Brad’s parents and sister arrived in Queenstown on the November 23 where Brad picked them up and drove them 4 hours to Dunedin. To fight jet lag (and get really hungry for Thanksgiving) we got right up the next day and did a hike at Tunnel Beach. According to legend, a governor in Dunedin built the tunnel so his daughters could enjoy the beach without being gawked at by the public, but the tide came in and one of the daughters drowned. Awfully pretty place for such a sad story.
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| "Carry me Daddy!" |
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| Grabbing a snack at Ratbags (and trying my new fish eye lens setting) |
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| My Tommy Jeans ad |
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| Starting my T'give prep at 7 am |
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| Improvised rolling pin |
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| We did savory pies (steak and cheese, chicken, bacon and thyme, and veggie) instead of turkey for a kiwi twist |
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| Poppy at Dunedin's Botanical Gardens |
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| ??? An awkward, gentle giant |
After 4 nights in Dunedin, we headed out to Te Anau in Central Otago, about a 4 hour drive from Dunedin. When we arrived, we grabbed dinner and took a tour of a glowworm cave. The glowworms hang out on the roofs of the caves and let out long threads of silk, then light up to attract prey. Not the cute and cuddly toys we used to squeeze as children to light up our bedrooms (shout out to “Guy Guy”). They turned all the lights off and the glowworms were really beautiful, but we couldn’t take pictures so you’ll have to check out this link to see. We also had my favorite meal of the trip at The Redcliff. It’s all local kiwi fare, and was amazing, especially the dessert (banoffee pie- google it). We missed the crew of The Hobbit (not the cast though; sorry Orlando but you’ll have to propose to me another time) dining there the night before, but that gives you an idea of how good this place is. If hobbits can eat there it’s good enough for me!
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| A gorgeous gentleman |
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| Boat ride to the glowworm caves |
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| Love the guy in the background holding on for dear life |
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| Our home sweet home in Te Anau |
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| The Redcliff |
Te Anau is also the gateway to Milford Sound. When I first went to NZ 5 years ago this was my favorite spot for scenery and I think it still may take the prize. We were disappointed at first because we woke up (at 5 am, sorry Angela) to a massive rainstorm. However, we went anyways and were so glad that we did because there were literally hundreds of waterfalls on the sound that you wouldn’t see otherwise. It was surreal. And we were lucky enough to see yellow-eyed penguins!
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| Inside the boat |
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| LadIES of the Sounds |
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| Cheeky Kea parrots |
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| They LOVE rubber |
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| "Hug me Liz!" |
Next, we drove 3 hours to Wanaka. The scenery was amazing and we took a beautiful walk around the lake. And other than having a few great meals (and a not so good one at The Wanaka Ale House) and going in the shops, that’s about it; it’s just an awesome place to kick back and take in the mountain views. Also on the way out of town we stopped at Puzzling World, which sounds like a tourist trap and had nothing to do with New Zealand but was awesome. It’s full of optical illusions from hallograms to uphill flowing fountains. It was wicked.
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| Amigos Mexican Restaurant |
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| Unfortunately Brad didn't see this until after he front flipped into the lake: |
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| EEEEEEEEELLLLL!!! |
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| That'll teach him to order hobbit size |
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| Hello again you! |
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| Sometimes we take a good picture... |
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| ...and sometimes we take a great picture... |
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| ...and sometimes we take a majestic picture. |
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| Oh hey there Gracey |
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| Sweet movie theater in Wanaka |
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| Puzzling World!!! |
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| Epic fail |
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| The "uphill" flowing fountain |
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| Same illusion used in Lord of the Rings filming |
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| Fresh and ready to take on the maze |
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| Look how easy |
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| We're losing patience... and no one told us there was a maze troll |
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| Kathy showing off |
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| "Help. Help. Help. Help." |
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| Cheater! |
We drove an hour to our last spot, Queenstown. Although it’s the adrenaline capital of NZ, we skipped the bungee jumping to kick back and relax. Our first day there we checked out some of the cute shops, then proceeded to have an hour long photo-shoot in a tree in which Brad burned about 600 calories doing the timer on mine and Angela’s cameras. We had a great dinner at 1876 where we roasted away by the fire. The next day was a highlight: we visited the Kiwi Birdlife Park to see native birds including a kiwi! She was a 7- or 8-year-old female who when being fed by a staff member used her defense mechanism: kicking! She narrowly missed his ankles, but we found out later she gets him on a daily basis being territorial of her egg. Kiwis are nocturnal (hence no pics), so we had to go into a dark hut and let out eyes adjust, but what we saw was glorious: constant foraging followed by occasional lumbering over to a new part of her pen. You can check out Brad’s impression of her on his latest video by going to his blog. Next Angela and I did a wine tasting of NZ wines at Central Otago Wine Experience. You get a card that goes into various wine coolers that dispense samples of local wines. Think Dave and Busters but with wine instead of arcade games. That night we had another great dinner at Bunker (goat cheese cannelloni anyone?).
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| Road to Queenstown (in the distance) |
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| Lake Wakatipu from our rental house |
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| Look at those gorgeous chompers. Heavenly. |
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| I had to photoshop the sweat off of Brad's forehead |
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| What an Athol. |
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| Kakariki |
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| Australian Opossum (note the rat tail) |
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| Tuatara (can live to 113 years old) |
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| This is an x-ray of a female kiwi before she lays her egg. Look at that thing. Just look at it. The presenter said it would be like giving birth to a 35 lbs child. |
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| Rainbow Lory |
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| Morepork (looking very suspicious) |
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| Some kind of parrot |
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| Salmon? |
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| New Zealand falcon |
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| Tui |
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| Duck train |
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| Gecko |
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| Entrance to the park |
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| Oh dear. |
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| Central Otago Wine Experience |
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| One of many veggie pies <3 |
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| Sequoias in The Queenstown Gardens |
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| Lawn bowling: extra points if you dress like it's 1930 |
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| Sweet pizza place (hit it up twice!) |
Our last day came way too fast and we spent the morning strolling around The Queenstown Gardens before waving goodbye to Brad’s family and hopping on the 4 hour shuttle back to Dunners. I couldn’t have asked for a better trip, and the beautiful sights reminded me of why I’m spending a year in this beautiful place, even though we miss everyone like crazy. While Brad and I were pretty sure we wanted to go to Nelson or Bay of Islands next, we may try to spend some time in Queenstown while the weather’s still nice. Stay tuned…
