Top Takeaways - Fifteen

We are rounding out our last few days in New Zealand and had an amazing time exploring the country with my dad and stepmom. Here are some of our top takeaways.

View from the KiwiRail TranzAlpine train from Greymouth to Christchurch

1. New Zealand really is quite proud of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies. Landing in the Wellington airport and being greeted by a flying Gandolf was unexpected and strange. There are tours advertised everywhere and even the Air New Zealand safety video is filmed entirely as a Hobbit movie! As someone who has seen exactly none of these movies, I thought this was weird but as my stepmom would say "to each their own!"

2. The scenery on Middle Earth (seriously, there are hobbit references everywhere!) is beautiful and totally unspoiled, which is why so many movies are filmed here!

3. Part of the reason New Zealand has so many amazing, untouched landscapes is that very few people actually live here. With a population of less than five million, the density is less than 1 person per square mile in the majority of the country! Even the tourist destinations we visited seemed pretty tame relative to other places we've seen.

4. Skydiving should be on everyone's bucket list. I NEVER planned on taking the plunge because I'm generally afraid of dying in a freak accident but I am so glad I talked myself into it. Definitely the coolest thing I've ever done and a top five experience on the trip.

5. Flat whites are just as ubiquitous in New Zealand as in Australia (no complaints here!) but we couldn't tell you if we prefer the Aussie or Kiwi take.

6. New Zealand really does offer something for everyone. From beautiful beaches, lakes and mountains to skiing, shopping and relaxing to skydiving and bungee jumping, the small country is pretty diverse!

7. Fjords and sounds are not the same thing. We traveled to Doubtful Sound only to learn that it should really be called a fjord and left still confused. (Basically a sound is created by a river while a fjord is created by a glacier, FYI.)

8. Free WiFi doesn't necessary mean free, unlimited WiFi. Many of the hotels we stayed at in New Zealand had questionable internet situations - either slow or barely existent connections, data limits or other qualifiers (my favorite was at a hotel in Franz Joseph when the lady at the front desk told us we "should try by sitting outside near the parking lot" and "tea time is the busiest time to get a signal.")

9. My dad and stepmom are excellent travelers. They kept up with us and never complained - they can rejoin us any time they want! Also, it feels different to travel with others after traveling alone for six months. We really enjoy the "newlywed travel" experience but it was nice to have some company!

10. Not all small towns are charming. I'm so glad we made the decision to drive through the countryside near Queenstown and Lake Wanaka but wish we'd bypassed Hokitika and Greymouth in favor of more time elsewhere. Even Franz Joseph was not a must-see for me given the poor weather (which is apparently the case most of the time).

Peak: Skydiving in Lake Wanaka

Pit: Debacle with the Sofitel in Queenstown

Next Stop: Singapore

Getting to Greymouth

It’s hard to be too negative while traveling around the world for a year – our “work” and “obligations” consist mostly of booking hotels, researching upcoming cities and updating the blog...and we spend much more time marveling at our incredible surroundings than "working." However, not every place on Earth is the best place on Earth (see previous entries on San Jose, Alamogordo and South Korea) and the past few days have been a little less-than-ideal.

After finally being able to actually see the famous glacier, we left Franz Joseph on Saturday morning and headed north to round out our New Zealand road trip. Our first stop was Hokitika, a tiny town on the western coast with a rocky beach, a couple of restaurants and not much else. According to the hotel manager the only real attraction worth seeing was the Hokitika Gorge, a 30 minute drive from town, so we headed there first. The views were pretty nice but it wasn’t quite warm enough for a swim and there were no hiking trails so after checking it out and taking a few photos we headed back to town.

Walking along the path to the gorge. The water here was described to us as "milky turquoise" - we weren't sure what to expect, but now that we've seen it we definitely agree with the description!

Alex at the gorge.

Pretty good views from the parking lot too!

Alex was feeling tired so I walked to the beach alone to catch the last few hours of sun. The beach was nice enough but the sandflies were unbearable. I killed four of them within a half hour of arriving (after they bit me!) and decided I had had enough at that point.

The beach at Hokitika.

Not very crowded today!

Downtown Hokitika.

Since it was still light out – the sun sets close to 10pm during the summer in New Zealand! – I decided to go for a run before getting ready for dinner. Alex and I went to one of two open restaurants for dinner and were pleasantly surprised by the delicious pizza we had. Fat Pipi’s was really a standout, but I still wouldn’t recommend anyone stop in Hokitika for too long as there just isn’t much there.

