Kangaroos, Koalas, Wallabies... oh my!

Day 16: Phillip Island and back to Melbourne

This morning, we didn’t have much of a plan except to get back to Melbourne sometime during the day. We had breakfast and found some free internet at the library to try booking some stuff (which never happened). We wasted so much time that it was lunchtime, so we went back to the Thai place and ate some good food – who knows when we would get a tasty meal like that again!

We then went to a wildlife reserve where we saw lots of animals native to Australia, including kangaroos and wallabies that were roaming free on the acres of land. It was cool, but a little zoo-like (though the kangaroos and some wallabies were free to roam in acres of land) – so it wasn’t as cool as seeing them in the wild.  We did get to feed them as they came right up to us (they’re used to it, with all the visitors), but it was a little intimidating as they jumped towards us with excitement!

After that, we went to a koala sanctuary, where we walked through more boardwalks across the trees and saw some koalas in their natural habitat. Did you know koalas sleep 20 hours a day because their diet of eucalyptus leaves is so light, they need to preserve their energy? Nice life!

After the sanctuary, we visited a winery on a mountain by the ocean, before heading back to Melbourne. When we got back to the city, we needed to find a hotel, so we drove around and stopped into a whole bunch (which were mostly sold out or ridiculously expensive because apparently it was the Queen’s birthday long weekend)! So we found one hotel and we took it! We had leftover Thai for dinner and passed out – we have an early morning tomorrow!

Gaurav feeding the kangaroos

Lazy koala

Stealth little penguins

Day 15: Phillip Island and a Penguin Parade

True to our last-minuteness on this trip, we woke up with no clue what to do today. Finally, we decided to rent a (particularly expensive) car to take a trip to Phillip Island. The drive was short, and the rolling hills reminded us of our first love – New Zealand.

We arrived at the info centre in Phillip Island and the very helpful customer service lady helped us book a hotel for the night (at a discount – yay)! We then made it out to the main attraction! We got front-row seats on the boardwalk and waited…

When nightfall came, we saw them, sneaking in from the ocean like little stealth spies… clusters and clusters of tiny little 32-inch tall penguins! After spending days and sometimes weeks in the Bass Strait looking for food for their family at shore, the penguins come back to shore in the guise of darkness and sneak over to their burrows, trying to avoid predators by leaning low to the ground and coming up only in small groups. It was an amazing sight! Nature is truly wonderful!

We weren’t allowed to take pictures or get near them so as not to disturb their natural habitat and their nightly schedule, but it was truly fantastic! They trotted along, pausing at times like little statues – as if they knew someone was watching them.

When we followed the last of the penguins searching for his home as far as we could see, we dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and went to the one-road town to have one of the best Thai meals we have ever eaten – finally, some good food!

Now, time to rest on a full belly!

 Wild Kangaroos

 Shores of Phillip Island

A "holy" flight

Day 14: A destined meeting, a fateful flight

We woke up ridiculously early today to drop off our rental car, grab a cab, and make it to the airport for our 7am flight to Melbourne. After buying some cheesy souvenirs from the airport gift shop (yes, we actually forgot to go into any stores while in NZ – but we just couldn’t get enough of the mountains), we sat by our gate waiting for our flight to board.

That’s when it happened.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama walked by us.

He walked through the gate, and onto… you guessed it… OUR FLIGHT.

At first, we didn’t know if he was on our flight or not, but as soon as we approached our aircraft, we saw him sitting there, in the front seat (in economy class!), surrounded by his entourage of other monks and many personal security guards. We were awestruck, dumbfounded, elated! People wait their whole lives to meet him, and of all the flights in all the world, he walked onto OURS!

As we entered the plane, we caught his eye, smiled at him (and he smiled back!) and we both bowed our heads with our hands clasped in front of us in respect.

Talk about a safe flight! We actually flew with the Dalai Lama as the orange glow of the sun rose above the clouds outside our window! We felt so blessed to have “met” him, and were in awe pretty much the rest of the day.

During our entire trip throughout NZ, we couldn’t help but feel that we must have done something pretty amazing in our life to deserve all that we have had the opportunity to experience. But that was the kicker. What a perfect end to our trip through New Zealand, and what a perfect beginning to the next leg of our trip.

This blog entry could/should end there, but that was actually only the beginning of our day! We arrived in Melbourne, took the shuttle to the city, and had to find a place to stay (last-minute, remember)! So we managed to find some internet, booked a hotel, and went to drop off our stuff and grab a much-needed meal. We napped (we haven’t slept much over the last few days), walked around the city a bit, had some dinner (the food here is so much better than NZ – and so much more reasonably priced!), and then explored the area. Melbourne seems to be a city full of hidden gems down tiny alleyways, and we found some pretty cool places tucked around corners!

