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.

Queenstown

Queenstown is a really cool city. Its built around an inlet on Lake Wakatipu in the south island of New Zealand. Queenstown in a resort town known for its adventure tourism.


We began our first full day fishing on lake Wakatipu. Dad and I both caught a trout.

Then we went on the shotover jet. Its a speed boat that takes you on this tour through the Shotover River Canyons. It was insane. The boat goes about 60 mph through these narrow canyons. The driver does 360 degree spins that put the boat about 6 in from the rocks. I seriously thought we were going to smash into the canyon walls. Luckily we didn't!



Then we drove to the Kawarau bridge to the first commercial bungy spot in the world. Michael and I jumped together from about 150 feet high. It was sooooo scary, but thrilling.



The next day we went snowboarding. It was pretty fun snowboarding in the middle of August.

After a long day snowboarding we went to spend an hour at the onsen pools. Its this super fancy place where you schedule an hour in a hot tub. The hot tub room has a retractable door that opens up to this beautiful mountain view. It was so fun.

(I know my arms are really long. I have an arm span of 6' and I'm only 5'8'' tall. Michael calls me elasti-girl sometimes)

Queenstown was one of the best parts of the trip. We had a blast with Mom and Dad.

Australia

Unfortunately our time in Australia was very short. We flew in to Cairns and went straight to the zoo. Here we got to feed Kangaroos and take pictures with a Koala bear named Buster. I wanted to take Buster home with me, but the zoo people wouldn't allow it for some reason.





Pretty much the whole next day was spent diving the Great Barrier Reef. We did a 2 tank dive. It was unbelievable. We saw a shark and sea turtle. Pretty fish. But the coral was amazing. Tons of colorful sea anemones with clown fish living in them. Best dive ever.



Still to come: Queenstown, Christchurch, Auckland, and our camper-van.

Hamilton Part 2

Our second day in Hamilton we checked out of our hotel and drove an hour to Hobbiton. There we took a tour through the sets of Hobbiton from the Lord of the Rings movies. It was really neat to see all the places from the movie.


Hobbiton was built on a sheep farm. So at the end of the tour we watched a sheep shearing demonstration. It was great. But the best part was we got to bottle feed baby sheep! They were so cute. And I decided I want to have a baby sheep one day. Michael already said I could :)



After that we drove up to Auckland for the next 2 nights. More to come on Auckland.

Hamilton Part 1

Our first 2 days in New Zealand were spent down in Hamilton. We stayed at this beautiful hotel at the top of these green, rolling hills. The view was spectacular. You can see the hotel up on the hill in the background.


Our first day there we drove to Raglan. A famous surf town and watched Michael surf for a few hours. The waves were not great but it's still a beautiful spot.

Then we went in the afternoon to go on a tour in some caves that have glow worms. We all got put in some wet suits and were given tubes. Then our guide took us through these underground caves. You should know though, it's winter in New Zealand. So the water we were tubing in was 50 degrees F. It was soooooo cold! I tried peeing in my wet suit but it only helped for a few minutes :)

The caves were amazing. Some parts were pitch black and the ceiling was glowing with hundreds of glow worms. Other parts required us to jump backwards off little waterfalls with our inner tubes under our bums. It was crazy. After the tour they provided hot showers and soup. Just what we needed after an hour in the freezing water.

Goodbye Tonga

After living in Tonga for 90 days, it was a bitter sweet feeling saying goodbye. We will miss the Fonua family in Ha'apai, and going to sandy beach everyday. We'll miss having limited responsibilities and no plans. But we miss our family and friends. And the many luxuries we enjoy at home (like hot showers).

But before we left we were able to enjoy 4 days in Tonga with my parents! We stayed on the beach in a cute little hut.

We took them to the temple and I went with Mom to a seminary class at Liahona (the church high school in Tonga). The teacher did a great job.


We went kayaking and snorkeling at the beach. Michael surfed. We went whale watching in the rain. And shopped at the market.


We took Mom and Dad to church and then ate dinner at the Bishop's house after. It was a blast. Now we are off to Hamilton, New Zealand for 2 days and then Auckland for 2 days.