The North Island of New Zealand

Our flight to Auckland left Christchurch around 10:30am on Tuesday. 

We arrived right in time for lunch and grabbed a quick bite at an alley cafe before checking into our hostel. We also ventured out to the docks to check out the view from the water. 

After relaxing by the water for a bit, we walked over to the Sky Tower for a birdseye view of the city. We went up about 700 feet (or 60ish stories). I was able to use my 5+ year old college ID for a student discount...still got it! 

After the tower, we checked into our hostel to rest a bit. I went for a run while Janie and Korie went souvenir shopping. Sorry friends & family...most of your gifts will be coming from Melbourne since I don't have too much room in my small luggage here! 

Just from spending one afternoon in Auckland, I can tell it's very different from the South Island. It is much more internationally diverse, populated and developed. It's beautiful by the water, but the city center itself is basically just like any other city (but very hilly). 

Wednesday, we woke up and took a 30 minute ferry ride from Auckland to Waiheke Island. The island has a population of about 8,500, but has a school, grocery store, police station, etc. and is fairly well developed. There's about 60 vineyards on the island as well...my kind of place! We took an hour and a half bus tour around the island and then grabbed lunch at a cafe with ocean views and walked around the shops for a bit. 

After the ferry back, we took a quick nap back at the hostel before exploring other areas of town for dinner. There are tons of Asian food options around the city...Chinese, Korean, Thai, Indian, etc...and while we love ourselves some Asian food, if you're not in the mood for it, it can be hard to find other (healthy) options. So Korie and I walked, and walked some more, until we stumbled across a neighborhood called Ponsonby and found this cute alleyway lined with street food and small restaurants. It was an instant hit, especially when we found a Mexican restaurant. When we can get a margarita, we will. 

It hit the spot and we hurried back home in the cooler "spring" weather. 

Thursday, we checked out of the hostel and rented a car to explore some of the north island. We drove about 3 hours south down to the town of Rotorua, home of the Maori natives. We walked around the town a bit and went to a night time market where they had fresh food, desserts, accessories, etc. We all ended up selecting the meat kebobs (3 for $5...a steal) and bought a few dessert items and wine to bring back to the hotel since the temps dropped significantly. It was warm in the afternoon, but fell to 50ish when we were walking around. We ended the night with New Zealand mud facial masks, wine, and a Nashville Netflix binge. 

Friday, we woke up and drove 30 minutes south to Wai-O-Tapu where there is an active geyser, natural hot springs and craters on an volcano. We did a little nature walk around the park and went to watch the geyser go off at 10:15. 

After that, we drove back to Rotorua and grabbed lunch. We hung around the hotel before taking a shuttle to Te Puia, a native village here. We were greeted with a local chant and accepted into their grounds where we watched some of their native dances and songs. 

After their performance, we were invited to join their feast, hanji, where there was a massive buffet of fresh chicken, lamb, beef, seafood, soup, salad, dessert, etc. most of which was cooked in the ground.

It was delicious and a great way to get a taste of their culture (no pun intended). We returned to our hotel in a food coma. 

Saturday, we woke up and drove 3 hours back north to Auckland. We rented an AirBnB in a small suburb south of downtown called Mount Eden. So far, I like it a little better than the CBD...more quaint and less crowded. Korie and I took a 30 minute hike up to Mt. Eden, a dormant volcano and the highest point in central Auckland. There are some spectacular views from up there. 

Sunday and Monday I took a break from being a tourist and had some downtime to myself while Korie and Janie explored the museums. 

Today we left for Fiji! More to come...

The South Island of New Zealand

Since our flight to Christchurch, NZ didn't leave until midnight on Tuesday, we had a full day to spend in Melbourne. We checked out the Victoria State Library, a WWI memorial, and just walked around the CBD and grabbed some lunch and drinks. We got an uber to the airport around 8ish. The flight to Christchurch was about 3 hours, so with the 2 hour time change, we arrived very sleepy at 5am. Thankfully, we thought ahead and booked a hostel room for that "night" and got a few hours of sleep in. Around 10am we took a tram ride around the small town of Christchurch. The city was hit with back to back earthquakes in 2010 and 2011, so a lot of the city is still being rebuilt. There wasn't too much to see or do in Christchurch, but we were able to walk around the botanical gardens and eat at an amazing restaurant called Strawberry Fare that our cab driver recommended to us. We all agreed it was by far the best meal we had had so far. And the dessert was out of this world. 

