Wherever you go in New Zealand, there’s one thing you’re guaranteed to see eventually: the campervan. Whether in the car park near a big hike, in middle of a big city, or near a landmark – campervans are a great way to see it all. They come in all sizes from minivan to giant behemoth motor homes. And New Zealand has a plethora of camping grounds ranging from free sites for anyone to paid camp grounds with high end facilities. The down side – the campervans often come with a bit of a price tag and need a minimum of 2 weeks rental time. No worries – New Zealanders (being the considerate and brilliant folks they are) have thought of everything. Many of the car rental and campervan rental sites offer relocation deals. For a reduced price, you can get a vehicle for a few days (depending on the deal offered and where you’re it’s being relocated). Camping…in a van…while driving around New Zealand? Dreamy. So we stalked the relocation pages until a relocation deal from Christchurch to Auckland came up. Our Campervan Experience Begins Sue (our neighbor in Christchurch) was kind enough to drive us to the Jucy rental place to pick up our campervan. She even offered to wait with us (seriously Kiwis, you’re too kind), but we insisted she head out. Good thing. 2 1/2 hours later we were on the road. Jucy made it up to us by offering us a free tank of gas, saving us $100. The wait didn’t seem so bad after that). We were off. We hadn’t seen the north-western part of the southern island yet and had heard the Abel Tasman area was beautiful. Quick research on Rankers – the website showing tons of campsites including the cost, reviews, facilities, and whether or not they’re only for self-sustained vehicles (having a toilet on board), we found a free site that we could stay at about an hour south of Abel Tasman. There are always hikes and scenic points of interest to discover on the drives. A quick pit stop: this walk was about five minutes from the road. It also provided a good learning opportunity. I have a bad...
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Christchurch is the largest city on the south island. That being said – we didn’t quite know what to expect when we arrived there. We were warned by multiple people that the city suffered a lot of damage from big earthquakes in 2010-2011. Driving up from Dunedin, we got to see some beautiful beaches and rolling hills before making our way in to the city. Whenever we find ourselves in a new place – there’s always the moment where we don’t know what to expect. Will it be everything we heard about? What will the neighborhood be like? The people? After driving over 6 hours, we pulled up to a construction filled street in dreary weather. It was cold, we were tired, and no one was around. Unloading the car, a neighbor peeked her head out of her door and told us how to use the key. We didn’t have much time, left our bags and dropped off our rental car. The three and a half mile walk back from the car rental didn’t paint Christchurch in a better light either. (then again it was the outskirts of Christchurch near the airport) In one of my undergrad classes, the professor told us about a study that showed the importance of first impressions. For one negative first impression it takes up to seven positive factors to change your initial thoughts. Walking back, we were wondering what our time in Christchurch would be like. It’s amazing how sleep, sunshine, and a new day can give you new perspective. All the construction on the streets is due to earthquake repair. Even though the major quakes happened a few years ago, the city is still recovering. Lodging can be hard to come by as permanent residents seek temporary housing while having their houses repaired. Our neighbor for the week, Sue, poked her head out and said hello to us. She was born and raised in Christchurch, but spent 12 years in the US living in Oklahoma. Where the wind blows sweeping down the plains? Yes. That Oklahoma. During her time there, she saw more of the states than most people living there. Spending so much time in the car left us a...
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After winding our way around the Catlins, we were greeted with more spectacular views in Dunedin. The second-largest city on the South Island is named after Edinburgh, Scotland. Dunedin is a mixture of college town with European flair with the friendly Kiwi feel. When they designed the city, they failed to consider the topography allowing for the creation of the steepest residential road in the world (we decided to skip out on walking up that road). Instead of a town square or circle in the middle of downtown – hold on to your hats – Dunedin has an octagon. Jokes about Octagon fights might have occurred – first rule of Dunedin Octagon – don’t talk about Octagon cage fights. Alright, alright – the octagon is nothing like that. Instead, it’s a a string of roads intersecting in a cool octagon shape where they have lots of cool shops, restaurants, markets and events. We checked out the Valentine’s Day Market Thieves Alley Market in the Octagon (still sounds better if you say it in a wrestling voice). Check out what some people were wearing here. The market was packed with people, live music, and of course our favorite taco truck. While the day started off dark and dreary, the sun came out allowing everyone to stroll the market enjoying sunny weather. Arriving in Dunedin- we drove to meet Kim and Matt -friends of friends who were kind enough to host us for a few days. We’ve met quite a few people on the road and gotten to hear lots of stories, but always in passing. It was really nice to get to meet Matt and Kim – hear their stories and get to share their world for a bit. And what a world. The dynamic duo moved from Denver to Dunedin a few years ago to start their own taco truck. Genius since New Zealanders don’t have a lot of Mexican or Tex Mex. In fact – when buying canned jalapenos at the grocery store, the clerk eyed the mysterious jar before scanning it with a “humph.” Matt and Kim are also theatre gurus. Matt just did the sound engineering for a production and Kim was in her...
