Wally
Damian, a friend from Uni (as they call it here) picked us up at the airport and let us stay with him in Auckland while we attempted to acclimate to our first " real winter" in 3 years. For those of you who didn't know, Drew did a study abroad program in New Zealand for one year at Massey University in Palmerston North.
A view from Auckland's sky tower where we had Drew's Birthday dinner.
If you could sum up New Zealand in a sentence it would have to be: "California as it's own island country with rolling green meadows speckled with sheep, deer, & cow, while all the kiwis (the people) stay happily physically active while enjoying their breathtaking outdoor scenery."
Well, at least that was my first impression. Everyone here was genuinely kind, from the bus drivers to the punk looking high school kid behind the ice cream counter. There doesn't seem to be a lot of overweight people, and everywhere we drove you could find kayakers traversing river gorges or cyclers racing up mountains.
Franz-Josef Glacier
Oh and the landscape was just gorgeous! Sunrises and sunsets beautifully sinking into the ocean all within a days drive. Glaciers, thermal geysers and pools, volcanoes, bays and sounds of islands, hundreds of waterfalls and beautiful sets of waves. Drew scored Raglan, one of the most famous waves in the world.
Raglan
My one mission for New Zealand was to see Penguins and oh did we ever! We camped out at a reserve and watched these 2 foot chubby birds surf in on their bellies, pop up and waddle to their nests. The next morning, at sunrise, one by one they looked like someone tied their shoelaces together as they wobbled down the Big Sur looking cliffs to the beach. Several of them came within a few feet of us as they left for a hard days work of fishing. It was one of the coolest discovery channel moments I have ever had :)
Liss discovering she can no longer eat lamb after this cuddly experience.
Mount Taranaki
The best part of it was that this country seems to really cater to the outdoorsy tourists. With up kept trails and national parks at every turn, immaculate public toilets (my personal favorite), to tons of comfortable campgrounds where your often the only ones...this is the place to go if you want a beautiful budget holiday.
Drew tapping his own beer at Speights brewery.
It wasn't only the cold that had us in shock here, but the never ending rows of restaurants, supermarkets, and shops. It all seems a bit surreal to find ourselves in this fairyland world of luxury again, and to think that we won't be going back to our primitive island again any time soon. We keep finding ourselves in a mix of emotions of excitement for the future and nostalgia of what we've left behind. Don't get us wrong though, we are thoroughly enjoying the civilized world again!
