New Zealands South Island Dec10-16

Hey everyone its Trev here. Thought I would give this blog thing a try as Candice forgot to tell you guys about how we got to experience an EarthQuake. Yeah I know right?

 It was about 7am on Dec 8 in Napier and Candice and I were still sleeping. I had awoke to our light fixture rattling a little. We were a few rooms down from the fitness room so I thought that maybe it was the vibration from someone on the treadmill. I closed my eyes for a moment then felt the bed start to rock back and forth. I sat up realizing that we were in the middle of a 5.8 EarthQuake. Candice had woke up as well and we both just sat there rocking back and forth in bed in aww wondering what to do. after about 20 seconds it stopped. Candice and I looked at each other and we desided to go run out in the parking lot incase the roof was about to fall in. We looked out side and saw that there was no one moving around or no panic from any of the the other guests, no one seemed to care. So we ended up just going back to bed.                                                       THE END.

Early on the 10th we had to get up to get on the Interislander Ferry to the South Island. The ferry was massive as it could hold 1600 ppl and 600 cars. The ride to the South Island was sonthing out of a post card. The coast lines were full of mountains and thick jungle. 3 hours later we arrived in a small town called Picton. This is where we caught the Kiwi Rail and made our way to Christchurch. The train took us down the East coast stopping at little towns around the way. Candice and I spent 1 night in Christchurch then made our way to Queenstown for 2 nights.

Big ass ferry that took us from the North to the South Island

Views from the ferry of Cook Strait

Candice's first big boat ride. Wellington City to the left

Getting on the train in Picton. Choo Choo

I am sooo happy to be on the train :)

This is one of the beautiful views from the train. Only problem is that there is a dead whale in this photo :(

Queenstown was great, just like Banff but better. The weather was nice and the views were a beauty. The town was bacically just a giant gift shop and a bunch of resturants and bars. (same as Banff) In the winter there is skiing near by. If anyone makes it to Queenstown make sure to try Ferg Burger. WOW is all I have to say. On the 3rd day we set off for Hanmer Springs. It is about and 8hr drive through the middle of the island so to break up the drive we stopped in Greymouth for a night. We only stayed the night in Greymouth so didnt see very much. The coast line views were amazing however.

Views driving to Queenstown. Looks like home

Still driving to Queenstown. The landscape changes soo much

Oh yeah ! FERG BURGER

I have never had a burger this big in my life. Thanks Ferg Burger

View of the warf in Queenstown

The drive through to Hanmer Sprins was very senic. There were waterfalls, rivers and blue pools every half hour or so, so it made our drive a little longer as we stopped often.

Waterfall on the drive to Greymouth

I climed a waterfall on the drive to Greymouth

Candice at the Blue Ponds. Crystal clear water

View of Blue Pond from above

Dont see this everyday. We didnt see a penguin though.

 Hanmer Springs were nice and relaxing. We spent the bettet part of our day at the springs, enjoying the twelve open-air thermal pools and three sulphur pools. At one point we could hear bag pipes coming from the main road so Candice went out to see what was going on. It turns out that they were having their Santa Parade down the main street. Candice had a smile from ear to ear when she saw Santa riding by. That evening we went for a walk around the town, had a nice dinner and went to a christmas carol concert in town.

Sitting in the Hot Springs at Hanmer Springs

Hanmer Springs

The Santa Parade outside of the springs

Santa Parade

The next day we had to get back to Christchurch to return our rental car. Once the car was returned we walked to the city to see the sights. As we got closer to the downtown area we noticed that there were a bunch of the streets closed off. It turns out that they city is still shut down due to the 2010 and 2011 quakes that hit the city. One of the malls that had been badly affected had reopened as a bunch of shipping containers with shops in them. Its nice to see that people are adjusting but sad to see the main part of the city still closed and the damaged businesses around.

Map of Christchurch City. The red is the part that is closed off due to the earth quakes

Christchurch Art Museum. Heavily damaged in the quakes

The new shopping center

The next morning we got up to catch our flight to Brisbane Australia to visit the rest of the Lister Family. This is where we plan on getting jobs and finding a place to stay for the next little while..