Nixon Happenings: New Zealand

A few months back Mike decided we had to do one MIT trek before we left. It was, "part of the experience." So with what is left of our student loans we made a not very logically decision and flew across the world to New Zealand with 20 other MIT classmates for Spring break. Mike's mom came out to babysit for the first 5 days and my mom came for the last 7 days. I think they both were exausted by the end. We are seriously so grateful for awesome grandparents who are willing to drop their lives so we can go on a vacation. We could never have do it without them.

We started in ChristChurch on the south island and made our way down the island and back up.

The best way to describe the breath-taking scenery is imagine Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park, put them together and you have the south island of New Zealand.

Most the houses we drove by looked just like this

I guess it is cool to do MIT pictures where ever you go....NERDS!

The lake water is crystal blue. The pictures don't do it justice

Dunedin, New Zealand

a cute little college town. We did a brewery tour, went to the Cadbury Factory and climbed the tallest street in the world.

Queenstown was our FAVORITE PLACE! We could have stayed there for a week! It reminded me of Lake Tahoe. A beautiful lake, right next to these tall mountains.

Mike signed up for something we called the thrillogy. 2 bungee jumps and a canyon swing. The first bungee was off a bridge into a river where they dipped his head into the water. This jump was 43 meters.

The second jump was the mother of all bungee jumping. They took us out in a cable car to a suspended cable car. This jump was 450 ft. I didn't do it, but was out there with him and I was sick to my stomach. Jumping off the little platform was so so scary.

The 3rd jump was a canyon swing, Mike talked me into doing this one. We did a tandem swing. It is a 70 meter free fall into a 360 meter swing. I was SO scared! But I did it!

Later that day we rented bikes and road around this beautiful lake in the mountains. We found a grassy area next to the lake and took naps and read. it was heaven!

Milford Sound- The most beautiful place on Earth! We took a day trip out here and it was worth the 5 hour + bus ride there and back. It was unreal! Once we got there we took a scenic boat ride out and back. Everywhere I looked took my breath away.

Michelle, Matia and I really hit it off. I had so much fun with them. I wish I would have met them at the beginning of the program.

Our last stop of the trip was to Franz Josef Glacier.

We took helicopters to the top of this glacier and hiked around it with a guide for a few hours. It really fun!

Blue Pools stop. The water was freezing and some of the boys jumped in the water. No thank you!

Our first day we stopped in Christchurch. It use to be a big city, but they had a big earthquake a few years ago and it hasn't been restored. We did stop at the botanical gardens which were really pretty. The weather was surprisingly a lot warmer then I had expected.