Kathrine Breivik

Our next stop was Nanuya Resort, which is one of the most luxurious of all the resorts that we are staying at. The room, restaurant and beach were all just amazing.

We spent our days just relaxing and snorkeling (I saw a ‘Nemo’ family). I also fed bread to the fish in the sea, they go crazy for bread.

We went hand-line fishing on our first day there, however we had no luck. John decided to go trolling the next day and caught two fish, a Spanish mackerel and a cod (with huge teeth). We had the mackerel for lunch, delicious.

The food was amazing, and I had lobster for the first time!

Firstly we arrived on mainland Fiji in Nadi. We arrived late so we just stayed the night and got up bright and early and caught the Yasawa Flyer (a big boat) to the Yasawa Islands for some island hopping. After 5 hours on the boat we arrived at the first Island that we  are staying at, which is one of the most northerly islands called Nacula. We stayed at the Oarsmans resort, in a small bure right on the beach.

Next day we went to a local church (being Sunday and all), and visited the local village.

Then we spent most of our time relaxing on the beach, eating great food, learning how to dance the BULA dance and snorkeling. I have never snorkeled before so this opened my eyes to a whole new world, just amazing.

It is rainy season over here so clouds come and go, but overall the weather is brilliant, sunny and hot most of the time.

Sadly all good things have to come to an end, it was time to leave Queenstown. However, as we have a lot of plans for the next 4 months I leave with excitement rather than sorrow. We got a rental car and headed for Christchurch, but as it is a very long drive to Christchurch from Queenstown, we decided that we wanted to have a stopover at Lake Tekapo.

We stopped off at many beautiful stops on the way, no wonder that a lot of these settings have been used in movie.

Finally arriving at Lake Tekapo, and the colour of the lake was just amazing! The lake is so blue because of some erosion from the glacier which runs into the lake. That is a very bad description but the best way of describing it in basic terms. We also climbed Mount John (which John was pretty happy with) looking over the lake surrounded by mountains, beautiful scenery.

Nest day we left for Christchurch where we spent the next 2 days. There is not much to do here really. The inner city is completely ruined as a result of the earthquake that happened here earlier this year. It is so awful to see such an nice city get ruined by a natural disaster. Next stop is Fiji, so it you do not hear anything from me in the next 2 weeks it is probably because I am in paradise.

It is now time to leave this beautiful place. On our last day off we decided to start the day with a little kayaking trip in the lake around Frankton (just outside Queenstown). Just an amazing way to start the day, most beautiful surroundings.

John was brave enough to do the Nevis Bungy, jumping 134 meters head first with a free-fall of 8.5 seconds. Yes crazy I know, so I sat this one out.

Afterwards, we headed for the Skyline Gondola which takes you to the top of a mountain looking over Queenstown, the lake and the mountains.

At the top we hopped on a three-wheeled cart and rode the luge. It was so much fun. We had 6 goes on it an honestly could have done more as it was so much fun.

As you can see I am in the lead, beating John at the luge, haha.

The ski season has now ended. John has done 232 runs downhill the ski slopes at Coronet Peak and The Remarkables. That adds up to 83070 vertical metres. Wow, In contrast I have only done 42 runs (10655 vertical metres),but that was plenty for me.

We also went to visit a new ice bar in Queenstown, called Below Zero Bar.

It was pretty cool as we got the whole bar to ourselves, and had some cold cocktails. The ice bar also had a fire inside it, but was obviously not warm. Furthermore, we have been chilling in the town,going to restaurants or just sitting on the beach by the harbour on warm days, such a beautiful place to live.

We also had a go at Frisbee Golf in the Queenstown Gardens. It is kind of like a golf course, but using Frisbees instead, and the targets are chain baskets. It looks easier than what it really is.

On the road again. Our last road trip with our beloved car ‘Lucida’ was to Dunedin. We packed the car up with camping gear and all needed equipment and headed for Otago Peninsula, which is only 20 minutes drive from Dunedin. First  we went to Sandfly Bay as we wanted to see some Yellow-eyed penguins (one of the world rarest penguins). However, due to it being nesting season and the shy nature of these creatures, we did not manage to see any. Instead to our pleasant surprise we saw lots of sea lions!I have never been near so many sea lions ever before, they are amazing.

This crazy sea lion that you can see below just appeared out of nowhere.I think he was there to make a little trouble with the other sea lions that were just chilling on the beach.

Afterwards we headed for Dunedin, where we stayed over one night and did a little shopping. We also stopped by Baldwin Street which has been argued to be the world steepest residential street, it was pretty steep! On our way back home we saw some lovely scenery. We stopped off at Arrowtown, which must be the smallest and cutest town ever. It will be sad to say bye to our amazing camper-van, but it is about time to let ‘her’ go and start to make future exciting plans.

We are still skiing away up the mountains, making the most of the few weeks that are left of the ski-season. We can already smell spring outside. To be honest I am very ready for summer.

I have added a little taster of how my skiing has improved since I have lived here, those who know me know that this is a big improvement so please do not judge. Enjoy.

Apologies for not writing much lately. We have spent the last month settling in to our new home. Queenstown is such a wonderful town to live in. When we are not at work we spend our time getting to know the town and planning future adventures. The last week it has been a ‘snow storm’ over here, which meant that we spent our ‘free’ days playing in the snow (all from skiing to making snowmen) and spending evenings in front of the fire with mulled wine. Thought I would share some photos.

Also, I must not forget to mention that we miss you all at home!

It is cold outside, it is cold inside. On my day off we stepped into an icy world to enjoy a delicious cocktail served in a ice glass. Minus 5 Ice Bar in Queenstown is completely made up of ice, so obviously it is pretty cold, actually minus 8 degrees! We could sit on ice furniture and enjoy all the ice sculptures around us. It was a fun experience. I was a little disappointed that the room was not bigger, but I guess it can be quite difficult maintaining a bar made of ice. I know I have mentioned the word ice too many times, but it is the only way to explain it.

Someone must have done the snow-dance perfect because it has been snowing for days now. Some of the ski-mountains even had to close, due to ‘the snow-storm’. That did not matter too much to me thought as I have been working all week, and after work I have been so tired that I just fallen asleep anywhere! Hopefully, I will get into this routine soon, and be able to stay awake after 8 pm without taping my eyes open. Meanwhile, John has been looking for some snow chains (did not even know that they existed), but had no luck so far. So not much new to report; we have both been working all week, and we are now trying to save some money again, so that we can start planning our future travels (ohh I am looking forward to lying on a beach and snorkeling in clear blue water).

I will get some more photos when it stops snowing, if it ever will.