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Over the past few weeks, I've basically come to the conclusion that driving in New Zealand is like driving straight through the middle of a postcard...the scenery here is absolutely incredible! When I think back to how much we've seen and done in the past few months, its amazing...every single day we've seen something new and amazing...I just feel really REALLY lucky to have experienced it all.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived in New Zealand was how unbelievably cold it was in comparison to EVERY other place we've visited in the past few months...it took quite some time to get used to the change in temperature. Arriving in Christchurch was really strange...It just reminded me of a really cute, little English town, with a Catherdral Square, a river, a market and lots of shops. We really enjoyed our time here, and although we didn't do much other than explore the city and shop for warmer clothes, we managed to plan our next few weeks in the time we had. We decided that renting a car would be the best option for us, since we wanted to get 'off the beaten track', and travel to places that the
buses didn't really get to...however we also wanted to experience what it was like to be in a group on a bus...so decided we would combine both options, and rent a car on the South and travel by bus on the North! This gave us the best of both worlds! We've REALLY enjoyed having the freedom of the car over the past few weeks...and being able to do what we want when we want has been really brilliant.
Our first stop after Christchurch was Lake Tekapo...which can only be described as THE most amazingly beautiful lake i've ever seen...the colour was incredible. The roads here are unbelievable..they're almost completely desterted and there's just so much space...not to mention the amazing scenery! It's just such easy driving, especially as the car is an automatic...and we never get bored because EVERY corner we turn there's something else to look at...It's PERFECT. Our time in Tekapo was really nice and relaxed...it's just so quiet there; we found ourselves in bed before ten, which actually makes such a nice change from Australia. We only really had an afternoon and a night there, but it was definitely worth a stop. We did an amazing
climb up to Mount John observatory, with really amazing views of the lake...once we were up there we didn't want to come down..especially since there was a really cute little cafe at the top (This has to be on the top of the list as one of the best desintations I've ever sat and had a drink!). Situated just on the edge of the lake is the cutest little church called 'The church of the Good shepherd'...which looked so pretty at sunset as we headed back to the hostel that night- a great destination for a wedding!!
From Tekapo we made our way to Mount cook, and what an amazing drive that was...straight through the middle of the mountains...it helped that we had perfect weather too! Mount Cook town consisted of a hotel, a few hostels, a cafe and a visitor information centre...and thats it! We were COMPLETELY surrounded by mountains; it was like we were in the middle of nowhere! We arrived around lunchtime, and since we only had one night there we got straight to it with a 3 and a half hour round walk into the hooker valley- amazing. This was the first time we'd worn
anything other than flip flops in 3 months, so it felt pretty weird...we felt like we'd let oursleves down or something...but they were kind of crucial in the end. We managed to get a perfect view of Mount Cook, and the walk was stunning and everything just seemed so vast...PLUS there were these huuuuge swing bridges on route; it was seriously windy and we almost got completely blown away on lots of occassions...i've never felt wind like it...added to the adventure I guess. When we reached our destination, right in the valley with an amazing view of Mount cook, there were small little icicles in the water everywhere...totally awesome and there we were in shorts! (Not sure we'd quite got to grips with the weather at this point!) I'm really glad that we got the opportunity to actually stay in Mount Cook, even if just for a night...it was really really great.
