Saturday evening our flight took off from Perth. This was our first experience on Air New Zealand, and I would say it was pretty good. It was about 6 1/2 hours, and an extra 45 min. to fix the plane before we left. We flew from Perth straight to Auckland through the night. Joe wanted to rush me in to my 30th birthday an extra 5 hours early. We arrived in Auckland around 5 am -ish, went through customs, grabbed our bags to transfer to domestic. We had less than an hour and the bus to domestic comes every 20 min and we didn't know if we would have to stand in line again to drop our bags at domestic, so we ran. Let me tell you, that was key in making our flight, because just as we were arriving to our domestic terminal we got in line and boarded.
The flight to Queenstown was about an hour and a half, then we got into our hired car and drove another hour and a half or so to Te Anau. The scenery was great, but I think we were both a little tired from the flights and chaos. We got our hotel room, went to bed at 3 in the afternoon and woke up around 7, ate and went back to sleep.
Monday March 15 2010
Monday morning at 6 we met our kayaking guide at the front of our hotel. Her name was Tara and I'd have to say she was about 21. We jumped in the van and took off to meet the rest of the group 15-20 min south in Manapouri. From Manapouri we jumped on a boat for an hour ride across lake Manapouri. On the opposite end we grabbed our gear, were issued with wet suits, hats, fleeces, polypro...all the clothing we needed to wear in our kayak. We then jumped into another van and drove about another 45 min where we were brought to Doubtful Sound. The first day was really misty, but the water was flat. We kayaked for about 5 hours and then set up camp. The sandflies were extremely friendly, I usually make friends fast, so I wasn't surprised.
Tuesday March 16 2010
This morning we got up by 6 in order to eat, pack our boats and get out and get moving. It was raining a bit more than Monday, and it didn't seem to bad on the arm of the sound we were in, until we got to the main part of the sound. Well, the plan was to go around this little island out in the sound, but the waves were huge, it was pouring rain and the wind all acted against us pushing us back when we paddled, which made us stay pretty much in one spot while paddling. It only got worse from there. So, Tara called it off, and we had to make our way back to where we started.
I would do the trip again, even if it rained. The scenery out there was incredible. Have a look at the photos on the kayak trip on my picassa album.
Wednesday March 17 2010 - Happy St. Patricks Day
Wednesday we headed back to Queenstown. At this point Joe and I were pretty tired as we didn't really catch up from the flight over at this point. We took a day to relax, went to the botanic gardens, and small walk. We picked out another trip we wanted to do Thursday and pretty much chillaxed.
Thursday March 18 2010
The trip we chose was a Lord of the Rings horseback riding trip. I know, sounds cheesy. Joe and I saw the movies before he went to Iraq, and if you have seen any of them you would wonder where they were filmed as the scenery in them is pretty awesome. So, we chose a horseback riding trip in order to see the area, as it is mostly private property.
Joe got his horse first, Seth was the horses name. Seth was a nice horse with a lot of gas. We didn't know of these gas issues until I rode behind them on the trail. My horse was Pipsqueak. Pipsqueak was a hungry fella, who also expended a bit of gas, not as much as Seth. Anyway, the ride was incredible, we went from a valley through a beech tree forest and then near the braided river, which you can also see in photos. X Men - Wolverine was also filmed in this area.
After our horse ride we returned to Queenstown to meet Chris and Heather Shult. Chris is a friend of our from college. He is travelling for a few months. We caught up with them Thursday and Friday. Thursday we went to Fergburger, which is a place to get a huge burger and fries for cheap (well its cheap for here) Joe and I split one and still didn't finish it. After that meal we all decided a hike would be best for the next day.
Friday March 19 2010
I think Joe picked the trail, because the word burn appeared in the name, which to me means all uphill and that is what it was, until we headed back from the top. The trail was called Glacier Burn, it was out of the town called Glenorchy, near where our horse trip began. The trail took about an hour and a bit to go up and about 45 min to come down. The scenery was again nothing short of stunning.
After the hike we headed back to Queenstown, ate some pizza, drank some vino and parted out ways.
Saturday March 20 2010
The journey back to Perth. Not sure if I have told you, I hate planes. We don't even take the plane to and from work any more I 'd rather drive the 4 1/2 hours. Anyway, we got on the plane Saturday from Queenstown to Auckland 1.5 hours and then Auckland to Perth which was 7 hrs 45 min as there was quite the wind. We arrived in one piece and are just adjusting to the time again.
I have to say that even though we only went to a small portion of New Zealand, it was our favorite place in the South Pacific so far. I don't know if we will find an area that will compare. If you ever have the opportunity to go, do it, you will never regret the decision to go. You might regret the plane ride, but not the visit.
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