Australia & New Zealand

There are not enough words and the pictures definitely don’t do it justice… New Zealand was absolutely amazing. We started off in Auckland where the weather was cool and comfortable. We walked around the historical town of Devonport, about a five minute ferry ride from Auckland. Devonport is small town that reminded me of Fredricksburg in Texas except surrounded by beaches with crystal clear water. The following day we took a ferry to Rangitoto Island where hiked up the dormant volcano to reach amazing views of the north island. Afterwards we headed to Waiheke, another island of the coast and about a thirty minute ferry ride from Auckland. Waiheke looked like a piece of Tuscany had been cut out of Italy and dropped off the coast of New Zealand. We drove around the small island’s rolling hills for the remainder of the afternoon touring wineries and tasting some of New Zealand’s finest wine and food.

Just arrived in Queenstown

The next morning we caught a plane to Queenstown. IF I were to ever move out of the United States it would most definitely be to Queenstown. A small town nestled in the mountains on the south island of New Zealand. There is plenty to do here, ski, hike, plenty of cute boutiques and restaurants, there is an amazing (clear I might add) lake, and endless possibilities for the adrenaline junkie. IN FACT…. You wouldn’t believe it, BUT me (yes the terrified of heights and flying Laura) took a ride on the world's largest swing (Nevis Swing-World's Largest). I promise I’m not exaggerating… it’s more scary than it sounds. Five hundred and thirty feet above the valley below is a cable strung across two mountain peaks. In the middle of the cable is an enclosed platform where you are connected to 393 feet of rope. Basically you jump off and reach a speed up to 93 miles per an hour and start off in a 984 foot arc that eventually dies down and lets you hang above the river and valley before they pull you back up. Luckily two people can jump at a time! Lucky Ryan got to hear me screaming the whole way down… only after some light tearing up and almost backing out. Ryan, rode upside down and I opted to ride right side up, jumping off (to what seems to be your death) was enough for me, there was no way I could go upside down. At the end of the day I was proud of myself and happy I did it and even more happy that I never have to do it again.

Watch us fall!

The largest swing in the world! This was right after we did it, can you tell I'm more relaxed? :)

I encourage you to click on the picture so you can take a look at the difference in "smiles" between Ryan and myself. I was in the middle of a tiny panic attack.

The next morning we woke up super early and left at six in the morning and headed towards Milford Sound. The drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound was voted one of the top drives in the world to take and I can see why. It takes roughly five to six hours from Queenstown to reach Milford Sound but for us who stopped every several miles took us about eight hours. Every time you think you have come upon something that is the most beautiful thing you have ever seen you drive five more miles and are proven wrong. It starts off hilly then the tuscany’ish hills turn into mountains with the clearest lakes in between, then the mountains start to turn out waterfalls, then hundreds of waterfalls right before you reach Milford Sound where you take an hour cruise to see more of the magnificent mountains and waterfalls along with seals, dolphins, and wildlife alike. The first excitement that we came across on this particular road trip was a very nice officer who handed Ryan a ticket for going over the speed limit. Ryan was not happy BUT if he had not been pulled over we wouldn’t have come across a random rain shower over a lake where we saw a double rainbow… on Easter I might mention. We actually saw the end of the rainbow in the lake! It was pretty awesome.

Gotta love the faces. But check out that rainbow! It was a double rainbow at one point. 
AND it was Easter morning, I think it was from God ;)

The next drive we took was from Queenstown to Fox Glacier. The drive was about the same length and had just as many beautiful sights. Once we reached Fox Glacier we geared up and set out on a four hour hike across the glacier. It was rainy and cold but still fun... I mean we got to hike across a glacier! The glacier was kind of dirty from dust that had made its way from Australia but the further we hiked the less dust and got some great photos of the ice. We learned that at one point on the glacier it’s so wide that you could fit the whole island of Singapore on it! Not that Singapore is a huge island but it puts things into perspective. We spent the night in Franz Josef just a short drive fifteen minute drive up the road at one of the cutest and nicest hotels I have stayed in, especially for such a small town. Franz Josef’s population is approximately 330 people. The next day we headed towards Christchurch and then took a short flight from Christchurch to Sydney.

Ryan

Me

Australia had equally awesome weather and people. We did all the touristy things we could in Sydney including the Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, The Rocks shops and restaurants, The Royal Botanical Gardens, the zoo and more. We concluded Sydney by seeing Tony Bennett in concert at the Sydney Opera House. We were probably the youngest people in the crowd but Ryan loved it and it was cool to see a show in one of the most famous opera houses in the world. The next day we spent driving to Eden (halfway in between Sydney and Melbourne). We took a treetop walk with more amazing views of the hills and valleys. By the way… parts of Australia look like Tuscany too! I had no idea. After the treetop walk we drove through Kangaroo Valley where we saw no kangaroos! It’s ok we saw some wallabies (smaller kangaroo look alikes) later on and I was satisfied. Although we did see a couple of dead kangaroos and wombats on the side of the road, kind of like deer in Texas. So we spent the night in Eden and headed out early once again. We were on Phillip Island by mid-day where we got to see koala’s and wallabies in a somewhat natural habitat, more of a nature reserve. The island was gorgeous (of course), clear blue water and lots of wildlife. Right before dusk we took our seats on the beach to watch the nightly “penguin parade.” This is where the penguins (the smallest in the world) make their way back home from fishing in the ocean all day. Slowly they pop out of the waves, roll on the beach and once “safe” enough and on their feet, in large groups they waddle at their fastest rate back into the small hills to their nests for the night. They were so cute! And so scared when there was nothing to be scared of. But the whole ordeal lasted a little more than an hour as group by group of penguins arrived. Unfortunately and understandably photography and videos were not allowed, so if you would like to see what we saw just click on this link, Penguin Parade.

Treetop Walk

I feel like they put this one up just for tourists... it's every animal a tourist is on the look for.

We made it to Melbourne late that night after the penguins. We woke up early the next morning and walked around in the beautiful weather, 75 + sunshine = happy Laura. So we walked around shopped, saw the docks, went to the aquarium and relaxed on our last day of our trip.

This trip’s scenery by-far blows everything else we’ve seen out of the water. I hope my pictures (click here for my photography blog) do it justice but you obviously have to see it in person to get the whole effect. If you ever have a chance to drive New Zealand and Australia I highly recommend it! On another note, with limited time we did not get to see all of Australia we wanted. Sometime in the future whenever it might be we want to see Tasmania, tour the outback, Ayers Rock, etc. and make our way to Darwin and then the Great Barrier Reef. Who wants to join??? 

Wow this is a long post. With all of that said we only have several days here left! We officially depart Singapore May 31. We will spend a couple of days in Tokyo before we go on a cruise with Ryan’s parents to Japan, Russia, China, and South Korea. We end in Beijing where we will go see the Great Wall of China (I’m super excited about that!). And then I’m back in Texas June 14! And On July 10^th it’s off to Germany to meet Ryan in our new location. In between now and then there is lots to do, packing, getting rid of things, figuring out how to ship my table I bought here, getting enough Din Tai Fung, and saying goodbye to our good friends we’ve made here.