New Zealand - South Island

Here's our second attempt to write this post as the first version has somehow been deleted from the server - booo. So, here we go again:

On the ferry through Queen Charlotte Sound

 After almost 3 weeks on the North Island, we left Wellington on Saturday morning, February 21st. A wonderful 3 hour ferry ride later we arrived in Picton on the South Island. We had a nice seafood lunch in Picton and then made our way to Blenheim - more wine was waiting for us. As all accommodation seemed to be booked out we splurged a little and stayed in a wonderul little B&B. After two horrible nights in a Backpacker hostel back in Wellington, this was exactly what we needed. As for the Backpackers in Wellington, well, due to the Cricket World Cup all accommodation was booked out, except some last spaces in a hostel dormitory. As the alternative was to sleep in our car or to stay 80km outside of Wellington we opted for the dorm. Maybe we're too old for hostels or it was really that disgusting but we absolutely hated it; the beds were incredibly uncomfortable, mice were running around in the kitchen, the fridges so dirty we left our stuff in the car and only 2 unisex toilets for the entire floor! So, needless to say we were very, very happy in our B&B, overlooking a vinyard from our very own veranda - pure bliss!

View from our B&B

 After tasting our way through the Marlborough wine region (this time by car) we drove South to Kaikoura, NZ's whale watch capital. Stefan and I have already seen lots of whales (mostly humpbacks and some pilot whales) during our time living in Australia and travelling around but Kaikoura was very special as we were able to see a sperm whale and a few Orcas! So cool! Kaikoura is also known for its excellent crayfish (yum!) and its sea lion colonies, very cute :)

See the size of the sperm whale in comparison to the boat!

Orcas!!

Sea Lions on our way to Kaikoura

Next stop, Abel Tasman National Park at the far North of the South Island. We opted for a full day kayaking tour along the coast line which was just the best way to apreciate the beauty of this region. It was truly one of the best things we've done on this trip, highly recommended!

Kayaking the Able Tasman coast

We then hit a little bad weather with low-hanging clouds and rain around Nelson Lakes which kept us from our original plan to hike around the region. So, we decided to keep going to search for some better weather. And we did find it, just in time for what must be one of the most beautiful stretches of road on the planet. The Great Ocean Road in Australia is pretty nice, BUT the coastal road from Westport to Greymouth on the Westcoast of NZ is as beautiful if not even better...

Beautiful West Coast

Punakaiki - Pancake Rocks

In Greymouth it was time for beer tasting at one of our favourite breweries, Monteiths, before we drove up Arthur's Pass for some smaller hikes. 

Beer Tasting & Brewery Tour at Monteith's

Via Hokitika we then made our way to Franz Josef & Fox Glacier where we unfortunately hit very, very bad weather again. We were initially planning to do a Helicopter flight and hike on top of one of the glaciers but the tour got cancelled on both days we were there due to bad weather and the outlook wasn't too good either. So, quite reluctantly we decided to move on after doing some smaller hikes to both Franz Josef and Fox glacier. And we do have to say, we were quite shocked by how far the glaciers have retreated in the past 10 years. We ended up more than half a kilometer away from the glacier where several friends of ours who have visited the glaciers a few years ago were still able to get pretty close. Global warming is not a myth.

Franz Josef Glacier - or what's left of it

Fox Glacier

So, via Haast Pass we drove to Wanaka. Haast pass would've been another great road with awesome views of the NZ Alps if it wasn't for the persistent rain and fog making everything look miserable. Only a few kilometers from Wanaka the sun eventually came out and in the evening we were even able to enjoy a few beers outside in the sun.

On our way to Wanaka

After so much rain, we were ready for some hiking again in the closeby Mount Aspiring National Park. Unfortunately the rain caught up with us the next day during our hike and we ended up completely soaked through. In Queenstown we finally hit good weather again which was perfect as it was time for some adrenalin-filled activities. My sister, Maria, got a sky dive for her birthday and Queenstown was definitely the best place to do this. Stefan and I had already jumped in Perth, so we didn't join her - although it looked absolutely amazing. You can spend a lot of money in Queenstown as they offer pretty much everything-adrenalin on this planet, sky diving, swing jumping, bungy jumping, jetboating, luging etc. We 'just' did some more luging (the first time we went in Rotorua) and another jetboat ride through the Shotover Canyon as the one in Taupo was so much fun.

Luging fun

AJ Hacket's Bungy Center at Kawarau River - they also filmed some Lord of the Rings scenes here

Leaving Queenstown it was time for another NZ highlight, Fiordlands National Park, where we both visited Milford Sound and Doubtful Sound. We tried to pick the most beautiful of them both but still can't decide. They're equally breathtaking but still very different. If you ever go to NZ - do them both!! We'll let some photos speak for themselves:

Milford Sound - Mitre Peak's top in clouds

Waterfall in Milford Sound + a rainbow + a sea lion

Getting close to the waterfalls - a 'glacial facial' as they said :)

Rare white corals viewed from an underwater observatory

Early morning trip to Doubtful Sound

Lake Manapouri

Doubtful Sound viewed from Wilmot Pass

Doubtful Sound Magic

Via Invercargill and the Catlin coast we leisurely drove to Dunedin. Very pretty region of NZ, beautiful coastline, beaches, waterfalls, albatrosses, sea lions and if you come in the right season and the right time of the day also penguins. Unfortunately we didn't see any. What we did saw though were gazillions of sheep :)

Moeraki Boulders

Waterfalls at the Catlins coast

We then decided to tackle the NZ Alps again from the other direction and made our way to Mt Cook National Park. With 3,754m Mt Cook (Aoraki) is NZ's highest peak and the place where Sir Edmund Hillarys trained for his Mt Everest expedition. And this time we were lucky, fine weather throughout our stay, good enough for some hikes and also good enough for a scenic helicopter flight - finally! It was amazing!

