South Island
- Abel Tasman and Nelson
- Nelson is considered the art capital of New Zealand. There is a whole ‘arts day walk’ you can do around the town and check out all the artsy stuff. It also has a cute vibe to it, with plenty of parks, cafes and nice views. We ate lunch at a great fish & chips place overlooking the forest, and had some local scallops too. Then we did part of the ‘arts walk’—we saw some galleries which was really pleasant, some fabric shops and some jewellery stores. I spent the most time in a bead shop where I could put together my own jewellery—I could have spent a few days at that place it was so fun & creative!
- Before checking out Nelson, we spent the morning at Abel Tasman National Park, just west of Nelson. It is a great summer Park to spend time in, renowned for its coastal walk, apparently the best Trail in New Zealand. It winds down the coast with stunning scenery. The whole walk takes 3-5 days, we just checked it out for a few hours and it was worth the hike!
2. Punakaiki & Westland:
- From Nelson we had a long drive down towards the Westland area, where the ‘Southern Alps’ begin, full of glaciers that run into the rainforest. We took a route through a small coastal town, Punakaiki, to check out a site called the ‘Pancake Rocks’--- multilayered sandstone in weird shapes on the ocean, where we spent the night, this time on a powered campground site because it was so cold that day. We woke up to frost the next morning (we were told that was VERY rare---ooooooh lucky us!).
- We drove into Westland the next day—site of the Franz Joseph glacier and the Fox glacier, 2 of the most popular spots to visit in New Zealand. There are 3100 glaciers in the New Zealand, but the Franz Joseph and Fox glaciers are the 2 most accessible glaciers in the world, terminating in the New Zealand rainforest close to the ocean. It’s quite spectacular and it is such a beautiful region. We splurged a little bit during out time here—we did a glacier hike (it wasn’t as cold as you think!) and a helicopter ride over Mt. Cook (the highest mountain in New Zealand---we won’t be climbing this one don’t worry!!!!) and the glaciers. I found the glacier walk quite boring but it was my present to Tom (with the helicopter ride) so I just went with it. We did get some cool pics though! The helicopter ride was so cool, and we landed on the glacier!!! I had never rode in a helicopter before so this was quite a treat! PS. We booked the Heli + glacier hike from the car as we were driving to Westland (the day of the hike)! It was very spontaneous and somehow we made it all on time :P
- We stayed at a campsite in Franz Joseph town that night (also powered!!!). Across the street they had hot springs so we were all over that! We spent a good 3 hours in those steamy pools and I would do it every day if I could!!! Perhaps I should seriously invest in a hot tub one day?
- Refreshed and warmed up, we left the next morning after the helicopter flight and a short stroll around Lake Matheson, where you can see a perfect mirror reflection of Mt. Cook!
- On the way to Queenstown, we took a short detour to the Blue Pools of Haast--- translucent light blue lakes teaming with trout. The lakes are so crystal clear you can to the bottom of them and the fish look like they are almost suspended in mid-air. All of this in lush rainforest surroundings.
- The scenery on our drive from Westland to Queenstown was breathtaking. You drive through Mt. Aspiring National Park and it just mountain range after mountain range, lake after lake, and rainforest. It is incredible. A cute addition are the random sheep you see along the way, all furry and cute—typical New Zealand scenery :P
3. Queenstown:
- ‘the adventure capital of the world’---sure, maybe it is, but quite frankly this place disappointed me. It wasn’t just the weather (rainy all the time), but just the fact that nothing here is free except the views (which, I have to admit, are magnificent!). To eat here is expensive, to go out here is expensive, and to do any kind of ‘adrenaline’ activity is very expensive. Your looking at anywhere from $150-200 for the cheapest ‘sort of’ exciting activity. Unless you are absolutely dead set on doing a certain thing, its just not worth it. Although, to be fair, with this kind of scenery, it is an awesome place to bungy or sky dive or whatever. But, with the weather (constantly raining) & the price, there are plenty of things that can turn you off too……
- During this trip I had told myself I wanted to sky dive in New Zealand. Sky diving is still on my bucket list, but I have decided it does not need to be in New Zealand. On a nice day, in the warmer summer, I would probably pay to do it here. I am sure the views are spectacular. However, during this cold winter snap & lots of rain, I just do not see it being such a pleasurable activity. It will just have to wait…..can’t do everything on this trip after all!!! Gotta leave some stuff for later!!! Tahnee said she would take me in the future so I am holding her to it!
