The South Island, in 15 photos or less

So we found the sketchiest internet hook-up ever, which was at some guy's house that doubles as a hostel and an internet cafe. It was a strange scene, but they let me plug my laptop in, so here are pictures!


So we spent a few days in Christchurch hanging out with my flatmates and unwinding after the joy of the holidays. New Years' we went to Cathedral Square for fireworks and a couple of new clubs in town. But mostly we ate, slept, learned to play cricket, and rocked out in the band room.


Oh, and took silly pictures. Nicky and Dan (my flatties) chilling in Hagley Park after a busy afternoon of arty photo-taking. It's a rough life.


Then we began the car trip in earnest. The 3 of us and our stuff in a 1.5L Toyota Echo. Go, little car, go!


We stopped at Hanna's dairy farm for some 4-wheeler action and lunch. She showed us how they milk the cows on this crazy carousel contraption, and then Kelly spent about 15 minutes trying to take pictures of these sheep. She didn't get the one she wanted, but I nearly got run over trying to herd them. Turns out I was less intimidating to sheep than the other ladies. Who knew?


This is us at Lake Tekapo. Emily is actually trying to set-up the timer on her camera, not orchestrate an ambush. Look at the preetty blue water!


This is what we did in Queenstown. Half a world away from Texas, a few kilometres from the majestic U-shaped valleys of Fjordlands National Park, and we're watching football. Hook 'em Horns!


Then on to the Fox Glacier! It was a massive river of ice, I'm not sure what else a person can say about it. Awe-inspiring in its grandeur, but we managed to mock it anyway. Go team!


Then we drove to Punakaiki and the Pancake Rocks, but high tide wasn't until the evening so we spent the afternoon kayaking on an easy river for "children and non-swimmers." Spirits high, we set out for an easy and scenic afternoon. Several kayak tumps and one near-loss of the cameras later...


And we were beaten. It was time to eat (as it so often is on this trip). Turns out paddling upstream is not as easy as it looks. And those wetsuit shoes? They don't actually keep the water out. Actually, they hold it in pretty effectively. But it was pretty though.


I feel you should all know that we barely made it to the Pancake Rocks in time for high tide because we were playing Scrabble. I mean really, if we'd forgotten for 5 more minutes we probably would have missed it. This would have been a shame as they are pretty impressive, the sound actually more than the sight. But really, is anyone shocked? No, not really.


In New Zealand they like to maximize greenspace by minimizing road space. This one-lane bridge on a two lane "major" highway is also shared with a train. "Why not put in a runway for air traffic as well?!" Kelly calmly mused as we navigated the treacherous motorway. But all of our nerves and senses of reality and reason would be put to the test a few kms later when the road narrowed to one lane around a cliff, and we were given two of those anti-theft mirrors they have in convenience stores to navigate the 180 degree turn. Sorry, no pictures of that one, we were too busy bracing for impact.


But we made it to the Golden Bay, and our kayaking trip through the Abel Tasman National Park went off without a hitch. There were seals and stingrays and I got to go swimming on a secluded beach! The water was... refreshing.


We do a lot of eating on this trip, but this picture is of particular significance because that is the last stick of string cheese that the girls brought with them from the US. It had not been refridgerated for 14 days. Turns out, string cheese doesn't actually have to be refridgerated. Turns out.