NEW ZEALAND
LIVEBLOG
New Zealand - Liveblog
Darlings, welcome to the reason we have started this blog: OUR WORLD TRIP!!! We are going to start in New Zealand, go to Australia and after we will see where this adventure takes us. In the meantime you can read about our travels in this liveblog. For all the other countries we will make a separate blog. Madelief will mostly focus on the TikTok, while Noëlle makes sure the blog is complete. Have fun reading this blog and make sure you check in once in a while!!! (Also as none of us have physically arrived in New Zealand yet, we will have to do with this picture of sheep as the header.)
Day 0 - 1/2 on the way
15 September 2024
Aaaaaaaa, it is happeninggg!!!! 1/2 is finally on the way to start our long awaited world trip. Madelief will fly from Amsterdam to Shanghai to Auckland and will stay there for one month until Noëlle arrives. Let's see what she will experience and if she can give us some good content, so we can finally start making money with the TikTok and our blog.
Day 1 - 2/2 on the way
12 October 2024
If you think Noëlle was excited and ready to go to New Zealand, think again because she was not. I cried like a baby when I had to leave, so no pictures of me on this day. I never get homesick, but for some reason I had such a hard time to leave now (I know the reason: I can highly recommend being single when you leave for 9 months). Besides, all of my best friends just moved back home and we left to go to the other side of the world. But okay, we had planned this for four years, so I had to go anyways, but the excitement still needs to come. My flight was from Amsterdam to Doha to Auckland. The first flight was around 6 hours and was fine! The second flight was 16 hours and oh my god that is an extremely long time. Okay enough for today, I will see you tomorrow!
Day 2 - First day in Auckland
14 October 2024
Hello New Zealand! Do not let the date fool you, there is a whopping time difference of 11 hours (will be 12 hours when the clock goes back in the Netherlands), so yes we basically skipped half a day. After sitting for 16 hours my whole body hurt, but well, who wants to see the world needs to go through things (or something…). First impression: they are very strict with what you can bring into the country. Good for them. After they cleaned my shoes and checked all of my snacks, I was ready to go get the bus from Auckland airport to the city center. The Sky Drive will take you directly to the Sky Tower for 20 NZD, and goes every half an hour. From the Sky Tower it was a 6 minute walk to the hostel. I stayed in the Attic Backpackers hostel, which is a very nice place and the location is great. It is a little bit expensive, but I wanted to have a good hostel for my first days. I have to be honest, I have to get used to the backpacker life and I am not sure yet if this is the way for me, but I cannot judge after 3 hours of backpacking, so I will get back to you. In the meantime it is 7:30 am and I have finally arrived to the hostel. After I took the longest shower in my life I was ready to go to bed at 9 am. I do not care about the jet lag. Around 14:00 I woke up again and after careful consideration if I should sleep longer or finally go into the city to fix some things, I decided to be responsible and get out of bed. I hadn’t eaten since 3 am, so the first thing I wanted to do was hunt for food. Luckily, the hostel had a lot of free food, so I was able to make myself a sandwich before I went outside.
First impressions of Auckland: It looks a lot like Vancouver minus the mountains. I love that within 10 minutes you are at the waterfront and you can enjoy the views. I had three goals during my walk outside, which were getting a sim card, buy a bus ticket to Paihia and to buy dinner. I think most of the backpackers go for an NZ One sim card, because they have some very good deals for travellers. There are other options, but Madelief went with this one, so I went with this one. I also doubted between Airalo, but that was more expensive and I could not call or text with that option. For the bus to Paihia we went with the InterCity bus, which is one of the two options you have to go to other places in New Zealand. Kiwi doesn’t go to Paihia (or it is way more expensive, I do not remember that anymore), so we went with InterCity. Last task was to buy dinner, so Woolworths it was (a supermarket in NZ) and I bought a microwave lasagna because I could not be bothered to cook. Then it was time to go to bed againnnn, see you tomorrow!
Day 3 - Second day in Auckland and going to Paihia
15 October 2024
My schedule is:
08:00 - wake up
08:30 - get breakfast
09:00 - pack bag
10:00 - check out of hostel
10:15 - buy charger
12:30 - back at hostel
12:45 - at bus stop
13:00 - bus leaves to Paihia
17:05 - arrive in Paihia
17:06 - give Madelief a hug
17:30 - do groceries
18:30 - cook & eat
19:30 - work on blog
21:00 - go to bed
What really happened:
04:00 - woke up
06:00 - watch ice hockey game
08:00 - shower
08:30 - notice there isn’t any food left in the hostel
08:45 - pack my bag
09:30 - run to supermarket to buy breakfast and lunch
09:50 - prepare breakfast and lunch
10:02 - checkout (too late)
10:30 - buy charger
11:00 - sit in library and do finances (responsible)
12:35 - run back to hostel
12:45 - run to bus
12:55 - arrive at bus stop (too late again)
13:00 - bus leaves for Paihia
17:10 - arrive in Paihia
17:11 - give Madelief a hug
17:30 - stare into the distance for an hour
18:30 - do groceries
19:15 - start cooking
20:00 - eat
20:30 - be knock out in bed already
Good day.
Paihia reminds me of Hawaii a bit, but then cold… We stayed at Palm Tree Lodge, very nice and luxurious lodge (they have a pool and tennis court!). Tomorrow we will leave at 07:15 to go to Cape Reinga so, early wake up calllll
Day 4 - Cape Reinga & Ninety-Mile Beach
16 October 2024
The day started bright and early again at the ripe time of 05:00. This was fine as our alarm went off at 06:00, so I did not have to wait that long. At 07:15 am sharp the bus driver showed up in front of our hostel and we were ready for our day trip to Cape Reinga. However, this was after checking if we had booked the correct tour, because when we walked into the bus we only saw 60+ age people. We were by far the youngest on this tour. Fine for us, because we were tired, so low pace was perfect. After a two-hour drive it was time for our morning cup of tea. I bought a muffin because I needed some sugar and after another two-hour drive we arrived at Cape Reinga. I was very excited to see this as you should be able to see two oceans clash into each other. After a walk to the lighthouse we indeed could see the two different waters. On the left side (west) you have the Tasman Sea which is supposed to be the Male sea. On the left side (east) you have the Pacific Ocean which is the female. The male and female water clash into each other to create new life. It was very nice to see! After taking some pictures at the lighthouse it was time to go back to the bus again. Remember, this is apparently a 60+ tour, so lots of sitting in the bus and not lots of walking around.
Then we went for lunch at Lucid Cafe. From the outside it looked like crack, but it was the cutest cafe inside. The garden had great views of the ocean and it was so peaceful to have lunch here. I had one of my favourite meals: fish & chips. You can eat that everywhere here, so I am a happy girl. After lunch we drove to Ninety-Mile Beach. I heard, this beach isn’t actually ninety miles long, but it is the thought that counts. I also heard it is an official highway, but maybe the bus driver made that up. OH about the bus driver, he was a true Maori and also gave us lots of performances of Maori songs during the trip. This was cool to hear. He also made a lot of old people jokes that we did not get. Okay back to the beach, you are able to drive on the beach! So we did that. When we booked the tour they said we would go sand gliding on the dunes, so we were excited for that. Unfortunately, the great dune was closed off, so we had to do with the less great dune, but it was still fun. The bus driver also catched some shell fish and I made the stupid decision to ask if you could eat it, because he gave me one to try right on the spot (I do not like shellfish (especially mussels and oysters), so I had to pretend it was very nice after chewing on it for a good minute). Then it was time to go back home againnn. After our afternoon tea, it was still a two hour drive back home. Luckily we made lasagna the night before so we could directly eat that and it was for the good because I was knock out after. Another great day and goodnight.
Day 5 - Back to Auckland and Coast to Coast walkway
17 October 2024
This morning it was time to go back to Auckland again. I heard from my uncle that we have a friend in Keri Keri, so I tried to contact him, but unfortunately I only got in contact with him after we arrived in Auckland already (Hello Coen if you’re reading this!). We decided to do the Coast to Coast Walkway in the afternoon. This is a path of 16 km long that goes from (you guessed it right) coast to coast. Well I cannot recommend to do this, first of all the starting point of the walkway is not at the coast. Second of all, it is so incredibly unclear where you have to go (there should be signs but there are not and Google Maps also doesn’t know). At some point we walked through af field and met some cows, so that is when we knew, we had no clue where we were going. Just start the walkway at One Tree Hill, because that is the first interesting thing to see on the walk, but then you’re already 5 km in. After a very hard climb up we arrived at One Tree Hill, but there was no tree (at least we couldn’t see it) there only was an obelisk (or basilicum, ugh I’m still laughing hahaha). It did have very nice views though, but I think Mount Eden had nicer views (we’ll get to that later). Well if you thought the walk up was hard, think again, because the climb down was harder. Again it led us through complete wilderness and now we saw sheep instead of cows (free safari). Then we walked to Mount Eden, which was still an hour away. My knees were screaming, but I am not a failure so we walked on. Bad decision, because we arrived at Mount Eden, steep steep stairs were waiting for us. No I’m exaggerating, the stairs were very nice to quickly go to the top. At the top the views were amazing and you were able to see everything of Auckland. I can really recommend going here and it is not extremely hard to walk up. After we walked down, we did give up and went back with the bus to Auckland. We got ourselves some well deserved fries and it was time for bed again. (In literally the worst hostel ever, our room didn’t have a window (why does that keep happening to us?!!) the shower took 5+ minutes to get hot (I gave up after 4 minutes) and you could hear everything around you (no joke, if our neighbours turned around in bed, you could hear the bed squeaking as if it was in the same room as us). But okay, only one night, we had to wake up early anyway, byebyeee.
