It was a fun adventure weekend....but a little more stressful than I expected. Why was it so stressful you ask? Well after we caught the 6pm ferry over to Picton, Rebecca briefed the group about the plan for the next 2 days. She explained to us that since there was only 1 of her and 2 groups, my group needed a team leader to make sure everyone is where they need to be on time....well since my nickname is Mom (really I dont know how I got that one...) everyone looked directly at me, so I was dubbed Team leader. The first day it wasn't too bad....we were the first group to go "swimming" with the dolphins. It was really nice actually, we got up early and were to the peer by 9 and on the boat by 9:30. We got a really nice tour of Marlborough Sound....but sadly in the 4 hours we were on the boat found no dolphins that we could get in the water with. We did find a good size pods of Hector Dolphins though! That was really cool because they are the smallest species of dolphin and are only found in NZ. But they are VERY endangered, there are only about 7,000 still found in the wild....so it is really rare to find a pod....so it was sweet as to see 'em But we couldn't go in the water to swim with them because they are so endangered. We did get in the water tho....we went swimming with seals-- really cool! but not as cool as dolphins :-(
Then we got dropped off at the Resort via boat at Portage. We got HEAPS of free time with "adventure" stuff to do....I went hiking with a few friends for 3 hours....really nice views, but sadly no pictures because my battery died :-( stupid for not packing the charger...i totally thought i had too.....whatever. The next day was when it got stressful. So we didn't have to go anywhere until 10:20, and bfast was at 8...so we got a little extra "adventure time" at the resort. PS we were staying in the backbackers lodge attached to the resort...so don't get too jealous lol So I had to make sure that everyone got their stuff at the right place at the right time...which was very hard...kinda like herding cats. I also was responsible for cleaning up the kitchen, and by the time I knew that I was responsible, there was no one around to help....but I got it done. It actually wasn't too bad, but once we got back to Picton I had to pick up the food and pay for it and such and make sure ppl didnt' eat too much, and we didn't have enough, so I had to go back and get more......it was just a little bit more responsibility then I was expecting to have and hadn't really prepared for it, but it wasn't anything different from camp......the kids were just older and I had a little less authority...but all in all it wasn't a bad trip. Got to know a few of the kids from Massey....they are all really cool and one girl goes to UVM and we know bunches of the same ppl, so that was cool. I got ZERO work done on the ferry ride back, but I did get a tour of the bridge which was sweet as (NZ slang for all you people who are getting confused lol) But i got all the work done so don't worry lol
AS OF TODAY!! I am officially going on autumn break. Bought all of the plane tickets today for Australia and everything for week two has already been purchased as well!! yay, since on Friday I wasn't so sure I was going on break at all lol I had no one to go with and no plans figured out since I was soooooo busy the week before. So heres a little Iternerary for the next 2 weeks!
Monday April 13th: Depart for Melbourne at 6am (yes feel my pain lol) but I land by 8am, so its nice I get the whole day.... I am staying in Melbourne with one of Dad's work friends who has been very gracious and offered to put me up and tour me around the city and the surrounding area....SUPER NICE and I am REALLY excited to meet everybody and see the city from a local's perspective lol I'm sure we will still hit up all the touristy places too!
Tuesday: paint the town red and have heaps and heaps of fun in Melbourne
Wednesday 15th: Depart for Sydney at 8pm...also nice that I get most of the day on Wednesday to see a little bit more of melbourne before I have to jet over to Sydney
Thursday: Paint Sydney red and have heaps of fun, adventures TBA
Friday: 7am backstage tour of the Sydney Opera House!!!!!!!!! I am SUPER excited about this....Dad found it and I bought the tickets immediately. They will feed me breakfast in the green room and then we get a behind the scenes tour of all the workings of the opera house...CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!
Saturday 18th: 10am flight back to Wellington, with a short stop over in Auckland, arrive in Wellington by 10pm...what can I say....it was cheep lol sleep in Wellington for the night and repack lol
Sunday 19th: ferry over to the South Island. Dive down to Hans Josef Glacier via West Coast. I get first shift since I am the only experienced left side driver....
Sunday: Hans Joseph Glacier
Monday: Fox Glacier and Mt. Cook
Tuesday: Tramping around
Wednesday: drive up to Christchurch and explore more!!
Thursday: more exploration of Christchurch
Friday: Christchurch con't.
Saturday 25th: Drive back up to Picton via East coast...stopping in Kaikoura for lunch and see beach a little before getting to Picton by 6 to board the ferry and come back to Wellington!!
So I am SUPER excited....it should be heaps and heaps of fun!!! Lots of pictures to come!
Whew! I am worn out just reading it! Have a great time. Tell me all about Ayres rock if you get to see it. It fascinates me>
ReplyDeleteLynn