A Night at the Opera

Leaving New Zealand was extremely sad, but I didn’t have much to complain about since I was just heading back to Australia! School has, however,  proven to be more and more like real school since I've gotten back and I’ve been pretty busy with exams and papers. Don't worry, Mom and Dad. I still find time for fun! ;)

A few days after I got back from New Zealand, Billy came to visit Sydney!  His first full day we did a free walking tour of Sydney, which was actually really great! The tour guide was really friendly and gave me lots of tips on places to eat/go out/visit/ etc. and I learned a lot about Sydney that I hadn’t heard before. Later that evening we did the full Coogee to Bondi coastal walk, watched the sunset over Bondi, then topped off the evening with a nice cold beer and some potato wedges with sweet chili sauce and sour cream (aka the best food Australia has). On Saturday a charity surf competition was on in Manly, so we went to check that out. The surf teams were made up of one surfer, a rugby player, and then a “celebrity,” although none of the names made a difference to me. We DID, however, get to see Kelly Slater surf, which was pretty cool! After Kelly surfed we just walked over to Shelly Beach, which is a much quieter, relaxing beach, and soaked up some sun. At the recommendation of Steve, we topped off the beach day with some Nandos pitas and a jug of Sangria! Although I had to spend my Sunday morning and afternoon studying, we went to check out the Opera House and the Royal Botanical Gardens Sunday evening. At one point Billy commented, “sorry, you’ve probably seen the Opera House millions of times by now.” True, but does seeing the Sydney Opera House really ever get old? NOPE!!! After watching the sun set over the city, which still has to be one of my favorite things to do, we got some of the famous Harry’s Meat Pies (again at the recommendation of Steve).  

 

 

Monday, we took a ferry from Darling Harbour over to Taronga Zoo to visit some Koalas and other creatures! It was a pretty exciting day because normally zoo animals all just sort of lay around, but these animals were all crazy! We got to see some elephants eat peanuts out of boxes and play in the sand, gorillas wrestle, a baby gorilla play, tigers wrestle and play in water, and some not so active Koalas sleep and eat! Not only were the animals more exciting than other zoos, but this zoo literally has the best location ever, as it’s in Northern Sydney and overlooks the city center. One of the coolest spots was the Giraffes because right behind them is the city skyline. After the zoo we went to Scubar for $10 unlimited pizzas and crab racing! Although my crab didn’t win, or for that matter even move, my roommates did get 2^nd place and she won a free Scubar T-shirt!  

 

Last weekend I was lucky enough to get to go INSIDE the Sydney Opera house instead of just admiring from the outside. Nope, I didn’t do a tour, but I did get to to see Pirates of the Caribbean with live orchestra in the largest theatre (it’s not a big deal or anything). The movie played on a big screen TV with just the voices while the Sydney Symphony played the soundtrack to the movie all the while the famous Richard Kaufman conducted. The first time they started to play the Pirates theme song I got the biggest Goosebumps and I’m pretty sure I just sat through the rest of the movie with a huge smile on my face. It was absolutely unreal! After the show, we hung out at Opera Bar and had drinks while looking out at the Harbour Bridge. It will definitely be pretty hard to top that night!

 

 

 

"Sweet as!"

(Sweet as: a term people say instead of "cool" or "awesome")

Day 5: Queenstown

Today was scheduled extreme adventure day #1. The biggest task: bungee jumping. Despite the fact that I love to get my adrenaline pumping, bungee jumping has never been something that appealed to me. In fact, the idea of it terrifies me. Jumping off of a ledge towards rocks, trees, water, or whatever with something hooked around my body just does not sound in any way enjoyable. I woke up this morning completely sick to my stomach from nerves and it only got worse since our day didn’t start until noon. Once our group met up, we took the gondola up the mountain, which gave absolutely beautiful views of Queenstown. Of course, I could barely enjoy them because I was having panic attacks as we got higher and higher up. Then I see it. AJ Hacket’s “The Ledge” bungee. It’s literally just this little building off of the edge of the mountain and there is just this little clearing of space where you jump. I was 100% sure that if I did it, I would die.

