Rotorua & Wellington

After a few days of hanging out in Auckland, Tasha and I set forth on our journey south. Our first stop was a small, smelly town called Rotorua. This is known to be one of the more cultural (in the Maori sense) places in NZ. It's also a geothermic activity hotbed (and thus, it smells like sulfur everywhere!). Tasha and I decided we would spend 2 days there simply because we could. Some highlights include spending a couple hours at the Polynesian Spa where we soaked in the naturally hot pools on the edge of Lake Rotorua, wandering the park looking at steaming pools and mud pots, and relaxing by our hostel's pool.

Tasha & I at Polynesian Spa

Once we left Rotorua, our bus headed south for Wellington. A highlight of that journey for me was passing through Taupo (which has the cheapest sky diving in the world...don't worry, I wasn't feel that adventurous at the time), and driving along Tongariro Nat'l Park which is the home of Mt. Doom from the Lord of the Rings movies!


I spent only one full day in Wellington, which really was a beautiful city. The majority of that day was spent in the beauutiful Botanical Gardens. There were so many flowers, plants, trees, streams, pathways...it was gorgeous. I spent four hours there and I could have easily spent four more! That night Tasha and I went out to celebrate our last night together, as she stayed in Wellington to look for work. The next morning I got up super early to walk to the bus stop to catch a bus to the railway station where I caught a shuttle to the ferry pier, where I caught the ferry to Picton (the South Island), where I caught a bus to Christchurch! Long travel day!

Postcard view of Wellington

The ferry across wasn't too nauseating and very beautiful. I went out on a deck on the sides and snapped many shots. Most of the journey was winding through all these islands, so it was gorgeous. There were also thousands- probably millions of jellyfish in the water, that was cool. The bus ride from Picton to Christchurch was beautiful as well. Once 30 minutes away from the luscious, tropical coast we were winding through large, arrid hills that reminded me of Bakersfield. Then we drove through the Marlborough wine region (famous for their pinot noir I believe), then for like the last 3 hours we were up against the west coast where we saw hundreds of seals. The water was a clear blue, and it looked a lot like the northern coast of California!

Taken off the ferry as we entered the sounds in the South Island!

So now I'm in Christchurch for a couple days. On Monday I head down to Queenstown where I can hopefully find a flat and a job. I'm excited to get there but it's nice to spend a few days here in Christchurch.


See more photos at http://community.webshots.com/user/thethirdboes! I have so many photos, it's hard to pick and choose which to post, but I at least want to give you a taste of what my trip has been like so far! Much love to you all!