Be warned, I have a lot to say about this trip. I have cut it up into different parts. I hope it's worth it, enjoy the read :)
New Zealand. A country that is probably on everyone’s bucket list. And I of all people was lucky enough to visit.
On February 11, 2024, I set foot in this wonderful country - after a few complications, you can read about these here if you’d like. I was jetlagged, exhausted, dirty and hungry, but there was a mission to complete straight after getting off an 18-hour overnight plane: grab the rental car.
Never in my life have I driven on the left (aka wrong!) side of the road. Or an automatic. I reckon this wasn’t the best scenario for trying out if I can do it, but what choice did I have? So I sat in the shuttle bus, nervously fidgeting, and asked the driver about every single thing that might come to his mind that I should consider or think about or keep in mind or be careful about. I bet he was pretty happy once the 10 minute ride was over.
I did the same thing to the lady at the rental. The number one thing she told me: Just always five way to your right.
I put my bags in the car, got into the passenger seat - of course, great start - went back around and finally found myself in the driver’s seat. I started the car, then the windshield wipers instead of the blinker, and drove off. Straight into a two lane roundabout, right through Christchurch, then up a steep hill and into the parking lot of the B&B where Lucie was waiting for me. This was the moment it hit me: I was in NEW ZEALAND! And in desperate need of a shower.
CHRISTCHURCH
Due to my complications, I couldn’t visit Christchurch at all. We had our hostels pre-booked for the first couple of days, so we had to move. I didn’t mind at all, as I am much more of a nature girl than a city dweller, and we were going straight to Mount Cook village. We drove past Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, stopped every few minutes at another view point and admired the beauty of New Zealand’s nature, walked around for a bit to stretch those legs. I don’t think we knew at this point, but this turned out to be the theme of this trip: Follow any random sign along the road towards a view point, stop, walk for a bit, admire the breathtaking views, then keep driving.
MOUNT COOK VILLAGE
We were obviously here for the Hooker Valley Track - hier right here to the article about the hikes or read it after :) It was one of the best hikes/walks I have ever done.
There’s not really anything to the village except a couple of guest houses, so be sure to bring food and fill the car with gas before you go there. But it’s cute, right in the middle of nature, mountains all the way around. And super peaceful.
QUEENSTOWN
From Aoraki, obviously via a whole bunch of different stretch-them-legs-stops, we continued on to Queenstown, which was another place I was really looking forward to. Let me just tell you: it did not disappoint. On the road we came along a shabby old sign pointing us to a place called Clay Cliffs. We of course turned the corner, drove into the middle of absofreakinglutely nowhere, and soon ended up on a bumpy gravel road - with our tiny little KIA (we named him Patrick, by the way). We were shaken to the bone as after a while we finally pulled into an almost empty parking lot. Without any idea what was going to await us, we walked towards what we thought was the trailhead, just as a couple was coming our way. They said it was totally worth it, so on we went. It was a strange place, very much unlike the rest we’ve seen so far. It was warm and dry, almost desert-like. And then we could see them. I have zero idea about why it’s called Clay Cliffs, but it was epic. There were these strange rock formations everywhere, that you could walk in between and over and under and around. I really don’t know how to describe it, you better see for yourself in the picture.
So, Queenstown. What a lovely place. I immediately felt at home, walking through the bustling town and then along the open waterfront, which apparently was the place to be, with all the little shops and bars and musicians. It’s a town nestled in between mountains, each and every single one of them calling my name, and obviously any kind of outdoor adventure is big here. We decided to take the cable car about halfway up Ben Lomond, and then walk from there for however long we wanted to. You can - I know, I’m repeating myself, I just don’t want you to miss anything should you be interested - read about that here.
I somehow ended up befriending half of the hostel crew, which were mostly latinos, and sitting out on the porch with them until pretty late, so I was glad that Lucie too wanted an easier day - at the beach! Finally. We looked up a random beach somewhat close to town, packed our Australian room mate onto the back seat and jumped straight into the water - which was shockingly cold. And the sun in New Zealand… this was my first not fully clothed experience, and I was so surprised. Sitting in the shade, you’re cold, and sitting in the sun just a meter over to the side, you feel like you’re burning.
