ISSUE 70: South Island, New Zealand 2018

We arrived in Queenstown in the early afternoon, set to pick up our rental car from Alamo. When we got our tiny car all packed up we drove a little a ways down the road to check into our room at the Sherwood. However, we had arrived too early, and our room had not been prepared yet. So, we headed into the heart of Queenstown, and met up with my sister’s old roommate from Charlotte who was camper-vanning around the island with her soon -to-be fiancé. We enjoyed a low-key lunch on the patio of Pier which sits right on the lake.

After an hour or so of catching up, we went our separate ways. My sister had a little bit of a meltdown over the news of her friends upcoming engagement (her fiancé, let us in on the secret), so naturally we ended up in Sunglass Hut where we ended up engaging in some retail therapy and each of us purchased two new pairs of designer sunglasses. Damage done, we headed back to the car and back to the hotel where we were finally able to unload our belongings.

We took our time settling in once again, knowing we would be spending a few days at the Sherwood. Once we were ready to go back out, we bundled up in our sweaters and coats prepared to brace the cold.

As we wandered around the back into the thriving hub of Queenstown, we searched for a place to to have dinner, but instead ended up at a pub. My sister enjoyed a nice pint while I simply sipped on water. We engaged with a family from the UK, and discussed the recent political changes and climate affecting the US. I think they belief system caught them a bit off guard, but then again my sister and I are quite surprising.

We eventually found a place for dinner, and had a hot meal before heading back to the hotel to call it an early night. We wanted to make sure he had our things ready for the following morning since we had to be up before the sun once again.

The next day, after an early wake up time, we put our necessities in the car began our drive toward the fiords. As it turned out, our plans were a muck. After a quick stop at Mc Donalds for some breakfast, we found ourselves on and off the phone with our tour coordinator. We kept in constant contact in regards weather at Milford Sounds and whether or not our kayaking outing would be cancelled. About halfway there, it was confirmed that we would not be paddling around the Sound, but Erica and I decided to keep driving, as it one one the places we were quite eager to visit. Since, we no longer had a scheduled tour, we decided to take our time. We stopped for tea coffee along the way, and made a few more unscheduled stops just to take some fun photos of us and the scenery we passed along the way.

When we reached the Fiordlands we became enamored with the glorious mountain scapes that surrounded us, and the rain continued to spill down upon us in our little red hatchback. When we reached the tourist HQ, we figured the best option for us would be to take the ferry around the sound and relax as we took in the beauty that surrounded us. Since we had a little bit of a wait, we grabbed a light lunch and then ran through the rain to the docks to wait for our tour.

Eventually we boarded the multi-level boat, but opted to stay outside despite the continuing rain. It was really cold, and on occasion the mist would pass over us, but it did not alter our enjoyment what so ever. We had the best time goofing of. We could not stop taking photos and videos of each other as we wobbled around the boat in the intense wind . There were several moments of intense laughter as were surrounded by cascading waterfall created by the constant rainfall. It was truly a bummer that our kayaking tour was cancelled due to the gloomy weather, but I will say that I firmly believe my memories would not be nearly as warm or heartfelt as the ones created on the boat that day. Not to mention, if it wasn’t for the rain we would have never gotten such incredible photos!.

When our tour came to a close, we had no choice but to rush back to the car and out of the park. We had to beat the closing of the tunnel for the construction that was about to begin at 4PM. So, I drove as quickly as possible, and got us out with time to spare. We continued the long drive home stopping along the way for additional photos since the sun began to peak through. Finally, we decided we just wanted to get back to town. We had to make an inevitable stop in one of the towns for fuel, and I pulled up to the station. I got out, and went over to the kiosk where I proceeded to click “Clear Blue” which was the only other option other than Diesel. I walked over to the pump, and popped it in the tank inlet. I could only get a few drops in the tank, and figured they were out of gas. I didn’t know what do… As my sister looked closer, she thought that Clear Blue was diesel, and I was putting it in the tank. We panicked a little bit, until my sister did some research and found that just a little diesel will not harm the car, just put regular in with it and it will flush out without any problems, so I drove around to the other side of the station, and put in regular fuel.

We were a little on edge, as we left town. I felt like an idiot for making a mistake like putting diesel in the car, but we tried to brush it off. Then… maybe a couple of kilometers down the road the car began to shake VIOLENTLY as every light on the dash began to illuminate and flash. As the car began to shut itself down, I pulled off to the side of the road into the grasses next to a field of sheep. We were in a state of panic and Im pretty sure I was having heart palpitations while it felt as though it may leap from my chest. It was as if we had stepped into a bad dream. My sister was quick to step into action, and began making phone calls. She called the rental car company, my mom, and her credit card company. My sister was distraught as the car was in her name and on her card, she was upset for obvious reasons, and dreaded the thought of missing any of our scheduled activities because of my mistake. Within a couple hours, a man came to load up our damaged car and drive us back to Queenstown. He informed us that ClearBlue was the culprit, and that it does irrefutable damage that is incredibly expensive to fix if it’s even worth it. Thankfully, informed us this wasn’t the first he had seen this happen, and that it even happens to New Zealanders.

