New Zealand

I am going to tell you all about the most beautiful country imaginable and why you all must come here. From the moment I got out of Christchurch every second word out of my mouth has been "wow" or something of the sort because every corner you turn takes your breath away. Christchurch is a sweet little city, it sort of reminds me of Halifax. There wasn't a whole lot to do there, but we went up the gondola and toured around a few little surrounding towns. This is the first time we discovered how twisty the roads are here! We went to a black sand beach called Taylor's mistake, although it wasn't warm enough sunbathe or anything. It was nice though, we could sit on the beach in our t-shirts, a MAJOR improvement from the day before which was pouring down rain and we could see our breath! It was so cold. The first thing I said when I walked outside of the airport when we landed was 'wow, I feel like I am home again'. Yep, it felt about like March in Canada. From Christchurch we took off in our little blue Toyota Starlet that we rented for our roadtrip of the South Island. The first thing we noticed was the sheep(and roadkill but I will get to that). There is a reason why sheep are associated with NZ. They are EVERYWHERE!!!!! Oh my god, I don't know how they fit them all in. Apparently there are 40 million sheep here and only 4 million people. I believe it! The roadkill too, so much of it! Dead hedgehogs, ferrats and rabbits just little the roads. Not in a gross way, but in a funny way. We saw two dead sheep too, on the side of the road. I couldn't imagine how they got there til we started noticing them running down the sides of the roads after escaping there pastures.
Anyway...we were heading for Lake Tepeko and after about 5 stops for photo ops we arrived. Its the most amazing turquoise glacier fed lake with snowcapped mountains in the background. Just beautiful. After a little walk and lots of pics we got back in the car and headed to Mount Cook, which is in a national park. We had to drive all along another crystal blue lake to get there, Lake Pukaki . We hiked to view the Tasman Glacier, the biggest in New Zealand then took off to the metropolis of Twizel. Twizel makes Berwick look like a happening place. Its a ghosttown but the only place we could get a room.
From Twizel we went to Dunedin, where we were supposed to see the penguins. But we forgot to get the details and arrived only to realize that we couldn't see them because they only come back at dusk! We were there for the night, but the place where we were to see them was a couple hours north and we had to go out for St. Pats. So we went on the Speight's Brewery tour instead and headed out for a night on the town. Its a place that is apparently slightly bigger than Fredericton and very Scottish. We got up bright and early to head for Te Anau. Thats where we started to experience real New Zealand, although I didn't realize the best was yet to come because it was already so great. We drove through rolling green hills and country side to get to Te Anau which is bordering the Fjordlands(ahh, the Fjordlands). It was rainy and cold but we signed up for the glowworm cave tour. It was the coolest thing ever! We went on a big boat to the caves. We walked through all these dimly lit gaves to the glowworm grotto and then boarded a tiny boat, squished in actually, with about 10 people. Everyone has to be very quiet and you cruise in pitchblack to this tunnel which is lit with thousands(maybe millions) of tiny twinkling glowworms. They are almost blue and the tiniest little light. It looks like a nightsky you could reach out and touch. I can't describe it at all, but it was unforgettable. The caves themselves were just amazing too.
From Te Anua we went onto Milford Sound in the Fjordlands. We had to get up at 5 in the morning to be on the road by 6am because we were booked for a 8:15 pickup there for a kayaking trip on Milford Sound, which is actually one of 15 fjords on the south east coast of New Zealand. What an experience. It was serene and perfect. Again, I can't describe the beauty. We were out for 4 hours and every moment was amazing. We saw seals! Sooo cute! But no dolphins or penguins which sometimes can be seen. I loved it! We got back to the lodge with numb arms but took off to Queenstown, which is where I am now. We hiked today, have something planned for tomorrow that I will write about later and then go on to Lake Wanaka and the Glaciers! I just can't wait for everything else that we are doing and can't believe that this amazing trip is already over half over. I will be so sad to leave but I KNOW I will be back sometime. I can't say enough...come to New Zealand! Shannon updated her blog about the Great Ocean Road(back in Australia) and added some pics. My camera is broken(I am sick with anger) so I will be relying on her camera only for awhile. We are off to Cairns Australia on the 26th of March. Sorry I crammed so much in one entry, I just have so much to tell I can't help it!