Day 6 - Hot Water Beach
18 October 2024
We decided to travel the North Island with the Kiwi Experience Bus. Honestly, if you are a solo traveller, this is such a nice way to travel. You spend the first three days with the exact same group and you stay in the same places. Therefore it is easier to meet people and to get to know each other. Besides, the bus driver has a lot of knowledge and stops regularly on the way to show you nice spots. However, it does follow a fixed schedule and it brings you to places you may not want to visit. Our bus had 25 people on it, which is a rather small group they said, but summer is just starting here, so in mid summer it is very busy on the busses. At 08:50 our bus left in front of Lylo hostel and on the way we stopped in a small city to do groceries as Hot Water Beach does not have a grocery store. We stayed at TOP 10 Holiday Park. You are able to book your accommodation through Kiwi Experience (not included in the price) and they will make sure everyone stays together. You are allowed to stay somewhere else, but the bus will not drop you off there. Do note, the options Kiwi gives are not always the cheapest, but in Hot Water Beach there is not much of a choice, so you will have to go with it.
Okay so fast forward to How Water Beach itself, the only thing you can do here is dig a hole in the beach and sit in it (I am not joking). After getting a shovel from the park we made way to the beach. The water here is 64 degrees Celsius, so it creates a natural hot spring. 64 degrees is obviously way too hot, so you also need a cold water stream from the upper water on the beach to cool the water down. It is a whole engineering project, but fun to do. Also, you only have 1,5 hours per day (and 1,5 hours in the night) to dig this hole as it needs to be dug 1,5 hours after low tide and before high tide comes in. While it is fun to do, I am not sure if I would recommend it if you are not on the Kiwi bus. After high tide set in we went back to the holiday park where we sat in their own heated pool (which was more comfortabel than the beach). Then we had dinner and it was time for bed again. As I said before, there is not much to do here haha, so a relatively quiet day.
Day 7 - Waitomo
19 October 2024
Again an early wake up call. At 07:30 we had to leave for Waitomo. On the way we stopped at one of the old gold mines New Zealand exists off. We only spent 30 minutes here so we weren’t able to see a lot, but it was a very nice stop. After we had another grocery stop where I was able to buy some pharmacy stuff too and then we went on to Waitomo. Before we arrived at the accommodation we first went to the Ruakuri Bushwalk. Before we went on the trip we wanted to do this walk in the evening to see the glowworms, but from our accommodation it was not possible to come there without having a car. Luckily the bus driver took us anyway so we could still see the walk.
After the walk we went to our accommodation which was Waitomo Homestead Cabins. Definitely a pricier option, but again, we had not choice. We also booked a glowworm cave walking tour. Through the Kiwi Experience website you can book activities with a discount that you then will do with other’s from the group. This walk was 90 NZD for us, and I have got to be honest, it was quite expensive for what you got. If you have a car definitely do the free walking tour and don’t pay for the cave, because you will see the same glowworms. After the tour they would drop us off at the accommodation again, however, this did not go entirely as planned. During our tour we heard some voices, which turned out to be trespassers… Our bus had to block off the entrance so they had no where to go, but that did cause that we had to wait for an hour to get home. All for the greater good, the police showed up and handled the case further. Back at the cabin we made dinner for ourselves (yes we cooked!) and went to bed.
Day 8 - Rotorua day 1
20 October 2024
Today we are going to Rotorua. On the way to Rotorua we made a stop at the Hobbiton. I have got to be completely honest with you: I have never seen Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit (nor read it) and I didn’t even know it was a thing here in New Zealand. I could genuinly not care less about this tour, but I can understand if you have seen the movie it is very cool to go here. While the people were on the tour we got to chill and the village called MataMata. There is not much to do here except have something to eat and look at the Hobbit inspired visitor centre, so that is exactly what we did. They had a lunchdeal at Osteria for 20 NZD per pizza, so that was our choice for lunch. After we went back to Hobbiton to pick up the rest and made our way to Rotorua. First impressions: very cute and beautiful town!
In the evening we had the Mitai Maori Village Experience planned. This was a wonderful night and the best thing I did so far this trip. First they showed us how they cook the food. They dig a whole in the dirt and slowly roast the food in it. Then they showed us how the War Canoe sailed in the sacred spring. After they showed us their Haka and other dances and songs. They also explained their weapons and tattoos. In the Maori culture tribes would visit each other and either come as friend or as enemy. The public was also seen as a tribe and our chief had to make sure we were welcomed in their tribe (if you were seen as the enemy it would mean you got killed). Luckily not deaths here and we were able to watch the show. It was beautiful and so so interesting to get to learn their culture. After the show it was time for dinner. They had big buffets with delicious food and also a separate dessert buffet. I was extremely full, but it was so good. Then they gave a Q&A where we were able to ask all of our questions and the night ended with a walk through their village. It was such an awesome night and if you are in Rotorua, I can highly recommend doing this.
Day 9 - Rotorua day 2
21 October 2024
Hello, today I called with Lucas at 08:00. Then I slept until 12:00. Then I left for the grocery store at 13:00. At 14:30 I was finally done at the grocery store (I had the best time of my life in the Pak n Save). Then I made a bagel with an egg and I tried cookie dough m&m’s. Then I worked on the blog. Good day.
Day 10 - Rotorua day 3
22 October 2024
Yesterday morning I woke up at 06:00 to go to the toilet and the whole room was bathing in sunlight, so this morning we decided to watch the sunrise. I have been complaining about being tired since the moment we arrived, so logically we woke up at 05:30 to go to the lake. At 05:45 we walked out of the hostel and around 06:00 we arrived at the lake. It was beautiful, the whole pink was pink and orangy and it was very peaceful (minus the people that were running at this time, why would you do that?! No, go them I am jealous). After the sunrise we walked to the Government Gardens and saw a geothermal pool (they are everywhere in Rotorua, it also smells very bad in this town). Then it was time to go back to bed again yayy.
Around 12:00 we woke up again and I had a few things to do: buy an SD card and some nice post cards. Well, this was a complete failure. I went to three stores and none of them had an SD card. Then I went to two souvenir shops, which were both closed? Then Madelief said to go to the post office, where I literally went in before, but they only had happy birthday cards, so I did not get anything. Time for a sad snack (chocolade pepernoten). After this waste of my time we decided to go the Kuirau Park Mud Pools. Do not let the name fool you, there is no mud here (we came to the conclusion after walking three circles around the pool and concluded that this lake must be the mud pool they were talking about). The garden though is beautiful, so many pretty flowers and colors. What they do have are some foot bathing pools. I would add a picture, but I do not give away free clout. In this park they again had geothermal pools but a lot bigger! It looked very cool and the smell was not that bad.
In the evening we went to the Redwood Treewalks in the Redwood Forest. The night walk only starts at 20:00, but the last bus that goes to the forest goest at 17:49, so we had to go very early. We saw some restaurants that were a 20 minute walk from the forest, so we decided to eat there before heading to the forest. We really wanted to go to Wendy’ because we were positive they had waffle fries, but they did not and they did not have anything vegetarian expect for a salad burger (which, the name implies it, is a burger with lettuce on it, that’s it). This was another fail for today, but we saw beforehand they also had a Burgerfuel and they did have veggie and vegan options, so on the way to the Burgerfuel it was. On the way we saw a Rabobank and a Dominos that sold poffertjes, so it felt just like home. The Burgerfuel was amazing, they had such good burgers and very good vegan options. After we walked to the forest. We actually missed the clue it started at 20:00, we just did not want to do the walk while it was still a bit light outside, but it turned out that wasn’t even possible because it is closed otherwise. Around 19:40 we arrived at the forest and then we had to wait in a line until the treewalk opened. They warned us before to not go there when sun just set, because it would be very busy, but it was not at all? During 21:00 when we left it was insanely busy, so just arrive at 20:00 if you want to do this. The treewalk was really nice! Beautiful lanterns and lights and a really fun activity to do. The pictures are extremely ugly, but give my poor iPhone 12 some slack.
Okay before I go further, Mom please stop reading now.
We knew there was no bus going back, so we either had three options: walk back for an hour (which is honestly fine, but it was dark, so not very safe), call an uber (not sure if they would show up, it is a very small town), ask for a lift (our best bet). There was a really kind lady from Australia that offered to drive us home as she also thought walking was not the safest option, so we got home safe and sound. Thank you kind lady from Goldcoast. This was honestly amazing, because it saved us so much time and pain in our legs. Okay, time for bed doei.
