SOUTH ISLAND!

Hello there!

I just returned from traveling around the South Island for the past two weeks. It was absolutely fantastic!! I saw such incredibly beautiful places and it was just an amazing experience. I travelled around with two other people, Meredith and Marc, and we rented a car to travel around in: a white five seater mazda. It was an automatic and worked, but the acceleration was not so great. I actually drove on the left side and except for the first five minutes, it really wasn't bad at all! By the end of the trip, driving on the left even seemed pretty natural! I was very proud of myself.

So before going into the day-by-day of the trip, there are a couple points I want to mention:
1. I did a LOT of hiking this trip (which was great!) and one of the things that really struck me is the whole hiking culture. While on a hike, the people that you pass are really nice and will always say "hi" smile or make some comment about the track. It's a really nice environment to be apart of.
2. I met a lot of people while traveling around who were traveling from all different countries. I met people from: Latvia, Germany, Israel and the UK (among a bunch of other countries). The type of people traveling were really interesting. A lot of people I met have taken a year off and are traveling around the world. Others took a few months off and are traveling around a bunch of different countries in this area. Furthermore, travelers ranged in age from 20s through 70s. It was really fascinating to learn about the different cultures from the people during tour groups and at the backpackers.
3. Traveling around the South Island was surprisingly really easy! There are only a few roads and everything is VERY well signed. There are no huge highways like in the US, mostly it is just a road with one lane going in each direction. Driving through the countryside was really beautiful too - we would go by lakes, tons of mountains and valleys with sheep, cows and horses. Furthermore, in every town there is an iSite that has someone you can talk to about different activities and hikes to do in the area. Most places I went to, I just had to walk into the iSite and could walk out with something fun to do. It was great!
4. The backpackers in generally were pretty nice. Almost all of them were stocked with a full communal kitchen that we could use. There were communal bathrooms too (dorm style) but it was pretty nice. Most of them were about $30 NZ dollar per night - way better than can be found in the US!
5. Meredith and I did the GOOT challenge where you have to take pictures in front of certain places and signs in New Zealand. So in all the pictures where we have our thumbs-up that's what we're doing!
6. I took a lot of pictures but it was just so gorgeous there that my camera honestly could not do it justice. So when you are looking at the pictures, just remember that it was actually at least 100x more beautiful than the pictures seem.

Alright I think those were the main things I wanted to talk about before going day-by-day, so here we go. I'll go day-by-day but some of them are grouped into regions in the country so I'll do some headers too. If you want to follow along with the route that I took here's a map of the South Island: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&g=South+Island%2C+New+Zealand&q=south+island+nz&btnG=Search+Maps

Monday Feb 15
On Monday we flew from Auckland to Christchurch. Christchurch is in the upper middle of the South Island on the east coast. Going on a domestic flight in New Zealand was very interesting: some of the gates you don't need to go through security to get to! I had to go through security to get to mine, but it was very minimal security. Once getting on the plane, the flight was pretty fast. The only hitch was that the man sitting next to me spilled his coffee all over me - luckily it was not too hot. We arrived in Christchurch pretty late, checked into our backpacker then walked around the city and got some food. We saw Cathedral Square which was nice.

Tuesday Feb 16
We woke up early in Christchurch and walked around a bit before our car rental place opened. We went back to Cathedral Square and went to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens. Christchurch is a really nice city with a river running through it. Then we picked up our car, stopped for some groceries (the necessary PB&J) and were on our way! We headed north and stopped for lunch in Kaikoura. Kaikoura is known for seals. We first parked and headed down to the beach and immediately there was a seal right in front of us! It was so exciting - seals are very cute! After eating some fish 'n chips we headed to a seal colony where we saw lots more adorable seals. Then we did a bit of a walk up to an overlook and it was really nice to see Kaikoura and the east coast water. Then we went back in the car and I took my first shot at driving! As I said, the first five minutes were scary (and every time I had to turn) but I quickly got used to it and took us safely to Nelson. At Nelson we stayed in a really nice backpacker that provided us with soup, noodles and breakfast! We missed out on the soup because we checked in too late, but the ramen noodles were delicious. Then we drove into downtown Nelson and saw a beautiful sunset. We then went to a brewery that the backpacker had recommended and I tried a three berry cider and we got a delicious bread and spread platter!

