The Aussie adventure continues (Cairns)

After some nice and relaxing days in Auckland I headed to the Airport ready to get back to Australia. I am still amazed of my adventures in New Zealand….
 

Funky Chicken on Tour day 18 (Christchurch)

It is my last day on the tour since I decided to fly back to Auckland. I’ve thrown out some stuff from my backpack to make sure my luggage isn't overweight and left the remaining food in the hostel kitchen for other travellers. 
 

Funky Chicken on Tour day 17 (Queenstown - Milford Sound)

We waited in front of our accommodation for the pick-up to Milford Sound. Shame the sun decided today to hide again behind clouds and a few rain drops said good morning. At this point a BIG THANK YOU to my sister, brother in law and niece, without whom the trip would have never taken place. 
 

The bus drive through the fantastic scenery took a few hours before we arrived at the cruise terminal in Milford Sound. Apparently Milford Sound is much more mystic when it is raining since it builds temporary waterfalls. We stopped a few times for a walk around the area and photo opportunities.

As soon as we got on board of the cruise we started to eat our buffet, which could have fed an army, massive and yummy. It filled me up for the rest of the day.

A stunning, mysterious and beautiful cruise trip through the water made me smile.

We stopped at the Discovery Centre Platform, which in my opinion wasn’t worth the money. We didn’t get to see much underwater but luckily it was included in my trip anyway.

We headed back to Pier and our driver was waiting to get us back. On the way back we came across some heavy winds and had to drive very slowly to make sure the bus didn’t get tipped over, interesting experience……

Ah and the water in the pictures below is the lake not the ocean.

Happy Travels!

Funky Chicken on Tour day 16 (Queenstown)

I had a very nice and long sleep in since I had nothing planned for the day. Of course I could have done some of the activities that Queenstown offers; you seriously can do everything here from Kayaking, swing, sky dive, bungy, hang gliding, parasailing, jet boat and much much more, but I didn’t. 
 

Instead I wandered around the park and absorbed some of the sun with the hope to get at least some kind of a tan (which of course I didn’t). I have to admit that Queenstown didn’t strike me as a very usual Kiwi city as there are not many locals around and mostly it seems like a holiday/party city.

Just as I was about to walk back a Kiwi bus arrived for the mandatory group picture. Some of the faces I recognised and after a few hugs and hellos I waited and took the picture for them, so they didn’t had to pay for it.

This was followed by an absolute amazing night when we watched the France vs. New Zealand Rugby Final. You could cut through the atmosphere so thick and tense it was. Most people continued to celebrate through the night; I went to bed since I had to get up early for my tour to Milford Sound the next day.

Happy Travels

Funky Chicken on Tour day 15 (Queenstown)

I had to get up early in the morning for my long awaited bungy jump. We met at the AJ Hackett office where a bus would drive us up to the Nevis Bungy Jump point.

Most of us were really excited as we were all first offenders. As soon as we arrived we got fitted into the gear and took a gondola up to the platform. The height was really frightening….

I was second in that group and my heart started to race as soon as I was standing on the platform looking down. The guy counted to three but I couldn’t let go of his hand for at least another 5 seconds….but watch for yourself:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSZjn2Ejww8

The Bungy jump was definitly fun and I would do it again but compared to the skydive; I would prefer falling down for 60 seconds instead of just 8. Skydive was and is still my personal favourite, but I guess everyone has their own preference.

After my return I went to the Jazz festival near the pier with my roommate and had a wander around the lake. This was followed by a quick afternoon nap and a quiet evening with some more movies to watch since another guy had over 400 movies on his hard drive and was so kind to share some with me. I am so happy now that I have the 2 TB as storage, very handy.

Happy Travels!