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
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Man what an adventure! You should write a book! It's so neat to read about your trip. Praying daily for you and your friends. Marilyn
ReplyDeleteJewel,
ReplyDeleteI can't stand it! I feel excited and delighted when I read the blog posts from you and Kristen and Erika! I'm soooo glad you are having this opportunity to do this!
thank you Marliyn and Mom! considering the book, just because I want to write about all the strange people we meet in hostels....
ReplyDeleteJewel,
ReplyDeleteIt all sounds so breathtaking and unusual and exciting and dangerous and --- I imagine you're both tired and invigorated all the time. OK, but as a mother I want to know: where do you bathe?? Your descriptions of your trek are awesome but also nowhere near enough: just enough to tickle the pallet,but we need more!! Everyone is praying for you. I am so proud of you and miss you every day. Thank you for emailing -- I will write more there. Jewel, you are right where God wants you. Breathe deep and see far!! Love, Cindy