Ending on a High Note

Our last stop on this journey is the resort city of Queenstown. Did we save the best for last? The answer lies past this screaming man-child.

After our stay in Franz Josef, we took a bus down to Queenstown and enjoyed the sunny and scenic showings of the countrysides. 

Despite being more commercial-oriented than most of New Zealand, Queenstown still looks gorgeous in terms of the scenery thanks to the blue waters, high mountains, and tree variety. Here's the view from our hotel room.

The next day, we took a boat ride through Milford Sound. We knew our luck was bound to run out eventually with the weather, so we got at least one rain-filled day added to our experience.

But, we couldn't have asked for a better day for the clouds to downpour, rather than have a rain on our parade, the rain WAS the parade. We witnessed the most solid rainbow you can ever imagine and saw more waterfalls than you will ever see in your entire lifetime just in ONE area. 

We had one day left on our adventure, and Brady decided to take advantage of New Zealand being renowned for their extreme sports. So if all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you too? Well...

You can see the jump in action in next post's video. But his adrenaline-filled head wasn't done yet. After jumping over 43 meters off of the original Bungee Jump bridge, we headed up the gondola for a good ol'fashion... luge?

An unorthodox way to an unorthodox vacation, but what really sealed the deal was one last look of the most gorgeous country we've ever laid our eyes on.

After 12 plane tickets, 2 train and plane rides, 3 automobile and bus tours, 2 skyrails and 12 cities our Hawaii/Australia/New Zealand journey has come to a close after 28 days of nonstop action. 

As an English Major typing this, there are no words to fully capture this experience. I've soared across Hawaiian landscapes, chilled with Koalas and Kangaroos, climbed the bridge overlooking the massive town of Sydney, swam with turtles in the Great Barrier Reef, visited Hobbit homes, rolled down a mountain in a giant water-filled ball, drank tea under a waterfall next to a mountain, jumped 43 meters off of a bridge, and saw the most beautiful sites of the planet with two of the most important people in my life all in one month. 

I cannot be thankful enough for this opportunity. I'd like to go to at least one of these places once again some time in the future, but if that never happens, I'm glad I got to set foot in these beautiful landscapes at least once. If you ever get the chance to visit these countries, plan carefully and go for it. Take it from us, your actions here might last for the rest of your life.

We'd like to thank those who followed us on our journey to these uncharted territories for us and supported the blog. We may be back in Minnesota (where temperature's measured in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius), but... we're not quite done yet.

For our true final bonus post (after a few tedious hours of editing), we'll show some videos showcasing some of our insane activities here!

But until next time, Kia Ora!

The Scenic Routes

Following our stay in Wellington, we spent one night in Christchurch, where we had a brief tour of the area on the local tram. There wasn't a lot to see unfortunately because a good chunk of the area had been demolished by an earthquake in 2011 that the city has not fully recovered from. 

The next day, we took the Tranzalpine Railway to the city of Greymouth, where as the title suggests, we encountered a number of gorgeous mountain and forest views along our way.

We eventually arrived at the small town of Franz Josef after a bus ride, where our lodge was located between a number of mountains and right next to an Alpaca farm. The town's location is small to say the least, only containing near 700 residents. And that's in the summertime. 

It takes 30 minutes to hike to the town, which even has the restaurants drive to our location for those not wanting to take the time. But we'd recommend taking one or two hikes out here, because you can't beat the rivers and mountains in these regions. The glacier and waterfalls add for a nice touch for a potential desktop background.

With so much going on with the world right now, it's always great to take a step back and see how beautiful our planet can be. 

Next Time: We visit our last leg of the trip, Queenstown!

Hobbits and Zorbing in New Zealand

After flying from Cairns to Sydney, the Lass family has finally made it to New Zealand! We first spent the night at a hotel in Auchland, before heading towards Rotorua to go on a tour that Brady's been anticipating since the trip was first planned. 

We're going on an adventure to the Shire Mr. Frodo! New Zealand contains multiple filming locations for Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films, and a tour in Rotorua allowed us to go to Hobbiton, where the set for Frodo and Sam's homes in the Shire are still kept in their prime for multiple photo opportunities no matter if you're an elf or an orc!

Needless to say, Brady enjoyed himself and quickly spent his merch money. We stayed in Rotorua for another day to check out the sulfur scent and thermal activity in the otherwise peaceful town.

But New Zealand's also known for their extreme sports, one of which was the invention of Zorbing. Where the v̶i̶c̶t̶i̶m̶ rider goes into a plastic ball filled with water down a mountain. Brady (being the only one under 50 years old) heroically volunteered himself as tribute and was so dedicated to the art that he didn't bring swim trunks and got his khakis wet, it was totally not because he wasn't aware that 90% of zorbing involves getting wet!  

Afterwards we spent a night in the town of Napier, a place once shattered by an Earthquake. Even if we weren't there for long, we were treated to some interesting sites, including a black beach and a hotel room taken straight from the '30s!

We spent the next day at the capital city, Wellington. We got more Peter Jackson content with a tour of the area, including an overlook of the city, a location of an iconic scene from Fellowship of the Ring, and a tour of Weta Workshop, which does the makeup, special effects, costumes, and armory of some big blockbuster movies in the last decade.

"GET OFF THE ROAD!"

But the journey isn't over yet! Stay tuned to hear more about our escapades in the land of the long white cloud!

On a side note: As gorgeous as the settings and backgrounds are, you may want to consider your safety and sanity if you choose to drive around here.