Day 11 - Rotorua day 3
23 October 2024
Hmm maybe I did even less today then two days ago. We went to the Pak n Save and baked pancakes. If you are reading this blog for information (which I genuinly think is no one), some nice things to do around Rotorua are Te Puia, Waiotapu, Polynesian Spa & Hell’s Gate (probably more, but this is what I remembered).
Day 12 - Redwoods, Waiotapu, Huka Falls, Skydiven
24 October 2024
OKAY I LIED YESTERDAY I DID SOMETHING VERY IMPORTANT. We booked skydiving for later this evening (yes, very last minute decision). But okay before all that we made our way to Taupo with the Kiwi Experience. We switched drivers as our old driver left already (we will miss you Scott), but now we have Cliff who is also very nice. On out to Taupo we made a few stops. First stop was in the Redwood Forest where we also did the night walk. Well, Cliff is a very fit man, he told us that we would do an easy hike, but this was not easy if you thought you were just going to wander through some trees. It was very nice though and Redwood trees are very majestic, our favourite kind of trees. After the Redwoods we made a visit to Waiotopu where you had some geothermal mud. Then we went to Huka Falls which is a very long and strong waterfall. And then it was time for our biggest adventure of the day.
AAAA OMG WE ARE GOING SKYDIVING. This was by far the number one thing I wanted to do. We actually wanted to skydive a bit later on our trip, but skydiving on the South Island is much more expensive than in Taupo. Skydiving in Taupo is the cheapest in all of New Zealand, so we decided last minute to just go in Taupo. It was a little hectic though as Madelief was supposed to do the Tongariro Crossing on our free day, so we had to do it on the day we arrived. Unfortunately, the crossing was canceled, but Cliff still advised us to go as early as possible as the weather can change quickly. We went with Taupo Tandem Skydiving, which was a very nice experience. We actually had the time slot of 15:30, but I think because of the weather they wanted everyone as soon as possible so we got picked up at 13:45 already. They brought us to the skydive place and there you had the option to choose whether you wanted pictures or not. I really wanted pictures and a video, so I chose that option, but it is still 179 NZD extra. They also made us sign multiple forms that if we die it is not their fault. After we got to meet our guides and they put is in the suits. My guide was Sam and he was a true influencer, I have never seen anyone make better video transitions and I also have never had so many pictures taken of me. Then it was time to board the plane. It is a very small plane and you are there with multiple people. Madelief and I chose to do the smallest jump (12000 feet), because it was the cheapest and they told us you would not notice much from your first jump. Because it was the lowest jump we had to jump first. So okay, we are sitting in the plane now and I am not even on a seat, but just on the ground next to the door, which they kept open for a suspiciously long time. Anyway, Sam was very busy making content of me, while I was stressing about the door. But at some point when we started to go into the sky I actually got very calm. Maybe I knew there was no way back. Okay fast forward to the jump. Well they opened the door and the nerves got back, but no time to have nerves, because Sam made me smile for the camera one more time and then he threw us of the plane. And wauw ohmygoodness, this was amazing. It does not feel like you’re falling and it also doesn’t feel like you’re making 1000 saltos and circles (you do, but you don’t notice it). They say the free fall is the best part of the experience, but I disagree, it was 100% the moment the parachute gets out and you get still and finally have a good view of everything you are seeing. It was wonderful and I felt so so so lucky. Then Sam decided to do some sky ballet and we made some pirouettes with the parachute. He could have skipped that part honestly, I got a bit dizzy. To work against the dizziness he made a few pirouettes to the other side (again he could have skipped it in my opinion haha) and after we had amazing views of the lake and the mountains. I could have honestly stayed there forever. I did came to the realization I might like parachuting better, because wauw wauw wauw how cool was this. The freefall was very cool too though, and you actually notice way more than you think you will.
When we landed on the ground Sam wasted no time as was already filming me for the after interview, but I was seriously speechless, this was the coolest experience ever. After the whole skydive I had so much energy, I felt like I could hike three mountains (haha the first time I actually had energy this trip). I was on cloud 9 (or whatever they say). I still cannot believe I got to experience this, it was so extremely cool to experience and I will definitely do this again in my life (when I have money).
After the jump we could relax a little bit and watch the others fall down. This was very nice, because it is a hit on your body and while I did not feel that nauseous it is not weird if you do (which is actually really strange, because I am very car sick, but not after falling 4 km out of the sky apparently). Then they brought us back to our hostel. And here comes a shoutout to the hostel: Finlay Jack’s Backpackers, you are amazing. Everything you want in a hostel, they have it. Sleeping pods, bathroom in the room, cooking oil AND spices in the kitchen, beautiful garden to relax, tv room, lots of activities, laundry, big kitchen with 5 stovetops and 6 sinks (!), multiple other bathrooms if the one in your room is occupied, curtains to close of your pod, electrical outlet next to your bed, lockers, and probably more, but I have only been here for 3 hours. OH supermarket literally next door. Amazing place and they were also the cheapest in all of Taupo!!! Okay I am ready for bed after a rather thrilling day. Tomorrow we suddenly have lots of free time, so we will see where we end up.
Day 13 - Taupo day 2
25 October 2024
The original planning was for Madelief to wake up at 05:00 (or get picked up at 05:00?) To do the Tongariro Crossing. Unfortunately, because of the weather it was canceled, so we had to fill our days with other things. There are a few free things to do in Taupo and two of those were the graffiti street art tour and the Spa Thermal Park. The graffiti tour is located all over the city so on the way to the thermal park we also saw some street art (very nice). The thermal park? Not so very nice. The water was very low, so it was just a sad stream of heated water, that would only cover 2 cm of your body if you would sit in it, so we decided to skip it. After staring at it for 20 minutes we decided to go back and walk the rest of the street art tour. THEN we made our way to the coolest attraction of Taupo: the McDonalds. And I hear you thinking: McDonalds? Oh yeah, because it has a plane where you can sit and eat your meal. It was honestly a bit underwhelming and you were sitting a bit diagonal, but still a cool experience. Also it closes at 16:00, so you cannot have dinner in the plane.
Then we went back and started planning some things for Australiaaa.
Day 14 - Taupo to Wellington
26 October 2024
Okay, reality check: I am not doing extremely well. I have not slept through one night and this night was no different. At 01:30 I woke up and did not go back to sleep again. I am so stressed all the time and have a hard time enjoying the things I see and do (except skydiving, that was amazing). But it is only week 2, so I cannot judge yet, but I do really hope that it gets better. Traveling is tiring, especially when you are very far away and there is only a time frame of 4 hours to talk with the people back home. I already said, I am never homesick, but I am having a very hard time now.
Back to our day. Yesterday night was HORRIBLE. We wanted to wash our clothes so we put it in the washing machine, but it broke down halfway, so our clothing was soaking wet. We then put it in the dryer in the hopes it would dry a bit, but it did absolutely nothing. We then hung it our over some washing racks and our beds, in the hopes it would dry a little bit during the night. At 06:00 am we woke up again to put our clothes in the dryer again (it did not dry at all overnight), so it was an early morning (it was anyways for me). Surprise again, the dryer didn’t do shit, so we had to put our wet clothes in our bag and travel with it the whole day.
During our bus trip we stopped at to walk the Taranaki Falls Track. I did not go on the walk, because I was too tired to walk 10 km, but Madelief did go! After laying in the cinema of the visitor’s centre for two hours, the bus left again to go to Wellington. On the way we stopped in Bulls (my favorite town to go to the toilet) and some other town but I forgot the name. Then we arrived in Wellington, which did not go very smooth as one of the windows of the bus broke and the glass was falling on the street. Madelief helped to clean up with our poor bus driver. Then we tried to dry our clothes again, and yes, this time it finally worked (shoutout to Nomad’s Backpackers, this is the only nice thing about your hostel :). Then we did yoga in our room and I finally slept through the whole night.