On our way home, we happened to walk into a bar where break dancers were battling and rappers were free-styling! The breakers and the DJ were amazing. I (Gaurav) had to go with the flow and show the kids some old-school flavor and, for a short period of time, be part of the underground breakin/hip-hop culture in Melbourne.  I soon realized my body has changed and I am not as fit as the younguns, but it could have just been the hiking and trekking in the last couple of weeks (as Rachna laughs at me in the background)!

We went back to the hotel and bought some internet time to book some stuff. No plan for tomorrow yet, but we know the things we want to see, so hopefully it will all work out!

Watching the sunrise with His Holiness

Graffiti art that pulled us into an alley to a hidden bar

The top of a glacier and the ends of a million rainbows

Day 13: Franz Josef Glacier

Today took us over the top, yet again! Words cannot begin to express what we experienced. We woke up to clear skies and great weather – a perfect day for our tour…

We signed in, got outfitted with our gear, and… climbed into a helicopter (our first time ever)! The flight took us over the Franz Josef Glacier, one of the few glaciers in the world to exist amidst a rainforest! On the short flight, we saw a waterfall with a rainbow going across it and then, we landed on the glacier and got off the helicopter for our hike! Yup, as if our life couldn’t have gotten any more interesting, we hiked up a glacier! At first, it felt precarious (of course), but we soon got used to stomping through the ice with our cramps (spikes). We climbed into blue-ice glacier caves, heard the glacier breaking off all around us, hiked up to a view of a massive waterfall with yet another rainbow running across it, and drank the freshest water from little streams of melting ice running down the glacier, as pure and natural as water can get. We spent over 2 hours on the glacier walking through amazing naturally sculpted art made up of caverns and gigantic ridges before being picked up by the helicopter and deposited back on solid ground. The entire experience was so exhilarating, we were giddy for hours afterwards!

Right after the glacier hike, we had to get back into our car and drive all the way back to Christchurch (a 5-6 Hour drive) for our flight out of New Zealand tomorrow. This country is extremely catered to backpackers, so most places are quite casual and there are a lot of hitchhikers who spend months travelling the country. We picked up a hitchhiker – a young guy from the Netherlands who was going in our direction (more good karma) and he rode with us for about an hour or so. He seemed to have the same travel plans as us but he was doing it over 8 months! On the drive, we saw SO MANY rainbows, it was actually unreal. We actually lost count after we passed more than 10 of them – single rainbows, double rainbows, half rainbows, full rainbows, bright rich rainbows, fading rainbows… you name it, we saw it. We couldn’t believe our eyes. What a way to end our trip – what a way to spend our last day!

We dropped off our new Dutch friend at a town along the way, and continued our drive. We saw the sun set over the Tasman Sea, and drove through more mountains and valleys as the sky got darker and darker. And as if our day couldn’t get better, we even managed to see the endangered Kiwi bird running across the road in front of us just before the sun completely set! Wow! Our trip felt so complete! The rest of the drive was pretty precarious, though, because it was extremely dark, and the roads all zig-zag through mountains so none of them have streetlights. We also hit quite a few patches of extremely dense fog, during which we couldn’t see barely two feet in front of us, so we had to drive ridiculously slow to make sure we didn’t fall over the cliffs into the valleys below! Gladly, we made it safe and sound to Christchurch!

Unfortunately, Christchurch was hit with a massive earthquake a few months ago, with a slew of aftershocks – the latest having happened a few days ago – and so driving through the town (which was mostly closed) and seeing all the rubble was devastating. A very sad way to end the trip, but something that truly made us appreciate the fragility of the world we have made, and to respect nature even more. We checked into our hotel, grabbed a quick bite, and went back to try to get some sleep. We have a very early flight to Melbourne, Australia tomorrow morning. 

We are going to miss New Zealand so much! After having started our trip off on such a high note, we don’t know how we’re going to feel in the next place. Hopefully we won’t spend too much time comparing things to NZ! The country and the people have been so good to us, and we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to spend two weeks here. Ah New Zealand, thank you so much! We will carry you with us forever. 

Franz Josef Glacier (can you spot the group of 9 hikers?)

On the glacier and under a glacier! 

Double rainbow... the first of countless rainbows on our drive

Weather glitch, but still more beauty!

