Final push!
A very familiar face :) and the last of school in NZ
After waiting all day with nervous anxiety/excitement, I finally drove Wee to the airport, parked, and made my way to the arrivals section of the Christchurch airport. Why was I nervous and holding chocolate and flowers? Because of Ellora. She’s in NZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOLYSHEETTHEEHTHETHTH
Now reunited after for what seemed like an eternity. It was incredibly surreal to see Ellora coming down the escalator. Like incredibly surreal. It felt fake. After a while, we were able to walk out of the airport to go home. Ellora met the world-famous Wee Wee the car. When we got back to the dorms she met the whole gang. Craziness.
The PLAN:
In order to give Ellora the Ultimate-Jude-Approved-New-Zealand-Tour (TM), we rented a camper van. Equipped with a small kitchen, toilet (questionable), two beds (?), a freaking table, and the best vibes ever, we were ready to take on the South Island.
Our first big stop was Aoraki/Mount Cook. On the way down we listened to some tunes, ate a meat pie in Fairlie, and stopped at Tekapo along the way.
When we got to Lake Pukaki, the most amazing sunset blessed our eyes. There was also a great crested grebe swimming around in the lake.
After soaking in the last rays of the sunset, we made it to our campsite right beneath Mount Cook, and tested out the kitchen. We made some instant pho but added mushrooms and eggs. 8.5/10 delicious. The night was so cold despite our 4 sleeping bags. The next day, we woke up early to tackle Mueller Hut. The whole way up is just too amazingly beautiful.
We made quick work of the 2000+ wooden stairs up and enjoyed a snack before moving on.
We made it through snow and boulders to eventually reach the hut!
After our hike, we drove down to Wanaka to explore the next day. We spent a lot of time skipping rocks. We drove through into Queenstown, stopping for a few hours, before making our way all the way into Fiordland, where we met Agatha who was waiting for us at the campsite!!!
We started our day with a Milford Sound cruise. Does it get better than this? The views were of course amazing and we possibly spotted some albatross (??). We met a filipino family on the boat and bonded <3. The kids were named after “Lebron’s wife” and the other one had to do with Brad Pitt? Most filipino thing ever.
On our way out of the Fiordlands, we ran into a couple kea misbehaving and acting all mischievous as they always do.
After a long and beautiful drive, we dropped off Agatha in Dunedin and then headed to a campsite near the beach.
Quickly rushing home, we made it just in time to return our camper van. We were POOOOOOPED. The next day I had to do an oral presentation for my politics class which I got an A on (bang #StillStudious).
Taking a day just to explore the city, we went to the willowbank wildlife reserve and went to the hot pools by the sea.
The next day we drove into Arthur’s Pass and did a really nice hike. We we’re super tired but we powered through and fueled ourselves with a lot of gummy worms.
The next day Ellora packed up and we drove around. Ellora drove Wee for a bit, and then I dropped her off at the airport. :( We were very sad that it went by so fast. It was so special showing her around and enjoying all of the sights with her.
Back to the evil grind that is study abroad school when you are trying to do fun things but your schoolwork is boring but necessary and maybe important
After Ellora left, it was back to the grind. I had two papers, a final project, a report, and two tests to finish/study. Easy peasy.
Somehow I got it all done. It now feels like a blur but I was so stressed yikes.
School’s OUT!!! (Not really)
As a celebration of finishing our classes, we planned a big trip to go to Dunedin for the weekend and stay in an AirBnB. 16 of us.
After spending a lot of time at Tunnel Beach, we stopped in the center of town for a bit before driving down the peninsula to go the the Albatross/Penguin center. Immediately we saw albatross soaring in the sky!!!!!!!! We booked a penguin tour, which started once the sun went down.
LITTLE BLUE PENGUINS
The next day we went surfing and crammed 5 surfboards into Tobin’s car. Marshall and I had like 4 square feet for the both of us.
The waves were massive and so scary. I got past the break and I was scared for my life. One day I’ll send it. After our surf day in Dunedin, we drove all the way back to Christchurch and it felt like forever. Marshall brought his yo-yo.
Exams and a lot of Sadness
After getting back, I locked in. I grinded and studied and played ping-pong and pool and climbed, and surfed more and watched movies. Good balance. On another huge note, Wee was successfully sold. Facebook Marketplace. I hate it and I love it at the same time.
I Literally only have like a week left in New Zealand I am so sad :(
As I am writing this substack post, I am done with everything school related. I finished my exams today. It’s all done. So my mission now is to squeeze in my last adventures and trips around the country. AHGGGAAA
— Jude
i really liked that the caption for the photo of marshall gave no context, just marshall
in literal tears over the ellora visit recap also that camper van is so bigggg