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. 

Good Reef!

Our last stop in the land of the Aussies is the city of Cairns, home of one of CNN's natural wonders of the world, the Great Barrier Reef.

We were in for quite the view once we arrived from Melbourne!

We began our journey the following day through the National Rain forest Hike with a local member of the Indigenous Kuku Yalanji Tribe. We called him "Skip" because he said his name would be too complicated for us. 

He told us about his cultural and spiritual beliefs and showed us how the rain forest is peaceful and has good energy flowing throughout it. Whether or not you believe in that, hopefully these gorgeous views of the rain forests will lift your spirits!

Afterwards, we went snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef wearing full-body swimsuits for protection and for their fellow colleagues and relatives to say they look goofy or sexy in it.

In all seriousness, with the bad state the Reef is in, we were ecstatic to get the opportunity to explore this wondrous sea and witness the creatures and plant life underneath. Brady's working on editing a GoPro video Marty worked underwater that should be up in a few days.

For our last day in Australia, we visited the site of another Aboriginal Australian tribe that showed us how to throw spears and boomerangs.

Marty also ate Kangaroo. Brady would've posted the accompanying picture, but he knows Michelle would be less disgusted just thinking about it than having a visual aid. 

We concluded the day with a Skyrail to the village of Kuranda, where we received breathtaking views of the city and the forests and waterfalls that surrounded the area.

Rather than take the Skyrail down, we took the scenic route with a train through the rain forests for more picture opportunities.

What better way to end our trip to Australia than with a gorgeous water set piece going down under?

We've been waiting to go to this continent for years and we can safely say it was worth it. The culture, the opportunities, the set pieces, this country as a whole reminds us why we love to travel and spend time together. There's never enough time to see everything, but make sure the time is put towards something worth seeing. 

You were fantastic Australia. But now we need something a little more... New. Stay tuned in the following days to see us explore the land of Hobbits and Kiwis!