To Nelson and back again....

Alright guys...I'm back! It's been almost a month since my last post but I have a good excuse & now lots of pictures to show you! I've been doing some traveling in both the North and South Islands...over New Years & my birthday I spent about 5 days with a few friends in a region of the North Island called Hawkes Bay. Then this past weekend I went down South and spent 4 days in the Northwestern city of Nelson. I'll break this up into two posts and will start with my most recent trip to the South Island.

When I first moved to New Zealand I spend almost 2 weeks down in the South Island. The first night I had dinner with some new found friends who I met through one of my random connections back home, and was told Nelson was a 'definite' place to visit during the summer. So, one day I came across some very cheap flights and booked a weekend trip. Best decision. I had a really great time and would love to make it back there again before I leave. The first day I arrived in the afternoon so before dinner I hiked up a fairly short trail to a lookout that claims to be the very center of New Zealand. Once at the top I met a fellow American, also traveling solo, so we went on and did a bit more hiking and then he and I grabbed dinner. This is one thing I love about traveling alone, it's really easy to meet new people and just simply enjoy a meal or a drink & conversation. The next day would end up being my favorite of the trip and one of the best I've had traveling in NZ. I booked a day trip to the Abel Tasman National Park, spending half the day kayaking and the other half hiking. The Abel Tasman is NZ's smallest National Park, but is a really good mix of bush walking and beaches. I was in charge of steering the kayak I was in and have to give big props to the poor guy paired up with me. I mean, I did ok...it was actually quite comical & in the end we made it back safely and managed to stay pretty dry! It's beautiful as you'll see...

Later that night I met up with a friend from Wellington who was in Nelson for the weekend as well. His parents actually let me stay with them for the rest of my time there which was great! We went out to Lake Rotoiti, I hiked around it during the first trip, but this time is was late at night & pitch black. I was blown away by the stars. I have never seen a more beautiful night sky in my life...there were so many more stars than I ever remember seeing back home. One of the highlights of the trip for sure. The next day my friend, Tim, and I drove over the hill to Golden Bay. I thought it would be long beaches, which apparently there are if you drive a few hours. But we mostly saw NZ farmland and did a couple of bush walks. My favorite walk was called Harwood Hole, it was about a 30 minute walk through tall trees and over boulders to an overlook of a deep cave. It was cool because the forest was really quiet and it felt like we were in a completely different place. We also went to Te Waikoropupu Springs to see the "Cleanest water in the world". I would love to head back to Golden Bay at some point and make it to the beaches.

The rest of my time was spent in Nelson City checking out the shops, cafes, museum, gardens, oh and I went to a coffee shop that had a pond with tame eels (???) I definitely touched one and have a picture to prove it. My Sunday night flight was cancelled due to poor weather in Wellington. Let me tell you, the weather here is unbelievable...you can literally be in one part of the country soaking up the sun while just a few hundred kilometers away there's rain & fog. Coastal living? Overall it was a brilliant weekend... :)

x

South Island: Part 2

Tuesday I boarded a train from Blenheim and headed down to Christchurch for one night before flying to Queenstown.  This was my first time on a train & I have to admit that I was quite excited about it!  During the trip I had amazing 360 degree views with my left side being coastline and my right side snowcapped mountains…this spectacular landscape is what I came to see.  I arrived pretty late to yet another new adventure…staying at a Backpacker lodge for the first time.  I can’t stand the word ‘hostel’…which is the official coined term, so I’ll call it the backpackers.  It was quite nice actually.  A comfortable lounge and kitchen where you can cook to your hearts content.  Clean bathrooms with plenty of hot water, a comfy bed, and all for the low price of $30NZD/per night ($20 US Bucks!!)

Wenesday morning’s alarm went off at 5:30 am so I could catch an 8:30 flight down to Queenstown.  The bus drive from ChristChurch to Queenstown is 7-8 hours which is long, but when you want to see the countryside it is a great, cheap way to travel. By plane it takes just under an hour. Since I am only spending a little over a week in the South this trip, I wanted to take advantage of cheap one-way flights so I grabbed a flight down to Queenstown for one leg, and will bus it back for the other leg.  Great idea…except that flights into Queenstown are often a game of rush & roulette as  it is common for the finicky weather to defer a lot of air traffic.  My flight was delayed 2 hours and the weather decided not to lift as expected at take off, so we had to land at an airport in a very southern NZ city called Dunedin.  There we were greeted by coach buses that would take us on a 3 ½ hour drive back up to Queenstown.  My 9:35 arrival time and day in Queenstown turned into a 5:30 arrival time and a very hungry me.  I also missed out on some great aerial views and photos from the plane due to the weather.  Looking at it positively, I was able to see much more of the South Island than I had planned which sure didn’t disappoint, and I have a great excuse to come back down here again!  

Thursday I took a day trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound, it's in Fjiordland National Park a very preserved and protected part of the country, and the drive over takes you right through the beautiful mountains.  The road we took had been closed the previous 2 weeks due to a massive avalanche that blocked the access.  I saw first hand how destructive one of those can be! I then boarded a small cruise boat and floated through the Sounds past spectacular waterfalls & we even saw some fur seals.  It was an unforgettable day.  Today (Friday) was my day to explore the city.  I took a long walk along the edge of Lake Wakatipu and got some great shots of the Mountain view.  I also picked a lunch spot right on the shore & did a little window shopping.  Here are a few shots from the past few days, mostly from Milford Sound & Queenstown. 

Cheers, Rach 

South Island: Part 1

On Saturday I sailed the ocean blue taking the Ferry from the North Island to the South Island. We floated across the Cook Strait and down through the Marlbourough Sounds this beginning my 11-day journey through the South Island of New Zealand. Really a trip to the South Island should be planned out through an entire month so you have enough time to actually enjoy the beauty instead of rushing from place to site to bus to tour. Giving yourself a plentiful amount of time will also allow you to do proper tramping (Multiple day hiking trips), skiing, mountain biking, bungy jumping, paragliding, skydiving, bush-walking, or any of the other crazy fun things to do here. I will be here for a year and can come back anytime so I'm cheating and taking a quick solo tour... :)

I was greeted at the Ferry dock, in a small town called Picton, by a friend of a friend from back home in Cambridge (one of those small world things!) Strait-away we went for a walk called ‘the Snout’ which was a beautiful incline up to an amazing view over the Marlbourough Sounds (the Sounds are comprised of a series of interlinked flooded valleys running down from the Richmond Mountain Ranges into the Tasman Sea at Cook Strait.) Fun fact…Marlbourough is the sunniest area in New Zealand & because of this there are many vineyards in the area. We then drove to the house located in a town called Blenheim (pronounced Blen-em) just south of Picton. The next morning we took a trip to Nelson Lake National Park, a popular tramping area about an hour drive away to do some hiking. Both days were beautiful and because the sun was out it was WARM (remember it's still winter here!!).

Wellington City!

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xo, Rachel

To the South...

THIS is the South Island of New Zealand.  Locals call it the 'Mainland' because it is home to some of the most beautiful landscapes in the world.  From the snowcapped mountains of the Kaikoura's in the North, to the Milford Sounds & fjiords in the South, to the many skiing, snowboarding, bungy jumping, sky diving, heli-skiing enthusiasts that holiday in the 'Adventure Capital of the World' Queenstown, to the wine vineyards of Blenheim...you can find it all here! Before I start working in this great land, I want to see it.  I planned an 11 day journey through the South Island taking me on trains, planes, boats, and buses from top to bottom and back up. You can refer back to these maps to find each city as I blog my way through the trip! (Click to view full size) Cheers...