***Internet has been super spotty. I wrote this from the ferry but wasn't able to post it until later.***

So much to catch up on! Kia ora from New Zealand! (That means "Greetings, Hello" in Maori, which is one of the official languages in NZ, made so in 1987). Joe and I are sitting on the Interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton through the Cook Strait. The ride takes about 3.5 hours and we figured it'd be the perfect time to catch up on the blog.

We rented a car in Christchurch to drive to Queenstown and took the long way across the south island, and down the west side. We really wanted to see as much of the country (especially the south island) as possible, so we decided that driving was the best way to do that. This was our route:

It took us up and over Arthur's Pass, through the mountains, and across the full width of the southern island. We pretty much went west until we hit the Tasman Sea, and then took a left. The scenery was absolutely spectacular. Jaw dropping views of wide river banks, fields of sheep and cows that ran right up to the base of the mountains, and craggy peaks that shot out of the ground. The mountains that we drove over and then down along are the southern alps. They run north south up the southern island (a good overview of them can be seen here) and divide the island from a weather standpoint. The western side has smaller plains and runs up against the ocean and tends to get more rain.

The adventure of this drive was two-fold. First, we drove on the opposite side of the road, sitting in the opposite side of the car. That was a challenge but I think we both nailed it! Interestingly, there were basically no other cars on the road for our drive so we didn't have too much trouble navigating other cars or traffic. In fact, we saw way more cows and sheep than we did people or cars. We were pretty baffled by it until we talked to a few locals and found out that the population of the entire southern island is 1 million people. I don't know how many sheep there are here, but my guess is the south island has lots more sheep than people.

The second part of the adventure was trying to avoid the animals that jumped out in the road. They were mostly small (from NZ standards... not American standards) but we managed to miss most, but kill three of them. The first was a large bird of some kind with long legs. It was walking across the road and we couldn't break in time. The second was a large beautiful mountain rabbit. That one was probably the most traumatic. And the third was a possum of some kind I think. Something smaller and closer to the ground.

Here are some pictures from the drive...

Selfie from Arthur's Pass

A view from well inside the Southern Alps

Panorama of the view from the side of the road. The water is turquoise blue throughout the country. They have virtually no water pollution. 

This type of scenery and wide river beds with mountains in the background are the two most
common scenes while driving the alps 

Throughout the drive there were incredible landscapes with snow-capped mountain views 

Our first longish stop was the town of Hokitika, where we ate lunch at a pizza place called Fat Pipi's. The pizza was absolutely delicious, and the setting was great, with an outdoor patio that led to the beach just behind it. We got there just as they were shutting down lunch, but they said we could order as long as it was for "take away" and then we could eat on their back patio. They just wanted to be able to clean up the kitchen. After getting our food and sitting outside, I went back for napkins, a fork, and a knife. The pizza was way too hot to eat any other way. After a moment a woman came over to me and explained that "take away" meant I wasn't allowed to use their utensils, and then proceeded to take them out of my hands. It was probably the most bizarre thing that happened to us on the drive. She took them, and just walked away. The pizza was great, once it finally cooled off for us to eat it.

Next we stopped at Franz Joseph glacier. There were a few different trails that led into it, and we ended up taking the shortest one. Just to be able to see the glacier, and then get back on the road. We did the same thing with the Fox Glacier. I wish we could have really spent time there, and gotten closer, but we just didn't have time to stop for too long. Plus, a little part of me felt like keeping our distance was maybe a good thing. I feel like they should stop doing helicopter tours on it, and should keep people at a slight distance from it since it's melting so quickly.

Joe hiking up to the lookout point to see the glacier 

The Franz Joseph glacier is in the top right corner - it looks like it's trying to duck between the mountains. It used to extend all the way to the river bed, but has melted over the years (much more rapidly recently)

After 15 hours we made it into Queenstown around midnight and got checked into our hotel. The next day (Monday) we spent wandering around and exploring the town. We caught up on some sleep, took in the sights, and had a great dinner at a local spot.

On Tuesday I took Joe to play golf! We got to play Jack's Point which was amazing. Full disclosure, I told him we were doing this before we left. I figured he might want to bring some of his golf stuff and I wanted him to have that option. We were both a little bit chilly which was the perfect excuse to shop the pro-shop before getting out there. The course was absolutely beautiful. Joe and I agree it's one of the top 3 things we've done on this trip.

Joe destroying his shot 

Joe on the 15th green 

Giving it a go

Repping Jack's Point

After golf we wandered around town and went up in the gondola to take in some more scenery. We got a great view of The Remarkables - another mountain range that borders Queenstown (separate from the alps).

We only had a couple of days in Queenstown, but loved it. It's an adrenaline junkies dream town, and a super fun place to hang out. From there we took a little plane from Queenstown to Wellington (the southern most town on the north island) and are not on the ferry across the Cook Strait to Picton (back on the south island). It was easiest to do it that way because of all the damage due to the recent earthquake. More on the ferry ride and the Marlborough region to come later!

Bonus footage:

Mid yawn.

