I'm in the South Island!

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I can’t believe the last time I blogged it was Halloween. Time flies, my friends! Can you believe I’ve been in NZ for about two months now!!?! I am currently on the Interislander to the South Island, which is apparently notorious for being quite a rowdy little boat ride. It’s like 4 hours long as well, which I was completely unprepared for. Hence the blogging. Also note- I should be writing my UW entrance essay right now. But I’m not. I have no good reason other than that I can’t decide on a format... or content… which I fully recognize is just an excuse. So, back to the travel blogging….

After I left Thames I went to Tauranga for a night, which I was kind of unimpressed with. There was lots of cement and warehouse-type buildings involved. Not fond. Then I met friends in Turangi and Janelle and I did the Tongariro Crossing (the best one-day walk in NZ- or the world if you’re talking to a Kiwi.) I admit, it was pretty awesome. I huffed and puffed the whole way up but made reasonable time, and the views were totally worth it. Got some super badass pics (or, if you’re reading this and are my mother, some “really neat photos” ;-) and was sore for like three days afterwards. The next day I took the bus to Wellington. Ahhh…. I love Wellington. Everyone is super friendly, there’s a million things to do, it’s entirely navigable- is that a word?- on foot, and everything is open late. I took the cable car up to the botanic gardens, did the entire Te Papa museum (it took upwards of 5 hours), did some serious dancing in the basement bar, browsed the Sunday market and spent hours in the biggest library EVER. I was there for about 4 days and definitely want to go back to do the zoo, the city walks, and perhaps some more dancing. I still haven’t seen a kiwi bird…

So a week ago my friend Roger and I head off in his campervan back northwardly via the highways. We pick up a girl in Auckland- which didn’t work out. Annoying. Since we drove all the way up there to pick her up. And then head to the Coromandel Peninsula. In the 6 days that followed we drove the entire Pacific Coast Highway in a Mazda Bongo that kept overheating. The Eastern coast of New Zealand is much less populated than the other North Island destinations I had previously visited, which has pros and cons. The cons being a serious lack of gas stations and some slightly threatening locals, the pros being crystal-clear blue water, rugged coastline, amazing white sand beaches, hot horseback-riding Maori boys, and just generally awesome scenery. We spent some time in Napier, a town that was destroyed by an earthquake in the 1930’s and rebuilt entirely in Art Deco style. Today even the chain stores have a bit of an art deco flair to them. We completely struck out in the job department and decided to head for Taupo. Once we were in Taupo, though, I decided to go to the South Island. I’m not entirely sure why. I guess just because I didn’t know if I should head to Wellington or stay in Taupo- so somehow the answer was neither. Plus, everyone has been telling me that the South Island is much nicer than the North, so really why wait? Have a few job leads in Franz Josef and Lake Tekapo. Will let you know if I find something!

Alright, now in the library in Picton on the South Island. It’s sunny 😊

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Comments

[Becca]

Hi Cassidy
I miss you. I have a pen pal named Michaela that lives in New Zealand, I am not sure what part though. I will find out and let you know the next time I write you. Talk to you soon.

[Cassidy]

That's awesome Becca! I miss you too! Talk to you soon!