Hello friends! I realize it's been a long time since I've written. I'm just having too much fun studying. Well, and traveling. Last week and this week is our Easter (or what I've been calling "spring") break. I went around the south of the south island with six of my friends - Emma, Chai, Xinni, Noelani, June, and Siming.
We went to Queenstown, Te Anau, and the Catlins. I took heaps of photos. So this might take awhile! When I come home, just ask to look at my pictures if you want to see more.
So first off - we rented a van! It was called El Cheapo. Yeah. I was one of the drivers. It was weird to drive on the left side, but I got used to it fairly quickly. Although, several times I turned the wipers on intending to use the turn signal.
Our first hour out, actually, we had a minor accident. My first one! The person behind me ran into us. We got a few dents, but our insurance covered it all, and nothing major happened at all.
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| Driving to Queenstown |
It took about 7 hours to get to Queenstown from Christchurch. It rained a bit but we got to see the country. New Zealand is beautiful wherever you go. We saw many sheep and cows and deer grazing on farms. And there are quite a few hills here! Windy roads are the best.
If you're wondering, the speed limit is usually 100. That's kilometers per hour. And gas is way more expensive than the states. It was usually about $2.20 per liter, which translates to about $7 a gallon in US dollars.
When we finally got to our hostel, called the Flaming Kiwi, we were exhausted. A few of my friends had already been to Queenstown and knew this great burger place, called Ferg Burger. It was pretty good. Huge burgers!
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| A sign in Ferg Burger |
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| My burger |
I finally had to opportunity to take pictures of NZ money, because everyone paid me for the renting of the van. So here is the money:
Their money is very shiny and has a plastic feel. Each dollar is a different size and they all feature different birds on the backs. The coins are similar. I haven't gotten around to taking pictures of those yet.
In the morning we walked around town for a bit.
We then drove to Glenarchy to do a short hike.
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| One of many cool suspension bridges |
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| This one's for my dad :) |
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| Lake Sylvan |
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| Lake Wakatipu |
The forests are so green and everything is covered in moss. The day got really nice and thought about being warm. The next morning we woke up and all the clouds cleared. We finally saw the mountains!
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| Sheep |
We left to drive to Te Anau, in the Fiordlands, that afternoon. While in Queenstown, we bought some mustaches. They became our favorite thing, and we posed in front of everything wearing them. I don't have many pictures, but my friends do on facebook.
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| Of course, I was the only one without dark hair, so I looked especially weird |
The first part of our journey was great - but it got even better when we got away from the cities.
Here's a helpful picture to leave you with:
