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  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 20

    Quincy

    March 16, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 2 °C

    Day 17: Fly home from Queenstown -> Auk -> LAX -> Bos

    Nightmare material: leave the group at 7:30am to go to the airport. Get through security quickly. 1.5 hours until flight. See another group arrive 15 mins before the flight leaves. Say goodbye. Gets on the plane at 9:30am. Flight doesn't leave until 10am. Gets into Auckland a little late. Get luggage and run to the international terminal, get there 2 mins too late to check in. Missed flight. Next available flight at 11:55pm and costs $900. Neither American Airlines, nor Air New Zealand will refund me for the missed flight. Sit in Auckland Airport for 1 hr before finding Essex girls who are waiting for their flight at 6pm. We all get through security and into a luxury lounge to wait for the next 5 hrs. The girls leave. I stayed until the 11:55 pm flight. Fly to LAX. Sit for another 7 hrs. Fly home to Boston a whole 24hrs after I was originally supposed to arrive... dear sweet lord baby Jesus what a dayRead more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 18

    Queenstown

    March 14, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Day 16: Drive back to Queenstown, Free time in the city, Fergbaker Pies, Last night with the group, familiar faces returned for dinner and drinks

    The drive back to Queenstown was a sad one. We all knew this would be the last day and we were all surprised just how quickly everything went. The drive back did include a nice stop off at a fruit market with freshly picked citrus fruits, berries, and plums. Several minutes later I was sitting on the bus sitting with 5 plums having only bought 1, after the rest of the group were surprised at just how tart the fruits were.

    Arriving back in Queenstown early allowed us some more free time before dinner. Naturally, a small group of us went back to Fergbaker for some delicious meat pies and to walk around the city one last time.

    The night included one last dinner with our group and our friends from the North Island. After dinner we had one last night out filled with dancing and singing before heading to bed, and starting the journey home.    Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 17

    Lake Tekapo

    March 13, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 10 °C

    Day 15: Helicopter Hike Fiasco, Mt. Cook Helicopter Scenic tour, MARC SLEPT IN THE CAR, Hot Springs, Stargazing

    On return from the heli tour, the group still had tickets to the Lake Tekapo hot pools which was greatly accepted and enjoyed. Finally, to round out the night, the group watched the sunset and spent another late night under the stars.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 17

    Mount Cook

    March 13, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌧 2 °C

    Day 15: Helicopter Hike Fiasco, Mt. Cook Helicopter Scenic tour, MARC SLEPT IN THE CAR, Hot Springs, Stargazing

    Day 15 was quite a difficult one. 10 of us woke up in the morning to see disturbingly gray skies and rain falling all morning. We were all worried that the weather might ruin our chances to fly up in the helicopter to the top of Mt. Cook to hike the glaciers and ice caves. We called the airport who told us that at the moment the tour was still a go, so we kept our hopes up and piled into the van. I am surprised that so many of them trusted me to drive 1.5hrs having only experienced driving on the left side of the road for the first time for only 20mins 2 days ago, but whatever. By the time we go to the airport, we were under the impression the tour was still a go and we were excited. Upon talking with the pilots however, we discovered there was too much wind and rain on the mountain to go up at our time. The group ended up going for a hike and to a hotel cafe in the area trying to kill some time for the weather to get better. We ended up waiting over 3hrs for an eventual phone call saying there would be no heli hike, and they could only offer a scenic tour instead.

    We reluctantly took the scenic tour as we still wanted to see the mountain, and ended up having a blast. The helicopter took us all around Mt Cook and landed on a couple glaciers, giving us enough time to take plenty of photos.

    After touching down, I felt a certain sort of tiredness from such a stressful day, and so for the first time on the trip, I slept in the car. Oh what a sleep it was!    Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 16

    Lake Tekapo

    March 12, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Day 14: Hooker Valley/Mt. Cook Hike, Drive Van & Follow Tour Bus, Billy the Bard, Star Gazing

    The small vacation town sat right on the shores of Lake Tekapo, has a beautiful rocky shore behind the equally beautiful Church of the Good Shepherd. Lake Tekapo is known for having extremely clear skies at night, boasting a Dark Sky Project tourist attraction right in the center of town. Unfortunately, the tour was unable to acquire tickets as they were sold out for the entirety of the week, however, we were able to see a very interesting performance from a local actor named Billy the Bard who ended up being a Kiwi posing as a Scottish lad telling Maori legends and stories about the stars. We were not entirely sure if he was telling the truth or not, but we handed him $20 anyway for teaching us a song that we sang to the sky, which seemed to clear the sky enough for us to see the stars.

