Queenstown

After Christchurch we took an 8 hour bus ride down to Queenstown. Queenstown is where Bungy jumping was invented. It was pretty cloudy most of the days but still really pretty. Queenstown is by a huge lake so we spent a lot of time talking walks and reading on the beach.





















One night we were watching tv at our hostel and saw tons of smoke so we went outside and there was a maori man preparing a hangi. They make this HUGE fire and then let it die down and bury food underground and it cooks overnight. So we stayed and watched him--the whole thing took about 2 hours. After the food went in he covered it with wet sheets, and then we got to help him cover the whole thing with dirt. We smelled like BBQ for the rest of our trip, but it was such a cool thing to do.

Christchurch

Our first stop was Christchurch.  It's a cute town with lots of little shops and places to eat.  we found a really fun Irish pub that had a 12 person band playing which was a lot of fun.  We had initially planned to stay for a long time, but there isn't a whole lot to see beside stores, so we stayed two nights and then were on our way. we also made the mistake of ordering mexican food one day.  i'm missing good mexican food already!!

i'm back!

i just got back from a 2 week trip around the south island.  it was beautiful.  much cooler on the south island which was nice.  here's a map of the south island!  the blue line isnt the route I took, it was just one of the better pictures i found

Rangitoto Island

The second day Lucy and Marieka and I went to this AMAZING island called Rangitoto Island.  We took a ferry and then went on a pretty intense hike up a volcano.  The view from the top was really pretty, you could see the whole city.  It was reallllly hot so once we clibed back down Lucy and I jumped into the ocean.  The water is super clear and a gorgeous turquoise color.

around Auckland

the first day i was here my roommate Lucy and I just walked around (and got lost) in Auckland.  There is a really cool park called the Auckland Domain which has huge fields everywhere, places to play cricket, greenhouses, and a museum.  Looks like it will be a good place to go and study, once the weather cool down!  The huge tower is called the SkyTower and you can bungy jump off it!  

my blog!

hey everyone!  i'm having a really fun time in New Zealand!  it's reallllly hot and humid, but really pretty.  i've taken a bunch of pictures so once i load them onto some sort of photo site i'll post them on this.  miss you guys! xoxo