Back in February, my wonderful parents flew to Korea to meet up with us on our way to New Zealand. I know I was excited to have visitors in S. Korea! Whether they were excited to be in Korea or not, we were all a bit more excited about our upcoming adventure in NZ.
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Dad & Mom at the arrivals gate in the Incheon
International Airport |
Mom and Dad got to see a little bit of the base, our little townhouse, and meet our kitty Roki before taking off a couple days later to arrive at our first destination: Sydney.
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| Dad enjoying looking at some local "birds" :) |
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| The 4 of us on our way to Australia |
We arrived in Aussieland and we had about 12 hours in Sydney before boarding a flight to Christchurch, NZ; so we made the most of it. We took a cab to Circular Quay (pronounced "key") and walked around for a few hours checking out the Sydney Opera House, the Harbor Bridge, and some of the local shops and markets. Did I mention we love Australia? It was great! We hopped on the ferry to Manly Beach and saw all the sights from the water as well. Unfortunately the weather was a bit sketchy, but we didn't have to worry about sunburns ;) We enjoyed our few hours in Sydney but soon had to make our way back to the airport to board our flight to NZ.
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| View from the Harbor Bridge |
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| Panoramic of the Harbor |
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| Hotel and the Opera house |
We made it to Christchurch shortly after midnight and we were all spent after our excursion in Sydney. We promptly checked in to our rooms for the evening and fell asleep. In the morning, we hopped in the rental car and began our New Zealand adventure! Our first stop was Lake Tekapo at Mt. Hay - a local sheep station. Dad thoroughly enjoyed seeing a working sheep station in NZ and meeting the owners. The place was beautiful and quiet - as most of NZ is so we would discover.
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| NZ beauty along our drive |
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| Our little "cottage" at Lake Tekapo |
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| "Most photographed church" on Lake Tekapo - lovely! |
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| Tim making friends with the sheep in the front yard |
The next morning we made our way to our next destination and stopped at Mt. Cook on the way. What a magnificent peak! The view of it was breathtaking as it came in to our sights. Beautiful but very windy! We went to a viewing area and nearly got blown over, but it was worth it to see the majesty of Mt. Cook.
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| On our way to Mt. Cook |
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| Windy! |
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| Family photo during a break in the extreme gusts |
We eventually arrived in Te Anau and settled in to our little cottage to rest up for our journey to the Milford Sound the next morning. Our excellent driver, Tim, did a superb job getting us to the Sound despite somewhat drizzly weather. Nonetheless, we heard that 90 percent of the time, the weather was cloudy and drizzly so we booked a boat tour of the Sound. It was incredible to tour around the Sound and see all the seals.
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| Sheep all over the place! |
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| Another group shot before entering Milford Sound |
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| Milford Sound |
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| On our boat tour |
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If you look in the lower left of this photo
you'll see a little baby seal! He was super
cute :) |
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| Sleepy seals |
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| The kea birds that tried to get in our car to steal our food! |
After Te Anau and the Sound, we traveled to Queenstown and the Speargrass Rise B & B. The location was absolutely gorgeous - the house sat up on a hill overlooking what looked like golden fields of wheat. Our hosts were quite hospitable and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. One of our days was spent exploring Queenstown's downtown area which included the Luge and Fergburger - home of the humongous and delicious burger. The Luge was extremely fun! The four of us raced every run.
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| View along the drive |
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| Lift to the Luge! |
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| Racing down the hill on the Luge |
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| Delicious -and gigantic- Fergburger! |
After a couple days and nights in the lovely Queenstown, we made our way to Lake Hawea but stopped at a couple wineries on the way to experience wine country in NZ. We arrived at Stonycroft, our vacation cottage on Lake Hawea, and enjoyed the beach, the fruit trees in the yard, the hiking nearby, a nice lady with some adorable puppies, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
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| Winery stop at Perrigrine |
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| We loved Stonycroft and Lake Hawea |
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| Hiking by Lake Hawea |
Next on the itinerary was Perivale Farm Cottage where we got to see a functioning dairy farm, drink milk literally straight from the cow, watch some sheep without cropped tails (what?!), see some local birds, and then check out the glaciers! We thought maybe we would try out a heli-hike on the Franz Josef glacier but opted to hike up as close as possible to the Fox glacier. The hike was beautiful and we got to be close up to a glacier without risking our lives ;) Once again, the beauty of NZ was astounding.
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| Fresh milk anyone? |
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| In front of Fox glacier |
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| Climbing rocks near the glacier |
Greymouth was our next stop. The beach! Unfortunately, the weather was a bit chilly, windy and rainy to go for a dip but we enjoyed our seaside cottage and the view. We enjoyed "fush and chups" (fish and chips) more than once but we got more than enough for our money of the local dish in Greymouth. The rain fortunately only lasted until after dinner so we got to see an exquisite sunset while we played a rousing game of dominoes.
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| Fush & Chups! |
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| So many fush and chups ;) |
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| Front porch of our seaside cottage |
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| Gorgeous sunset after the rain |
Our last stop on the magnificent trip to New Zealand was another coastal town called Kaikoura. The drive to the seaside town was a few hours away and across the island so we enjoyed a lovely scenic drive through the country. Tim, as our expert driver, did not disappoint and we arrived at our "holiday house" in no time. Once settled a bit, we went to the Peninsula Walkway to see some seals on the rocks. We enjoyed a quiet evening at the house while Tim and I rested up for an early morning of swimming with dolphins! In the morning, we made our way to the Dolphin Swim Encounter where we soon got on a bus to drive to a boat which we boarded and went out to sea to find some dolphins. We wore our wetsuits in anticipation of what was to come and we were definitely not disappointed! We ended up swimming with around 500 dolphins after jumping in the water a few times. We were told that the dolphins were social and curious so we should swim and hum to attract them. Once they came up to us, we were told to make eye contact and follow them as we swam in circles. It was an amazing experience! Possibly my favorite part of the trip, although picking one event as my favorite is impossible. Thankful for such an incredible opportunity!
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| Dolphins! |
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| So many swam with our boat and us |
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| Ready for our swim |
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| Tim brought the GoPro! |
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| Dolphins, dolphins, dolphins! |
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| What an amazing experience! :D |
After making our exit from NZ through Christchurch, we had another layover in Sydney. We were all pretty exhausted by that time, but Tim and I decided to make an attempt at going to Bondi Beach in the few hours before our next flight. The beach was beautiful and it was a nice last stop before going back to South Korea.
Such a wonderful experience and we are so thankful for all that we got to see and do. Thanks for reading, and hopefully we will have another adventure soon!
Much love,
Nicki
