Our first stop on the North Island was Wellington and we were very excited to visit a city after two weeks of camping in remote places. Especially the thought of sleeping in a bed was very exciting to us. The Beer Culture One thing very appealing to me was the fondness of craft beer the citizens of Wellington have. So after a quick dinner at our accommodation, we headed to the city for a little bar hopping. We tried three different places, … [Read more...] about Two days in Wellington
new zealand
The Fiordland
After our epic road trip along the Southern Scenic Drive, we were ready to enter the Fiordland area. The drive Our first “wow” moment was already driving from the South, as we started to see the mountains in the far back, get closer and closer. After a quick stop at Manapouri Lake, where we had a look at the lake and the scenery around, we then drove on to our campsite by Lake Te Anau. We were really excited about this campsite as we had … [Read more...] about The Fiordland
West Coast and Marlborough & Nelson
Another of Chris’ Travel Fails After the glacier area, we drove up along the West Coast towards the North end of the South Island. On the way, we stopped for a dip in Lake Ianthe before heading to the beautiful Hokitika Gorge. When we arrived at the gorge, I wanted to change into my hiking shoes but couldn't find them. Then it hit me: I had taken them off to jump into the lake and left them under the car without picking them up again. So we had … [Read more...] about West Coast and Marlborough & Nelson
The Fox and the Franz Josef Glacier
After leaving Lake Wanaka behind, our next destination was the glacier area on the West Coast. On the way to the first, the Fox Glacier, we made an overnight stop at the Lake Paringa Campsite. Unfortunately, the sandflies made it impossible to enjoy the sunset and we had to retire to our tent fairly early. That was not so bad because we spontaneously decided to do sunrise the next day for which we had to get up at 3.30am to drive to a good … [Read more...] about The Fox and the Franz Josef Glacier
Queenstown and Wanaka
After leaving Lake Te Anau, we began driving to Queenstown where we would spend one night in my cousins' car outside the shared house he lives in. The drive to Queenstown is worth mentioning just because of a crazy rain and thunderstorm we had on our way. We even had to pull over at one point because the visibility went down to zero. Further along the road, we passed some car accidents and were grateful when we arrived safely in … [Read more...] about Queenstown and Wanaka
Archer Track and the Tennyson Inlet
For our final hiking and camping experience on the South Island of New Zealand, we were looking at the options along the Queen Charlotte Track or the Nydia Track. In the end, we didn't do either - the Nydia Track is mostly inland and we were looking for a hike with views over the water. The Queen Charlotte Track we discarded as well because it was too much hassle to get to the track and we would have to spend money on a water taxi or transport by … [Read more...] about Archer Track and the Tennyson Inlet