Gondola up the Mountain and the AJ Hacket "The Ledge" Bungee

After checking in and again being sorted by weight, I had about an hour wait to sit there and ponder my soon to be death (I know, could I be any more dramatic?). I watched about half of my group jump and just before each of them went my heart literally dropped. Eventually my roommate and I were up next. As they harnessed us up I was literally shaking so much that I had to sit down. The guy doing my harness knew I had gone skydiving before and didn’t understand how I could do that and be so freaked out by bungee. 1) I didn’t have to jump out of the plane by myself 2) I didn’t have to really jump at all….the guy just kind of pushed me 3) Once I was in the plane, I had no other option 4) Jumping 12,000 ft down and 150 ft down are extremely different because those trees and rocks are approaching your face MUCH faster. Then Naomi was back up on the ledge laughing and smiling and it was my turn. There was no way I was going through with this, but then the worker starts counting down. “Three.” I shook my head no. He just laughed and said, “two.” I knew if I didn’t do it when he got to one I never would. “One.” I ran full speed ahead, jumped off super-man style, and screamed as loud as I could and before I knew it it was over. The hardest and most terrifying part is not the fall, I learned, but physically forcing yourself to do something you’ve been taught not to do your entire life. Running off of an edge is just not something your brain or body wants to do!

**Note, we could run and jump, back flip, fall, be thrown off, or do whatever we wantedwith this bungee because it is hooked around your waist, not your feet like most other ones. There is absolutely NO way I would have been able to do it if it was hooked around my ankles!!

Of course, we topped this day off with a Queenstown bar crawl to calm all of our nerves ; )

 Day 6: Queenstown

Extreme adventure day 2. If I haven’t said it already, Queenstown is absolutely crazy. It has anything and everything one person could ever want to do. It’s literally “the adventure capital of the world”….or at least that’s what we were told. Today started with a jetboat ride, and I got front row seats. At around 100 km/h, these boats go through gorges and cliffs on as little as 2 inches of water. Not only do they just go through the gorges, but they do 360 degree spins through them. There were definitely a few times where I thought my head was going to bump on the rocks because they get that close! I don’t know how on earth those drivers train for that job, but it must be pretty terrifying!! After our jet boat ride, we got suited up for our white water rafting trip, hopped in a helicopter, and heli’d up the canyon to our rafts!! And yes, there were even sheep on the very tops of some of the canyons we helicoptered over. Our pilot told us they sometimes have to helicopter rescue some of the sheep that get stuck up there! Those Kiwi’s do take their sheep very seriously! Anyways, we had a 2 hour white water rafting adventure back down the canyons! Most of the river was pretty relaxing and we could just take in the beautiful scenery, but there were 4 or 5 extreme rapids where we had to hold on for dear life! Our raft also was one of the few (maybe the only one?) that did end up tipping. I’d like to say it was in one of the rapids, but unfortunately another boat just ganged up on us and tipped us. Everyone fell under the raft except me, so I had no idea what I was supposed to do and just floated around in extreme shock from the ice cold water. Then once our raft got tipped over by our guide, one of our fellow teammates was floating way up river and couldn’t reach us! Once we got her, none of us had enough strength to climb back IN the raft! I imagine that it was quite entertaining for the other rafters to watch us all struggle, but I guess it just added to the adventure. 

Day 7: Lake Wanaka

Unfortunately left Queenstown this day. I literally could have done a ten day trip just there and would have absolutely loved it! We arrived in Lake Wanaka, another beautiful town situated on a glacier lake and surrounded by mountains, and had a free afternoon. A small group of us decided to check out Puzzling World, which is, well, a place full of puzzles and things that puzzle you. They had a room full of faces that followed you everywhere you went, a room full of optical illusions, a room slanted in every which way so that you didn’t know which way was up and which way was down, a room full of puzzles to solve, and a life size maze. One wouldn’t think that this could entertain a bunch of college aged people for very long, but we actually ended up staying so long that they had to ask us to leave because we stayed 30 minutes past closing time! 