The next morning we made our way to Queenstown...the roads were unbelievably straight; you would never get roads like this at home. When we arrived in Queenstown, the weather was a bit rainy and windy, but we spent some time exploring the city, as well as deciding
what crazy activites we were going to participate in! Queenstown is a another really nice little town, home to the really pretty Lake Wakitipu- it's really buzzing and bustling in comparison to all the other towns that we've visited, but it was a nice change... around EVERY corner there's more shops/travels agents/ advetistments/people trying to convince you to participate in something!! We spent three nights here and our hostel was situated in a really perfect destination right on the lake, with really great views...although it was a little walk out of town, but sometimes thats actually a bit nicer. One thing I never EVER thought i'd do while I was away was a bungy jump...and somehow I ended up signing up for a bridge bungy- it was the biggest adrenalin rush ever, and although I LOVED the freefall, I didn't really enjoy the bounce back...ALLL the blood rushed to me head!! ( That's not to say I wouldn't go and do it all again!). The same afternoon we did jet boating on the shotover river, where basically they take you straight through the middle of the canyon at great speeds trying to get you as close as possible to the
rocks, PLUS loads of 360 turns- this was really really fun- we were buzzing for AGES after! We also did a pretty big climb to the top of Bob's Peak with really great views over Queenstown, across Lake Wakitipu and of The Remarkables mountains- it was definitely worth the climb- although we did decide to catch the gondola down! We also spent an afternoon playing mini golf in possibly the funniest/greatest course ever- with really interactive and animated 3D versions of attractions all around New Zealand- VERY funny. For our last night, after a trip to Fernburger (possibly the greatest burgers i've ever tasted), we headed to a bar that put on a 'ginger wednesdays' night, which basically involved three people bringing a ginger and recieving a fifty dollar bar tab for absolutely no reason- no catch. And since it was just me and Jade, we managed to get a 50 dollar bar tab, just for us...it was completely weird- i've never seen so many ginger people in one place. I felt like I was finally being appreciated...gingers never get benefits like this 😊...a perfect way to finish a great three days in Queenstown!
From Queenstown, we headed to
Te Anau- another very small little town, with really easy access to Milford Sound. Here, we took a visit to the glow worm caves, although I was pretty scared that my fear of dark and my chlostrophobia would set in, but it was fun in the end. We took a short boat ride to the caves, with a quick explanation about the worms, before we headed along a very dark pathway inside. There we LOTS of really really loud waterfalls and streams running through the caves, and when we reached the end we took a short silent ride in a tiny boat, in the pitch black....and the glow worms were amazing. It wasn't until afterwards that we were told that they were actually maggot type creatures that eat eachother...but I guess if they'd told us that before, they'd get no business! The next day, we had a very early start and headed to Milford Sound...the weather for the day was completely perfect, and apparently it rains 300 days of the year there, so I think we were pretty lucky. It was an incredibly scenic drive with lots of places to stop at viewpoints and do walks..it was nice because we
had the freedom of the car to stop when and wherever we wanted. I think my favourite stop for the day was Mirror Lakes, and thats exactly what they were...the reflection on the water was really clear; it was so sooo pretty. When we reached the end, we jumped onto a cruise to check out the most amazing places in Milford...although it was pretty cold and windy by this point, the views were incredible...with huuuge cascading waterfalls running down the towering Fjords...AMAZING. (Plus, there were only 8 of us on a boat for 85...GOOD TIMES 😊 )
Our next stop was Wanaka, and we absoloutely loved it. I really liked the feel of it, and although there wasn't really much to it, it was just sooo pretty....the lake was incredible- Just sooo blue! Once again our hostel was in the a perect destination with panoramic views of the lake from the balcony, and once we'd checked in, we headed straight into town for a wander, and then for a short walk around the lake- VERY pretty. For the following day, i'd booked myself in to do a skydive over Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea...and the day dawned perfectly, but
by the time I go to do it, it had closed in a bit...but at least it wasn't cancellled. We got all kitted up, and before I knew it i'd signed my life away, and was heading up to 15, 000 feet and plumeting for 60 seconds at 200mph towards the ground. The sensation was something i can't even begin to put into words, although i'm pretty sure I blacked out for the first 30 seconds, as it's hard to remember what it felt like...almost like I was floating I guess! It was pretty funny though because as well as struggling to breathe due to all the fast rushing air, my contact lense fell out...but still a truly awesome experience; as soon as i'd come down I wanted to do it all again. ( I was buzzing for the next few days!) That evening, we randomly bumped into 2 girls we met in Fraser Island and again in Sydney...it's very weird how you keep bumping into people that u've met months ago! We headed to possibly the coolest cinema i've ever been to; huge comfy sofas and three course meals that they bring to you, as well as warm cookies
in the interval-- ALL cinemas should be like this.