Day 15 - Mount Taranaki
27 October 2024
Today was as we would say in the Netherlands, a skitta project. We really wanted to see Mount Taranaki at the mirror lake, so we decided to do a 2 day trip from Wellington to Mount Taranaki. We rented our car through Omega Car Rental (which was quite a hassle, they are not very straight forward) and we booked our accommodation in New Plymouth. The we decided it was smart to call the visitor’s centre to ask if we actually would be able to see something as it was supposed to get very cloudy. They told us we would not see anything. Being delusional, we decided to go anyways. Fast forward to this morning 08:00: we picked up our car and drove 4,5 hours to Taranaki (okay it was 6 hours as we stopped a lot on the way, it was actually sunny at some point which only fed our delusion more). Just before we arrived at the trail we called the visitor’s centre again to ask if we would see anything. They again said we would not see anything (please keep in mind we have been told now twice that we would not see anything). However, the trail was still safe to walk, so obviously we went up. We hiked the Mangorei Trail to Pouakai Tarn, which is where you will get to the lake that has the reflection of the mountain. It is a 5.9 km trail one way, with 777 height meters. The trail itself is completely made out of boardwalk, which makes it so much easier to hike, but it is still a tough climb. Just before the Pouakai Tarn, you have the Pouakai Hut, where you can stay the night if you have booked it far in advance. Right now the hut is closed for renovation, but you are still able to sit inside and have your lunch. With all this in mind we planned out our day very carefully. The latest we would have to arrive was at 15:00 so we would be back before the dark. We arrived exactly at 15:00, so perfect timing. We planned 2,5 hours to climb up as that is what most websited say you need to get to the hut. I don’t know how we did it, but we arrived at the hut in 1 hour and 50 minutes! (We were also dead). During our way up, our hopes were not very high to see any sign of the mountain as it was extremely cloudy (as we were told twice…). The saddest moment was when it also started to HAIL AT THE TOP. It was so extremely cold and the wind was cold and the rain was cold and everything was cold. But luckily we were just 10 minutes away from the hut. There we had our lunch and hid from the rain, whilst also getting more cold as the hut is not isolated at all and we also stopped moving. From the hut it is only a 15 minute walk to the lake. Be aware, you will laugh so hard when you get to the lake. This girl is a scam. You cannot call this a lake. It is a pond. It is smaller than the pond in the garden of my uncle. Honestly, this lake was even more disappointing then having no view of the mountain. And yes, there was absolutely no view of the mountain. Even after being told explicitly that you will get disappointed (the visitor’s centre even said it is a very small lake, but we did not believe her) we still got disappointed. I think we just really hoped to see a small glimps of Mount Taranaki as we were literally the last ones to go up. After staring for 20 minutes to the clouds and imagining really hard that there was a mountain behind it, it was time to go back down as it was about to be dark in 2 hours. On our way down we actually met three girls that were even more stupid than us as they were still making their way up. We told them to turn around and go home and even showed them pictures of our views, but they also did not believe us (just like we did not believe the people we called (it is a visious? (vicsious? Vicieuze cirkel?) cycle). It took us 1 hour and 40 minutes to go down (how did we manage to have almost the time for going back ast for going up???). Then we got in our car, ordered pizza, showered and went to bed. Shoutout to the Ariki Backpacker’s receptionist, she was extremely kind and waited for us until we would arrive.
Day 16 - Back to Wellington
28 October 2024
After our ‘disappointing’ day yesterday, we had to get back to Wellington. The initial plan was to watch the sunrise with the mountain. Well yeah, we decided to sleep in and left at 11:00. Again a five hour drive back to Wellington, but now it was only clouds and rain.Halfway during our drive we stopped in Whanganui to have some lunch and sit by the lake. They also had a very cute botanical garden next to the lake where we had a look. Then we dropped off our stuff in the hostel and brought back the car and that was our day.
Day 17 - Wellington
29 October 2024
Wellington is nicer than Auckland. Okay that was my judgement. We got out the door quite late because we first had to call with the home front (is this good English translation?). First we walked to the cable car. We just wanted to see it and not pay money to sit in it, but luckily the kind man behind the counter understood our poor lifestyle and guided us to a station where you could see the cable car. This was a 15 minute walk up a hill and halfway you have to go into a building and go to the 8th floor and then you can walk out of the building again and you don’t have to walk that part (literally takes longer to find the elevator than to just walk). The station you have to go to is called Emerson Terrace and this is the place where the trains cross each other, so you can see the both at the same time!
After the cable car we walked the Wellington Waterfront to Oriental Bay. This gives you some beautiful views of the mountains and the harbour. After the walk we returned back to our hostel and made a cauliflower bake (was very good), so we finally had some decent home cooked dinner again. Tomorrow is an early wake up call, so goodbye.
Day 18 - Ferry to Picton and Bus to Christchurch
30 October 2024
Today we are leaving the North Island and going to the South Island. We chose our hostel very carefully, right next to the railway station where a shuttle would wait for us to bring us to the ferry. At 07:30 the shuttle left and at 08:45 the ferry left to Picton. We went with Interislander ferries, which is I believe the cheapest, but I actually can’t remember doing lots of research. Around 12:15 we arrived in Picton where we had to wait 1,5 hours before the bus to Christchurch left. To kill our time we roamed around the streets of Picton (took us 5 minutes) and bought some fries and nuggets (they called it that, it was a fish nugget and a broccoli cheddar nugget). The fries were actually really good, we had curly fries and garlic fries. However, when we got back the bus was already waiting for us and we were not allowed to eat in the bus. HOWEVER, the bus was broken apparently so they dropped us off half an hour further, so we could eat our fries there in peace. When we were done eating the next bus already showed up and we made our way to Christchurch. Luck by not luck or something (how do you say this in English, do they know this sentence?). During our ride we stopped in Kaikoura which is known for its crayfish (Kai means food and Koura means crayfish, so the city is literally called crayfish food) and known for its whale watching. We decided to get some ice cream here as that was the logical thing to do. Then we made our way to Christchurch again. We chose our hostel again very carefully as it was located right next to the bus stop. We stayed in Drifter, which is oh my a very luxurious hostel. They have everything you could ever want: a cinema, pilates room, zen rooms, library, study rooms and very comfortable beds and pretty bathrooms. However, their basic amenities are not very good. Their kitchen is the same size as the kitchen in my parent’s house, they do not have a key, but everything opens with your phone (even the elevator), they do not have any shelves in the bathroom so you clothing and toiletry lays on the ground and they did not have an oven??? Why would you have a cinema, but not an oven. After dinner I did some yoga, washed my hair and was ready for bed.
Day 19 - Christchurch & Hurunui River Mouth Reserve
31 October 2024
Wiehoeoee today we are picking up our campervan!!! The pickup was closed to the airport, so we first took the bus to there. Then it was a short walk to the rental. We rented our van with Lucky Rentals because they simply were the cheapest for what we wanted. When we got there an extremely uninterested girl helped us, I was actually surprised she knew how the camper worked (spoiler alert, she actually didn’t know a lot of things). We rented the Lucky Rover, which in theory would seat and sleep four, but in practice would 100% never ever work out. The first thing that is very obvious is the lack of storage space as there is literally none. We barely fit our backpacks, food, chairs and other things we had with us. Well, this was a problem for tomorrow. The second thing that is not entirely what we hoped is that there is no way to see how much gas (from the gas tank to cook) and water there is left, so you just have to guess. They also lied about how economical this car was. They told us 1 on 10 to 1 on 14, which is a lie, it is 1 on 6. The saddest thing is that our bed is not at the end of the van so we cannot open the back door and make pretty pictures with the background :(. But okay, next to all this, the van is fine and can bring us everywhere. With 2 people the size is really doable, so I would highly recommend only having 2 people in this van and not 4.
After picking up the van we drove back to the city center to have some lunch and sort out everything we wanted to do on the South Island. We had lunch at Moment Cafe and wow shoutout to them, this place is amazing. The food was so good and the options were great (lots of vegan, veggie and very unique meals). The drinks were also amazing and they let us sit to work on our stuff. After comparing lots of itineraries, we finally made a planning with the things we wanted to see (3,5 weeks is actually very short for the South Island, there is sooo much to see here).
We also looked for our place to stay the night. The Rankers app shows you all the places where you can stay in New Zealand, how much it costs and what amenities there are. We decided to go to Hurunui River Mouth Reserve Camping Ground where they have 10 spots for campervans and a toilet with toiletpaper and soap. You pay 10 NZD in a honesty box so they can keep up the facilities here (it was very clean!). The campground is next to the river and a short walk to the ocean. It was a really nice place to stay the night and also on a nice driving distance from Christchurch (1,5 hours).
Day 20 - Marlbourough Wine Region & Nelson
1 November 2024
I did not sleep extremely well, so around 06:00 I woke up to go watch the sunrise. It was very pretty. At 10:30 we left the campground to make our way to Abel Tasman. It was the idea to drive all the way to Abel Tasman, but on the way we just had to stop in the Marlbourough Wine Region to have lunch at a vineyard. We chose to go to Saint Clair’s Vineyard and this was worth the hype. I do not like wine, but the wine they gave me was very good. But not as good as the food, ohmygod, it was delicious and so so so so pretty plated (my tiktok account can learn from it). Besides, the location is beautiful. You sit in the middle of their vineyard and you have beautiful views of the vineyard and the mountains. We took the time to have our lunch as this was so peaceful and amazing. (Also it was Marlbourough Anniversary day! You did not notice anything about it, and I doubt they even knew it, but still a fun fact.)
Next to the vineyard was a very cute art gallery where they also sold products. I bought some magnesium foot balm here, to hopefully help me sleep better. Then it was time to make our way to Nelson. We wanted to spend some time in Nelson so we decided to stay here during the night. When we arrived in Nelson apparently the Mask Carnivale was happening so the whole city was festive. There were performances, a silent disco and looots of food. We actually wanted to cook this night in the camper as we bought ingredients three days ago already, but the food trucks were there for a reason (and it was getting late you know), so we bought food at the festival. I had some lamb curry and after we danced in the silent disco and watched dances from the Polynesian Islands. It was a very fun surprise and a perfect way to end the day. We stayed the night at Buxton square where there was a toilet. This is just a parking lot, so don’t expect to much from it. You also have to pay for parking after 08:00 am so be aware of that.
