Megamoon

Kia ora! How’s your day been?

New Zealand was our next stop with just 2 weeks to explore as much as we could. We realised we couldn’t cover the whole country so decided to explore what we could of the South Island, known for its beautiful landscapes.

Our road trip took us from Christchurch, across the north and down the west of the island, ending in Queenstown.

A camper-van trip was heavily debated, until it was too late (none left available to hire), so car hire and local accommodation it was!

We flew into Christchurch late at night and headed out the next morning into the wops (countryside).

We’d originally planned to drive to Blenheim via the east coast, however the recent earthquake had destroyed the coastal road meaning a much longer drive inland instead.

No worries though as the countryside scenery was jaw-droppingly stunning! The 6 hour drive took nearly 9 as we kept stopping for the pretty vistas-rolling hills and mountains, bright blue rivers, forests, and a long stop to make friends with some cows hoping they’d pose for the camera.

Our first stop was Blenheim, where we received a honeymoon upgrade into a more spacious apartment and a free bottle of milk (we soon came to realise all NZ accommodation comes with a little bottle of milk!)

The next day we’d arranged a self guided wine tasting bike tour in Marlborough (famous for its tasty Sav Blancs). We explored an area with 20 or so wine cellars within cycling distance and had 6 hours till we needed to return.

The 6 hours flew by, filled with a hearty lunch (at Wairau River), meeting some lovely, mostly small-scale wine makers (and their pets) and drinking many (free) wine tastings(!) and cycling through vineyards with a beautiful mountainous backdrop.

We continued our road trip though the beautiful countryside along the north coast, via Nelson (lunch stop in a pretty riverside cafe) to Riwaka. Here we stayed in a BnB in the countryside, which came with chickens, lots of land, a cat called Ninja and was run by Chris and Liz! It was a really relaxing spot.

One of our days here we took a ferry from nearby Moteuka (via ‘split Apple rock’, an island populated only with indigenous birds and some seals) into the Abel Tasman national park, where we hiked all day through lush coastal bushland, many golden beaches and rivers. This was one of the first hikes we’d done where we didn’t need to watch our for deadly animals/plants, and so was very relaxing!

We loved the Cleopatra Falls – a natural rock slide carved out by a waterfall in the middle of a forest:

Our road trip continued over to and down the first part of the west coast. Remote, wild, sparsely populated and with a dramatically different climate featuring lots of rain, snow and hail (in the summer!)

We took our first stop at Punakaiki, to check out its pancake rocks. Chris got into the spirit of things before hand by eating a stack of pancakes (when in Rome!)

The rocks are an impressive geological wonder! Approx 30 million years old limestone rocks, formed in pancake-like layers and raised out of the sea bed through seismic action. There are blow holes on certain sections which cause sea spray and loud boom noises as the sea crashes through them.

We stayed the night in Hokitika in a rustic log hut sandwiched between a small field of llamas and a freight railway line. At dark we threw on our waterproofs and went up a nearby path to a glow worm dell. It was very impressive (and pretty romantic) being surrounding by thousands of tiny glowing lights in the pitch dark. One of those lovely and unexpected displays by nature doing its thing.

The next morning (after our early morning freight train wake up call), we took a brief walk in the wind and rain to Hokitika beach, with its grey sands and huge collection of drift wood. We also checked out the nearby town which had an old gold rush/cowboy feel to it.