January 6th
Mom and I awoke at 4 am to check the status of our hot air balloon ride. There are few times in my life when I have chosen to get up at such an hour, but this was one of them. We were a GO for launch, so we waited for our pick up at the YMCA at 4:45 am. The bus arrived, pulling the balloon basket and equipment right behind it! We picked up the rest of our group and headed for the Canterbury plains, outside of Christchurch city. The pilot told us that the launch site depends totally on the wind and weather. He released a helium balloon into the air to test the wind and watch the direction it was pushed as it rose higher into the sky. He finally found a good wind and field to launch, so we started unloading. Everyone got to participate in setting up the balloon. Mom was assigned to help hold the balloon open while it was filling with cool air from a fan, then she was in charge of turning off the fan and pulling it away once the pilot started using the hot air. He said the cool air was important to use initially since the hot air would melt the balloon if it were first. Once the hot air got going, things moved much quicker. Our group, 18 minus the pilot, was on standby waiting for the word to scramble into the basket as soon as the balloon was up. One couple, celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary, scrambled just as well as the rest of us to get in! Then…Up Up and Away just as the sun was rising. What a sight! The Canterbury plains, primarily used for farming, sit between the ocean and the mountains. We sailed up to 6000ft (compared to the 12000 ft for my sky dive!), where it was a bit chilly. From that vantage point, as well as the crystal clear sky, we were able to see really far – even the tip of Mount Cook, about 5 hours away by car. For our landing, the pilot informed us that the test was quite scientific to determine where to land…spit over the edge and watch it fall! Once he observed the direction of the wind closer to the ground, he looked for a field without animals, crops, and as few cow patties as possible. He said most of the farmers don’t mind a balloon landing in their fields, especially after they receive a complimentary bottle of champagne. We prepped for landing, holding on in a duck and cover like fashion, then hit the ground, tipped and bounced a few more feet for an adrenaline rush of a landing! Woohoo! We all helped pack up, then enjoyed a glass of champagne as well as a bit of fun as the pilot recited the Balloonist’s Prayer and christened us all with a bit of champagne on our foreheads.

Our morning adventure complete, Mom and I headed inland toward Mt. Cook. On the way we stopped at Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd – where we enjoyed seeing a couple taking wedding photos outside of the famous chapel. We also stopped by Lake Pukaki. Both lakes were so clear and were amazing shades of blue (the pictures don’t show it). We finally made it to Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. We had several choices of hikes in the area, so we decided to take the Tasman Valley road to see the Tasman Glacier. We did a short hike up a bunch of stairs to the viewpoint. The glacier lake was quite obvious, but the actually ice was covered with a layer of dirt and rock, so it wasn’t the picturesque white and blue. The mountains all around us though were capped with snow, so it beautiful in every direction. On our way back into the little village, we noticed that the clouds opened up to give us a great view of Mt. Cook, so we took a bunch of photos. The clouds continued to stay away as we enjoyed the view from The Hermitage coffee shop while we ate dinner. The Hermitage is a ritzy hotel overlooking the peaks. We opted to stay at the youth hostel.

January 7th
This morning the clouds covered the mountains, so we were pleased we had such a great view the evening before. We left Mt. Cook for Queenstown, by way of Lake Wanaka for lunch. The wind was quite gusty at the lake, but we enjoyed getting out to stretch our legs and enjoy the shore. Once in Queenstown, we checked in at our hostel, then walked down the steep streets to the base of the gondola. I had been here in September, so I wanted to take Mom up to the top to see the view of the Remarkables AND to ride the luge! Mom wasn’t too sure at first if she would like the luge, but I convinced her that the 5-ride ticket was the best to get the hang of it and then have fun. We rode the chairlift up to the top of the ride, had our quick lesson in luge stopping, and then took off. By the end of our 5th ride, Mom and I were both having a blast zipping around the curves. We rode the gondola back down, had a photo shoot at the old graveyard nearby, then walked to The Cow pizza restaurant, another place I had visited before. We shared a table again with a nice couple and devoured our pizza. Afterward, we walked around the bay of Lake Wakatipu, did some late night shopping (the stores are open later than 5pm in Queenstown!), and then nearly passed out trying to walk back up the STEEP streets to get to our hostel. Did I say steep? It was basically straight up. Haha!