Tasman Glacier

Mighty Aoraki (Mt Cook) from our balcony

A double rainbow over Lake Pukaki

Our time in NZ was now slowly coming to an end. After a nice little excursion out onto the Banks Peninsula we spent the last couple days in Christchurch. Parts of Christchurch and especially its center were destroyed in an earthquake a few years ago and it's pretty heartbreaking to walk through the ruins and remains. So, a rather sad end to our incredible New Zealand Adventure.

Banks Peninsula

Christchurch Cathedral

So, this is it then. 14 months of travelling have come to an end and if you're still reading this blog - THANK YOU for letting us share them with you. It's been the most amazing experience of our lives and we won't ever be the same again. We've learned so much about the world, each other and ourselves and, believe it or not, we're already planning our next holiday. But first it's time for a dose of reality, finding a job, sorting our insurances, finding a place to live back in Austria, etc. But we do look forward to all this 'normal' stuff, bring it on!!

There and back again... New Zealand North Island

After 3 fantastic weeks in Austria over Christmas and New Years and another two in Perth where we finally and officially got our Australian citizenship and Aussie passports - whooooohoooo!!! - we were on our way to New Zealand. My sister, Maria, was joining us for this last leg of our travels and we were really excited about it. We were lucky to be able to spend the first few days in Auckland with a friend of Stefan who introduced us to New Zealand beer and gave us some valuable travel tips. Thanks again! :)

Strolling through Auckland

After a few days in beautiful Auckland we were on our way to the Bay of Islands and the Coromandel Peninsula. Both areas full of awesome coastal scenery, fantastic beaches and beautiful seafood, nom nom nom!

Chum Beach - Coromandel Peninsula

Cathedral Cove

Hot Water Beach

Who does the best Haka at Waitangi House

On our way to Rotorua we stopped in Hobbiton, the original movie set out of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies, which we really, really enjoyed. Fairly expensive but good fun :)

Bilbo's Hobbit Hole in Hobbiton

In Rotorua it was time for some first smelly encounters with New Zealand's geothermal activities. We found it was similar to Yellowstone but as cool, EXCEPT for the one geyser they make errupt by pouring a bag of washing powder in...WTF? We weren't really impressed by that. We did stay in a pretty cool motel with balcony views over a geyser which naturally errupted every few hours, awesome!

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Area

And for the next day we were booked on a tour to one of the definite highlights on our NZ trip so far, White Island, an active marine volcano. We had initially planned to hop on a helicopter to the island but the exorbitant and ridiculous price tag of $900 per person was a little bit over our budget... We've seen a few volcanoes on our entire trip but the White Island experience was pretty outstanding as this volcanoe really seems the most active of them all - as you can see below we even had to wear gas masks because of the toxic fumes.

On our way to White Island

The gas masks were definitely necessary

Taking the very scenic Pacific highway we then made our way down to Napier and the Hawke's Bay wine region where we spent a day driving and another day cycling through the vineyards tasting ridiculous amounts of wine. Very pretty region and also really good wines, we all agreed. Our daily wine consumption got higher and higher the longer we stayed in NZ... and really, only one bottle is never enough for 3 people :)

Hawke's Bay wine region by bike

Moving on to Taupo we jumped on a Jetboat ride, on the same river they also filmed scenes of the Hobbit, and we also checked out the crystal blue waters of the Huka Falls, beautiful!

Huka Falls

But now it was finally time for some more serious activities, the Tongariro Crossing, a little bit South of Lake Taupo, a 21km hike passing the volcanoes, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe. Mt Ngauruhoe is also known as Mt Doom out of the 'Lords of the Rings', so we were almost literally walking through Mordor ;)

Mt Ngauruhoe aka 'Mt Doom'

Lakes on top of Tongariro

Having picture postcard perfect weather we then took the Desert Road South towards Wellington with wonderful views of the volcanoes and the mighty Ruapehu.

Mt Ruapehu

Castle Point

In Wellington it was time for another Lord of the Rings fix when we visited the WETA workshop where all the creatures and buildings for the movies were created.

Then, another completely different activity awaited us, a Cricket World Cup game, New Zealand vs England. I never really liked Cricket and Maria was pretty indifferent as well. But maybe it was because NZ completely smashed England making the game last only 5 hours, maybe it was the ciders we drank or maybe it was Stefan's contagious enthusiasm but we really enjoyed the game. A wonderful end to our time on the North island.

Cricket World Cup Game - NZ vs England