New Zealand: part 3

Next up on our tour of New Zealand was Milford Sound, Queenstown and Mt Cook. All were wonderful, but I would say that Milford Sound was a major highlight of our whole trip.

The above two photos were taken by husband in Bruce Bay. It reminded me so much of the West Coast of BC, where I'm from.

Milford Sound! Like I said, Milford Sound was absolute magic. When we first got there, after a very long drive, I was a bit nonplussed. It was beautiful, but so was most of the country. We got settled and went to bed super early and rose before the sun the next morning.

By 7 am we were on the water for a kayak tour with Rosco's Milford Kayaks, along with two other couples and our hilarious guide, Ollie. We were lucky in so many ways that day. For one thing, it was sunny and clear, a rarity for a part of the world that gets as much rain as my hometown. Starting so early also meant that there was hardly anyone else in the sound (which is, incidentally, not a sound at all but a fjord), just us and our kayaks.

The other people doing the kayak tour were awesome, we even ended up driving one of the couples all the way back to Queenstown later on. Our guide was wickedly funny while also being super knowledgeable. At one point I asked, "Are there dolphins?"

His answer: "You mean, do dolphins exist? Yes they do. But we probably won't see any."

On the topic of capsizing he explained without cracking a smile: "If one of you capsizes, the rest of us will raft up [line our kayaks up side by side] so that we have a more stable base... from which to laugh at you."

Luckily for us, no one capsized. Even more luckily for us, we saw dolphins! I was pretty delighted at the dozens of seals we saw. Friendly little guys who would dart under your boat and then come up to get a look at you. But when we noticed a pod of dolphins I gasped and started clapping my hands and jumping up and down, as best as one can jump in a kayak.

I thought that was as good as it could get, and then a few minutes later a second pod passed right by our boats. I don't think I'll ever forget it.

Highways in New Zealand are dotted with these beautiful lupins.

Mt Cook! To be perfectly honest, Mt Cook wasn't my favorite part of the trip. It was the first time we had bad weather, and we allotted a bit too much time to this part of the trip. We did do one great hike though that took us up past tarns and spectacular views of Mt Cook, ending at Mueller Hut.

Me in my Canadian tuxedo, as husband calls it. Denim on denim, oh yeah.

A much deserved hot chocolate after our 6 hour hike!

Thanks again for having a look at our New Zealand photos! Only one more post to go, Christchurch...

New Zealand: part 2, my birthday/Christmas

As you read in this post, normally my birthday is spent at family Christmas events. But this year husband and I were in New Zealand, just the two of us, and he decided to forfeit his Christmas in order to celebrate my birthday. He's a good man. And celebrate we did.

On the day I turned 25 on the 25th I...

Woke up in Wanaka, NZ, and slept in.

Ate berry pancakes that husband made.

Chatted with my mom and my grandma on the phone.

Wandered around the lake.

Kayaked to Ruby Island where we had a picnic and went for a swim.

{kayaking pics by husband}

Went for another swim in this crazy cool swimming hole where we met awesome Frenchies and did an "obstacle course" of sorts that involved walking upstream and then chucking ourselves into the cold, cold water and letting it carry us downstream, only stopping occasionally to jump off cliffs. Wish I had taken photos!

Came back to our hotel where I practiced yoga by myself on the grass while husband made this yummy vegetarian dinner for me.

He even made me a chocolate cake! And that man is NOT a baker and has no sweet tooth whatsoever.

And finally, we went for a walk at sunset back down to the lake. This photo of me on the right is pretty funny. There were all of these trees shedding little white fluffy bits all over the grass, and I got excited and pretended we were having a white Christmas. In the southern hemisphere. Not so much...

{last 2 photos by husband}

Went to sleep, happy and grateful for the best birthday I've had in a very long time.

p.s. New Zealand posts will continue next week, so many photos!

New Zealand: part 1

I'm so excited to be finally blogging about my trip to New Zealand! Husband was there climbing and mountaineering for a few weeks before me, and then I flew into Christchurch just before Christmas to meet him.

It was his sixth trip to NZ so he had a pretty good idea of what he wanted to do and I just followed along. We rented a little car and drove all over the South Island for 2 weeks, seeing just as much as we could.

I LOVED it. New Zealand is such a stupidly beautiful country that my most common reaction to the scenery was, "Guffaw, I mean really, c'mon?!?!" And Kiwis, well they're just the friendliest people around. They're so helpful and obliging, it made it super easy to travel. In fact, writing about it is making me miss it...

So anyway, these are photos from the first part of our trip: Christchurch to Hokitika to Fox Flacier....

Christchurch: We were in the city for less than a day, and just missed the big pre-Christmas earthquake. I don't think I realized before I got there just how much damage these earthquakes have done. In the picture below, you can see what downtown looks like. It's completely blocked off because of damage. Above is the Re-Start Mall, a post-quake innovation for the city involving shops and restaurants being housed in shipping containers. Brilliant.

Castlehill: This was a brief pitstop for us, but oh so beautiful.

Funny story: I wore my new Black Milk leggings all day and I have to say that it took some getting used to the constant staring directed at my legs :) I overheard a guy saying "Wow, look! She has the Virgin Mary on her legs!" At a shop, I was paying for something when I felt a little hand on my thigh. I looked down and there was a toddler stroking my leg, completely transfixed by the pictures! Later that day I was walking down a street in Hokitika when a woman leaned over a pub balcony, only slurring slightly, to shout, "Where'd you get your tights?"

Moral of the story... Don't wear Black Milk if you want to be a wallflower.

Hokitika: A sunset and a coffee. Yum.

Fox Flacier: Ok, so this was one of the highlights of our trip. For my birthday, husband and I flew in a helicopter up to Fox Glacier where we spent the night in a hut. The flight up to the glacier was SPECTACULAR, and utterly terrifying! I can see why people get hooked on flying though, once you're up there you kind of forget your fear.

p.s. this guy isn't husband, just so you know :)

The hut is perched on a little rocky outcrop, surrounded by towering peaks and glistening snow. You can even see the sea. The view is mesmerizing; we did little else but sit and admire it.

We did do a little snow wander and climb, if you could even call it that. Husband loves mountaineering and ice climbing. My verdict: so beautiful but too bloody cumbersome!

Me in thermal underwear. Hot stuff.

See that little red dot? Yeah, that's where we slept.

Eating dinner outside. It was surprisingly warm!

My favourite NZ purchase by far are these hand knit booties. I adore them!

Backcountry toaster.

Thanks for taking a peek at our NZ adventure! Part 2 coming soon...