Sunday we headed 45 minutes north to Greymouth where we will take the scenic KiwiRail train back to Christchurch on Monday. I am not exaggerating when I say Greymouth is the most depressing place we have seen since leaving the US in November. The entire town looks like it is falling apart, there are virtually no people anywhere and the coastline is littered with rusted remnants of former industry. I told Alex I thought we were witnessing a live transition to a ghost-town and I am convinced the small town only exists because the bicoastal busses and trains stop here.

We walked along the “scenic bike and walking path” which was a gravel road that wound through broken down houses, a former marina and – eventually – a small pier, which was definitely the highlight of our time here.

Nicest part of Greymouth.

Some penguins (or maybe ducks?) on the rocks.

Alex isn’t wrong for saying these pictures will paint a much different picture of Greymouth than the one I have described but I promise I took shots of the only view Greymouth has to offer!

Almost on cue, the weather turned cloudy so we headed to the town’s primary (only?) attraction, Monteith’s Brewery, and relaxed indoors with a couple of local beers and our laptop. Realizing we still had most of the day to kill we were thrilled to learn that Taken 3 was playing at the only theater in town. I’d say things are definitely looking down when you are excited to see Taken 3, which was obviously terrible.

When bored, drink beer.

Tomorrow we head back to Christchurch (while I’m at it I’ll go ahead and tell you that the city is sadly still reeling from the earthquakes and isn’t really worth a proper visit either) and both of us are really looking forward to our picturesque train ride. Tuesday is our last day in New Zealand and while we may be leaving on a somewhat unenthused note we have had an incredible time here. Middle Earth should be on everyone’s travel list, but the west coast sightseeing leg can probably terminate at or around Queenstown.

Franz Josef Glacier

That’s “gla-ci-er” (as opposed to the American “gla-sher”), FYI.

Sarah and I woke up on Thursday to another overcast day, but we were hopeful that the four hour drive through the mountains to Franz Josef Glacier would bring clearer skies. We were wrong. The drive was still pretty fun – windy roads with lots of ups and downs – but we didn’t get any great views. By the time we arrived, we were ready for some physical activity so we drove to Three Mile Lagoon to hike one of the trails. The area is a kiwi sanctuary so we were hoping to see one in the wild. Sadly we did not...but we were happy to settle for the views of the lagoon and the ocean.

The hiking path through the lagoon.

Looking north...

…and south from Ōkārito Trig (the end of the hike).

Afterward, we headed to town (which consists of only a few blocks) to find a place for dinner. There were only a few options, but we chose The Landing for some decent food and good WiFi. The weather wasn’t improving so we headed home to get some rest…but due to the late sunset we were able to get some great shots of the glacier around 9pm when the clouds cleared.

I walked out to the road by our hotel to check out the sunset.

Finally got to see the glacier.

We were hopeful that the weather would hold so we could explore the glacier up close on Friday, but unfortunately it was much worse. It poured (in varying levels of severity) all day. To pass the time, we drove down to Fox Glacier to check out the town there and grab lunch – very similar to Franz Josef, not much to see. Discouraged, we headed back to The Landing to take advantage of the WiFi and catch up on some computer time while we waited for the rain to pass. It didn’t, so we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up before dinner.

Just like last night, though, it started to clear up just as we were heading out to dinner, so Sarah grabbed the camera and snapped a few pictures.

The exact demarcation between cloudy and sunny sky was crazy.

Sarah made friends with the pony hanging out on the farm next to our hotel.

We had dinner at (you guessed it!) The Landing before calling it a night.

The weather this morning was finally on our side so we packed up our car and headed over to see the glacier. The hike to the closest viewing point was about 45 minutes, but we had great views of the glacier the whole time!

Walking up to Franz Josef Glacier.

Getting closer – most of the walk was through rocky riverbed like this.

Franz Josef Glacier up close (at least as close as we could get on the hike!).

We made it!

The walk back turned into more of a powerwalk – because the rain was back! We were really happy that we got a critical break in the weather for a few hours, but looks like the rest of the day will be rained out. Hopefully it’s nicer in our next stop: Hokitika.

Great Lakes

While I will always remember Lake Wanaka as the site of my inaugural skydive, the surrounding area is also pretty great – and definitely worth a visit.

On our way from Queenstown to Lake Wanaka on Monday, we (and by “we” I mean Alex) successfully navigated the winding turns of Crown Range Road through the New Zealand countryside. Midway through the drive we arrived at a viewpoint looking out into the Queenstown area and we were not disappointed.

Alex didn't mind the driving with scenery like this!

Pretty windy up here - my hair looks like I was just electrocuted!

