Home Again

The next stop on our journey took us to Dunedin.  This was by far my favorite city on the South Island.  We got into town early so we filled up the rest of our day with two tours. The first of these tours being a self-guided tour of the Lancaster Castle.  The history of the castle is a very depressing one but the castle itself was pretty cool. Googling the castle will bring up the torrid history as well as the haunted stories that people have experienced "paranormal activity".  I felt no chills and saw no specters so it must have been the ghost's day off. It was smaller than I was anticipating but the gardens were spectacular as well as the view.  I didn't take many pictures inside of the castle due to poor lighting (and I could have used my flash but we weren't supposed to even be taking pictures so I was being a rebel as it was).

There's a lot of pictures of flowers on request for Mom.  She's thinking about possibly using some of my photographs for decorating her house.  

The next tour we went on was a brewery tour of Speights brewery.  It was a quick but interesting tour where we met fellow Coloradean's who were living in Dunedin at the moment.  

The next day was our first full day of sunshine and no chance of rain.  So we drove up to Timaru and spent a few hours trying to soak up all the rays we could get on the beach.  The plan was to do two days of beach time and the weather was nice the next day but pretty cloudy.  So we skipped the beach and drove up to Akaroa, which was a cute little town that was sold out of every hotel room in the entire town (we we're hoping for a bed since Mom was having some back troubles).  So we camped again and walked down into town to enjoy poking through a few shops and eating dinner down by the water. The view from our campsite was the best of the whole trip by far. 

The next day, we drove up to Christchurch to spend our last two days there.  The first of these two days we went to the mall for some shopping, pedicures, and a movie. The movie we went to was August: Osage County which if you like a movie that doesn't happily end and you get no closure then this might be the movie for you, otherwise save yourself the $12. 

The next day, for our last day in Christchurch, we went to the city centre to a little shopping area that had been put together after the earthquake.  The shopping area was right in the middle of the earthquake damaged buildings but was made entirely of shipping containers.  I wished I had brought my camera because they did quite a nice job with the whole shipping container idea.  So after wandering around that area for a little bit we headed back to the hotel and did last minute laundry and cleaned out the camper van.  

And that's really the end of the journey.  A full day of traveling later and we were back into Denver just in time for the NFL Playoff madness that is happening.  The trip went by so fast I feel like I never left but honestly it was my favorite trip I have ever taken.  Every moment, even the riding in the car from point A to point B, was breath taking.  I can now watch all of the Lord of the Rings movies and recognize the landscapes.  It was spectacular and I can easily see myself going back again someday.  

Last year at the end of our Australia trip, I knew that New Zealand was in my future.  Now I end this blog with no plans of travel but every intent to travel the world more.  Who knows where life's going to take me next but I can't say I'm too afraid of the journey to get there. Goodbye Middle Earth, until next time...

Where Did The Time Go?

January 2nd-  The plan for the day was to go on a Lord of the Rings horseback riding tour in Glenorchy.  Our tour got canceled due to rain (much to Mom's disappointment since she really wanted to do a horse riding tour).  So instead we went on a 4X4 off roading tour that went to a few Lord of the Rings locations.  The tour was okay.  It didn't have much to do with Lord of the Rings but the off roading bits were fun and our tour guide was very knowledgeable about the area and how the landscape was formed.  She wasn't very knowledgeable about Lord of the Rings however.

Here was where they filmed for the pillars of the kings scene from the Fellowship of the Ring.  The fellowship paddled down this river and then they later added in the big statues on either side of the river. 

Here we have the Remarkable Mountains.  They were used in the background for a lot of the Rohan scenes.  The area that they filmed on though has been closed to the public for a few years now though so we didn't get to see that. 

Overall not a bad tour, just not great or fantastic like the others. 

The next day, January 3rd, we planned on catching a jet boat tour before leaving Queenstown and heading toward Milford Sound.  As it turns out, the rain struck again! The tour was delayed so we decided to pack up and head out to our next destination Te Anau.  Once we got there, we learned that there was a jet boat tour that operated in the area so we booked that and it (surprise) went to a few Lord of the Rings locations. The tour was fun (we love boats so we're biased) and did a few donuts but other than that it was a pretty mellow and fun ride up the river and to the lake. 

The birds were chasing a hawk out of their territory.  The tour guide said he had never seen them that riled up before. 

Here was where the filmed the canoeing down the river in the Fellowship of the Ring where the orcs are chasing them.  This part leads into the pillars of the kings part of the scene so obviously two very different rivers. 

Also we got our own personal tour since no one else felt like braving the rain.  It wasn't a downpour but more like a sprinkle. 

So, today we drove from Te Anau and headed up to Milford Sound to go on our cruise.  The weather was cooperating (for once) and due to the heavy rainfall in the past few days there were hundreds of waterfalls.  I won't upload all the pictures since there are so many but here's a few of the favorites. 

This would have been a great pictures if the damn tourists would have gotten out of the way.  I find myself disliking tourists when I'm trying to take pictures. 

Both of the pictures above were taken on the drive into Milford Sound.

This lovely picture was taken on the boat.  Photo Credit goes to Mom using my camera while I was getting us food. So proud. 

The above two pictures are ones that I took of the wind effecting the waterfalls.  In the bottom one, the wind was strong enough that the water never made it to the ground.  It simply drifted away. 

Last year on our trip to Australia, I got to swim with Australian fur seals and fell in love.  I think they are some of the cutest animals to inhabit our planet.  My love for them didn't change upon seeing them again.  These guys are New Zealand fur seals and they don't get much bigger than this.  So smaller than the Australian ones and we all know what that means...they will always be in the cute puppy stage. 

This last one was taken at a viewpoint on the way out.  The picture doesn't do the scenery justice.  It was spectacular.  

It's hard to believe that there's only five more days left on our trip.  I'm sure we will make the most of them.  Stay tuned for more.