New Zealand- Part 2

Check out the video Evan made of the trip:
http://vimeo.com/66496620

Check out part 1 of our New Zealand trip before you read part two.

http://mcbryars.blogspot.com/2013/04/new-zealand-part-1.html

Thursday, December 27th:
We left Greymouth and traveled down the West Coast to Fox.

We got stuck in our first traffic jam the second day of our road trip all due to cattle being herded down the road.

We had a picnic lunch in Fox. After lunch, we debated on what to wear on the helihike up Fox Glacier. I didn't know how cold it would be. I finally decided I would rather be too hot than too cold, so I bundled up in layers and asked to get a bag to take on the hike with us just so we could take off layers as needed. Jeremy and Evan decided shorts would be the route they would take. We were actually pretty lucky to get to go on the hike because they book really quickly and more often than not, the hikes get cancelled because the helicopters cannot land on the glacier due to the wind/weather. When our time came, we rode a bus to the helipad and changed into hiking boots while we waited on the helicopter to get us. 

We are ready for the helihike up Fox Glacier

The helicopter ride was pretty fun. Jeremy got to sit in the front with the pilot while the rest of us were in the back. As we flew, we got to see some pretty waterfalls and the glacier from the air. 

When we landed we had to squat down until all groups were on the ice. Then we got to meet our group and put crampons onto our shoes. 

crampons to keep us from falling

Meet Dave our guide

Once all the preparations and travel was over, we got to explore the glacier with Dave and our group. For a majority of the time, we stayed at the front of the group so we could hear everything he had to say. The hike was incredible as we saw crevasses and arches in the ice. 

getting some fresh water for the water bottle

Dave took us further than any other group since he's been hiking Fox Glacier

Dave found this area we could walk through and had to do a little chipping away at the ice so it would be safe for us to go all the way through. 

Jeremy definitely struggled more than anyone because he's so tall! The ice grabbed him on the shoulders and hurt him a little. 

We hiked up Fox Glacier for over an hour. 

Dave chipping away. He made stairs for us as we went. 

taking off in our helicopter

That night we stayed in a house in Fox. We rented two rooms out of the house and another couple was in the third room. Jeremy and I had the master suite with our own bathroom and Evan and Morgan shared the hall bathroom with the other couple. We made spaghetti for dinner and then went to the town to eat some dessert. I was pretty disappointed with my dessert. First off, the desserts were $12 apiece so I was trying to get something inexpensive even though I wanted something yummy. I settled for a thick shake, which Morgan and Evan said was like a milkshake. They said that sometimes they are a little too milky, but I tried it anyway. It was just like drinking milk and drinking milk is something I don't do, so I was pretty bummed. Evan and Morgan walked back home and Jeremy and I drove back. Since we had been with people non-stop for a while, I decided I'd go for a run. I knew we were close to Lake Matheson because we drove to the entrance earlier in the day trying to find our house so I decided I would run there. In a car the distance seemed pretty short, but I ended up running between 6-7 miles that night. There weren't sidewalks so I just ran on the road. I felt very self-conscious because I people probably don't run like that in New Zealand. I didn't know which side of the road to run on either so I had lots of internal thoughts about doing the wrong things. On my run, I saw some pukeko, some cow/bulls, and a goat by a cage on the side of the road eating the grass. I kept telling myself I was getting close and I finally made it. I wouldn't let myself walk because I knew I could finish, but it was tough! I ran along the trail when I got to Lake Matheson and it was kind of awkward because I didn't want to run over people who were taking a leisurely walk to the lake. I got to see a glimpse of the lake and how it mirrored the surrounding area and then headed back to my worried husband! The rest of the evening consisted a game of Monopoly Deal, a little tv, and sleep since we were all exhausted. 

Friday, December 28th:

We started the morning off with a yummy breakfast like normal and then headed to Lake Matheson as a group. This time we drove and then walked to the lake! 

From there we drove to Queenstown with a few stops along the way. We had a picnic lunch, visited Haast Gorge, visited Lake Wanaka, and stopped at Puzzling World.  

View for lunch

We made it to Queenstown and found our hostel for the next two nights. We were in separate rooms and it was more like a hotel, which made us very thankful. You never know what a hostel might look like! 

