aylsdownunder-blog
Canadians Down Under
We've gone to Australia. Be back soon. You can read about our adventures here!
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Christchurch and home
And this is where we say goodbye to all of our new friends and the Kiwi Experience, as we make our way back to what will be the most modern city on the planet within the next 10 years. Christchurch is a truly unique place, and despite the major Earthquake they experienced over 5 years ago, the city still looks almost apocalyptic. The amount of rebuilding that will need to occur in the next 10 years is astronomical. We don't have any photos really from Christchurch as it felt as though it would be weird to take pictures of something that devastated so many people’s lives, but it was one of the most bizarre places in the first world we had ever been.
The finial night we said goodbye to our friends, hung out, played games, had some drinks, and the following day left for the airport. What a ride the last 30 days had been. Thanks for waiting 3 months while we got 30 days of material up on our blog! Stay tuned for our trip to Sydney for Mardi Gras and more Melbourne// Victoria adventures.
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Kaikoura
The gorgeous Kaikoura region was a quaint little stop on our journey. The beaches were beautifully backdropped by the lush green mountains. While it was a little cold, it was still a sunny and great day for the beach. We had the BEST fish and chips that we had in the country in Kaikoura. In fact in the month we spent in NZ we had the best fish and chips we had in our lives. NZ knows how to do Fush and Chups that’s for sure!
We stayed at an adorable little hostel called the Lazy Shag (a common bird found on the south island), and enjoyed the small beach side town for the day. There were lots of hippie type shops in town with eclectic owners and products.
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Onwards to Lake Tekapo
What a beautiful day to head north! On our way up to Lake Tekapo we made a stop at a park and decided to take some pics with the Kiwi bus, as we were nearly at the end of our trip, and it was a lovely day! We stopped for lunch at the south shores of Lake Tekapo with a splendid view of Mt Cook (the tallest mountain in NZ).
After lunch we headed to our cabin up the coast of the Lake for the night. A group of us went to the ‘beach’ and the two of us were feeling bold enough to try our hand at swimming in a glacial lake. When I say it was cold…. it was freakin cold. The temperature of the water was under 10 degrees, and some of the coldest water either of us had ever swam in. The bragging rights alone were worth the sub arctic dip.
That night was a quiet one with the crew watching LOTR and snuggling up in the common room. The next day we were on to our last stop before we were back in Christchurch and flying home to Melbourne…. and reality.
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Milford Sound
One of the best days that we had in New Zealand! Milford was an additional trip we added onto our tour, and it was EASILY the best value for our money spent! On our way out to the boat that would take us out in the fjord, we stopped at a number of beautiful locations. Laura had two ‘firsts’ on the drive, filling her first water bottle full of glacial melt water, and driving through the middle of her first mountain.
The Milford Fjord is known anecdotally as the 8th natural wonder of the world, and is actually in the process of officially becoming the 8th wonder by UNESCO. It was a truly incredible boat trip, and one that we will likely never forget. And its certainly a trip we would take again. The photos just don't do any justice to what we saw that day.
So what exactly is a fjord and a sound? A sound is an area that has been flooded and caved out and shaped by rivers. They are typically wider and more open than fjords. Fjords on the other hand, are carved out by glacial erosion that form U shapes and are typically are less wide than sounds. Milford Sound was actually inaccurately identified as a sound upon arrival, and is actually a fjord. Crazy, eh?
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Queenstown
Queenstown was definitely a highlight of our New Zealand trip. Known as the party and adventure capital of the country we were geared up and prepared for 3 BIG days!! While we were there, we had a few things to squeeze in: Laura’s Canyon swing that she won, a trip out to Milford Sounds, luging, partying, and seeing the AMAZING Arthair Gordon!!! Needless to say, it was a busy few days.
You can see the photos folks, but Laura’s canyon swing was an incredible experience, and one of the biggest rushes she’s ever had! The guides dropping her off the 109m cliff had a little bit of fun teasing her about Rob Ford and Canada before the big drop. A well deserved prize for our rocking costumes, she was hoisted back up and immediately wanted to go again!!!
After that, we went luging which was a blast, with breathtaking views of the mountain ranges and Queenstown below. As we made our way back into town we met up with infamous Arthiar Gordon and had a fabulous night out with our pal. The following morning we headed to Milford Sounds for the day (stay tuned for a separate post about that).
Our last evening in Queenstown we had a great night with our Kiwi-bus amigos before heading to Tekapo the following morning. Its safe to say that the three days of hangovers were well worth it for the fun and memories made!!! Queenstown, we’ll be BACK!!!
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On the road again and Wanaka
Leaving from Franz we had a long day ahead as we made our way inland to Wanaka. We made a number of scenic stops at lakes, waterfalls, and mountains along the way. When we all got to Wanaka we were a little tired so we had a well deserved, relaxing night (we had a few BIG nights in a row and our crew just needed a movie and some junk food).
In the morning we went to Puzzle World. To enter we went through a huge outdoor maze, that led to the indoor part filled with some really neat life size optical illusions. After some coffee we were on the road again to one of the highlight locations of the trip: QUEENSTOWN!!!!!
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Franz Joseph
Our next stop was glacier country! The beautiful and mountainous region is filled with flowing rivers of bright blue fresh glacial water, and Lakes with exceptionally high mineral contents. The region was fantastically beautiful filled with backpackers and travellers a plenty. We stayed in a lodge where we all had small huts and bunks and a super rustic mess hall type bar with wooden EVERYTHING!! The first night we were there, they revealed the winner of the costume contest from Lake Manipua!
And surprise surprise…. WE WON!!! Unfortunately there was only one canyon swing prize, so Laura used it, as it was her idea for the costume, and she has never won a contest in her life! Afterwards we chatted with friends and enjoyed the rustic bar atmosphere.
The second day we were there we visited the glacier. When we learned a little about it and found that in the past 5 years it had receded from the river bed all the way up the mountain. Its truly incredible the effects that the changing climate can have on such a vast and dense piece of ice!! I’m sure helicoptering people up there for 12 hours every day doesn't help keep it the same size either.
We then made our way to the lake for Kayaking. The water was beautiful and clear and the weather was fantastic. Our guide was such a hippie and told us all about Kiwi birds and how NZ had to restore the population of these adorable little guys after invasive creatures were brought to the island. The second evening we met up with our friends on the bus behind us for fun and catch ups, and then the following day we were off to Wanaka.
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Lake Manipua
On the way to Lake Manipua we stopped for a little hike by the pancake rocks. The rocks actually used to be on the ocean floor, but have pushed their way up over millions of years (in addition to sea levels falling of course). It was a really unique sight to see, and there was this one particularly cool swirling vortex area that would fill with water in under a second. The rocks in the swirling vortex were these huge boulders. If someone fell in there they would be dead in seconds. Nature is so awesome!
Lake Manipua was a little more of a different stop on our journey. It kind of reminded us of overnight camp. The cabins at Lake Manipua were owned by Kiwi Expereince, so it was a little bit of an all-inclusive type of thing. We were fed a roast dinner, and then hot breakfast in the morning, and had a themed costume party in the evening.
Our theme was ‘Once Upon a Time.’ So we did what any super rad and creative couple would do…. dressed up like Shrek and Fiona. Now, we don't want to boast, but we had by FAR the best costumes. Apparently years and years of work at the City of Toronto had paid off. In fact our costumes were so great, we got a number of free drinks from the wicked bar staff, because lets be real, who can really resist two adorable and fabulous Canadians dressed as Shrek and Fiona?
Unfortunately, we wouldn't find out who the winners of the costume contest were until we arrived in Franz Joseph! So, stay tuned!
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