Given that I concocted the idea for my whirlwind trip through the South Pacific sometime last spring, my anticipation had been building for months, so it should come as no surprise that I entered the adventure bright-eyed and bushy tailed, or as The Notionaires put, with “.Excited Eyes,” which is the musical base for this blog post. Their lyrics are almost verbatim how I would describe my trip: “throw your clothes and cares behind you to the wind,” (ok I promise I kept my clothes on), “don’t pay no mind to the where or how, keep on moving on,” and “I know there’s a million ways we could go.”
Unfortunately, before I could embark on even one of those million ways, I spent the day leading up to my departure finishing an essay for my business class. Normally I would categorize such a task as easier said than done, but considering my essay had to incorporate terms like Hukou and names like Li Keqiang, I would categorize this essay as simply a pain in the a**. After submitting what I considered to be a genius and revolutionary take on the Chinese economy, and what my professor will no doubt consider mediocre at best, I set off to the airport to catch the first of 6 flights over the next 16 days.
Day One
The first stop on my trip was Queenstown which is on the south island of New Zealand. Upon landing, I began looking for the bus I needed to catch into the town. I exited one door to find what appeared to be a deserted parking lot, and two taxis with drivers that had questionable life signs. Initially I thought I had made a mistake, so I went back into the terminal searching for the bus hub I had imagined. After walking the length of the terminal (all 4 minutes) I realized that indeed I had exited the right door because it was in fact the only door. At this point I feared that perhaps what the website meant by “bus transportation available” is that if I’m lucky enough to find a bus, I’m allowed to drive myself into town with it. Fortunately, a bus (driven by someone else) soon arrived and brought me into town. After checking in, I grabbed dinner at a famous local burger shop, explored the town a bit, and then went to sleep in anticipation of an early morning.
Ate at this cafe purely to get this photo
The view of check in/arrivals/shops/restaurants/customs/car rentals/baggage claim/
A Fergburger, which I assume translates to “delicious”
Day Two
Monday I was booked on a day tour to Milford Sound, a part of Fjordland National Park that lies about 4 hours east of Queenstown. The drive to the park actually takes closer to 6 hours including stops for pictures and gawking, so the bus left Queenstown at 7 AM. Given that the first thing we passed on our journey was a mountain range literally named “The Remarkables,” I knew I was in for a day of wonders. These wonders included views like “The Mirror Lakes” which offer crystal clear reflections of the mountains, and creatures like the Kea, a species of parrot said to have the problem-solving capabilities of a 4 year old, making them some of the smartest birds in the world (forget comparing them to other birds, this makes them smarter than some humans I’ve met). These wonders continued on the two-hour cruise through Milford Sound itself, which, contrary to its name, is actually a fjord that leads to the Tasman Sea. Conveying the beauty of Milford Sound through words is a task that I consider nearly impossible, so I’ll let my pictures communicate their 1,000 words, and simply add that I found the experience to be chimerical: an adventure that bordered fantasy. After the cruise, the bus ride back to Queenstown was a bit pedal to the metal given that our driver’s hours were limited by labor laws (hope no one had to go to the bathroom), but overall it was smooth and relaxing and I absolutely loved taking in views of the New Zealand countryside.
Even the blur of this poorly taken photo doesn’t ruin the reflection
Was told they can destroy cars; decided to use the zoom
Our captain drove us into this 10 seconds later, it’s less magical when it’s getting you wet
100% Pure New Zealand
Day Three
Tuesday I was up early again for a morning zip-line down the mountain. To reach “Bob’s Peak” where the tour departed from, one can either hike, or take a gondola. Thinking that the “100% Pure New Zealand” air that the country’s tourism council constantly promotes would somehow boost my physical abilities, I decided to hike up the mountain; a decision I almost instantly regretted, but refused to reverse for fear of judgement from the two older women I passed at the base of the path. After an experience that I can only imagine is similar to summiting Mount Everest, I reached the check-in area and discovered that I was the only one on the 10:00 zip-line tour that hadn’t taken the gondola. Given everyone else’s relaxed demeanor and lack of sweat I felt like they were the Kea birds in this situation. Zip-lining itself was amazing. The three-hour tour was comprised of 6 lines, including the steepest line in the world (on which they tell you if you feel like you aren’t slowing down then brace for impact). Officially the activity was an eco-tour so along the way our instructors gave cool information about the environment of New Zealand. Originally, I had planned to hike further up the mountain in the afternoon, but after seeing a sign that said “alpine experience required,” which I read as “RADIOACTIVE, TURN BACK NOW,” I decided instead to take a stroll up Queenstown Hill. The top of the hill offers sweeping views of Queenstown, Lake Wakatipu, and the occasional mountain goat. I had hoped to get a good picture of the sunset from here, but didn’t quite take into account the height of the mountains so sunset was more of a sharp cutoff than a spectacular show. After making my way back to ground-level, I spent my last night in Queenstown wandering the streets and admiring the stars.
