The Catlins & Everything happens for a reason...

We got an early start today (6:30 am) to head to the Catlins so we could take advantage of the good weather.  There's lots I wanna do there so we wanted to make the most of it.  Unfortunately we drove an hour out of the way, we wanted to drive the Southern Scenic Route and the GPS was taking us the quicker route.  So we turned around and headed back to where we started.

Now that the sun was up I was able to greet some friends while on my journey!

It was suuuuuper windy!

When we hit the coast we got out and stretched our legs.  It was beautiful!

After about driving for 4 hours (this was supposed to be a 3 1/2 hour drive!) we stopped at a little chicken and chips place for a snack........just a few more miles down the road we ran into this:

A SHEEP CROSSING!!!  See?? Everything happens for a reason!  If I didn't drive the wrong way, I wouldn't have been able to see my cow friends, if we didn't stop at the beach, if we didn't stop for our chicken snack, we woulda totally missed this!!!  I was sooooo happy!!

We finally made it into the Catlins and I have a whole checklist of stuff I wanna do here.  We saw a sign for Purakaunui Falls.  Check.

After the falls we headed over to our B&B and were pleasantly surprised with our view...

If you're ever in the area, check out Nugget Lodge.  Very affordable and nice!!

If you've seen my posts in the past, Randy always tries to jump in the water everyplace we go.  It ws 50 degrees out so he was contemplating this one...

Didn't take him very long to decide.

Roaring Bay to see the penguins.  Check.

We saw ONE penguin! Can you find him??

Nugget Point.  Check!  We did a lot today!!

I want to try and shoot Nugget Point at sunrise but it's supposed to rain tomorrow.  I'm crossing my fingers that it will pass overnight.  We'll just have to wait and see!  g'nite!

Doubtful Sound & Meclizine is my friend!!

If you ever decide to come to New Zealand, you must must must take a cruise down the Doubtful Sound.  It is absolutely incredible.  One problem, it is not for the weak at sea...like me.  I inquired about the "roughness" of the cruise before I bought the tickets and the girl said that it's basically smooth until you got out to sea, where it can get a little rough.  You will stay out there for about 20 minutes.  For those of you who get seasick, ask your doctor to prescribe you some Meclizine.  If you are one that is prone to getting seasick then this will be your best friend.  I am EXTREMELY sensitive and so far I've had to use it about 4 times and never had a problem. 

Back to the boat.  It was kinda mildly rocky the whole time, but HOLY SH*&**&$$T when we got out to sea I thought I was gonna fall over the edge.  Think of this...Up, two, three, Down, two, three...that is how high the boat was rocking.  I had trouble getting back to my seat and when I finally got back there I started to get a little queasy.  I'm surprised I didn't see anyone get sick.  I saw one lady lying down but she didn't toss any cookies.  If I didn't take my medicine I would've been extremely green.  Once the boat got back to the sound area I felt a whole lot better.

These views make the whole thing worth it.  Sorry, I will probably bore you with this post but I just couldn't get enough pictures of this place!

There was a heavy fog in the morning, which quickly lifted as we sailed on.  I didn't wanna go outside, it was too freakin cold!

Randy of course wanted to be a hotshot and check it out up top

I look like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man!

The water was so glassy the reflections were insane!!

Couldn't help it.

Off to the Catlins tomorrow!  I can't wait!

Sheep, sheep and more sheep!

Queenstown, Te Anau

Good morning Queenstown!  Geez, we missed the beautiful sunrise.  We went walking around early to make sure we saw it but then we got cold and went into the grocery store cause it looked like the sunrise was gonna be bleh.   We walked out and the sky was pink!  I ran over to the lake and this is all that was left :( It was pretty while it lasted...

Today we drove out to Te Anau.  We figured it would take us about 3 hours to get down there, since we would take pics, grab a bite to eat...but if you decide to drive down here and run into Lake Hayes, then turn around!!!  You're going the wrong way!!! Uhhh about 5 miles out of the way.  It wouldn't be a vacation if we didn't get lost, right??

There are sheep EVERYWHERE!!! It was sooo cute but I could never find a good place to pull over to take some pics.  I finally found one and I was so excited!  I got lucky too cause it was raining the whole time and it stopped just long enough for me to get some pics with my new friends

We made it!!  We didn't take much pics here, not as picturesque as Queenstown.  Tomorrow will be a different story. Stay tuned!

I'm in New Zealand!!!

April 16, 2015
Queenstown

We arrived in Auckland early yesterday morning (very early...like midnight) but I didn't take any pictures there, nothing really interesting, just another big city...but very nice.  My vacation officially starts from today.  This is what I was waiting for, and so far am not disappointed.  We flew into Queenstown this morning and made the mistake of not taking a window seat.  My friend mentioned to me to make sure I watched the landing...it was AMAZING.  I'll have pics of that when we fly out.  I already changed my seats!

This is what the airport looked like when we landed...

First stop:  Ferburger.  My friend Jesse recommended it and it was only a block away from our apartment.  It's very popular, there's always a line out the door.  We went early and were lucky to get a seat inside.  Worth the wait!!!  This burger is yummy!

It was a bit chilly today!  

After our big meal we had to walk it off...just a block away we came upon this...

This is the view right outside of our apartment

The little courtyard outside our door.  cute yah?

If the rest of the trip is gonna be like this then I will be one happy camper!  Stay tuned...tomorrow we're heading for Te Anau...