My final month living
in NZ seemed like a whirlwind. I spent that time traveling through parts of NZ,
Australia, and Samoa, and my trip was spent at different times with three of my
dearest friends.
Jordan, one of my best
friends since high school, was the only one from home who loved me enough to
come visit me this year (are you reading this, Mom and Dad?). We combined my
travel experience and his reading travel books to cobble together a two-week itinerary
split between NZ and Australia.
Most of the time in NZ
was spent in Auckland (flooding in Northland forced us to cancel going there),
but we did make it to Queenstown and Milford Sound for a
couple of days. Queenstown sits by a lake among mountains of the Southern Alps;
it was chilly even in the summer, so being there in the winter was just plain
cold. While there, we rode the gondola up a steep mountainside to ride on luges
and to see the spectacular views made even more astonishing by a sunset
electrifying the snowcapped mountains and casting shadows on the dark lake
below. We also took a day-long excursion to Milford Sound (including stops at Mirror Lakes and a raging river), which was stunning
on a rainy day when I visited last December, and it was still incredible on the
clear summer day when I returned there with Jordan. I was so glad that Jordan
got to see the South Island; it is truly stunning, and I hope the fjord lived
up to his expectations since it was the only sight his heart was set on.
Our time in Auckland
included excursions to some of my favorite places, and I really enjoyed showing
my new life and home to someone who knew me long before I came here. Waiheke Island,
where we wandered around a winery above a small bay, was gorgeous (pictures). When
I took Jordan to many spots, I loved sharing them and got an opportunity to bid
my farewells: Takapuna Beach was the setting for many of my swim practices and
races; Mt. Eden, one of the city’s extinct volcanoes, has some of the best
views of the city and surrounding waters; The Harbour Bridge, which links the
city to the North Shore, is a sight in itself and also has my favorite vantage
points of Rangitoto and the city.
Our final night was
spent out with my pals at our favorite haunt in the CBD, and the next morning,
we flew to Australia.
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