The next day we had a pretty long and windy drive to Franz Josef. On the way, we stopped off and spent the morning in a place called puzzling world...the most amazingly funny place ever. There were LOADS of crazy illusion rooms, that made you feel ridiculously dizzy, as well as a HUUUGE maze with the aim to find all four corners- it literally took us hours! We had another brief stop off in Fox Glacier for a walk around Lake Mattheson...we'd heard so many good things about it. However, the weather wasn't great, so we never got to see the supposedely awesome relection of Mount Tasman and Mount Cook on the water, but it was a lush walk around the lake all the same...and you can imagine how it would look. We spent our only day in Franz Josef on an Eight hour glacier hike...where once again we were incredibly lucky with the weather- completely cloudless skies! We got all kitted up with our boots, our crampons, warms coats and trousers, socks, hats and gloves, and we were on our way. There were about 15 of us in our
group in the end, and our guide was REALLY good...we went inside loads of glaciers and managed to climb really deep inside the caves- so bright blue. We saw some incredible things- climbed through tiny crevices and even found a little tunnel thing to slide through- so amazing.
From Franz Josef we set off on our longest drive yet...all the way to Kaikoura, with a brief stopover in Hanmer Springs. Once again the drive was amazing...and when we reached Hanmer Springs we enjoyed a good few hours in the hot springs- we needed it! We spent the next day in Kaikoura on a whale watching trip- they have these amazing microphone devices that they place under the water to track the whales...and offer a full refund if you don't see any!! We saw one Sperm Whale, which was the coolest thing ever, as well as a shark, albatross, seals and literally hundreds of dolphins- it was worth EVERY penny (We were only expecting to see whales!) It was so cool seeing so many dolphins- we were with them for a good hour and they spent the whole time just playing around our boat- AMAZING. I definitely want to swim
with them one day...maybe Florida would be a good place!? We spent the afternoon exploring the town and visited the seal colony there...the Mums and Dads were just chilling out on the rocks, while the tiny pups were playing in the pools- it was like they were in a little nursery or something- very cute. That evening, we ONCE AGAIN, bumped into the two girls we'd met in Fraser island...we had a lush, relaxing girly evening in with coffee and cookies- it would have been nice to travel with them for a while, but our dates didn't really match! We really enjoyed Kaikoura...it was like your typical beach side town- just my cup of tea.
Our last stop on the South Island was Motueka, a very bustling and busy town with perfect access to the very famous Abel Tasman National Park. We really didn't like Motueka itself...we found the people and the atmosphere all a bit intimidating there, but we weren't there for the town, we were there for the National Park, and that was DEFINITELY worth it. We spent three nights here in total, so we managed to fit quite a lot into our time and see a
fair bit of the National Park. On our first full day there we took a boat trip all the way through the national park to a beach called Totoranui...with a few stops on the way to look and the seals, stingrays and the little blue penguins. We also stopped to look at a very famous landmark, known as the split apple rock, which was quite literally a rock that looked like an apple...but very cool all the same. The water in this national park was absolutely crystal clear...i'm not sure I've every seen water so bright green-it really was like being in paradise. Perfect. From there, the boat took us to a beach called Bark bay, where we did a 3 hour walk through the lush native bush to a little beach called torrent bay, where we spent the afternoon relaxing in the sunshine. The next day we hired a kayak and spent the afternoon on the water...everyone from home had recommended we do it, and i'm so glad we did, although I did lose my sunglasses to the water...at least a part of me will always remain in Abel Tasman National Park 😊 We stopped off on a few
little islands on route- you couldn't see anyone for miles, and thats one thing that's so great ...only very few boat companies are allowed into the national park, so almost everywhere seemed deserted!
I really really loved the South Island...quite simply because the scenery here actually takes your breath away...and around every corner is something new and amazing to see! Plus it was a great change from the really active, lively lifestyle we had in Australia. PERFECT. Next stop...North Island.
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