Family Visit!

I am so glad I left my job a week early. I had a blast being a bit of a tourist in Auckland since I hadn't really done it yet. A friend and I went to Devonport for some hilltop views and beautiful beaches and I also went to the zoo that week. I found out I didn't get the job I was hoping for, but that also told me I could look for more permanent housing in Auckland. Good news is my friends and I found a place and we move in on the 12th!!!! I am super excited and so ready to get out of the hostel. Maybe I will actually get some homework done now : )

My family came to visit and I was so antsy for them to arrive for the few days leading up to their arrival. Especially knowing they were already on the plane. I met them at the airport and we flew straight to Wellington. I had spent all this time convincing my sister that Lord of the Rings is really downplayed here and no one really cares. Unfortunately I didn't realize the Hobbit premier was in Wellington the week after we arrived, so the city was completely decked out in Hobbit-ness. Didn't help prove my point at all. We hiked up Mt. Victoria, went to the Te Papa museum and walked around town. We also played our first of about 15 games of crummy rummy for the trip.

Monday we took the ferry to Picton and did a hilltop hike that was foggy the last time I had done it. The views were pretty incredible. While we are all complaining about our knees, my sister comments "isn't it nice not to have knee problems?" and then proceeds to wipe out about ten seconds later. My dad struggled a bit with being on the other side of the car/road and turned on the windshield wipers every time he went to signal. It gave us all a good laugh. We drove to Nelson along and incredibly beautiful scenic drive.

View from the hilltop in Picton!

View from our place in Nelson!

Tuesday was a slow day and we went to a few wineries and sat and enjoyed the beautiful view from our patio. Wednesday we hiked Abel Tasman and it was absolutely beautiful. Much prettier than the last time I did it in the pouring rain.

The mountains in Nelson looked cool at sunset!

Thursday we drove a long drive to Fox Glacier. We stopped at the longest swing bridge in NZ and the pancake rocks for some leg stretching. The drive is absolutely beautiful and rated one of the top ten drives in the world. My mom couldn't believe how many cows were laying down and has decided that the cows in NZ are just lazy. We got a good kick out of that.

Awesome timing on my mom's part at the Pancake Rocks!

We tried to do ice climbing at Fox Glacier, but unfortunately it was all booked up so my dad and I did the glacier hike instead. It was raining all day and gloomy, but it didn't ruin our hike. We had fun but my dad didn't appreciate the constant reminder to stay on the trail.

View of the glacier from a distance

Since we couldn't ice climb, our guide showed us how to make an "ice climbing gone wrong" photo to make us feel like we did. Don't worry, the photo is actually turned.

We spent the next day driving to Te Anau. My dad was in shock at how the main highway can have one lane bridges so we had a contest and my mom won by correctly guessing 27 one lane bridges that day. She was absolutely in love with the yellow flowers on the side of the road. We did the glow worm tour at the end of the day and the cave was cool but I don't think any of us were convinced that the glow worms were real. My dad pulled a first by getting in the car and actually sitting down on the wrong side of the car before realizing he wasn't in the driver seat. We got a good kick out of that.

We started Sunday off by my dad sitting in the wrong seat AGAIN! Then we went on a tour of Doubtful Sound that included an overnight stay on the boat. There were two couples and another young girl on the boat and everyone was a lot of fun. It was pouring rain all day, so it kinda ruined the views, but it didn't ruin the fun and it made the waterfalls spectacular! Despite everyone thinking we were crazy to go kayaking in the rain, everyone was fine standing in the pouring rain to fish. Once we caught our dinner we headed to our mooring for the night.

I think one of the coolest pictures artistically of the trip!

Us "crazies" kayaking in the rain!

Fortunately the sky cleared in the morning and we got to see Doubtful Sound in all its glory. Our family caught a float plane back to Te Anau and it was awesome! I got to be copilot which really just meant getting the best view. We went to the theater in town to watch a movie on the fjordlands and then drove to Queenstown. We took the gondola up and did some luging and then I finally won at a game of Crummy Rummy.

Tuesday my dad finally got to play his round of golf and then he returned and we played a family game of frisbee golf in the park. We wrapped up the evening by playing (shock!) some more cards! Wednesday we drove to Arrowtown to look around and then caught our flight back to Auckland. Fortunately my family got a quick walk around the town before having to leave at 3AM for their flight.

So now I am back to the hostel life and working on finding a job. I am super happy to have a place to live and we are making plans for Christmas dinner at our place. It feels weird that its Christmas time and it's summer, but I'm excited to have a summer again! Whew, so congrats to you if you made it through all of that. As always, send me an e-mail and keep me updated on your life!