Day 12: Franz Josef

We got up extremely early this morning to make the 4-5 hour drive to Franz Josef, to make it in time to do an afternoon activity. We started our drive out in the dark under the thousands of stars through precarious mountain roads (as usual), and it was so interesting to be surrounded by mountains but not be able to see them. We had the fortune of enjoying the sun rise over the mountains and hit the tips of them, illuminating everything around us. Again, just breathtaking!

The drive, like every other drive, was spectacular. We drove through more rainforests and mountains, forests filled with unique towering trees (the vegetation in this country is so different!), lakes and rivers, and the Tasman Sea. We didn’t stop too much, seeing as how we had to make it to the town by a certain time, but we did enjoy the scenery.

When we got to Franz Josef, our tour (which we will only tell you about once we do it) was cancelled due to weather conditions. So we opted to drive to another little town down the road, where we walked on the shore of the Tasman Sea with the tides coming in at full force onto the shore. There, we made another rock stack (this is starting to become a little thing we do)! Then, we did a trek into the rainforest and reached a lookout point, from which we could see the sea filling up rivers into the town, and a lagoon by some cliffs in the distance. Every place we visit in New Zealand still manages to amaze us. You would think this would get old at some point, but it simply hasn’t! 

We went back to Franz Josef, visited some hot pools, had some dinner, sat in a sauna and hot tub, and slept a much-needed sleep! 

Tomorrow is going to be a big day! 

 Our rock stack (to the left) against the Tasman Sea

Living in the moment

Day 11: Queenstown

This morning, we woke up to a beautiful view of the mountains surrounding us (again!) and headed back to Queenstown. Since Milford Sound is at the end of the road, we snaked back through the same rainforests and mountains as on our way in, but it all seemed new again. Every time we see something, it feels as if we are seeing everything for the first time. And though we have seen so many mountains and trees and sheep, it never seems to get old. The awe remains.

And again, the weather was great! Whatever was foggy yesterday was clear today, and vice versa, so we managed to see everything there was to see across the two days of our trip! We got back to Queenstown and spent the evening planning and booking a few things. It is stressful to do things so last-minute, but there is also a sense of just enjoying everything as it is happening and seeing what we feel like doing next. Its kind of zen – living in the moment! 

 Sheep, sheep, everywhere!

Lucky, fortunate, privileged, blessed... thank you!

Day 10: Milford Sound

Our trip just keeps getting better and better! Today blew our mind away… AGAIN! Just when we thought we had seen the most amazing things, we find something new that completely takes our breath away!

Today, we drove toward Milford Sound, another end-of-the-road town like Aoraki/Mount Cook. The drive was, once again, spectacular. On the five-hour drive, we passed through so many different landscapes, and we kept getting surprised with new and amazing things to photograph! It was like every turn held a new gift! We drove through windy mountains, stopped for a herd of sheep crossing the road to go grazing, saw deer farms (apparently a big thing in this area), passed by a town with a whopping population of 72, drove through tufts of clouds, watched rivers raging below us, walked through a rainforest, watched a chasm carve out a path through large boulders, witnessed hundreds of waterfalls dropping from miles high, and saw enormous mountains and cliffs end in lakes all around us. And that was just the drive!

This time, instead of a glacier, the road ended in a Sound (also known as a Fjord), which is a narrow inlet that snakes its way through the mountains from the sea. It is hidden between the mountains so you cannot see it from the sea (some early explorers didn’t find it, even after several voyages).

We checked into our hotel in the middle of the mountains, and then went to the bay to join our cruise through Milford Sound. Once again, there are no words to describe our experience. The cruise took us through the sound, through a hidden oasis of mountains, rainforests, waterfalls, and sea animals (dolphins, sea lions, and birds)! We saw another rainbow (another full one, from one end to the other), watched dolphins swim and jump by our boat, were soaked by a waterfall, saw sea lions sleeping on a rock, watched the sun set through the mountains, and had lost complete function of our awe by the end of it all (actually, we had lost that at the beginning of our day)! 

We still can’t believe it. Each day, our jaw hurts because we are perpetually dragging it along with us everywhere we go! Everything we see just gets more amazing than the last thing! It almost feels so unfair to write blog entries about all of this beauty because unless you see it with your own eyes, you cannot comprehend just how breathtaking it all really is! We cannot even imagine going back to a “regular” life after all of this – and we’re only at the beginning of our trip! The one thing we keep feeling every day is how unbelievably lucky we are to be having this experience. We are so fortunate. We are so privileged. We are so blessed. And “Thank You” are the only two words we have managed to say that mean anything.  

Mirror Lakes, on the way to Milford Sound

Waterfall, rainbow, dolphins... heaven

Milford Sound

Sunset in the Sound