I changed clothes because we decided we were going to go into the town. I thought we would just go to dinner and come back. Little did I know I was about to find myself on ad adventure. Instead of going to eat, we started hiking up a mountain to see the view from the highest point in Queenstown. This was the steepest hike we encountered. Both Jeremy and I were hungry so our attitudes were not very great during this hour long hike. It's funny because we could have taken the skylift up the mountain, but we decided to take the trail instead. We didn't realize it would take that long or be that rough. On the way up we only encountered a handful of people and only two were going up and they only came in off another trail and were on bikes. At the end, we admired the view, watched some go-cart racers on the track and then took the easy way down, the skylift!

Admire the elevation...The picture below is the view from the bottom of the mountain we climbed. We hiked all the way up to that "little" building/conference center at the top. 

 We had Fergburger for dinner and took it by the water to eat. 

This is how a hungry girl eats after a hike like that!!!

After dinner, we went to an Minus 5. It was an ice bar and was pretty neat to see all the sculptures. Our full bellies couldn't do much else so we sat on the pier and watched the sunset. 

Saturday, December 29:

We had to get an early start in order to get to Milford Sound for our boat ride. Queenstown was about 300 km away from Milford. Even though Milford Sound is the top travel destination in New Zealand, there are actually very few people that live there during the year because of it's remote location. It is also misnamed a sound instead of a fjord. The trip to fjordland was pretty with lots of beautiful rivers and waterfalls meters beside the road. 

We arrived at Milford Sound just in time for our boat, but Jeremy had to drop us off and we ran to get our tickets so the boat wouldn't leave us. I was extremely worried that he wouldn't make it. He had a really hard time finding a spot, but he eventually found one and we were the last people on the boat because they were waiting for him! 

On our trip around Milford we saw mountains, waterfalls and seals. Mitre Peak is one of the mountains seen from the fjord that extends 1692 meters above the water. There is another mountain that is shaped like a lion and an elephant. It rains half of the year there and so the boat tours have multiple layers for those who do not wish to get wet. The sites were beautiful even though the weather wasn't that great. 

 After our hike to the car, we started discussing what we would do next. It was a little cold and rainy so we went back and forth on whether or not we should do another hike in the area. Finally, we decided against a hike, but we did visit a few more sites on our way back. 

Mirror Lakes is much like Lake Matheson where the land is reflected so clearly in the water. However, since it was a cloudy day we didn't get the best view. 

 A little further down the road, we decided to stop so Evan could fish. I ended up spending most of my time walking down a path to a campground to go to the bathroom. 

 We also visited a chasm. 

The rest of the trip was spent by making stops for pictures at various places along the road like Pops Lookout and the Cascade River. 

Upon arriving back to Queenstown, we bought movie tickets to see The Hobbit and then ate at Winnie's Pizza for dinner before the movie. 

Sunday, December 30:

We took a ride on the Thunder Jetboat. Oh, that was fun! We were in the front row with the captain and he loved to do 360 degrees turns so we were sliding into each other constantly. After the boat ride, Jeremy and I walked around the town for a few hours while Evan and Morgan went on a hike. We had lunch at a local restaurant, Avanti, and did a little souvenir shopping. It was a little rainy, so I'm glad we didn't go on the hike. We left Queenstown that afternoon and drove to Omarama and had dinner at a little cafe since nothing was really open on Sunday night. Our hotel was two stories. Evan and Morgan were on the first floor and we were on the second floor. After dinner we played a few games of Monopoly Deal before heading off to bed. 

Monday, December 31: 

Evan got up early to go fishing so by the time we got up he was returning to the hotel. We loaded up our stuff once again into the Honda Fit and drove to the Clay Cliffs that were close by. Since most of the attractions were on private property you would think I would have been used to fact that gravel roads in the middle of no where would lead to a special place, but I wasn't. At one point there was a little box that you put money in if you were going to the Clay Cliffs. It was awfully strange because you wouldn't ever see an unmanned attraction. After a little driving, we parked the car since the road got a little rough and walked to the cliffs. They are cliffs made of a conglomeration of rocks and dirt, which made for some really cool pictures.

