Birthday and Bye

Hello hello!

We finished up our fun week! But before Mom left we had an entire day that was about her. We went to tour the Opera House, and then later took a ferry ride over to Darling Harbour where we had an awesome dinner, paid by yours truly.

The entire trip was so amazing, and I had tons of fun. Unfortunately it was too much of a taste of home then I could handle. I am really wanting to come home now, although I know I am in an amazing place that people would die to be at. Home is where the heart is, in more ways than one.

But, the last day started at 4 am, when I had a little dilemma at home, and had to attend to my phone. Once I came back into the room Mom was up with me as well because her flight was changed, thanks to VP Mike Pence. After much stress and phone calls we figured it out and the flight was changed to a decent time.

Since we were up, we ordered room service and chilled out until the tears set in. Although Mom missed home, she didn't want to leave, and knowing how much I missed home and my friends, it made it that much harder.

But everyone is safely back to where they were two weeks ago, and now begins the countdown to classes being over!

Miss you all dearly,

xoxo,

Christine

p.s. sorry for no pictures, but all the New Zealand pictures are to the right on the blog page! -->

Going Out With a Bang!

Hi Hi!!

Today was our last day in Queenstown before heading back to Sydney for two days. We flew out in the mid afternoon so we had plenty of time to do one more adventure in Queenstown, and Mom picked it!

Turns out she has been jealous of all my daredevil activities and wanted to tag along, so we did a bungee swing, which is an activity New Zealand is known for because they have the biggest bungees in the world.

It was super fun to do... but it will be even more fun to watch the video below...

Not scared at all, aye? 

Hope you enjoyed our thrill. Well... One more full day with Mom, and lucky for her, it's a big one! Her BIRTHDAY!!

Till adventure's end...

xo,

Christine

Making the Most of it!

Hey there!

Today was are finally full day in New Zealand. We were at our final destination in Queenstown. We had an awesome day planned to Milford Sound, by plane where we would take a boat to lunch. But unfortunately...the weather was too bad in Milford Sound to head over there via airplane, and it was too long to drive. I would recommend googling Milford Sound to see some pictures and to fully understand why we were so upset.

But, since it was our last day we needed to make the most of it, and what is a better way to do that than shopping and wine?

We headed up to a vineyard where we rented bikes and went on a ride past two wineries where we did some wine tasting and got a tour.

So athletic, right? 

We were doing so well, and the scenery was beautiful; feeling good after our free wine tasting and our exercise. All until Miss. Clumsy over here (that'd be me), fell off her bike into a prickly bush. I had the camera so Mom thought I was just taking pictures and when I caught up to her she was like, "I was starting to get worried." Turns out after you turn 18 your Mom's motherly instincts kind of slow down. I'm fine by the way and I will blame it on the wine. But in reality I tried to wipe my nose because it was running. But I only ended up wiping out. I believe I will be pulling out splinters until I arrive back to the USA.

Once we were done there we did a cheese tasting, because what goes better with wine than cheese?

The cheese tasted as good as this cheese board looks!

Then we finished off the night with some shopping for souveniers. It wasn't the day we planned for, but it turned out to be alright. Here's to the last few hours and Queenstown and our final adventure in NZ.

Beautiful, aye? 

Cheers,

Miss Clumsy aka Christine

It's the Climb

Hello again,

Sorry for bombarding everyone with blog posts and pictures, but I want you to see all about our adventures, so it's easiest to do it as I go.

Today, we did a waterfall climb in Wanaka. The entire day I thought this climb was going to be a steep walk to a waterfall with a tour guide. WRONG. Right before we left Mom showed me what it was...and let's just say I am very surprised she booked it!

It was basically rock/mountain climb. We were holstered in and we had clips that you had to clip on as you go always keeping two out of the three of your clips attached at all times.

Surprised this picture isn't blurry from how much
the bridge was moving under me

We even felt confident enough to dangle!

After this little adventure we hopped in the car and headed to a pit stop, Arrowtown. But before getting there we noticed this along the road...

