In the morning we stumbled upon some massive hula hoops and got to play with those for a bit... it brought a whole new meaning to knowing how to hula hoop! They were fun to play with for a bit before carrying on our way towards our next nights stop.
Along the way we stopped at Mirror Lakes which were quite a sight. If you look in the lakes they reflect the image of the mountains perfectly. It was pretty cool but unfortunately it was raining a bit so it was a bit harder to see because the lakes were not as still as they could have been.
As we drove on we began to see snow come farther and farther down the mountains. Finally there was snow actually on the ground! It was quite crazy because we were not expecting to encounter snow in these 15 days! We drove through the Homer Tunnel which went literally right through the mountain! We emerged on the other side and I have never seen a rode so windy in my life. The roads in New Zealand wind up and down the mountain sides and often have no guardrails! They were quite crazy; I cannot even imagine trying to drive that myself! Whoa. When we stopped at another location we found some Keas which are New Zealand mountain parrots. They were amusing to watch because they are so inquisitive they love to pull on bits of people’s car and hate to move away from the cars when people want to get in them.
We arrived in Milford sound which was where we were spent the night cruising the sound on a boat. The mountains have been carved out due to activity by glaciers in the past (so technically it is a fiord, not a sound). If I remember right sounds are formed due to repeated water movement such as rivers and fiords are formed due to glacier activity. The sights from the boat were epic. There were heaps of waterfalls around due to the high amounts of rain that the area gets and the snow also melting off the top of the mountains. I have never seen anything like it, it was great.
We even got to go out in a smaller boat so we could search for some wildlife closer to the shore. There we saw both New Zealand fur seals and Fiordland crested penguins. We spent the night in the smallest bedroom I have ever experienced, they stuck four beds in there and there was barely enough room in the bed to be able to lay on your back. And if I wanted to flip over I would often hit the ceiling. It was quite an experience!
Tuesday November 17
We were awoken due to the starting of the boat in the morning. We began sailing out to the open sea. It was much rougher on the open sea than it had been in the bay in which we parked for the night. It was incredibly calm where we had stayed the night, it did not even feel as if we were on a boat! We did a bit more sailing in the morning before heading back to shore. We drove back through the Homer Tunnel and also stopped in a few other places. On the far side of the Homer Tunnel we stopped and were allowed to play in the snow. One of our members is from Brazil and had never seen snow before! It was hilarious to watch him play in it! Eventually a huge snowball fight started which was quite fun.
Later in the afternoon we arrived in Queenstown! It is a cute little town, that is the adrenaline capital of New Zealand and arguably the entire world. Some people did some activities that day but I just wandered the town a bit and took a shower. That night we went and experienced some of the nightlife the town had to offer. We started at a bar called “Minus 5” because it is around -5 degrees Celsius (for us it was -8). That is somewhere around 15 or 16 degrees Fahrenheit. They supply everyone with big, heavy coats, ugg boots, and mittens so everyone stays relatively warm. Everything inside the bar is made of ice! Everything was ice, from the cups, to chairs, to the bar, and even the statues. It was such a cool experience. They only allow you to stay for 30 minutes and then it is time for the next group as it is not very big. We then moved onto a couple of other bars in the area. it was a great night all around, and we really got to know each other so that was great!
Wednesday November 18
Today was an incredibly busy day! I woke up early and started my day off with a skydive! It was an absolutely amazing experience, I would recommend it to any adrenaline junkie. The view was amazing... the farms, the lake, and the mountains all at once! It was a view that probably cannot be seen any other way. It was crazy because you really have no say in when you are going out of the plane. You're attached to your guide and he hangs you over the edge and then whenever he is ready out ya go! Free falling was quite crazy... but totally cool! It all went by so fast, I would love to be able to do it again! That afternoon I went horseback riding through the beautiful New Zealand countryside! My horses name was Biscuit and he was a cool guy! Everyone around here rides English so it was a great chance to work on my English riding. They even let me do a bit of cantering so that was nice. It was a fun day! We all got together for dinner and shared our stories of the day. People did a wide variety of different things, everything from bungy jumping, to skydiving, to riding on the Shotover Jet (which is a very quick boat that spins in 360s and such).
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