I only had one week to recover from the shenanigans my brother and I experienced before my family came! That one week was nowhere near the preparation I needed for the craziness I was about to embark on.
Post 1 of my family’s visit included visiting the Dunedin Train Station for the tourist fotos. We killed it. I mean, look at that stunt. The Train Station is the MOST PHOTOGRAPHED SITE in the SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE. Talk about special yo. It is a really beautiful place.
We next ventured up the peninsula to visit the Albatross and the Penguin reserves. Fun Facts about the Albatross: They have a 3 meter wingspan (9ft long), they embark on a journey that takes four years where they will never touch land, they can sleep in the cold waters of the Antarctic Ocean, the babies are the cutest white fluffballs ever. After the Albatross center, we drove to the Blue Eyed Penguin one. None of us really wanted to do it, but we felt obliged to see penguins while we were here. Then when we found out the tour would be two hours long and summed up to $30 a person, we were really turned off. As if by luck, a women walks in with an injured penguin (not terribly hurt). We all get our close-up of the little bastard and was like YEP WERE GOOD!
So we set off back to Dunedin to do the only think I love to do. Hike Baldwin Street. Ya’ll know it! Steepest Street in the World doe!
The next day we were off to Queenstown!
The last post dedicated to my brobro.
After Dunedin, we drove to Queenstown to get some extreme sports under our belts. I mean, Queenstown is the extreme sports capital of the world, so why not?
Bungee jumping was first on the list. My brother obviously executed his jump with a pristine swan dive that sent him hurdling towards the ground. What a champ.
The next day we were scheduled to skydive, however due to a chance of rain, it was cancelled. Apparently, if you skydive when its raining, the water droplets feel like pellets of a paintball gun on bare skin. Talk about bruising. Before I knew about the bruises, I thought the rain drops actually cut through the skin. The guy facetiously said to me ‘yes because when youre falling, the pointy part of the raindrop hits your skin first.’ Thanks.
So instead of skydiving, we met up with my friend Zach who was doing an afternoon activity called River Boarding. Of course he talked us into doing it. Little did we know that River Boarding entailed going down Class III white water rapids on a Boogie Board. And thats exactly what we did. We were suited up in full body wet suits with booties, flippers and a helmet. we were all given a boogie board to surf the rapids. And into the river we went.
It was absolutely the most insane thing my brother and I had done. You were tossed and turned in the river, if you caught a rapid at its peak and kicked hard enough you were able to stay in that position and surf for a couple seconds. At one point I stuck my board deep into a rapid and literally was caught in a whirlpool for four or five turns. We also learned how to squirt. teehee. Sounds funny. But squirting is when you stick the board underwater where two rapids clash together. The result is called ‘underwater flying’ because the force of the squirt carries you and your board for about 50 feet underwater. I was only able to squirt for a few seconds but that was an exhilarating feeling. “Adventure Capital of the World” lived up to its name.
That night we topped off the fun with a Pub Crawl and hit up five different bars with free drinks. Definitely the most fun part of the crawl was when we went to the Ice Bar. Everything was ice, even the glasses your drink was poured in. Needless to say, my brother and I had a lot of fun that night. We befriended some swedes, i fell on the dancefloor, items of clothing feel off, free pizza was consumed, and the fun didnt end till the wee hours of the morning.
And onto the second successful post of my brothers visit.
Obviously we couldn’t help facetiming the fam! Gangs all back together again folks! Well, at least via facetime.
One thing I love about my brother is that no matter what I suggest my he do, no matter how stupid or how dangerous, he will actually do it. Fifty percent is probably because he doesn’t want to upset me, and the other fifty is that he probably thinks itll be funny too since we have the same humor. So when i tell him to “jump this pointy fence and hop onto the trillion-year-old ancient sacred Moeraki Boulder, he does it. And of course he rips his pants. No go look up Spongebob Ripped Pants on Youtube and you will know what I mean. Im a great sister.
BUT I ACTUALLY AM! because i scored us two tickets to a gramatik concert the next night which we thoroughly enjoyed although the consumption of alcohol could have been toned down a little. I guess living in a country where you are actually legal to drink excites the nerves and gets the people going if ya feel me. So my bro an I go all out. He starts breakin it down (literally didnt know he could dougie..learn something new every day doe) We pop lock an drop it at Gramatik and then come back to the flat to satisfy some post-concert munchies where Tobz and him find humor with my curtain. Silly Boyz.
The next day we indulged in some glorious eggs bacon and toast. My brother ends up heading to the beach that afternoon and he spots a seal. So he sends me a selfie with a seal. What a champ, love my bro.
Well, these next few posts are dedicated solely to my brother for three reasons.
1) because my brother is freaking awesome
2) because i have not blogged since my brother arrived in Dunedin on March 18th
3) because just one post wasn’t enough.
To start, it was the best moment seeing my brother come down that elevator when I picked him up from the airport. He was finally here. My turf and my responsibility to show him what Dunedin is all about.
*que standard airport greeting thumbs-up pic*
Then I went on a wild rampage driving him throughout Dunedin to get the typical touristy pictures whilst simultaneously attempting to make it appear as if he went a million places in one day. Hence, Andrew in my kitchen, Andrew on my couch, Andrew by the clock tower, Andrew on Baldwin Street, Andrew feeding ducks, Andrew drinking L&P at Hells Pizza, Andrew at Trivia Night at the Baaa.
BOOM. best day ever.
Took a breath-taking hike with my brother to the Organ Pipes.
The best part about Dunedin is the endless natural beauty surrounding the City Centre. This was about a 10 minute drive to the trailhead and a 20 minute hike up a mountain.
The organ pipes are thousands of year old, something something something, hot lava that dried and turned into strange rocks that have six sides. I personally dont get it, so Ive just accepted the fact that New Zealand has very, very strange rocks.
The Nevis Highwire Bungee
134m, 8.5 second free fall
Get at me!
A few more pictures from the Fiordlands
New Zealand
