New Zealand - North and South Island

After our amazing trip in Atlanta, we were exhausted for the flight to New Zealand but excited for the rest our trip! Luckily, we got to hang in the airport lounge for some snacks and drinks prior to our trip because as soon as we boarded, both of us were asleep! The 12 hour flight flew by and before we knew it we were landing in Auckland (North Island) but we lost all of Monday as we crossed the International Date Line. We departed Sunday night from LA and arrived at 6:30am on Tuesday morning, June 24th. Jacques' brother and family were all there to greet us at the airport - Craig, Jackie, Matthew and Maxine! It was so fun for both of us to see them all and catch up! We departed for their home in Howick, a suburb outside of Auckland and spent the morning chatting and resting up. In the afternoon, Craig and Jax took us on a driving tour around Auckland beaches and we stopped for a lunch of fish and chips with local beer, Jacques' favorite. The weather was pretty bad with COLD temperatures and rain (even a bit of hail) so we headed in for the night for dinner and more catching up. It was a great first day and rest up!

On Wednesday, we woke for breakfast and the entire family took us into the city center of Auckland. We started with the sky tower tour for a bird's eye view of city. Luckily, the weather was nicer and we could see the harbor and surrounding city. We walked the streets and down to the water on our tour and really took in the beautiful city of Auckland. So clean and the people are very friendly. There are only 4 million people in all of New Zealand and about 1.5 million in Auckland alone. It is a great little big city! After our touristy activities, we headed back to their house for another scrumptious meal and packing for our early flight the next morning. The men played "quarters" (but really played with a dime) and polished off 36 beers in no time but had a blast doing so!









Our flight to Christchurch (South Island) departed early on Thursday morning. Craig and Jax dropped us and we were able to enjoy the airline lounge before the short flight down. Upon landing in Christchurch, the weather cleared and we were picked up for our camper van rental. After loads of paperwork and a brief operations lesson, we were off! It was quite an initial adventure and challenge as Kiwis drive on the left hand side of the road. We set out for the drive to Queenstown, further South and West, which took us about 7 1/2 hours. The drive was gorgeous once we started our trek west through the rolling green hills and farm lands. On a couple of occasions we found ourselves at a cattle crossing and assisting the farmers to corral the cattle by using our RV. It was quite an experience! The deeper we made our way into the beautiful country side, the more the rolling hills became snowcapped towering mountain peaks. We rolled into the bustling center of Queenstown at dark and found a parking spot to walk to the grocery store for dinner. We then made our way out of the center and up a hilly pass to locate our camping spot for the night, but doing so in the dark was no easy task. About 10km outside of town, we finally found a spot and parked for the night. We were so tired and could barely prep our dinner before transforming our bench into our bed. We could hear the rain fall during the night and were praying in our sleep that we didn't awake to snowed in or icey conditions in the morning.





When we woke it was still dark but the sky was just beginning to light up. Since it was dark when we arrived, we had no idea what to expect for our morning views but they were stunning - overlooking the lake with the mountains towering above. We drove closer into town and parked by the lake for gorgeous morning views of the crystal clear and aqua water for our coffee and breakfast. What a way to start the day! Since we started our morning late and had some business to tend to in town, we decided to only do a half day of skiing/snowboarding which worked out perfectly. We rented our gear in town and headed up the mountain in the RV to Coronet Peak. It was still early season, so some of the runs were still closed and were patchy in places but it was such a beautiful mountain and the snow they did have made for great conditions. For the next 3 1/2 hours we were non-stop - up and down the lifts without a break and skied/boarded hard. It was our best day on the mountain yet! We were exhausted by the end of the day, but it was time to hit the road again in our trusty RV which we nicknamed, Millie Van Shnoozens.









We were headed for the Milford Sound, a good 5 hours away from Queenstown and out of the way (only one road in and out). We drove for a few hours and into the night again before finding a spot to rest Millie and ourselves for the night, on Lake Te Anau. Our goal was to sleep by water every night without paying for a campground. This night, we found a spot off the road next to the lake with mountains towering out of the water. Once again, we had no idea of the beauty of our surroundings until we woke the following morning. We had a quick and easy meal in our small kitchen and attempted to shower. This didn't go so well as the hot water heater wasn't turned on properly and the water was ice cold. Finally when we figured out the proper way, we still had to settle for a less than warm shower (and very brief)!

