day thirty-seven: november 5, 2015: te anau downs to glade house

A friend recommended that we check out The New Zealand Great Walks, which are nine popular hiking tracks allowing hikers to explore New Zealand's backcountry. We opted for the Milford Track which is in the Fiordland National Park on the South Island, where we would hike 53.5 km (34 miles) over four days. Oof! Thankfully, we decided to go on a guided hike with Ultimate Hikes, instead of navigating it on our own. Crossing our fingers and toes for good weather - sometimes when it rains on the Milford Track, the trails can get flooded and people have to hike in waist deep water! Ahh!

day thirty: october 29, 2015: cable bay/sterling point + elaine bay

We did a quick, but super steep hike from the holiday park up to Sterling Point. The hike was all through private sheep pastures and we had to avoid sheep poop for most of the way. Luckily, it wasn't smelly. After watching sheep all around us, Jonathan and I were impressed thinking about how they and other animals are able to move quickly on such steep terrain. Once we got to the top, we were rewarded with amazing views of Tasman and Cable Bay. Cable Bay was where New Zealand's first telegraph cable linked it to Australia and the rest of the world in 1876. A message from New Zealand to the United Kingdom would take six months, could now be received four days!

day twenty-three: october 22, 2015: motukiekie beach walk + truman track + charming creek walkway

We spent the night on the side of the road at Motukiekie Beach. Needing to wait for low tide to do our first hike, we slept in a little bit, which worked out well due to our late movie the previous night. After several small stream crossings, we circled the point and these magnificent sea-stacks, arches and caves combined with waterfalls coming off the high cliffs down onto the beach. Without our trusty NZ Frenzy guidebook, we definitely would have never found this place.

day nineteen: october 18, 2015: fox glacier

From Wanaka to Fox Glacier, we made a few stops along our drive to check out Thunder Creek Falls and Bruce Bay. No one really knows why, but there are a bunch of white rocks on the road, where people have written on the rocks and have stacked them all together. 

day thirteen: october 12, 2015: nevis drive + remarkables drive + arrowtown + corne/jeff

We had a pretty relaxed day today - no hikes, just scenic drives - The Nevis and The Remarkables. Oh, we did stop by AJ Hackett's Kawarau River Bungy Jump, just to watch. 

day one: september 30, 2015: christchurch

We landed in Christchurch after what seemed like a short flight from SFO to Auckland, then onto Christchurch. It honestly felt like we boarded the plane, ate, watched a few movies, slept, ate, then arrived in New Zealand -- almost like a dream.