Day 12

We woke up at 2:35 AM this morning to leave Brisbane. Our flight from Brisbane to Sydney got into the airport around 5 minutes before our flight to New Zealand was scheduled to leave. We ended up running as fast as we could to our new terminal only to just make it onto our plane. Then, we ended up holding up the entire flight for about thirty minutes because they had to transfer our bags. We were definitely the most popular people on the plane. The flight was pretty uneventful until some horrible turbulence. Apparently it looked like I was suffering from a hernia the entire time (my fear helped everyone else calm down, though, so I shouldn’t complain). When we finally landed in New Zealand, all of the negativity of the day was forgotten. It was freezing and rainy, but the second I got off the aircraft and was surrounded by the beautiful mountains, I said, “I’m home.” It really does feel that way here. Queenstown is a beautiful city surrounded by Middle Earth (Lord of the Rings reference). We got to stop at an overlook and see the entire city and surrounding countryside and it was enough to take your breath away. We checked into our hostel, went to buy some food (all organic…they don’t exactly have fast food here), and then ate a group dinner. Afterwards, we got some homework done and then went to appreciate the nightlife of Queenstown. It really is a remarkable place and I can’t wait to see what it has in store for us!