|New Zealand – part 2|

Road trip from Te Anau to Picton (23.04. – 02.05.)

We started our second part through New Zealand at the Nugget Point and went on to Te Anau – the gate to the Fiordland – across Milford Sounds, Queenstown, Fox Glacier, Murchison, Kaikoura and ended in Picton where we took the ferry to the north island as you can see in the map below.

In Te Anau we were hiking for about 3 hours through the rainforest ending at a little hut near a lake but unfortunately the weather was rainy and cloudy so we couldn’t see the nice surroundings with mountains. Despite the weather we were sitting for a while at the lake and enjoyed the silence and the mystical atmosphere until we were attacked by some mosquitos so we decided to go back. After the hike we just chilled at the camping ground.

Milford Sounds (25.04.)

On the way to Milford Sounds we stopped at a nice scenery to take some pictures. At this place we were badly attacked by sandflies – there were hundreds of them, finally also in our car. They actually look like little fruit flies but the females bite. They are really annoying and unfortunately the bites are itching for a couple of days. As we arrived at Milford Sounds we joined a ship cruise with a little boat, which was recommended by two Germans that we’ve met before. The trip was great because the little boats were going so close to the waterfalls, it was a nice experience. From the boat we could also see a dolphin but only the fin and his back for a couple of times, which was the first time in my life

Actually we planned to sleep close to Milford Sounds but it was almost impossible due to the sandflies so we decided to go on to Queenstown where we found a nice spot up in the mountains at a lake.

Queenstown/ Glenorchy (26./27.04.)

In Queenstown we actually wanted to go kayaking but after informing about it we decided to do it in the Abel Tasman National Park up in the north of the south island. So I spontaneously went on a two-hours horse-riding trip but unfortunately without Timo.

A shuttle picked an Asian couple and me up from Queenstown and brought us to Glenorchy to the horse ranch Dart Stables. There were already 12 horses waiting for us and the guide was allocating the horses. My horse was Peet – a black beauty with such a soft hide

Our route was through the wetland – a big valley surrounded with many mountains – on such a beautiful sunny day. We rode through some rivers where Peet enjoyed the cooling so much while he stomped with his hooves in the water so that I got wet and all the water was just running in my boots 😀 To galloping a part of the way with one of the guides was awesome, I felt so free and enjoyed it so much! All in all it was such a great experience to discover NZ on a horses’ back, which I hopefully repeat sometimes during my journey.

After the trip back in Queenstown we perfectly ended the day with Indian food – just a perfect day for myself

Fox Glacier (28.04.)

At the next day we drove up the west coast to the Fox Glacier. On the way we were stopping at the blue pools in the Mount Aspiring National Park where a guy was jumping from the swing bridge into the cold water – just crazy

Close to the glacier we went for a walk around the lake Matheson where the glacier was totally mirrored – it was an amazing view – just like a postcard picture. Afterwards we hiked up to another viewpoint nearby the glacier.

Afterwards we were heading for Murchison – a small village with the best spot for rafting in NZ. On the way we stopped in Greymouth at the west coast for buying some food – such a pretty city where I actually wanted to stay longer but unfortunately we didn’t had the time so we were going on to the well-known Pancake rocks where we arrived during the sunset.

This day we had a long way to drive on the road. Timo stopped to smoke in the middle of nowhere and when he had a look up he recognized the amazing starry sky. It was even more intense than in Tekapo so we took some pictures to capture the Milky Way. I was actually a bit scarred because it was so dark and we were surrounded by the rain forest where the wood cracked and shiny eyes where looking in our direction so I just wanted to leave 😀

Murchison (29./30.04.)

Nicholas, the guy we’ve met in the plane to NZ recommended rafting in Murchison so we decided to go there. As we arrived at the camping ground in the evening, the owner called the organizer of the rafting tours but unfortunately they are not running tours only for two people and nobody else wanted to go the next day. We decided to wait until the next day if someone else wanted to join but unfortunately nobody else arrived at this day so we had a relaxed day at this camping side at the river, which was pretty nice and so cheap due to the great location, the offerings and the clean facilities etc.

The weather was so good this day so that we chilled in the sun. While Timo went fishing I used the day to work on my pictures and the blog. Actually it was great to have a day off after the first two stressful weeks.

In the morning we had a nice breakfast in the sun at the river before we started to go on to Kaikoura.

Kaikoura (01.05.)

We stayed just for one night in Kaikoura and went to a waterfall close by the sea where baby seals are living until they are adult. As we went through the forest we were amazed that the whole way up to the waterfall seals were laying and chilling everywhere and playing at the river. It was actually so cute to see so many of them so close in nature.

Kaikoura is actually a good place to spot whales and dolphins because nearby to the coast the water is really deep. We hoped to see some but probably it’s better to join a whale watching tour for that but we didn’t want to spent money for that.

Picton (02.05.)

Our last stop on the south island was actually the Abel Tasman National Park where we wanted to go kayaking but due to the time we decided to stay close to Picton where the ferry is going to Wellington – a city at the north island. As we arrived in Picton we went up to a viewing point and enjoyed the sun before we went to our camping spot close to the kayak renting. The trip started on the next day at 8:30 am and we got an introduction for the kayaks at the beginning before we could go on by our own.

Actually we booked a full-day trip but unfortunately the weather forecast reported a stormy wind after 2 pm so we could only kayak until 1 pm. But anyway it was great to kayak through the beautiful Marlborough Sounds even if the way back was exhausting due to the wind and the strong stream. On the trip we were attacked by many sandflies again, while we went barefoot into the water to enter the kayak so our feet and our legs were free for their attack 😀 and these flies are really awful because they bite a bit off your skin so it pinched a lot.

In the tourist information, where we booked the kayak trip, a friendly woman recommended an Indian restaurant so I wanted to go there and eat Indian food again – I just adore it 😀

In the evening we took the 3,5 h ferry to Wellington where we arrived at 1:45 am and sleepy drove to the next camping ground – about 20 minutes from the city center.

So we already finished the first part of our trip on the south island but we are also looking forward to the next days on the north island because everybody told us that the two islands are so different.