Milford sound

I did an overnight cruise on Milford Sound. Again, it was quite cold but worth the amazing scenery. In the evening we went kayaking (which I suck at). The real treat was the morning portion of the cruise. Dolphins, Seals, and Waterfalls. What more could you ask for?

Lord-of-The- Rings-esque Scenery en route to Milford Sound

A lot of my itinerary included travel by bus, since I did not hire a car. I was amazed at how much fun the bus rides were (except the one when I was really hungover). The bus driver points out every little peak/mountain/Chronicles-of-Narnia spot, and we frequently stopped for photo ops and quick little bush walks. I had so much fun on the bus, I couldn’t believe the bus ride wasn’t the main attraction.

First Day in Queenstown, South Island

When I first arrived in Queenstown, I didn’t have anything on my itinerary. I just thought I’d look around and see what there was to do. Queenstown is markedly the “adventure capital of the world” and the streets are lined with places that take your money in large sums book all kinds of adventurous activities, the most popular being bungee jumping. (And no, I did not bungee. Detached retinas? No thank you!)

The first thing I did was ride the Skyline Gondola up a big hill for nice views of the town. (The first thing I REALLY did was contemplate buying Uggs because it was so damn cold.)

Queenstown sits on Lake Wakatipu and is surrounded by beautiful mountains, where you can ski in the winter time. The Gondola ride takes about 15 minutes up. At the top is a café, observation decks, souvenir shops, and the option to ride a luge down the hill. Not quite up for adventure/additional bitter wind at the time, I opted for a nice lady like gondola ride down.








Another famous activity in Queenstown is jet boat rides. After my gondola ride (and multiple attempts of trying to get stupid tourists to take a decent photo of me in front of the view), I walked down the main street to sign up for Shotover Jet. Within minutes, I shelled out $110 New Zealand Dollars and was soon off to the Shotover River for the ride.




Once arrived, I was fitted with a giant and and equally hideous rain coat and life vest. The jet boats zip along the shallow canon river, do lots of 360’s, and come alarmingly close to giant rocks. The scenery is stunning, and it was quite fun. However, I didn’t thoroughly enjoy it because I seriously thought my face was going to freakin freeze off. And you have to hang on in the boat, so there is no way to wipe off the river of snot that is running down your face in these conditions. These jet boats go quite fast, spinning and turning, sometimes making the snot fly fight off of your face. I’m pretty sure some of my snot landed on the poor little innocent girl next to me (and this totally made it worth the money/conditions)! At the end of it all, they try and sell you a picture of your Snotover Shotover River ride. I passed, and made my own instead. I'm in the back row.

Kiwi Money = hip

You may not be able to see the detail on these dollar bills too well, but they reminded me of tattoos frequently found on twenty-something Urban Outfitters employees. I half expected to turn the bills over and find portraits of Brett and Jermaine instead of the Queen.

I love kiwis (meaning the fruit, bird, and people)

Recently I had a quick 11 day adventure in New Zealand. Here I had one of the best times of my life, despite learning the kiwi fruit is not actually native to NZ. (wtf??). The country is absolutely stunning and I would love to go back. It blows my mind that more people leave the country each day than are being born (according to a possibly made up statistic). Please note that upcoming photos do not give any justice whatsoever to the country.