- There is famous hike apparently worth taking to check out the views around Queenstown. It is called the Ben Loman track and it was recommended to us by our glacier trekking guide. I don’t know if he was sincere or being a smart ass when he recommended it because its an 8 hour hike and it is strictly forbidden to non-alpine certified climbers in winter (even in summer it is not an altogether safe hike)!!! He must have been messing with us when he told us it was a must do…… I am sure the views are amazing but we don’t feel like hiking in rain, mud, frost, and more rain for 8 hours in the ‘winter’……
- Instead, we drove up to Glenorchy for the day. This a small town at the tip of Fjordland. It boasts a big part of the famous ‘Lord of the Rings Middle Earth’ scenery so well known now around the world. The place is just magical. The whole drive up there is magical. It is simply breathtaking scenery! I think we stopped every 2 minutes just to stare. Jaw- dropping beautiful!!! It is a place EVERYONE needs to see at least once in their lives. I will frame plenty of pictures we took there but it is still not the same as being there. HIGHLY recommended!
- Our first night we got to Queenstown we decided to stay at a hostel. Although not cheap, it was cold out and we hadn’t really had a rest from our campervan for over a week! We decided to treat ourselves for 1 night, possibly 2. The cheapest ‘twin’ room we could find was $66/night at the YHA (Youth Hostel Association) Hostel on the lakefront. The room was terrible, the size of a closet, with only a tiny window, and it boasted a shared bathroom. What a waste of $66! We made the most of it, remembering how ‘warm’ our campervan was to sleep in. We cranked up the heat, took nice warm showers and slept in the next day! Good enough! No chance we were staying there again, but we did decide we would spend another night in a hotel to really chill out. This time we found a place for $75/night but oh what an upgrade!! It makes me sick to think that for $9 less we were staying in such a crap box! This new place was overlooking the lake and the mountains, & was spacious and clean. We even had our own balcony -and bathroom! ;) An amazing upgrade and we made the most of it. We decided to relax, read, write, make a nice dinner and enjoy some wine with view….
- We explored Queenstown a bit that night. It has a cute mountain town feel too it, but nothing we haven’t seen before. I have been to plenty of cute mountain towns and Queenstown was nothing special in that regard. The scenery was great, but I am not sure what all the rave is about. I’ll sky dive another time :P
4. Southland- Invercargill & Bluff
- We heard the route was quite scenic, dubbed the ‘Southern Scenic Route’ from Fjordland all the way to the southeast end of the island, so we decided to do a loop across the southern tip (also to say we were as close to Antarctica as we had ever come)!!!
- Apparently, Invercargill is nothing special, but Bluff, further south on the peninsula from Invercargill is considered an oyster capital of the world. I am an oyster lover so we were obviously doing a detour there. We happened to be right in season! Bluff is a VERY quiet town and when we arrived there Saturday evening around 7pm NOTHING was open, including the 2 main spots we had looked up for good oysters. Finally, we found the 3rd one we had looked up and it was actually at the southernmost tip of New Zealand, overlooking the ocean to Antarctica!! It happened to be open late on Saturday but we got there in the nick of time because they were about to close the kitchen (it was 8pm!!!). We ordered a bunch of different oyster & scallop appetizers & I was a happy girl! The oysters were some of the biggest I have ever eaten and oh so flavourful! I see what all the rave is about!!!
- After that, heading on our way back towards Invercargill we circled around the harbour and saw a very rare sight: a huge albatross wandering through the dark streets. He didn’t seem too scared of us when we drove up close, but we think something may have been wrong with him/her because it didn’t fly away and would just waddle along the street. It was a magnificent and large bird, so beautiful, but it made me so sad to see it so helpless—it looked like a lost child …….the Otago Peninsula is known for its rare Albatross colonies & I know New Zealand is crazy about its wildlife protection, so I am sure someone called in soon enough to get that bird to a safer spot. I sure hope so…..if we knew the number we would have called L
- If anyone LOVES oysters it is worth hitting up the Bluff Oyster festival at the end of May. Apparently, they bring them in by the truckload fresh off the boat and they can be twice the size of the large ones we ate at dinner!
5. Dunedin & the Otago Peninsula:
- Even for the stunning scenery of New Zealand, the Otago Peninsula (just a short drive from Dunedin on the southeast coast of the South Island) is considered unique and amazing for its abundance of wildlife—sea lions, fur seals, rare penguins, and the royal Albatross.
- The drive around the whole peninsula takes about an hour and it is quite scenic. There are plenty of wildlife reserves with walking trails where you can (and most probably will!) spot all kinds of wildlife. In addition, there are specific colonies that you can pay to watch, like the Royal Albatross Colony or ‘Penguin place’. With the albatrosses, there are very few of these nesting colonies in the world, so if any one of these guided tours is worth it to see it would be this one! Other than the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand, the only other place you find these amazing birds are on small islands dotted off of the eastern coast of New Zealand, the Galapagos islands, and remote, small south American islands—so it really is a rare thing! These birds are massive—their wing span is about 2m in length and they are so beautiful!! That is why we were so excited to see that random one by the harbour in Bluff!! We didn’t want to pay for the tour of the place (upwards of $50/person) but just standing outside the building you could see them flying around (which is what you want to see anyways, right??). They are such beautiful & graceful birds, I can’t get over it….
