Well as a break to get away from 'work' which is really just another big holiday for me in Australia but anyways I got to go to New Zealand with Dallan (who is actually my intern coordinater at Warrambui)!! We spent 10 days going from the South Island up to the North Island....many of those days crossing from one side to the next without driving too much! We started in Christchurch where we rode the Gondola up to see how huge the city really is and enjoy some beautiful views! We then drove up to Westport which didn't have too much but to get there was spectacular, we drove right through (I drove - very windy cliffy roads!) Lewis Pass. This was fun driving as I wasn't worried about staying on the left side of the road but instead I had to focus on all the curves, no but it was actually really fun so that was good. Also New Zealand is know as the adventure country of the world, this didn't have any impact on me but for Dallan (who I was travelling with) he did bungy jumping so although you can do this pretty much anywhere in NZ he did it at Hanmer Springs. And convienently there where hot springs there too so we got to enjoy that. Not quite like Banff but there was snow there so I did really love that and even got to make a mini snowman!
From Westport we went to Nelson, and then on to Picton where we caught the ferry up to the North Island. We got to see heaps when we left the country because of all the random islands but then for the rest of the ferry we just had ocean all around us. Coming into the North Island we came to Wellington - NZ's capital city! Had a look around at all the parliament buildings - the famous beehive shaped building and a couple more!
From Wellington we headed up through Palmerston North and then to Rotorua. Here there are heaps of natural hot pools so of course we enjoyed the beautiful smell of rotten eggs. From Rotorua we went through hamilton and are now in Auckland. Today we went to the world famous sheep show where they talked about the different kinds of sheep and then they sheered one in front of everyone. Very cool and just made me love sheep even more!
New Zealand to me is much like Canada so that has been great...lots of mountains, hills, and everything is so green! Even in 'winter' here I can wear shorts and jandals (flip-flops) and not get too cold! Also in NZ there are heaps and heaps of sheep everywhere! Everywhere you look so that that has been great.
Well there will be more to come later and I will try to add some photos, we've rented a car so it has been really easy to get around and I have gotten lots of left-side driving so that has been great! Again I will fill in more gaps with details later but enjoy this for now!
