We arrived in New Zealand very late, after a full day of travel from Australia's gold coast. We flew to Christchurch, which is one of the larger cities on the Southern Island. The following morning with hats and gloves on (it's winter in June!) we picked up a rental car and hit the road. The first stop was Hamner Springs, where we enjoyed a hot soak. After that we headed up the east coast to Kaikoura, a beautiful town on the water. That night we happened upon a pub having a quiz night. We did quite well, coming in second, just missing the top spot. The next morning we woke up and ate breakfast on the beach, before heading out to our next destination.
We drove further up the east coast, to the Marlborough wine region, which is famous for amazing sauvignon blanc. Despite it being the beginning of winter in New Zealand, we were able to eat lunch outside, to sample some local treats - seafood, fresh cheese, all paired with wine of course. After we had finished tasting and buying, we drove up to Nelson, the largest town in the northern part of the Southern Island. For dinner we had our first taste of local NZ lamb - definitely worth the trip!
The next morning it was raining, and so we decided to hang out in Nelson and do some shopping for a bit, and then head up the coast to Moteuka and the Abel Tasman National Park. By the time we made it up to Moteuka the rain had stopped, and so we went for a picnic at Kaiteriteri beach, and collected some shells. In the evening we went back to our hostel and Brian, the cat hater, bonded with the resident cat. He now says that he still hates all cats in general, he only likes this particular one.
We had booked a full day sea kayaking trip, but when we called our guides in the morning to confirm, they told us they decided to cancel due to high winds and bad weather. We decided to leave Moteuka and drive to the west coast, to find another activity to do instead. As we were looking for a place for breakfast prior to leaving, we saw the bus of another kayak company, and ran over to see if they were going to run a trip that day. It turns out they were, so we joined their group instead. The weather was perfect, calm waters, only the occasional shower followed by blue skies and rainbows.
We kayaked 16km along the shore of the Abel Tasman Park, stopping on a beach for lunch along the way. The scenery was fantastic. The highlight was seeing dozens of fur seals lounging on the rocks of a small island. Most of them are females, nursing babies seals. At the end of the trip we were taken by boat back to our starting place. We got straight in the car and started driving out to the west coast for our next adventure.
After a long drive down the west coast we reached our destination, Franz Josef glacier. We did a day long glacier walk, which was really amazing. First we were dressed up in waterproof gear, with boots with spikes on them to grip the ice. It was tough work, and very exciting, with our guides cutting pathes along the ice, avoiding crevasses and other potentially dangerous areas. It's unusual for there to be so much snow, and we spent most of the day having a snowball fight with the other people on our trip.
For our last night in New Zealand we drove through the mountains via the Arthur Pass and stayed at the Maruia Hot Springs, which are natural springs right in the mountains. It had snowed there over the weekend (in fact they were snowed in completely for about 48 hours) and so there was snow all around as we sat in the 40C pools. The lodge had a great fire place which we sat in front of for hours after the springs.
On our last leg of journey the next morning, back to Christchurch to catch a flight to Sydney, Brian had a run in with the law. After driving slowly along winding roads for the last week, he got a speeding ticket on what seemed to be the only straight road in the country.
We caught our flight to Sydney, and then the next morning we were back at the airport to catch a flight to Calgary (via Hawaii and Vancouver, bit of a long day). Now we're in Banff, meeting up with Allison and Robbie tomorrow. On Saturday we head to Calgary for Lonn and Deanna's wedding, can't wait to see everyone. Thanks to everyone who's taken a look at the blog over the past 3 months. It's been a fantastic trip for us, hope you enjoyed hearing a bit about it along the way!
We drove further up the east coast, to the Marlborough wine region, which is famous for amazing sauvignon blanc. Despite it being the beginning of winter in New Zealand, we were able to eat lunch outside, to sample some local treats - seafood, fresh cheese, all paired with wine of course. After we had finished tasting and buying, we drove up to Nelson, the largest town in the northern part of the Southern Island. For dinner we had our first taste of local NZ lamb - definitely worth the trip!
The next morning it was raining, and so we decided to hang out in Nelson and do some shopping for a bit, and then head up the coast to Moteuka and the Abel Tasman National Park. By the time we made it up to Moteuka the rain had stopped, and so we went for a picnic at Kaiteriteri beach, and collected some shells. In the evening we went back to our hostel and Brian, the cat hater, bonded with the resident cat. He now says that he still hates all cats in general, he only likes this particular one.
We had booked a full day sea kayaking trip, but when we called our guides in the morning to confirm, they told us they decided to cancel due to high winds and bad weather. We decided to leave Moteuka and drive to the west coast, to find another activity to do instead. As we were looking for a place for breakfast prior to leaving, we saw the bus of another kayak company, and ran over to see if they were going to run a trip that day. It turns out they were, so we joined their group instead. The weather was perfect, calm waters, only the occasional shower followed by blue skies and rainbows.
We kayaked 16km along the shore of the Abel Tasman Park, stopping on a beach for lunch along the way. The scenery was fantastic. The highlight was seeing dozens of fur seals lounging on the rocks of a small island. Most of them are females, nursing babies seals. At the end of the trip we were taken by boat back to our starting place. We got straight in the car and started driving out to the west coast for our next adventure.
After a long drive down the west coast we reached our destination, Franz Josef glacier. We did a day long glacier walk, which was really amazing. First we were dressed up in waterproof gear, with boots with spikes on them to grip the ice. It was tough work, and very exciting, with our guides cutting pathes along the ice, avoiding crevasses and other potentially dangerous areas. It's unusual for there to be so much snow, and we spent most of the day having a snowball fight with the other people on our trip.
For our last night in New Zealand we drove through the mountains via the Arthur Pass and stayed at the Maruia Hot Springs, which are natural springs right in the mountains. It had snowed there over the weekend (in fact they were snowed in completely for about 48 hours) and so there was snow all around as we sat in the 40C pools. The lodge had a great fire place which we sat in front of for hours after the springs.
On our last leg of journey the next morning, back to Christchurch to catch a flight to Sydney, Brian had a run in with the law. After driving slowly along winding roads for the last week, he got a speeding ticket on what seemed to be the only straight road in the country.
We caught our flight to Sydney, and then the next morning we were back at the airport to catch a flight to Calgary (via Hawaii and Vancouver, bit of a long day). Now we're in Banff, meeting up with Allison and Robbie tomorrow. On Saturday we head to Calgary for Lonn and Deanna's wedding, can't wait to see everyone. Thanks to everyone who's taken a look at the blog over the past 3 months. It's been a fantastic trip for us, hope you enjoyed hearing a bit about it along the way!
