As we left the beautiful glaciers of Franz Josef we visited some even more beautiful stops on the way to Wanaka in the form of Lake Matheson and Thunder Creek.
We were only in Wanaka for one night but spent the afternoon on the beach by the lake and then went to a cute independent cinema to see The Hateful Eight that evening. There were squashy arm chairs to watch the film in and there was an intermission to get freshly baked cookies and a drink! On the way out of Wanaka we stopped at Puzzling World and played around in the exhibitions for a bit.
And then, and then, we were in Queenstown! What a place!
It is in the most spectacular location nestled amongst the mountains with the bluest lake.
Not only is it the place to be for adrenaline junkies - bungy jumping etc - but the general way of life (and the night life!) is just so perfect. It's also the place for people on Kiwi Experience to catch up with each other from all the changing of buses and people hang around in Queenstown for so much longer than everywhere else!
As my fear of heights (and my bank account) just about stretched to Skydiving I didn't do a bungy or canyon swing but I did get the tattoos I wanted! An anchor on the inside of each heel.
The lake was so gorgeous to sit for sunset every night and there was some amazing places to eat all over the town. If you're looking to go everyone will tell you to go to Fergburger but Devil's burger is just as good and not as busy! I only went to Ferg at like 3am on the way home from a night out! Then there's the cafe's and the ice cream shops and a nice Mexican place somewhere on a hidden street.
Out of Queenstown we went on the Milford Sound trip but the weather wasn't quite as we were expecting - so so windy! The cloud was low too which just proves my Avatar theory even more!
It was truly breath taking scenery.
When I left Queenstown I only had 6 days left in New Zealand. We visited Lake Tekapo and Christchurch but both days were pretty chill after the craziness. Christchurch had another earthquake the day before we got there as well so some things we still closed in case of after shocks and the such.
The final stop before re-visiting a couple of places was Kaikoura. A quaint seaside village on the North East side of the South Island and it was here that I got to tick another thing off my bucket list: Swimming with Dolphins!
It was an incredible experience with so many wild dolphins encircling you and then our boat got a call from the Whale boat saying that there were Orca Whales in the bay - which is nearly unheard of! Both animals were the sort of ones I didn't think were real until I saw them with my own eyes.
I can't explain how incredible Kiwi Experience was for me to start my travelling experience. There we so many young like minded people around you all the time and so many other solo travellers!
Hopefully I'll meet up with many of them again in the other countries!
So my final Kia Ora!
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