Day 21 - Abel Tasman day 1
2 November 2024
This morning we had to buy breakfast. We thought we saw a supermarket yesterday, so blindly walked to it, but there was no supermarket. Instead we walked right into the Nelson Market, which was amazing. It is twice as big as the Woenselse Markt (maybe even three times) and they have so much food and stands where you can buy natural products. We actually only had 15 minutes, but decided to stroll around for 45 minutes. This did gave us a parking ticket as we were too late with leaving…. On the market I got a bratwurst for breakfast but they had sooo much more.
After Nelson we went to the Brooks Waimarama Bird Sanctuary. We got free entry tickets from people we met in a previous hostel, so we decided to check it out. We actually thought they would have kiwi birds, but they did not… Only go to this place if you either have the free ticket or really love birds and know how to spot them, because we saw a total of three birds and I’m sure two of them did not actually belong in the sanctuary.
After the sanctuary we drove to Abel Tasman National Park. We hoped to still be able to kayak, but we were already a bit late, so this was not possible anymore. We did book our hiking trip for tomorrow, which you will hear all about in the next blogpost.
We stayed at Bethany Park, which was amazing. They had a kitchen, hot showers, toilets, laundry and very kind staff. We arrived here quite early so I just chilled, wrote some blogposts and watched an ice hockey game. We made our world famous camper wraps and went to bed.
Day 22 - Abel Tasman day 2
3 November 2024
Abel Tasman is beautiful. It looks very tropical (the temperatures were not, do not let the photos deceive you, it was 12 degrees (or colder)). The sea is bright blue and the cliffs are mesmerizing. It is a very beautiful place to be. There is a very famous trail called the Abel Tasman Coast Track. This track is 60 km long, but you are able to walk parts of it. The thing is you can only reach it by boat (or walk 60 km from Kaiteriteri and 60 km back). There are multiple water taxis that can bring you to the several hiking points. We went with Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle because it was the first stand we saw, but they were also the cheapest. The guy behind the counter said the part from Awaroa to Medlands Beach was the prettiest, so we decided to hike this part. The water taxi is quite expensive, we paid 112 NZD per person, but it is very much worth it. Aqua Taxi is also an option; their boat is a lot smaller and does not have a toilet (the trip is quite long, so this is very nice to have), but their boat stops at more places as it is smaller and can also drop you off closer to the starting points. It was 4 dollars more expensive, so this can be a very good option too.
Our boat left at 09:00 from Kaiteriteri Beach, which is the earliest they go. It takes 1,5 hours to sail to Awaroa, but on the way you make a stop at Split Apple Rock and some seals. You have a lot of options to hike and on the way the boat stops at several starting points. When we arrived in Awaroa it was a 10 minute walk on the beach before you reach the Awaroa lodge where you can have a drink or something to eat and go to the toilet. If you are walking to Medlands Beach like us, I would not recommend to sit down at the lodge as you do not have time. The hike is 11 km long with 300 height meters. It is a lot of hills, so you walk up and down and up and down etc. On the way you have breathtaking views of the ocean and if you walk more land inwards it feels like you’re walking in the jungle. After the first hill you arrive at the first beach called Tonga Quarry. This was the prettiest beach in my opinion. The water was so blue and the cliffs are magical. There is also a camp place here with toilets and lots of picnic tables. We had lunch here and if you are out of the wind it is actually very hot.
Then we made our way to the next beach: Bark Bay. This was a bit of a longer walk and very much land inward. You also have several hills you have to cross. On the way there is a small beach where you can also stop, but it is very small, so we just walked on. When you are almost at Bark bay there are two routes you can take: high tide or low tide. Nobody told us when it would be low tide, but the low tide route was 15 minutes shorter, so we just decided to walk that way. Well you can guess already… It was high tide. We either had the option to walk 15 minutes back and then do the 30 minute high tide track. Obviously we did not want to do this, so we had to go with our other options: go right through the water. Luckily we already put on our bikinis, so shoes off, leggings off and walk. The water was extremely cold, but not very high. After 10 minutes of going through the water we arrived at the Bark Bay Hut where we changed, went to the toilet and had a snack.
After Bark Bay we still had to walk to Medlands Beach as our water taxi would pick us up there. Aqua Taxi picks you up at Bark Bay because the water is very shallow there and their smaller boat is able to sail there. It was a 15 minute walk to Medlands Beach so nothing too crazy. We got picked up at 15:30 and from there it was a 30 minute boat ride back to Kaiteriteri.
After we drove back to Bethany Park, did laundry (which worked!!!), showered, had dinner and went to bed.
Day 23 - Lake Rotoiti, Cape Foulwind & Fox River
4 November 2024
This morning I called with my parents and my brother to say hi to them and we left Abel Tasman. Today was a driving day with a few stops along the way. The first stop was Lake Rotoiti. Wow, what a beautiful place this is. There is a small boardwalk that goes into the water and you have beautiful views of the mountains in the background. The water is again bright blue and the vibe is really good here. You are also able to camp here and if we did not stay in Bethany Park, we would have definitely stayed here.
After the lake we drove to Westport to do some groceries. We also met some people we went on the Kiwi bus with so that was very fun! Westport is very close to Cape Foulwind, which was our next stop. You have some nice views of cliffs here and the light tower. However, the track is very unclear and if you do not turn around at some point you will do an hour hike instead of 15 minutes.
In the evening we stayed at Fox River Free Campground. This was very busy place and I guess also very popular. On Sunday there is a market here and there are two drop toilets with running water. It is next to Fox River and the beach, which is very beautiful.
Day 24 - Punakaiki, Greymouth & Franz Josef
5 November 2024
Before you think wow what a places you have visited, but you’ve missed a few. Well you are right, the weather was shit, so we could not go to Hokitika Gorge. We actually also had a stop in Kumara to get gas, but that was not name worthy for the title, however, Greymouth was also extremely boring, so should not be in the title either.
When we woke up in Fox River we were literally the last ones left, but it was also 11 am. Our first stop of the day: Punakaiki Pancake Rocks. People actually told us it was a bit underwhelming, but the name only made me excited for it. And it was very cool!!! The weather helped a lot, because of the wind, the sea was roaring and extremely wild, so cool to see! The Pancake Rocks received their name because the stones are stacked like pancakes :) Cute. This was actually a really nice stop, it is about a 30 minute walk to see all the rocks and you can also eat some pancakes at the restaurant, but we heard they were not good (we also did not have money).
After Punakaiki we drove to Greymouth, but this was so boring. There are a few viewpoints, but it was raining so we did not want to go outside. We did go to a dump station, highlight of Greymouth. After we just drove to Franz Josef, because we literally had nothing else to do. In Franz Josef we stayed at Orange Sheep Camping, which was really cute! They have bathrooms and hot showers (not a lot for the amount of people) and two outside kitchens.
Day 25 - Franz Josef Heli Hike
6 November 2024
My oh my, I just had to put the picture first, because look at it. This morning we did something very very cool: The Franz Josef Heli Hike. Franz Josef is known for its glacier, so we of course had to do a glacier walk here. The thing is, you cannot reach the glacier by foot, so you have to fly to it, hence the heli hike. The other thing is, it rains 240 days per year in this region, so half of the time the hike does not go on, because the helikopter needs clear view to land on top of the glacier. We really wanted to do this hike, so we just booked it. Our hopes were not very high though because for the past few days it had ben raining and it did not look like it would stop anytime soon. But there was a tiny bit of sun expected on Wednesday morning and they told us to book the earliest hike possible because that had the biggest chance of going through. So we put our alarms at 06:00 and hoped for the best. Our hike started at 07:30 and at 07:00 we still did not have a cancellation e-mail so our hope started to grow. The clouds above the camping said something different though, but we actually had no clue where the glacier was located, so this did not mean anything. And aaaaa when we arrived they actually told us they had high hopes of at least half of the hike going through!!!! So off we went, firstly through the safety measures and changing rooms (we got a very fashionable outfit from them) and then onto the helikopter. This was my first time in a helikopter and it was sooo cool. When we saw the glacier from the sky and actual sun shining on it I could literally cry. I do not want to say I am always the luckiest person, but we were so extremely lucky this morning. The sun was shining bright on the glacier and there was no cloud in sight. Apparently this was the first hike of the week to go through and our guid hadn’t been on the glacier for a month because of the bad weather. Because no one had been on the glacier for so long all the paths were covered in snow. Our guides had to carve out the path again because we were the first group so we went a bit slower than usual. However, halfway they said we were just going to walk on unpaved paths because it was taking too long. They also showed us some caves and crevices where we could walk through! The glacier was absolutely beautiful, I love ice and snow so much especially in the sun, so it was perfect. Halfway through the hike we heard the hikes in the afternoon were canceled again because of the weather. Again, we were extremely lucky. After walking for around 2,5 hours we got back to the helikopter who brought us back safe and sound. We could indeed see the clouds coming in and back in the village it was raining already. What a cool experience this was, the helikopter, the glacier, the sun, the hike, everything was perfect, it was so so so cool to experience. After the hike we were exhausted, so we had some lunch, laid in bed and did some groceries in the evening and that was the rest of our day haha, but at least we had the most perfect morning.
