When we landed in Christchurch, we took full advantage of duty free and made our way through Customs which, for any competent adult should be a breeze but we managed to have problems. First problem was that we hadn't printed out our itineraries, so customs didn't believe we had plans to actually leave the country and were worried that we would avoid immigration and stay illegally in the country. Ok, I understand that that's a concern for many nations but honestly, a country with a 10:1 sheep to person ratio really shouldn't be worried about having a few people slip in. Kate, Kayla, and I quickly managed to convince our Customs Officer that we would, in fact, be leaving the country soon, but Erin and Jon faced more trouble. Eventually the stubborn officer let them in. Next we had to get screened with our bags and customs cards. I mistakenly had ticked "No" to the question "Did you pack your bags yourself?" and had to be cross-examined. Then, seeing the sign that says "No fresh fruit or vegetables allowed past this point." Jon went to get rid of his apple, but Erin decided to put it in her bag in case he wanted to eat it later (no one really understood this decision). And, naturally, she got detained for trying to smuggle in fresh fruit across the border. Not only did they confiscate her apple, but they input her into a database of border criminals. Finally, after a whole bunch of turmoil, we were allowed into New Zealand. Oh, did I mention how we almost missed our flight because we couldn't find Kayla at 6:45am when we were supposed to leave for the airport? Yeah. That happened.
But alas we were in Christchurch! And wow was it cold. NZ is a lot more south than Sydney and we had expected it to be cold, but it really was bitter. We walked around Christchurch a bit, realized there wasn't too much going on there, and took naps. At night, we went to the casino, where Kate won $25 and I broke even (not a huge feat on 2 cent machines). The next day, we picked up our rental car and started our drive down the island towards Queenstown, which was our base for the next week. I won the "I-shot-driving-first" war and got to drive on the other side of the road (which is what you're supposed to do in NZ... I wasn't doing anything wrong, promise). It was weird driving on the lefthand side, while being on the right side of the car! I got used to turning (after a few near-misses), but the hardest part was not going off the road on the left side. It was hard to realize how much car you have to the left of you, since I was used to having all the car on the right of me.
We stopped at a few places on the way to Queenstown including a beautiful deserted beach, an old house with this interesting statue, and the city of Dunedin. Dunedin is a small city by the ocean and is home to the Cadbury Chocolate factory, Speights Brewery, and the steepest street in the world. We visited the chocolate factory, but were 10 minutes too late for the last tour so we just explored the store and the fun exhibits. We later found out that the factory doesn't actually make chocolate anymore, only enough for the tours to sample. So basically it was one big lie but that's ok, I still got yummy chocolate. After seeing the factory, we thought about driving up/down the steepest road, but seeing as our car could barely function on normal roads, we decided it was a very bad idea. So instead we just wandered around the city, which had some beautiful buildings and a few gardens. After eating dinner (sushi!), we continued down the road for Queenstown. It took longer than we expected and we found ourself in the middle of sheep pastures late at night with dwindling gas. Luckily, we made it to a gas station and was able to get to Queenstown in one piece (despite my worries that we were going to get attacked by killer sheep... or serial killers... whichever).
Driving down the island was beautiful. I highly recommend this for anyone that goes to New Zealand. It takes some time but it really is a magnificent drive. There are never-ending green rolling hills and you can see sheep for miles. As you get more south, the hills turn into towering mountains and there are flowing rivers and the ocean periodically makes an appearance. Definitely one of the prettier drives I've ever been on.
Our accommodation in Queenstown was in the Marina Apartments which are these really new apartments that are still cheap because no one knows about them yet. But they were great! We had 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, a huge kitchen/living room combo, and a balcony. It was pretty luxurious for a group of students on break!
Our first day in Queenstown, we took the gondola up to the top of one of the mountains and saw the most incredible view over Queenstown. Kayla, Jon, and I decided to try hiking the loop path... and we failed miserably. We must not have followed the signs correctly because somehow we ended up on an overnight path. We realized this a bit into the hike and decided to take an alternative path... well at least we thought it was a path. At first it was a little bush-covered but we thought that was just its charm. As we got farther in, the path pretty much ended and we were surrounded by tall pines. We heard movement so I yelled out to see if anyone was there. Turns out we had walked straight into a lumber company knocking down trees. Awesome. We almost became part of Staples' supply of computer paper. The lumberjacks gave us directions out of the forest and half hour later, we were back to the gondola platform! After that adventure, we all went on the luge ride, and I am happy to say I came in first both times. CHAMPION.
Over the next week, we partook in an array of amazing activities. My favorites:
Canyon Swing: Similar to bungee jumping except that after free falling for 200 feet, you go into an arch/swing for 656 feet through the canyon. It's incredible! Not only is the canyon beautiful, the swing is a huge adrenaline rush. Plus, the staff is hysterical... except when you ask "Am I ready?" and they answer "Yeah... I'm not sure I hooked you in right... but yeah you're ready!". First I just jumped off and wow - I had never free fallen before and expected to feel like I was attached to something, but nope. It literally felt like I was plummeting to my death. For my second jump I did what they call the "Elvis Cutaway". Basically, they use a hook to position you laying down face-up over the canyon... and then unhook you and let you fall. I freaked out a little when they told me I couldn't hold onto ANYTHING (before I at least got to hold the strap) but it was awesome!
