Remarkable New Zealand - Day 7!

After all of the excitement from driving, walking on glaciers, lugeing, ferry boat riding, Lord of the Rings seeking, and so on, we decided that we deserved a day to: A) sleep-in past 7:00 and B) relax a little.  So we awoke to a beautiful morning in Wanaka, had a picnic lunch on the lake, and then set off for our final destination of Queenstown.  And it only took ONE hour to get there! :)  Would you be surprised to know that this one hour was filled with towering snow-capped mountains, brilliant blue lakes, and valleys that stretch on for miles?  I didn't think so!  We took our time driving and stopped at all of the lookout points along the way.  Once again, there wasn't a lack of "ooohing and aaawing" from the Thomases.  We arrived in Queenstown at 2:00, and around 2:01 we knew we were going to love it there.  It's quite a small city that has the lodgy feel and charm of a quaint winter ski-town.  It sits nestled between snowy mountain ranges on gorgeous Lake Wakatipu.   I was really excited about the hotel I had booked for us, and I tried to keep it a surprise from Tyson because it was by far the best hotel and most outstanding view we were going to have on this whole trip.  Tripadvisor, you did not disappoint!  Tyson and I both couldn't stop smiling as we stepped onto the balcony of our "apartment" and stared across Lake Wakatipu at The Remarkables; a mountain range clearly named after its beauty.  This was one view that we could definitely get used to!      

Remarkable New Zealand - Day 6!

We couldn't possibly see the glaciers without actually walking on one of them...so today, we took a half-day walk/tour of Fox Glacier.  It was SO awesome and an experience we will never, ever forget!  It took quite an exhausting hike to get up the mountain and onto the glacier, but once on the ice, it was by far worth it.  Every day the guides at the glacier company have to go onto the glacier and take turns "cutting" and carving out steps with their axes so they can take tour groups like ours all around the ice.  It really was an amazing experience to be on top of a glacier - but it was even more amazing to crawl through it!!!  T & I had such a fun time and we loved exploring the glacier!  After our tour was over, we were on the road again and heading south to Lake Wanaka.  Guess what?  We stopped several times again for more pictures!!!  Are you noticing a theme for this road trip!?  We saw the beaches of the west coast (beautiful!!), drove through a rainforest, through snowy mountains, and came out at the most insanely gorgeous sight of the whole entire trip - Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka.  Lake Hawea is again, that deep, brilliant aqua blue and is surrounded by sharp, stunning hills.  I have never in my life seen a place that is so breathtaking.  I can say that the sights we saw on the drive between Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka are literally the prettiest, most beautiful places I have ever seen in my (almost) 27 years of life.  Hands-down, without a doubt.  The bummer is, and this is a huge bummer, that my pictures don't even come close to capturing how truly gorgeous it is.  They didn't turn out at all, and it's so unfortunate because I wanted to show all of you how pretty it was!  Then again, I can't help but think that I'm just so blessed that I got to share such an awesome sight with such an outstanding man.  The pictures will remain memories in our hearts forever.    

Remarkable New Zealand - Day 5!

Today we drove from the east coast to the west coast of NZ in a matter of 4 hours!  That's quite a narrow country, huh!?  We headed west from Christchurch and literally drove into the mountains!  Luckily, we had awesome weather and no snow, so we felt very safe as we made our way on the twisting, winding road through Arthur's Pass on our way to see two of NZ's most famous glaciers.  The coldest temperature on the gauge in the car measured in at -5 Celsius. Brrr!  We of course had to make a few unexpected stops along the way.  Who knew that you would find a lake in the mountains??!  Plus, the way the fog settled in certain areas while driving through the mountains made it especially neat to look at!  After we were out of the mountains, we drove by several stunning rivers.  I'm talking about rivers that are the most brilliant color of aqua blue you've ever seen!  They're all glacier-fed, which is the reason for the gorgeous aqua color you see in the pics.  And they're everywhere!!!!  We stopped for a little while at Franz Joseph glacier to check it out, and then carried on to Fox Glacier where we stayed for the night.  Just outside of Fox, we saw what is quite possibly the MOST beautiful sight during our entire trip through NZ.  Lake Matheson.  We hiked for nearly an hour around this lake to find what can only be described as natural perfection.  A perfect mirror image of Mount Cook (NZ's highest peak) is reflected onto the glass of this lake and it is SPECTACULAR.  Untouched.  Serene.  Peaceful.  Beautiful.  Heavenly.  These are all words that could describe the view.  But, there aren't words to describe what it felt like to actually stand there and stare in jaw-dropping amazement at nature's beauty.  

