Today's writer: Klemm
So you would think that entering New Zealand would be a piece of cake, hmmm let's just say, someone call BORDER CONTROL! We had even been forewarned to have a flight pre-booked for our departure from New Zealand so we were prepared when they asked for proof of this. What we weren't prepared to hear was, "I'm sorry, it looks like your visa in Australia expires on March 9th, so this flight from NZ to Aussie for March 29th will be invalid." "Excuse me, what?!!" We were determined to prove her wrong...
After frantically doing research on the floor of the post office in the airport before they closed the check in gates, it turns out that yes, she was right. Our new "1 year" visa we thought we had, was only valid for 3 months and to get another one, what do you know...you had to be OUTSIDE of Australia...does the airport count? No.
As they were literally over the walkie telling baggage to hold on for two more bags, we were very "happily" purchasing our new "fully refundable" (minus the cancellation fee) flight to Australia on March 8th for the low cost of $915. We were finally allowed to board. New Zealand, we are NOT off to a good start.
Once we finally arrived in Christchurch at 12:30am we had planned to sleep in the airport, but were a little nervous about getting busted. Much to our surprise, we weren't the only backpackers with this idea...hello neighbors...
In Christchurch, we were shocked to see what a ghost town it was. After being hit by a bad earthquake a year ago and many smaller ones still today, the town is in very bad shape and many people have left. They actually built a temporary "downtown" using semi containers as shops...
We decided not to stick around long, but first needed to figure out what to do...multiple friends said we better not hitchhike, the bus didn't stop everywhere we wanted to go, turns out renting a car/van is a lot more expensive than we thought, and buying a car...well that would just be crazy...so, that's what we did! Surprise mom and dad, hope our mechanic skills are up to par! The sellers seem like nice people, right?...
After the big purchase we had to stock up for our nutritious canned food diet and get a few things to make our 4-wheel friend our new home for the next two months...
Curtain installation was a fun lil project. Let's just say, I maaay have an idea where the stereotype that girls are clueless when it comes to hardware shops comes from. No really, I knew exactly what I was doing...
Once we finally got on the road we were headed west through Arthur's Pass where we realized quickly the scenery on this road trip was going to be amazing! We dusted off our hiking shoes and got a few hikes under our belt. I realized I better get used to this hiking thing as it would soon become a daily activity.
We checked out the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki, but had to keep moving to make it to Westport for the half marathon. Yes, you read that correctly, the lil energizer bunny that I call my travel mate, convinced me AGAIN it would be a good idea to run another half marathon! I hate to admit it, but she was right. Race day couldn't have been more perfect...wellll other than if I had beat Shan :), weather was awesome and what better way to celebrate survival (for me at least) than at the party tent with live music and cheap drinks. Umm amazing!
Next up was Hokitika, or I prefer Honkie Tonk, it's easier, where we checked out some beach art, and surprise surprise, did another hike.
Then Okarito, the tiny lil town where we saw an aaaamazing sunrise, followed by some local trying to claim we were illegally freedom camping. Whatever lady, like we would do such a thing...
We checked our hiking off the list for Okarito and then decided to head on our way when we drove past some hitchhikers. So we had followed our friends' orders not to hitchhike ourselves, but picking them up is in a whole different safe category, right? That's what we thought, so we picked them up. Before doing so, we were the creeps that took a picture of them from a distance...so if you don't see another blog post from us, please please, track down these dudes...
Oh wait...this is in the past...surprise, we're safe! Glacier bound...
So you would think that entering New Zealand would be a piece of cake, hmmm let's just say, someone call BORDER CONTROL! We had even been forewarned to have a flight pre-booked for our departure from New Zealand so we were prepared when they asked for proof of this. What we weren't prepared to hear was, "I'm sorry, it looks like your visa in Australia expires on March 9th, so this flight from NZ to Aussie for March 29th will be invalid." "Excuse me, what?!!" We were determined to prove her wrong...
After frantically doing research on the floor of the post office in the airport before they closed the check in gates, it turns out that yes, she was right. Our new "1 year" visa we thought we had, was only valid for 3 months and to get another one, what do you know...you had to be OUTSIDE of Australia...does the airport count? No.
As they were literally over the walkie telling baggage to hold on for two more bags, we were very "happily" purchasing our new "fully refundable" (minus the cancellation fee) flight to Australia on March 8th for the low cost of $915. We were finally allowed to board. New Zealand, we are NOT off to a good start.
Once we finally arrived in Christchurch at 12:30am we had planned to sleep in the airport, but were a little nervous about getting busted. Much to our surprise, we weren't the only backpackers with this idea...hello neighbors...
In Christchurch, we were shocked to see what a ghost town it was. After being hit by a bad earthquake a year ago and many smaller ones still today, the town is in very bad shape and many people have left. They actually built a temporary "downtown" using semi containers as shops...
We decided not to stick around long, but first needed to figure out what to do...multiple friends said we better not hitchhike, the bus didn't stop everywhere we wanted to go, turns out renting a car/van is a lot more expensive than we thought, and buying a car...well that would just be crazy...so, that's what we did! Surprise mom and dad, hope our mechanic skills are up to par! The sellers seem like nice people, right?...
After the big purchase we had to stock up for our nutritious canned food diet and get a few things to make our 4-wheel friend our new home for the next two months...
Curtain installation was a fun lil project. Let's just say, I maaay have an idea where the stereotype that girls are clueless when it comes to hardware shops comes from. No really, I knew exactly what I was doing...
Once we finally got on the road we were headed west through Arthur's Pass where we realized quickly the scenery on this road trip was going to be amazing! We dusted off our hiking shoes and got a few hikes under our belt. I realized I better get used to this hiking thing as it would soon become a daily activity.
We checked out the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki, but had to keep moving to make it to Westport for the half marathon. Yes, you read that correctly, the lil energizer bunny that I call my travel mate, convinced me AGAIN it would be a good idea to run another half marathon! I hate to admit it, but she was right. Race day couldn't have been more perfect...wellll other than if I had beat Shan :), weather was awesome and what better way to celebrate survival (for me at least) than at the party tent with live music and cheap drinks. Umm amazing!
Next up was Hokitika, or I prefer Honkie Tonk, it's easier, where we checked out some beach art, and surprise surprise, did another hike.
Then Okarito, the tiny lil town where we saw an aaaamazing sunrise, followed by some local trying to claim we were illegally freedom camping. Whatever lady, like we would do such a thing...
We checked our hiking off the list for Okarito and then decided to head on our way when we drove past some hitchhikers. So we had followed our friends' orders not to hitchhike ourselves, but picking them up is in a whole different safe category, right? That's what we thought, so we picked them up. Before doing so, we were the creeps that took a picture of them from a distance...so if you don't see another blog post from us, please please, track down these dudes...
Oh wait...this is in the past...surprise, we're safe! Glacier bound...
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