From Dunedin, we drove all the way up the east coast to Picton for our first stop. The weather was far from perfect that first day but Ellie and I managed to cope by drowning our sorrows in a bottle or three of wine while on a tour of the nearby Blenheim vineyards. Everything about the day was delicious- the wine, the food, and yes even the bottle of chocolate gin that we felt compelled to buy on our last stop of the tour. Note to self: avoid drunken impulse purchases.
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| at the vineyard |
The weather wasn’t through giving us a run for our money the next day. We had plans to take a boat across the Marlborough Sounds to walk part of the Queen Charlotte Track. These plans did not include rain or mud puddles but they managed to make a guest appearance anyway. After a solid 5-minute effort was made to avoid getting wet, we decided to embrace (a term I’m using very loosely) the torrential downpour and make the most of our day on the track. A few soaking wet hours later we arrived at our endpoint, a hut where we waited until the ferryboat came to our rescue. Ellie and I earned a couple of stares as we walked into the hut, which turned out to be not your typical hut after all, but rather quite a fancy little lodge full of people cozily sipping wine by the fire. Somehow we were the only people in the whole place whose image reflected that of the weather conditions outside. Riddle me this.
Things were looking up by Sunday night. We got the hell out of Picton and into a hot tub at our hostel with a bottle of wine by nightfall. Besides out of our drenched clothes, this was the best sort of quick change we could have asked for. Monday morning we drove a little ways west to Abel Tasman National Park- a destination I’ve found appealing from the first time I opened a New Zealand travel book. This place is absolutely stunning with its gold sand beaches and blue green water. We packed up our backpacks and camping gear and set out on the Abel Tasman Coastal Track, another one of NZ’s ‘Great Walks.’ We hiked along the coast all day Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, feeling mighty successful minus a couple bumps in the road including a mouse in the tent, picnic bench set on fire, and a possum eating our nutella, you know the drill.
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| Abel Tasman Coastal Track |
Thursday we drove out to Takaka, one of the more charming towns I’ve encountered in New Zealand. The only reason we stumbled upon this funky little hippie haven was because it was the gateway to Golden Bay’s Wharariki Beach, a pit stop we felt compelled to make. What drew us to this beach in particular were the magnificent rock formations that line the coast. There’s one photograph on the front of the Golden Bay brochure (so what if I’m a product of advertisement?) that is especially amazing and we made it our mission to find this tunnel-shaped rock and take a picture of it. However, when we got to the beach the famous rock we were expecting was nowhere to be seen. Just as we were about to let disappointment get the best of us, we paused on our walk back to the car to take in the beauty of the beach one last time and realized that we had been looking at the rock all along but simply from the wrong angle. How silly of us.
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| Wharariki Beach |
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| The same rock, this time from the right angle ;) |
The rest of Thursday and part of Friday were consumed with driving down the west coast to Queenstown with a quick stop at the glaciers and lovely Lake Matheson.
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| Lake Matheson |
Driving in New Zealand deserves its own tangent. Let it be known that a day spent in the car in New Zealand is neither your average day spent in the car, nor your average day in general. In fact, I’m willing to wager that it trumps most people’s ordinary days in other parts of the world spent out of the car. The scenery that is so readily available seems way too good to be true. No matter how long I stare, the combination of the beauty of the lakes, the majestic hills, and the vast sea are enough to make me feel unfairly privileged.
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| oh you know, just the view from the road |
The final weekend of the trip was spent in the Queenstown area with the girls. There we filled the time between soaking in the sights of gorgeous Glenorchy by indulging in all sorts of treats including the infamous Fergburger and ice cream at this heavenly shop down by the lake, with the excuse being “it’s okay, we’re on holiday.”
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| Glenorchy at sunset |
Another successful adventure in New Zealand? Check.
Feeling like a lucky girl. Loving this place, loving this life.
Cheers for now, more to come.
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