We spent the rest of the day determining skydiving logistics (see skydiving post here) and didn’t have energy for much else afterward!

After coming down from our adrenaline high - and sleeping in - on Tuesday Alex and I set out for a short road trip to explore Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea.

We could not have asked for a better day and took our time driving through the hills and taking it all in.

Hitting the open road.

Approaching Lake Hawea.

Need those shades to check out that bright blue water!

I mean, how smooth is this water?

We made our way to the Blue Pools and hiked the 30 minute “trek” (seriously, a woman with a cane was walking ahead of us so clearly not a very intense hike) to the swinging bridge.

Turquoise, but very chilly, water!

Not having thought to bring swimsuits, we stayed long enough to take in the surroundings before heading back to the beach at Lake Wanaka for a few hours before dinner.

View of Lake Wanaka from town.

Wednesday was overcast so we geared up for a more intense hike up Rocky Mountain. It was pretty cloudy at the beginning – which provided cooler hiking conditions – but started to clear up a bit as we ascended.

Diamond Lake.

Looking out from the summit of Rocky Mountain.

Checking out the nearby mountains...

...and one of us.

The hike was actually a bit more intense than we anticipated but we felt great to have accomplished the trek before noon! Afterward, we headed back to town for a late lunch and some relaxation. We took a few hours to plan the next few days of our trip through New Zealand and ended with a delicious Japanese meal at Sasanoki, a great reminder of our time in Japan. Tomorrow we are heading up to Franz Joseph – fingers crossed for more clear skies!

Skydive Wanaka

After a leisurely Monday morning in Queenstown we picked up our rental car and headed to nearby Lake Wanaka. After checking in to our hotel, we started to map out our three days in the area. The first major determining factor was whether or not I would work up the courage to go skydiving.

I wouldn't say I am a particularly paranoid or fearful person - I think my fears are fairly generic but also entirely irrational. They include: shark attacks, plane crashes and murder as depicted by my favorite show, Law & Order: SVU. Skydiving would naturally be included on this list given the tiny plane and steep climb required before actually jumping. It really never occurred to me to consider skydiving (Alex had already done it once, it's expensive and also terrifying) but viewing it as a "once-in-a-lifetime experience" while in beautiful New Zealand made me start to reconsider.

Alex would say he successfully persuaded me to take the plunge - pun intended - but really I just convinced myself it (probably) wouldn't kill me (It's true! You are more likely to die from a host of other things!). I'd say it's sort of how I rationalize every flight we take by telling myself "It'll be fine - the odds are you aren't going to crash..." even though we are about to fly Air Asia.

Convinced that speaking to someone in person would make me feel better about the entire experience, I made Alex drive me to the Wanaka airport (and Skydive Wanaka headquarters).
The staff at Skydive Wanaka were super friendly, very understanding and incredibly helpful in answering all of my questions (i.e., how often does the initial parachute fail?). After watching the safety briefing and taking to the staff I was ready to commit and we signed up for the 8:30am slot on Tuesday morning. Five minutes after we drove away I realized I should just ride my current adrenaline high so we called and booked the last Monday evening slot. It just got real!

I'll spare the play by play and highlight just a few thoughts I had during and after the experience:

1. Skydiving is 100%, without a doubt the most incredible thing I have ever done (besides marrying Alex, of course). I really wasn't prepared for the rush and the unique thrill I felt - I highly recommend everyone work up the nerve to try it!

2. I was really only scared beforehand - both on the ground while my rational mind told me all the ways I could potentially die and during the ascent (15 minutes is a surprisingly long and slow period of time to think about jumping before you actually do it).

3. Once I jumped, I didn't have the capacity to think about anything at all! I was only aware of the experience, the scenery and how awesome I felt. When the parachute deployed (my biggest concern) I wasn't even thinking about how I should be relieved!

4. I expected landing to feel like an accomplishment in survival but I was so giddy I just kept smiling - check out the pics below and a video I plan to watch every day as a reminder of how cool I once was.

Ready to go with my instructor, Jerry.

On our way up in the tiny plane.

Right after the jump! The other instructors with us all jumped immediately upon reaching 13,000 feet and then my cameraman climbed outside of the plane and jumped to capture me jumping next.

It really was a phenomenal view - what a day to go skydiving!

That's me!

We ended up going up at 7:30pm, right before dusk so a lot of the photos have a "magic hour" effect. The "baby parachute" is just a stabilizer so that the instructor can help guide us and prevent too much spinning.

Somehow my cameraman caught me in a smile once I had stopped screaming!

Safely back on the ground and happy to have survived!