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Since we’ve spent two weeks living in the middle of the southern island (queenstown and wanaka), we decided to head south to explore what the southern most point of the south island has to offer. We drove south from Wanaka taking Highway 6 to Invercargill. It made us drive back through some of the beautiful countryside we’ve already seen. The mountains had been dusted with snow -making us feel a bit like we were back in Colorado. We stayed the night in Invercargill. No offense to Invercargill – it was the first place neither one of us really liked. Driving down the main street on a Friday night, the streets were empty and deserted. Granted, it was a holiday in New Zealand, but businesses were closed down or empty and there were no people out walking. The architecture felt like a mix between a strip mall and an old mountain town. These factors combined (plus the promos for new episodes of the Walking Dead) made us feel like we had just driven in to a zombie apolocalpyse. We have now nicknamed the town Inver-scare-gill. The plus side – we used the time to watch the Wellington Sevens Tournament and cheered as the All Blacks won the tournament in our old town (we lived there a month, we can count it). We did venture back to the downtown area the next day and while it was still pretty empty, the shops were open and people were friendly. Leaving Invercargill, we drove the Invercargill Highway to the Catlins Coastal Road on our way to KaKa Point. We had read the Catlins were a beautiful park near the southern tip of the island, although many New Zealanders don’t venture down to this out of the way area. Not a lot of people, ocean, and a sign saying how close we are to Antarctica? We’re in! As a heads up – the coastal road will take a long time to drive. Google Maps drive time does not take in to consideration the road is often winding and gravel. There are lots of places to turn off to do short hikes or take in a scenic view. Since we were using the drive as...
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After spending a week in Queenstown and the weekend discovering the beauty of Milford Sound and the surrounding fjordland area, we decided to spend the week about an hour north of Queenstown in Wanaka. First: We mispronounced the town name the entire time we were there. From the way it’s spelled, we thought the name was similar to Fozzie the Bear’s punchline: wakka wakka. Wanaka, Wanaka. While we thought we were hilarious (maybe too much time spent in the car), it’s actually pronounced like whan- ah- kah. Good to know. Now you can fit in like locals. Wanaka is a beautiful lake town. Being close to Queenstown, its tourism is increasing, but overall it’s a much more laid back town. Willow trees line the sandy shores next to the main street. There are even duck crossing signs. The downtown area has some restaurants, bars, pubs, and cafes including Federal Diner that had some tasty sandwiches. How can you not like a place that has a sandwich entitled Totes Ma’gotes?! There are some gems in this town: Paradiso Cinema where you can relax on a couch and eat some food while watching a movie and Puzzling World – Wanaka’s Wonderful World of Weirdness. The town holds a little something for everyone. Our time in Wanaka went by fast – the weather wasn’t great so we used the opportunity to get caught up on some work, but we did venture out on a hike and walked along the shore line and explored some places downtown. We saw the full moon rise over the mountains surrounding the lake from the balcony of our apartment, hiked to a high point overlooking the town, ventured to some shops, and listened to the cows in the backyard. If you want a more upbeat time, Queenstown is definitely the place, but there’s still a small town feel to this neighboring town that makes it feel like...
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To prepare for our trip to New Zealand, we read through a lot of blogs, books, and websites about places to visit in New Zealand. We quickly realized Milford Sound was a must see especially after one blog explained the following: Queenstown is the place where tourists come to vacation while Milford Sound is the place where Queenstown residents go to visit. Rudyard Kipling described it as the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” We had to see for ourselves what all the hype was about. The drive from Queenstown is about 5 hours or you can make your way to Te Anau, a small half way point between Queenstown and Milford. We made our way to Te Anau on Friday night (long summer days provide plenty of sunshine until around 9:30 or 10pm). We stayed at the Village Inn at Te Anau which had an old town theme to it. Each room had signs above it making us feel like we were closer to the wild west than the middle of New Zealand. Rain prevented us from exploring the town too much, but there’s a beautiful lake and great shops to take advantage of. From what we read, it’s better to head to Milford Sound early or later to avoid tour busses and traffic. So we hit the road at around 6:30 after downing a quick cup of coffee (the gas station wasn’t even open yet). Note* there’s no gas station at Milford Sound, so fill up before you head out (we made it with enough to get back but there are no gas stations if you need one). The drive is worth the early morning wake up. The single lane road winds through forest, mountains, past sheep and cow farms (a few deer farms too). Even on an overcast, dreary days (which is most days), the views are spectacular. The road is riddled with look outs, scenic overlooks, a long tunnel through a mountain, and hikes. Since the drive is about 2 – 2 1/2 hours from Te Anau and our morning cruise check in was 8:50, we only stopped a few times, promising we would spend some time on the way back. Driving on winding roads in the...
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