Ode to New Zealand

We've returned home to Manila after 9 days in beautiful New Zealand and a long day and a half of transit through Wellington and Sydney. Travel fatigue is always a rough way to finish a beautiful family vacation. Our heads are still swimming with the majestic scenery of New Zealand's south island.

We didn't have a strict itinerary for our trip (we had nothing planned before we arrived). Our goals for the trip were to see beautiful scenery, feel cold weather, breath fresh air, drive ourselves around the country, and eat fresh seafood. We took every day new and filled it with walks and site seeing, gorgeous drives, fantastic meals, wildlife sitings and visits with family. We didn't stopped the entire trip. We saw everything we had hoped to see and more. New Zealand's beauty and hospitality far surpassed our expectations.

I was so proud of how the girls held up during our rigorous vacation. Towards the last few days they were getting noticeably more and more tired and less and less accommodating during our activities. We could hardly blame them. Justin and I were exhausted by our busy days. Nine days was a perfect amount of time for the girls to spend away from home. Justin and I could have spent another week driving and gasping at awe inspiring beauty. We were sad to say goodbye to family and New Zealand, but we will be back some day.

After seeing the country first-hand, it's easy to understand why my aunt and uncle felt so compelled to move their family around the world to start a life in Dunedin. Justin and I couldn't get over how stunning everything was. We took an immense amount of photos to provide proof to everyone that we aren't just nature deprived city dwellers who find patches of grass inspiring after seeing street after street of blackened sidewalks for months on end. No. New Zealand really is THAT gorgeous. See for yourself.

Our drive (just the winding road views) to the Otago PeninsulaPortion of the Otago Peninsula The south east coastline in DunedinThe rocky coast by the albatross observatory (that's a lighthouse up there)Taieri GorgeDrive to Queenstown (seriously just the drive-not even the destination-every turn on every road produced more picture perfect views)Queenstown, NZ; the most beautiful place I've ever been. Do the people who live here and wake up to this every morning really realize the majesty?North of Dunedin on the coast. A gorgeous beach 5 hours from glacial lakes and snow peaked mountain ranges. Amazing!