New Zealand Recap in Video Shorts

I've been playing around with my GoPro camera's video mode... here are a few fun clips from throughout the trip. Please keep in mind that the quality is not the greatest, and the colors seem to be different than what I'm seeing my iPad. There also is no sound!

Kayaking Doubtful Sound


Skipping to Wanaka


Driving in Wanaka


Rafting the Buller River Gorge


Cliff Jumping the Buller River Gorge


Bicycle Wine Touring in Marlborough


Pre-Seal Swim


Swimming with Dusky Dolphin (and getting used to the GoPro video mode!)

Okie dokie team... Good on ya

Seal Swimming!

Our last few days in New Zealand consisted of an epic birthday celebration in honor of Dave. It started out early on the 17th by suiting up from head to toe in black neoprene suits and sliding into the frigid water with a number of juvenile New Zealand fur seals. The seals were very curious and playful, like puppies. They would come check us out, and the most remarkable moments were in our last 15 minutes when two youngsters played with us as if we were seals ourselves. They would come by, and make eye contact with us while spinning around, hanging upside down, and chomp at us playfully. We got them pretty revved up. It was fantastic.

Photo by Allison
We then drove the 2.5 hours down to Sumner, a small beach town outside of Christchurch where we continued the celebration. After checking into our hostel and making the pudding for "dirt" (an American favorite dessert that I haven't had in about 15 years.. But is oh so good!), which we gave a New Zealand flair by adding chopped up mint slices instead of the crushed oreos. We went to Clink and had the most incredibly delicious meal of lamb, seafood pasta, champagne, and local wine and beer. I don't think that any of us have ever eaten so slowly in hopes to make the meal last longer because it was so good.

We've spent the last few days right outside of Melbourne, Australia on Mt. Macedon with really good family friends, Peter and Avril, who have spoiled us rotten. We also got to see their daughters and son-in-law. Some highlights include a great afternoon spent with some friends who run their own vineyard and produce incredible wine from both their, and Peter and Avril's, vineyards. We ate a lamb stew which was made from lamb raised on their farm, and then attempted to pet their alpacas and goats. We also hiked up Hanging Rock and explored the rock formations. Allison and I also nearly jumped out of our skin when a wallaby (small animal that looks very similar to a kangaroo) came zooming past us unexpectedly. Last night we went to my favorite Chinese restaurant, the Bamboo House, where Peter and Avril took me and some friends when I was studying here four years ago, where we had another amazing dinner. I then experienced my first opera, Rigaletto, which was absolutely fantastic. We all really enjoyed it. I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. 

Photo by Dave

Photo by Dave

Photo by Dave

Sadly, our time in New Zealand and now Australia has come to an end, and Allison is currently on the plane back home. The team is now down to two, as Dave and I have just arrived in Bangkok, Thailand.

Photo by Dave

sweet as...

The past few days have been action packed. We started with Dave's pre-birthday celebration of white water rafting in a small town called Murchison (where you last heard from me). The river was short, but was spiced up with some cliff jumping and a rapid swim. The water was absolutely freezing, but the sun was shining and it was a very fun morning. We also happened to be in a boat with a couple from Greenwich... Small world.

After leaving Murchison, we spent an afternoon and night in Renwick, in the Marlborough wine district in the north-east of the South Island. We rented bicycles from our hostel and did a biking wine tasting tour of the local vineyards. This area is known for the Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir and we could absolutely taste why. We also played a round of "Badonk" or as we know it, "Bocce Ball". After talking way too much smack, Allison and I ended up losing to Dave... Yes he wanted me to add this into the post.

photo by Dave

Yesterday, on our drive down to Kaikoura, on the East coast, we saw tons of seals, of which (of course) we pulled over to take photographs. We were able to get incredibly close to a number of them sunbathing and who couldn't care less that we  were there.  We also stopped at a seal pup "daycare" creek where 3 tiny seals were playing. This fresh water creek is an area protected from predators, where mother seals take and leave their pups for the day while they go out hunting. It was incredibly cool and the seals were adorable.

We are currently in Kaikoura, and Allison and I got up at the crack of 7 to go out swimming with the resident dusky dolphin. There must have been between 250 and 400 around the area and they were awesome. Once numb from the frigid water, and making bizarre sounds as directed, the dolphins would come around and if try were curious, and if you could, make eye contact, the dolphin would swim around you in circles about a foot away. This happened twice to me, and Allison and I had one dolphin keep coming back to us for a good 2 minutes. It was incredible. The photos were taken with my GoPro camera, so the quality is not the best, but you can get a sense of the animals.

We're all going tomorrow to swim with the seals. Looking forward to it.

Falling out of airplanes and living to blog about it

having survived the jump - photo by Dave

Liz parachuting down - photo by Dave

I never realized that falling out of an airplane at 12,000 feet could be so exhilarating. Having a fear of heights made the anticipation beyond terrifying. My palms have never sweat more in my entire life. I hardly slept the night before, and I've never trusted a random stranger with limited English vocabulary more. Allison jumped first, and I had the privilege of watching everyone plummet out of the perfectly good aircraft before going last. My instructor is probably now deaf in one ear, but I now understand why Dad loved it so much. I would definitely do it again... Sorry Mom.

Allison after landing - photo by Dave

photo by Dave

The views parachuting down were absolutely spectacular. The sun was shining and I could see lake Wanaka surrounded by the snow capped mountains. It's also a plus that we survived the fall. We really enjoyed Wanaka. We met up with one of my friends, Gen, and had a really nice dinner, tasted some wine, and watched the sun set behind the mountains from a grassy knoll overlooking the lake.

Fox Glacier - photo by Dave or Allison

We began our 4 hour drive up the West Coast up to Fox Glacier after our breakfast of gourmet scrambled eggs which was fit for a king... One of many. We hiked to a few different vantage points to explore the glacier and then for the last two days we have been hiking the Coplan Track. The hike took us 7-8 hours to get to the Welcome Hut Flat where there was not only a place to sleep, but also 3 natural hot spring pools. It was incredible. A cool breeze came in when the sun had set which also blew away the brutal sandflies, so we were really able to fully enjoy the view. We had a nice soak which loosened up all our muscles after our full day of hiking so we were not too sore for our return hike the following day. We hiked over 8 bridges (which was Allison's favorite part) and crossed 108 streams (yes, we counted!).

photo by Dave

Liz and Allison soaking in the hot springs - photo by Dave

Welcome Hut Flat on the Coplan Track

Today we drove up the coast and inland to Murchison, staying at the Lazy Cow hostel (which is very homey), and are going white water rafting tomorrow as Dave's pre-birthday celebration.    

Allison almost got arrested for hopping the fence to take photos of sheep. I was so proud.