Day 26 - Franz Josef, Fox Glacier, Lake Matheson & Haast
7 November 2024
Today was a driving day again, but with a lot of stops. We first drove to the Franz Josef glacier to do the valley walk and have a nice view of the glacier valley. You cannot see the glacier itself from it, but we already had the best view yesterday ;)
After we drove to Fox Glacier and Lake Matheson. In Lake Matheson you should be able to watch the reflection of Mount Cook. We are not very lucky with reflection lakes because there was no reflection at all (we actually didn’t even try to see it now as it was so cloudy and windy). We spend most of our time in the cafe of Lake Matheson where they had delicious cookies. After we drove to Te Kopikopiko O Te Waka where you should be able to see Fox Glacier. We did not think we would be lucky, but actually you could see it really well! After Fox Glacier we drove to Haast, but along the way we stopped at Bruce Bay, which is just a beach, South Westland Salmon Farm Cafe, where you can feed the salmon!!! Knights Point, Ship Creek & Roaring Billy Falls, which were definitely roaring, and onto our place for the night: Pleasant Flat Campsite. I have a few things to say about this campsite. It is nice, it is fine, it has a toilet and running water, it is cheap. But there is one thing that made it absolutely horrible, which were the sandflies. I hate sandflies with a passion. If there is one animal that can go absolutely extinct it is the sandfly. I hate them and they serve no purpose. The campsite was full of them, but we were hungry and the doors need to be open when we cook, so it was an open invitation for the sandflies. We got attacked. It was horrible. We decided to eat outside and moved around twice to have a peaceful dinner. At some point we finally closed our doors and made it our mission to kill every single sandfly in our camper. There were no jokes hundreds and they all died (hehe), but it did took us half an hour or something. Then we waited for the dark to settle as the sandflies would then become quieter (which is true, it is way less than when it’s light). Well, so far our journey with sandflies, they are all dead now, so we can go to bed peacefully.
Day 27 - Haast Pass & Queenstown
8 November 2024
We are goinnggg to Queenstown wiehoee. Queenstown is known as THE party city of New Zealand and the place where you can do everything suicidal (bungee jumping, skydiving, paragliding etc.). I was looking very forward to this town. But first we had to drive through the Haast Pass. We had a lot of time so we took it very slowly and stopped everywhere. First stop: Thunder Creek Falls and Fantail Falls. They are a 5 minute drive apart and both were spectacular. It was raining very heavily (so much the road got flooded a day later (again we’re quite lucky)), but that did give us some great waterfalls. Both are just a 5-minute walk from the parking so very easy to reach.
We did not go to the Haast Pass Lookout as it required a 30 minute walk and it was pooring and our clothing was not made for it, so we skipped it. The Blue Pools were also closed so we could not visit those as well. That were actually all the stops we had hahaha, We wanted to stop at the Wanaka Lake lookout point as well, but it was too cloudy to see anything. OH we did have a stop at Wanaka itself to do some groceries, get gas and eat a muffin. Then we drove to Queenstown. The drive to Queenstown is beautiful and lake Hawea is also magnificent. It is a steep and winding mountain road, but you need something for the views. Then we arrived in Queenstown. All the campings were full actually so we decided to sleep in a hostel. This was perfect as the hostel was located very centrally, 10 minutes away we could park our camper for free. The hostel we stayed at was Nomads Queenstown, which is very social! We wanted to do our own pub crawl in Queenstown and lucky for us it is a very small town, so all the bars are located within 2 minutes of each other (including the hostel). We started our night at the World Bar where we had a burger and nachos. I did not drink, so I mostly had water through the night and one ginger beer. Then we went on a little walk to let the food settle. Queenstown is so much fun, my favourite city so far. Very lively during night and day and very cute too, it reminds me a lot of Whistler. Then we went to The Bunker, but this was a bit too high end for us. We started walking again and heard a live band so in we went. It was the Battaras bar and here we met our friends from the Kiwi Bus again! So much fun! We went along with their pub crawl, but they went tot he World Bar, where we started our night, so we decided to check out 1876 and the London. 1876 was not much, so we went to their neighbours The Pigs Tail or something (I am not going to be bothered to look up the actual name), but this was a bit weird as it was someones birthday we think. So off to the London we went, but that was closed lol. We only had one place left to go, which was the Cowboy bar where they had a mechanical bull! However, there were also only old people here. So this was the end of our night. Was it a perfect pub crawl? No, but we did see every single bar possible.
Day 28 - Queenstown day 2
9 November 2024
After our very wild night yesterday we woke up at 12. Our hostel had a sauna so I sat in there for 15 minutes and then I showered and washed my hair. Perfect morning. On Saturday there is a market in Queenstown. Mostly art & crafts, but also some food, so I got a vegan hot dog. After we went to Mary’s Sheep to buy all the retro postcards they had (I bought 12 lol), and to their neighbours: Remarkable Sweet Shop where you can try free fudge (this was so good). Then we walked through the Queens Gardens with beautiful views of the lake and the mountains and we drove to the Pak n Save to do groceries for the next two weeks. Then we made dinner, got an ice cream at Patagonia and watched the sunset. Very chill day :)
Day 29 - Queenstown, Arrowtown & Wanaka
10 November 2024
Today we are driving back to Wanaka. This may seem like a very unlogical route, but we really want to hike Roys Peak, which opens on November 11th, so we had to go to Wanaka later. We first sat in our car for a couple of ours to discuss where we were going to stay, on what night we were going to do Roys Peak and where to stay after Wanaka. We decided to do Roys Peak on November 12th as the weather would be the best. Then we drove to Wanaka, but not before we made a stop in Arrowtown. What a cute town this is! It is an old gold mining town and they have kept the architecture just like it was during that time. As it was Sunday there was also a small market in the city centre. Then we walked through their main street and explored all the cute stops. This is a really nice stop in between Queenstown and Wanaka and I would definitely recommend to spend some time here.
After Arrowtown we stopped at the famous Cardrona hotel, which was also very cute, and then we drove on to Wanaka. Here we watched a movie in the camper and went to bed.
Day 30 - Wanaka day 2
11 November 2024
We are staying at Hampshire Holiday Parks Wanaka, which is really nice! They have a big kitchen, hot showers and toilets. Besides, the view is absolutely amazing. Today was a slow day too. In the afternoon we visited the Lavender Farms which is such a nice day activity. The lavender was not blooming so we got in with a discount. Besides lavender they have a farm with sheep, goats, alpaca’s, chickens and a pig. There are also tons of games to do on the farm and they have a few instagramable spots. They also have a nice cafe and shop where you can buy all lavender products. We bought a lavender tea, cookie and macaron (so good). The tea changed color if you added lemon juice, which made it even more fun.
Later in the afternoon I walked to Wanaka Lake and to the famous tree. The lake is beautiful with the mountains in the back (also the view we have from the camping!). The famous Wanaka Tree was a bit underwhelming as it was half drowned haha, but nonetheless it was really nice to see. I genuinly cannot get enough of the mountains, I love them so much (especially with snow on it). Well, now it is time for bed because our alarm goes off at 01:30 hihi.
Day 31 - Wanaka day 3
12 November 2024
Goooood night (morning kind of). After a rocky night where the fire alarm went off throughout the whole city (this is a thing in New Zealand when there is a fire they let an alarm go off so the fire fighters know they need to come in action), we woke up at 01:30 to hike…….. Roys Peak! Roys Peak was closed until November 10th, so we had to wait and the weather was the best for this night so we decided to go today. We wanted to be at the top of Roys Peak before sunrise which was at 06:08. This meant we had to start around 02:30 to be there on time. It is a climb of 8 km with 1200 height meters. The highest mountain I have climbed, so we will see how it goes. It is a return walk, so 16 km total. On the top you have on the west side beautiful views of lake Wānaka and on the east side the epic sunrise over the mountains.
We arrived around 02:30 at the parking and we were definitely not the first. It was extremely busy, I think there were around 20 other cars parked already. At 02:45 we started our journey. It is $5 per person to hike this track as it is on private property, which you can put in a box at the beginning. The first 2.5 km were the toughest and had the steepest climb. At that point we took a stargazing break because you could see the stars very clearly! Then we continued our hike and it was actually very doable after this. Not insanely steep and also some flat parts. The whole trail is very well maintained as it is going through a sheep farm. I am 100% sure that if you have a 4x4 you are able to drive all the way to the top. We were going extremely slow, literally everyone passed us, but it was fine as we had a lot of time and were also not very tired at the end. At some point you arrive at a viewpoint where there is also a toilet. It was starting to get light already, so no time for us to stop here. From there it is still 1.5 km to Roys Peak and I can highly recommend to go further as it gives you the most amazing views. After 1 km or something you arrive at another viewpoint where I had something to eat again. From there it is still a short but steep climb, this was honestly the hardest part of the entire hikes, partly because you did not expect it and partly because I ran it as the sun was going up. On the way to it I stopped a couple of times for pictures as the mountains were so pretty with the pink sky behind them. When you arrive on the top you are rewarded with beautiful views of the lake and the sunrise. It was very busy as everyone was sitting on the side of the mountain to watch the sun go up, but after a while it started to get quiet again. Then we went to the west side to make some pictures with the lake as the sun was shining on it beautifully. It was very very pretty and definitely worth the 02:45 start. In total it took us 3 hours to get to the second viewpoint and 3 hours and 15 minutes to get to Roys Peak I think. You can look at my Strava for details (follow me plz @Noëlle Schuijtvlot).
