Day 16 – Saturday, January 13^th

• Breakfast: Continental breakfast
• Lunch: Mince and cheese pie with a Belgium cookie
• Dinner:  Pizza at Winnie’s

This morning I slept in since my optional activities weren’t until 12:30am. I went horse back riding so we took a bus from Queenstown to Glenorchy which took about an hour. We stopped at an outlook along Lake Wakatupu for some photos.

Once in Glenorchy, myself and a few girls got some lunch at a café, then we waited for our 1:45pm hour long ride. We took a bus to the stable itself and then got assigned our horses. I had Bob as my horse. He was beautiful and very calm during the entire ride.

During our horse back ride, the tour guide pointed out a lot of areas where The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit were filmed which was really cool to learn about. Once done with the horses, we caught the bus from Glenorchy back to Queenstown. We got back to the holiday park we were staying at around 5:30pm. Tonight, dinner was included in our tour so we all went to Winnie’s with the tour group and had a ton of pizzas, garlic bread and salads. Once we were all done with dinner we got to go to the Ice Bar in Queenstown which was so much fun.

Ashleigh and I got a free shot for getting people to dance with us to help everyone get in the party mood which was really fun. Ashleigh and I headed back to the holiday park afterwards and talked for a couple hours while we waited for Annie and Laura to come back to the room.

 

Day 17 – Sunday, January 14^th

• Breakfast: Continental breakfast
• Lunch: Shrimp dumplings and rice
• Dinner: McDonald’s

This morning, I woke up and got breakfast with our tour group and then went back to bed for a few hours since I wasn’t feeling too well. I got up around 12pm and got ready for the day then met Laura near the beach to get some lunch. We went to a Chinese restaurant where I got some shrimp dumplings and sticky jasmine rice.

We then walked around to explore Queenstown, I got some ice cream and then we sat down and talked for a while. Then it came time for me to make my way to the Canyon Swing office. Laura walked me there and talked to me while we waited for the bus to pick me up to take me to the canyon. Laura staying with me while I was waiting definitely helped keep my nerves down. There was also two other people from my tour group doing the swing the same time I was: Flav and Chloe. We took the bus up to the canyon then hiked a bit to the platform. Once there, they gave us a short briefing then started suiting us up, this is when the nerves kicked in.

Chloe and I decided to do the canyon swing tandem so at least we would have someone to hang onto and go through it together. We were the third ones to go from our group. We decided on the “Cut away” way to get dropped from. There are over 70 ways to go off of the swing some of which are very intimidating. The guys who work for the canyon joke around a lot to help your nerves but were also professional when they needed to be. Chloe and I did it and it was one of the best experiences of my life.

The free fall was indescribable. I would highly recommend doing this to anyone that has the slightest want to do it. Once we were safely back on the platform we watched all the others jump and then headed back to the bus to take us back to town. From there we headed back to the holiday park around 6pm. I got dinner with Laura then watched movies with Laura and Ashleigh until it was bedtime

 

Day 18 – Monday, January 15^th

• Breakfast: Continental
• Lunch: Ice cream and carrot cake
• Dinner: Nachos at The Ranch

This morning, the tour group got breakfast and the headed onto the road to get to Milford sound. We stopped along the way at some vast fields, beautiful waterfalls, and a few mirror lakes to get some gorgeous photos before getting to Te Anu.

We stopped here for some lunch before we headed back on the bus to head to get to Milford Sound. Once there, we get on a river cruise that lasted about 3 hours. We got to see some small pods of dolphins swimming, seals sun bathing on the rocks and the beautiful mountains that surround Milford Sound. Towards the end of the river cruise, our boat went almost underneath a huge waterfall that’s 4x the height of Niagara Falls so anyone on the outside of the boat got soaked (aka Laura, Ashleigh, and I).

Once we were off the boat, we headed back to Te Anu to check into our accommodation. Laura, Ashleigh and I got dinner at The Ranch which was very good and then headed back to the hotel to get massages by a massage place they had in the hotel itself.

Once back in the room, we were getting settled in for the night when I went to get something from my bag and saw a spider crawling across the pillow next to me and was crawling straight towards me. Now to me, this was a big spider. It was one you especially wouldn’t want in your bed. So of course, I freaked out. Laura helped trap it in a cup and then we got a guy from our tour to take it outside and kill it. Let’s just say, Ashleigh and I shook out all our bedding after that.

 

Day 19 – Tuesday, January 16^th

• Breakfast: Contintenal
• Lunch: Fish fry with fries
• Dinner: Lasagna, potatoes, vegetables

While on the road this morning, our tour bus stopped in Arrowtown for a couple hours. Laura, Ashleigh and I rented some pans and shovels to pan for gold since Arrowtown was a huge gold rush town in New Zealand back in the day.

Unfortunately, we did not find any gold. However, we did run into a local woman who had found a few flecks of gold the day before and showed us what she had found. After our unsuccessful attempt to strike it big, we went to some cafes an shops sounds town. Then Chloe, Laura, Ashleigh and I got lunch at one of the little restaurants. We walked back to the coach to drive up to Greenhithe bridge which is where the first commercial bungee jump was set up. We watched some bungee jumpers while we waited for the people on our tour that had went on the mountain biking trip that morning.

Then we all headed to our lodge in Ohau. Once there, we walked around outside and took in the beautiful views.

Before dinner, I put my bathing suit on and enjoyed the hot spas they had. I got changed and had dinner with the group served by the hotel. In our room after dinner, a group of us played heads up and ping pong and then just chatted with everyone for a bit before bed.

 

Day 20 – Wednesday, January 17^th

• Breakfast: Continental
• Lunch: Subway (pizza sub)
• Dinner: Pork and mince dumplings from Eightgrains in the Little High Eatery

This morning we got on the bus with our destination for the day being Christchurch. Our first stop was at the Lake Tekapo which is the only lake in the South island that has a church on it so a lot of people will get married there since the view is phenomenal.

After enjoying this town, we headed to the Morelea Farm to learn about and see a sheep shearing. We also got to feed the sheep/lambs/cow. Then the farmer’s wife made us some scones, sausage rolls and cookies that we enjoyed in their backyard.

After this, we went to Geraldine to get lunch then got back on the bus to head to Christchurch. I got  settled into the hotel which I got my own room with a double bed for the night. All my friends came in my room and we talked for a bit. We all got ready for dinner and went to the little high eatery to get a last dinner with the group before the 11 people leaving the tour left that night. It consisted of 8 different restaurants which was nice, like a high class food court. Then Ashleigh, Laura and I went to the grocery store, visited the 185 chair memorial again then went back to the hotel.

We all got showered then re-convened in my room and then talked with a bunch of the girls until late and said our goodbyes to the girls leaving that night from our tour.