The drive to Queenstown was long a slow as we sat in the back seat of the towman’s cluttered backseat. I did my best to stay awake in the late hours of the night. We were absolutely exhausted, but grateful for this man’s willingness to drive to and from Queenstown in the middle of the night. We stopped at a auto repair shop where we dropped off our little car in the middle of the car park area, and left a note that it needed to be repaired. He then proceeded to drop us back at our hotel on his way back home. We decided not to make anymore moves that night, and instead left the leg work for the following morning. I struggled to fall asleep that night while I was distraught over the mess of a situation that my sister continued to blame me for, even though it could have just as easily happened to her if she wouldn’t have made me put the gas in the car because she didn’t want to go out in the cold. I was plagued was guilt, and sick to my stomach at the thought of how much this innocent mistake would end up costing me.

The next morning we were in horrendous moods. Both exhausted and emotional, we did what needed to be done. We ended up having to have the car towed to a another facility, but still made it a point to stop by the current auto shop. As it turns out, the one thing that my sister now thinks is hilarious, is that the auto shop owner told us in his heavy kiwi accent that Clear Blue is actually made from pig urine, and when it enters into a regular gas chamber it gets pumped into the entire system (pistons, engines, etc) and causes it all to crystalize; ergo, shutting down the entire vehicle in a violent fashion. He told us that when this happens, the car is basically totaled and their shop will not touch it because even if they can flush it out, they don’t know how long after the car will stop working again. It could be many years or several months.

This was not the news I wanted to hear. At this point, I had already paid for two tows, and was petrified of how much I would have to pay for totaling our little rental. When we got back to the hotel, I could not hold in my guilt, stress, or embarrassment any longer. I walked out of our room and called my mom. I was terrified to tell Brad simply because I was so embarrassed by what I had done, and he was under an incredible amount of stress and pressure at work. The last thing I wanted to do was add to that with my stupidity. My mom, thankfully, goes into supermom mode when crisis strikes. She assured me everything was going to be okay. This is exactly why we had insurance through the credit card company, and to continue on with our day.

My sister and I didn’t say much when I went back into the room. We agreed we needed another car because we couldn’t reach the main part of the city on foot, and also, had more events ahead of us outside of Queenstown. So, while it poured down rain once again, and the wind whipped all around, we tried to find an Uber. I kid you not, there was only one in Queenstown, and it was going to be an hour wait at an incredibly hight rate, so we decided to try and walk to the airport instead. We didn’t make it far before I decided it was a bad idea. It was so cold and wet and windy that there was no way in our current state of mind that we were going to make it there successfully, so we walked the short distance back to the hotel, and tried Uber one more time. Thankfully, a different Uber driver popped. Though the fee was still high, I made the call. The woman who escorted us to the airport was incredibly kind and supportive, letting us know that there was nothing to feel bad about because these sort of situations happen all the time. Unfortunately, she could not drop us off at the terminal, so she had to drop us a little ways away, but with the state of the weather it seemed like a marathon to get there. It was so blustery, my sister’s umbrella blew inside out, as we made our way to the terminal doors. When we stepped inside, we made a plan to steer clear of the Alamo desk, and opted to rent an SUV from Budget.

At this point the weather had begun to clear as we made our way to our new rental car which was a lot nicer than the last, complete with leather seats and a sunroof. I had promised my sister the night before that we would not miss a single event, and I meant it. So, we headed toward the touristy part of town for lunch. We stopped in at taco medic, where I was incredibly surprised by the incredible flavors that I continually popped into my mouth. Everything was so good, and it was nice to have a taste of home on such a rough day. At this point, my sister and I were able to start letting go of the negative and start embracing the positive.

We were in the process of communicating with our next tour operator about our white water rafting excursion. They informed us that the rafting outing we had planned for the day was cancelled. We had booked the more extreme option, but because of all of the rain the water levels were too high which meant it wasn’t safe enough. They told us we could either cancel or opted for the lower level excursion. We chose to still raft since they told us that the higher water levels would make the less turbulent option more turbulent.

Our expectations had been high since we had white water rafted in Uganda about 12 years back. It was an intense and incredibly experience many years back. We encountered many class 5 rapids, and 95% of the time we hit them, our raft was flipped and we were tossed out. In which case we had to fight our way back into the raft on our own. It was aggressive, draining, and my sister could not wait to do it again on this trip!