Left: Illusion used in LOTR for hobbits Right: center of gravity illusion room

Day 8: Fox Glacier

On day 8 I hiked a glacier. Yes, a real glacier. In New Zealand. Who knew? TO start from the beginning, we left Lake Wanaka and drove to the town of Fox Glacier. About 30 minutes before arriving at our glacier destination, we took a pit stop at a beach on the ocean. Within 30 minutes, I went from beach….to glacier. N Zed really truly does have it all! Before our glacier hike, we were suited up with all the right gear. Hiking boots, boot clamps with ice teeth, and gloves, although the jackets and gloves were only needed once we got to the highest point on the glacier when it started to pour…before that I was sweating! Throughout the hike our guide would stop and point out where the glacier had been at certain points in the past, which was absolutely crazy. Especially in the last ten years the glacier has regressed so much. It was kind of scary to think that at some point in the possibly near future the part that I hiked won’t even be there at all! Besides the hiking aspect, I got to fill up my water bottle with REAL, PURE, ICE COLD glacier water (yum!) and hack away at the ice with the guide’s ice pick!! After our hike we settled in at our hostel for our last night together. To emphasize how New Zealand has it all, our hostel’s hot tub was literally surrounded by rainforest. Beach, glacier, rainforest….all within 30 minutes of eachother! Later that night a few of us walked down the road and out of the town to star gaze. Since this town was in the middle of no where and probably had a population of 10 people, we literally just layed down in the middle of the road in the middle of the rainforest and looked at the stars for like an hour. It was pretty cool to be looking at all the stars from the Southern Hemisphere, althought I did notice there was definitely a lack in shooting stars!!



There just happened to be 10 Badgers on my trip!

Day 9: Today we had a VERY long drive from Fox Glacier back to Christchurch. After the most exhilarating 8 days of my life, it will be an understatement to say that I was exhausted. I actually think I slept for 7 hours and 45 minutes of this 8ish hour drive. Once we were  back in Christchurch, I had one last dinner with my old and new friends. It was really bittersweet to be leaving this amazing country and all of these amazing people I had met, but I knew I would be left with so many unforgettable memories. It’s truly a beautiful thing how quickly you come to feel so close with someone after jumping out of a plane with them, having them cheer you on before you run off that bungee ledge, giving a helping hand to pull you back up on that raft, or even share an 8 hour bus ride with them. It’s truly a beautiful thing when one place can challenge you, inspire you, and change you in just 8 days. For now, I’ll say it was a once in a lifetime experience. But New Zealand, I sure as hell hope it wasn’t.

“What a treat, buddy”

New Zealand-Part 1

For just a minute, close your eyes and imagine the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen. Now imagine the most relaxing and peaceful place you’ve ever been. Now combine the both and imagine an entire country full of that (except possibly even better), and that’s New Zealand. Literally from the second I landed to the second the plane took off I was completely mesmerized with the scenery around me.  I’ve done A LOT of wonderful things in my life and have been extremely lucky with travelling the world, but travelling through New Zealand for ten days with an amazing group of people was really something. Words really can’t do this trip justice, but to say I had the time of my life is an understatement. Or, in the words of some Canadian friends I made, “what a treat, buddy.”

Day 1: Driving Day
Our first day was a driving day, as we flew into Christchurch and were making our way to Queenstown, which is on the opposite end of the South Island. Despite the fact that I left Sydney at 6:30 pm and didn’t arrive into Christchurch until 4:30 am and had no bed to sleep in at the hostel, I couldn’t close my eyes during the bus trip. Most of the drive was through countryside consisting of beautiful fields with sheep and cows back dropped by mountains. One of our pit stops was at Lake Tekapo, which is honestly the most beautiful lake I’ve ever seen. The lake itself is surrounded by the Southern Alps and the water was the pure turquoise.

 

Our next pit stop was at Morlea Farm, a family owned sheep farm, where we learned what a sheep is for (supposedly there are about 30 million sheep and 5 million people), watched a sheep shearing and a  sheep dog demonstration, and were served an authentic New Zealand BBQ! Not only was the food delicious—lamb, burgers, sausage, potatoes, pasta salad, and apple crumble—but the farm/house was absolutely beautiful as well. They had the food set up as a buffet style and the tables were set up on the porch and in the back yard, which was surrounded by fields and mountains.

