Flashpacking

At the top of the gondola in Queenstown, NZ with Mom and Dad

 "Whereas backpacking is traditionally associated with budget travel and destinations that are relatively cheap, FLASHPACKING has an association of more disposable income while traveling and has been defined simply as backpacking with a bigger budget" (Wikipedia). I have experienced both backpacking and flashpacking during this semester abroad... 25 days on a budget, eating microwave noodles for dinner and oatmeal every morning for breakfast, occasionally splurging on a coffee or a bungy jump (couldn't resist the peer pressure)... now we are going out to eat everynight, drinking wine, staying at B&Bs, crusing through Doubtful Sound and literally flashpacking the Milford Track for 5 days! It's been wonderful to travel with Mom and Dad! Here are the highlights through pictures...

The day Mom and Dad arrived in Auckland, they took me and two of my friends out for lunch. We got yum Turkish kebabs and then drove up to the top of Mt. Eden for a nice view of the city. Above is Maria, Mom, me, and Amy. Love those girls!

Dad was ready to jump off the mountain (actually a volcano).

Auckland's Christmas decorations :) That is one big Santa.  It is weird to be experiencing Christmas cheer during summer, but I love it! When I get home it will only be 5 days before Christmas! Yikes!

Dinner at the Orbit restaurant at the top of the Skytower. We rotating around to see 360 degree views of Auckland. Welcome dinner for Mom and Dad, Goodbye dinner for Mel.

Delicious NZ coffee: late with a fern in the foam.

We took a ferry over to Devenport and walked around all afternoon. It was a nice day!

Then we flew down to Queenstown in the South Island. We went to the restaurant at the top of the gondola overlooking Queenstown for our Thanksgiving dinner: pumpkin soup and NZ beer. Missed family and friends, but loved the view.

Spur of the moment, Dad decided to BUNGY JUMP! He did the Fred Flinstone just like I did a couple of months ago :)

My jump 2 months earlier.

Mom wanted some adrenaline too... so we did a luge ride after Dad's bungy!

Then we began driving to the Fiordland of NZ (the most beautiful place on earth)... this was at our pit stop on the way...    Mom and I checking out Lake Wakatipu.

Riding on the bus.

       We went on an overnight cruise in Doubtful Sound... a part of the world untouched and pure. It was beautiful.                    and windy and rainy!

We kayaked a bit too! That's Mom all bundled up in her red kayak and Dad in the blue one.

Then Dad (above) and I decided to jump in the 11 degree Celsius water... that is like 50 degrees Farenheit!

We saw bottlenose Dolphins!

So beautiful. and we were the only boat floating around the sound.

After our overnight cruise we spent a day in the beautiful Te Anau to rest up before beginning the 5 day Milford Track.

The sunset was nice. Mom and I ordered some pizza and ate it on a bench  on the shore of the lake. Poor Dad slept all day because he got a bad cold and felt terrible.

Hopping on the boat to cross the lake to the start of the Track! Backpacks packed!

The first day was a very short walk to get to our first lodge (flashpacking like I said), called the Glade House.

This picture is blurry but it shows how rainy it got the second day of our walk. Mom and I were trying to avoid getting our boots wet in the flooded path so we found ourselves stuck in the trees sometimes. In the end, we were out of luck and socks and boots were soaked. Luckily the flashpackers' lodges had drying rooms. :)

The weather started clearing up and Mom found some hula hoops to play with during a water break at the Department of Conservation (DOC) hut (where backpackers stay). There is actually no camping allowed on the track, just 3 huts made by the DOC rangers and 3 lodges for guided walkers made by the Ultimate Hikes company which is where we stayed.

Mom stretching and taking in the view on one of the many bridges.

Since it had rained earlier, the waterfalls were unreal. Thousands of waterfalls surrounded us as we walked in the valley on Day 2.

Day 3 we climbed up MacKinnon Pass, and here we are at the highest point of the Milford Track.The 360 degree views were incredible!

We went through some snow, even though it's summer here!

Due to a nearby glacier making some grumbling noises, the DOC decided to close the track on the way down the pass.... so we had to take the Emergency Track... very steep steps!

What a day!

We came across this Danger sign... they call the cliff behind us the "12 second cliff"... if you fall off, the first 11 seconds will be fun, but the 12th will kill you! So naturally we got as close as we could to take a picture.

The weather was perfect on Day 3. I was quite energized by all the mountains that surrounded me.

Dad and I getting soaked from the mist of NZ's highest waterfall: Sutherland Falls 580 meters high!

Mom and Dad in front of McKay Falls. This waterfall is used in a lot of NZ ads, like "Pure New Zealand"

Nearby I got stuck under a rock!