 We left the Clay Cliffs and headed to Twizel. Twizel was a pretty small town with some shops and playground in a central area. This was not the prettiest scene we had for a picnic lunch, but it was a pretty day for a picnic. We ate at a picnic table as we waited for our tour van to come get us. A lady driving a van came by to get us. She was the owner of the tour company and was confused to as why we were there because we changed our time from the earlier to the later tour. She straightened everything out and we piled on the van and started on our way to visit Pelennor Fields for a Lord of the Rings tour. There was a big battle fought in the field during the movie so we got to hear all about the movie making experience as well as what the city experienced during the time the actors were stationed there. 

After the tour, we headed back to ChCh. We made a few stops: roaring power plant, bungie jumping place, Church of the Good Shepherd, and Lake Tekapo. 

Imagine listening to a preacher with this behind him. 

We we got back to ChCh, pretty much everything was closed since it was New Year's Eve. We didn't have any food at the house so we had to go out searching and we found McDonald's open. Jeremy enjoyed a lamb burger while I had a cheeseburger. I cannot remember the last time I've had McDonald's so it was funny that I ate at one in another country! Jeremy did not enjoy the lamb burger that much though. We were surprised that you had to pay for condiments, which I guess makes people remain conscious about how much they use instead of letting it go to waste. Our meal seemed pretty expensive because I was still thinking in American money terms instead of NZ dollars. 

Hagley Park put on a New Year's Eve celebration with a band and fireworks, so we decided we would go to it. We walked there from the house because we thought that might be easier than getting stuck in traffic afterwards. We carried a blanket and our NZ Monopoly Deal cards that we bought at a grocery store while on our trip. As we listened to the music and counted down to midnight, we played a few games of cards. The evening was beautiful and it was a wonderful way to end the year. 

Tuesday, January 1: 

(NZ day and arrival day-- even though our flights were over 24 hrs)

We got up, ate some breakfast, and hung out at the house for a while before loading up the car. It was a sad morning because we knew we would be leaving soon. We took our last trip to the porthills and had dessert at a local cafe. This time I was scared of the thick shakes, so I had a banana smoothie. I like strawberry-banana smoothies so I thought I would like it. Needless to say I had another bad experience with a NZ dessert because it was truly all banana. I think my decision-making skills were just extremely poor on this trip because I kept picking things that I really didn't want just to save on money without realizing the money was being converted to US dollar. Oh well, maybe next time. After dessert, we drove up to the porthills and enjoyed the view once again before driving to the airport. It was a sad departure because we loved our time there, but we knew we had to get back for work. We hugged and thanked the Forester's multiple times and headed into the airport. 

Our wait wasn't too bad as we relaxed and played on our ipads. The flight to Auckland was quick which gave us just enough time to prepare for our trek 10-15 minutes down the road to the international terminal. The pace this time was a lot different than the one we had the first time and we were thankful we had less baggage to carry. We even saw a couple who had been on our glacier hike in the airport. Our plane going back to LA had lots of Australian students on it. While sitting in the terminal, I asked some of the adults what they were doing. She said they travel to the US every year for their summer break. Students applied and teachers got to take them around to visit different sites. I was afraid they would be loud on the plane but I didn't hear them at all! I had a window seat again, which is what I love, and Jeremy had the center seat. There was a lady on the other side of him that fell asleep right when we took off and was asleep pretty much the entire flight. We had to wake her up a few times because I had to go to the bathroom. This plane wasn't as good as the one going out there. It was an older model and Jeremy said he didn't realize it wasn't the same plane. We didn't have as much leg room, the tvs weren't touchscreen, and we weren't as comfortable. All of those things made for a really long flight. I was miserable most of the time because my back starts to hurt when I sit down that much in a seat that isn't comfortable. We finally made it to LA and then made the trek to the domestic terminal. After visiting these airports multiple times, we felt like locals who know things well. Again our trek down the street was easy compared to the previous one with all the luggage. Our flight to Atlanta wasn't that great either. There were some kids, without an adult, sitting diagonal from us. There was a guy sitting next to them but he didn't try to control them at all. The brothers were yelling, crying, and arguing pretty much the entire time. They were both tired, as were we, which made the flight seem longer and their voices annoy us even more than normal. We were thankful to get off the plane as well as our bags after that flight! The Kindig's picked us up and took us to Wendy's before taking us home.