MILFORD SOUND
Driving into Te Anau, which is known as the gateway to Milford Sound, aka the place that’s closest to the fjords but also somewhat affordable, I was disappointed for the first time since stepping out of the airplane. It was pretty dead around here, lifeless, just packed with tourists, nothing else. Luckily, we weren’t here for long, as at 6 am the next morning we left for our cruise. It was 4 degrees, pitch dark, pouring rain. As we entered fjordland, the sun was just rising. For the first time we could see the lush green forests covering the hills all around us, and all the different sized waterfalls crashing down. We were in awe.
The parking closest to the port is crazy expensive, and I’m a cheap backpacker, so what do you do? I let Lucie out of the car, drove back to the free parking lot, strapped into my rain gear, and started the 20 minute walk through, well, a pond? A river? What used to be a path was now filled with water. I was soaked through to my bones, but I didn’t care at all. I was the only one out here, jumping from puddle to puddle, for some reason really loving this experience. Fun fact: Lucie only had a short walk to the port from where I let her out, and we were pretty much the same amount of soaked.
I was unsure if it was going to be worth it - YES, it 100% is. Yes, it is touristy, but compared to what this word means in Europe, it wasn’t. The view from the boat was unlike anything I could have ever imagined. The rain brought out waterfalls that aren’t usually there, and the ones that were were even more impressive now. There was fog sitting in between the layers of rolling hills, giving it all a very mysterious vibe, like straight out of a movie. I was standing on the back of the boat, freezing my ass off but not at all caring, just trying to take in the views - and not fall into the water, the waves shook me pretty good. The captain warned us, and a minute later we were driven right under a waterfall. Any part of me that wasn’t soaked before, was soaked now, but I still couldn’t care less. I had tears in my eyes for the entire time I was on that boat, I just couldn’t believe that this was real.
Pro tip: If you can, book the tour that includes the underwater observatory. It was only 5€ more, but so interesting being able to go down deep under the water (and theoretically stay dry), and watch all the little fishies swimming by, just doing their thing.
Another Tip: Changing clothes inside the tiniest of KIAs and trying to somehow fit your wet legs into a pair of leggings is nearly impossible. Bring a wider pair of pants, make it easier for yourself.
WANAKA
Another wonderful place that instantly made me feel like I belong to be right there. It feels a bit like a smaller, quieter version of Queenstown, but with just as much charm. We didn’t do too much in Wanaka, we were exhausted after the sunrise climb up Roy’s Peak. There was a triathlon race going on, which we watched for a bit, and then we just sat on the beach. Or I did, Lucie still had some juice in her so she rented a stand-up paddle board and went out on the lake.
I would have loved to stay in Wanaka for longer, but the next adventure was awaiting us.
THE LONGEST DRIVE
With sore legs and sad to leave Wanaka, we had a mission: 6 hours and a good 450 km of driving. This was going to be the longest stretch we’d be driving in one day, but as we know, New Zealand doesn’t disappoint and kept us motivated with its ever-changing landscapes and gorgeous views. Like right from the start, we stopped often to stretch our legs and walk to random view point. We saw lakes, waterfalls, mountains and forests. Just as we were starting to complain that we’re starving, we entered a tiny town, if you can even call it that. It was really just a couple of houses and a restaurant or two in the middle of nowhere, but in we went. We shared an awesome fish & chips and sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce (I was in sugar-heaven).
We continued on, discussing wether out hearts or bellies were fuller, and after a while came across a sign that pointed us to Ship Creek. Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? We parked the car and started walking, and soon we were on the beach. This was the first time I saw the Tasman Sea from up close, and boy oh boy - it was beautiful and frightening all the same. The rip tides were visible even to my rookie eyes, the waves crashed against the beach with a bone breaking force I didn’t even want to imagine. And yet, I felt at peace.
We kept walking along the beach, on a path that led us into a forest, there was barely anyone else around. Another sign, Swamp forest. What was that going to be? Well, a swamp, obviously. I have not yet been to Australia, but this is what I imagine the north to look like. There was rusty red water all around us. Luckily there’s no crocs in NZ, but I still found myself waiting for one to charge right at us.
