New Zealand: To Do

We recently got back from 2 weeks on the south island of New Zealand, which was our big vacation for the year.  Did you know that New Zealand is made up of two halves, a north and a south?  I didn't, until I moved to this hemisphere and became their neighbors.

I think we struck a nice balance of activities, relaxing, sight seeing and stuffing our faces while we were there.  The activities were definitely the highlights of our trip, so I'll go through them in chronological order:

Queenstown: Skyline Gondola (+ buffet dinner with this view)

Queenstown: Shotover Jet

Fox Glacier: Hiking on a glacier

Franz Josef: West Cost Wildlife Centre

Marlborough region: Biking to wineries

Kaikoura: Swimming with dolphins

Kaikoura: Albatross feeding trip

Christchurch: Quake City Museum

Lake Tekapo: Hot Pools

Lake Tekapo: Stargazing tour

Doubtful Sound cruise

Milford Sound cruise

We also did a fair bit of hiking.  I would like a medal for this because some of those hikes were not easy!  Here's a picture of us after walking uphill for 2 straight hours:

New Zealand is, hands down, the most scenic place I've ever been.  It is so different from Australia, which I wasn't expecting at all.  The Lord of the Rings movies were filmed here, due to the scenery which I have deemed "totes beaut".