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Published: July 30th 2008
All,
We arrived in New Zealand 10 days ago. We met up with our third companion, Nate Wucherpfennig, at the airport in Christchurch. After renting a 6 berth campervan and figuring out how to run a manual diesel beast of a truck with the stick on the left hand side and getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road we were on our way. We spent the first night in Christchurch and then headed south to Dunedin, a small college / surf town on the southeast coast of the south island. It is pretty amazing driving through this country. The landscapes are so varied and each one is breathtaking in its own unique way. We spent the night in Dunedin and had an amazing Turkish meal while in town. The food here is outstanding. It is somewhat like America in that there is a wide variety of cuisines from all over the world. The seafood is also very good. We had mussels that are about 5 times the size of the mussels we are used to in the states. We also had some crayfish (lobster) last night. Expensive but really good.
After the day in Dunedin
we headed inland to Queenstown. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains to get there. New Zealand's population is about 4 million and yet they have over 40 million sheep in the country. The sheep literally dot every hillside. Queenstown was a blast. It is a town built on adrenaline. The first day Brandon and I went bungy jumping from the second highest bungy in the world (134 m or about 450 feet). Nate took a jetboat tour up river. The second day we headed up the mountain and telemarked / snowboarded the Remarkables. The mountain was pretty small but it was really cool to be hitting the slopes in July. The next day Nate and I went Fly Fishing and Brandon kayaked. Our final night in QT we watched the All Blacks (NZ's national rugby team) take on the Wallabies (Australia's national rugby team) at a local watering hole. It was a great atmosphere and the rivalry over here is incredible. We could have spent a month in Queenstown, it is a really unique place and if you are an adrenaline junkie you have to visit.
After leaving QT we headed north to Franz Joseph Glacier. We
went on a full day hike up the glacier and although it wasn't Kili it was a great experience nonetheless. Tramping around on the glacier, squeezing through ice crevices, and taking in the amazing views from atop the glacier was an experience we will never forget. We then continued North and headed over to the West Coast. We stayed in Greymouth. Nate and Brandon went on a splunking trip (rafting / walking through caves with glow worms and stalactites on the ceiling). I went surfing. It was really cold but the waves were incredible. It still amazes me that even with some of the best waves I have ever seen there was not another person in the water (I hope that it is just because surfing is not as popular here and not that the area is a known feeding area for great white sharks).
After leaving Greymouth we headed back across the island to the northeast region of the south island to a town called Kaikoura. This is a fishing / surf town that has some of the best seafood in the world. The area is also known for its whale watching. We will head back to Christchurch
tonight to catch a flight back home tomorrow.
This trip has been an amazing experience and it has undoubtedly changed us for the better. We keep talking about how fortunate we are and how grateful we have to be for all of the opportunities we have been afforded in our lives. Learning about different cultures and meeting people from all over the world is an eye opening experience. We can only hope to take the things we have learned about ourselves and the world while on this trip and do something meaningful.
Thanks for joining us on this journey. We hope you enjoyed the ride, we sure did.
Craig, Brandon and Nate
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Brooke
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woo
Shred gnar on the pow pow