Franz Josef Glacier

We got to Franz Josef glacier pretty late at night and when we checked into the Glowworm Cottages, the lady told us that all of the glacier tours had been cancelled that previous day due to flooding. It was still pouring. It poured all night and was still going when we woke up the next morning. Our full day tour got cancelled but there was a possibility of us getting on the half day tour. We waited around and finally got into the tour! It was pouring rain so we were wet and freezing but it was so worth it! Climbing around on that glacier was challenging and amazing. Franz Josef glacier is the steepest guided tour in the world. You cannot be guided on a tour on a steeper glacier! I thought that was cool! It was really hard to get all the way up! The glacier was so beautiful and learning about the history and the science behind it was fascinating. We were ready for it to be over though because we were so cold and soaked through to the very last layer. It was such an amazing experience! We got on the road right after that (the road had been closed earlier because of a bridge collapse but it got reopened just before we left Franz Josef) and drove back to Christchurch! What an amazing trip it was!

Queenstown!

We got to Queenstown around dinnertime on the 15th, right after Milford Sound. So many hostels were completely full so it took us a while to find one with room for us. We found one though and we got some dinner and made friends with the other people there. We all decided to go out for our only night in Queenstown! I ended up meeting someone who goes to school right down the street from me in Towson! It is such a small world! We had a really good time. The next morning, we were going to do a canyon swing, but it was way to expensive. So we took a gondola ride up to the top of a mountain. The view of Queenstown was incredible! When we got to the top, we did a luge ride just for fun. It's a kids ride but we had a good time with it! Then we went to watch the bungy jumpers. We saw someone doing the canyon swing and we decided we had to do it! It was a smaller and a lot less expensive one so we decided we should. We got weighed and all suited up. Kelsey went first. She screamed the whole time! I went next and I took forever to do it! You have to sit in the harness in mid-air and then you have to pull the rope when you're ready to fall. So basically, it's all up to you. I eventually did it and I absolutely loved it! You fly right over the water and the town! It's really just amazing. I was shaking for a while after I was pulled back up but it was so worth doing and I absolutely loved it! Then we rode the gondolas down the mountain again and headed for Franz Josef Glacier! It's a pretty long ride but it's going to be worth it! We had an amazing time in Queenstown!

Milford Sound

We left Dunedin at 5 AM to drive to Milford Sound. We arrived there at around 11:30 and had a 1:30 cruise through the sound. The drive up there was absolutely breathtaking. We saw the most amazing sunrise I have ever seen followed by some pretty incredible rainbows. We took a million pictures before we even got to the sound! The mountains were huge and the water is just so blue. Since we were there early, they put us on the earlier cruise. Kelsey and I were taking pictures when I looked over and saw some of our friends! We didn't even know they were there and had not talked to them since we left Auckland! It was totally weird that we were on the exact same cruise as they were. We had a good time catching up and enjoying the beautiful Milford Sound. We drove the boat under waterfalls and saw a lot of seals laying on the rocks. We got back from the cruise and immediately jumped in the car, heading for Queenstown. It was an amazing day!

Dunedin!

We drove to Dunedin on April 14th which took us 5 hours to do. The drive was incredible! The coastal views were amazing. We took so many pictures! We even stopped at some random beach to take pictures. When we got there, we went right to an I-Site for ideas on what to do. We also walked around the city a little bit. Dunedin is a really nice, small city. They told us to go to the Otago Peninsula to see the yellow-eyed penguins and sea lions! We went to Penguin Place and did a tour of the penguin reserve. We got really close to them! They have underground tunnels that you use for viewing so you don't disturb them. They were mounting at this time of the year which means their feathers were coming off and they were getting new ones. So most of them were not going in the water. However, we did see a few come waddling out of the ocean from a long day of fishing. We also saw some sea lions playing around in the water and laying on the huge rocks. It was really cool to be able to see these animals in their natural setting. The Otago Peninsula was just incredibly beautiful. The scenery was amazing. We had a great time. Then we went back to our hostel which was called Hogwartz. We made some dinner and went to bed super early because we had a very early morning the next day.

Christchurch, New Zealand

Today we got to Christchurch at noon and we went straight to the rental place. We rented a little navy blue Toyota. It is the perfect car! We drove around looking for an I-Site (a tourist center which makes free bookings for you and helps with any questions we had). We asked them for good places to stay and we found Kiwi Basecamp which was a really nice hostel. We went to Cathedral Square and walked around Christchurch. Then we went back to the hostel and watched We Are Marshall, which was a really good movie. The next morning we woke up at 8 and got the best bagels ever! They reminded me of home :) Then we got on the road headed for Dunedin!!!

We came back to Christchurch on the 17th. We got to Kiwi Basecamp really late that night so we went right to bed. The next morning we woke up and went to Cathedral Square because they had some markets going on. They were celebrating Buddha's birthday so they had some celebratory activities going on. It was cool to see the different cultures coming together. Then we went into the Southern Encounter Aquarium and Kiwi House. The aquarium was so small but it was cool. We saw a few cool animals. Then we went into the kiwi house and saw a live kiwi which is New Zealand's most unique bird. We weren't allowed to take photos of it though, which was upsetting but totally understandable. Then we walked to another market and were totally intrigued by this comedian who was performing on the street. He was hysterical! He saw that I had my camera out and came over to me and started flipping his hair around and doing other funny things in front of my camera. He was really funny. We watched his show and another performer's show and then went back to the hostel. We found a miniature golfing place called Pirate's Island so we did that and then even did the golfing range! We were absolutely terrible but we had a lot of fun! That night we rented some movies with the friends we had made in our hostel and went to bed early because we had an early flight home to Auckland. We had such an amazing trip! I am so grateful that I was able to do everything I did. I really have made some incredible memories!