We woke in the morning to the stunning views and made our morning walk down to the water with coffee in hand. Soon we were back on the road for the breathtaking drive to the Milford Sound. It took another 2 hours through mountain passes and snow covered valleys, as well as lush tree covered rain forests to finally reach our destination. We arrived just before 11am and barely missed a boat tour (after running nearly a kilometer to try and catch it). Luckily, there was another tour 30 minutes later on a smaller boat and less guests (we were 2 of 6 passengers). We set sail for our hour and half tour of the beautiful fjord. The water was aqua blue and the snow-capped mountains were covered in lush green plants with cascading waterfalls everywhere we turned. This day was a clear day (which we were thankful for the driving conditions), but on a rainy day the mountains become even more alive with cascading waterfalls. We took in the sites from the outside upperdeck until a school of dolphins escorted our boat in so we ran downstairs to get an upclose view. Such a rare treat!











Back at the docks, nothing left to do but hit the road again for the 5 hour journey back to Queenstown and then on up to the West Coast. It was a long driving day but the ever changing landscape and curvy roads kept the ride very interesting! Jacques drove the campervan like a sports car along the winding roads! Since our Ipods died and radio stations were few and far between, we entertained ourselves with games. Our favorite was to blow the horn as we drove by the farm animals (the sheep and deer especially) to send them scurrying into the fields OR to try to get as many other RV drivers to wave at us as we passed them (if they didn't wave, Jacques gave them another gesture instead). We also searched the thousands of white sheep for the black sheep of the bunch. Other times, we just gaped at the amazing scenery passing us by.

Seven hours after departing Milford Sound, we finally found our spot for the night (in the dark of course) off of the main road along another hidden lake spot, Lake Hawea. Jacques hid the van in the bushes and we settled in for another chilly night in Millie. To save gas, we turned the heat off when we went to bed but we had our sleeping bags to keep us warm. When we woke early the next morning, we found a spot that would have been better positioned right next to the lake so we moved the van down for a stunning breakfast view. As every morning, Jacques went down to the waterside for his freshwater facewash. I even decided to join him in the refreshing splash this morning.







On the road again, this time headed up the west coast of the South Island and along the ocean. Stunning views, yet again! We drove to glacier country and stopped at Fox Glacier for a 30 minute hike to the ice mass. As usual, Jacques overlooked posted boundries to get closer to the glacier in person. He looked like a speck in the distance set against the massive ice structure. We quickly hiked back to the RV as we still had a lot of ground to cover and wanted to make it to our camping spot for the night before dark (for once).













We drove for another few hours before finding a nice spot to park Millie directly next to a rushing river just outside of Spring Junction at sunset. We enjoyed our final night in the van with another easy cooked meal and the sound of rushing water as our music for the evening. We woke again for sunrise and our last day in the South Island. We headed back to Christchurch via the Lewis Pass, the longer route because we wanted to stop by the thermal pools for a nice relaxing dip after freezing overnight temperatures. The first springs we stopped at were closed due to heavy snow, but further down the road the Hanmer Springs were open. They had 9 different thermal pools of varying temperatures, but of course we wanted the hottest at 41 degrees Celcius. This was a sulpher pool and we felt the mineral smoothing our skin as soon as we stepped in. It was so strong that any piece of silver jewelry we were wearing turned to a copper color (luckily this was fixed later with a jewelry cleaner). We soaked in the different pools ranging from temperatures of 36 degrees to 41 degrees for over an hour before getting back into the van for our final stretch to Christchurch and our flight back to Auckland. By the time we turned in Millie, we had driven 2021km in a little more than 4 days! What a whirlwind but beautiful tour of the South Island of New Zealand. The only way to see this land in all it's beauty is by car (and an RV made it that much more fun)!







We flew back to Auckland for a short overnight visit with the family again. Our time with them was so short but so special. We stayed up late catching up over a few beers, not wanting to go to bed nor say good bye. Finally at 1am with eyes closing, we went to a warm bed for a good but short night's sleep. We woke at 5am to go back to the airport and fly to Sydney, Australia. As sad as we are to leave New Zealand, we are ready for some warmer weather and beach time. No more cold weather (at least for now)!