My November so far

November so far has been wonderful (yes, it's only been 3 days). 

The weather is turning cooler, which means mashed potatoes and hot tea and blankets and movies and cuddling. Plus, with all the leaves changing colours, its one of the prettiest seasons in Toronto!

I've fallen in love with this wine (and the dog is awesome too... but not with wine...): 

It needs to breathe before it gets awesomely awesome, so let it sit for a bit. It's delicious (I'm no wine connoisseur so "delicious" is all I can say to describe things) just on it's own while watching Vampire Diaries. Yes, yes it is.

Last night, Steven and I saw a much-anticipated movie:

I read the book a couple of years ago and LOVED it.

I was very happy with the interpretation of the themes in the book. And the actor that portrayed Ender, Asa Butterfield, was excellent. And Harrison Ford. And Ben Kinglsey. And the effects. And basically everything in the movie. WOW.

We waited until the end to see if there would be one of those Marvel movie extra scenes, but there wasn't.

Walking out of the theatre, we kept saying how good the movie was. Then, Steven said, "So much better than stupid Gravity," and the guy behind us snickers in aggreement.

In conclusion, people that stay to the very end of movies like Ender's Game also have a disdain for slow, boring movies like Gravity.

Day 5 in New Zealand: Our last day!

This is the fifth and last installment of Steven and my adventures in New Zealand in April 2013. You can find the first, second, third and fourth posts at the links provided! Cheers!

Our last day in New Zealand started with lots of phone calls to the NZone Skydive company, trying to work out whether or not Steven could skydive that day.

It was rainy and wet in the beginning of the day, so we didn't hold out much hope for the early morning jump.

There were clear skies in the distance, so we agreed to push back the skydive from 7 AM to 10, then to 12, and finally at 1 PM they decided they were not jumping for the day because of wind.

Steven threw the biggest man-tantrum in the world (not true, he just sort of went, "Ah well."), so I took him for the next best thing in the world, a hike!

The hike up to the top of the Queenstown Gondola is actually quite difficult. It's an hour-long hike that is slippery when the ground is wet, and ALL UPHILL.

I know, I know, complaining about a hike going UPHILL is like complaining the sky is blue. But some hikes will flatten out in some areas, maybe even dip in some others, and generally go uphill, giving you the impression that you are far stronger than you actually are.

Not this one. It hits you over the head with uphill-ness and then knocks you down flat cuz you suck at climbing uphill for an hour.

Luckily, the views at the top were as amazing as ever, so Steven and I had something to gaze at as we sucked wind and congratulated each other on beating the two old people up the mountain (they came trotting up minutes later, in considerably less visible pain, BUT WE STILL WON).

Going down was easier and quicker (I heart Gravity). By the time we were at the bottom, both of us needed a bite to eat.

I had THE BEST boston cream donut ever from the Freg Bakery which is next door to the very popular Ferg Burger (Our opinion? Good, but nothing very original or mind-blowingly delicious for vegetarians.)

The pies and savoury items looked great, but I went with the honkin' huge Boston Cream donut, which was filled with the best vanilla cream I've ever tasted. Towards the end, though, I was starting to feel a little sick from the sugar overload. This is definitely a donut to split between two people!

The rest of the night was lovely. Steven and I had a beautiful dinner and turned in early.

The next morning, we said our goodbyes to the wildlife here on this New Zealand adventure:

Random emu-like dinosaur statue in the park....

And kiwi bird park that we never went into....

Goodbye New Zealand, and we hope dearly to see you again in the future!

Day 4 in New Zealand: Kayaking with Dolphins in Milford Sound

This is the fourth installment of Steven and my adventures in New Zealand in April 2013. You can find the first post, second, and third on these links. Enjoy!

When I first pressured Steven to sign up for this tour, the Rosco's Morning Glory Sea Kayak, I really had no idea what we were in for.

All I knew was that I wanted to try my hand at 5+ hours of kayaking because I'm a sucker for punishment, endurance challenges and early mornings.

Yeah, I don't know how Steven puts up with me either.

