New Zealand South Island! - November
Hi Everyone!
It’s going to be a long one today…I hope
this finds you all well. I’m writing this in a hostel in Wellington two weeks
into the month-long trip!
The first 2 weeks of the November went by
very fast. Exams lasted from the 2nd November to the 12th
so I just spent those days studying a lot! We did watch the rugby world cup as
a revision break (what happened England?) in an English pub with a group of
English friends and I dragged my American friend Antoine along which was a laugh.
I then had four days before my flight to
Christchurch where I packed and spent as much time with friends as possible
before I said goodbye to them. My friend’s girlfriend flew out from England and
the three of us along with my other English friend, Katie, and Antoine cooked a huge goodbye roast dinner for 13 people, complete with a Yule log as
we won’t see each other at Christmas! It was a nice way to say goodbye to people
– it was so sad to see people leave but I now have a long list of countries I
can visit! I spent one day at a theme park with Antoine which was a fun way to
spend our last day together!
Then on Saturday I set off to New Zealand!
I have gone with a group of friends – two girls who are only coming with us in
the south island and two Austrian guys who I am doing both the north and south
island with! We’ve rented a car and are staying in hostels all around the
country. I have a lot to cover so I will try to keep it relatively brief...
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| This is what the landscape has been like as we've been driving...everywhere we've driven has had stunning views! |
Christchurch
Christchurch was the first stop on our
trip. We only spent a day there but I was so lucky to meet up with my relatives
who live in New Zealand! I met some of them at a wedding in Cambridge years and
years ago and it was so lovely to see them! I got to meet their children and
grandchildren and it was great to connect with family on the other side of the
world.
Lake Tekapo
I have no words for this place. It looked
like a painting. There were wild lupins (thank you Jane for helping me out with
the flower identification!) and snow-covered mountains in the background and
the water was so blue. The blue in the water comes from ground down rock from
the glaciers and honestly it looks unreal. We went for a 3 hour hike up a
mountain next to the lake which was amazing as we got to see so much more of
the lake and just take in the scenery.
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| The beautiful Lake Tekapo |
Wanaka
My relatives in New Zealand were so kind
and let us stay in their cabin that they have in Wanaka so we stayed there for
4 nights. It’s such a beautiful place – as with everywhere else we have seen so
far in New Zealand. We went up Mount Iron (I’m becoming partial to climbing mountains
now – who knew!) and went for a walk around the lake to see the famous Wanaka
tree.
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| The Wanaka Tree! |
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| Looking over Wanaka on a rainy day as we headed up Mount Iron.... |
Queenstown
We only spent a day in Queenstown. We went
for a Fergburger which is considered one of the best burger places in the
world! The burger was delicious – and they had 42 flavours of milkshake, which was the best milkshake I've ever had!
Queenstown was very touristy – they have a lot of extreme sports and skiing in
the winter. But you can see why it’s so popular! The town is surrounded by mountains
and is right on a lake.
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| This photo was literally taken at a car park...the mountains surrounding Queenstown really is breathtaking! |
Milford Sound
Milford Sound has to be one of the most
incredible places that I’ve ever been, definitely the most extraordinary in New
Zealand so far. We went on a boat tour and saw the incredible mountains as well
as penguins and seals! The drive there was incredible in itself – we were staying
in Te Anau and drove for 3 hours along the one road to Milford Sound through
the mountains. It’s amazing how its so hot in Australia right now with
wildfires and yet in Milford Sound it was a high of 10 degrees and roads were
closed due to avalanches!
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| Milford Sound |
Mount Cook and the Glaciers
We went on the Hooker Valley walk to see
Mount Cook and spent time around the Fox Glacier and the Franz Joesf Glacier.
It’s breath-taking to see these vast sheets of ice that are thousands and
thousands of years old.
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| A view of Mount Cook from the Hooker Valley track |
Abel Tasman National Park
This place was totally different to what we
saw further south…the national park has a walking track
that stretches 65km all along the coastline. We took a water taxi up the park and
I did a 4 hour walk back down the park. The water taxi was great in itself – we
saw seals and got to see some really beautiful places that you can’t walk to.
The others did a longer walk because unfortunately I’ve been ill and so haven’t
been able to do as much! It was still incredible and nice to finally enjoy some
sunshine and warmer weather again.
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| A view from the walk looking over the Abel Tasman national park |
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Today we took the 3 ½ hour long ferry to
the north island where I will spend the next two weeks before heading back to
Brisbane! So far it’s been an incredible trip…and very different from trips
that I usually go on that include spending much more time in one place and I
never do as much walking on holiday! But in New Zealand you seem to need to hike
anywhere in order to see the beautiful scenery…it’s definitely a country that
attracts the more outdoorsy type of people!
I can’t believe I’ve been away from England
for nearly 5 months…time is flying by! I’m super excited that this month Ollie
will be flying out to join me and get to see my home away from home.
All my love,
M xxx
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