We're now sitting on the ferry from the South Island to the North. Every part of me aches, but as there's nothing I can do for the next few hours, I'm going to distract myself by writing. Coming back over "the hill" from Golden Bay didn't seem nearly as bad as going there since we knew what to expect. We also stopped halfway to hike up to a look-out point. Brian said it was "practice for the canyon trip" but as it turns out, there was nothing that could prepa...

We set out on our long drive. For the second time in twice as many days, I got inspired to have wine for breakfast, so we stopped at another vineyard, Pegasus Bay, en route. This time I went with the reds that the region is known for and picked up a bottle of pinot noir. Being on vacation was really starting to agree with me! After the winery, we decided a nice long soak was in order, so we headed for Hanmer Springs. The man made pools have natural hot sprin...

We got to the city by lunch time, parked the car and started wandering. I was curious to see what a completely brand new city would look like. At first we were quite impressed with how much they'd accomplished in the 5 years since the earthquake had devastated it, but within a few minutes of walking further into the core, it became incredibly apparent how much damage still remained. Several buildings were still cordoned off and covered with graffiti, heritage ...

We woke up ridiculously early, the jet lag was still taking its toll, and Brian jumped out of bed mumbling something about a dead monkey while pointing at his mouth. We decided we may as well get an early move on since we were obviously not going to sleep anymore and started heading up the coast. Brian was still a little tired and cranky, so I got to experience my first time driving a car on the left side of the road. I got comfortable pretty quickly and was g...

We left Queenstown after breakfast, and did what any sane person would do…went wine tasting. Central Otago is known for their Pinot Noirs, but I found their Rieslings quite tasty as well. It's always good to start your day with a buzz! We drove the few hours down to Dunedin and the Otago Peninsula, and drove out to the tip to try and see the penguins. They weren't around at that hour, but we did see some lazy seals and have a very scary drive on windy road...