I don’t know who this “Bob” fella is but he sure does have a nice peak
Happy because this why I really chose to study abroad
Determining if I need to brace for impact
A welcome break from the morning’s vertical marathon
“My Highland Goat” (An Australian childhood classic)
Mountains > Beaches
Day Four
On Wednesday, I knew I had some time to kill before my flight back to Australia (Queensland this time), so I decided to grab breakfast at the cafe on “Bob’s Peak,” though this time I opted for the gondola ride to get there. If there were a competition for “best view while eating a cinnamon roll” I surely would have won this year. Perhaps even more amazing to me than the view, was the fact that it was only a glimpse of the immense natural beauty that New Zealand has to offer. After finishing breakfast I returned to town to shop for a souvenir to forever remind me of the country’s beauty (incidentally this souvenir broke before it got back to my apartment in Sydney so there goes that future family heirloom). While I was relaxing in a park near the town docks after shopping I got a notification from Qantas that my flight had been delayed. My flight record for the semester now stands at flights delayed: 4, flights on-time: 0. The Australian government claims that Qantas has an on-time performance of 86.5% but frankly I think they must be on meth because the odds of every single one of my flights falling in that 13.5% are 300,000 to 1; coincidentally the odds of dying in an airplane crash (you can imagine my comfort during the flight). Fortunately the flight landed without incident, though our arrival into Brisbane was 3 hours later than expected. After making my way to my hostel, I happily showered and went to sleep.
A “Remarkable” View
Their street names could use some help
For only $200/15 min you can actually rent a submarine from here
Day Five
Thursday was my only day in Brisbane, Australia’s third most populous city, so I wanted to see as much as possible. The heart of the city is arguably the Brisbane River so one of my first activities was a ride from the southern most ferry point to the northern most one. The service was a great way to cover a lot of ground, admire the Brisbane skyline, and with a stop near downtown, it served as great transportation. To add to its benefits, the ferry was free (though based on the engine noises I think I could tell where they were making up their loses). To me, downtown Brisbane reflect downtown Sydney in many ways. The composition of the streets was almost identical and the just as in Sydney, gardens and parks were ample. Throughout the day, as I was exploring, I also took advantage of the familiar shops to stock up on supplies before flying to Asia. After eating dinner on the waterfront, I finished the day in a downtown cafe, sipping a hot chocolate while trying to comprehend a book about highly improbable events, which admitedly I bought thinking it would be light reading (turns out me understand it is itself a highly improbable event).
A perfect place to run (if for some reason I actually wanted to)
Chicago, IL or Brisbane, QLD?
Day Six
Friday morning I departed for Gold Coast, Queensland, about an hours drive south from Brisbane. Though technically I made the journey by way of Greyhound bus, since I was the only passenger on the 70-seat vehicle, I like to claim that I rented the bus out (for ample personal space of course). Gold Coast is known for two things: beaches and surfing. In fact, the bus dropped me off in an area called “Surfers Paradise,” or as I more appropriately refer to it: “Sunburnt Paradise.” Indeed I spent the majority of the day relaxing on pristine beaches while simultaneously turning into a tomato. On the plus side I no longer had to worry about standing out as a white person in Asia, but on the down side I did fear my new appearance would cause many to think I was what them westerners call a redneck. After dinner and a final stroll along the beach, I went back to my hostel and prepared to leave for a new continent the next morning.
Beach #4 of the day
Beach #32 of the day
The sun sets on Week 1 of my trip
From the dirt trails of New Zealand, to the sandy beaches of Australia, I left my footprints in many places this week, and those places, in turn, left their own impressions on me.
Stay tuned for my next post which covers the second part of my trip!
LEVIN DOWN UNDER 