New Zealand

The last 'new country' for me to visit on my round-the-world trip, I had high hopes for NZ as it is well spoken of.  At this point in my trip it takes something special for me to snap a picture, unfortunately a negative trait of most long term travelers.  So when I found myself taking a picture 30 seconds after I stepped off the plane in Queenstown I knew I was in for a treat.

Can't get a better backdrop then that for an airport...

My first stop was Queenstown, known for it's party atmosphere, adrenaline fueled activities and Fergburger.  But when I stepped off the bus and took a quick walk around town to get oriented I was shocked at it's beauty and quaintness for such a touristy town.

Queenstown bay

View from atop Bob's peak of Queenstown Bay

One of the infamous AJ Hackett bungee jumps

Frolf (frissbee golf) anybody?

The Silver Fern, a national symbol and logo for the famous New Zealand All Blacks rugby team

So I didn't go bungee jumping or skydiving as I can do those activities back home for much cheaper.  But I did decide to go on a jet boat ride throughout the canyons which was a unique experience.  The boat whipped through tight passages and around 90 degree corners at white knuckle speeds!  It even did a few 360's!

What an amazing town, I could come back here again quite easily!  But alas it was time to move up the coast to Franz Josef.

The only reason people come to Franz Josef is to climb the glacier, because that's the only thing to do in this town of 3 streets.  So let's get right to it:

Welcome to downtown Franz Josef....the glacier looming over the city in the background

You can see the valley that the receding glacier has carved out

 There were cascading waterfalls everywhere as the glacier receives heavy rainfall during the year

One of dozens of fault lines that run through the town

Our tour guide explaining the extreme dangers of glacier climbing and that it's heavily recommended to not take on the glacier un-guided

Notice the dirty ice on the bottom left hand of the picture

That same dirty ice zoomed in, to put the sheer size of the glacier in perspective

Our guide hacking his way up the glacier, he routinely would have to carve out new steps with his pick axe as the glacier changes on a daily basis!

Ice tunnel

Tight squeeze

No room for error here...these crevices go as deep as 100m!

Rain and fog rolling in...

A New Zealand Kea makes his way up with us

Ice tunnel formed by rivers within the glacier that eventually run dry when the water finds an easier way to travel down

It was a wet and soggy day, but I loved every minute of it.  The Franz Josef glacier is very unique as it's both easily accessible by walking, and so close to the ocean.  I also learned how to use crampons for the first time, and subsequently crampon jokes ensued....what a terrific word.

From here I took what could've been the most scenic train journey I've ever been on, and apparently one of the world's greatest.  It's called the TranzScenic train and it runs from Greymouth, through Arthurs Pass to Christchurch.  There are many tunnels, viaducts and overpasses that make this journey truly unique.

Upon arriving in Christchurch I was prepared to see a city still much in ruins, and that's exactly what I got.  Much of the interior of the city is classified as "the red zone" where pedestrians are still not allowed to travel at all.  The outer sections are quite in tact however there are still pockets of devastation.  The Christchurch mall is nothing but large open containers straight off the ships with cashiers next to them.  I decided not to take any pictures as it felt somewhat inhumane and only stayed here one night before heading north to Kaikoura.

I was in Kaikoura primarily to see some of the amazing wildlife that peppers the east coast of the south island.  Dolphins, whales, seals and albatross are the main attractions in this quiet sea-side town.  Any sight seeing here is expensive, as is the case with the rest of New Zealand so I asked a few locals and fellow travelers for recommendations.  As a collective group they all agreed that the dolphin swim was by far the best experience of the bunch.  So after shelling out $180 NZD ($145 CAD) I was on a boat at sunrise and ready to get wet with some dolphins.

Having scuba dived quite frequently in the last few months (Thailand, Great Barrier Reef) I was not nervous at all about swimming in the open ocean in cold waters.  People were asking about sharks and if the dolphins bite and all kinds of stuff.  I chuckled as I sat perched with quiet excitement at the end of the dive boat ready to go.

Backflip!

What an incredible experience, literally being within arms reach of hundreds of wild dusky dolphins.  None of these dolphins were provoked with food or anything to come close to us.  They were just as interested in us as we were with them.  It quickly dawned on me that we were their entertainment, not the other way around!  So the more you tried and entertain them, the more excited and intrigued they would be.  At one point I dove down and hung suspended upside down staring at 2 dolphins swimming towards me.  One of them flipped over to mimic my actions and happily swam around me!  If you've ever wanted to swim with wild dolphins (and not the Sea World variety who are caged up and provoked), head to Kaikoura! :)

The town itself was nothing to shake a stick at either, more breathtaking backdrops!

Sea lions!

Awwww....

Every once and a while I come across a situation traveling that makes me shake my head in amazement...this was one of them.

This is Alfred (or Alf), he's 94 years old and currently backpacking New Zealand with his neice as a part of his bucket list.  That's right, he was staying in a dorm room with the rest of us backpackers.  I never want to hear anybody say "they're too old to travel like that" ever again :)  His stories of the war as a photographer kept us 20 somethings entertained for hours, especially after he'd had a few drinks!  What a legend.  Safe travels Alf!

Leaving Kaikoura I headed straight up the coast and took the inter island ferry across to the North Island to the port town of Wellington.  Although I only planned on staying here overnight to catch a bus the following morning, the bustling yet scenic town surprised me with it's Melbourne/Montreal flare.

From Wellington I headed north to the town of National Park which was the base for the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing.  19.4km in length the trail crosses volcanoes, craters and sulfuric lakes!  This country continued to impress me with it's scenery.  I can see why Peter Jackson shot much of The Lord of the Rings in this area!

The start of the 8 hour hike...

I wasted no time in craning Mt Ngauruhoe, better known as Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings series!  Suck it Sauron!

The treacherous hike up...good thing we packed lambas bread.

Clouds?  Steam?  I don't know, but that was our path forward...

Ngauruhoe staring us down...

 Ngauruhoe (2287m) in the foreground and snow capped Ruapehu (26797m) in the distance

Sulfuric lakes.....stinky

What a country!  I packed quite a bit into the 2 weeks I had there, and as is usually the case with great countries I wish I had more time to spend there!  New Zealand is a young, beautiful and drastic country with a tonne to offer.  I recommend this as a far off destination for people who have 2-4 weeks vacation and enjoy the rugged outdoors, mountains, coastline, wildlife and adrenaline!

So this is it folks, this will be my last blog entry of this type.  New Zealand was my 31st country that I've visited on my trip, but the last that I'll write about.  From here I'm in vacation/relax mode and my schedule looks like this:

Los Angeles - April 1st to the 7th
Nicaragua - 7th to 17th
Mexico - 17th to 26th
Las Vegas - 26th to 30th
Landing in Pearon airport at 730pm on April 30th!  Home!

I will write one final summary with some fun stuff including a video that will be an exciting whirlwind of travel awesomeness that has been the last year of my life.

Stay tuned!