Dad had a bit of an issue on Day 4 with his boots... the rubber sole started flapping! Turns out his 1978 boots from college are not immortal. That was the last track they saw :(

The Weka bird (family), sometimes confused with the Kiwi bird (but Kiwis are nocturnal so we didn't see any of those)

I decided to go for a little swim at the base of the Giant Gate Falls. It was very cold, but refreshing during out 13.5 mile walk on Day 4.

The last mile marker before we made it to the end of the Milford Track at Sandfly Point.

Once we made it to Sandlfy Point on Day 4, a boat took us across Milford Sound to the Mitre Peak Lodge... and this is the picture I took outside my window at the lodge. The tall mountain to the left is Mitre Peak (over a mile high... and that is straight from sea level!). Gorgeous and amazing reward for the 33.5 miles of walking.

The next day we bused back to Queenstown where we went to a NZ wine tasting store! Sauv Blanc is my fave!

After one night in Queenstown, we flew over to Sydney, AUSTRALIA!!!!! Mom had already done the Sydney Harbor Bridge Climb, so Dad and I went yesterday! It was a perfect day for it!

After the bridge climb, we met up with Mom. She had made reservations for a restaurant at the Sydney Opera House and we went to a show afterwards! The ultimate Sydney day :)

Feels like home

This post is long overdue. I am sorry to those who have been checking my blog and noticed my lack of posting over the past month. Not to worry, I am alive and well. Nursing school is just very very time consuming and a wee bit exhausting. I have been working full time shifts five days a week in an adolecent mental health unit for 4 weeks. I have been working with kids struggling with things like eating disorders, hearing voices, depression, suicidal ideations, self-harm, abuse, and social phobias. It has been very intense, but interesting! I really enjoyed this rotation and I learned a lot that will apply to my future as a nurse. I am more sure than ever that I want to pursue nursing and am excited (and a bit overwhelmed) to start applying for jobs when I return to the States!

Today I went for a run in the Domain (big park right next to where I live) and saw this really beautiful bird on the path... he had a red head, yellow neck, green body, and blue tail! like really bright colors and seeing that bird reminded me that I am in a place far from home! I have gotten so used to the beautiful place New Zealand is and have made such great friends, Auckland feels like home. Then that bird plops on the path I was running on to remind me what a unique beautiful place I am living... so far from where I have grown up.

Here is a quick update on the last month via photos:

Pineapple lumps = delicious New Zealand lolly. Chocolate covered pineapple chewies. yum.

The venue I watched the Rugby World Cup championship game. NZ All Blacks vs the French

AND WE WON!!!!!!!

The Champions

The streets were filled with people celebrating the big win as we walked back to the hostel.

The NZ Music Awards red carpet. Mel and I got tickets and it was a really fun event to be at. Plus some really great Kiwi musicians- these are my favorites: Brooke Fraser, Avalanche City, Naked & Famous,  and six60. Check em out!

Keiran, Mel, Abhi, me, Shannon, Ellie, Dan: the crew that decided to climb the Auckland Bridge and bungy jump off it!

and here I go!!!! Sadly no one caught a pic with my feet off the ledge, but I really did it! This was bungy jump #2 for me (the first was in Queenstown). It was really fun!

I was really excited that I made it back up after the jump! I actually hit the waves of the ocean right before bouncing back up.

This is called a Tim Tam Slam. Tim Tams are chocolate biscuits (SO YUM) and if you bit off a little piece of each end, you can then suck hot chocolate through the cookie like a straw and it melts in your mouth. It is the best way to eat a Tim Tam.

Mel and I traveled north last weekend to the Bay of Islands. I needed to make a quick call in this Kiwi phone booth.

Caught some rays in between clouds on the beach that weekend. Bay of Islands was so beautiful.

A photo I snapped out the window of the bus as we were returning to Auckland from the Bay of Islands. This is the city I call home this semester. The city of Sails. I still haven't been to the top of the Skytower yet, but have dinner reservations for this Tuesday! Can't wait, Mom and Dad!

Lydia, me, Zazie, Amy and Sarita. These are a few of the amazing nursing students who welcomed me into their class this semester. We were enjoying a picnic in the Domain to celebrate the end of the semester.

Today I went to Mission Bay, a beach in Auckland. The mountain in the background is actually a volcano, Rangitoto, that I climbed to the top of a few months ago (see post: "A View from Above").

The lovely ladies I went to the beach with today!

Soon my two worlds are going to collide because my parents are coming to visit! I cannot wait to show them my life in Auckland and travel to the South Island and Australia with them. Until then, I need to focus on studying for my mental health exam. Three more days til this semester is over!