South Island - New Zealand
/After our weekend in Kaikoura, we had a few days to relax and take in Christchurch. Both Sam and I really loved the city, though it is a bit small and definitely a bit sleepy. Everyone we spoke to told us that before the big earthquake several years ago the city was a bit more bustling, and you could definitely see how that would be true. Though they have come a long way in rebuilding, the signs of the damage are all around in the central business district (where we were staying). There were street malls constructed out of shipping containers that were actually quite hip, and reminiscent a bit of Denver - shops and restaurants have started using them, though less out of necessity and more out of trendiness. We enjoyed several meals out and took the opportunity to see the new Star Wars while we were in an English-speaking country.
You may have noticed it has been a little while since our last post and that's because on December 21 we left Christchurch and started our 2 week rental in a campervan. While this was obviously loads of fun, wifi and powered connections were few and far between. The camper slept 4, so Samantha and I shared it with Justin and Tania. It was definitely tight quarters but we managed to survive the two weeks without killing each other and have a little fun to boot. The camper was more a van than RV, though it did come equipped with a small kitchen (2 burner propane stove, refrigerator, and sink) so we weren't exactly roughing it. It allowed us the freedom to see the true beauty of New Zealand which often isn't found anywhere near a hotel, especially on the South Island.
It's a bit complicated to explain our exact route, so I would direct you to the map which is linked to in the header. To sum it up, we drove a big loop, starting in Christchurch heading south, then once we hit Wanaka we headed over to the west coast, then up north to Nelson, eventually ending in Picton where we took a ferry to the Wellington on the north island. We spent every night of this first week sleeping in the van, usually parking in some secluded bit of public land. New Zealand has very open laws about what they call "freedom camping", pretty much stating that if you're on public land you're allowed to sleep in your vehicle. We did spend a couple of nights in what they call Holiday parks, or temporary trailer parks. They have nice communal bathrooms and showers, as well as power and water hook-ups.
Along our drive, the highlights were the visits to two different glaciers, Mt. Cook and Franz Josef. Justin is a geologist and was able to give us the rundown on all the incredible landscapes and features we saw which was awesome. We also visited Lake Wanaka which was gorgeous. While the lake itself was stunning, the little town that grew up around it was super cool too, very similar in feel to some of the mountain towns in Colorado. We spent Christmas day hiking a coastal track in Abel Tasman National Park along the north coast of the south Island. I was really excited to be in this region, known as the Motueka valley, because they grow some really rad hops here and Nelson, a town about 45 minutes southeast of Abel Tasman, is home to some of New Zealand's better known craft breweries. Unfortunately, it being the holidays and New Zealand being the relaxed kind of place it is, only one of them was open. We were able to sample loads of the beers at different pubs but it would have been really cool to get to meet some of the brewers working there.
I really enjoyed the South Island, probably more than the North. It is way less populated than the north island and the natural beauty is stunning. We weren't able to go all the way south to the Fjordlands National Park which I hear is also breathtaking, but it will give us a reason to go back someday and check it out. Stay tuned for our post from our week in the North Island!
To watch the video in a decent resolution, please go to the gear in the lower-right corner of the Youtube video and select 1080px or higher, otherwise it will look blurry!
