several block walk there and back so we decided to walk back to the car and drive to the Harley shop.

We easily navigated our way through downtown Christchurch and as we were stopped at a red light I could not resist taking the photo of this girl in the MOST AMAZING outfit. She was well dressed and coordinated. Check her out (clicking on the photos makes them larger and I love how I got that graffitti on the wall...so artistic!):

So, we did the Harley shop where things were expectedly expensive but I did find a bike or two I think it would be nice to have-and I'm not a motorcycle person. Josh's dad bought himself some NZ Harley gear and then we were off on Highway 1 south toward Lake Tekapo.

Sitting in the back seat, my sleepiness started sinking in and I dozed off and on. We stopped a lot for pictures of the mountains in the distance. When we reached Ashburton, we went through the McDonald's drive through for ice cream cones.

On the road again, on the road again...loads of driving but the scenary was nice (seeing lots of lambs and mountains) and the roads were definitely the best/flattest on the South Island. When we took a bathroom break in a small town it started sprinkling which turned into rain. Bugger!

While Josh's parents took photos of the deer farm we drove past, I called the agent for the holiday home we'd be staying at in Queenstown the following evening for the access code to the key box.

Finally, we reached Tekapo around 5:30. I didn't have specific directions to the cottage, however, I remembered seeing it last time we were here and Tekapo is so small that there is only one residential area. Fortunately, Josh and I found the house on our first try. We checked into the Alpine Cottage and were shown the place by the owner. We didn't stay long because we were hungry.

Really raining now, we drove down to "town" which is really a small strip of shops and a gas station. We placed a takeaway order at Jade Palace: chicken curry, spicy beef, and sweet and sour pork with 2 sides of rice. While our food was prepared, we walked down to the grocery shop to buy breakfast, drinks, and snacks for the following day. We also went to the "bottle" shop which is similar to a liquor store except that at this place, you just walked up to a window and you could look at the drinks they had displayed and that's what you could choose from. Interesting not being able to wander the shelves yourself.

Walking back through the pouring rain, we picked up our takeaways and drove back to the cottage. We set up the table and were so impressed with the presentation that we took a couple of photos. Dinner was really, really good. We ate as much as we could handle and there were still leftovers. Because of the rain, our stargazing tour at the Mount John Observatory was canceled. That was alright though because it meant we had more time to hang out in the Awesome cottage. We started up a fire in the gas fireplace and played two rounds of Scattergories having some pretty big laughs! We were really tired from our early day, however, so Josh's mom went to bed, I relaxed in a hot bath, and Josh and his dad watched Star Wars. We were all asleep just after midnight and we needed to be up and ready to leave the cottage by 10 the following morning.

Here are some more pictures of the 2 bedroom/2 bathroom cottage:

August 9-20 Mini-Vacay

Thursday, August 9

You know you're living the good life when you can call an 11 day trip a "mini vacay." The big idea I'll be taking away from living in New Zealand is that TIME IS A LUXURY. We've had the chance while we've been living here to take off for so many trips we wouldn't normally be able to take in the states (and even back home, we have a lot of extended trips).

Well, my time off actually began on Tuesday, August 7 because I had accrued some overtime. I used the time off before Josh's parents arrived to do some serious house cleaning. The massive cleaning led to our trip quote (every trip itinerary I make has a name/quote/title) "When I clean, I clean." I told this to Josh as I found some part of the windowsill he had cleaned was still dirty whereby Josh proceeded to show me where I had cleaned was also poorly done. We had a good laugh about that and I got a title for the itinerary out of it!

So, house cleaned, we went to buy some stuff to make the house smell good because even though the house isn't old it has a really musty smell. We bought some peppermint oil to burn in a dish with a tea candle and it worked pretty well while we were at home (however, upon returning to the house after our travels the old stink was still in the air).

Thursday morning rolled around and Josh and I were up and out of the house around 10...only one hour later than originally scheduled. I had planned to get to Wellington early to view the National Archives (original Treaty of Waitangi and women's sufferage documents) but that wasn't going to happen now.

Josh's parents were scheduled to arrive at 2:40 and we planned to meet up with Jess and Ike in Wellington for lunch from 1-2. Leaving the house at 10 am and stopping to get gas on the way, we still reached Wellington in plenty of time to find parking downtown near the Borders shop we were going to eat at...lucky break regarding the parking downtown at lunch time!

Jess and Ike had taken our lunch order the night before because Jess was going to pick up Chinese takeaway from a place called Chow Mein Cube that didn't have a place to sit and eat at. I got the Satay Chicken Noodles and Josh got the Sweet and Sour Pork Noodles.

Since we were just a tad early for our lunchtime get together, Josh and I ordered some mochachinos to enjoy with our view. It was such a nice sunshiny day in Wellington compared to the gray and rainy day we'd left behind in Palmerston North.

