The First New Zealand Blog!

Hey everyone! Sorry that it has been so long since I have put up my last blog but I have been in New Zealand for the past two weeks and simply haven't had time. But I am back in Sydney and have heaps of time so let the blogs begin! Just a heads up, I'm going to separate the two weeks into many different blogs because it makes putting pictures in much easier. I will start with the first day and go on but unfortunately the first blogs appear at the bottom so it will be a bit backwards. Oh well!

Saturday November 14
I had to wake up before 6 am to get to the airport on time for my early flight. I had no problem waking up, did a few last minute things before catching 2 busses and making it to the airport in plenty of time. The flight was delayed about an hour but it was no worries as I had no hurry to get to Christchurch. Upon arrival in Christchurch (on the south island), I checked into my hostel and wandered the city a bit, it was not really very exciting. There wasn’t really much to do besides checking out the large volume of souvenir shops. I had dinner at a lovely Irish pub; the seafood chowder was to die for! I read a bit, and went to bed relatively early as I had nothing else to do and had to be ready to be picked up at 8:15 the next morning.









Sunday November 15
The bus was there bright and early at 8:15 am. We had the opportunity to meet everyone that we would be travelling with for the next 15 days. We then got on our way and began to explore the beautiful countryside of the south island. The views of the southern alps were absolutely stunning. We stopped alongside many different lakes, all beautiful shades of blue. We stopped at both Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki.













We stopped for a bit in the afternoon to try and get a sight of Mount Cook and to take a bit of a hike. Unfortunately it was extremely cold and rainy and we were not able to catch a glimpse of it. We drove a bit farther and then stopped for the night at a lodge alongside Lake Ohau. The lodge was empty except for those of us that were on the tour. It was nice because there was nothing else to do (it is typically a ski lodge) so it was a great time for us all to bond and get to know each other better. The views out of the lodge were breath-taking. It was so nice to be able to wake up to the view of the lake and the mountains in the morning.