Entry #5 New Zealand South Island: March 31 - April 14, 2019
Hello from New Zealand's South Island!
It’s not hard to understand why they shot the Lord of the Rings in New Zealand. We’ve been here for only 2 weeks and every time we turn a corner, the scenery seems even more… cinematic!
Sometimes we find ourselves doubting our eyes - like our vision has become photo shopped. It has been absolutely breath taking exploring the countless bays and beaches, forests and fjords of New Zealand’s South Island. And whether we are driving through the valleys of grand mountain peaks, or weave along hilly country roads bespectacled with zillions of sheep - we have loved every minute!
Not only have we fallen in love with the landscapes, but we have become very attached to the camper van we now call home. Allow us to introduce “The Z-Wagon”, our Jucy Condo Camper Van.
We are so happy with our little mobile home. There’s nothing quite like driving up to some insanely beautiful coastline and being able to cook a meal, and eat our dinner watching the sunset in front of us, or effortlessly transitioning our seats into comfy bunk beds and then falling asleep with the sound of the waves crashing right outside our door.
And best of all!!!!!!! Some of the most impressive camping spots are 100% free of charge! It’s called “freedom camping” and it offers travellers some prime real estate.
When it gets a bit chilly, we have to connect to some electricity to power our heater for the night, but we have also come to appreciate the joy of “holiday parks”, where the kids are greeted with trampolines, playgrounds, games rooms, and a crew of other travelling children to play with.
Plus, there’s something quite endearing about the instant connection you can have in a giant communal kitchen where there can be up to 60 other travellers all dancing around each other as we all prepare dinner together. It’s like going to hostels, but instead of everyone retreating into dorms, we all say good night and head to our separate campers. Really quite cute :)
In any case, we have felt such ease as we roamed around the South Island and we couldn’t be more amazed with the beautiful places we’ve found.
Every day is jam-packed with action. The past 14 days have been so full of activity and constant change that if feels like we’ve already been here for a month. It’s impossible to list all of our experiences, but we’d love to share some highlights.
After departing from Christchurch we started our route off with an indulgent day in hot springs.
Then we followed that up with hiking up a mountain to get a view of the beautiful Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, and a visit to nearby clay cliffs.
Then there were cute, quaint little towns that would reveal their own special characters, such as the quirky town of Oamaru, which serves as the epicentre of all things Steam Punk. The old Victorian buildings were the perfect setting for the local popularity of the Steam Punk style. The museum - the Steam Punk Head Quarters - was a mix of intriguing and terrifying contraptions that merge historical fashion with oddly assembled mechanical parts. The coolest thing was a room called “The Portal”.
We then headed south and hit a series of absolutely breath taking beaches. There is something magical about the massive scale of things in New Zealand. It gives us that wonderful sensation of feeling so small in such a great big world. We stand in awe of the enormity of jagged, rocky cliffs that rise right out of the sea, or the seemingly endless stretches of wind swept shorelines, or even the sheer ferocity of gale force winds sweeping over the flat lands.
Many of our days have been spent walking with our toes in the sand, dipping into frigid waves, and staring out into the deep blue ocean. We also loved the hypnotic sight of the ocean from great clifftop lookouts all along the Otago Pennisula.
There are so many rugged and remote beaches that have let us spy on the local wildlife. We are especially fond of the cute, (and stinky), sea lions that waddle out onto the land to warm themselves in the sun. We have also had a chance to see albatross, alpacas and dolphins.
The most memorable critter from our time in New Zealand has to be the glow worms in Te Anau! We went to pitch black caves that were lit with thousands of GLOW WORMS! It was so dark that we couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces, but above us it looked like we were under the most brilliant night sky of electric blue stars!
After the many hours in the van it feels great to get out on hikes. The kids were serious hiking rock stars the other day when we trekked for 4 hours straight. 2 hours up and 2 hours down! They were masters at scaling the rocky inclines and then making the challenging descent. The hike took us through an incredible forest that looked like it was straight from the most magical scenes of Lord of the Rings. Frothy white glacial cascades gush through rain forest-like vegetation, leading us up to a glacial lake tucked into a crevice high in the mountains. It was exhausting and exhilarating and the kids couldn’t have been more deserving of the chocolatey treat we bribed them with to get them to the top.
Our intense hike was on route to the fjord known as Milford Sound. The road to get there was maybe the best scenery we’ve seen so far! Not to mention the cruise that took us through the fjord included dolphins that splashed around the boat, and an up close view of the waterfall spewing freshly thawed glacial water that had been frozen for the last 80,000 years.
This has been a dizzying two weeks. We still have a month to go in New Zealand as we continue getting to know the South Island and then poke into the North as well. We are having a blast and continue to feel crazy fortunate to be on this journey.
Till next time :) Sending lots of Kiwi love ~ The Zwaigens
It’s not hard to understand why they shot the Lord of the Rings in New Zealand. We’ve been here for only 2 weeks and every time we turn a corner, the scenery seems even more… cinematic!
