Okains Bay, Lake Tekapo, and Queenstown

Now we're going to cram a little. After swimming with the dolphins we made it over to the Banks Peninsula-- more specifically a tiny backpackers in the remote town of Okains Bay. I felt like it represented the real South Island of New Zealand in its quaintness and beauty. As the rest of New Zealand has been, Okains Bay was gorgeous. We stayed at a great backpackers owned by some Dutch expats called the Double Dutch. There we cooked up some mussels and pasta for dinner and just enjoyed the beautiful views. Close to the hostel was a little beach, where we looked at the tiny mussels living on rocks and enjoyed the isolation of such a lovely beach. In the morning, we were off to Lake Tekapo. It was the most beautiful lake I've ever seen! The water is such a unique shade of aqua marine because the glaciers grind up the rocks to tiny particles in the head water, which are then suspended in the water. When the sun hits the water, the water shimmers skyblue. We hiked up Mt. John to the famous Astro Cafe, where we had some coffee and took in the breathtaking panorama of Lake Tekapo and the surrounding summits. After descending Mt. John, we packed up the car once again to drive three hours to Queenstown (the adventure capital of New Zealand). On the way there, we saw even more beautiful scenes. When you're in New Zealand, don't plan on rushing anything. Half the fun is being able to stop, get out of the car and just stare at what's around you. We were pleasantly surprised to find that although Queenstown is quite commercialized, it's really pretty. There are mountains all around and tons of things to do. We chose to do the Shotover Canyon Swing AKA the tallest cliff jump in the world and one of only two canyon swings in the world. Not gonna lie, the added peer pressure from Ryan is probably what made me do it. After free-falling for 60 meters (backwards I might add), you swing the remaining 70 meters into the canyon gorge. It's terrifying, fun, and beautiful all at the same time. We treated ourselves to New Zealand's most famous burger joint afterwards-- FergBurger. Ryan said it was the best gluten-free bun he's ever had!