Location: South island of New Zealand
About:  New Zealand is one of the hot tourist destinations and it's easy to see why.  The varied and beautiful landscape and friendly New Zealanders make this easily one of the finest locations to visit in the world.
Time of year visited:  Late November 2004
Elevation:  Sea level to 1277m above sea level
Route Map:

Travelogue:

After many years of waiting for the right opportunity and having enough money, we made our first trip to New Zealand.  Having seen the Lord of the Rings movie, we were even more drawn to the island country.  Once the decision was made to go, and after several weeks of research and planning, we decided to spend our entire 2 week stay on the South Island.

This trip was to also include our first time backpacking.  We bought all of the gear we thought we needed in the U.S., conditioned for the hikes as best as we could and left for New Zealand with our backpacks and one suitcase in tow.  We had decided to spend 3 nights on the Abel Tasman track and another 3 nights on the Routeburn track,  and stay at hotels in cities in route to each location.

Day One:  Picton to Nelson

After an approximately 14 hour flight, we arrived in Auckland from Los Angeles, and took a connecting flight to Wellington.  We had opted to take the ferry across the Cook Strait and pick up our rental car in Picton.  The ferry ride turned out to be the worst experience of the trip.  The seas were rough and we both got very seasick.  The 3 hour ferry ride did not end soon enough for us that day.

Upon arrival in Picton, we picked up our car and drove to Nelson, stopping for pictures and to try to calm our stomachs from the previous boat ride from hell.  The drive between Picton and Nelson was windy, which didn't bode well for our nauseous stomachs.  A few stops along the way to settle things down, offered some opportunities to enjoy the scenery.

We arrived in Nelson, found our motel, and prepared for our first backpacking trip that was to start the next day.  Nelson is a quiet little town situated on the east side of the Tasman Sea.  This area of New Zealand is reportedly the sunniest part of the country, and upon our arrival, the sun was peeking out amongst a partly cloudy sky.

We ate dinner in Nelson, and my wife, still reeling from the sea sickness, had a hard time with the nausea even several hours after our boat ride.  That evening, while she slept, I went downtown to purchase camp stove fuel and other supplies to dangerous to bring on an airplane.  Downtown Nelson seemed nice, well kept and clean.  Driving on the left hand side of the road took a bit getting used to, but fortunately the traffic was not too heavy in the city making the adjustment a bit easier.

Day Two through Day Five: Nelson to Abel Tasman

The next morning we got up early, had a wonderful home cooked breakfast served by the very pleasant owners of the motel.  We packed up our gear and made for Motueka and Marahau which were about 1-1.5 hrs away to start our first backpacking trip on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track.  We parked our car at Old Macdonald's farm in Marahau, and took a brief 15 minute ride from the farm to the boat launch.

Day Five: Abel Tasman to Greymouth

After our hike, our next destination was Greymouth on the west coast of the island.  The trip between Marahau and Greymouth took about 4.5 hrs. We didn't stop much between the two cities, but were greeted with nice views of farmland and snowcapped mountains off in the distance.

As we approached Greymouth, the weather started to turn sour. We reached Greymouth and it was raining and quite dreary.  We found our hotel, and went for a walk around town to find something to eat.  Greymouth, like Nelson, was a quiet and clean city.  Most of the shops were closed, though we did find a good restaurant serving local food and wine. 

Day Six:  Greymouth to Franz Josef

After Greymouth, our destination was Franz Josef which is about 2 hrs away.  On the way though, we took an out of the way excursion toward Arthur's Pass, which ended up being equally rainy and foggy.  The fog was thick, and made driving on the "wrong" side of the road a little more worrisome.  It was here we saw our first Kea bird.  The kea are quite inquisitive and intelligent parrots that are found in New Zealand.  These alpine parrots are protected species, however this one was walking down the side walk of Arthur's Pass. 

We made it to Franz Josef and were greeted with even more rain.  Apparently the west coast is the rainiest part of the country, and is called by some the "Wet Coast" or "We(s)t Coast." We arrived in Franz Josef and inquired about helicopter rides to see the area. Due to the weather, no planes were flying that day, so we visited the shops, ate a wonderful meal and settled into our motel for the night.

Day Seven:  Franz Josef to Wanaka

The next morning we went up to see the Franz Josef Glacier.  The rain had subsided a bit, and made the short hike out to the glacier view point a little more bearable. At the viewpoint, which is still several hundred meters from the glacier, there is a sign warning people to not go any further without a guide.  The rain made the rocks slick, and a fall down into the ravine below could be fatal.  From the viewpoint we could see guide lead groups making their way up the glacier.  We opted to not try to take a tour that day and instead made our way to our next destination, the city of Wanaka. 

