Sydney, Australia

Friends and family please prepare yourselves for a lively blog (and excuse the overload of photos! There were just too many great ones to choose from!). My flight from Queenstown brought me directly to Sydney, Australia where I was collected by this guy! Matthew and I met about a year and a half ago in Vilnius, Lithuania. I had just arrived for school and he was traveling though when we met on a city tour which quickly turned into a friendship. We kept in good touch and when he moved back to his hometown down under, I decided stopping by was simply a must!

We didn’t waste any time as Matthew had quite a list of exciting things to do. After ditching my belongings at the house, we headed straight into the city center for noodles in Chinatown. It also happened to be the queen’s birthday weekend AND the VIVID light festival in Sydney. The whole center was bustling with people, bumping with music and lit up with color. Honestly, it was a spectacular light show the likes of which I have never seen. Although the photos of the Opera House that night didn’t come out well believe me, it was super! We spent the evening strolling around and eating ice cream before heading home far too late to pass out.

The next morning we were up before dawn to catch the sunrise over the city. I just want to take a moment to say that, not only is Matthew a FABULOUS tour guide, but he also is a photographer in the making. His photos are wonderful and I mostly left it up to him to document our adventures. Thanks you! I couldn’t have captured it without you! After the sun was fully up we shot over to Bondi Beach and then to breakfast at a half local market half restaurant called The Grounds of Alexandria, where we were joined by this lovely lady!

Don’t recognize her?! I don’t blame you haha Anna was my partner in crime back in 2010 when we studied together in Chengdu, China. I hadn’t seen her since, but found out she happened to be working/living a few hours outside the city. The three of us played tourist all day around the Opera House and the Harbor Bridge and even took the ferry back and forth to Manly Beach on the other side of the Circular Quay. When we were totally exhausted, we had hot Pho soup with basil and said our good byes.

It was so great to chat and relive our misguided Chinese adventures (and MISadventures). You still got it girl! Thanks so much for diving up to visit and I hope I don’t have to wait another 6 years until our next rendezvous! Good luck with helicopter mechanic training! :D

The following day was no different than the last as Matt and I were up early and on the road to Featherdale Wildlife Park where we saw all these adorable creatures 

and I nearly fainted with joy as I got to pet a koala bear.

When sufficiently overloaded with cuteness, we continued on to the Blue Mountains where we had a great view of well, everything it seemed. We ended the day slightly father up the road at Wentworth Falls where, although the temperature was much cooler, the sights were no less breathtaking. That night we swapped photos of the day over our favorite Friends episodes and again slept like rocks without a spare ounce of energy.  

 

Following our usual pattern, on Monday we drove south to Hyams Beach and worked our way back to the city stopping at the Kiama Blowhole and Stanwell Tops for photos and snacks. That evening, in one of my personal favorite moments of the trip, I got a lesson in how to make my favorite Chinese dumplings. They may not have been the prettiest ones I’ve ever seen, but after being deprived for a few years, my goodness were they yummy! Life skills right there. Life skills.

On my last full day in Sydney, we ditched the car and took a train then a ferry to a place called Bundeena, where Royal National Park slinks down to the coastline and offers some of the most beautiful scenery around. We took a long hike soaking in the perfect weather, and it was here, again, along this trail, that I spread some more of Neil’s ashes. It was peaceful, beautiful, open and inviting with enormous rock faces stretching down to the waterline. As I listened to the waves smash into them below I thought, “Yeah, this is a crispy beat. “ So I left a little bit of a very dear someone who would have loved it too.

That evening after showers, laundry and packing Matt and I spent our last evening eating dim sum (Seriously, the Asian cuisine in Sydney insanely good!) at a nearby vegetarian restaurant and swapping stories about places we had been and where we plan to travel in the future. Somewhere between the turnip cakes and the hot & sour soup I thought, “How perfectly lovely to find kindred spirits half a world away. What a special kind of luck.” Thank you so very much Matt for having me and to Julie & Jason for welcoming a stranger into your homes. It really was fabulously unforgettable trip! Good luck in Russia next month and I’m sure to see you soon! :)

Whew!!! Did we really fit all that into four and a half days?! Fact! Now that is my kind of fun… cheers mate ;)

 P.S. In case any of you are wondering how Charlie is doing back in The Netherlands, I received this mischievous looking photo from Gerben a few days ago along with word that the two of them were sharing steak and basmati rice together for dinner…so yeah…I think he’s fine… ;) Thanks Geb for keeping an eye on the little guy!! xo

New Zealand: Invercargill & Queenstown

To quote Lonely Planet, Invercargill is a “flat and lifeless town” and “a good pit-stop on the way to somewhere else”, however I find that it is the people who make or break a trip. Flat and lifeless as it may be, the people waiting there for me were anything but. Seeing Maiyan again after so much time was lovely beyond measure and it was so much fun getting to know Chris better. Thanks for everything you two! I had such a lovely time and miss you guys already!

While in Invercargill, Maiyan and I mostly chatted and caught up over the last 7 years of our lives! We did some shopping and I squeezed in few lovely jogs, and then more chatting and more gossiping and reminiscing.