**I wrote this yesterday morning but we didn't have internet access yesterday so it's a day behind. We are currently in Queenstown, NZ.**

I feel like so much has happened since our last post! I last left you when I was going to lounge in a hammock. I did that, and it was every bit as relaxing as I had hoped. The next day Joe and I took in all the beach activities. I went stand-up-paddleboarding, we went sea-kayaking, and snorkling. It was during our late afternoon snorkel that we met a loggerhead turtle! She was just sort eating and swimming along. She didn't care in the least that we were a couple of feet away. Just went about her business and let us lounge with her as though we were old friends. Absolutely the coolest thing! We didn't have a go-pro or anything so no photos were captured, but she looked like this. 

We enjoyed a nice dinner at a local spot after which Joe and I both pushed back from the table totally full. I marveled at how much I needed that meal - water and a big vegetable salad. He laughed and marveled at how much he needed his - pizza and beer. It's nice that they had something for everyone. :)

Thursday was the day of all days. Each part of it had something more to look forward to. We started the day with an excellent breakfast looking out past the pool to the beach.

View from breakfast at our first hotel - the Palm Bungalows

We then checked out of our hotel (we're staying at 2 different ones while here on Hamilton Island - the first was a family-friendly large resort type, the second is a more secluded romantic type) and got ourselves down to the marina to board our boat to the great barrier reef (Hardy reef to be exact). It was a 2 hours cruise and went by in a flash. While on board we took pictures, got a few different safety briefings, and decided that not only would we snorkel the reef, but we would go scuba diving as well. Neither of us had ever been scuba diving, but the great barrier reef seemed like a decent place to try it for the first time!

On the boat to the Great Barrier Reef

Once we arrived at the reef we looked around and quickly got ourselves oriented. The jumping off point is a large pontoon raft that is permanently docked in the middle of the ocean (This is what it is, but Joe expected it was going to be more like this). Our boat docked up against the pontoon raft and we quickly changed into our stinger suits and got ready to snorkel. Before we had a chance to leave the boat we got a glimpse of another beautiful loggerhead sea turtle swimming by! It's blurry, but we were excited to capture a picture of it.

Loggerhead Turtle

There are no words for snorkeling the great barrier reef. It is more majestic than I ever could have imagined. I was nervous and was worried I'd be afraid of the fish or the reef or potential murkies, but as soon as I got underwater I was at total peace. Nature has a way of humbling us so quickly. Of reminding us just how small we are. John Muir said, "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks," and how right he is. We rented a GoPro for this portion of the day, so rather than trying to describe it an inevitably falling short, here are a few photos.

Joe rocking his stinger suit and snorkel gear

A view from the water of a helicopter doing a fly over near the pontoon

After an hour of snorkeling, we embarked on our first scuba dive. We were both a bit nervous but there wasn't much time for that - they get you in the water quickly! We had a guide who literally held our hands the entire dive (which I appreciated) and showed us incredible things toward the bottom of the reef. We saw schools of fish tucked in and sleeping together, and tiny fish that moved together making different shapes, like this. The dive lasted 30 minutes, which was wonderful. 15 mins out and 15 mins back. We hopped out, got changed, grabbed food quickly, and hopped in a dingy to head over to the heli-pad. Like I said - an absolutely surreal day.

Seeing the reef close up was amazing, but seeing it from the air was something else entirely. The views were breathtaking. There is a famous reef nearby in the shape of a heart a bit south of where we had been at Hardy reef so we flew a few minutes south along the reef to see it, and after a couple of loops around that we headed west back towards Hamilton Island.

Our ride

The heart shaped reef is small and in the center

After a day of adventure, we were met at the airport by a driver and whisked away to our new hotel. It was tranquil, serene, and luxurious. We spent the next day (Thursday) lounging by the pool and going out to a nice dinner.

Our lounging spot

The view from our cabana

Yesterday was our last day in Australia. We flew from Hamilton Island to Brisbane, where we connected to Christchurch. We were delayed by a few hours due to a massive storm that came right atop the airport. Once that cleared it was a smooth flight over to Christchurch. We're only here one night (last night) and this morning we're going back over to the airport to pick up our rental car.

I'm writing this from my friend Sarah's kitchen counter. We rowed together in college (Boiler Up!!) and she lives in Christchurch now, doing a post-doctoral fellowship in biomedical engineering. She's off on a weekend boating adventure so we weren't able to have a proper visit but she was nice enough to offer up her place to us and we were welcomed by an awesome note and local candy for our upcoming adventure! As an aside, Sarah Kessans is one of the most positive, infectiously happy and naturally amped people I have ever met. She's always ready for an adventure and both mentally and physically tough. She recently applied to be an astronaut with NASA. Out of the original applicant pool of 18,300 she is part of the final 120 chosen to go to Houston for a live days-long interview, which she did in August. She finds out next year if she's one of the final 8-14 to make the cut.

Anyway - Australia was amazing and we were sad to leave, but excited for our next adventure! Before we get into that, here's the final details on Aus:

Animals seen: 3 wallabies, a million curlew (which are locally called bush thick knees. Also - they run like they're in trouble and you just caught them, then stop on a dime and stare you down hard), cockatoos, bats, a possum (which looks different down here), and a couple of huge frogs.

New food tried: Bug tails. They're like lobster tail, but that's the whole animal. Taste like lobster tail. Really good with a burnt butter sauce.

Favorite local beer: James Squire 150 lashes Pale Ale

Favorite part of the reef trip: Joe - diving. Anna - snorkeling.

With that, on to New Zealand adventures!