1300 miles in 8 days

I got back from my trip on the 23rd and I haven’t been able to upload anything because of technical difficulties with my computer, but it’s finally working and i’ve been able to upload some pictures from my trip!

The photos are out of order and honestly it’s too difficult (and time consuming) to rearrange them, so I’ve put captions on most of them to try to help identify where they were. I went along the inland scenic route to a few places, ending up in Te Anau and then along down the southern scenic route by the Catlins and then back up state highway one to Christchurch and then back up to Amberley. I went to three museums along the way and went on 6 different hikes and met a handful of really cool people. Two Canadians I met at Monkey Island are planning on visiting me at the farm here before I leave which makes me super happy. I saw tons of wildlife, including penguins, seals, sea lions, a bunch of different birds, and dolphins. I read two books, The Shipping News and a collection of Oscar Wilde stories along the way and had the absolute time of my life. Since I was traveling alone, I did get a bit lonely but this trip definitely gave me time to take a break from the farm work and focus on myself and my thoughts and showed me so much about the island itself and about the people who inhabit it. I ended up coming home a tad early because a pig was being butchered on the farm and I wanted to participate in that (photos to follow) and gas is super expensive here and I ran out of food and money to pay for food and gas. The extent of the landscape here is just mind boggling and everywhere you go there is another gorgeous scene (and a bunch of tourists taking photos with their iPads and drones.) I was so lucky to have been lent a car for the trip, because that allowed me to not really have an itinerary and I got to see so much more than I could have without a vehicle. I’m super sad that it’s over but I’m also very grateful for what this island and trip specifically have taught me and all of what I will be bringing back to the states, both knowledge and shell souvenirs.