When Jess and Ike arrived at the Borders cafe, we had a great lunch with some great laughs! Ike can tell some FUNNY stories. Jess and Ike are going to the South Island for a couple of weeks at the end of August beginning of September but we'll try to meet up with them again when they get back. Only a few days before on Saturday, we met up with them half way between Palmerston North and Wellington in a town called Paraparaoumu for an afternoon of food and games.

1:46 or so rolled around (that's when our parking expired) so we left Borders, high stepped it to the car and were quickly on our way to the Wellington airport for the first time. We were so excited as we tried to find a place to park and take out the welcome sign we'd made and the gift of New Zealand candy we'd bought for his parents. We needn't have been in a hurry, however, as we soon saw that Josh's parents flight had been delayed about 10 minutes or so. Josh and I staked out a place to sit in what we thought was the Arrivals area. Fortunately for us, Josh asked an airport employ if we were in the right location and he said no.

We went downstairs to the correct area and waited and waited. As everyone arriving in the international portion of the airport has to go through customs/immigration, there was a sliding glass door that would open up and let people through when they'd completed the process. Everytime the sliding glass door would open we'd get excited. Finally, Josh's parents exited through the sliding glass doors! Yay! We took some pictures inside the airport and outside by the car, his parents opened their Cadbury candy gift.

We didn't have much time to try to make it out to Cape Palliser before sunset but we thought we'd give it a go because the seal colony would be Kathy and Farolyn's only chance to see some wildlife in New Zealand on their trip. To reach Cape Palliser from Wellington we had to cross this crazy mountain pass with a sheer cliff on one side. Here's a picture looking back towards Wellington from the road.

We kept driving toward Cape Palliser as the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset and it was exciting to see New Zealand through the eyes of Josh's parents. We finally reached the seal colony and we could view the lighthouse with its shining light in the distance. Josh and I got out of the car and started walking ahead of his parents to see if we could find the seals. Just as Josh was saying "Be careful that you don't sneak up on a seal..." we heard the seals bark at us and I screamed in surprise!

Josh's parents came over to where we were and although it was getting quite dark we could still see the seals. Very cool. We stayed for about 10-15 minutes before driving back towards Palmerston North. I don't remember much about the drive other than it was very dark and started sprinkling. When we were in the Manawatu Gorge Josh turned off the headlights twicas he was trying to work the headlights. No headlights in the gorge = CRAZY!

When we made it home that evening, Josh whipped up some burritos for dinner. As per usual, they were delicious. We uploaded some pictures from Josh's parent's trip to Australia and had some serious belly laughs at how some of them turned out. I was literally rolling on the floor for some! Then, it was off to bed because we had a full day planned for tomorrow.

Friday, August 10

Josh's parents woke up before we did so Josh got up and made them some coffee before taking a shower. I woke up and it was such a sunny morning I had to tell Josh's parents how lucky they were to be experiencing this in Palmerston North as the last several weeks had been so cloudy and rainy.

Because it was so sunny, Josh's parent wanted to take advantage of the weather and take a walk through the Victoria Esplanade. We took our walk and showed them the Manawatu River and the playground. Josh's parents slid down the slide before we all took a ride down the zipline...Josh rode the zip for the very first time! We also played in the human hamster wheel which is always good fun.

After walking through the duck pond and the rose gardens (which have been completely sheared and snipped for the season) we wound up back at the house. We then departed for our daytrip up north via the Te Apiti Wind Farm and Manawatu Gorge.

It was so windy at the wind farm and besides that I hate the giant blades whipping around overhead. It was a great day for viewing the site, however. Next, we drove over the Saddle Road to Woodville and then back through the gorge towards Fielding and the North Central part of the North Island.

We stopped for gas in Fielding and Josh's dad took a photo of the price on the pump...$1.53 per litre and we filled up the Honda at $70.00. Remember, there are almost 4 litres per gallon so petrol is truly expensive down under. We were on the road again and drove up to Stormy Point which is a fantastic overlook of the rolling New Zealand landscape. Onward to Mount Ruapheau area which we reached around 2:00 or so.

We stopped into the Ohakune I-site after taking a picture of the Ohakune carrot (Ohakune is the NZ leader in carrot production). Then, we were driving up Mount Ruapheau to the Turoa ski field to do some sledding. We stopped on the drive up to view a waterfall and to take some pictures of the snow covered mountain.

When we reached the ski field parking lot and got out of the car, it was freaking COLD! We put on all the gear we'd brought (Josh had neglected to bring gloves) and we set off to figure out how to rent the sledding equipment. The equipment rental was easy enough...a sled was $10 NZD and was easily shared between two people. We opted to rent snow boots since our shoes were unlikely to keep our feet dry. The boots were also $10 NZD per pair.

