Off roadin' it!

We finally got some nice weather so mol and I decided to venture out and booked ourselves on the seal saffari! A group of us loaded into a 4 wheel drive and we were on our way. We made our way up some of the steepest hills EVER and just when I was sure we were going to start rolling backwards, our driver, Todd, mentioned that people bike up it regularly. That can't possibly be fun. Lucky for them there were little words of encouragement written on the pavement the whole way up. I think I'd need a little more then that to even consider trying to bike up these hills. Anyhoo---we got a great view of the city below and a breath of fresh air before Mr. Todd decided to scare the crap out of us!! Suddenly the nice paved path turned to a rocky dirt road and we had officially switched into 4 wheel drive. Fan-freakin-tastic! I think I was laughing to keep from crying!! Nah, it wasn't that bad but it was definitely my mom's worst nightmare. In fact, there was a woman sitting across from me that was playing the mom role quite well. Knuckles white from gripping the "oh shit" bar and a look of pure terror on her face. We took the rocky, steep excuse for a road all the way down to the black sand beaches. I was certain we were going to flip several times--but I took comfort in the fact that Mr. Todd was the spitting image of Mr. Incredible. Not to mention that he had a role in The Lord of the Rings (true story)--I knew that Mr. Incredible wouldn't possibly let the tires slip! We made it to a seal colony and got within feet of a few seals. So cute!! Now, it's finally move in time!! We're getting on the train to our new home in a few minutes!

I have 2 interviews tomorrow so cross your fingers for me!! :)






above are 2 little seals that we saw on our adventure! One just hanging out and one putting on a nice little show for us. If I didn't know any better, I would have thought we were watching a trained seal at a zoo. But don't be fooled--there are no gates around these guys!
If you look closely, you can see the snow capped mountains of the south island. Also-the black sand beaches that line the west coast of NZ.


Behind me is where the pacific ocean meets the tasman sea--we could clearly see where the two currents met by the color difference and the intense crashing of the waves. It was almost as if there was a giant reef when it was really just the crashing of the currents.



This is the harbour that our city is based around. We finally got to get a great look from above!