At the top I had some more food and then it was time to go back again. We stopped here at the first official viewpoint where I also went to the toilet (amazing that they had it on the top). Honestly this viewpoint was not as spectacular anymore as we saw the same view from the top already. So we decided to go on with the way back. Now let me tell you something: I always say the way up is nicer than the way down AND THIS WAS NO EXCEPTION. IT WAS HORRIBLE. I HATED EVERY SINGLE STEP TO GET DOWN. It took us the same time to get down as to get up. You know, uphill was fine, it was tough, but fine. Downhill was just pure misery, my whole body hurt and it was so so boring. The only thing making it better were the sheep and baby sheep that were awake now so they were walking on the track with you. But that was the only nice thing about it. We took a lot of breaks as my knees hurt so bad (I always have that, but this was intense). After three hours or something we were finally back at the camper and just drove straight to the camping. That is not true btw I first had to bring my hiking poles back. But then we drove straight to the camping. I had the best shower of my life and went back to bed. At this point it was 13:00, so our day was done haha.
I lied, this was not the end of our day, we actually went to the movies in the evening. They have the cutest cinema in Wanaka called Paradiso Cinema. They have couches instead of chairs and they have the most delicious cookies that they bake for you during the movie and that you can pickup during the intermission. We also decided to have dinner here, so we ordered a pizza for the intermission as well. You are allowed to bring your food into the hall so we ate our pizza and cookie during the last part of the movie. The movie we watches was Here, which was meh, but not bad, but the whole vibes of the cinema made it a 10/10 experience.
Day 32 - Te Anau & Cascade Creek
13 November 2024
Today we did nothing. We did laundry in the morning, and started our drive to Te Anau. We had a stop in Kingston for gas and to discuss if we wanted to reschedule Milford Sound (we decided to reschedule). On the way we picked up some hitch hikers and dropped them off in Te Anau. Then we did some groceries and had an ice cream at the lake. Then we drove to Cascade Creek where we stayed the night. Oh we also stopped at Mirror Lake where he had somewhat of a reflection of the mountain.
Day 33 - Milford Sound
14 November 2024
Originally we would do Milford Sound tomorrow, but we decided to change it to today as it would fit better in our planning (read: we could leave Milford Sound asap as this is a very boring place). Milford Sound is one of the highlights of this trip and falls in the category Franz Josef Glacier Hike and Skydiving, but only difference is the price (we paid $81). If you book via Book Me there are a lot of very good deals for Milford Sound. As we also have a One NZ phone plan we could get another $20 off for this trip, so this made it one of the cheapest activities of our trip.
Our cruise started at 09:30, so we had to be there by 09:10. It was a 50 minute drive, but the free parking lot was still a 25 minute walk to the terminal, so we had to be there at 08:45. We left at 07:30 and were so on time, we have never had that before. Our cruise also left a bit earlier so we were the first ones on the water! From the harbour you already have some pretty views of the fiords and as it was a bit misty and rainy it was very beautiful. On the way we saw some penguins and seals (we were very lucky!) and the famous waterfalls of course. We went with Southern Discoveries, but all the boats sail the same route, so just buy the cheapest option. The cruise took around 1 hour and 45 minutes. I have to say, this whole experience is not in my top 3. It was very commercial and they also went through it very quickly. We stopped for a few second to look at a waterfall and then we had to go on again. Beside, the prettiest view is when you sail into the fiord, but after that you cannot see it anymore. I am not saying you shouldn’t do it, but it is definitely overhyped. But is was a cheap activity, so I am still very glad we did it.
After the cruise we had some lunch at their cafe and then made our way back to Te Anau. They say the road between Te Anau and Milford Sound is one of the most beautiful roads there is, but we would like to disagree. Okay no it is beautiful, but it reminded us a lot of the Haast Pass, so it just seems like a copy of it. It was also pouring rain, so we were not that excited to get out at every view point. Besides, the spooky Homer Tunnel did not do us any good, so we drove through Te Anau rather quickly. In Te Anau we decided we could drive a bit further and ended up in Lumsden where we stayed the night at a parking lot (for free!).
Day 34 - Invercargill & The Catlins day 1
15 November 2024
Good morning Lumsden! After a very slow morning we made our way to Invercargill. Invercargill is supposed to be one of the bigger cities on the South Island, but is extremely boring. We went to get some chocolate and walked to the water tower. Then it started to rain and we ran back to the car. The only reason we drove by here is because we were making our way to the Catlins. The first stop of the Catlins is Waipapa Point Lighthouse. We decided to skip Bluff as Slope Point is actually the most Southern Point of New Zealand, however Bluff is probably more hot & happening than Slope Point. Waipapa Point Lighthouse is just a regular lighthouse nothing special, but cute. Then on to our next stop and you can guess it: Slope Point! Actually we did not go here today, but just stayed at a campsite nearby, but tomorrow I will tell you all about Slope Point.
Day 35 - The Catlins day 2
16 November 2024
Well hello. After a few days without showering and my hair being extremely dirty, we tried to have a shower at the camping in Curio Bay. They did not let us shower there, so that was a bummer. We then decided to just check out Curio Bay, but all the tracks were closed so we could literally not see anything. As we had to leave quite early for our possible shower we skipped Slope Point and decided to drive back to it after Curio Bay, so that is what we did. When you arrive at the Slope Point parking it is a 20 minute walk to the actual Slope Point. Be ready to be disappointed because it is just a sign that says Slope Point and in very small letters says it is the most southern point of New Zealand. It is still nice to see though. After Slope Point we drove to the one and only Niagara Falls!!! New Zealand version of course, it was not much of a waterfall. On to our next stop. We wanted to see the Koropuku Falls, but it was raining and you had to walk through the bush, so we decided to drive on to McLean Falls. This was a really impressive waterfall, definitely add this to your list. It is a 12 minute walk to the waterfall and a bit steeper than you expect, but is very cool to see. We also doubted to go to Cathedral Cave, but it was closed and you can only enter it with low tide, which was not at that time. Onto our next stop: to get gas in Papatowai. At the gas station we stumbled upon the nicest cafe ever: Peake’s Kitchen Gourmet Food. Omg the food was the best, their pies and fries and sandwiches wowowow. And ohmygod their cookies aaa I still think about it. The next stop was Parakaunui Falls. Also very pretty, but not as impressive as McLean Falls. Very easy walk though! Then onto our highlight of the day: the Owaka swimming pool. We actually hoped to be able to shower here, but they only had cold showers. The pool itself though was so fun haha. There was no one and you had to pickup the key at the Catlins Country Store for 10 NZD. When we arrived at the pool you could open the door and just swim there. We did have to remove the covers before swimming, but it was quite easy to that. As I still wanted a (hot) shower, we went to the Catlin Inn after to shower there for 5 NZD. Well that concluded the Catlins for us. I really liked it! You are also able to watch the penguins at Jack’s bay and go to Nugget Point which is another lighthouse, but we decided it was not really worth our time and it was starting to get late. We stayed the night in Brighton next to the beach (very pretty place) and that was our day :)
Day 36 -Dunedin & Lake Pukaki
17 November 2024
Today we are going to Dunedin. This famous city is known for its new rule at the airport where you can only hug for 3 minutes and then need to leave. It is also known for its European architecture, so we were excited to go here (well excited is a big word, but we were interested). We had to look a bit for the European architecture, but yes, it is there in a sense. They have a cathedral, city hall and train station that look pretty. Their main square is everything but European, but okay. They also have a castle, but after reading only bad reviews (it is supposed to be a castle, but looks like a big house) we decided to skip it. After buying a kitkat in Woolworths as we were to afraid to get a fine if we did not go shopping there, we made our way to Lake Pukaki where we would stay the night. We stayed at the well known Lake Pukaki Campground. This is a maze, but we were told to stay as close to the toilets as possible as there would not be much wind. We always stay close to the toilet so we don’t have to walk that much, but it took a while to find it. It is very big and very busy with hills in between, so you have to drive a few circles first to find a good spot. After securing our spot close to the toilets and away from the wind, we got to admire the view. It was beautiful and so so peaceful. 100% my favourite campsite of New Zealand.