- We also didn’t want to pay for the Penguin place tour to see rare Yellow-eyed penguins (the rarest in the world actually!). We read up on some forums and knew about walks and trails that we could go on to see them. However, we started at Sandfly Bay in the south of the Peninsula in the early morning. I read you can see plenty of sea lions and sometimes yellow eyed penguins. However, in the morning it would be rare to see the penguins. But the sea lions were in abundance!! A bunch of them were quite far away on the beach but we did see one quite close up just basking in the sun and rolling in the sand before it found a soft piece of wood as pillow and took a nice nap :P They are massive!! 400kg and a good 3m long!! Awesome morning stroll!
- We saw a beautiful Albatross flying over the colony building in the morning when we were there. So graceful & what a sight to see! In addition, right next to the Albatross colony, we saw fur seals basking in the sun and one playfully swimming near us. It was not the last time we saw [plenty] of seals in this country!
- Also, we saw some beautiful black swans (yes, they do exist, and they are not just Natalie Portman dressed in an intricate ballet ensemble!). They were big and dark and beautiful!! Plenty of them just swimming next to the road that circumnavigates the peninsula! Tom was surprised that they really existed!
- Don’t worry, we did catch a glimpse of penguins too (more on this as we go up the coast)!
- Dunedin itself I really liked. Along with Wellington, it is one of the coolest cities in New Zealand. It has a great University vibe and feels VERY Scottish (it is a heavily Scottish settlement). There is a nice University, and the Uni students are called ‘Scarfies’ for the Uni scarves they wear. The downtown area is really pretty & feels like the UK—beautiful cathedrals & churches, a rail station, and good spots to eat give the place a really homey feel. It is definitely one of our favourite spots in the country.
- We had a great meal of blue cod and more Bluff oysters (ofcourse) for dinner. It was delicious!
- Dunedin also boasts the steepest street in the world, Baldwin St. Don’t worry, Tom tried out ‘the Rocket’ & it actually made it up the street and down again (I have to admit I was surprised)! So for those of you thinking it was San Francisco, think again!
- Dunedin also boasts the only ‘castle’ in the Southern Hemisphere. A rich Scottish guy built it back in the late 1800s (I think) & it (ofcourse) perfectly resembles any castle you would find in Scotland. This one sits atop the hilly Otago Peninsula and boasts a unique and beautiful view. However, the admission fee to see it was $28/person so we decided we didn’t need to spend money to see a Scottish castle. Instead, I will just see plenty for free when I visit my brother in Scotland! :P
6. Coastal Otago: Moeraki & Oamaru:
-As mentioned earlier, we got a chance to see penguins for the rest of the day! Our first stop was Moeraki, just an hours north of Dunedin along the east coast of the South Island. Moeraki boasts famous boulders situated right on the beach. Most of these boulders look like perfect spheres, half submerged in the coastal sand. It is a really unique and beautiful view to take in. We really enjoyed it, a place you could just sit and reminisce and stare at this perfectly shaped structures.
- Most people leave after seeing the boulders. However, I had read in a forum that the Moeraki lighthouse walk was a fantastic place to see the yellow-eyed penguins! It was about a 6km drive from the boulders, mostly on dirt road, but you eventually get to the lighthouse and there are some short paths leading off towards the ocean. The main path leads you down a grassy plain where you can easily view plenty of seals just basking in the sun, meters away from you! Then, as you go further along the path you reach a wooden hut. You walk in and there are small windows in front of you. The hut is intended for penguin watching—the best way to see a penguin is for the penguin not to see you (they think you are a predator so they won’t come out of the water if they feel threatened). The best times to see them is just before the sun sets because they are returning to the beach after a day in the ocean looking for food --they feed on fish, but they love squid—as do I!!! :P We got there at about 3pm so we knew we weren’t in the peak viewing hours. We waited about 30 mins (patience is key!) and we saw one waddle onto the beach. SO CUTE! Then, we saw 3 on the rocks waddling and singing !!! SOOOO CUTE!! It seemed like a conference meeting, as they were all huddled together exchanging screaming at the top of their lungs :P It was adorable to watch. And we were so close & they were so big! More & more came onto the beach, I think we saw a total of 7 or 8 at a time. It was AWESOME! Why are penguins SO darn cute?? They are so precious, especially in the wild with their singing/screaming, waddling, swimming, and when they stick their chests out to bask in the sun. Such a highlight moment watching them for about 45 minutes. We got so lucky because I had read in the forums that seeing even 1 was lucky!!!! AMAZINGGGGGG!!!!!!