Wednesday Feb 17
We woke up very early and drove to Abel Tasman! We booked a kayak and hike trip there where you kayak the first day, sleep on an aquapacker then hike the second day. We started off with 5 of us in the group (because the others were late) so it was the 3 of us and a retired couple from England. Since we were an odd number one of us had to be with our guide, and I happily volunteered. We first took the kayaks out on a jetboat and got to see a bit of Abel Tasman. The water there is absolutely gorgeous! Our guide told us that the green color is from the granite stones because they apparently release fluoride when they break apart. The way Abel Tasman is set up is in lots of coves with beautiful secluded beaches. We passed by a seal colony and I got to see seal pups which are honestly the cutest things ever!! I couldn't get a picture because they kept moving and splashing around but they are so adorable! They of course reminded me of Buddy. Then we got off the boats, had a quick briefing of the kayaks and the gear and then we were off! Kayaking was a lot of fun and it was just so gorgeous there. Then we stopped for lunch (which they provided) and met up with the late members of our group who were all Israelis! There are actually a ton of Israelis traveling around New Zealand and we ran into quite a few throughout our time there. Anyways I was now with one of them in my kayak. So our guide told us that we were kayaking on a really good day because the sea level was just right so that we were able to go into the lagoons and we went into a couple of them and they were SO beautiful! Towards the end of our day it started to rain which was a bummer, but overall it was a really incredible kayak trip! Then we were dropped off at a beach and picked up by our aquapackers. So the aquapacker is basically a backpacker on the water aka houseboat. It was really cool and I took pictures because I'm sure I won't be able to actually describe it but I'll try: there were about 25 of us sleeping on the houseboat and the boat was 3 levels. There was an upper deck where we ate dinner (BBQ!), a middle one with the kitchen and lower sections where we slept. The sleeping was interesting to say the least: It was basically an extended bunkbed in an "L" shape with about 5 people on top and 5 on the bottom. Anyway everyone from the kayak trip was on the houseboat along with people from Scandanavia, Germany and a couple other countries. It was really interesting to meet the different people and I learned some new card games! We were given lots of food with a BBQ but I had the vegetarian lasagna which had beans and corn in it and lots of coleslaw.

Thursday Feb 18
We woke up on the houseboat (where I slept pretty well) and had breakfast. Then we were brought back to the beach and set out on our hike. Our kayak group decided to hike together which was fun. The hike was really beautiful and we were mainly in the forest. However it started raining about halfway through the hike which wasn't as fun, but it was still a really amazing hike. Also while we were hiking we ran into another group from the BU program which was funny. At the end of the hike we said goodbye to our kayak group, but now we have a place to stay when we go to England and Israel! After the hike we went to the Golden Bay to the Mussels Inn which is a restaurant that was highly recommended and it was delicious! They brew their own beer there and have excellent seafood. I had a really delicious fish roll and a cider. After the great meal we drove on to Nelson Lakes where we camped.

Friday Feb 19
I woke up a little earlier than the other people in my group so I grabbed my cereal and headed to the lake. Since we had arrived so late the night before, we weren't actually able to see the lake when we got there and it was absolutely breathtaking in the morning! It was so peaceful and had beautiful mountains surrounding it. After the others woke up we went to the iSite and I found a really nice hike to do. We hiked Mt Robert which was about 4 hours and the view at the top was simply spectacular. The lake and mountains were so amazing. However at the very top you couldn't even see the lake and just had an incredible view of the mountains and countryside - it felt very "The Sound of Music." After the hike we drove to the West Coast. The West Coast was really beautiful with incredible beaches. Our first stop was Punakaiki home of the Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are are really big columns in the water that look like thin stacks of pancakes. We rushed and made it to the Pancake Rocks in time to see the sunset which was really beautiful. There is also the blowhole swell at the rocks where the water rushes in. It was a really nice way to end the day.

Saturday Feb 20
Once again I woke up earlier than the other people in my group and headed over to the beach with my breakfast and book. The beach there was so nice and instead of sand has these big pebbles. Once the others woke up we went to the iSite and found things to do. We went to Truman's Beach which is a bit of a hike away but is absolutely stunning. They had some really big rocks and caves there which were cool. Then we drove further along the West Coast and hiked Point Elizabeth. It was a pretty easy walk with a really nice view of the ocean at the end. Then we went to our backpacker in Greymouth which was really nice. They had free bikes that we could use and a nice kitchen. After dinner we biked to the pier and watched a gorgeous sunset. Then we quickly discovered that nightlife in Greymouth does not exist, but I did have a delicious piece of homemade chocolate cake.

