South Island - That may be the only mountain not in Lord of the Rings

At this point in time I have sadly said goodbye to Nz (you have to say the z like a kiwi). Now that I'm in Australia I'm already finding myself comparing everything to NZ's way of life. Auzzie accents just aren't quite as cute as the kiwi accent. Oh well!

Since leaving the farm I have spent the last week, gosh, like two-ish weeks traveling around the South Island. The South Island is known for its pure beauty and sparsely populated lands. As the blog name outlines, almost everything that you think is beautiful in the South Island is featured in a Lord of The Rings movie, which is pretty much every mountain and lake that I and every other tourist happens to travel to. 

My first stop in the South Island was the small mining town of Westport where I spent the day walking around a completely empty beach. How rare is that to go to a beach and not see a single person or dog on it?? It was unfortunately the national day for NZ, which I imagined to be like a 4th of July, but rather a day of silence as every store and pub closed. The hostel I was staying at hosted a surf lesson in the morning to which I reluctantly said yes to. I have neither grace nor coordination, so surfing did not come naturally to me. I joined back with the bus and faced the realization that I had to join a "new squad" as I had left my old squad back in the North. We headed down to lake Mahinapua the next day for a costume party (and of course to look at a nice lake). As a backpacker to have next to no clothes or props, so I wasn't sure how they were expecting us to create a full on costume, but people did get creative. Mahinapua was where I met my new squad (hey Anna and Ella and Charlotte  and Flossie and Kay) Franz Josef was the next stop. This was the one I was really looking forward to. 

Franz Josef is home to the Franz Josef glacier. It is one of the 3000 glaciers in NZ and is also the most accessible. If you came here even 15 years ago, you would be able to walk up next to and even on the glacier without having to pay a hefty fee for riding a helicopter to the top. I have been born in a time of intense and immense climate change where even 80 meter deep glaciers retreat roughly 100 meters within the last 5 to 10 years. This was all the more reason I was keen to get up close and personal with Josef. I took a helicopter up to the top where a guide walked us around and pointed out all the best photo opps. I don't know why a giant thing of ice is cool. Mayb it is the size or the color?That afternoon I met up with Alex (a cooler Portuguese version of me) and some other girls to walk through  an old mining tunnel. Franz was probably one of my favorite places because there was a never ending amount of outdoorsy activities.

The next morning we set off to the gorgeous town of Wanaka which sits next to, you guessed it, lake Wanaka. The actual drive itself was stunning. We passed through the mirror lakes and Mt.Cook and the beach and every natural wonder there is. Mountains and Lakes and Beaches oh my. I realize that sitting on a bus all day requires little physical effort but it just knocks it out of you so I decided to take it easy and go for a nice stroll around the lake to see the famous tree that grows just along the shore. This was one of those moments in life where you don't realize, "wow this might be the most beautiful moment I will ever experience". There was a man, the traveling pianist he was called, that was playing the piano right next to the tree. I sat there for a good long while to listen and try to fully appreciate that this was my life now. 

Qtown day!! This was the day I think everyone was waiting for. A little background on Queenstown. It is probably irrelevant to everyone except those who have been to or are planning on going to NZ, but Qtown is the spot for tourists, backpackers, and Chinese in NZ (sorry Rotorua). It is 24/7 and is composed primarily of outdoorsy shops, bars, and fancy restaurants. I think everyone can find something in Qtown. For many it's the intial prettiness of it with a massive lake in the middle and mountains surrounding the quaint town. For backpackers, it offers the ability to drink along the lake until 10 as well as a solid nightlife. For the outdoorsman, it is the gateway to many of the multiple Day treks like Milford Sound and Roteburn. For me, I enjoyed all of this, but I especially enjoyed being reunited with the Chinese tourist route. It felt like I was back in Shanghai with all the Chinese signs reminding people to not stand on the toilets and throw away trash. 

The first day in Qtown I took the very long bus ride to Milford Sound which is located in the Fjordland National Park (are they fjords or sounds?? The world may never know). Our bus driver happen to read everything that the internet has to offer on NZ geology and told us that NZ will be expecting an 8-9 magnitude earthquake sometime within the next 10-50 years. When I arrived in Milford to hop on the boat, I also sadly learned that it rains about 20 out of the 30 days of the month. The captain was reassuring me that this was a good thing because it meant that you could see the famous waterfalls coming down the side of the Fjords, but as a tourist it just felt like you were stuck inside a cruise looking at fog. Either way I'm glad to have seen Milford Sounds but a little sunshine would have been a plus. That night was one of my favorites because I met all of my friends down at the lake where we enjoyed a very terrible bottle of wine and got to watch a group of paragliders come down and land eighth in front of us. The next day was what I was dreading. The bungee! I thought my kiwi experience wouldn't be complete without doing some insane adventure activity so I signed up for the 143m Ben Nevis bungee. There's nothing quite like jumping off a bridge to wake you up and get you going for the day. I was just about peeing myself looking at the jump but it wasn't till I was standing on the edge that I actually was wetting myself. The guy kept telling me to move forward but I was like "there's nowhere else to go except over". He just counted 3...2...1 and I was off. I didn't hesitate and I didn't look down. All I did was dive head first and scream silently. It was a feeling like no over because it feels like you could fall for forever until you reach the bottom and bounce up. It's like doing the fall all over. I spent my afternoon high off a adrenaline doing a hike along the river and then up a mountain where I seemed to be falling the Chinese tourist trail. I didn't realize there was a gondola to the top, which was where everyone was heading, but being a Lane (and a backpacker who spent more than double her daily budget on a bungee) I opted for the hill walk. It was such a nice way to finish up Qtown with sweeping views of the lake and the surrounding mountains. It was one of the few times I was by myself. I've really come to appreciate those times by myself because when many people think solo travel they think an eat pray love scenario where your exploring by yourself. Truthfully, youre hardly ever alone, even when you want to be. That night the gang and I did one last hoorah in Qtown, enjoying an evening on the lake and a boogie on the dance floor before we headed for a 2am Ferdburger. Qtown you'll be missed.

After a dear departure from Queenstown we made our way to Lake Tekapo. I don't think there could've been a better way to conclude my time in NZ. The lake is a brilliant turquoise color which comes from the melting of glaciers. A group of us decided to hike up to the top of the mountain as soon as we arrived and continue doing along the longer path to get a better view of the lake. We returned to find our other friends keen to walk up as well, so I scarfed down a kumara hash (best hostel meal I made) and we headed back up with Anna, Ella, Charlotte, Flossie, and Barney to see the sunset. Besides the lake Tekapo is known for some of the best stargazing so we decided to give it a peak and wow. Within minutes a whole trail of stars had developed which I assumed was the Milky Way. Just when you think NZ gets you with its beauty it surprises you one last time.

The last two days Were spent in Christchurch wandering the botanical gardens and the earthquake ruins from 2011. Christchurch is doing everything they can to bring back residents since lots of people left after the earthquake. The girls and I celebrated our last night in NZ with some Thai food. This kinda threw me off my game because I had come to learn that my spice tolerance has taken a beating (I guess this is what happens when Steven and Debbie Lane aren't making your meals anymore :( ). The next day I wave goodbye to Christchurch as I begged the bus driver to let me on since I couldn't find a place to buy a ticket. Shoutout to my man on bus 11!

It's weird traveling in a country because you get to understand it what makes it tick and you begin to think kind of like a local. Also, after many months of trash talk from Kiwis about Australians I was beginning to side with them, but I was also ready to see what Auz had in store. So to NZ I say thank you!