Michelle and Brent

Tuesday April 15, 2007 1:30pm

This is our last day in New Zealand. The remainder of our Contiki Tour was pretty fantastic. We left you in Queenstown after Michelle's Canyon Swing. That night we went to an Ice Bar, which is exactly how it sounds, a bar made of ice. There were sculptures and benches and it was very cold. Everyone going in had to wear a parka.
The next day, we did our full day hike within a national park. It took about 7 hours for the whole day, which included 10 km up a mountain to a lodge where we had lunch overlooking one of the most spectacular views we've ever encountered. We could fill our water bottles from the natural glacier-fed rivers and streams and did not see another peson for hours at a time. After lunch we hiked back down the way we came and back to the van. There were 7 of us plus one guide who was extremely friendly and informative. We explained to us about native flora and fauna and lots of tidbits about the national park...and pretty much anything else we had questions about (Michelle had lots about sheep).

The following day was our time to leave Queenstown. On the way out the bus stopped at The Kawarau Bridge, home to the first commercial bungy site in the world. This is where I leapt off with a giant rubber band attached to my ankles. It was awesome! Nothing like sky diving, but very exciting and exhilarating as well.
The next adventure for us was a boat cruise down in Milford Sound. It was an overnight experience with amazing views and great times! Michelle did some kayaking, while I jumped off the boat with some other people into the 13 degree water. The neat thing about this sound (which is ACTUALLY a fijord) is that due to the immense amount of rainfall the area gets (about 300 days a year, or up to 9metres), the top 5metres of water is freshwater, with the rest being salt water. We got to sleep on the boat, which neither of us had ever done before also.

We then spent a further two days on the bus heading back up to Christchurch where we are now. We are spending the day around the city, shopping and hanging out before catching our plane to Sydney at 6pm. Once in Sydney we will be heading to my cousin Jessica's apartment for a few days before starting to tour around.

We now have about 2 and a half weeks before we come home!

Brent