Thursday morning we rented a car and drove a quick 30 minutes to the small town of Rangiora, where we stayed in a Bed & Breakfast on a tiny vineyard. We had lunch in town at a brewery and then grabbed some crackers, cheese, and other snacks to have for dinner with the  wine from the vineyard. They only make Pinot Gris, so we easily finished off a few bottles of that at dinner. 

Friday, we set out on a 3 hour drive to Lake Tekapo. Korie was the brave soul to volunteer tackling driving on the opposite side of the road first. She quickly got the hang of it!

Saturday, we drove another 3 hours south to Queenstown. The drive through the mountains was absolutely beautiful. We stopped for some pics at Lake Pukaki. 

We arrived in Queenstown and walked around the town for a bit before heading to the Gondola. The views were out of this world. Korie and I already agreed that we will be going back to Queenstown! Thankfully, they have a direct flight from Melbourne. Two days there is not nearly enough. 

We did the luge down the mountain too!

That night, Korie and I went out to explore the Queenstown nightlife. Our taxi driver recommended a bar called "Cowboys" and I felt so at home! There was a longhorn on the wall, saddles for barstools, and a huge country theme. We ended up meeting the Melbourne Footie Team (not initially knowing who they were...turns out they're pretty popular back in Melbourne). We taught them how to properly play Shuffle Board and asked if they would be our friends when we returned to Melbourne. Here's hoping! 

Sunday was a relaxed day. It rained a bit so we slept in and enjoyed the views from the house we rented. I went for a run and we cooked some dinner before catching a movie on tv. 

Today we are making the 6 hour drive back to Christchurch before we fly out in the morning to head to the north island for a week. I'm going to give Korie a break and attempt driving! Pray for me. 

The Great Ocean Road Tour

Last week, Korie and I stumbled across a Groupon for a bus tour along the Great Ocean Road. This had been highly recommended to us a few times and on our list of places to check out. We confirmed with Janie that it was something she also wanted to do and went ahead and booked us on the Monday tour for $50 US each. 

It began with an early morning tram ride into the CBD. We found our tour bus and were off with about 50 other people by 8am. Around 9:30, we made a quick stop for tea and coffee. 

Then made our way to Port Campbell for lunch, followed by stops at the Loch Gorge, London Bridge and the 12 Apostles. Our tour bus was offered a discounted deal on a helicopter flight around the coast, so it was hard for Korie and I to resist. It was my first time ever up in a heli and I loved it! I was fascinated with everything. This really is the year of checking things off of my bucket list. 

Around 5pm, we headed back to Melbourne, where we called it a night and were in bed by 10:30. It was a long, but breathtaking, day! 

Note: I left my laptop back in Melbourne, so I'm posting from my phone. Apologies for any formatting errors.

The St. Kilda Pier & Halloween in Melbourne

On Saturday, Korie's friend, Janie, arrived in Melbourne. She's another fellow tour guide with Korie's company and will be accompanying us to New Zealand and Fiji. Korie showed her around a bit on Saturday morning, while I recovered from a fun night out on Chapel Street the night before. Come the afternoon, we did a short run and workout and got ready for dinner at a place down the street before going to check out the Melbourne Halloween scene. 

After dinner, we couldn't walk past the St. Kilda Pier without walking out to enjoy the sunset. It was amazing! The penguins usually come out to the pier around dusk, but unfortunately we only saw about 3 make an appearance. 

After that, we headed back to the apartment to change into our Halloween "costumes." Dressing up as adults is not nearly as big here as it is back in the US, so we decided to play it cool with a casual Cowgirl and Indian theme. While technically I was in "costume," I would have easily worn what I wore that night out any night in Austin. I honestly think I'm the only one in Melbourne with cowboy boots! Got a few looks. 

We walked around the Southbank in the CBD and I'd say maybe 10% of people were in costume? Probably less. However, this weekend was centered around the upcoming Melbourne Cup (the most prestigious horse race in Australia...it's a local holiday here on Tuesday) so tons of people were dressed in Derby Day dresses and hats (similar to our Kentucky Derby). Hats count as costumes, right? Either way, we felt a little out of place, but still had a good time. We met up with a few new friends at a rooftop bar in Chinatown and called it a night around 1am. The trams stop running then, so we wanted to be sure and make it back before we were forced to take an Uber. 