Remarkable New Zealand - Day 4!

Today we set sail on a ferry from Wellington and said goodbye to the north island, and HELLO to the south island.  Our 3 hour ferry boat ride started off quite rough...okay, very rough and I must admit that I was nearly seasick while crossing over main ocean.  Keyword, nearly.  Luckily, I was able to keep everything down and once we were out of the high seas and into the calm waters of the Marlborough Sounds, it was smooth sailing.  The ferry boat was actually more like a cruise ship (complete with a theatre and everything!) but once we reached the sounds of the south island, we stayed out on the deck because it was positively breathtaking!!  Sure, we just about froze to death up there - but the gorgeous view was worth every single chattering of teeth!  I'm not sure if the pictures can even do it justice, but the water was perfectly still, the deepest color of aqua you can imagine, surrounded by greener-than-green hills that zig-zag for miles.  Just another remarkable part of New Zealand that left us speechless.  Once we docked, we hopped in our car and made our way down to the East coast of the South Island.  We pulled over at one point because we saw a road crossing sign for SEALS...imagine that!  We stopped on the shoulder, got out of the car, and there, just below us on the rocks were several beautiful fur seals just hanging out.  It was awesome!!!  Carrying on - we made our way into Christchurch where we stayed for the night.  Christchurch is a very quaint city located on the Avon River and we really liked it here!   

Remarkable New Zealand - Day 3!

We woke up bright and early this morning to a sensational sunrise over Lake Rotorua. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to enjoy it as today was a day FULL of driving...so off we headed on a 6 hour drive to Wellington - the southern most city on the North Island. But this drive wasn't just a straight shot - we had several planned (and many more UNplanned) stops to make along the way. The first stop was at the Huka Falls. We had been there the day before, but it was such a dreary day that we wanted to try and see the falls again. Since we woke up to much more clear, prettier weather, we decided to give it another shot. The hour drive there was filled with bright blue skies and sunshine, so we knew it was the perfect day to see the falls. Only, when we got there, there was a HUGE cloud of fog hanging over them. No fog anywhere else, but straight on top of the falls! So unfortunately, our pictures don't even come close to showing off how beautiful they are! Moving on from the falls, we stopped off at Lake Taupo again...which was looking insanely pretty on such a nice day! After Lake Taupo, our roadtrip took us on a slight detour to walk the path to Mordor. (That's for you, Erik!) If you're unfamiliar with Mordor, you must not have seen The Lord of the Rings! Since all 3 of these movies were filmed in New Zealand, we of course HAD to try and find some of the famous landscapes during our trip. We drove through the Tongariro National Park to see the three volcanoes (Rupheau, Tongariro and Ngauruhoe) that were used as "Mt. Doom" in Mordor in the LOTR movies. Not only were we excited to see them because they were in the movies, but hello?! We couldn't wait to see real volcanoes! We were, however, unaware that they were expecting a snowstorm in the area. Needless to say, we drove from beautiful blue skies through rain (and saw an awesome rainbow!) and then into lots of snow, which definitely prevented the tops of the peaks from being seen. Darn! No real volcanoes this time. So, on we went to Wellington. We stopped several times along the way to take roadside pics...it's just plain unavoidable in this country. (Yes, Dad - I believe that even YOU might just be tempted to stop while driving through New Zealand!) We finally made it to Wellington and continued our quest to see more LOTR movie sites....when in Rome! (that's for my friend, Meg!) We found a river that the "fellowship" floated down, and also saw the park where Rivendell was filmed -- all of this knowledge I owe to my movie-loving honey! Whew - that was one FULL day! A little side note...we drove through nearly 4 seasons in this one day - beautiful sunshine, rain, falling leaves, snow and hail! That's definitely a first! Enjoy the pics!