ANYWAY, we stayed in the nearest town, Te Anau, the night before our kayak. This is because accommodation in Milford Sound is limited to basically the Milford Lodge which either charges dirt cheap prices for backpacker accommodation, or Millionaire prices for luxury suites.

As Steven and I are no longer backpackers (hello late 20s, creaky joints, early morning Ashtanga), and not yet millionaires (Plan B: marry rich), we decided to stay in an average-ly priced motel and drive the 2 hours to Milford Sound in the morning.

The kayak tour met at 7 AM. This meant we had to be on the road by 5, which meant a 3:30 AM check out to HAUL SOME SERIOUS ASS to Milford.

It was pitch black, a partly cloudy night, and an absolutely once-in-a-lifetime drive. Think snow-capped mountains and a blanket of stars. Steven probably had a 1 and 1/2 hour panic attack trying not to drive off the road, but I had a very pleasant journey nap.

At Milford Sound Lodge, we met the group and went to Deepwater Basin to get our gear on.

This company really fits you out with everything you possibly need: fleece pants, top, sweater, rain/wind jacket, and a floppy kayak skirt that basically keeps the water out of your seat. You really only need to wear some underwear, and you're all set!

We were off without delay. The sky was getting brighter and brighter, but because of the height of the mountains it would still be hours before we got direct light.

We started in the quiet, idyllic Deepwater Basin, and started paddling out to the Sound, which is actually a Fjord, but you can't change the name now that everyone's calling it a Sound, right?

It had rained the day before, so the waterfalls were plentiful and in force!

Then, we had our first wildlife spotting.

THAT'S A DOLPHIN!! 

A

DOLPHIN!

There was a pod swimming into the fjord to start a day of fishing, playing, and showing off in front of the cruise ships.

They sped past us, as we were moving out of the fjord towards the Tasman Sea.

We turned the corner and saw these:

Seals, just chillin', sunning themselves on the rocks. Y'know how it goes, the life of a seal.

By now, as you can see, we had direct sunlight on us.

Neither Steven nor I had any idea what time it was.

All we knew was that we were having a BLAST. Paddling, paddling, and paddling.

We each took turns paddling under and through Rainbow Falls.

Then, our friendly dolphins caught up to us. They were returning to sea by now.

It's too bad I couldn't get any pictures of them jumping and frolicking. There was even a little baby dolphin.

We paddled HARD to keep up with the pod. Those little buggers can swim.

It was hard to believe that for 15-20 minutes, we were just paddling among the dolphin pod, going out to sea.

Finally, we made it to Tasman Sea. The dolphins stuck close to the shore line as we ventured straight out. The waves were bigger and the water was clear (being away from trees meant the tannins or oils in the trees couldn't stain the water here).

We met up with a little jet boat (to the very left of the above picture) that would speed us back to our start point. It basically did the work of our 5+ hour kayak in about 10 minutes.

This trip was hands-down the highlight of our time in New Zealand. Coming so close to the wildlife, chatting with our tour guide, and making friends with our kayak-trip-mates was incredible.

Before we knew it, we were back on the road.

We needed to put 4+ hours between us and Milford Sound, so we wasted no time.

Back to Queenstown!

Day 3 in New Zealand: Gorgeous Queenstown

This is the third installment of Steven and my adventures in New Zealand! If you missed it, check out our first day in Christchurch, and our second day at Fox Glacier. Enjoy!

After our glacier hike, the second leg of our road trip was a drive from Fox Glacier to Queenstown.

This was a beautiful 4 hour drive that was surprisingly, 4 hours! After our Christchurch-to-Fox debacle, we had thought Google was inaccurate and untrustworthy. Sorry, Google. We will not doubt you again.

It was about 6 PM when we got into Queenstown. We were tired and hungry from the early day.

But Queenstown slapped us in the face with some pretty awesome natural beauty.

Are your eyeballs ready? Cuz I'm about to pass that gorgeous-scenery-slap-in-the-face onto you.

Ready?

BOOM!

Hands down my favourite sunset. I <3 you, Lake Wakatipu!

