After we flew back to New Zealand from Oz we rented a car in Auckland. At the Avis counter they asked us if we wanted a car that was gray or yellow. Of course I said YELLOW!!! Also, when looking at my driver's license they saw 7/5/1982. In North America that means July 5 but in New Zealand and the rest of the world that means May 7. I quickly replied that my date of birth was May 7th and that I was 25 and they couldn't charge me extra fees for being young. Sorry Dan for cheating your company out of some money!
After Auckland we stopped in Hamilton. I let mom and the girls off at the Zoo and I went to go see some friends and say bye.
Bye Charlie!!
After Hamilton, we drove on to Rotorua where I had to do a New Zealand Original, ZORB. Basically when you Zorb, you become a hamster and they put you in a large ball, put some water inside and roll you down a hill. I laughed the entire way but it was so much fun!!!
Shameless, I know.
Look at that grin.
Weee heeeee!!!!!!
After my adventure, we drive into Rotorua and had lunch by the lake.
After lunch, we drove for almost 5 hours until we got to our hotel in Wellington. Once again, I had friends to say bye to.
Bye Shea!
After taking the ferry across to Picton we drove to Christchurch. This is when we Natalie and Dee hopped back on a flight to return to the US.
My mom and I kept on going and spent that night in Akaroa. Akaroa was a French settlement.
Because of its French heritage, all the street name are French and we were just so lucky to find the street baring Jennifer and Jarret's baby girl's name. Jolie, You're Famous!
Through out our drive my mother was intrigued by many things but there were two in particular that captivated her.
The first one being, incredible large tree wind guards for the fields. She made me take the picture.
The second was a field of something, we never figured out what, and she made me stop so she could inspect.
Does anyone have a clue?
Mom in bed at the Bed and Breakfast we slept at in Dunedin.
The next day we drove to Milford Sound. What an incredible drive. It is some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen and it was always changing.
Right before making it the sound you have to drive through a tunnel and it's only one way. We made it at the wrong time and had to wait at a red light. As we were waiting I had my first encounter with Keas. The Kea is an unusual species of parrot found only on the South Island of New Zealand. It's very curious and will jump on your car and try to eat the rubber from your tires and windshield wipers. It was so exciting to see them!
Yet another pic of my mom in bed. This time in Queenstown.
After we left Queenstown, we came upon the first commercial bungy jumping site in the world. Another New Zealand original, of course I had to!
Um, Bizarre
And then my mom waiting in the airport to fly home. It was definitely a great trip.