    Eventually, at the end of the performance, several of us grabbed our hostel duvets and sat outside until 2am star gazing.    Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 16

    Hooker Valley Hike

    March 12, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Day 14: Hooker Valley/Mt. Cook Hike, Drive Van & Follow Tour Bus, Billy the Bard, Star Gazing

    Day 14 meant unfortunately saying goodbye to the holiday homes. While most of the group boarded the coach with Reese; Paige, Jade and myself hopped into the van we rented to follow the group to our next destination. The drive up to Hooker Valley hiking trail reminded me of the backside of the Road to Hanna, with its winding roads on the side of mountain hills rolling into Lake Pukaki. The road also provided the group with our first views of Mount Cook, the largest mountain in New Zealand. We eventually arrived at the start of the Hooker Valley trail, beginning the 1.5hr hike to the Mt. Cook viewpoint. With mountains on both sides of the trail, it was hard not to take photos every second of the walk. Eventually we reached the end of the trail to see the mountain and several small glacial icebergs sitting on Hooker Lake. Unfortunately, the rain started to push us out of the valley, and so we continued to our next hostel in Lake Tekapo.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 15

    Wānaka: Ruby Island, Van Rental, BBQ

    March 11, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Day 13: Couch Nap, Kayaking, Wanaka Tree, Ruby Island Exploring and Relaxation, BBQ, Pool Night, Rent Van

    After kayaking, the group was surprised with a boat trip to the small Ruby Island where we spent the next 2 hours swimming and relaxing/recovering on the rock beach.

    With the island proving lacking in quenching our hunger, the group headed back for a quick lunch and grocery shopping for the night's BBQ at one of the holiday homes. A group of us also had to stay behind to book separate transportation for 10 members of the group in our desire to get to the airport 2 days later for the Mt. Cook Heli hike. This began the very unexpected adventure of me driving a van on the other side of the road, for the first time, on the other side of the world.

    Upon a relatively safe return to the holiday home, Aby, Danielle, Ethan and myself found ourselves desiring to do more than just sit and relax. Therefore, we decided to go for a walk around one of the many new neighborhoods in the area. The brand new homes has a very confusing and somewhat creepy feel as we could find no signs of life for the first half of our walk. Just new homes with evidence of residents, but no life. Eventually, we found an outdoor beer garden and decided to stop for a drink. Upon entering this beer garden on the other side of the world, I find a yard game all too familiar to my American DNA: Cornhole. Naturally, I had to teach the others how to play, while also having a fun chance to show off. After winning two games however, Ethan and I found ourselves strangely losing the final game and having to jump into the holiday homes pool upon our return with all of our clothes on, which did get a good laugh from the rest of the group.

    The rest of the night involved nothing but a relaxing BBQ, many games of pool, and sleeping in a bed that, honestly, made me miss the couch.    Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 15

    Wānaka

    March 11, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Day 13: Couch Nap, Kayaking, Wanaka Tree, Ruby Island Exploring and Relaxation, BBQ, Pool Night, Rent Van

    With heavy heads and a silent van ride, the group headed into downtown Wanaka for some morning kayaking on Lake Wanaka. We kayaked across the lake to the famous Wanaka tree which is really just a tree that is growing out of the lake, but it's one of the most photographed trees in the world for its unique position on the lake.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 14

    Wānaka: Holiday Homes

    March 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Day 12: Morning Plunge, Photo Session, LoTR Dress Up/Photo Session, Bird tour, Wine Tasting, Holiday Home detour (Wanaka Hostel Issue), Hot Tub Party

    Funny story, the Wanaka hostel we were supposed to stay at, canceled our reservation due to an agricultural & farming expo taking place in the city that week. With everything else booked, Intro Travel booked the group two holiday homes outside the city that were an extremely welcomed change of pace from the crowded public hostels. The group immediately took advantage of the luxury homes throwing a pool / hot tub party resulting in many empty bottles of alcohol and a certain author of this page spending the night in the wrong house sleeping on the couch, and waking up to the rest of the group taking photos of him sleeping the next morning. Funny enough, it was the best sleep he got the whole trip.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand
    Day 14

    Gibbston Valley Wines

    March 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Day 12: Morning Plunge, Photo Session, LoTR Dress Up/Photo Session, Bird tour, Wine Tasting, Holiday Home detour (Wanaka Hostel Issue), Hot Tub Party

    The several hour coach trip was interrupted by a great stop at a Vineyard for some wine and cheese tasting before heading up to Wanaka.Read more

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