giant road trip and exploration of the south island

Hello All! After an amazing week at Goat Hills, Kristen, Erika and I headed south to Christchurch to begin a major road trip through the southern half of the south island. We were very sad to leave Lyn, Neville and Andrew and are all convinced we could spend the rest of our lives mustering sheep and stacking firewood in the beautiful hills there.

So for the road trip we rented a car in Christchurch and drove across the island and down the west coast to Queenstown where we met up with Andy, a friend we met at Goat Hills. The drive was BEAUTIFUL. Andy was great telling us all kinds of interesting things about NZ and the Kiwi culture. He is like a living encyclopedia! (who gave us a lot of sass but bought us all kinds of authentic Kiwi bakery treats-needless to say, it worked out) He took us to another sheep station near Wanaka for a few days and then down into Milford Sound and after that north through the middle of the island to see all the lakes and to Timaru to meet his family and see the ocean and finally to Christchurch where we caught the train up to Blenheim where we are now. (we left our bikes here at the vinyard with the Speedys so in a day or two we'll ride to the ferry and hop up to the north island) All this took about two weeks-quite the adventure I assure you! I'll just make a quick list of fun things on the trip...
1. met 6'8" dutch guy named Sven, he is the tallest person I've ever met, very sweet too
2. walked along beach and picked up jade in Hokitika
3. saw two glaciers!
4. slept 3 people and 3 backpacks in a toyota corolla, that only happened one time-it was snug
5. drove in Andy's truck for hours
6. met a really cool diver friend of Andy's, whose trampoline we slept on!
7. met really nice friends of Andy's at Mt. Burke who wowed us with their incredible near-death adventure stories and helped us make fun of Andy when his much bragged on truck broke down
8. rode for hours in Andy's new borrowed truck
9. went for extremely hardcore four-wheeling trips
10. gawked at the stunning mountains in Milford Sound and the massive waterfalls from the METER of rain we got in FOUR DAYS! (that's three frickin feet in 4 days guys, wow)
11. got really soaked from all the rain
12. rode for hours in the truck and gazed bug-eyed at how beautiful the scenery is here
13. met and had a lovely visit with Andy's parents
14. watched gorgeous sunrises, sunsets, rainbows, cloud formations, waves and waterfalls
15. saw tons of seals from the train!
16. and dolphins! we saw them too. it was awesome.

Can you tell that I love this country? Every day is an eventful one, which is fine by me :)
we are headed off to our third rugby match! Pictures soon, love to you all!
jewel

Cosi (our new friend from Germany), Kristen, Erika and I hiked the Queen Charlotte Track. it was grueling but awesome :)

at the bottom of one of those blasted hills on the track. the stuff in front of us would be the ocean. oh yeah :)

this is the vineyard we were working at for a few days in Blenheim. this is me cuttintg the rot out of the grapes before harvest

sunrise at the sheep station, every morning so far has had a gorgeous sunrise like this. it's a good thing to see at six in the freaking morning when you really just want to throttle someone. beauty instead of violence!

yes. those are my chaps :)

the adventure begins...

Hello everyone! I've made it to New Zealand and I'm having the time of my life!
Last Thursday I flew out of DFW through San Francisco to Sydney and from there on to Wellington which I got into at about 11:45pm on Saturday. I spend Easter putting my bike together and riding the ferry from the North Island to Picton on the South. The ferry ride was spectacular, the Wellington bay is really beautiful and this was the first time I had been on a boat at sea so that was really neat. I had to aquire a helmet in Picton, apparently it's illegal to ride without them, as my nice cop friends in Wellington tell me. After that it was off to Blenheim, veeeer hilly area which you don't really notice in a car but I am happy to report I am developing killer muscles.

I joined up with Erika and Kristen who were already at the vinyard I was heading to just outside of Blenheim. There were seven wwoofers (willing workers on organic farms) total when I got there so it was quite a party from the very start! (Two Swedish kids, one German girl, and four American girls -including me). Not to mention the three sons of the family and the couple themselves. It was a very full house and the water went off the first day which made it even more interesting. I still haven't really gotten the chance to catch up on some sleep, things are happening fast.

After a day and a half there my cousins, Cosi, the German girl, and I left to hike the Queen Charlotte Track. It was so intensely strenuous. I did not realize how many mountains we would be climbing with the packs and all but it was worth it no doubt. The views from the top of the track into the bay were absolutely beautiful.

It is so beautiful here, I keep stopping in my tracks and telling myself out loud that I am in New Zealand. It doesn't seem real. The mountains are very beautiful and it smells earthy and green and delicious everywhere I go.

Right now we are on a sheep station north west of Kaikoura. Yesterday we went to our first rugby match and then rode on the bus with the team down to the sheep station where we'll be for the next few days. 'When KR and Erika were riding through this area a few weeks ago they met the couple who runs this place and they invited them back. Their son plays on the rugyby team so it worked out really well since his match yesterday was in Blenheim.

So far every day has been a new adventure, and I can''t wait to see what happens next.