January 8th and 9th – This was my parents’ anniversary, the first for them to be apart, so we made sure to call Dad with my calling card a few times.

Destination: Milford Sound. More familiar territory for me, but just as exciting since I was getting to share it with my Mom. We got back in the car (this trip sure has included HOURS of driving), and then headed out for Fiordland National Park. Halfway there, in Te Anua, we stopped for a quick lunch, but the weather was too rainy to enjoy the town. As we got into Fiordland, it continued to pour, which made it an amazing experience. Literally hundreds of waterfalls cascaded down the mountains all around us as we wound around the curvy roads of the park. It seemed as if there was more water than rock! We stopped for a few minutes at the Mirror Lakes, known for their reflective surfaces, but the splashing rain didn’t allow this place to show off for us. We finally made it to Milford, where we checked in for our overnight boat cruise. The captain and the cook were the only crew for our boat, but with less than 20 people on board the Friendship, we were in for a pleasant trip! We set out in the rain, attempting to eat soup as we made our way through some choppy waters out into the fiord. The waterfalls were brilliant and the rain added to the mystery of the place. Once we toured the fiord, we made our way to a bay where we would moor for the night. After dinner, a group of us took the dingy out to the land for a short walk along the Milford Track – one of the famous hiking tracks in New Zealand. Back on the boat, we had dessert then went to our bunks to sleep. This was probably the worst “sleep” I had the entire 6 months as I had to listen to raucous snoring in stereo from three different bunkmates! The morning made me forget (mostly)…we woke up at sunrise for a major change in the weather – no rain, clearing sky, and calm water. Very peaceful! After breakfast, we all had a little time to kayak around the bay before we made our way back to the dock. A great adventure!

Back on dry land, we wanted to explore the national park by foot, so we drove to two different tracks. At The Chasm, we were amazed at the way the water had carved through the rock and left sharp edges and holes in the dark rock with white water rushing past. At the Lake Marian rapids, we enjoyed the track through the forest along the stream. What an amazing place!

Ready for our next long drive, we headed out on the road to Dunedin, our final stop on the South Island. After 6+ hours on the road, we made it into the city. We found a Best Western since I felt I needed a quality place to sleep after the torture of the night before. Mom and I ate, and then explored some of the building in town. We went to the First Church of Dunedin, the castle-like train station, and visited an artist’s shop. That evening we made plans to take a wildlife tour of the Otago Peninsula the next day.

January 10th
Monarch Wildlife Tours picked us up to start our wildlife tour in Dunedin. The Otago Peninsula is home to a variety of rare animals. The yellow-eyed penguins and Royal Albatross are two of the most exciting to see. Our tour guide took us first to the Larnach Castle to pick up a few more tourists, and then we headed out to the Royal Albatross colony. Here we listened to a presentation about the Albatross, including their lifecycle and history on the peninsula, then made our way out to a special viewing box on the edge of the colony. We were there at a time when the birds were nesting, eggs about to hatch any day. Although we didn’t see any hatching babies, we did see a pair of Albatross trading places on the nest. This was special since the birds take turns, each staying away from the nest for days at a time while the other sits without eating! We also saw several swooping around – their wingspan can be up to 9ft – so they are quite impressive! The Otago Peninsula is unique because it is the only place in the world where an Albatross colony can be found on mainland. We left the Albatross to check out more birds, the yellow-eyed penguins. These birds are endangered as well. Again we listened to a presentation about the penguins, and then went for a walk through the hides set up to view the birds without being noticed. We got to see several baby penguins with their down feathers still very fluffy waiting for their parents to come back from their ocean feedings. About this time, my allergies started kicking in big time. Sneezing and runny nose were the frustrating issue for me for the rest of the day (too much nature!), but I made it through. From the penguins, we drove out to the dock for our boat cruise around the end of the peninsula. We saw seals, shags, and plenty of Albatross – a better viewpoint of their colony from the water. We had binoculars on the boat so we could have a closer look. I really took a lot of photos – I guess the excitement of seeing these animals was really hyped up being on the tour! A fun experience.
That night Mom and I ordered pizza, then packed up to be ready for our flight back to Wellington the next day.
Again, email me if you want the link to the next set of Kodak webpage photos.