Sunday, we gave Janie a tour of the CBD and relaxed that evening with some delivery Thai food and Netflix. It's the new "Football Sunday" routine. 

Learning the Tram System

Since the past few days were a bit cold and lazy, we decided to take advantage of the amazing weather we got yesterday. We woke up around 9 and were determined to learn the tram system around here. Coming from Texas, there's not much in the form of public transportation, so the large scale of it here is a bit daunting. We purchased our Myki passes (access cards that get you onto the trams) and went into the situation with an open mind. The max you are charged per day is $7 AUD, so it's by far the most affordable way to get around. We told ourselves it was okay if we got lost and it would be a good way to explore different areas if that happened. A local suggested we download the PTV (Public Transport Victoria) App on our phones and I'm so thankful that we did - it was a game changer. You can easily put in your current location and where you're looking to go and it will tell you which tram stop to get to and which line to hop on.

Our first destination was Hosier Lane in the CBD. We had heard a bit about this street and all of the colorful graffiti surrounding it. There is quite a bit of graffiti around town, but I think it's more appreciated here as art vs. back home where we view it as trashy. We put our details into the PTV App and easily made our way into town from St. Kilda. It was around a 15-20 minute tram ride and we felt like pros after reaching our destination with no hiccups.

Here's a few shots from Hosier Lane:

After that, we walked around the CBD some more and discovered all of the little alleyways with shops and cafes.

Thanks for the reassurance!

We then decided that since we were basically tram pros, we should try and get out to our neighborhood where we will be living come the end of November. The area is called Glen Iris and it's about 5 miles southeast of the CBD. This trip took us 30 minutes and we quickly found our new apartment! We walked around the quaint area and saw a few shops and cafes where we could potentially work. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that the minimum wage here is $17.29 AUD (~$12.50 USD). That calmed my mind a bit regarding some of the higher prices we've seen.

The street right outside our apartment. 

A lot of people kept mentioning Chapel Street to us, so we figured that since it was on the way back to St. Kilda, we might as well use our new tram skills and check it out. This street has a ton of clothing stores, restaurants, and bars. It reminded us a bit of South Lamar in Austin, but way more compact and closer together. There is definitely some potential for places of employment for us down the road on Chapel Street.

We got back into St. Kilda around 3pm, did some laundry and watched our new Netflix binge, Nashville, before heading out to meet up with a running group we found online. We walked across the street to the beach, found our group, and set off on a 3.5 mile run along the coast. It was amazing! Easily one of my favorite running paths I've ever been on. We are hoping to join a few more groups like that in order to meet new people and make friends (we jokingly asked a girl on the tram to be our friend)!

View of Melbourne CBD from St. Kilda beach running path

Since the weather is 77 and sunny today, we are going to have our first beach day with a picnic in the sand. Summer doesn't technically start until December 1, but we plan to take in as much beach-time while we can. We invited Brian and Sam, our friends from the hostel, over for dinner tonight. I'm thinking a good Texas chili may be in store!

Our First Day at the Beach

Wednesday morning we woke up with one thing on our mind: the beach! 

We've been here almost a week and still hadn't hit up the beach. The weather is partially to blame for that, but the other reason includes us having to be productive by getting a few things set up (bank account, cell phone, random errands). 

We woke up to a beautiful day, walked to the grocery store, bought some picnic snacks and wine, and were ready to get our tan on. 

I was surprised by how many people were out on the beach at noon on a Wednesday, but they were probably thinking the same thing about us. 

I love everything here so far except for one small thing. A really small thing. 

FLIES! 

We met a lady in our running group and I asked what was up with all the flies? She said they come out around summertime with the northern winds and everywhere you look people are shooing them away...a term known locally as the "Melbourne Wave." They're not bad at night, if it's windy, or you're running, but they sure know how to fly right at your face. They're also a lot smaller than your typical house fly. 

Anyhow, we weren't about to let a few small flies hold us back. We fully partook in getting our Aussie glow on and enjoyed every minute of it.