Hello all! I am finally, slowly starting to post about my south island trip. It all started early early on Oct 1, right after the Bay of Islands. As in I didn't go to bed when I got home from that trip, packed a little more, then left for the airport- one crazy day! I arrived in Christchurch and hung out for about an hour and a half until the bus left. I went on the Stray bus, which was the best decision ever. Each afternoon the bus stops at some place where there is a hostel and a little something to do. Mostly I just would walk around and hang out with friends, well you will see what I did! The first stop we had was Kiakora, which is known for its sea life. A lot of people go whale watching or swim with dolphins.
While on the bus there was this awesome view of the ocean and then I learned that the two colors of the sea (light blue and dark blue) are where to two tectonic plates meet, pretty crazy.
We got to the hostel and it was a little unique. It was sort of old, French I guess. But here was the common room, where there were tons of tapes! And Mom and Dad I thought you would like the boat on the ceiling (there were lots of things hanging on the ceilings or walls, which reminded me of the skis on our wall).
This was the stair case up to the rooms, it was neat because it was a giant house.
I had been talking to a few people on the bus so we all decided to go on a walk along the beach. There was a boy from Whales (can't remember his name), Franz from Germany (you really can't travel anywhere without meeting a German!), Marissa from Washington, and Lucy from the UK. This is the beautiful view of the rock beach and snow capped mountains. Seeing all the snow made me want to be back in a New England winter but then I realized that would mean I would have to shovel so decided against the wish haha.
Just another beautiful view!
Eventually, someone in the group told us there was a seal colony up the road and even though it was a long walk we decided to go for it. All the seals were having their afternoon nap...in the grass. It seemed a bit weird but was really cute.
This one is just so comfortable with life.
On our walk back we saw a mama duck and all her ducklings crossing through sheep fields. Make way for ducklings New Zealand style!
After eating some free soup we went to the grocery store and found this amazing creation. The little fish and chip shop was selling "chocolate explosions" and so we just had to get some! It's a raspberry jelly donut deep fried then chocolate injected into the middle...pure sugar rush.
We then decided to watch the sunset on the beach, kinda missed seeing it on the beach but it was still such a pretty view.
Once the sunset had mostly faded Marissa and I wanted to sit on the beach and relax for a little while. Since it was a rock beach the waves crashing on the stones was just unforgettable, I had never heard something like that before. It sounded almost like the fireworks that have that crackle sound after. After a while we went back in and hung out with a bunch of people from the bus. I then got nick named King after a small moment of stupidity. Basically, I was really tired and a bunch of people had explained a game called Ring of Fire and I call it Kings so after a while I said has anyone tried playing Kings. People thought it would be a new game but when I explained it it was exactly the same, I hadn't realized haha. But I would say it's a pretty awesome nick name to have!
The next morning the bus stopped at a baby seal colony, where I got to meet some pretty cute seals!
It was a beautiful waterfall with maybe 30 baby seals all swimming and playing!
This is just an awesome picture of Kiakora I found and thought I would share with you!
That was the first night on the Stray bus where I got to meet new friends and see some pretty cool stuff. I'll try to keep updating later in the weekend, just email me if I dont! I'm going away for part of the weekend, I'll keep it a surprise until I can blog about it! Hope everyone is doing well and enjoying all their apples from apple picking and fresh apple pies and pumpkin carving...I'm not jealous at all...Just kidding I miss the fall so much haha
Love,
Michele
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