New Zealand Wrap-up

Despite the less-than-stellar weather and many nights huddled in Happy Diwali wishing that we were leaving for Australia’s hotter weather sooner, we only have fond memories of New Zealand. It’s such a diverse place, in terms of geography, with the subtropical Bay of Islands and volcanic areas of Rotorua on the North Island, to

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Christmas in Christchurch

I must admit, my non-religious self was a bit skeptical spending a day celebrating the birth of Christ in a place whose name consists of both “Christ” and “Church.” Visions of baby Jesus displays and nativity scenes haunted me prior to arriving in this very British New Zealand city – on the contrary, however,

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Akaroa and Kayaking in Kaikoura

Today we’re in Christchurch, where our journey in New Zealand will end. We’re looking forward to the ridiculous heat of Sydney, but we’re also a little sad to leave NZ. It’s been a great time – look forward to a wrapup post in the next few days.

The sunset in Akaroa

Three days

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Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula

We made it all the way to Dunedin yesterday, with plenty of time to explore the town. Dunedin is the most “European” town in NZ, due to its architecture. Victorian churches, red telephone booths and numerous pubs make it seem just like Scotland. We spent most of the time around the “Octagon” – the most

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The Glorious Milford Fjords

Scott standing in front of Milford Glacier

Well, here we are, again in Happy Diwali, feeling somewhat disappointed. Although NZ is a beautiful country, we’re kind of fed up with the awful weather it has been offering us to enjoy its bounty.

After our stop over in Te Anau (which embitterned us somewhat, as we

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Falling into Queenstown Part Deux: the Canyon Swing

Today’s blog post comes from yours truly, because Scott was too ashamed to write the entry. He totally wossied out and didn’t jump! Just kidding, but I did earn more panty points today than him. 🙂

We headed out again this morning, ready for our last adrenaline kick (and again, WAY more expensive than any drug

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Falling into Queenstown...

… And blowing our budget. Big time.

Here we are sitting in Happy Diwali with an amazing adrenaline afterglow. We’ve just come off skydiving, having survived the 12000ft adrenaline rush. It was an amazing experience and we really want to go again. If we had the cash, we’d do that a

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The Roaring Meg and Mighty Roy

The Roaring Meg

Scott and I have had the pleasure of meeting two of Lake Wanaka’s great natural forces: Meg and Roy.

We arrived into Wanaka two days ago after the drive through the Haast Pass (which actually wasn’t so bad). We immediately went straight to the informaiton centre in town to see if we

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Pancake rocks, Jungle and Glaciers – oh my!

Pancake rocks

Last I left off, we were enjoying the rainy sludge that Punakaiki had to offer. The rain did not let up that night, so we decided to take a gamble and try seeing the pancake rocks the next morning. After spending quite some time in the van reading and such, Scott had

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South of the North Island and North of the South Island

Scott and I overlooking Wellington.

Well, it’s been a few days and we have lots to catch up on!

We left National Park Village a few days ago to make the trek down to Wellington. The drive was probably the easiest so far – not a whole lot of twists and turns on scary roads…so

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