Jet-boating: We went jetboating in the Shotover River, which runs through the canyon I jumped into. At some parts the canyon is really narrow and I was amazed that our driver didn't run into the canyon walls at all. He did a bunch of 360 degree turns, most of which I was inches away from falling out of the boat. For some reason, I was the only person with this problem - everyone else was perfectly fine. I blame my seat choice.
Bungee Jumping: This was the scariest thing I have ever done in my life. Scarier than getting 8 surgeries. Scarier than having the police question me at that Halloween party in high school. Scarier than jumping out of a plane (that post coming soon). I can't really tell you why it was scarier. Maybe it was the fact I had to jump off this little plank towards a river 141 feet away. Maybe it was that the only thing keeping me from dying was a piece of rope tied around my ankles. Most likely it was the combination... plus when I realized that you end up UPSIDE DOWN, I freaked out a little. For some reason (probably the 3 concussions) I have issues with going headfirst. I almost backed out, but I took a deep breath and just jumped. And I'm so happy I did it - it was a lot of fun!
Paintball: I had never been but always heard that it was fun so we decided to check it out. At this place in Cromwell, there was a huge field with lots of broken down cars, tires, even a small plane! So we played two games in that field, which were fun but for some reason scary. It was like I knew I couldn't actually die and that it was just my friends shooting at me, but still your survival instinct kicks in. The third game we played in a kind of abandoned town setting and I felt like I was in Iraq. It was pretty freaky but a good time. I'm glad I did it - even if I had welts on my legs for weeks. Oh, and I was hit in the head with a paintball. Typical.
Wineries: New Zealand is known (maybe in the Southern Hemisphere only?) for its wine and there are a bunch of wineries around Queenstown. We visited a few, one of which also had a Cheesery that was delicious! I have a new favourite cheese = Balfour cheese! I ate almost an entire wedge of it.. and then got a stomach ache... probably because I'm lactose intolerant. Good one Jackie.
I really loved Queenstown. It was such a cute ski town with surreal scenery. I didn't get to pet a sheep but I later found out (at a petting zoo) that they aren't big fans of humans. So it was probably better I didn't hop the electrical fence and chase them. I had a great time doing all of the EXTREME activities and conquering some fears. The nightlife was also really fun and we had some great nights out on the town. It was everything I could've hoped for in my NZ trip. Well... except for the journey back. That was interesting.
So we were driving back from Queenstown to Christchurch and it started snowing really heavily (it was crazy - it hadnt even been that cold that day) and we were driving through a mountain range. Our car was a tiny sedan without 4WD. And... We got stuck. On a steep incline. And then another car got stuck behind us. A bunch of cars drove by us but none of them could do anything to help us and we tried calling roadside assistance but it wasnt going through. It also didn't help that just 600 meters down the road was a burnt out bus with crime-scene tape around it. Luckily a truck came through and cleared the road and we were able to very carefully do a like 15-point turn to turn around (we were also at a turn in the road over a cliff... great). Thankfully we were able to make it back down to Queenstown safely! We found the rental place and got snow chains in case we needed them again. After that fiasco, we decided to try a different route and luckily the weather cleared up and we were fine for the rest of the trip back to Christchurch.
However, when Kate and I went to return the rental car, we got to the place (which is somewhat close to the airport) but it was closed for the day. That was fine because we could just leave it there but we couldnt find a cab to get back. We were wandering around but there were literally no cars. One taxi came by, and I tried chasing it but it was either off duty or had someone in it. So we walked like 15/20 mins to the airport and followed signs for the taxis in the international terminal but it was deserted. Then we found a courtesy phone with taxi numbers but none of the calls would go through. Luckily we found a lady that worked at the airport and we followed her across the airport to the taxi line at the domestic terminal. Lucky break #2 for the day.
Our flight back to Sydney was fine... until we got to the airport and the bridge from the plane to the terminal was BROKEN. And they wouldnt let us get off onto the tarmac on stairs. So we sat there for an hour and a half just waiting to get out of the plane it was ridiculous. Finally after getting off the plane, we didn't think anything else could happen. But it only got weirder. Our cab driver packed all our stuff into the cab, drove out of the terminal and thentold us "Oh I really have to go to the bathroom so I'm going to drop you off on the side of the road and find you another cab because I have to poop really badly". Uhhh thanks a lot. AND he charged us $10. Although it was pretty entertaining watching him do a little dance in the middle of a busy street. Is that mean? I'm sorry.
But despite that mess of a travel experience coming back, it was an incredible trip. I loved New Zealand. Maybe I'll even move there someday... but probably not.
No comments:
Post a Comment