Hello Taupo!

We were sad to leave the South Island on Tuesday morning, but the North Island has had lots of fun to offer.

We took two planes to get to the city of Taupo. Our flight from Wellington to Taupo was an itty bitty plane that only held 20 people! We were in the back row (row 10) laughing about how each row only had 2 people and the fact that there was absolutely nothing separating the pilot/copilot in the cockpit from all of us in the cabin. Quite the experience. The weather has been perfect since we got to Taupo. We're a little sunburned, but glad to have some color back on our faces. :-) We're staying at The Rainbow Lodge. Super cute hostel and--get this--we have our own bathroom WITH A WORKING HAIR DRYER! Way exciting! The one down side? No air conditioning. Not a problem at night, but when we're in our room during the day it's absolutely miserable!

We spent Tuesday getting acclimated to our surroundings and exploring Lake Taupo. We enjoyed some gelato (Becky got white chocolate and Becca went for strawberry) and ate our way through various cafes for lunch and dinner. We were up relatively early on Wednesday morning to grab breakfast before our jet boating adventure. A shuttle picked us up by 10:30 and we were on our way! Our jet boat ride consisted of 30 minutes of 360 degree turns, high speeds, and sharp turns in a little boat. We got super close to Huka Falls; everyone from the distant look out points was obviously jealous of our amazing view. Fun fact about the falls: There is so much water pounding over the waterfall that every 3 seconds, enough water rushes through to fill an olympic sized swimming pool! Super cool. Our driver, Mike, informed us of this along with some other cool info. He made our trip fun.

After our jet boat adventure, we decided it would be a good idea to hike back to the city of Taupo. We weren't that far away right? After an hour of hiking through the rain forest, we made it back to the falls to see the views from all sides. We then found a trail that would take us back to Taupo. After another hike to the city, we grabbed some well deserved pizza, which we demolished.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing by the lake and taking cat naps. We spent our last night in Taupo enjoying some salmon on the water and then grabbing a drink and some dessert.

Tomorrow morning we take a bus from Taupo to Auckland, where we will spend two nights and end our trip in New Zealand. Sad story.

Huka jeting!

Gorgeous sunset in Taupo

Hukajet at Huka Falls

Queenstown and Dunedin

We survived bungy jumping!! We took a gondola up to the ledge where we would be jumping from. That was an interesting trip going up that gondola...it was filled with lots of uneven breathing and concerned faces. What made it worse was that we didn't bungy until 4:00 so we had all day to be thinking about it! However, we made it up to the ledge and the people working there are pros so they don't give you much time to think about anything. One second you are standing there looking at where you are about to voluntarily fall and the next you are in a harness hearing "3, 2, 1, JUMP!". Becca went first and Becky went second. We both loved the experience and came out of the experience feeling completely exhilirated.

WATCH THE VIDEOS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST TO LIVE THE MADNESS WITH US!!!

This is where we jumped from: "The Ledge" overlooking all of Queenstown and the lake. It was beautiful!

Feeling elated, accomplished, and hardcore after our successful jumps!

On Monday, we took a bus from Queenstown to Dunedin. We were definitely bummed that we were leaving Queenstown. Dunedin had big shoes to fill. The bus ride was four hours but the time went fast with lots of stops and gorgeous views. The bus ride was in the morning so we saw the sun rising as we were driving out of Queenstown. The view was seriously breathtaking. The driver took a stop at a fruit stand where we bought some peaches that we enjoyed later. He also stopped for a lunch break and we went to a little cafe called the Lemon House. We both weren't all that hungry but decided to get some cheese rolls. We had no idea what we were in for. These cheese rolls were $3.50 in New Zealand dollars, which means under two in american. We sat outside on the patio surrounded by lots of sunflowers and other gorgeous flowers. A lady came out with our cheese rolls and at first we didn't want to eat them because the presentation of them was just so much work!

Our cheese rolls! They're beautiful, aren't they? Almost too pretty to eat! Of course, we ate every last morsel. They tasted just as good as they looked (maybe better!)

Stopping to pose with some pretty flowers at the fruit stand where we picked up some peaches

We got to Dunedin and immediately went to the Cadbury chocolate factory to make a reservation for a tour. We then went to our hostel which had our favorite room we have stayed in. It was in the city and had huge, tall windows. We went to the chocolate factory where we had a very nervous tour guide (it was her 2nd tour) but she made up for it by giving us more candy. Our favorite part of the tour was when they poured a ton (literally) of melted chocolate right in front of us. It looked like a chocolate waterfall straight out of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. We also got to taste warm melted chocolate which was d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!

