[This is the third in a series by Jacobo Junior, a Mableton resident, who went on a two-year adventure around the Pacific, starting in New Zealand, and took many photos as he and a companion traveled.  This series includes summaries of blog posts he wrote about his travels.  At the bottom of each article in the series, we’ll include a link to his blog where you can read the longer version, and see all the photographs]

Most of us know April as the arrival of Spring, but not in the Southern Hemisphere. On our adventure, April was the beginning of Autumn. With the days still sunny and warm, we aimed to reach Queenstown. This included a three hour ferry ride from the North Island to the South. New Zealand has several Glaciers, one being near a temperate rainforest called Franz Josef Glacier. It became home. The scenery was something off of Jurassic Park. It included waterfalls, rivers, and dense forests. 

Eventually, a friend gave us a wakeup call by asking what our plans were. We had a Work & Holiday Visa, which gave us tax ID numbers, allowing us the opportunity to work. Ski Resorts were popular around the South Island. It wasn’t an option we’d thought about, but we applied anyway. Our time ended in Franz Josef and we headed south to the town of Wanaka. 

Wanaka is spectacular anytime of the year, having a stunning lakefront with white tip mountains across the horizon. There were no fast food places here and only one main supermarket. It was simply paradise.

The next day after arriving, we got a response from a job lead, Cardrona Ski Resort. It included a random questionnaire: what would be your super power, what soup would you be? I thought it was a bit ridiculous, but had nothing to lose. It lead to an interview, which we left feeling like we got the job. All we had to do was wait for an email confirmation.


We drove further south to meet a friend in Queenstown. The drive there included spectacular mountainous views, crazy roads, and autumn trees. Our friend was from the same volunteer organization, and it happened to be their birthday. So, we all agreed to bungee jump 440 feet into a canyon the next day.

Talk about an adrenaline rush!

There was no time to feel fear. Once your name was called, they strapped your legs and it was time to jump.

To read more, and see the complete set of photos, visit Jacobo Junior’s Photosynthesize blog at https://thephotosynthesize.com/2019/04/20/april-2015/