Exploring Waiheke Island!

This weekend we decided to explore Waiheke Island, which is an island in the Hauraki Gulf outside of Auckland. It's pretty close, only a 40 minute ferry ride away. The island is known for its beautiful scenery, beaches, and world class wineries. We went to Waiheke with hardly any expectations and no planned activities. We had a place to stay and that's basically it. When we first arrived we explored around Onetangi beach, which was near our hostel. We ate lunch at a nice cafe (actually the only cafe!) along the beach.

Later in the day we bought ingredients for dinner and relaxed at the hostel where we met some nice people also studying abroad in Auckland. Our greatest adventures came on Sunday when we rented scooters! It was pretty spontaneous but it's definitely the best way to get around the island so we decided to go for it. It was really scary driving the scooter for the first time, but we were given a lesson by the owner and once we practiced a little bit in a parking lot we were good to get on the road!


Our first stop was Kennedy Point Winery. We were able to taste three different wines, as well as olive oil, avocado oil, and honey! It was such a beautiful winery and the wine was great! Afterwards we drove to Oneroa, which is the main town on the island. We got our lunch from a small fish and chips shop and sat on the grass overlooking the beach to eat. It was such a sunny day and it was so fun relaxing and eating delicious beer battered fish and chips. Then we drove to another winery on Waiheke Island called Cable Bay Vineyard. It is a huge winery on a hill that overlooks the ocean and has views of Auckland. There is also a beautiful sculpture garden next to the vineyard. We were able to taste six of their wines. It was great!


Our next stop was Palm Beach, which was a gorgeous, secluded beach. We basically decided that Waiheke Island is a beach paradise. We ended the day by driving to Whakanewha Regional Park for some scenic views and Goldwater Estate Winery to take a picture of the sign. It was a wonderful day on the scooters! I really wish I had one to scooter around Boston.


Once we got back to Auckland it wasn't really a regular week for me. Oranga School, where I work, is on spring break for the next two weeks so I have a break from my internship. Luckily, this gives me a chance to catch up on all my schoolwork. On Wednesday we are going to see a contemporary Ballet performance called Rise. It should be fun! This weekend we are planning to go camping in the Coromandel Peninsula. Last time we tried this, the weather was terrible, so hopefully we'll have a sunny weekend!

Otago, Mt. Cook, Lake Tekapo, Akaroa

Once we left Dunedin, our first stop was the Otago Peninsula. Otago is known for being the "Wildlife Capital" of New Zealand. Otago is home to many different rare and beautiful birds and animals, such as the royal albatross, hooker sea lion, yellow-eyed and blue penguins, and southern fur seals. We wanted to see as many of these unique animals as possible so we drove throughout the peninsula to the various spots that these animals would be. We first went to Taiaroa Head, which is the home of the royal albatross colony, an endangered species. The wingspan of a royal albatross is usually around 10 ft! It was such a beautiful bird. Afterwards we drove to Sandfly Bay, which is where the sea lions and penguins usually hang out. I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't massive 400 lb sea lions basking in the sun. There were so many of them. We must have seen about 15 sea lions on this small stretch of beach. I had never seen such a unique animal in it's natural environment. At some points the sea lions were moving around a lot and fighting with each other. We had read that the yellow-eyed penguins usually come ashore after 3 pm, so once it hit 3:00 we began anxiously waiting to see a penguin. And just like clockwork, we saw a penguin bobbing in the water. We waited and it slowly came onto the beach and was just walking around. It was amazing!




After we left the Otago Peninsula, we drove north to Mt. Cook, which is the highest mountain in New Zealand at 12,316 ft. We drove past the beautiful Lake Pukaki, a glacial lake, whose waters are this unbelievable turquoise color.


Once we got to Mt. Cook we hiked around the Tasman Glacier area before retiring to our sheltered campsite near Mt. Cook Village. We cooked a really fancy dinner of pasta, broccoli, and hot dogs topped with tomato sauce. The next day we did the Hooker Valley Track, which leads you throughout a valley to Hooker Glacier and gives you incredible views of Mt. Cook. It was a beautiful hike and it was even quite warm for a change.



We drove straight to Lake Tekapo after finishing the Hooker Valley hike for a relaxing evening. It was sunny day and most of us spent the afternoon writing postcards and enjoying the scenery. Lake Tekapo is well known for the small Church of the Good Shepherd, that sits on the shore of the lake. The Lake Tekapo area is also known for having the clearest skies, and it was definitely true. At night we could see millions of stars and even the milky way. It was so cool to become familiar with different constellations only found in the southern hemisphere. The night sky at Tekapo was unlike anything I have ever seen before.


We ended our trip in the South Island by driving to a small town called Akaroa on Banks Peninsula, which is just south of Christchurch. We camped at this eclectic backpacker's place called Purple Peak Retreat. But it was a great last night as we all relaxed and drank hot chocolate and watched The Hangover together. Overall, it was a wonderful trip!

Milford Sound, Catlin's Coast, Dunedin

One of the main things I was looking forward to on my trip of the South Island was a trip to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is thought to be New Zealand's most famous tourist destination as well as the 8th wonder of the world. We decided to take an organized tour that left out of Te Anau, the closest city to Milford Sound. When we were in Te Anau we stayed at a really nice holiday park that had a great kitchen, cable TV, and a fireplace that was always working. Rachel, Chrissie and I cooked an amazing steak dinner before relaxing in front of the fire to watch a movie. We were joined by a lovely Swiss couple that gave us slices of their cheesecake. It was a wonderful night. The next day, as we drove from Te Anau to Milford, we passed giant mountains filled with snow and beautiful lakes. The scenery on the drive was just beautiful. When we arrived in Milford we boarded our cruise boat for a 2 hour cruise throughout Milford Sound, all the way to the Tasman Sea. We saw gigantic waterfalls, towering cliffs, and seals! The first picture is of Mirror Lakes, the second is of Mitre Peak at Milford Sound, and the third is the group of girls on the cruise boat.




