South Island!

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Ok, so the location of this entry is actually a lie. I’m no longer in the South Island, or even New Zealand. I’m actually back home, watching the snow fall and thinking of waxing my skis. But in any case, I WAS on the South Island-most definitely! And it was fantastic. So, if anyone still reads this, here is the story of my last two weeks in New Zealand. (broken into several pages to make it easier to read)

It was raining as I flew out of Auckland, but 2 hours later the clouds were gone, allowing for a spectacular view of the mountains as the plane landed in Queenstown. The good weather remained for my entire visit, even on the notoriously wet West Coast. (So, for those of you who are wondering, I do have a tan. At least for a few more days.)

After landing in the airport, I spent an agonizing hour trying to find a rental car. The rental age in NZ is 21 and most big rental companies abide by that law. But my experience in Auckland has me convinced that law-shmaw, I could get a car. Long story short- my advice for under 21’s is to not mention your age at all and you may be able to get a car. I ended up driving away with a sweet deal on the nicest car I’d had in NZ yet.

I spent the first night at a hostel in Queenstown. I’m not convinced that anyone actually lives in Queenstown full time after observing the number of houses for holiday rental and all the imported workers. It’s very much a tourist place, though one specifically for adrenaline sports. It’s gorgeous and definitely a place I would come back to or work in.

I spent the first evening walking around taking pictures of the mountains and the sunset. On the way back from my picture expedition, I found a group of musicians playing on the boardwalk and stopped to listen. It turned out to be a group of kids about my age. I think they were traveling on bikes and stopping wherever they wanted to play music and make some money. Three hours later, after going back and getting changed, I found them still out on the boardwalk, so I stuck around for a while. They had been joined by two Germans: a boy with long blond dreads and a girl with half-dreads who looked about 15. Both of them were wearing strange renaissance-like clothes. Somehow, their violin and tambourine addition was just right for the guitar, drums, and Spanish-crooning of the bike group. The crowd was mostly teenagers (maybe locals) and a few drunk blokes who wanted to dance in the middle. It was an entertaining night. On my way home, I saw the first stars of my whole trip. Orion is upside down here (which makes sense I guess).

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Photos

Queenstown afternoon
view from boardwalk

Evening in Queenstown
couple on the beach

Sunset 2
on the Remarkables