Sunday Feb 21
We left Greymoutha nd drove further along the West Coast to reach Hokitika. Hokitika is famous for jade or as the Maori call it, pounaumu. Jade is very valuable in NZ and it must be given to you as a gift from someone else, you can't buy it for yourself. Hokitika has a lot of jade stores and other crafts. It was a lot of fun to walk around. We went to the West Coast Historical Museum which was very interesting. Apparently aside from being known for jade, Hokitika also used to be a huge player in the New Zealand gold rush and was a mining town. We went to the iSite in Hokitika and found out about a few things very close by. We went to Lake Kaniere which was really nice and went on a hike there. Then we went to the Hokitika Gorge which was absolutely beautiful. The water was unlike anything I had ever seen before! There was a swing bridge which we crossed and it was just really pretty. From there we drove onto Okarito which is famous for it's lake lagoons. We stayed at a campsite that had a firepit so we had a BBQ. Then we went out to the beach (which was right next to the campsite) and saw the sunset which was again beautiful. We tried to start another fire there but the wind was too intense, so we ended up joining someone else's fire to make our banana boats! I was SO happy to have banana boats again. The people who had the fire were from NZ, Canada and Germany so it was interesting to talk to them.

Monday Feb 22
We woke up bright and early on Monday to head over to Franz Josef Glacier! We did a full day hike on the glacier and it was absolutely incredible!! We first got all of our gear from boots, socks, jackets, pants, clamps and fannypacks galore. We started as a big group of 60 but then broke down into 6 groups of 10 based on level. We were in the middle group. In our group were people from England, Norway and other places. First we walked a couple kilometers through the valley to the face of the glacier. We passed by some beautiful waterfalls. At the base we put the clamps on the boots and started up the glacier. The clamps made it so much easier to hike the glacier. The hike was absolutely incredible. We saw really beautiful blue ice, climbed through tunnels, went through narrow passageways, repelled down holes and climbed. It was a lot of fun and just an amazing experience! I also got to carry an axe ice thing which was pretty cool too. The hike lasted all day and we got back to the lodge around 5. From there we drove to Queenstown. We got into Queenstown late and went into our nice backpacker. The backpacker was kind of set up like ski villas where we were sharing a little house with another room with a shared kitchen and bathroom. There was another couple there when we arrived from England and America who were traveling around the world for an entire year - they are about half-way through. They were really nice.

Tuesday Feb 23
We got to explore Queenstown on Tuesday. Queenstown is set up kind of like a ski village, which makes sense because it is a big ski center in the winter. It is surrounded by incredible mountains around a beautiful lake. I really liked it. Queenstown is known as the adventure city in NZ. It is where the bungy was invented and has tons of adventure activities. However, we just took a chill day. I took the gondola up to the top to see an incredible view of Queenstown and did a walk around up there. Then we went to FergBurger which is a famous burger place in Queenstown. They have absolutely delicious burgers! I got "The Codfather" which was basically a fish burger and had really delicious sauce. Then I walked around the lake, read my book and got delicious gelato. That night we made pasta and prepared ourselves for the Routeburn.

Wednesday Feb 24
We woke up early on Wednesday to catch the bus to the Routeburn. The Routeburn is a hike that traverses 32 kilometres of Mount Aspiring and Fiordland National Parks. It is supposed to take 3-4 days to do but we decided to do it in 2 days with the first day being longer. I was really nervous about the hike because it would be my first time doing an overnight hike and I had to carry my big backpack to fit my sleeping bag, tent and clothes. However it worked out alright. The track can run in either direction. We started at the Routeburn Shelter where the bus dropped us off at 10 am and made our way to the Divide. The first few hours were really beautiful and pretty easy since it was quite flat. Then we stopped for lunch at the Routeburn Falls shelter and it started raining a little bit. The next part was all uphill but it was okay and the rain was a little annoying but parts of it were really beautiful. The mountains were covered with mist and it looked magical. Unfortunately the pictures did not come out well but it really was an amazing sight. Then we made it to the top and there was a beautiful lake with mountains and mist in the background and it was so incredibly gorgeous. As we were passing another group going in the opposite direction one of the men stopped us and said "look at this view. this is heaven. you can now tell people that you have been to heaven." That is really how I would describe it - it was just breathtakingly beautiful. Then the rain picked up and we stopped in the next shelter. However during this time the rain really got severe and came down very hard and that is how it stayed. We had about 3 hours until we made it to the lodge where we were staying and it got pretty hard with all the rain. By the end I was walking with a pool in my boots and was soaked head to toe (except for my face which was protected due to my great hat!). While it was hard with the rain, the rain led to lots of beautiful waterfalls right alongside where I was hiking which was really incredible. Anyways when I finally reached the lodge I was soaking wet and decided there was no way I could stay in my wet tent as planned. I talked to the warden and we were able to upgrade to sleep in the bunkrooms (more on that in a bit). In the lodge there was a little fire which I basically attached myself to. Everything in my bag got wet including my sleeping bag so I spent the next couple hours trying to dry things (including myself) off. Once my sleeping bag was pretty dry we went to sleep. The bunkroom slept 30 people and was basically a couple really long big bunkbeds with numbers to denote where you were supposed to sleep, but it was basically one big mattress. There were 5 of us across the bunk that I was on. It was pretty ridiculous but I was just happy to be in a dry bed.