All of our gear sorted, we headed toward the sledding area. Josh and I were like...puh-leez...this looks weak. That is until we took our first sledding trip down the hill and then had to walk back with the sled! I was fun and the skies were mostly clear as we started, however, the conditions worsened as the day went on.

We took a coffee break and grabbed an expensive drink inside the ski lodge (3.00 NZD for a small cup of machine made coffee). It was nice to dry out though. After our drinks and having watched almost EVERYONE come in off the ski and sledding field...we went back out. What have I always said? Josh and I love to shut a place down and the ski field was no exception!

We were the only people sledding/skiing as Josh's parents tried to look on through the fog. Josh and I sledded down a big hill since there were no other people to block our path. As we attempted to walk up the hill it was pretty intense as we couldn't see very far ahead of us due to the fog.

Having made it safely back to the top of the hill, we returned our rental gear and headed back to the car. Now we had to deal with driving down the mountain in intense fog! Josh took it really slow going downhill and we soon reached Ohakune safely. Hungry, we decided to pop into Altitude 585, a place I'd read positive reviews about online.

As it was only 5 pm or so, they were only serving from the bar menu not the dinner menu. Well, we typically prefer the bar food anyway so it worked out in our favour. We ordered cheese bites, a Hawaiian pizza, samosas, and spring rolls. Josh, his dad and I had a beer while Josh's mom had a cocktail called a Turoa Fijoa...a vodka drink mixed with the native NZ fruit. We took some family photos and Kathy and I tried to dry out by the fire. I love a nice fire!

The food arrived and there was heaps and it was all very tasty! We enjoyed our meal and the environment of Altitude 585. When we arrived, it wasn't very crowded and we grabbed some seats on couches in a very hip area of the bar/restaurant. As we finished our meal and were leaving, the place was starting to fill up with patrons. It was a lovely meal in a great place. Highly recommended.

We hopped into the car for our 2 hour drive back to Palmy. Once we arrived, we put the days pictures onto the laptops and Josh's parents started a load of wash. We were off to bed around midnight although we had to get up SUPER EARLY for our flight the following morning. 5:00 early...ugh! I hate waking up whilst it's still dark outside :(

Speaking of dark...I'm up past my bedtime so I gotta say adios for now and write more about the trip with photos tomorrow.

July 28 Weekend Trip

Here are some pictures of the second time Josh got a cold in New Zealand. I came home from work one afternoon to find him conked out on the love seat...so uncomfortable to try to sleep on so I knew he had to really be out of it. I don't usually make dinners as Josh is better at it but since he was sick I did make him some chicken soup and a sandwich. Two days later, I caught Josh's cold :( and still have a runny nose!

On Saturday, July 28 Josh and I decided to drive down to Cape Palliser which is the southernmost point of the North Island...I've even read that it is further south than Nelson on the South Island. The drive from Palmerston North is around 2 hours one way. We left Palmerston North where it was gray and raining and as we reached the southern coast, the sun came out and we had great views. We could even see the snow capped mountain peaks on the South Island across the Cook Straight. AWESOME!

As you near Cape Palliser, you come into a small town where they push boats into the sea by using bulldozers. Various bulldozers in a variety of colors line the road. I liked the pink one.

As we continued down the road, we saw a sign that said "Temporary Bridge" except the bridge wasn't yet completed and we needed to get to the other side to visit the lighthouse and seal colony. There was another car with three women trying to decide if they should cross over the large stream to reach the other side.

I was confident we could make it (after watching another vehicle cross to our side from the opposite direction). One of the women said she would wait to see what happened to us before they crossed.

Well, Josh and I gunned the gas and splashed water up underneath the hood...it wasn't long before the hood was smoking and the car died! At least the car died when it was out of the stream. The women ran over to help us push the car out of the road and one ran back to her car to get the jumper cables. Josh said the car just needed to drive out but in the 10 minutes we were sitting there several cars pulled over to ask how we were which was really nice.

We didn't need the jumper cables and the car did restart...now we would just have to be more careful about spashing water when we drove out of here. We asked if the women wanted a ride with us to the lighthouse to leave their car behind but they said they'd give it a go on their own (their car wasn't as much as a low rider as our car).

They made it safely across the stream and we were on our way to the lighthouse. It was such a nice day and the moon was rising as the sun was setting. We climbed the 258 steps to the top of the lighthouse. The wind was blowing cold and fierce at the top so we took a couple of pictures (I love seeing how the mountains rise up so close to the sea...I thought that might be how Hawaii looks). Then, Josh and I returned to the car to drive to the seal colony.

The seal colony was amazing. We were able to see so many seals and we got so close to them. Josh accidentally sneaked up on some seals and they growled at him! As the sun set, we started making our way back to Palmerston North. It was a great day trip. If the weather is good when we pick up Josh's parents in Wellington this Thursday, we'll drive them out to Cape Palliser so they can view the seals...oh yeah, we did make it safely back across the stream when we returned home!