Ready for our tour of the Cadbury factory! We got to wear these incredibly attractive hair nets so we didn't contaminate any of the yummy chocolate.

We decided to splurge on an adventure to Dunedin's peninsula where we would hopefully see wild penguins, sea lions, seals, and the albatross (World's largest bird--it's wingspan is 9.8 feet! Yes, we googled it). We rushed from our Cadbury tour to get to our adventure bus in time. We were on our way by 3:30 and the tour was supposed to last until 9:00. While on the bus, we're thinking to ourselves "How on earth are we going to look at animals for that long?" Oh if we only knew what was in store...

First we visited the albatross colony. Becca was having trouble grasping how completely massive the birds were, but when we saw a lifesize model inside the visitors center, it clicked! We spent an hour at the colony eating our peaches, looking out into the ocean, and causing various disturbances while having impromptu karaoke sessions. (The lady next to us asked us to quiet down so her husband could record a video--ha). After the albatross colony, we headed to a private beach owned by the company who chartered our bus. We split into smaller groups and were guided around the area to discover the cutest animals ever. First, the fur seals. Oh. My. Gosh. We wanted to take one home so bad! There were cute babies playing everywhere and lots to look at. We could have watched them for hours, but instead we headed off to see some wild penguins. Yellow-eyed penguins, to be exact. They're the 2nd most rare penguin breed in the world. Only 4,000 are in existence and they're all in New Zealand. Cool! Once again, wanted to take them home. So precious. After our penguin viewing, we spent the rest of our time on the beach getting close to some sea lions. Not nearly as cute as the penguins or seals. These things were MASSIVE! Still cool, though. The beach was so peaceful and untouched. We loved every second. Our day finished off beautifully with the most amazing sunset ever. A beach, rolling hills with sheep grazing all over, and amazing colors of pink, orange, and yellow. What more could two college girls want? Nothing.

Becky and a penguin friend

Becca in front of the fur seal colony

The private beach we got to explore & discover all kinds of amazing wildlife

Becca and Becky on the beach

Well, nothing except for a good dinner. We got back from our tour around 10:30 to discover that all the restaurants around Dunedin were basically shut down. We found what looked like a happenin' pub and since we'd had some delicious meals at a few bars during our travels thus far, we thought we'd give it a shot. Bad idea. Becca ordered four cheese pasta (what we thought was macaroni). Becky ordered a wedge (what she assumed was a wedge salad). 45 minutes later, out comes our food. It consisted of noodles bathed in what appeared to be glue and an order of french fries. Eeeeeeew! We forced down as much as we could, then returned to our hostel hoping the next day would be luckier in our food search. We were exhausted, but it had been a great day.

We're currently in Taupo. Lots more stories to tell, but right now it's time to hop on a bus and get ready to HUKA JET!!!! Yes, we're boating over a waterfall. Jealous? Yeah you are.

Love you all oodles!

Here's a video of Becca bungeeing!

And here's Becky. Beware: she screams embarrassingly loudly. Might want to turn those speakers down before pressing play...

A Big Day...

Hello All!

Just have a quick minute to update. More details later, but the basics of what's been going on since our last post:

--Went to a little market in Auckland and enjoyed a pastry breakfast. Our internal clocks were way off since New Zealand is 19 hours ahead of home. We were up early and ready for fun!

--Explored some of Auckland and did some window shopping. We had some time in the morning to wander around Auckland since our plane didn't leave until lunch time. We walked all the way to the ocean and found the ferry station! It was super pretty!

--Almost missed our plane to Queenstown but didn't (phew!). In New Zealand, you only need to get to the airport 30 minutes early for domestic flights. Due to a super late bus, we ran through the airport and skidded up to the check in desk about 20 minutes before we were set to lift off. The woman behind the counter didn't bat an eye and cheerfully asked if we were going to Queenstown. She checked our bags, we walked through security, and we were on the plane with time to spare!

--First Fergburger and fries with Aioli sauce. D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!! The burgers are literally as big as your face and there are enough fries for a meal in itself. (which came in handy later as you'll find out)

--Laid out on the beach! Gorgeous weather here. This is the view we got to gaze at while soaking up some rays...

--Lots of reading of good books. We have no problem just kicking up our heels and spending time with Nicholas Sparks. We both cried at the end of Dear John...

