Free Weekend Frivolities

Friday, July 22nd

This morning marked the first day of the free weekend. Most of the group booked a trip to Queesntown, which is nestled beneath the Remarkables, a mountain range to its southeast. It is also on Lake Watakipu, the third largest lake (by surface area) in New Zealand. The group of Charisse, Haiden, Hanna, Maya, and Nico got on their 8:40am flight and arrived with the whole day ahead of them. 

They had an array of activities planned ahead of them. After they got a quick lunch in the Central Business District, Maya went to do the Nevis Swing, which is a highly popular tourist attraction.

Maya on the Nevis Swing

Maya getting ready to bungee

The Nevis Swing is connected to a 300m tether that swings you across a gorge. Maya found this exciting but was wanting a little more. Fortunately, the company also featured a bungee jumping experience, which Maya hopped right on and had a blast. 

Hanna and Charisse explored the Central Business District shopped for some souvenirs and went to admire the Queenstown Gardens. 

Photo of a cute dog statue taken by Charisse in the Queenstown Gardens.

 

Shopping in Central Business District

Haiden and Nico went to Coronet Peak for some night skiing. Haiden had some experience, but it was Nico's first time and he fell at least ten times. He made it off the bunny slopes for just one run on the novice course, while Haiden was cruising down the intermediate-level courses. Since it was an evening ski session (4pm-9pm) they got to watch the sunset!

Nico and Haiden in front of a snowy sunset on the slopes.

Nico and Haiden's snow angels.

Then this group all met back up and relaxed for the next day of fun. 

Debriana, having her big travel plans set for Saturday, spent her free Friday ice-skating at a nearby rink and exploring the Riverside market in downtown Christchurch, where she shopped around and was kind enough to get some yummy lunches to bring back to the quarantined group.

Debriana with her skates on ready to go.

The quarantined COVID group, Ashley, Veronica, Ryan, and Ava, spent the day recovering. This consisted of taking naps, short walks outside, binging shows and books, and just generally taking it easy. Hoping to get better as soon as possible.

Saturday, July 23rd

The Queenstown group has a fully booked day with the Milford Sound boat tour. The bus picked them up bright and early at 7:40am. The bus took them through Fiordland National Park and Holleyford Valley where they got to see Mt. Christina and Lake Fergus. They also crossed at 45 south which is the halfway point between the south pole and the equator.

Lake Fergus

Mt. Christina

They also drove through a mountain tunnel where they saw a Kea! but were sadly unable to photograph it. 

Once at Milford Sound they boarded their boat for the tour. They immediately saw huge magnificent cliffs that were created by a glacier. While in the sound itself, they saw pacific bottlenose dolphins, fur seals, and a Fiordland crested penguin. This species of penguin is the third rarest in the world!

Fiordland Crested Penguin

Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin

 The views during the tour were breathtaking, and featured two giant waterfalls! 

The group in front of the glacier-formed cliffs on the tour

The group getting to enjoy the views of the Fiordlands

The gorgeous falls

The bus ride back after the tour was quiet with everyone napping through it. When they got back to Queenstown they went out to eat and then headed back to the Airbnb for the night.

Debriana woke early on Saturday morning to catch the tour shuttle that would take her on her solo adventure to Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand! The tour stopped at Lake Tekapo to see the Church of the Shepherd. Lake Tekapo is the second biggest glacier-fed lake. 

Church of the Good Shepherd

Lake Tekapo

The next stop was to Mt. Cook village where she walked the Tasman Glacier Lake. The water in this lake was a bright turquoise due to the glacial sediments that flow into the lake. 

Debriana at a turquoise glacial lake. 

Mt. Cook to the left.

When the tour ended, the shuttle brought her back to Christchurch where she ended her night. 

The COVID crew started to feel a little better today. Colin came and brought us some crosswords and puzzles. After eating some lunch we got started on some of the crosswords, before taking post-lunch naps. Then we ordered Thai food to be delivered for dinner and decided to have a little movie night in the kitchen area. Then we all headed off to sleep. 

Ryan stressing over crosswords.

Sunday, July 24th

Sunday morning with the Queenstown crew saw Nico waking up early to go on the luge. He took a gondola up the mountain and was greeted with stunning views of the rest of the mountains nearby. Last minute, he decided to add paragliding to his trip while at the top of the mountain and got to soar down to the valley below.

Nico's view from the gondola 

Nico landed successfully

Soaring through the sky!

While Nico was up in the sky, the rest of the group was enjoying a delightful brunch at the Exchange. Then they went shopping around the downtown area and bought some souvenir items. It was a bright and sunny day so they decided to lay out by the pier and enjoy the weather. As one last thing to do before the airport, the group stopped at Cookie Time, which was a little cookie shop with a long line (but the cookies were worth the wait)! 

No one wanted to leave, but eventually, they boarded the plane that brought them back to Christchurch.

Views the plane ride back

Debriana spent the day relaxing, watching some TV, and catching up on her journal. 

The COVID crew had a pancake breakfast together courtesy of Ashley (except Ryan who ate his pancakes and left). Then we spent the day attempting one of Colin's 1000-piece wasgij puzzles. This puzzle was particularly challenging because the box didn't show you what the puzzle was, instead you had to guess what the puzzle was based on the image on the box. It ended up being too much for us so we gave up. Then we made some food for dinner and had another movie night, where we watched Spirit, and then after watched some NZ taskmaster before heading to bed. 

Focused puzzling.

Thats all for me, Cheers!

-Ava