Melbourne :)

Today we arrived in Melbourne very late at night at the airport that is about 2 hours from civilization. Kelsey knew some people in Melbourne (they are family friends) so they came to pick us up. They thought we had gained a lot of weight while in New Zealand because of all of our layers!! We drove to their houseboat on Lake Eildon. On the way there, they showed us where the Victoria bushfires had destroyed complete towns. I was pretty scared because we drove through all of the damage. The fires just happened 6 weeks ago. The fire could travel the distance that a car could go in 45 minutes, in just 3 minutes. They killed 211 people. I was pretty scared but I knew that I wasn't in any danger. We got to Lake Eildon at 2:00 in the morning so we went straight to bed. We woke up and laid out in the sun for a while. Then we went into town to walk around. Kelsey's friend showed us everything. The town is really small but it's really cute. The next day, Kelsey's friend Caity had a job interview on the top of Mt. Buller (which is a one hour drive). So, we went with her to see some of the country. The landscape here is a lot different from what we've seen in Australia. It is much more desolate and outback. We saw kangaroos in the wild here. After Mt. Buller, we went back to Lake Eildon to go wakeboarding. Kelsey was really good at it! I tried a million times!! I couldn't stand up on the board but I was proud of myself for getting in that water because I'm usually scared about being alone in the water. We then had a barbecue with her whole family. It was a really fun night! We had to leave for the airport at 4 am. Caity's parents drove us there. We said goodbye and went into the airport heading to Christchurch to tour the South Island!!!!

Sydney: Opera House and Harbour Bridge

We got to Sydney on April 7th in the afternoon. We had a bus driver take us to a hostel and we had to walk around a little bit to find one that wasn't full or too expensive. We finally found one and we settled in and put our things away. We had two roommates from Taiwan. One of them didn't speak much English and the other one was so excited to meet people from America! She had never met anyone from America before and she was so thrilled! They were both really nice. We went to the grocery and got some food for the next few days. It was pretty late by that time so we just watched an Australian show and went to bed. The next day, we took a bus to Coogee Beach and did the cliff walk from there to Bondi Beach. It was so beautiful! We walked all along the coast until we got to Bondi beach. When we got there, we just layed on the beach and listened to some music. Then we got on the bus back to the city. We got changed into warmer clothes and headed to the harbour! We saw the Opera House and it was all lit up and just absolutely beautiful! We took some pictures of the opera house and the bridge. Then we went to eat dinner right in front of the Opera House. It was so nice! The next day, I woke up and mailed some postcards. Then I walked to the Botanical Gardens. They were beautiful! I saw those huge bats and definitely had to conquer my fear because they were right above me! Kelsey didn't come because she wanted to go to the zoo. After the gardens, I walked up onto the Harbour Bridge and climbed to the top of the lookout. I had a great view of the city and the Opera House. It was awesome to be that high up! The next day, we went to Manly Beach. It was a half hour ferry ride. The town was so cute! It was just a little beach town with really great street performers. We spent the day on the beach and did some tourist shopping and then went back on the ferry. The ride home was beautiful because we had an awesome view of the city and the Opera House. We went back to our hostel and got all packed up. A shuttle came to pick us up around 7 pm to take us to the airport. We got there and our carry on bags were too heavy and they wanted to charge us $80 to check one bag! So we went into the bathroom and put on 5 pairs of pants and about 1o shirts each! We looked like huge hockey players! We made it work though. We were uncomfortable but it definitely gave us a good laugh. Then we headed to Melbourne!!

Brisbane, Australia

On April 3, I flew to Brisbane to meet my friend Aditi who is studying there. My roommate Kelsey came the next day because she had Friday classes that she could not miss. We had a two hour delay because of a technical problem with the plane (which totally freaked me out). Everything was fine and once I got to Brisbane, I took the train to meet Aditi and her friend Brittney at Central Station. It was so good to see her! Once we got to her apartment, we got ready for an Australian footy game (their version of football). We went to see the Brisbane Broncos! It was so cool! I went to see a rugby game in Auckland, but I definitely liked this better because it was a lot easier to understand. We had a lot of fun. On the walk home, I saw my first HUGE Australian bat! Those who have never heard of these massive bats, you should look them up online. They are huge! I was not aware that Australia had these bats so when I saw it, I freaked out. I didn't like that one bit and they are everywhere! That was not so much fun but the game was awesome! The next day, Aditi and I got up early to meet Kelsey at the train station. We went to get some breakfast and tried to catch the bus to the Koala Sanctuary but it never came! When it started getting late, we just decided to go the next day. We walked around the city (which is really cute) and Aditi showed us some different interesting landmarks. That night, we went to meet up with some of her friends. I grew up with one of them! It was weird to randomly run into someone that I know from Belmar! We went out and listened to a live band who was really good. We had an awesome time! The next day we tried to catch the bus to see the koalas again but they don't run on Sundays! We had the worst luck with those busses! The next day, Kelsey and I made it to the Koala Sanctuary! Aditi couldn't come because she had class but we went and it was awesome! We got to hold koala bears and we even held a huge snake!! Then we went in and got to feed kangaroos! They just hop right up to you and you get to feed them. It was such an awesome experience! Then we went back to Aditi's apartment and got ready to go to South Bank. There is a huge ferris wheel there that we all wanted to go on! It looked so cool at night when it was all lit up. After the ferris wheel, we walked around and saw street performers who were juggling and doing other cool tricks. We got back on the ferry and took it to Riverside to get some ice cream. The next day, I woke up early and went for a run. Then Kelsey and I took the ferry to the train station to get to the airport. We flew seperately because the airline she took would not accept my Debit Card. However, we took off 5 minutes apart from each other. So we landed relatively at the same time. Then we were on our way to Sydney!!!!