Proof I was there. And hungry. See that face? That's a "sure-I'll-smile-for-your-camera-but-I'm-friggin-hungry-and-at-the-end-of-my-patience-can-we-leave-yet" face.

So Steven shoved that face in some Thai deliciousness.

The next day, we explored some more of Queenstown's sights.

We hit up Vudu Cafe for one of the best breakfasts I've ever had: Moroccan Beans with Poached Eggs and Toast.

They messed up Steven's eggs (overcooked... *face palm*. Seriously, what restaurant can't cook eggs?!), but I really enjoyed my food.

Queenstown had rained that morning, but thankfully it stopped by mid-morning. The clouds slowly began to lift, and we could see the gondola station at the top of the mountains. So guess what we did?

Yup. I hate heights. Especially when suspended on shaky-looking wires in tiny little metal boxes.

 The view from the top was stunning.

We even got to see this brave soul dive fearlessly off a feeble platform while harnessed only by a thin tether.

Crazy. But I guess this is the town of crazy.

To top off our day, we pretended to be 12 year-olds and took a couple rides each on the Luge.

We even bought the commemorative photos, but I won't post them here because they are far too dorky.

Day 2 in New Zealand: Fox Glacier Township

This is the second installment to Steven and my adventures in New Zealand! If you missed the first, you can find it here. Cheers!

When Steven and I had planned our road trip to New Zealand, we were prepared for hours of driving a day. It would be worth the effort to have all the adventure we were planning on having.

Our first adventure would be hiking around Fox Glacier, the most accessible of New Zealand's 3000-some glaciers. This was supposed to be an easy drive: 5 hours from Christchurch to Fox Glacier Township through Arthur's Pass.

The drive was actually more like an agonizing 6 hrs plus. I was considering murdering Steven and dumping his corpse in the mountains.

Just kidding... Maybe.

We took a rest-and-stretch stop at a random lake about an hour or so out of Christchurch. Up in the mountains it was significantly chillier than the sunshine led you to believe.

We also stopped at Arthur's Pass for some gas and grub. I got 2 oranges for $3 NZD! Outrageous but I thought the vitamins would do well to heal my cold.

Some unique warnings...

Then, there was that magic moment when, after driving for hours through mountains and farms, you hit the coast and endless horizon:

By the time we got to Fox Glacier Township, the sun had just set. We were both really afraid of driving in the dark, so we were racing the sun to get there.

We had a quick dinner (btw, most delicious soup I've ever had; it was roasted tomato!), and went to bed.

The guy at our motel had told us to check out Lake Matheson, just 5 min down the road, before we went on our glacier hike at 8:30 AM. The sun was set to rise around 7:30, so we had a quick breakfast and made our way there.

So. Worth. It.

Steven and I signed up for a "Fox-Trot" half day hike around the glacier. You walk up the terminal face of the glacier and explore whatever area of it you can.

The company we went with, Fox Glacier Guiding, got us fully outfitted.

Boots, socks, wind/water proof jacket, waterproof backpacks, and crampons.

Crampons are sharp little pointy things that allow you to kick your enemies off glaciers and frolic with triumph. RAWR.

There was about a 20-30 minute walk from the car park to the glacier itself.

Those bits of white are the glacier there, covered in rock and silt.

Once you got on the glacier, it was incredible to think that it extended back another 30 miles up into the mountains.

It was really dirty up there.

"Glaciers are like conveyor belts for mountain rocks," our guides explained. "They carry them from the mountain tops to the bottom as they melt."

I just thought Foxie needed a good ol' shower and scrub. That dirty ol' glacier girl.

That's right.

"Sandy DOMINATED the mighty Fox Glacier."

One of our Heart Challenges is to dominate everything I do. What can I say. It comes naturally.

We're back!

Just a quick post now that Steven and I are back in Sydney.

Last week, we took a trip to the South Island of New Zealand. We road-tripped from Christchurch to Queenstown, kayaked in Milford Sound, and plenty of other cool stuff.

I'll have a New Zealand post up as soon as I get time!