New Zealand: Part One

After years of dreaming, months of planning, and 21 hours of flying, we made it half way across the world to the beautiful country of New Zealand! Visiting the south pacific has been a dream of mine ever since I started communicating with my pen-pal in third grade. For 16 years Casey Palmer and I wrote hand-written letters and exchanged life stories while living half way across the world. My dream of someday experiencing the beautiful south pacific first hand finally became a reality on December 28th, 2009! It was a day I will never forget.

My two good friends, Gina and Alison, and I arrived to the windy city of Wellington after a smooth flight. With our luggage in hand and sunshine in the air, we were ready to dive into our adventure. Wellington is a the capital of New Zealand and is situated on the southern tip of the north island. New Zealand is roughly the size of Japan but is broken into two islands (North and South). Our trip started in the north island but our stay was short. A few highlights of Wellington were the Te Papa Museum and the Mac Brewery. Te Papa gave us inside look into the rich Maori culture of New Zealand and the people of the country. Mac Brewery brought us back to our Wisconsin roots!

After two days in the city of Wellington we were ready to move south. The north and south island are separated by a body of water called Cook Strait. There are no bridges or roads to connect the two islands so a ferry or flight is needed to travel. We opted to take the 3 hour ferry ride through the Marlborough sounds. This was a highlight of our trip! In the sunny 70 degrees we enjoyed the turquoise water and green islands throughout the Cook Strait Bay. Pictures can not do these sites justice.After arriving to Picton (a small harbor town on the tip of the south island), we were introduced to our new best friend, “Sunny”: a 1998 Nissan Sunny from Ace Rental. Renting a car is a common way for travelers to cruise the coast of the south island. We considered a camper-van (which is a common way to travel in NZ) but with the narrow roads and manual drive, we opted for Sunny : ) She’s was a jewel and was a trooper as we climb up and down the windy, narrow, roads throughout the mountains and valleys. The only challenge of driving on the opposite side of the road is to remember to STAY LEFT when making turns. It was quite the entertaining adjustment for us three city drivers but we have managed just fine! We are confident we have a guardian angel on our dash-board that has been working overtime.

We asked Ace Rental if a GPS was necessary and they laughed at us! To our surprise, there are only 1-2 main roads in NZ that travel North and South and 5-7 that travel East to West. That, my friends, was good news for us! Shortly after departing Picton, we headed south opting for the east coast route. The terrain was fascinating.

We went from white sandy beaches, to dry burnt desserts, to west coasts jungles, to concrete city life, all in a 5 hour drive. A long drive was never a bother because the scenery was surreal!

   We arrived to Christchurch on the night of December 30th and nestled in for a two night stay. April and Lane Perry are friends of my friend from grad school who were so gracious to open up their home to us. We have never met them but they still offered their home to us while they are away for the holidays. After a scavenger hunt to find the hidden key, we settled into our new home away from home. It was heavenly to do our laundry, take a shower without flip flops and sleep in a bed that was not bunked! The morning of December 31st we rolled out of bed and threw on our swim suites. It was blue skies and 70’s which calls for a perfect beach day. Sunmer beach is a well-known surf spot about 15 minutes outside of Christchurch.

With no agenda or time limit, we headed out to conquer the sun. After just a few short hours in the sun, we soon realized we were losing the UV-ray battle and the sun was conquering us! Lesson of the day: SPF 50 is necessary to survive in the Kiwiland!

When we arrived back to Lane and April’s house, we found a note rolled up on the door step that said “Welcome Americans!” Inside the letter was an invitation to a dinner party for New Year’s Eve. Not only did April and Lane open their house up to three strangers from the states, they also contacted their best friends and asked them to “show us a good time” for NYE! We were so honored. Minutes after we read the note, their friend stopped by the house to introduce himself and welcome us to Christchurch. We also had the honor of meeting his HAIRLESS cat (haha!) After awwwing over this strange looking cat, we quickly showered up our sun scorched skin and threw on our best (of the three outfits we packed in our backpacks) and were out the door to celebrate New Year’s Eve.

The dinner party was a definite highlight of the trip. Between the decorations, food spread and welcoming people, we could not have asked for a better way to ring in the New Year. 30 minutes before the ball drop, we made our way to the city center of Christchurch. The heart of the city was flooded with locals in preparation for the firework show and local band show. We even managed to make our way onto a Korean news cast to say Happy New Year from the United States!

The morning of January 1st we woke up early and continued south. The back-country drive from Christchurch to Mount Cook was one of my favorite drives on the trip. It was full of rolling hills and mountains paired next to turquoise lakes and fields of sheep. To our surprise, 1/2 of New Zealand’s land is occupied by agriculture. Sheep, cows and elk roam the land freely, seldom fenced. In fact, one of the most common street signs is a warning for cattle crossing.

We arrived to Mount Cook before sun down. I will never forget turning the corner after Lake Tekapo and spotting the tip of Mount Cook. It is the largest snowcapped mountain in NZ that sits at roughly 3,750 meters high. We jumped out of our car and stood in admiration. Two locals were also at the rest spot and informed us that it was a lovely day because Mount Cook is rarely visible due to the cloud cover. We chalked this up as one of the many blessing of this trip.

That evening we settled into a hostel lodge at the foot of Mount Cook. It was peaceful and just what we needed. We grabbed a bottle of wine and continued to celebrate the New Year holiday. 2010 was off to a great start! The morning of January 2nd, we packed up Sunny and headed further south to the famous city of Queenstown. Queenstown is known as the adult playground because of the adrenaline rush that people experience from the heaps of activities. With an endless list of adventures to choose from we filled our afternoon with three main activities: a Gondola ride to the top of the city center, a luge ride down the mountain and a 2 hour zip line throughout the forest that rests on the mountain side. By the days end, we were high on adrenaline and zonked from the sunshine.

