New Zealand: South Island

The 3.5 ferry ride was enjoyable enough and the views were great! Conveniently, the rental car companies have a system in place so rather than transporting your car on the ferry, you can simply drop the car off on the North Island and pick up another one on the South! It’s a handy money saving system in all, but the disadvantage is that you must then carry everything with you on the ferry. This, plus my seasickness (surprise!), made it difficult to move around the enormous boat to achieve optimal selfie positioning.

After picking up my second car, I was surprised to find the scenery similar to Idaho! On the way south to Kaikoura, I felt like I was driving from McCall to Moscow! (Except for the ocean and palm trees of course.) The landscape changes dramatically the further south I drove and although there was a lot of road construction, I didn’t mind as I just took photos out the window.

The weather was amazing and I drove until I was too tired and going cross-eyed, to a tiny road-side town called Ashburton, where I stopped for the night. I got an early morning start the next day and drove all the way to Invercargill. I pulled over to watch the sunrise over the water (this photo does not do justice), and again in Dunedin to jog in the botanical gardens. They are incredible! In my opinion a must see for anyone visiting here. Seriously. Get there.

Finally Saturday evening I got what I was waiting for, a reunion with my former college roommate and dear friend Maiyan! For those of you who don’t recognize her lovely face, Maiyan was my first dorm-mate at University of Idaho. Her and her husband Chris have lived in Invercargill for 8 yeas now. They welcomed me with big bear hugs and tacos, and we spent the rest of the evening drinking champagne and talking non-stop until I was falling asleep in my chair. Such a warm and refreshing atmosphere. Oh yeah  and sheep...lots of sheep...