Hello there guys. Ready for the final story of New Zealand? Whether you are or not, here it comes!

From now on I should stay for a couple of days in Queenstown. Something I needed, because travelling from out of your backpack is pretty hard sometimes. I decided that I deserved a good sleep in and woke up at 10.30am. I started to apply for jobs in Brisbane, had some chill time and in the evening went to some bars with two of my travel friends.

The next day was not much better, nice sleep in, groceries, applied for jobs, cooked dinner and had a movie night.

On the third day I set my alarm, woke up and went to my pick up point. It was Funyak day. Do you know what that is? I didn’t had a clue either to be honest. I booked my New Zealand Adventure with a Travel Agency, sometimes I got surprised. We drove for one hour and then they explained what to do. I started with a Jet boat trip, not too bad to do it again, and later on we should jump into an inflatable canoe. That was just great because we let the river do the job. The guide told a lot about the environment and we went to a really really beautiful place. It was a good day!

Maybe you remember from my previous post, I had to reschedule my Swing. So that was what I did this morning. For people who don’t know what it is: it is like a swing in the playground but then between the mountains, start at an absurd height and you are swinging for 300 meters. They tried to get me scared, but I already did the Bungy so this was peanuts. Never mind. I spent my afternoon on the beach at the lake and had a drink in the evening.

How does it sound: walking, climbing, abseiling, sliding and that all in one activity? I should say it is brilliant! I put on a great wetsuit outfit again and went for the Canyoning. Even though we wore good wetsuits the water was freezing. But it was so much fun. Literally in a canyon abseiling, sliding into the water, they drop you in freezing water and I volunteered to jump in it as well. It was adventures, different then a lot of other activities and it ended too soon if you ask me. I think it proves again that I am an outdoor person.

Time to leave Queenstown and continue my way to Mt Cook. I saw this beautiful mountain from a distance before, so I was looking forward to go there. We arrived at the accommodation early in the afternoon so we could do a hike track at Mt Cook. I choose to do the Hooker Valley Track. The wind was so strong it almost blows you away, but it had a special effect which I enjoyed. I had good company to walk with and even when there were a lot of clouds it was beautiful to walk between the glaciers. Oh and maybe a nice fact to know, Mt Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand.

When I left Mt Cook the next day, there was one thing that bothered me.. I need to get an opportunity to swim with dolphins. It seemed impossible, so I booked rafting to end my trip with an amazing activity instead of just be bored in Christchurch. (I think I thought I hadn't done enough activities yet). However, after a stop at the world famous church at Lake Tekapo and some driving we arrived at the place we could hop on the shuttle bus to the rafting place. Once on the river we started quite, time to explain and practice. It got a little more difficult after a while and that changed to difficult. But we listened well to our instructor and we managed to stay upright. We went for a swim, it was more floating trough the river and the current decide where you are going. The whole rafting trip was absolutely amazing.

It took still two hours before we arrived in Christchurch and I used that time for some research. I literally visited all websites nearby Christchurch about Dolphin Swimming or Shuttle buses which go there. I couldn’t find a solution for it. You probably think now, what is the problem? I had just one day left. I had to sleep in Christchurch so I could only do daytrips, because my flight was the next day at 6.50 in the morning. And I couldn’t find any shuttles which were waiting for ending the dolphin swim. But as I told you before Dolphin Swimming is something on my bucket list for years. And swimming with wild dolphins is rare so I took a risk, a huge risk. I booked a return bus to Kaikoura (3 hours drive from Christchurch), booked the dolphin swim activity with Stray (otherwise there were no spots available) and hoped for the best. I distracted my thoughts and went to a festival in Christchurch in the evening. It was nice.

The next day I woke up early, made my ass to the shuttle bus and ask them what time they should go back to Christchurch. They said we are leaving Kaikoura at 3.30pm. I was nervous and excited at the same time. The dolphin swim should end at 3ish, but they can’t make any promises. When the dolphins are not close to the coast they have to go further. At least I arrived in time to start the dolphin swim. Jumped into wetsuits and other gear and got on the boat. After a while the sign was there. We were allowed to go in the water and swim with them. There were maybe hundred of dolphins around! You had to make noise and behave weird, because that interests the dolphins. I went in the water for four times. There was even time to make pictures of them after the swimming. I couldn’t get rid of the smile on my face. It was absolutely the best thing from whole New Zealand!

But now the second important thing, will I make it in time to catch my shuttle bus back to Christchurch? I explained the situation and they told me that the bus will wait for me. I reassured a bit, but not for 100% until I saw it with my own eyes. YES I MADE MY BUS! The best day of my life, I took a huge risk and everything worked out perfectly. Sometimes you need to take some risks. In the evening I said goodbye to Annette and Leonie while joining a beer. What a perfect day was this. I can’t even find the good words to describe what I felt that day. I couldn’t wish for a better last day of an amazing trip through New Zealand.

And as you noticed, this blog is way too long. Sorry! But I can’t tell enough about these six weeks in this country. What a wonderful experience, great views, great people and even better activities. Speechless, or maybe not;)

And thank you all for reading every single blog I wrote. I have to say, I am kind of happy that this is a final post. It takes a lot of time, but I enjoyed it as well. Soon I will share some progress from Brisbane don’t worry.

I case you have, enjoy your holiday if not good luck with work. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Cheers, xxx Kirsten