Sometimes we find ourselves doubting our eyes - like our vision has become photo shopped. It has been absolutely breath taking exploring the countless bays and beaches, forests and fjords of New Zealand’s South Island. And whether we are driving through the valleys of grand mountain peaks, or weave along hilly country roads bespectacled with zillions of sheep - we have loved every minute!
Not only have we fallen in love with the landscapes, but we have become very attached to the camper van we now call home. Allow us to introduce “The Z-Wagon”, our Jucy Condo Camper Van.
We are so happy with our little mobile home. There’s nothing quite like driving up to some insanely beautiful coastline and being able to cook a meal, and eat our dinner watching the sunset in front of us, or effortlessly transitioning our seats into comfy bunk beds and then falling asleep with the sound of the waves crashing right outside our door.
And best of all!!!!!!! Some of the most impressive camping spots are 100% free of charge! It’s called “freedom camping” and it offers travellers some prime real estate.
When it gets a bit chilly, we have to connect to some electricity to power our heater for the night, but we have also come to appreciate the joy of “holiday parks”, where the kids are greeted with trampolines, playgrounds, games rooms, and a crew of other travelling children to play with.
Plus, there’s something quite endearing about the instant connection you can have in a giant communal kitchen where there can be up to 60 other travellers all dancing around each other as we all prepare dinner together. It’s like going to hostels, but instead of everyone retreating into dorms, we all say good night and head to our separate campers. Really quite cute :)
In any case, we have felt such ease as we roamed around the South Island and we couldn’t be more amazed with the beautiful places we’ve found.
Every day is jam-packed with action. The past 14 days have been so full of activity and constant change that if feels like we’ve already been here for a month. It’s impossible to list all of our experiences, but we’d love to share some highlights.
After departing from Christchurch we started our route off with an indulgent day in hot springs.
Then we followed that up with hiking up a mountain to get a view of the beautiful Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, and a visit to nearby clay cliffs.
Then there were cute, quaint little towns that would reveal their own special characters, such as the quirky town of Oamaru, which serves as the epicentre of all things Steam Punk. The old Victorian buildings were the perfect setting for the local popularity of the Steam Punk style. The museum - the Steam Punk Head Quarters - was a mix of intriguing and terrifying contraptions that merge historical fashion with oddly assembled mechanical parts. The coolest thing was a room called “The Portal”.
We then headed south and hit a series of absolutely breath taking beaches. There is something magical about the massive scale of things in New Zealand. It gives us that wonderful sensation of feeling so small in such a great big world. We stand in awe of the enormity of jagged, rocky cliffs that rise right out of the sea, or the seemingly endless stretches of wind swept shorelines, or even the sheer ferocity of gale force winds sweeping over the flat lands.
Many of our days have been spent walking with our toes in the sand, dipping into frigid waves, and staring out into the deep blue ocean. We also loved the hypnotic sight of the ocean from great clifftop lookouts all along the Otago Pennisula.
There are so many rugged and remote beaches that have let us spy on the local wildlife. We are especially fond of the cute, (and stinky), sea lions that waddle out onto the land to warm themselves in the sun. We have also had a chance to see albatross, alpacas and dolphins.
The most memorable critter from our time in New Zealand has to be the glow worms in Te Anau! We went to pitch black caves that were lit with thousands of GLOW WORMS! It was so dark that we couldn’t even see our hands in front of our faces, but above us it looked like we were under the most brilliant night sky of electric blue stars!
 |
| (We weren't allowed to take our own pictures, but this is exactly what it looked like!) Check out the website for the tour we took here |
After the many hours in the van it feels great to get out on hikes. The kids were serious hiking rock stars the other day when we trekked for 4 hours straight. 2 hours up and 2 hours down! They were masters at scaling the rocky inclines and then making the challenging descent. The hike took us through an incredible forest that looked like it was straight from the most magical scenes of Lord of the Rings. Frothy white glacial cascades gush through rain forest-like vegetation, leading us up to a glacial lake tucked into a crevice high in the mountains. It was exhausting and exhilarating and the kids couldn’t have been more deserving of the chocolatey treat we bribed them with to get them to the top.
Our intense hike was on route to the fjord known as Milford Sound. The road to get there was maybe the best scenery we’ve seen so far! Not to mention the cruise that took us through the fjord included dolphins that splashed around the boat, and an up close view of the waterfall spewing freshly thawed glacial water that had been frozen for the last 80,000 years.
This has been a dizzying two weeks. We still have a month to go in New Zealand as we continue getting to know the South Island and then poke into the North as well. We are having a blast and continue to feel crazy fortunate to be on this journey.
Till next time :) Sending lots of Kiwi love ~ The Zwaigens
I am really enjoying reading about your travels. It's very inspirational to see you travelling with your kids. I would be very interesting to read about how you packed for everyone.
ReplyDeleteThanks Laura! We packed two large backpacks and a small carry-on suitcase. Plus two small day packs. And even that is too much :)
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DeleteWow Andrea! Amazing pictures and such vivid descriptions. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nora!!
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