Nothing like breast cancer awareness!

Arrowtown was a super cute town. All the leaves were changing as well and it was super colorful.

After this we headed to Queenstown, our final New Zealand adventure. Thankfully, I was able to get a very New Zealand-like picture today while driving. The beautiful mountains, with the famous, New Zealand sheep.

 

Last adventures to come...

xoxo, 

Christine

Helicoptering to Mount Cook

Hi!

Yesterday was a long day, but it was a day full of amazing views. It all started with a helicopter ride from Lake Tekapo all the way to Mount Cook and the Tasman Glacier. Mount Cook is the largest mountain in all of New Zealand. During the helicopter ride we saw the entire mountain range and even saw some volcanic rock glowing on the top of one of the peaks.

 

The mountain tops and part of the tasman glacier's path

During the ride, we also landed on the top and took some amazing pictures. 

Striking a pose, as always

After our helicopter ride we back tracked and drove back an hour and a half to the most walked trail in all of Lake Tekapo. The trail was about three hours and took us super close to Mount Cook! There were also a few of the first swing bridges, which swung quite a bit when you walked across.

Biggest mountain in New Zealand??

There she is, Mount Cook in all her glory

Once we finished up the walk we had a three hour drive to our next destination, Wanaka. On the way the sun was setting and we made sure to pull over to get a good picture.

Today is off to a waterfall climb. Wish us luck...

Signing off,

Christine

Road Trip Central

Howdy all!

Yesterday was quite the day, it all started in Geraldine for a few hikes. The first hike took us to a huge tree that was over 3 meters wide. The second took us to a waterfall that was more muddy than it was worth. I also fell in the water trying to get the crappy picture. But I cleaned off my muddy sneakers!

The Big Tree Walk tree!

After our hikes, we hopped in the car and drove about an hour and a half to Lake Tekapo. Along the way was lots of pretty scenery so we stopped a few times to take some pictures. The most exciting picture, was of the sheep of course!

I was literally in someone's yard taking this picture 

Pretty, right?

We even stopped at this cute little stand because we had to go to the bathroom. Unfortunately though they didn't have any toilets! :(

"Sorry, NO TOILETS"

Once we got to Lake Tekapo and finding a toilet we took quite a photoshoot in front of the lake. Also, this church is the most photographed church in all of New Zealand, and I somehow got all the pictures without other tourists looking in the window of the church.

In the midst of taking this picture I was told by someone
else to get out of her picture, RUDE

Breathtakingly beautiful

Today is off to helicopter that lands on top of Liebig Dome. And then it's off to the most popular walk in the Mount Cook Park where there is the first swinging bridge and a view of Mueller Glacier.

Next Stop: Wanaka, NZ

Adventures & Love,

Christine

Up High Down Under

Tena Koutou (or Greetings to All in the second language of New Zealand),

Today was an early early day. We rose at 4 am to be ready and picked up at 4:45 to be taken to a field where we ended up going on a HOT AIR BALLOON. So, as you could imagine, the early rise was totally worth it. 

The day of balloon riding had a few steps. First, they needed to fill the balloon up by filling it with air  and then adding some hot air. 

And up she went!

Once we were in the air it was quite cloudy and the views were mostly of farmland, but it was still gorgeous. And as you can see we fully utilized all photo opts as well...

The ride was a full hour and it consisted of helping get the balloon up in the air, and bringing it down. Once it was down we also had to put it back in it's bag which is much harder than it seems. It consisted of a lot of rolling and laying on the parachute. We also landed in a field with sheep...and they left us some nice little presents... Let's just say we needed to clean our shoes.

After that, we headed to our next destination, Geraldine. But before we got there we took a pit stop at Port Hills, where we took a Gondala to the top and ate lunch at the top of Mount Cavendish.

Gondalas going up Mount Cavendish

The views from lunch were spectacular, and thankfully these are only the beginning of our gorgeous New Zealand Views.

Even with fog, way better than any views in the States!

