We had a wonderful time in New Zealand understanding all the signs and having a hired car to get around instead of lugging of bags on & off buses every other day! And also got back to the comfort of our tent which surprisingly feels like home for us by now! We were extremely lucky with the weather, only had to stay in hostels for 3 nights in the month while we were there, due to torrential rain, so were really blessed. Saw loads of sheep of course and were so amazed by how green everything was...but with all that rain of course it would be! On the West Coast they measure their rainfall in metres...Milford Sound has about 9m a year! The only downside was the sandflies, that are ferocious and sooooo irritating!!
We did the touristy route around the North and the South Islands and managed to see all the main sights we wanted to including the black sand beaches near Auckland, the Coromandel Peninsular beaches, Lake Taupo, Mount Cook, the southern & northern most tips of the South Island, the Catlins, Queenstown, Milford Sound, Abel Tasman National Park, Farewell Split & Hanmer Springs.
Our highlights were:
- The campsites are fancy!! You get kitchens, fridges and pools - even had a jacuzzi at one! luxury!
- Hot Water Beach: This is a beach where you dig a hole in a specific area at low tide and then climb in for a hot spa bath! There is thermal activity down below so the water gets up to 68 degrees celsius in places...ouch!
- Waitomo Cave glowworms: This was an amazing cave of stalactites and stalacmites and then you get onto a boat into the darkness to see a ceiling FULL of glowworms...mesmerisingly beautiful!
- Mount Cook and Lake Pukaki - We got there on a dull & cloudy day so didn't get to see Mt Cook so braved the cold and camped there in hope of seeing it in the morning. WOW...We awoke to amazing clear blue skies, so we're so excited to do the walks around the area and take it all in. The glacial fed Lake Pukaki in the valley was also just a brilliant turquoise blue that day, it looked so fake!
- Milford Sound: We had booked a cruise for the next morning but because we arrived on a clear day we decided to drive to the Sound that evening in case the next day was cloudy/raining...GOOD MOVE!! It poured with rain that night so the drive and boat ride in the morning was like visiting a totally different place...millions of waterfalls coming down from the mountains surrounding by clouds making it all rather mystical.
- Jet boating near Queenstown: This had to be done, problem is there seem to be jet boats on almost every river in NZ so was a tough choice! Was great fun going through the Shotover Canyon on the jet, really beautiful & of course got the adrenalin going with 360 degree spins and getting up close and personal with rock faces etc!
- Abel Tasman National Park: We hired kayaks and did a 2 day trip where we were free to explore at leisure and camped half way which was great fun. Had the most amazing days for it with no wind and crystal clear blue water and lots of birdlife & seals all around us. A change from the days before where we had torrential downpours on the West Coast where roads were closed and trees had fallen over etc. We have never experienced so much consistently hard rain without a break!! Incredible!
We are now in Sydney after 10 days in Brisbane with friends & a few great, HOT & humid days exploring Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef which has been brilliant fun. Lovely to have some swims in the sea and enjoy the summer sun again. We even saw kangaroos on our first weekend in Brisbane which was a treat!! And lots of fish and amazing coral on the reef of course, even a little shark and some cute turtles!
