Flying High

Today was a busy day but a perfect one!  Since some of our other activities got cancelled due to weather, we ended up with a full schedule today but we lucked out that it was GORGEOUS!

First we woke up early and did a weather check and we were good to go for our flight to Milford Sound!  We headed to the airport and boarded a 7 passenger plane to go to Milford.  We were lucky with the weather because both the weather in Queenstown and at Milford have to be perfect for the flights to go on and it rains 70% of the time in Milford.  The flight to Milford was just beautiful.  It is crazy how the terrain changes.  It really only takes about 25 minutes but since it was a scenic flight, it took about 45 minutes.  We passed snow covered mountains and then suddenly crossed over to the rainforest and everything was lush and green.  It was beautiful!

 

After getting there, we took a short bus ride to board our cruise on Milford Sound (which is actually a fjord).  It was 1 1/2 hours cruise that included lunch and commentary.  It was pretty cold out on the deck of the boat but the view was beautiful and we were so lucky that it didn't rain!  We even saw some adorable seals while we were on the cruise.

Weather Woes and Luging

This morning we were all set to go paragliding and it seemed like a great day to my amateur eye but it was cancelled!  Apparently it was too windy which was annoying but I suppose safety is more important. :)

Queenstown is known as the adventure capitol of the world and there is literally nothing in town except a bunch of restaurants and then all these crazy excursions. The problem is so many of them are weather dependent and the weather is always on and off. New Zealand does seem to be really into safety though and have high standards so that was comforting.  So once our paragliding was cancelled, we spend the rest of the day walking around town. We saw a cute little outdoor art market where we saw the cutest pug!! We also popped into a tourism shop where we lucked out with a person who gave us a great deal on a Milford tour for tomorrow and helped us save money on a scuba tour we had already booked for next week in Cairns. 

Glacier Failure... Back on the Road

Unfortunately, this morning we had bad news. The weather at the glacier was too windy for the helicopter to land safely so no glacier hike for us.  While this was terribly sad, we knew that the tours get cancelled frequently for weather so it was a risk we knew we were taking.  The weather is just so finicky that they don't make the cancellation decision until 30 minutes before departure so it's hard to plan for.  Ultimately, safety first!  We contemplated staying another night and trying to do the glacier hike the next day but ultimately decided that it wasn't worth the risk of it getting cancelled again. Plus, what were we going to do all day in town? Literally, nothing. Before leaving, we did decide to go to the base of the glacier to get a picture. Unfortunately, we found that there wasn't that much to see. Hence, the need for the helicopter. 

On the road again...

This morning we got up bright and early and flew into Queenstown. We needed to pick up our rental car and hit the road to get to Franz Josef glacier. We booked our rental car online but upon arriving, we quickly learned that we must have gone with a serious mom and pop business without realizing it. There wasn't a counter like there was for Budget or Avis and we had no idea where to go. We borrowed people's phones but eventually we were told to just sit by a courtesy phone hoping someone would call us back.   Knowing that was a terrible plan (do courtesy phones even take calls?  What if someone was using the phone?  There's probably not call waiting.), but not having any clue what else to do, we took a seat near the phone.  Randomly though, a man suddenly appeared 5 minutes later and said and had our car. He was driving our rental so we drove about 5 minutes away from the airport to his "office" and where we were to meet him to return the car. Interesting. Once we drove away, he basically walked off into oblivion. Strange.

The rental car office- We're to meet him to do the car return.  He walked off in the distance behind Will with a bucket full of keys and some pens and papers, his portable "office." 

After getting the car, we immediately hit the road to Franz Josef where we would be staying the night to do a glacier hike the next morning.  We hoped to stop somewhere to eat first but it was immediately time to get up the first big mountain. Driving to the glacier is not for the faint of heart and I was definitely white knuckling it the entire time and screaming for Will to slow down so we didn't drive off a cliff. There were lots of windy roads and it was giving me anxiety. Once we passed the first big mountain, we stopped at the first place that had food because we were starving. It was the most adorable cafe with delicious sandwiches and baked goods.

 

After that, it was time to hit the road again!  Good thing we stopped when we did because for most of the entire way to the Glacier, there was nothing. Honestly I couldn't believe how little there was. No gas stations, nothing. We did make a stop at the Blue Pools Walk though. It was right off the main highway and only a 30 min walk. Sadly, it wasn't quite the same blue I saw from pictures online (maybe due to the cloudy day) but it was still pretty cool nonetheless. 

Waitomo: The Lost World

This morning we woke up and ate breakfast near our hotel in Ponsonby before hitting the road to Waitomo. The drive to Waitomo was about 2 hours long and we passed lots and lots of farmland. There were tons of cows and sheep and tiny little towns but most of Auckland and New Zealand is pretty secluded.

Kiwi breakfast: corn fritters, bacon, avocado, sour cream, & tomato salsa- yum!

We got to Waitomo early so we had lunch.  We had pretty low expectations of food since the little town is pretty remote but we actually have been surprised and pleased with the quality of food everywhere in New Zealand thus far. We had lunch at this adorable little Huhu cafe and then headed to our excursion.

For our activity for the day, we were doing the 4-hour Lost World excursion. First we drove about 20 mins to to a big farm where we got suited up. Then we hiked about 10 minutes to the entrance of the Lost World cave. Looking down was pretty scary!  Luckily no one else signed up for our time frame so it was basically a private tour of just me, Will, and our guide, Chris. After getting all of our gear checked, it was time for the abseil down: 300 meters (about 33 floors down).  It was so fun and not at all scary except for the first time you get out over the ledge. It was pretty awesome!

Kia Ora Auckland!

Initially we had a 12 hour layover in Houston before heading to Auckland.  Normally I hate long layovers but since my family is in Houston, it was going to work out great. We had a plan to have lunch with my grandma, go wakeboarding for the day, and then do dinner with my family. We'd head to the airport and be exhausted and ready to sleep!  Unfortunately our morning flight to Houston got cancelled/rescheduled (silver lining: more time to pack- which we always need!) and we didn't have time to leave the airport to see the fam. Instead, we had a quick 2 hours so we just had dinner at the airport.

Leading up to today's flight, I had been tracking our seat selection. I love gambling with our seat choices and we decided to pick both aisle seats of a 4 seater in the center of the plane.  We lucked out and no one chose the two seats in the middle!  Hooray!  Having those two extra seats made the 14 hr flight to Auckland a breeze!  Honestly, easiest flight ever!  Will and I could take turns and lay down to sleep. While Will's legs had to hang off a bit, I was able to lay down with legs fully extended and that, partnered with Air New Zealand's great movie selection, the flight went by so quickly! 

After getting into Auckland, we picked up our rental car (pink piece of junk!) and hung around downtown.  While at the rental office, we saw a world map which initially surprised me a whole bunch.  Talk about perspective!  Will was initially a little nervous about driving on the opposite side of the road but he got a hang of it!