The most adorable resort town in the vein of Aspen, except much more untamed and set along Lake Wakatipu.
A lot of international kids backpacking through, bungee jumping and obscenely drunk.
We stayed at the weirdest, most impractical little inn ran by this impossibly chic french woman who cooked us breakfast to order in the mornings.
Eat at FERGBURGER - seriously, one of the best hamburgers of my life.
Milford Sound is this incredible, eerily mysterious area right off the Tasman Sea with waterfalls straight out of this computer game called MIST that my family used to be obsessed with, back when CD-ROMs were cool. I also saw seals and dolphins there which made my life complete.
Mt. Cook, just this epically snowy peak beloved by Sir Edmond Hillary.
Where the water is the indescribable blue of glacier runoff.
The Remarkables - best, most honest name for a mountain range I've ever heard.
Plus, my second favorite experience of the trip (scuba takes the cake) was spending an entire day on these flat, little jetboats that spin you across the Dart River - the scenery just really came alive with speed and the wind in your hair. Plus our driver was really into spinning out and attempting to make it across rock beds, which made it seem all the more thrilling.
And after stepping off the boat, soaked and shivering, I got a mug of hot chocolate from a nearby, nondescript cafe and it was absolute heaven.
