Christchurch/Queenstown/Auckland

Well it looks like I already broke my promise. It's not my fault! The Christchurch and Queenstown hostels both had limited bandwith on WIFI.

So my last day in Christchurch was a lot more interesting. I stumbled upon a Maori concert on my way through Cathedral Square. The Maori are the indigenous population of New Zealand and from what I've seen so far, protection of Maori culture here is a lot better than our treatment of native Canadians. Here's a short clip of their concert... they were pretty awesome =)

Maori performers!

After that surprise encounter, I made it out to the Gondola, which gave pretty cool views of the city and surrounding geography. In retrospect it wasn't nearly as cool as the Queenstown Gondola which I got to enjoy just a couple of days ago. Here's a shot from each:

Christchurch Gondola View

Queenstown Gondola View

Clearly Queenstown wins on the Gondola battle. Oh, sidenote, the Queenstown Gondola also has a luge track at the top of the mountain. THAT was a lot of fun.

The busride between Christchurch and Queenstown was pretty long (8 hours) but it was incredible in terms of the scenery we passed through. The Southern Alps were visible for the majority of the ride, but unfortunately Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand was covered by cloud that day (that always happens to me!)

Queenstown was effing cold when I got there... well compared to what I'm used to for July. The daily high would be around 5-7 degrees, but for most of the day it was around 0C. I also went on a day cruise to Milford Sounds, part of the Fiordland National Park in New Zealand- A park so big that it's about the size of the Netherlands. That trip has so far been the highlight of my time in New Zealand- the most magical scenery I've enjoyed in my life. The weird thing is I also met a dude who lives in Toronto and graduated from Queen's Artsci '09. All the way in some random town in New Zealand! Totally random. Anyways, here are a couple of pictures from Milford:

So that was the extent of my trip to the South Island. I arrived in Auckland, North Island, New Zealand last night and spent my first day at the Auckland Art Gallery and the National Maritime Museum. Both were pretty cool, but I preferred the Art Gallery. I'll be back soon with more stories! (probably Friday morning EST)

Peace out!

Hakim