This carried on for a few days and included a wine and cheese evening with movies, a grilled cheese and tomato soup dinner and an afternoon batch of banana bread. After we had exhausted all of what Invercargill had to offer, we packed up and drove north to Queenstown where we stayed at Chris’ parents second home. The apartment is in the heart of the city with one of the loveliest views ever! What an amazing experience! Unimaginable!

The following morning as the sun came up, we were privy to one of the most breathtaking sunrises probably in existence. Chris made pancakes and after eating far too many, Maiyan and I took a hike up Queenstown Hill Walkway. It was so beautiful I decided it was a suitable location to spread some of Neil’s ashes. I think he would approve. :) 

After our hike we went into explore the adorable downtown. We spent the day chatting and shopping and I even got a hair trim (TRIM…not like last time!). After such an eventful day we were quite tired and decided jammies and a movie was better than a night out on the town. On Friday (my last day in New Zealand already!! OMG :0) we took a short trip to the nearby town of Arrowtown where I finally tried a famous kiwi “meat pie”, although it was slightly underwhelming as there were only veggies and cheese in there.

Chris and Maiyan drove me to the airport and as I gave them big hugs goodbye I said a little prayer that I was so lucky as to have such special people in my life. Until next time you two!! I cannot wait to do it again! :D

So to wrap it up here are my personal plus and delta* (and only slightly less famous than Lonely Planet’s) points of New Zealand:

+

Δ

·      Roads (Aside from being on the left, they are easy to drive, well marked and well kept. AKA minimal car-consuming pot holes…) ·      Crumpets (Is it a pancake? A scone? A biscuit? All three in one?!) ·      Casual clothing style (Casual= Bring on the public display of sweatpants!) ·      Hotels give you free milk and butter cookies for your tea or coffee upon check in! Brilliant!

·      New Zealanders are literally too nice (I can’t cut off conversations with strangers without feeling rude because they just keep smiling and chatting! So lovely. Come to think of it, maybe this should go on the + side…) ·      Coffee (It just really isn’t any good…) ·      It is far from everywhere…literally EVERYWHERE! ·      Architecture (Kiwi buildings are mostly square, some varying shade of grey or brown and boring with the occasional gem.)

* I say delta rather than “minus” because flat-out saying something sucks about someone else’s home is insulting. Let’s be civilized here. ;)

Love and miss you all! Next stop, Sydney, Australia. Catch you then! :D

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...

New Zealand: North Island

Hello from the bottom of the world! Seriously though….talk about a place far from everything! To arrive in Auckland from Amsterdam, I first took an 11.5 hour flight to Singapore (Singapore Airlines=AMAZING!), where I then chilled in the enormously ostentatious airport for 3 hours (it takes over an hour to walk from one end of the airport to the other! But hey at lease I could window shop at all the duty free stuff along the way…), THEN another 10 hour flight to Auckland! By the time I arrived I had spent 22 out of 24 hours on an airplane (not including boarding and such) and completely lost June 31, 2016!!! But not to worry, I filled the time well with movies, knitting, coloring, naps and chatting with my neighbors.  In addition, is one of the lightest trips I’ve ever packed for and I must say it is AWESOME!!! Note to self: less is better!

Anywho, once I finally arrived in Auckland I stayed the night at a nearby airport hotel and picked up my rental car the next morning. Before hitting the road, I thought it a service to my fellow drivers that I did a few practice laps around the airport as I actually haven’t driven in a year and now I was alone, in a tiny red car, with a stick shift, on the left side…talk about a steep learning curve! But aside from some minor glitches and a curb or two cut too close, I made it successfully to the grocery store for supplies and safely out of Auckland, south to Lake Taupo.

North Island

I stopped for a picnic lunch outside of Taupo at a roadside pull out and continued on to a small, yet adorable town, called Turangi (gotta love the names here…) at the southern tip of Lake Taupo, where I stayed the night. One of the major benefits of visiting a place in its off-season, is things are mostly quiet. I had only two companions that night in my little hostel, two traveling girls from Germany. We ate dinner together and although I would have liked to visit more, my jet lag caught up with me and I found myself in bed at 8:30pm!

 

The following morning, I realized the downside of visiting a place in its off-season as I defrosted the windshield on my car…in a sweater. Yeah, I was a human popsicle until about 9am when the sun finally was high enough to bask in. I took a 2 hour hike along the Tongariro River, which was very lovely and I was lucky as there were no clouds and the views were great! The original plan was to do the full 4 hour hike, but on account of the cold and my unpreparedness, that just didn’t happen! Instead I used the extra time to search out a Salvation Army and buy myself a proper coat (can’t whine about a $3 jacket!).

I then continued south to Wellington, where I stayed the night. After reading the previous sentence, it sounds so easy…drove to Wellington and slept…no. To be more specific, yes I DID drive to Wellington which although super pretty all the way and really nice, once I got to the city everything really went to hell. I am a nervous city driver in the best of conditions, but given the current situation I thought I would die of heart attack on all the one-way streets, heavy traffic, honking, pedestrians and narrow streets. BUT I did eventually reach my hotel, where I took a bath, made dinner and fell asleep again at 8:30pm, leaving no time to enjoy such a cool city. Ooops!

The next morning was a Friday and I started early by taking the ferry from Wellington to Picton.