--Dinner and a night out in Queenstown

--Pancake breakfast on the pier. It was a Sunday and we woke up early again and decided to walk down by the water to grab some grub. We found a pub (there are tons and tons of pubs in Queenstown) and enjoyed an amazing pancake breakfast on the water. It was a quiet morning and although it was nothing fancy, it was definitely a favorite memory for the two of us. We watched a cute little boy giggle and run around, took in the sights of the gorgeous lake and mountains, and let it sink in that all of this was REAL. And we got to do all of this while enjoying delicious pancakes and water with ICE. That precious commodity is not easy to come by in New Zealand!

--Hiking up Queenstown Hill (Contrary to what we originally thought, we are NOT capable of hiking up "moderate" level trails. Note to self: stick to "easy"). We were pooped by the end of our journey, especially because half of our journey had consisted of climbing huge hills and getting lost just in an effort to find the hiking trail we wanted. It was all worth it when we found the perfect lookout point, though!

--Lunch of Fergburger fries and apples. Mmmmm.

Now, we're at an internet cafe. T-1 hour until we bungee! We're both scared out of our minds. Completely can't function. Buuuuut, it's all going to be worth it! Wish us luck! See you on the other side (eeeeek!)

Here are a few more pictures from Queenstown...

HELLO FROM NEW ZEALAND!!!!

Well, after traveling from Wednesday at 3 pm, we finally made it to New Zealand on Friday at 5 am, which was about 11 pm in New Zealand on Friday for their time zone. For so many flights, it went smoothly!

We had a flight from Dallas to LA which was 3 1/2 hours. We arrived in LA, and went to the international terminal to find out our flight on Air Tahiti was canceled because of a tropical storm. Air Tahiti transfered us to a Quantas flight that was supposed to leave around the same time (2 am Texas time). Instead of traveling from LA to Tahiti, and then arriving in Auckland, we would be taking a Quantas flight from LA to Sydney (passing Auckland), and then have a flight from Sydney to Auckland. It would have us arriving in Auckland, New Zealand 8 hours later than planned but we were happy that they found a flight for us. We worried about bags and Air Tahiti called for our bags to be delivered to them so we could pick them up and take them to Quantas to check them. We crossed our fingers and sat in front of the Air Tahiti booking station nervously watching for our bags. We screamed when we saw our first set of bags. Becky's second bag came but Becca's didn't. We were happy for having a bag at all so we got them checked and went through security to get on our Quantas flight. We ended up on a 747-400 which was a two story airplane!

Our Quantas flight to Sydney was 14 1/2 hours and we made it to Sydney in one peice. We had a 5 hour layover and boarded the plane only to find out that our flight was delayed due to a storm. We made it to Auckland eventually and caught a bus to our hostel. The bus stop was right outside our hostel so it ended up working out perfectly. After two days of traveling, and still no shower, we couldn't have been happier to get to the hostel. We found out that our type of room that we had paid for was already booked so they upgraded us to a room with our own bathroom!!!! Best news ever.

We took showers and passed out quickly. After 8 hours sleep, we are dressed and reenergized! It is about 9:30 am Saturday,here in New Zealand and we are going to get some breakfast before our 2 hour flight to the South Island! 2 hour flight? Piece of cake!!

Hopefully we can do another post from the South Island, but until then have a g'day mate!

New Zealand Send Off

This is it. Our last post from America. Catch ya in the land down under!!!

G'day mates!

This is it...

So here we are. Sitting in Becca's cute house in Plano, TX chatting with the cute Lauten fam. We're still full from happy hour, Italian food, and JD's cookies. Too full to think about the fact that...at this time tomorrow, we'll be on our way to NEW ZEALAND!!!!!!! It's for real happening! What are we going to do with the next 24 hours? We have no plans other than a delicious Chipotle lunch. Mmmmm. Bags are packed. Plan: be as stylish as possible while traveling the globe. About that 50 pound weight limit...we're having some issues. It's interfering with our fashionista plan. Need to do a little bit of rearranging and hopefully we'll be good to go. Our fingers are crossed that the rain won't get in the way of our flights! Well, our next post will be either in New Zealand and this blog will be much more entertaining with stories, pictures and videos!! As for you all back in the states, we will miss you terribly and are looking forward to catching back up in July!

New Zealand Plans

Becky and I leave for New Zealand in a little over 2 weeks (AHHHHHHH!) and have finally figured out where we are going to be traveling in New Zealand. We have decided to hit the cities of Auckland, Queenstown, Dunedin, and Taupo! Basically, 2 big cities on each island. If you or anyone you know has any suggestions on certain beaches, restaurants, attractions or anything else for those cities then we would LOVE the advice!