How I Spent My Anzac Day

When I said I was going to keep a blog while I was away, I received a bit of doubt from people, thinking I would not keep up with it.  Well, I admit, they know me too well.  I’ve been caught up in living here (and doing assignments for class…), that I have gotten quite behind on my blogging!  BUT here is an update on what I’ve been spending my time doing!
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Since I last wrote, I had just gotten back from my Mid-semester break in Wellington and Australia!  I then spent two weekends in Dunedin, hanging out, taking midterms, and enjoying the autumn weather (rain and colorful leaves!)

The 25^th of April was ANZAC day, a public holiday in New Zealand.  That meant… NO SCHOOL!  Yay!  So, of course, a few friends and I piled into a car and adventured across the beautiful South Island to the west coast.
Destination? The infamous MILFORD SOUND!

Anzac Day Dawn Service in Dunedin

Anzac day morning, I was up before the sun to attend a dawn service commemorating the lost soldiers from wars New Zealanders and Australians have fought in.  It was really neat to stand (in the rain) in the city centre, with the sun rising, listening to speeches and experiencing some of New Zealand’s culture.  Upon walking back to my flat, I witness a beautiful sunrise from my street.

Sunrise from Queen Street

By 8am we were in the car, on our way across the country!

First stop: Te Anau for lunch on a beautiful beach (with a tree swing of course!)

The crew eating lunch at Lake Te Anau 

Finally, after driving for hours through the most beautiful scenery...

Just one view from the side of the road 

...we arrived at Milford Sound! And just in time for our cruise around the Sound!  Oh, it was glorious!  In the Fiordlands, the mountains literally plummet straight into the water and keep going down for a few thousand metres!  It had been raining (and still was raining), so along with the already numerous waterfalls, there were hundreds of “temporary” waterfalls flowing off the cliffs into the water.  It looked like there should have been a giant bowl on the top of the cliffs that was overflowing as if someone forgot to turn the water off and the sink was overflowing.  Water was just everywhere and it was amazing!

Water falling off a cliff into the Sound

 After a bit of walking around the boat, snapping photos of every thing I could, laughing and posing for photos with friends, I went inside the boat to warm up with some complimentary tea and coffee.  (One thing I have come to love about this country: the tea and coffee).

Some of the falls and cliffs in Milford Sound

A bit later, the captain of the boat made an announcement: something along the lines of “it looks like there have been some dolphins spotted”.  After a few moments of realising what that actually meant, my friend Jane and I ran to the bow of the boat.  Not seeing anything in front of us, we looked down, shielding ourselves from the wind and rain that was about to knock us over… and low and behold, a pod of dolphins swimming right under the bow of the boat, playing in the current created underneath the boat.  There may or may not have been squeals and laughter and smiles wider than imaginable.  We were looking at dolphins!  Real, live, wild dolphins!  Sooo cool!  The cruise company advertised the possibility of seeing dolphins, but I did not actually expect to be so lucky!  Oh praise God; it was beautiful!

Dolphins swimming!

After such a wonderful cruise around Milford Sound, we walked back to the car. Stopping to take some last photos of the perfect scene.  Milford Sound: a must-see and officially one of my favorite places I've been.  Just look at the layers of mountains, water, clouds.  I couldn't have imagined a more perfect afternoon!

 

Next up: Queenstown!