Following the coastline 2 hours down to Haast, we ran into yet more driving rain.  Upon reaching Haast, we ate lunch and begin our 2 hour drive inland to Wanaka.  As we got further inland, the rain eventually stopped.  We were able to get out of the car at a couple of the waterfalls that are found on the way to Wanaka.  This set of falls, called Thundercreek falls, was set amongst the lush rainforest of the island.  The sandflies were especially thick in this area, which made spending any amount of time out of the car an opportunity to be eaten alive.

After Haast pass, we began our descent toward Lake Wanaka.  The lake borders Mt Aspiring National park, and offers great views of Mt Aspiring itself.  We made several stops along the way taking pictures and battling sandflies.  Again I lost my lens cap, and again we had to go back and get it.  My wife was understandably annoyed with me by this time due to me repeatedly losing things.   

We arrived in Wanaka, found our motel and went to find something to eat.  Situated on the south end of the lake, Wanaka is a beautiful little town.  By far this was our favorite city of the trip.  We sat outside on the patio of a nice Japanese restaurant and ate our dinner while enjoying the view.  Several sail boats were out on the lake that evening, making for a nice scene to remember the lake and city by.

Day Eight:  Wanaka to Queenstown

The next day we drove over the Cardrona pass to Queenstown which was about 1.5 hours away.  It was along this route that we saw one or two fences covered with women's bras or underwear.  I wish I would have got a picture of it, as it was quite a humorous sight.  Along the pass we encountered our first traffic jam.  It wasn't your typical traffic jam, but this was a jam caused by cattle being herded up the road.  I'd heard about sheep causing traffic jams, which we didn't encounter, so we'd take this as second best.

We arrived in Queenstown, did some sight seeing, bought some groceries and supplies and picked up our backpacking permit for the Routeburn track. Queenstown was the busiest small town we visited. The streets were full of tourists, cars, busses, bicycles, hikers, etc.  It was a nice little town, but too touristy for our blood.

We stayed that night at the Remarkables Lodge in Frankton.  The stay at this little bed and breakfast coincided with our 10 year wedding anniversary.   The lodge was nice, and quite expensive, but the food, hosts and company were equally pleasant.  That afternoon we hiked up behind the lodge into the foothills of the Remarkables mountains.  After getting confused and losing the trail, we made it to a small set of waterfalls, enjoyed a light snack and again started to get rained on.

Day Nine through Twelve:  Routeburn Track

The next day we started for the Routeburn track.

Day Twelve:  Routeburn to Mt Cook

After the Routeburn, our next destination was the tallest mountain in New Zealand, Aoraki Mt Cook.  We made the 3.5 hr journey from Queenstown to Mt Cook.  We reached Twizel, had some lunch then made our way up the valley along the intensely blue Lake Pukaki. We stayed in Mt Cook area for 2 nights at one of the cheaper motels.  After the expense of the Remarkables Lodge, the Hermitage was more than we wanted to spend. 

Day Thirteen and Day Fourteen:  Mt Cook

The next day we hiked up the Hooker valley to the moraine lake that forms at the base of Mt Cook.  This was a very popular hike, with lots of tourists along the way.  Though it was still a nice walk and offered spectacular views of Aoraki Mt Cook and Mt Sefton.  One interesting sight was the Mt Cook Lily.  We had seen a few on the Routeburn track, but there were a lot more in various stages of bloom here.   These white flowers, accompanied by large lilypad like leaves were abundant along the trail.

That evening my wife encouraged me to take a helicopter ride as a anniversary gift.  We inquired about a ride around Mt cook but no seats were available.  A ride over the Ben Ohau range, just a bit further south was available, and I jumped at the opportunity, but my wife opted to stay behind.

This was a short 20 minute ride that was amazing.  We landed upon a glacier and were allowed to get out of the chopper for a few minutes to enjoy the scenery.  The ride was expensive, but worth every single dollar spent.

After Aoraki Mt cook, our destination was Christchurch, about 4 hours away.  We left early in the morning, and made our way to Lake Tekapo first.  The small little town with the same name had numerous shops and places to eat.  The blue lake and mountains in the distance were framed by large patches of lupines and poppies. 

 

Day Fifteen:  Mt Cook to Christchurch

We moved on to Christchurch for our last evening in New Zealand.  We stayed at a hotel near the center of town.  Parking was hard to find, but eventually we found a spot and found our hotel.  We toured the central part of the city by foot that day, admiring the distinctly English feel to the city.  We toured about the city, along the river that flows through town, watching couples taking boat rides (punts).   That night we ate at a little pub just outside our hotel and enjoyed a local cover band.  A nice relaxing end to our memorable trip.

Day Sixteen:  Christchurch to Home

The next day we drove to the airport, turned in our car and eventually boarded an afternoon plane to Auckland and then onto Los Angeles.  We arrived in Los Angeles in mid morning on the same day and was back home at about the same time of the day we left Christchurch.

For more photos from this trip, browse the complete New Zealand gallery