After our exciting trip to Milford Sound we continued driving south towards the Catlin's Coast, which is the southeastern coast of the South Island. It's known for its scenic coastline, so we would drive and stop periodically at different landmarks. Our first stop was Curio and Porpoise Bay, which is a petrified forest area that is home to penguins and dolphins. We also stopped at a bunch of waterfalls including MacLean Falls, Matai Falls and Purakaunui Falls as well as some beautiful beaches! We camped at a beautiful campsite at Purakaunui bay right by the beach. The next day we ended our driving tour of the Catlin's Coast by driving to the Nugget Point Lighthouse. before driving up to Dunedin.



The first thing we did when we got to Dunedin was visit the Cadbury World Factory. It is one of 18 Cadbury factories in the world. We did a tour and got to taste a ton of free chocolate. It was a lot of fun! In Dunedin I got to spend a lot of time with Daniel Kahn, a good friend from Year Course. He is studying at the University of Otago in Dunedin. It was so great to see him and he showed us all around Dunedin. We had a huge dinner at his apartment and had a great time!

Wanaka, Queenstown, Fiordland National Park

Once we finished climbing glaciers on the west coast, we drove towards Wanaka, which is considered to be the smaller, less touristy version of Queenstown. We just drove straight to the I-Site, which is the information center located in every city. There was so much to do in the city, so all of us just split up to do different activities. I decided to go kayaking on Lake Wanaka with Chrissie, Zach, and Rachel. It was a beautiful day and I loved being out on the water. We kayaked to a small island in the middle of the lake, had lunch and kayaked back to town. Afterwards, we drove to Rippon Vineyard for wine tasting! It was such a beautiful winery and the wine's were so tasty! Then, we explored Wanaka for a bit before driving down to Queenstown.



After some trouble finding our campsite in Queenstown, we ended up at the local holiday park, which is basically like an RV park. The holiday parks are all around New Zealand and allow you to park in a spot and have access to hot showers, cooking facilities, electricity, and lounges. We were happy to have a hot shower and cook a great dinner. I loved being in Queenstown. It is such a beautiful town that is surrounded by giant snowcapped mountains. It's also really touristy because it's known to be the "adventure capital" of New Zealand, so it's filled with shops advertising activities like jetboating, skydiving, and bungy jumping. Because of the city's reputation, a bunch of people in my group decided to go bungy jumping. Even though I had no intention of bungy jumping, I was able to join them as a spectator and witness them jump from within the launch pad. It was so much fun because I got to be there with them without having to jump! Here's a picture of Queenstown and of Zach bungy jumping!



The rest of our time in Queenstown was spent exploring the town, eating at Fergburger (the best burger place in the South Island), and relaxing! From Queenstown we made the trek to Fiordland National Park. We also camped near a few lakes in Fiordland, and when we woke up at the Lake Monowai campsite it was snowing! One afternoon we hiked part of the Kepler Track, which is one of the "Great Walks" of New Zealand. It was a beauitful hike through rainforest that brought us to a great beach!



Our next adventure was Milford Sound!

Arthur's Pass, West Coast, Franz Josef & Fox Glaciers

I have safely returned back to Auckland after my adventurous 2 1/2 week trip to the South Island. It'll definitely take some time to recount the highlights from this incredible trip, but I'll just have to start at the beginning. We flew into Christchurch and began by picking up our Escape campervans and our impromptu small yellow car. We headed to the local grocery store and stocked up on our necessary food items such as pasta, rice, canned tuna, and granola bars. After some small obstacles, we hit the road and headed to Arthur's Pass, which a small village in the middle of the Southern Alps. It was raining pretty heavily the whole time we were there, but we still enjoyed camping there for the night. In the morning we hiked to the Devil's Punchbowl Waterfall before continuing on to the west coast.



Once we made it to the west coast we drove to the Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. The rain finally stopped by then so we were enjoying being outside. The pancake rocks were really beautiful and unique looking. After spending the evening in a small town called Hokitika, we camped near Lake Mahinapua. Our next adventure was conquering Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. But before we went there we stopped at Lake Mapourika, which was gorgeous!!!





Franz Josef and Fox are the most accessible glaciers in New Zealand and have hiking tracks that bring you right to the face of the glacier. After walking to Franz Josef we decided to relax for a while in the famous Glacier Hot Pools, which is basically just really hot swimming pools enclosed in a rainforest setting. Since it is so cold most of the time, we enjoyed some must-needed warmth. We also did a guided hike on Fox Glacier, which allowed us to walk on top of the glacier. It was a tough hike, but definitely worth it. The views were amazing!



Although the places we went were so beautiful and fun, some of the best times of the trip was when we were just hanging out at our campsite talking and cooking dinner. We had some great meals throughout our trip like rice and hot dogs, pasta with marinara sauce, and rice with beans. It was definitely a culinary adventure. Also, it was always an interesting challenge to cook dinner, organize the campervans, and get ready for bed in the dark. But it was all part of the fun!