Overlooking the New Zealand Coastline near Christchurch

 Tomorrows destination: Peels Forest and Lake Tekapo.

xoxo,

Christine

Easter in Christchurch

Happy Easter Everyone!

Today, Mom and I hopped over to New Zealand for Easter. It was a three hour long hop, a hop nonetheless. The flight was booked with Emirates and although Mom claimed it was the cheapest...I am not quite sure that was the case. We got complimentary food, a TV, a pillow, headphones, and even a little gaming device all included with our short 3 hour flight. There was also an awesome airplane bathroom (weird, right?). It even had hand lotion!!

Good thing I brought warm clothes.
Snow capped mountains ahead!

Once we landed we picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel. We hung out for a bit and then went out to dinner for our Easter dinner. Check out our food!!

Appetizer a plenty

What's better than Lamb on Easter? 

Tiramisu!

Next Adventure: Hot Air Balloon and off to Geraldine, NZ!

Christine

Guess Who's Down Under...

Howdy Mates!

This week I have my mid-semester break, which includes an entire week off of school, so someone came to visit. Can ya guess? You probably guessed it (mostly because she hasn't stopped talking about it), MOM!

Mom got here Thursday bright and early. I left her to relax the majority of the day until later in the afternoon when we met up. I let her get to sleep early because I know how hard the time change can be, especially when you're as young as her ;)

But...the next day we made a two hour trek to the Featherdale Wildlife Park. Unfortunately it was Good Friday and the park was filled with kids who didn't have school, but no worries, we blended right in pushing them out of the way to get good pictures too!

The day started off with the Koala sanctuary where we got to get up close and personal with koala. Some might even call it, koalaty time (bad pun, sorry).

Then we headed to the kangaroo/wallaby sanctuary. We got to feed the little guys and I even snatched some before and after pictures that I am sure you all are dying to see.

Parental Discression is Advised. 

Check it out! Mating wallaby's! We also got to see a cute little momma with her Joey sticking out of her pouch!

Mom and little Roo! 

If you ask anyone who saw this they'd tell you,
I am basically a kangaroo whisperer. 

After the lovely day at the Wildlife Park, we headed back to the Sydney Harbor Bridge and Opera House. We did a walk across the bridge, which had some pretty views, but it was all chained up because I guess they were afraid Mom would realize she would have to go home to Colin at some point. JUST KIDDING, she kind of loves him.

What a view, am I right? 

Chains along the Bridge

It was such a good day, and it even finished up with a funny surprise, Jack Dawson was singing in front of a cruise ship, kinda funny for anyone who was every watched the Titantic!

Jack Dawson himself, hopefully this Carnival Cruise doesn't go down too. 

Today on the other hand was not a very picture-ful day, mostly because the memory card wasn't in the camera, whoops! But, we did the Coastal Walk which left us with 25,000 steps. But don't worry we made it up with Gelato. Tomorrow morning is off to New Zealand. 

Stay tuned for more adventures, ft. MOM

xoxo, 

Christine & Madre

GBR Thrills Take 2

G'day folks!

As you could see from my last post this weekend was quite a thrill but the thrills did not end at skydiving. The day after skydiving we headed out on a boat to the Great Barrier Reef!

On this trip we were able to do an introductory dive and snorkel. We tried to go diving the first time. And for some reason I was much more worried about diving under the surface compared to diving from the sky. Breathing through the regulator was very scary and it was hard to breathe. Your ears also had to regulate to the pressure of the water. I had a lot of trouble and couldn't calm myself down so unfortunately I didn't get down very far. But luckily the second dive spot was super shallow so I was able to see almost everything everyone else saw on the dive from the surface! Check out our awesome pictures. 

On a side note... Please let Donald Trump know that global warming IS a thing and although these corals seem colorful there was a lot of white bleeched corals due to the rapid change in water temperature. The reef is getting smaller and smaller every year so please be mindful. I am oh so thankful I got to see this beautiful wonder of the world before it is all dead in a couple of years.

Cheers,

Christine