Remarkable New Zealand - Day 2!

Our second full day in New Zealand started with an exciting trip to Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Wonderland! (Doesn't that name just sound like fun!?)  Wai-O-Tapu is basically a very large natural park that is FULL of all kinds of interesting geothermal activity.  From boiling mud to erupting geysers to smoke blowing craters...we saw it all! (And smelled it all too - PEEUUH!)  After our walk through the wonderland, we drove about an hour south of Rotorua to Lake Taupo.  This is a beautiful and CRYSTAL clear lake that is famous for it's trout fishing.  Nearby are the mighty and gorgeous Huka Falls.  It was quite a rainy and dreary day, but still, the scenery was spectacular!  We went to another geothermal park called "Craters of the Moon" and then we headed back to Rotorua.  We put on some dry (and warm!) clothes because we were ready to head to the top of the mountain for some LUGING!  I can't even begin to tell you how much FUN we had racing down the mountain on the luge! (which is basically a big sled with a handlebar and wheels!)  It was cold and rainy, but that didn't even phase us because we were having such a blast!  It was most definitely one of the highlights of our time in New Zealand!!!   

In a word...BEAUTIFUL.

We just got home from the vacation of a lifetime! We were blessed to spend 11 days driving our way through the stunningly beautiful country of New Zealand, and wow - there are hardly words to describe just how pretty it is! From Auckland on the North Island to Queenstown on the South Island, and everywhere in between - we simply fell in love with this country and the gorgeousness of it's constantly changing landscape. I wish so badly that these pictures could give you more than just an idea of what we saw - but unfortunately, they simply don't do it justice! We said more "oohh's and aaahh's" on this roadtrip than we ever have in our lives, and we've both decided that New Zealand is without a doubt the prettiest place we've ever seen. 

After catching up on some sleep during our first night in Auckland, we headed South on a 4 hour drive towards Rotorua. On our way though, we made a stop off in Waitomo to see their famous Glowworm Caves. As soon as we were outside of the busy city of Auckland, our mouths started to drop at the scenery of the NZ countryside. It's not just simple rolling hills, instead, it's beautiful bright green sharply carved out hills, almost with deep crevices in between them. T and I are not quite up to date on our geography terms, but we both agreed that simply calling them hills does not do them justice! We arrived in Waitomo and went on a tour of their glowworm caves. Sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside of the cave bc it's harmful to the glowworms. We rode on a boat through pitch black caves staring up at what looked like the Milky Way! Only instead of stars, there were millions of shining bright glowworms! After the caves, we made a quick stop to visit the "Shearing Shed" in Waitomo, which is the only place in New Zealand where you can see Angora Rabbits! Have you ever seen one? We hadn't, and so you can imagine our surprise when we saw how HUGE and furry they are!! Seriously, we never knew that rabbits could get so big!! We watched them shear the fur off of one, which was really neat! And you can definitely see why people like to wear Angora - it's SO soft!

We were finally done with Waitomo and continued on our way to Rotorua. Of course, we made several unexpected stops along the way for pictures because it was just entirely too pretty to pass up! You'll find this was the theme of our trip to NZ! We arrived in Rotorua and quickly saw why it's so famous...it's an area of NZ known for it's geothermal activity, and there is a distinct smell of sulphur in the air (or, rotten eggs to be less scientific!) as well as natural hot springs & steam rising out of the ground everywhere! We got into town pretty late, so we had an early dinner and went to bed early before our day of exploring Rotorua. Enjoy the pics from our first full day in NZ! I'll try and get to the rest of our days quickly! (We did take nearly 1000 pics - so be prepared!)