 

Day 2: Milford Sound

Our second day began with another beautiful bus trip through the Southern Alps from Queenstown to Milford Sound, which is a fjord on the western coast of the Southern Island. We did a boat cruise through the Sound…again, absolutely breathtaking.  You are literally surrounded by mountains/cliffs that rise STRAIGHT out of the water and are covered in rainforests and waterfalls. Although this cruise was supposed to be relaxing and magical, I took the extreme route (although somewhat unintentionally). As we started exiting the sound and getting more towards the open water, the captain warned us that it’s going to get pretty choppy and you could get wet if you were standing out front, which is where I was. I figured it would just be some sprays and I’ve been on choppy waters, right? I was wrong. There were about 5 of us that had decided to stay up at the front and within minutes we were completely drenched. On one of the first waves, when we didn’t realize we should be holding on, our feet actually left the boat by like 4 inches and one of the other guys even fell over! Once we were already soaked, though, we figured why not stay out there, so for the next 30 minutes or so we just stood at the front of the boat titanic style getting dominated by waves and holding on for dear life! On our way back into the sound, we drove through a waterfall and got to stand underneath that as well! So even though the water was freezing, I thought I was going overboard a few times, and it was not the relaxing cruise I expected, I think it gave my “extreme adventures” trip a great start!

 

Day 3: Te Anau (Easter!)

On day 3 we did the glow worm caves in Te Anau. Yes, worms. Who wants to look at worms, right? Especially who wants to go through a cave full of worms? It sounds gross, but it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen. The tour starts out with you walking through the caves, where you see a few glow worms here and there. Once you get deeper in, though, you hop on a boat and all of the lights they installed in the caves are turned off. The cave is absolutely pitch black, so the guide has to pull the boat through the water by ropes or chains that they’ve installed on the ceilings of the caves. Everyone remains absolutely silent and above and all around you are thousands and thousands of tiny blue glowing worms. It’s as if you’re looking at the night sky, but instead of it being wayyy far above you, it’s just a few feet away from you. It was really, truly magical. Cameras weren’t allowed in so that the light doesn’t ruin the experience, but this is what it looks like.  

Day 4: Queenstown

This was the only day of our trip that was left completely open for us to do as we pleased. Of course I chose skydiving, as many people say Queenstown is one of the best places in the world to do it. And I can see why, as Queenstown is absolutely stunning. The town sits on Lake Wakatipu and is also surrounded by mountains, such as The Remarkables (featured in the Lord of the Rings…although really all of NZ is LOTR), so when you’re all you can see for miles and miles is mountains and the lake. My dive started at 8:30am, and they drive you outside of Queenstown and around Lake Wakatipu into the mountains. They sort the planes based on weight/photographers and call your name when you’re up. You’re diver suits you up in a full body suit, hat, goggles, and harness, then you’re off to the plane! I ended up with 4 other guys from my tour group and one other kiwi. There were also 4 photographers with us, so 16 people were crammed in this tiny little plane. Honestly, you kind of feel like you’re going to war with all that gear on and being crammed in there. As we were flying up, the views just kept getting better and better. Once we got pretty high I was thinking, “oh man…that door is going to open any minute now!” but then my diver pointed to a gage on his wrist and said “we’re a little less than half way up!” That was when I had my “oh sh*t...what the heck am i doing” moment. Luckily my diver had done over 11,000 jumps, so I really wasn’t too worried. Once we got to 12,000 feet, the door swung open and the first guy was out within seconds. That was when my guy started scooting me towards the door, threw my feet out of the plane and pushed my head back on his shoulder. I glanced back at my friends left in the plane and one second I was looking at faces, the next I was flipping through the air and seeing mountains, then lake, then sky, then plane, then lake and mountains again. The first 5 seconds were absolutely insane. My heart stopped and I think I forgot to breathe, but it was such a rush. By far the absolute coolest thing I have ever done in my life. Although the rest of the free fall is a bit of a blur (they said a lot of people don’t remember their first jump), I wouldn’t even be able to put into words the experience if I did remember clearly. I do know that I screamed a lot, I could feel my cheeks flapping in the wind, it was too hard to move my arms to make my Wisconsin "W" symbol with my hands, and my mouth got really dry! Other than thatt, all I can say is that at least once in every person’s life should you jump out of a plane! I know that I’ll definitely be doing it again, and from higher!!

 

 

(Rest of the trip coming soon)