Day 37 - Aoraki/Mount Cook & Lake Pukaki day 2
18 November 2024
Actually our plan was to stay near Aoraki/Mount Cook, but Lake Pukaki was free and nicer in my opinion. It is a 40-minute drive to Aoraki/Mount Cook, so we decided to take it slow and go there later in the afternoon. These days were meant to be chill as we did not have a lot to do here. After waking up around 10:00 we slowly started our day and made breakfast, had a photoshoot with the van, went to the visitor center and drove to the Hooker Valley Track. The Hooker Valley Track is a rather easy track that goes to Hooker Valley Lake which is a glacier lake at the bottom of Aoraki/Mount Cook. A lot of people have this hike as their number one hike, but I stand my point that Roys Peak is the best hike ever. Be aware though as it is a very famous track it is extremely busy and their car park is the worst. We finally found a spot after lots of honking and going back and forth. The weather app said it would be 6 degrees near the lake, but this is a lie it is very very warm on the track. Besides it is super dusty, so be prepared to come back with dirty clothes, hair and skin. The weather was amazing though, a few clouds, but mostly sun. We chose this day on purpose as tomorrow it would rain (which it did). After deciding what to wear and packing multiple clothing options we started our hike. Hike is a big word, it is more of a long walk with around 100 height meters. There were soooo many people and there was a bit of wind which made all the dust fly around. Sunglasses are a must and I do not disagree with the people wearing face masks. They say the track is 6 km, but my Strava said we walked 8 km to the lake, so I do not really know what we did wrong. During the track there are a few suspension bridges where the wind was insane, definitely a lot of suspension. At the end of the track there are a few picnic tables and you can sit near the lake to enjoy the view. You are advised to not swim in the lake as it is only 3 degrees and there are icebergs floating around in the lake. We had perfect view of the mountain and it was really pretty. Then we made our way back, but that was extremely boring as it is the exact same track and everything looks really gray because of the dust. When we got back to the car we tried to make our way out of the parking lot, which was a lot easier than getting into the parking lot. After careful consideration if we should stay at Lake Pukaki or go further to Lake Tekapo, we decided to stay one more night at Lake Pukaki. Here we immediately ran to the lake to have a swim and remove all the dust from our body. The lake was beautiful, with the mountains in the background and crystal clear water. It was very cold though, but you got used to it very quickly. After our refreshing dip in the lake we decided to test our sholar shower. We got this shower for emergencies if we really had to shower. At first, it did not work at all, but when we figured it out it actually was very nice to use! I even got to wash my hair with it quite properly. It was so interesting, our Dutch neighbours also had a look at our sholar shower (I think they decided to not buy one themselves after seeing us using it). After our conversation with them was done, we started cooking and had our delicious dinner outside (the sun was shining!). We actually stayed up quite late to try to look at the stars, but it was starting to get cloudy, so eventually we decided to go to sleep.
Day 38 - Twizel & Lake Tekapo
19 November 2024
After another chill morning we drove to Twizel. The weather was not very nice as expected, so I’m glad we did the hooker valley track yesterday. However, it would mean no sun above the lupins :( In Twizel we got gas, went to the dump station and tried to find a cookie. For some reason we had romanticized Twizel a lot in our heads and thought it would be the Christmas town of New Zealand. This is not true, there is nothing nice about Twizel, I do not know why we thought this. From Twizel it was a 40 minute drive to Lake Tekapo. In Lake Tekapo we first started to look for a cookie as I was really craving it, but again no luck. Besides, the weather was horrible, with rain and lots of wind, so we just stayed in the car before we headed out to the lupins. Seeing the lupins was by far the number one thing on my bucket list. I wasn’t able to see them in Iceland, so I had to see them here in New Zealand. From the car we could already see some lupins, but no field, so we were a bit disappointed. However, never judge a book by its cover, because when you walk out a little bit further you have your lupin fields. Because of the weather it was less magical than I had hoped and it was very very busy. Nonetheless, it was pretty and so cool to see all the lupins together. We saw that the weather tomorrow would be a little bit better, so we decided to wake up for the sunrise to go to the lupin field again. The campsite for this night was a 10-minute drive from the lupin fields. Very peaceful and lots of other vans too. We had our leftover dinner and went to bed early.
Day 39 - Lake Tekapo & Timaru
20 November 2024
Gooood morning, it is 05:45 and we are up and running to go to the lake again. We were bright on time for the sun to rise and waited patiently. The sun never came though as there was a cloud in front. However, the sky was pretty pink above the mountains and the wind was wayyyy less than yesterday. We were a bit tired and it was a little bit cold, but it was very pretty. My goal was reached and I can go home peacefully.
We went back to bed again and woke up around noon to go to our next destination: Timaru. In Timaru you are able to see the little blue penguin on the beach around sunset and this was Madeliefs ultimate goal of this trip, so we went there. Next to the beach is a free campsite, which was very convenient. Be here early though as it gets busy very quickly. This is actually a really nice place to spot them! From October till December the penguins lay their eggs and their partner goes out into the ocean to hunt for food. Around sunset the penguins come back with the food and walk back to their partners over the beach. You are able to sit next to the beach and watch them walk. There are volunteers who keep an eye on the penguins and the people and the best thing is, it is completely free. There were around 20 penguins to see, but this differs a lot per day. I did not go out to spot the penguins as I was very tired, but Madelief had the best time of her life here. She sat there at 20:30 and came back around 00:30 (lot of people left earlier, but the penguins stay out quite a while).
Day 40 - Christchurch day 1
21 November 2024
Ladies and gentlemen, we are back in Christchurch again. Timaru was a small detour to get to our last destination of the trip. We had one major goal which was to go to Moment Cafe again and eat their delicious food. It was amazing. We also had another goal, which was to get everything fixed for Australia and do the last bit of our finances. We arrived a bit late to Moment Cafe as finding a car park in Christchurch is literally impossible. Luckily the university library was close by, so we went there to do the last bit of online work. The university closed at 18:00, so after that we went back to the car dropped our stuff and walked to the botanic gardens of Christchurch. They are very pretty, especially the rose garden with more than 100 different roses in it (in full bloom!). Then we walked next to the river to the Riverside Market. What a wonderful market this is, so much food and such a good vibe. I was craving pasta for the past few weeks, so I finally got my pasta here (it was delicious). After dinner we walked back to our car, fully satisfied. We saw online that there were a few camping spots next to the beach, but it was a bit unclear where we were able to park and where not. We arrived at a car park and were able to stay there for the night, which was really nice. It also had a toilet, which was great because a lot of campsite here do not have one. Well, this concludes Christchurch day 1, see you tomorrow.
Day 41 - Christchurch day 2
22 November 2024
After waking up, I decided to have a short walk on the beach. It was beautiful and very peaceful. After my walk we went on to The Tannery. It reminded me a bit of an outlet in the US. It had lots of cute shops, but was a bit smaller than I thought. We walked around for an hour and then made our way to the next stop: Port Hills. You have a lot of walks here, but as we are leaving tomorrow we did not want to do a very intense hike. We decided to do the Harry Ell Walkway to Sign of the Kiwi (a cute cafe at the top of the mountain). You can drive to Sign of the Kiwi, but we wanted to walk a bit. However, finding the starting point of this trail was a bit hard and I still do not know where the actual starting point is. We found a random parking spot on the side of the road and decided to walk from there. This was definitely not the start and we started somewhere halfway, but it was fine. It is a pretty walk with views of the city. The cafe is the cutest cafe ever and we had some lunch here. From there you have several other trails you can walk and we decided to walk a small part of the Sugarloaf Circuit where you had views of the harbour. From there we walked back to the car and drove to our next destination. The next stop was a shower. We were in need of one again, especially because it was our last day here. We went to Pioneer Recreation and Sport Center where you can have a shower foor $3.50. It was a really nice center, can definitely recommend. From there we drove to our place for the night next to the Waimari Beach Playground. We really wanted pizza from the Riverside Market and luckily you could order that on Uber Eats, so we treated ourselves on our last night in New Zealand. The pizza was amazing and a really good end of this day.
Day 42 - Christchurch day 3 & off to Australia!
23 November 2024
Oh my god, our last day in New Zealand aaaaaaaa. This morning was meant for packing our stuff and cleaning out the whole camper. It was a mess as you can imagine and it took a while to sort through everything. We ate our leftover pizza, threw away everything we were not going to use anymore, packed our clothes, cleaned a little bit and off we went. Obviously we were running late, the shuttle to the airport would leave at 12:45 and we arrived at 12:37 at the rental, but luckily they were in no rush, so we had plenty of time here. We took our stuff out of the van, they checked everything again (not very thorough, but okay) and we delivered our keys. End of an era. Then we went to the airport. It is a small airport, although it is the second biggest of New Zealand. Baggage drop off actually took a while, but luckily we were 3,5 hours in advance of hour flight, so also had plenty of time here. Then through security where we actually laughed so hard. We decided we wanted to take some things with us to Australia, like spices, crackers and peanut butter. We could have expected it, but they took our peanut butter and hummus, so no dip for the crackers anymore. The security guy also had to laugh fortunately and we can live with our missing peanut butter. After security we still had to wait 1,5 hours for boarding, so we fixed some of the last things for Australia and got onto the plane.
Wowowow what an adventure this has been and we saw some pretty cool things ;) This blog was mostly for us to be able to read back everything we had done here and hopefully be able to relive a few of the moments. New Zealand is spectacular and so insanely beautiful. Whether the campervan was the best mode of transport here is questionable, but we enjoyed it a lot. I am doubting whether I want to change the header of sheep, if you have a photo recommendation please text me xx I really hoped you enjoyed to read everything of this trip and stay tuned for the Australia Liveblog!!!!
Byebye New Zealand and Hello Australia :))))))