- We wanted to check out Oamaru just a bit further up the coast to see yet another type of penguin before sunset (the Blue Penguin). Much smaller than its yellow-eyed counterpart, the blue penguin are apparently harder to find, but they were supposed to show up on a walk by the Bushy Beach in Oamaru. We got there to find a group of onlookers, but only 1 yellow eyed penguin. Funny enough, this yellow-eyed penguin was hanging out above the beach in the bushy, tree-lined hillside overlooking the ocean. I have no idea how he got up there & what he was doing there. Another lost little bird??? He was the only penguin you could see in the whole stretch of the beach though….
- From that walk you could drive a few minutes and get to a ‘Blue Penguin Colony’ right near the harbour. This was actually another paid attraction in which they wanted $25 for 1 hour of sitting near the beach (behind their souvenir shop) to hear about the blue penguins and watch them come ashore. Not only is this a ridiculous price to watch wildlife do their thing, but I also read on forums that its completely stupid: they don’t let you take pictures (even without flash) and you can technically walk by the side of the shop, onto the beach and harbour, and see it all for free! So what do you think we did?? Obviously, we hopped onto the beach and walked over the dock area and sat there waiting for the show to begin. Below us were a few seals hanging out (very close). At one point some lady approached the fence near us and threatened to call the police on us (and about 10 other people that were sitting there with us!). Funny enough, one of the guys told her he was confused because there was no ‘No Trespassing’ sign on the beach and no sign anywhere noting that area as private property. However, she was adamant that it was private and wouldn’t explain any further. We thought this was complete BS so everyone just continued to sit there. Finally she got pissed off and told us the cops had been called and walked off. Some people chickened out at this point but most of us still stayed. I had read there was nothing illegal about this so I wasn’t that worried. I mean, they have to scare you like that so that more people don’t come watch the wildlife for free, right? So we stayed a bit to watch. It was quite cold so we could only take it for so long. We saw the first blue penguin waddle onto the beach and decided to leave after that. It was really dark at that point so it was quite hard to see anything clearly anyways. The worst part of it all (after paying $25 & not allowing any photos) is that they shine this big headlights onto a part of the beach too see the penguins better!!! So they do the complete opposite of what they tell others to do in order not to harm the penguins (apparently flash and light can blind them)! I hate BS privatized crap like that! You should not have to pay a dime to see wildlife in the wild, they have no right to charge people to see penguins doing what they do every day and in addition, to harm them with floodlights!! I’m sorry I am ranting but that is just so wrong! And, by the way, the police never did show up!
- our plan for the night was to drive into the interior of the country near Lake Tekapo. This is a famous lake that overlooks Mt. Cook & the Westland mountains from the eastern side. It is also designated as one of the best ‘Dark Sky zones’ in the world--- an absolutely perfect place for stargazing. Unfortunately, the weather was horrible, & as we made it more inland, we found only a cloudy sky and lots of snow on the ground! Eventually we decided to turn back because we didn’t want to freeze overnight in our campervan & there were no stars to look at anyways L Oh well, I have seen some amazing night skies during these 2 weeks in New Zealand so it will have to do!
7. Christchurch and surroundings:
-Christchurch was devastated by an earthquake in 2010 that devastated its downtown core. It looks terrible. The best way I can describe it is that is looks like downtown Detroit before they started putting a bit of work into it. It is just a massive construction zone and the entire downtown is a ghost town except for construction workers. It is sad to see a place like this so devastated by an earthquake. Apparently, it wasn’t the actual earthquake that caused so much damage, but the multiple aftershocks causing the earthquake. Truly sad…
-We checked out the Akaroa peninsula east of Christchurch the day before we flew out. The Akaroa peninsula is basically the remnants of a massive volcanic crater, now lush, green, and with a strong hint of French influence. The drive there was beautiful and we checked out the cute little shops and harbour, as well as enjoyed a picnic lunch by the seaside. The one downfall was that it was the off season to go swimming with the dolphins so we missed out on that amazing encounter……….something for the future I guess!
-I won’t lie, I was happy to fly out of New Zealand. My body was quite tired from the 2 week campervan experience, especially in the not-so-warm weather. However, I cannot deny the beauty of this country. There is so much to discover and such an amazing landscape to discover. And the wildlife was astounding. Would definitely consider coming back here, next time in the spring or summer and with a larger (better) camper van. So long New Zealand, until next time!
