Highlights from New Zealand

I spent Easter break in New Zealand, exploring the best parts of the South Island with 11 other people in 2 campervans. The country was full of sheep, trees, lakes, oceans, and huge mountains. The weather was perfectly sunny and beautiful for us, even in the parts of the country that get 300 days of rain a year. We were even luckier with our illegal and very sketchy campervan parking – apparently you aren’t allowed to camp on the sides of main roads, but we didn’t get busted once!

Our first night, we arrived late at night in Akaroa, not knowing that we had parked along the most beautiful lake in town until morning!

Here comes another top ten list: My Favourite Parts of New Zealand:

10. The baby lifestyle. As a passenger in the giant campervan, I was entitled to a continuous cycle of eating, drinking, and sleeping during our long roadtrips.

I’d say I probably spent the majority of the week lounging in this cozy bed.

9. Rugged living. When we weren’t on the road, we were hardcore campers. That means hiking up the beautiful rocky mountains, breathing in the crisp air, barely showering, and peeing in the woods.

See that reflection in the water? I'm so artsy.

8. Kayaking Milford Sound. What’s better than belting your favourite Disney songs while kayaking through an otherwise peaceful fiord? Seven other things, apparently. Keep reading.

Milford Sound is actually a fjord and not a sound, but New Zealanders spell it "fiord" just to be even more difficult.

7. Extreme spooning. Four girls in one full size bed (see image from #10 above). We made it work.

6. Climbing the Franz Josef Glacier. It was such a nice day we hiked in shorts!

Who do you think is going to get killed first?

5. Queenstown. I’d call it a cross between the ski resort towns of Colorado, the hiking in Maine, and the extreme adventureland in my head.

A view of Queenstown from one of its highest peaks. We were told the hike to the top of this mountain would take three hours, but we owned it in under sixty minutes!

4. The Fergburger. I’m drooling just thinking about it.

"This tastes so good, I'm worried I'm going to get this burger pregnant."

"If he does get that burger pregnant, I have dibs on the delicious burger babies." -How I Met Your Mother

3. The crash. We hit a pole in the parking lot within 30 minutes of renting the campervan. Nothing huge, but it was enough to jam our main cabin door for the rest of the trip. I don't know why, but it made my top 3.

2. DNMs. That's Aussie for Deep and Meaningfuls. Pillow talk, if you will, and we had plenty of time for it.

1. Bungy jumping. I dove off Kawarau Bridge (just outside of Queenstown), where bungy jumping was invented. It beats skydiving by a mile.

I just kept falling and falling and falling...