Holiday Break!

Because of the way that this student teaching placement fell within the school year, I was fortunate to have a two-week holiday break. These holiday breaks occur every 8-11 weeks (depending on the term)., and having such a long break allowed me to see all parts of the South Island of New Zealand!

Our trip officially began Monday, April 17.

·      Monday: The day that was much anticipated finally arrived, and we hit the road around 11 A.M. for our first destination: Moeraki Boulders. We also went to a lighthouse, saw some seals, and hiked the beach.

o   Stayed the night in Oamaru

·      Tuesday: After leaving Oamaru, we headed to Waimate in the hopes of petting wallabies. Unfortunately, the day we decided to go had special hours, so we could only see them through the gate as opposed to hold/pet them. It was still a super cool experience, and something I would definitely recommend! Then, we made it to Christchurch, and we spent the night walking around the city, seeing the damage from the earthquake, eating a fancy meal, and treating ourselves to some ice cream.

o   Stayed the night in Christchurch

·      Wednesday: We checked out the adrenaline forest in Christchurch. (This was essentially a high ropes course including climbing, ziplining, etc.) Then, we drove from Christchurch to Nelson. (We had hoped to stop at the hot springs and stay the night there, but it was too expensive so we decided to keep driving)

o   Stayed the night in Nelson (in our car, in a grocery store parking lot, as we got to Nelson late at night)

·      Thursday: Spent the day in Nelson walking two different beaches, shopping, and GETTING ENGAGED!

o   Stayed the night in Nelson

·      Friday: Went back to the beach to take photos from the night prior, and then began the journey down the west coast. We first stopped at Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki and then to Graymouth for the night.

o   Stayed the night in Greymouth

·      Saturday: We drove from Graymouth to Haast, stopping at Hokitika and Franz Josef Glacier. (Hokitika is a super cute beach town with a bunch of tourist shops!)

o   Stayed the night in Haast

·      Sunday: Completed the last leg of the first part of the trip by driving from Haast to Queenstown. We stopped at Jackson’s Bay and the blue pools along the way.

o   Stayed the night in Arrowtown (in a tent, might I add)

·      Monday: We headed to Queenstown one last time before our own departure to drop off Bill. Then, we returned to Alex to reboot for the second leg of the trip.

·      Tuesday: Spent the day/night in Alexandra.

·      Wednesday: Departed for the southern part of the South Island. First, we traveled to Gore (stopping in Roxburgh for a famous Jimmy’s Pie). Then, we headed to Invercargill and Bluff.

o   Stayed the night in Invercargill

·      Thursday: Headed to Dunedin for the second time in preparation for the rugby game on Friday. On the way, we stopped at the Catlins Coastal Rainforest and a beach in the hopes of seeing some penguins. (We ended up seeing some really cool waterfalls and a petrified forest instead.)

o   Stayed the night in Dunedin

·      Friday: Spent the morning shopping and walking the city before the game at 7:30. We went to Otago University and the world’s steepest street. Then, we met some other teachers from the school at Lone Star and walked to the game with them.

o   Stayed the night in Dunedin

·      Saturday: Drove home to Alex for the last time!

School starts back up on Monday, May 1, and I will spend Monday and Tuesday there before heading back to the United States on Wednesday!