Thursday Feb 25
We were so wet and cold that we decided to wake up really early on Friday to catch an earlier bus to Queenstown to retrieve our car. The bus times were either 10:15 am or 3:15 pm so we decided to get up at 6 to catch the 10:15 bus. The hike to the Divide was supposed to take 4 hours so we had to move pretty quickly, and it was still raining. Starting the hike was hard because my back and entire body were sore from hiking 8 hours the day before. The first hour was dark so we wore our headlamps which was quite an experience. The sun was up by 7 though which made things easier. The hike was overall okay, except for one big uphill part towards the end. Also the rain wasn't as bad as the day before which helped. We finished the hike at 9:55 am meaning that we finished the entire Routeburn track in 24 hours!! As hard as the Routeburn was because of the rain, the fact that I was able to finish it in 24 hours was really exciting for me! The bus was late but did arrive and had room for us. We made it back to Queenstown by 2 and got our car. Then we went to Fergburger where I got the Holier Than Thou veggie burger. However, it wasn't a normal veggie burger but rather had pieces of tofu with vegetables - it was really delicious. Then we drove back towards the Routeburn to reach the Milford Sound. We checked into our backpacker, had some soup, a hot shower and went to bed.

Friday Feb 26
Friday was a beautiful sunny day, the perfect day to kayak the Milford Sound! The kayak company picked us up at the lodge and brought us to the Sound. The Milford Sound was so incredibly gorgeous. I can't even describe how beautiful the Milford Sound is, and once again the pictures do not do it justice but it is honestly the most amazing place I have ever been. It is part of the Fiordlands and surrounded by Fiords, mountains and beautiful water. Our kayak trip brought us out on a jetboat and then put us in our kayaks. As soon as we hit the water dolphins came swimming by and they were SO close to our kayaks which was very cool. There were also lots of adorable seals on the fiords we passed by. We kayaked under a waterfall which was pretty crazy and fun. It was an amazing trip, but my shoulders were so sore from the Routeburn which made it hard. We stopped for lunch on a beautiful beach and had juice that is made by a fruit in the Fiorlands and it was really delicious. Then we went back into the kayaks and the water had gotten much rougher making kayaking more difficult. Our guide decided we would try sailing in. We attached the boats, put up a sail (we basically attached a sheet to 2 oars and we held them) and let the wind carry us in a few kilometers. It was so much fun!!! It was an incredible trip and I really love the Milford Sound. After the trip we got the car and headed on to Twizel, but of course made another stop in Queenstown to get another Fergburger (went with the Codfather again). We reached Twizel late and went to sleep in the backpacker.

Saturday Feb 27
This was our last real day in the South Island and we made it count. We left Twizel and drove to Aoraki/Mount Cook. On the way we passed by lots of sheep and cows - we even had two cows cross the street right in front of our car!! It was very exciting. Then we made it to Mount Cook. Mount Cook is really impressive and surrounded by lots of glaciers. We went to the iSite, which had a nice museum about the history of Mt Cook, and then we hiked to a nice lookout point called Kea Point. There were also lots of beautiful lakes around Mt Cook. After Mt Cook we headed to Lake Tekapo. This lake was absolutely gorgeous! The water was truly spectacular looking. We hiked Mt John to get a 360 degree view of the lake and surrounding country side. It was really amazing. Then we went to the lake for a bit and relaxed. The lake was actually really cold so I didn't go in, but it was nice to just look at it. Then we completed our loop and made it back to Christchurch. We had some really good thai food in Christchurch then went to the airport to return our car. Our flight the next morning was at 6 am so we slept for a couple hours in the airport before boarding our flight and heading back to Auckland.

Arriving back in Auckland was really nice - I realized just how much Auckland is becoming home to me. Yesterday was filled with lots of odds and ends and preparing for the start of the semester. Today was the beginning of semester one and it is MUCH more crowded around University of Auckland than it was during the summer. I started my class and internship today and am completely exhausted. I promise I'll write about my internship, class and semester one soon!

Hope you enjoyed reading about the South Island. Now if you would like to see pictures about all the places I just talked about here's the link: http://picasaweb.google.com/LSOL817/SouthIslandNZ_2?feat=directlink

Hope all is well with you all and I would love to hear from you!