New Zealand

So I have been here like five days and it is so gorgeous. It reminds me a lot of the Grand Tetons out in Wyoming. Seriously it is beautiful. Here is some pictures: And I mean I will put pictures here when internet is faster.

Now as for what I have done:

Hang Gliding was super awesome. We flew from The Remarkables (a mountain range) to a deer pasture below, like on a deer farm. Basically you run with your glider and then you start flying. I always pictured it like running off a cliff, but it was actually more like running down a mountain that was almost as steep as a cliff. But it really wasn’t an adrenaline rush at all. Maybe I am just crazy, but I thought it was extremely peaceful and relaxing. I mean I also wasn’t steering but was just along for the ride. Landing was a lot of fun too. Your booking it across the sky and the ground gets closer and closer and you just have stay laying there. So cool.

Canyoning: zip lines, repelling, swimming, hiking, jumping, sliding- all in a canyon. Lots of fun.

Arrowtown: An old gold mining town about 20 minute drive from Queenstown. I caught the bus and spent Easter Sunday hanging out here. In addition to a short hike and some reading and relaxing, I saw a couple of places where lord of the rings was filmed. Here’s the pictures, maybe you can see the similarities!

Isildur was killed by orcs on this path... 

Ford of Bruinen, where Arwen saves Frodo from Nazguls

Hiking: No body likes to walk up a hill. But as soon as the hill becomes a mountain everybody wants to walk up it. Including me. So I did.

Milford Sound: So far the coolest thing I have done here. Hopped on a bus at 6:30 am and rode 5 hours to Milford Sound, through Fiordland. This is fighting with Yellowstone/Grand Tetons for the prettiest place I have ever been. There is just big sharp glacier carved mountains all around you as you drive through a temperate rainforest full of ferns and mossy trees. We stopped and took photos a couple of times, and I filled up my water bottle in the stream. It was definitely the freshest water I have had in New Zealand yet, spanking the tap water at my hotel. Anyways, Milford Sound itself is beautiful too. There are easily like 30 or 40 waterfalls everywhere, along with seals and birds. I can’t explain how gorgeous it is, pictures don’t do it justice. Once the boat got out to the Tasman Sea, we saw a pod of bottle nosed dolphins, probably like 50 in the pod. They were swimming and jumping and being my favorite animal and stuff. They captain took the boat in a little loop, and a pair of them started swimming right beneath the bow. He said it was their favorite spot to swim. And I was definitely standing on the bow when they did it, because I’m not a pansy and can handle the wind and the cold. So basically it was the coolest thing ever. Then we got back on the bus and I slept and listened to music all the way home.
Some Pics:

 

Mirror Lake

Looking back

A couple water falls

Rainbow!

The bus driver also played some quirky Kiwi movie called “The Fastest Indian Ever” staring Anthony Hopkins. It wasn’t very good.

Biking: This morning I woke up, ate two PB&Js and rented a bike. And rode it. Probably around 20 miles. Solid. The rear and front break were definitely on opposite sides of the handlebar from my bike back home though...