The South Island

Welcome to the South Island, where the New Zealand adventure continues! It is so incredibly beautiful I feel that I can't find the appropriate adjectives to explain how incredible the landscape is, and how quickly it changes. I will do my best as I start to take you through the southern adventures! We started by taking the interislander ferry from Wellington to Picton. Picton is this tiny fishing village where really only the harbor is alive, so we quickly made our way to Nelson where we spent the next few days. Despite the rain we made the most of our first day in Nelson doing a bit of sight seeing along with visiting Australasia's first organic brewery, in operation for six generations. Our next day we took a day trip to Abel Tasman National Park for a day of tramping (hiking) first taking a water taxi to several different bays we were able to see all of the park and even some fur seals bathing and soaking up the sun! We tramped along the coastal walk covering about 8 miles and ended in Torrent Bay where I jumped straight into the incredible turquoise blue waters. It was a bit chilly but very refreshing after a long hike.
Leaving Nelson, we picked our new set of wheels on Sunday morning- a rental which we quickly named "sprigy" and took off for the eastern shores of Kaikoura. The drive there took us through the curvy roads (all of NZ has very windy roads) of Marlborough wine country, which was just vineyard after vineyard. Kaikoura was a wonderful little town (3,500 residents) where the mountains meet the ocean and off shore the sea bed drops to the Kaikoura canyon creating a wonderful place for all types of sea life. Famous for it's whale watching, swimming with dolphins and fur seals, we took a coastal walk in the late afternoon the sun shining along the sea sparkling like diamonds. Later we enjoyed a taste of the crayfish on a little roadside stand along the waterfront. Delicious!
The next morning we were on the road again to Christchurch... the capitol of Canterbury and the largest city in the south island was the perfect spot to spend the night... we were even able to meet up with our friend Marie (also from MN) traveling as well which was great. The last time I saw her was in NYC- almost 3 years ago, so it was a wonderful reunion.
One of our longest travel days so far was from Christchurch to the Franz Josef Glacier, stopping at the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. The landscape in the Canterbury region, larger hills and plains changed quickly as we drove through the Southern Alps and Aurthur's Pass. The pass is home to a very small remote village, and just beyond that is this huge bridge and a road carved out from the side of mountain... at one point there is a waterfall that shoots over top the road... falling directly to the cliff below, quite the engineering feat. We decided to take a slight detour going north to the Pancake Rocks & Blowholes where the sea water has weathered away limestone in a way that it looks like stacks of pancakes. We aimed for high tide, when the views are suppose to be the best- but the sea wasn't as rough that day... still worth the drive though. Then it was back south, arriving in our new "home" of Chateau Franz in Franz Josef Glacier. A small village nestled in the mountains- we quickly feel in love with the town. The next day we were able to take a small tramp around Lake Matheson, formed by the Fox Glacier 14,000 years ago. We got some incredible views Mt. Cook in the distance, and drove out to another viewpoint to see the Fox Glacier as well. In the afternoon, despite the rain we did a half day glacier adventure at the Franz Josef Glacier. First hiking through the valley and then attaching your crampons (kind of like spikes for your feet) we had a great time exploring the crevasses and seeing the different forms the ice takes since it's constantly changing. The Franz Josef Glacier is the fastest moving glacier, and the ice we walked on was only 60-80 years old. I loved getting the chance to see it so close and being able to explore a bit of it was just great!
Continuing down the west side of the south island, our next stop was Wanaka. The drive down brought us through Haast Pass, and on a road that was only tar sealed in 1995. I found that so surprising. Located in the Central Otogo and next to Lake Wanaka, we had a great time taking a few hikes, one along the lake to visit Rippon Valley Vineyard, one of the most photographed winery's in New Zealand. The vineyard overlooks the lake in the valley with the mountains all around- just gorgeous. One of the "must do's" in Wanaka is the cinema... which literally is a movie theatre that serves hot fresh cookies at intermission and feels like you are in your own living room, the seats are all different sizes of couches and love seats! There is even a yellow vintage VW beetle... just in case you wanted to feel like you were at a drive in! In the evening we also hiked to the top of Mt. Ion enjoying the sunset in a 360 panorama- breathtaking!
Now in Queenstown, we are currently avoiding the rain. Yesterday we were able to go see the original bungy... which was pretty neat, take a walk around the Queenstown Gardens, and even found some excellent live music a great finish to a first day in a city. For supper we enjoyed burgers at the Fergburger... the best hamburger I have had on the road it was almost as big as my head! We are hoping that the rain will disappear soon so we can take a hike the the viewpoint over the city, but will have to see!

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