We also stopped at the Fox and Franz Josef Glacier, obviously, and walked around view points. It was interesting, but I was kind of sad that there was no way to get closer to the glaciers. If you are planning a trip to NZ and those glaciers is crazy far out of your way, I’d recommend skipping it and just marvel at the ones in the Aoraki region. But of course, if you get the chance, go for it. At the Franz Josef Glacier walk, there will be a sign pointing you to Peter’s Pool. At the end of that short walk there will be a tiny little pond, that was probably ma favorite spot in the area - we were there shortly before sunset, and the view of the mountains all around us reflected on the surface of the water.
GREYMOUTH
On the way to Greymouth, we of course stopped at Hokitika Gorge. It was raining lightly, so we were pretty much the only ones out there. It’s a fairly short walk also, easy to do, and pretty impressive. I don’t know what it is about the south island, but so many rivers have this milky kind of colour, some are more green, others more brown and this one: the most intense milky turquoise, just like the pictures you see. There was no way you could see to the bottom, even right at the edge.
We then drove into Greymouth, and for the second time, I was disappointed, but only at first. We were greeted by the warmest host and led to the most interesting accommodation - every room was dedicated a different animal. I will not go into the specifics of if there was a reason that we got the pig room… For the first time in this country, we decided to go to a museum and learn about Maori culture. The Pounamu Pathway Museum, Pounamu being a sacred rock, and pathway meaning that the museum led you through the Maori culture all around this rock - where it comes from, what it meant to them, what wars it caused and so on and so on. This was hands down one of the best museums I have ever been to, and I highly recommend it!
NELSON
This day was another awesome day. Our lovely host told us that we should take the road along the coast and definitely pass by Pancake Rocks. There were a lot of people and tour busses around, but since we were here, we decided to go. The best thing about NZ might be that most of the parking is free and all of the cafés and souvenir shops are a whole lot less expensive than in Europe, even in the busiest of places. The rock formations were really interesting, and to this day, nobody knows for sure how they came to be. But even more epic than the rocks were the holes in them: every time a wave crashed into them, the water would explode all over, creating a rainbow, and make these crazy loud explosive noises.
The drive along the coast line was gorgeous, the road winding up and down and around hills, in the greenest of scenery, with the ocean coming in and out of view. I was driving, Lucie half asleep in the passenger’s seat, when I saw a sign to a seal lookout point. I stepped on the breaks and barely made the left turn, and we followed another tiny road into nowhere.
The lookout did not disappoint. We must have spent more than an hour just watching seals enjoying the warmth of the sun, yawning every now and again, the babies playing in the little pools of water in between the rocks. Watching seals gets you ravenous, so we stopped by a beach, parked the car backwards, sat in the trunk and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches while watching surfers struggle in the unforgiving waves of the Tasman Sea.
We did another forest walk in Nelson Lakes National Park, before finally getting into Nelson itself, just to be told by our host that they have the best chocolate pudding and serve it for free every single night. Could this day get any better?
Ready to get back out into nature, we decided to do the longest hike so far in Abel Tasman National Park. Once again, for hikes please refer to my other post .
We did 25 km of walking that day, and were pretty exhausted after. So what do you do? You obviously go for a swim! Well, it was more of a lying on the sand 50 m out because the tide was still low, but it was great nonetheless. I got spooked by something touching my toe (yup, I’m that kind of person), but Lucie gladly kept her nerves and told me it was just „salad“.
The next day, we wanted to see Pic’s Peanut Butter World, but it was booked out. I was so sad, this was on my list, the perfect random little tour, and it would have been free, and also this was the best peanut butter I have ever had, I went through a jar a week. So please, register in advance on their website.
PICTON
The drive to Picton was another awesome drive, but it was low tide again, all the boats were sitting on sand, and there was not really a point in going for a dip, so we pressed on. There’s not really anything to Picton except the port, so we had some rest after yesterday’s big hike and prepared for the ferry crossing early the next morning. Save for the fact that we found ourselves in the wrong queue and somehow had to get out of that, everything went smooth and we were soon on the ferry on our way to Wellington. I sat out the back and read my book, taking in the views and breathing as much ocean air as I could. At one point I decided it was time for me to go look for dolphins. Almost immediately a pod of dolphins jumped out of the water right in front of me. I spoke to a woman that has been looking for most of the trip and this was the first time she saw them. You might think they timed their appearance just for me to see them…
