We headed back into Queenstown, so Jen could go bungy jumping. It was my first day driving and it was more difficult than I thought. In New Zealand, we drive on the opposite side of the road and the steering wheel, gear shift, windshield wipers, turn signal, etc. are also on the opposite side. I had the most difficulty with the turn signal and accidently turned the windshield wipers on frequently. The "highways" in New Zealand would be comparable to back roads in the States. They are all two lanes with a speed limit of 100 kmh. Because we were running low on time (like always), I had to drive a little fast and it was a little stressful, especially when we came to this:
a herd of sheep in the middle of the road.
When we got to Queenstown, we found out that we could not go watch Jen bungy, so we hung around town. We got Starbucks, went to the harbor, and watched some crazy fighting birds. It was fun to just hang out and enjoy the city another day.
Driving Starbucks
Harbor
Impersonating a sheep statue... normal
When we met back up with Jen, she was on a bungy high and we bought ice cream to celebrate. We headed to Wanaka and stopped at Puzzling World, which is a illusion museum outside of the city with a life-size maze. I was totally nerding out! There were holograms, an Ames room, a 45 degree angle room, and tons of puzzle. We went through the maze and it took us embarrassingly long to finish, but was fun in the process.
Ames Room
45 Degree room
Maze, so confusing!
But we did it!
We are also super strong!
After the museum, we headed to our hostel. We found out there was a floro party and after some investigation, we found out that meant a neon party. At dinner, we painted our faces and got some glow sticks. Afterwards, we moved into our room and met our roommates. There were a few other international students from Auckland, most of which were German. When I told them I was a peace studies major, they could not believe it. One of them, Felix, kept yelling "hippie" and "shalom" at me. I appreciated it. We dawned our floro gear and headed down to the party. It was pretty strange because of the weird techno music, but our German friends appreciated it. Felix, who was drinking quite a lot, had kitten whiskers on his face and continued to yell "shalom" all night. What a gem!
Ready to party floro style!
Day 8
We got to sleep in because we did not have any set plans, which was nice for all of us. When I did get up, however, I realized that my face had adversely reacted to the paint from the night before, so I still had swirls and lines on my face. I was feeling self-conscious about it and this feeling was only made worse by one of our Brazilian roommates asking, "Have you seen your face?". Yes. Yes, I HAVE seen my face, but THANKS for bring it up!
We then headed off to the glaciers and stopped at a few scenic spots. We wanted to hike a few of them, but would not be able to go onto any of the glaciers without a guide. We decided we were content with just seeing them up close and not paying the $300 each. We went to Fox Glacier first and it was a 1 hour tramp (hike) that led to a lookout platform. It was interesting that the weather was relatively nice, but there was a huge ice piece a hundred feet away.
Lake Hawea
Beach
We then headed to Franz Josef glacier. We went out on a trail and, about an hour in, discovered it was the wrong way, so we had to head back. We did make it to the lookout platform and it was beautiful.
Us at Fox Glacier
We then headed to our hostel and made some dinner. In order to save money, a few people decided to stay in the car. I was not sure my back could handle it and I get real cranky when I don't sleep well, so for the good of the whole I decided I would pay for a room every night.
Peter's Pool on the way to Franz Josef
Franz Josef Glacier
We then headed to our hostel and made some dinner. In order to save money, a few people decided to stay in the car. I was not sure my back could handle it and I get real cranky when I don't sleep well, so for the good of the whole I decided I would pay for a room every night.
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