New Zealand
Queenstown / Milford Sound
Located on the southern end of the South Island of New Zealand, we arrived in Queenstown via a quick flight from Sydney, Australia. We enjoyed our hotel - The Lomond Lodge for its simplicity and its unbeatable location right in the heart of town! As the self-proclaimed Adventure Capital of the World, Queenstown offers unending opportunity for self-guided adventure, or tours of every kind. We took full advantage of the long days (we were there toward the beginning of their summer), and went Sky-Diving for the first time, Canyoning, Hiking, and took a scenic flight on a TINY airplane to the Milford Sound. The town itself is safe and walkable and felt like a more international Aspen, CO to us - young workers from all over the world, there for a season or two, with a great late-night party scene.
If you’ve never heard of Canyoning before, don’t worry, we hadn’t either! In Queenstown, this was a half-day guided tour during which we hiked up a trail a couple of miles, and then jumped, slid, rappelled, swam, ziplined, and climbed down a narrow gorge with a river running thru it. The tour operator had set up ropes, ladders, and ziplines for the tour to enjoy. The tour offered the wetsuits and booties, helmets and climbing harnesses. Kristina also purchased neoprene gloves in advance since the water was coming straight from glacier melt and her hands regularly lose dexterity in cold temperatures. We both LOVED this adventure, and jumped at the opportunity to do it again (in 2023) in Sicily!
Fox / Franz Josef Glaciers
We had decided to travel up the west coast of the South Island (as opposed to the east which would have taken us to Christchurch), and our next stop along the way was to the Fox Glacier. When we visited in 2009, it was possible to hire a guide to take you on a 45 min hike on land, and then to climb onto the glacier via a pathway/steps that their staff had cut out that morning, and continue hiking for a bit on the glacier (with crampons on our shoes for traction). Sadly since then, it sounds like these tours have been discontinued due to the instability of the edges of the glacier, and now the only way to hike on the glacier is to take a tour via helicopter to the center where it’s more stable. That said, the drive from Queenstown was beautiful, and we had a wonderful time and made unforgettable memories during our tour!
Abel Tasman National Park
On the far north end of the South Island lies this beautiful National Park, where we were lucky enough to spend 2 nights in what felt like our own private treehouse apartment. The Abel Tasman Ocean View Chalets were just minutes from the park entrance, where we hoped to complete a highly rated sea kayaking tour. The Abel Tasman Park itself was beautiful, and we learned that during low tide, the water recedes 1/2 mile so they use large-wheeled tractors to haul boats out to the water during this time.
Sadly, on the morning of our tour, the seas were not cooperating. As we got out to the area we would be kayaking, the waves were 3-4ft high and not looking to be letting up. Our guide (The Sea Kayak Company) let everyone know that if they chose to forego the kayaking, we’d be fully refunded. Needless to say nobody got in the water that morning!
Wellington / Taupo
From Abel Tasman, we headed to Picton to catch the 3.5hr car ferry to Wellington. Once there, we only spent an hour or two exploring but our memory of it was that it reminded us to San Francisco. Our real destination for the next 2 nights was Taupo, where we planned a couple hikes. Our lodging there was The Extreme Backpackers Hostel (no longer operating). At the time, and after walking through town, we thought it appeared to be the nicest lodging available. However, a quick search of lodging now (13+ years later) shows options may have expanded quite a bit! In Taupo we took a couple of short day hike and took in the scenery of the center of New Zealand’s North Island.
Auckland
On the way into Auckland, we visited the famous Waitomo Glow Worm Caves which were pretty cool and we’d definitely recommend! We didn’t really have plans for while in Auckland, but enjoyed driving around, seeing all the amazing racing boats in the harbor, and enjoying some good meals!
Summary
Just as with Australia, this trip was a long time ago, but our memories of New Zealand are wonderful. It was also easy to get around as it’s a relatively small country. We’d love to go back some day - though I think we’d like to check out Christchurch next time around! Queenstown was a gem, and we’d likely spend more time there on a future visit.
“Of all the books in the world, the best stories are found between the pages of a passport.”
– Unknown