We arrived in New Zealand on the 25th of February (yes, we know, this post is really late). We stayed the first 2 nights in Christchurch and spent one day walking around. The Botanic Garden stays in mind as a very nice place.
Being in Christchurch, did not feel like we were in New Zealand. It felt a little bit like the US (actually reminded us of Alameda). I had to keep repeating to myself: "We are in NZ." Still, I was happy to be there. I've been wanting to come to NZ for a very long time.
The next day we rented a camper van to start our real journey here - Road Trip!!!!
We made a reservation for the camper van a long time ago when the us dollar was very low. It was very expensive so we reserved the smallest van possible. When we arrived arrived in NZ, the us dollar was $1=1.95 NZD, compared to $1=1.3 NZD from 8 months ago. Good for us :)
We asked to upgrade from the super small van (where you could not even stand up) to a bit bigger. They had nothing but huge vans left. So, we went for huge.
We were a bit scared to drive this big thing almost the size of a bus, but it ended up being easy (for Miko, I never got used to the gear shift on the left side). We felt a little stupid driving around - grandma & grandma road trip style. But in the end we enjoyed the comfort. It had a kitchen with a fridge, microwave, sink and stove, toilet and shower, and even a heater which we got to appreciate later.
MARLBOROUGH SOUNDS
Initially, we reserved the camper van for 2 weeks and figured it would be enough time to visit parts of the South Island. We decided to head North from Christchurch, following the coast and visit the South Island "anticlockwise" (like they say here). Our first destination was the Marlborough Sounds. The second day of our trip it rained all day and night, so unfortunately we did not get to see much of the Sounds. We still enjoyed being stuck in the van, in our new home, reading, cooking, listening to music.
ABEL TASMAN
The next day we headed up to the Abel Tasman National Park. The rain stopped and the sky opened up allowing us at least to enjoy the beautiful Queen Charlotte drive.
We planned on doing sea kayaking in the Abel Tasman Park and signed up for a guided tour as soon as we arrived. It was fun. Great day. We got lucky with the weather, it was a warm, sunny day, we even got to swim in the sea. We saw little seal cubs playing while their moms were watching. Our British guide was interesting, over animated, but very knowledgeable about the nature and history of the park. Next time we want to go tramping (trekking) there for a few days. For a short visit, kayaking is a good way to see the park and the coast.
Already after a couple of days in New Zealand, we noticed that people here are so nice and genuinely friendly. They smile a lot. They are patient with the tourists on the road, waiting for them at the intersections to figure out when their turn is. (They have a funky rule here about the right of way. We still don't get it.)
Everything is so perfectly set up for traveling here, convenient and organized. Very impressive. There are information centers (i-sites) with friendly and helpful staff in every town. Campgrounds, trails, picnic spots, everything is so traveler friendly. All you have to do is show up and start enjoying it :)
So, we did. After Abel Tasman park we headed to the WEST COAST, an entire day drive with beautiful views and many little stops along the way. And the landscapes, OMG the landscapes.... Don't know how to describe them, just look at the photos that follow.
On the West Coast, in Punakaiki park, we went on two little hikes, one very popular - The Pancake Rocks, and second a hike by the river through the forest of giant fern trees. Great end of the day.
The only thing that sometimes prevented us from enjoying this beautiful nature were the f...ing sand flies. What horrible creatures they are. So much worse than mosquitoes, so aggressive and so many of them. They leave bite marks that itch like crazy and don't go away for weeks. You can easily tell if someone has been on the West Coast by the red bites all over their calves and ankles. Our worst enemy.We stopped at this great picnic spot by the beach, a little before Greymouth and the sand flies got inside our van. Hana was in the middle of a pillow fight with them, when our nice neighbors came over and brought an insect spray and mosquito coil. Ellie and Ernie, a Kiwi couple in their late 50s, are originally from Auckland and few years ago they wanted to move somewhere else, so they opened a map of NZ and blindly picked a spot - it ended up being Timary in South Island. We have spent a nice evening with them, watching the sunset, talking and drinking wine. Very nice people.
The next day, we headed to the Glaciers. First we did a little hike to see the Franz Joseph Glacier, then we visited the Lake Matheson and discovered the best free camping spot in a valley facing the Fox Glacier. The BEST. There we spent time contemplating things...
The view was amazing when we arrived, one hour before the sunset. It seems that nothing is ugly in South Island. Sometimes the landscape looks very familiar, like we are driving in California, but then the combination of trees, mountains, and ocean is different. More dramatic. I felt the same way when I first moved to California, the landscape elements were familiar but not arranged in the same way. The light was specially different.
It was overwhelming to see so many beautiful landscapes in such a short amount of time.
Doing a road trip in New Zealand is not the same as in the US. The roads are very windy and even though the distances are much shorter, it takes longer to get somewhere. We realized very quickly that two weeks to visit the South Island was not going to be enough, so we decided to extend the camper van rental to slow the pace a little.
Our next destination was WANAKA.
In Wanaka we discovered our favorite campground - The Lake Outlet Holiday Park. With again an amazing view of the Wanaka Lake and the mountains around.(info: www.lakewanakaholidaypark.co.nz)
There we were planing on paragliding but the weather was not good, so instead we spent an awesome day repelling down waterfalls, doing 8 meter jumps, sliding down beautifully carved canyons. This is called canyoning, something Miko did when he was younger in France and Hana had never heard of before.
Hana was the only girl in the group, nervous and worried that she would not be able to do it (repelling, jumping and all that). But it went fine and ended up being a lot of fun, playing for four hours in cold water (circa 10-12C).
We liked Wanaka a lot and even before we left, heading toward the Milford Sound, we decided to come back here for a few more days and hopefully see it in good weather.
RANDOM NOTES ON THE ROAD:
* Driving on the West Coast between the Fox Glacier and Haast, we saw a fat guy swimming with dolphins! Wow!!! They were surfing waves! The dolphins, not the fat guy.
* So many Germans traveling in NZ. In India and Laos there were so many French people, in Thailand Swedish tourists. Every country we visited has a majority of foreign travelers from a specific European country. Also in almost every country we've heard complaints about Israeli tourists, how difficult and needy they are. We met one in India who was very nice one. Hi Jonas!
* New Zealand seems to be very concerned with environment issues - Good, but why do they give out so many maps and brochures and piles of handouts to everyone at the i-sites?
