Can't forget Christchurch

I totally forget to tell you about going up to Christchurch with Mom and Dad. This was after Queenstown and before Auckland (the second time). We flew in to Christchurch and then drove from there a few hours to go see some penguins. We went to this little town where you can go watch the local penguins come in from the ocean when the sun is going down.



It was so cool! The penguins in New Zealand are these little blue penguins that are super cute. And you would just see about 15 at a time swim up and hop onto the rocks, then waddle their way over to their little holes in the ground. The penguins make these really loud funny noises, which was a little unexpected. As it was mating season we saw some penguin lovin' (which was so funny).



We also took this amazing scenic train ride up to Fron's Joseph.

Unfortunately we got rained out of going up to the glacier, but its still beautiful there. And we had lots of fun.

Auckland

Auckland began as a short visit with Mom and Dad. We spent two nights right in the city. Michael and Dad went golfing one morning while Mom and I shopped around the city.




After traveling to Australia and the south island, we said good bye to Mom and Dad. Then it was HELLO camper-van! We rented a GIANT campervan for 2 weeks of driving around New Zealand. It had a bathroom, shower, stovetop, fridge, sink, and bed. It was basically the size of a small bus or 16 passanger van.



It was a really fun surprise to find out that the van was manual. Michael had never driven stick, and I have driven it once. And don't forget in New Zealand you are driving on the opposite side of the street, and sitting on the other side of the car. So that means shifting with you left hand... Lets just say there were a lot of close calls and constant praying. But, by the end of the trip Michael was a pro.

We drove around New Zealand for 2 weeks. Driving from surf spot to surf spot. We had a blast. My favorite place in New Zealand is this little surf town called Piha. The town is surrounded by green mountains. The black sand beaches were soft and pretty. And there was this cool big rock you can hike up, right in the middle of the beach. Here's a picture from halfway up.


Overall traveling around New Zealand and Australia was amazing. Great way to end the summer. And now, back in school. Stressed out like crazy.