Chiefofdeepwoods

NZ Day 15 Need a ride? We had a nice brekky of scones I made fresh in the morning. The view was gorgeous because there were picture windows from the hostel looking out on Lake Tekapo. Can I say gorgeous!!!!!!!! Today I did something I thought I’d never do. Pick up a hitchhiker. Mom, don’t get scared. He wasn’t actually a hitchhiker but it was probably the closest I’ll ever get so I figured I’d let myself check it off the list. Johan was a guy from Germany who was staying at the same hostel as us. Just before we left the hostel as we were gathering our things a lady in the kitchen asked us if we were gonna brave the roads. We hadn’t heard that the roads were that bad so we stopped to ... read more

NZ Day 13 Dunedin to Aoraki (Mt. Cook) So we had to leave Dunedin sometime….but why did it have to be so soon. I woke up early to say goodbye to my Uncle Cliff and my cousin Ben before they went to work and school. Then I had a second cup of tea with Pip, Ryan and Rhys after I had packed up all my stuff and put it in the car. It was so nice to stop and have a break from traveling with a real family. It was good to see my cousins and I feel like we are growing closer. I feel like I was the closest to my aunt that I have ever been and it was awesome. She is so cool! When Sarah and I finally hit the road it ... read more

NZ Day 11 We had another lazy morning at the house, but that was good because I got to do a little studying to prepare for my exam tomorrow. After a long lazy breakfast, Sarah and Pip and I got in the car to go for an adventure to the Peninsula around the south side of the harbour. I was glad that Pip wanted to come and tour guide us because she took us to some really neat places and navigated the area much better than we could have done. First she took us to St. Clair beach which was very pretty and only 15 minutes from the house. It seemed like it would have been very nice in the summer time. The could formations were very interesting and made it look like we could ... read more

NZ Day 9 We thought we were doing the main tourist route but we found ourselves quite out of the way of the typical tourists Our first stop was at the oldest wooden lighthouse. It was a beautiful sight and view of the ocean but we were a little disappointed that we didn’t see any seals or sea lions dolphins or penguins, which the guidebook said we might see. Our next stop was the infamous Slope Point. The southern most place on the south island of NZ. The description in the guidebook made us think that this was a very popular tourist attraction. The “thing to do.” We soon realized that not too many people actually make it out there. Sterling Point at Bluff where we were the day before (7k north) evidently is enough ... read more

NZ Day 7 Milford Sound and the Surrounding Fjordland We started out the day at a reasonable time of 8’clock and left the hostel by 9:15am. We fueled up and then headed for the road to Milford Sound. We didn’t know exactly what we were going to see but we were prepared to stop wherever it looked inviting or nice. And stop we did. But there were too many places to stop every time it was nice because that would have been every 5 metres. First we stopped at Mistletoe lake and walked on a little loop through the forest looking at the lake and the beautiful snowcapped mountains reflected in the lake. Then we headed deeper into the Fjordland National Park, which is a World Heritage Area. Our next stop was Mirror Lakes. They ... read more