Eventually, that day, we were all picked up in the operator’s vans, and shuffled along to their rafting prep station. We were all given wet suits, once again, along with footwear and helmets. When we were all changed we loaded back into the vans and headed to the starting point. We were organized into groups, given a brief tutorial, and headed down river. What we hoped to be a bumpy and vigorous ride was tame. There were only a few small rapids, and we never once fell out of the boat. In fact, most of the time it felt more like a leisure river cruise as we sat in our life jackets on the inflated sides of the rafts and chatted our way down the Kawarau River.

It is more than safe to say, that my sister and I were disappointed. While I didn’t feel like being tossed from a raft and submerged in chilly water, I really hoped for a more exuberant experience.

We couldn’t wait to get back to the site, hop in the showers to rinse off the stench of the wetsuits again and change back into our own clothing. When we got back to the hotel, we both showered again, and deep cleaned our hair. We took our time getting ready before we headed out to dinner. We decided on a great Indian restaurant, The Taj Indian Kitchen, which provided a hot and comforting after the emotionally grueling couple of days we had. My sister relaxed with a few glasses of wine, that led us to a tourist shop so she could buy a little stuffed Alpaca made from Alpaca wool that she named Franz. Franz became our mascot over the remainder of our trip.

The next morning we packed up our things, checked out of our hotel, and headed for Franz Josef. It was nearly a five hour drive that included several stops along the way for photos, stretching, sustenance, and fuel. Despite the distance, I loved every second of the scenic route we were on.

When we reached Franz Josef, we headed past the main drag, and onward a ways to our hotel, Franz Josef Oasis. Once we checked in, we moved our bags the short distance to our room, and settle in in a flash. before we headed back out to meet my sisters college roommate and boyfriend again for dinner. We all met up at Corner Rest, and thoroughly enjoyed our social time together, so much so that we all ended back at our hotel room sipping champagne, and living the good life!

Eventually, I took our friends back to their camper van near the heart of the town then headed back to my sister. We fell asleep promptly so we could wake at a decent hour the following day since we had activities planned.

Unfortunately, my sister ended up with a slight dose of food poisoning during the night which through or morning plans for a loop. She couldn’t even bare the thought of joining me for breakfast, and instead stayed behind in the room. With her feeling unwell, we spent the first half of our day watching British cooking shows, and driving around the countryside in search of things to photograph. It was easy to say the least.

Thankfully, my sister started feeling better around the time we headed back to town. We had an afternoon heli-hike scheduled for the Franz Josef glacier, but found out almost immediately that the trip up was cancelled due to weather. It was another devastating blow on our trip! Cohesively we agreed that the best option for us, in lieu of the bad news, was to do the light hike back to the glacier instead.

So after saying our final goodbyes to friends, we got in our car and drove the short distance to car park. It was cold, and cloudy, and lightly misting when we first started. It felt like more of a nature walk than a true hike. It was very mild in the sense they I was never really out of breath at any given point. It was really pleasant. We passed through a forest area that was packed with beautiful trees and scattered ferns, then a waterfall before moving on to rockier terrain that led us to the base of the glacier. It was incredible to see such unique natural beauty. I just wish we could have touched the glacier. I’d says we spent close to two hours on our nature excursion as we snapped pictures engaged in our usual goofy antics. The was beginning to set as we left the park. We decided to head back for dinner before spending the rest of the night chilling in our hotel room.

The following morning we rose early and promptly packed our bags before breakfast because we wanted to see if there was any possibility of a heli-hike. However, the cards were stacked against us. We weren’t ready to drive back to Queenstown just yet, so instead we opted to visit the West Coast Wildlife Center in hopes of seeing a kiwi. We purchased the backstage pass which allowed us to see first hand what goes in in the hatching program, and we got to see some cute baby kiwis too! All in all, the center was small. We spent less than an hour there observing the kiwis and Tuatara lizards as well.

After our quick kiwi experience, we decided it would be wise to grab lunch, fuel up our rental, and head back toward Queenstown. Along the way back we made a few different stops, my favorite being Ships Creek. We were able to hop out of the car, and walk along the boardwalk and the beach to stretch our legs and get fresh air. As we walked along the pebbly beach, we noticed dolphins in the water not far from the shore. Our next stop was the Blue Pools. This outing required a little more hiking, but was a fun outing. I’d say we spent close to an hour going to and fro. The water was the most hypnotizing shade of blue, and if it wasn’t for all of the people, I could have easily spent an hour or more just enjoying the water. Both experiences were incredible, exactly what we needed after our chilly time in Franz Josef and Queenstown. Not to mention it was great to break up the long drive.