Following the adrenaline rush from the day, we decided to hit the night life. The city was filled with young travelers and internationals from all over the world. We rolled out the door at 9:00 to grab our first drink but the pubs were empty. To our surprise, the night life does not roll like the Midwest. Locals do not start their evening until 11:00pm because the bars do not close. Rumor on the street is that New Zealanders and other international peeps typically wrap up the night around 6:0am. Wowzers! As much as we are all about soaking up the culture, this was one norm that Ali and I just couldn’t conform to. Instead, we stuck to the Midwest style and rolled into bed at a decent hour ready for the next adventure.

The next morning we got up early and we jumped on a tour bus to visit Milford Sound. Milford Sound is known as an 8th wonder of the world. It is a located in the Fiordland. We took a bus throughout the national park and then took a cruise around the deep fiords and cliffs. We saw some of the largest water falls in the world. We were disappointed that it was a rainy afternoon but we later learned that it rains 7 out of 10 days in this region. It is known as the wettest land in New Zealand. I guess we should not have been surprised that a rainforest was rainy! Overall a wonderful experience. Pictures were tough to take because of the weather but the experience will be remembered!

Even though Queenstown is known for its adrenaline rush and night life, I would also argue it is one of the most beautiful places in the country. Queenstown is a quaint little village nestled into the foot of a mountain range and surrounded by a lake. It reminded me of Aspen on a lake. I went for a sunset walk and captured some of my favorite photos along the board walk. It was hard to leave but our wallets could not afford to stay much longer

Before departing Queenstown, Ali and Gina decided they needed one more adrenaline fix. That’s right, they took the jump…bungy jump that is! Even though my back has been holding up quite well throughout the trip, I opted to play it safe and not jolt it any further. Instead I was the photographer as they leaped off the first ever bungy jump in the world. It was quite the rush!

One of our final stops in the south island was to Franz Josef. Franz Josef is the 5th largest out of 3,000 glaciers in New Zealand. It was located on the west coast of the south island. After 6 hours of driving into a junlge/forest, we came up to this massive creation. While we could have just drove up to the glacier we decided we wanted the full experience so we booked a tour to hike the glacier.

After strapping on our crampons (metal spikes that fit onto our boots) and throwing on rain coats, we started the hike. The full tour took around 5 hours and it was worth every second of the hike. I remember standing on the top of the glacier and hearing the history of its creation and feeling like a speck of sand on this natural wonder. It’s an experience I will never forget!

Shortly after losing about 10 pounds of climbing gear, we loaded up sunny and headed up the west coast to the Nelson region. The windy roads of mountains and forests shifted back to dessert plains filled with vineyards and cattle. The sun temperature went from 50’s to 70’s in a few hours. Before the sunset we arrived into Nelson. It is a village the sits on the top of the south island lined by the Tasman Bay. A post card view! White sandy beaches on the north end and vineyards on the south end. This was a perfect place for us to recover from our GO GO GO pace.

The three of us made dinner in our hostel that night and jotted down “remember when” stories. This night was special because I sat back and realized the biggest blessing of this entire trip: spending 2 full weeks with my best friends. There are few times in life when you can take a road trip around an island with three crazy badger friends piled into a Sunny. With no radio and no agenda, life becomes quite simple! So simple that you begin to realize what is important in life and what you value most. To me, it’s relationships! It’s the people I love, and the adventures we share together.

The morning of January 5th was an early morning! Gina had to catch her ferry back to Wellington to fly home. The alarm was set for 4:30 AM and thankfully all worked out as planned. Gina made her flight and Ali and I soaked up one last day together in Nelson. With blue skies and sunshine, we hit up the beach. Our lobster skin had cooled down from Christchurch and we were ready to try the beach scene again…this time with SPF 30 CAKED on our body. It was a perfect day to relax.

That evening, Ali and I hit up the main strip in Nelson. It is similar to Madison’s state street, full of local shops and artsy culture. Since it was our last night together, we decided to top off our trip by going against all the rules: dessert first! If you know anything about Ali and I, you know that we LOVE chocolate and it is a staple item in our diet. We were in luck when we stumbled across a shop that was serving FONDUE…it was heavenly!!

Our full loop around the south island was a success! Ali took off this morning to catch her ferry back to the north island and she travels back to the states tomorrow. One chapter of this journey is closed and a new one starts tomorrow!

 I am nestled in Nelson for another week and my friend Carolyn from UW-Madison, is flying into town to meet me for the last lag of the trip. I am very excited to see her. She is back packing Australia for a year and she wanted to visit NZ during this time. It worked out perfect to coordinate a trip together. Our plan is to go kayaking in Abel Tasman National Park, visit a few vineyards in the Nelson region and swim with Dolphins in Kaikoura. Here’s to the next adventure!

If there was one word that I had to use to sum the wonders of this country up so far, it would be “Godzone”. It is a word that locals use to describe their land. It means “God’s own country”. New Zealand is a wonder that can only be explained by giving credit to the grandness of God. Every direction I look, from the mountains to the oceans, the valleys to the desserts, God is alive! I am thankful for this time away from the hustle and bustle of my life in St. Paul. Too often I live my life by placing God in a box but it is experiences like these that humble me and remind me that I am only a speck of sand in God’s mighty creation.