Queenstown was home for only one more night, so when we got back to the Sherwood hotel, we didn’t even fully unpack. Instead, we grabbed our coats and head back out in search of dinner. After filling up we wandered around the vicinity a little while longer. I couldn’t shake my desire for a fuzzy alpaca too, so we headed back to the souvenir shop. I spend $200 NZD on Franz’s larger cousin who I decided to call Fritz. With Fritz in hand, we headed back toward the car then the hotel to get a good nights sleep, since the following day was going to be a crazy one.

We woke up early again the next morning, and tossed all of our belongings back in the car. I checked us out of the hotel and we began our hour drive to Glenorchy for a horseback riding experience through some of the spots that Lord of the Rings was filmed. We were so excited! We both love animals, and enjoy riding, so it seemed like a great outing for us both.

We were pleasantly surprised by the wide open spaces of Glenorchy, and were filled with enthusiasm as we completed our paperwork and then geared up in some real hearty riding wear!

Next, the crew saddled up our horses and assigned the rider. My horse was named Tom, no joke…. Tom. Tom loved to run, so holding back his wild spirit was a little more challenging, but nothing I couldn’t handle, as we road through the valley. We had a tricky time finding the perfect spot to cross the unusually deep river, but once we did we road down a few different trails, and practiced our trotting with our guide before crossing the river once again. (My sister’s horse was in Lord of the RIngs, and will be in the Mulan, too)

When we got back to the stables, my sister and I found out that we made a crucial mistake in the booking regarding the times. We booked two rides in one day thinking they would be just about back to back. However, as it turned out, they were a few hours apart. This put us at an automatic disadvantage since we were flying back to Auckland that night. We had two options, either abandon our second ride without a refund, or pay to change our flights. We figured, since we would be out a couple hundred bucks either way, it made more sense to just change our flight and complete our LOTR ride as planned.

The stables provided us with vouchers for a complimentary lunch back in the very small center of town at one of the cafes. As we got a bite to eat, my sister made the call and switched our flight without any difficulty. Lunch was light and simple, enough to hold us over until we got to the airport.

When we returned to the stables again, we had time to kill. We spent half an hour wandering around and talking to each horse that we could before being interrupted by the announcements that it was time to ride once again. This time I noticed our group was much larger, as we all loaded into a 12 passenger van. We had riders of all sizes and colors.

After we drove about another 30 minutes away, we finally came to a halt at a different stable full of new horses. We were assigned our ponies, and we all loaded on, got in line, and readied ourselves to take off on a new journey. My new horse was named Bob (might be worse than Tom) and was easily influenced by others and was a total ham. Bob and I followed behind a couple of Chinese women who spoke next to no English, and definitely didn’t know how to control their horses. Every time their horses would stop to eat, they didn’t know what to do, so Bob thought that he should stop to eat. It was a nightmare. Bob really had me longing for the discipline and eagerness of my first horse, Tom. A true winner if there ever was one.

As we road along we passed through a forest. The same forest where Boromir dies in “The Fellowship of the Ring” and along a ridge line over looking a massive riverbed below which is the setting for the Dark Tower of Sauron (yes, I am looking up all of these names, btw), as well as the mountains that Gandalf flies over on his giant eagle after being rescued from Sauron. The sights that surrounded us were stunning, but to be honest I preferred the freedoms of the first ride. Being lined up in such a large group didn’t cut it for me. I wanted to be below riding across more rivers, and exploring more at higher speeds.

When we wrapped our final ride and headed back to the main stables, my sister and I were quick to turn over our riding gear and jump in the car. I did my very best to get us back into Queenstown and to the airport as quick as possible. Of course, when we reached the airport, turning in the car took about two seconds, and we ended up having to sit in the terminal and wait until our gate was announced to even pass through security. So, we popped in a couple small shops, got some candy, and relaxed.

Finally, after a quick flight we were back in Auckland for just one night. We got a ride to our last hotel, Hotel Grand Windsor MGallery by Sofitel. The hotel was beautiful and exactly what we needed after a hectic day of commuting. We quickly cleaned ourselves up, and washed the horse off of us before grabbing a quick dinner and heading to bed.

The next morning we rose early to finish our final round of packing for our flight back to the states. Our flight didn’t leave until the early afternoon, so we left our bags with the front desk and had out towards Auckland’s Sky Tower. The tickets were a little on the pricey side, but we enjoyed the fast ride to the top, the stunning 360 views of the city, and even a quick snack and dessert to compliment the incredible outlook.

When we reached sea level again, we headed to back to the hotel. We grabbed our bags from the front desk and ordered an Uber. We were driven back to the Auckland airport for our long journey home. I was more than eager to arrive back in the states after the turbulent experiences we had in New Zealand. I was in dire need of rest.