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Highlights of New Zealand and What I Would Do Differently

When you’re traveling as far as New Zealand from somewhere like Kansas City, you really want to make it worthwhile. Those flights are not cheap, nor are they short. I knew it was unlikely I’d make this trip again, so I wanted to fit in as much as possible and get some variety, without spending every minute of my vacation on the road.

I also knew, from experience, that for longer trips, I need to incorporate plenty of activities. Spending two weeks doing nothing but driving tends to result in getting burnt out. In the end, I think we got a good taste of New Zealand for our timeframe with a good variety of destinations.

Highlights

Mt Cook – We had a short amount of time in Mt Cook, and the first day was pretty well ruined by a long-lasting downpour and high winds. That did not, at all, keep me from being totally infatuated with the area. The mountain scenery here is stunning, and exactly what I pictured when I thought of New Zealand.

The Hooker Valley track was almost too easy for the amount of reward it brought us, and the beautiful turquoise lakes a short drive away from Mt Cook were just the cherry on top.

Wanaka – A perfect combination of chill and lively. The lake is incredibly beautiful, and hanging out by it just soothes your soul, but right across the street is a mess of smiling faces bouncing around between restaurants and bars and coffee shops.

The hiking around Wanaka is fantastic, and I assume the paragliding would have been as well… :(.

Heli-hike – The heli-hike was by far the most expensive thing we did in New Zealand, but it was worth it. Flying up to and landing on a glacier was just so cool. And then the surprise of there being a big beautiful waterfall that we were hiking to on this glacier… While I wish the hiking portion had been a little shorter, and the flying portion a little longer, it was such a unique experience that we won’t forget.

Moke Lake campground – We stayed at some awesome campsites. And as far as amenities go, Moke Lake was lacking if you wanted anything other than a toilet and a sink. But it sure was pretty and relaxing, and it was the only body of water we were around that I found warm enough to hop in and swim in. Just outside of Queenstown, it’d be a great place to stay to get away from the business but still be close enough to go enjoy the activities and restaurants during the day.

Kerosene Creek – It actually feels kind of silly including this. We did so many big, cool things, and saw so many big, cool sights, and Kerosene Creek was such a small piece of our New Zealand itinerary. But it was just such a pleasant surprise. A geothermal river that was the perfect temperature and the perfect depth and it had a cute little waterfall tucked away in a forest? Oh, and we had it to ourselves.

What I Would Do Differently

Morning tour of Hobbiton – Everything about our Hobbiton tour would have been better if it had been a morning tour. It would have been less hot. The lighting would have been a little better for photography. If we had gotten the first tour slot, then we wouldn’t have had other tour groups in our pictures. We would have been getting stuck behind other tour groups. In general, it would have just been calmer. I definitely feel like Hobbiton was a worthy stop, and I would have regretted not going, but I 100% recommend heading there in the morning if you can.

Lake activities – We saw SO MANY beautiful lakes, but aside from staring at them and a quick dip here and there, we spent no time with them. We love lakes. We grew up on lakes. And these lakes were far superior than the ones we grew up vacationing to. If I were to plan this over again, I would have found a way to rent a jet ski or a kayak or something to really get out on the water. Especially since we didn’t include any beaches on our vacation.

Better grocery plan – We ended up making far too many grocery store stops because we kept running out of water, or gas for cooking, or snacks for the road, or breakfast granola bars/fruit, etc. We would have saved a decent amount of time that would have been better spent if we had come up with a full meal plan for the South Island and planned accordingly.

Other than those minor things, I’m really not sure I would have changed anything for this first trip. If we were to go back… I’d probably go back to Wanaka, spend more time in Mt Cook, try to fit in Abel Tasman, and possibly a cruise of Doubtful Sound. But I have to say, I think I get a pat on the back for this NZ itinerary.

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Closing the South Island Loop

The drive out of Mt Cook brings you to stunningly blue Lake Pukaki, and since we couldn’t get enough of it, we went off the beaten path, and took the back roads up the eastern side of it as well.

We stuck with the gravel roads and cut across the wild expanse of empty land, a slower, but more scenic route to Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo may not have Mt Cook in the background, but its color is every bit as spectacular as Lake Pukaki. It seems like every body of water we saw in New Zealand just got bluer and bluer. It was unreal. Every lake back home will look so brown in comparison.

We ate lunch in Tekapo, went down to the beach, drove up Godley Peaks road, and then found a secluded spot on the eastern shore to sit and relax a bit.

We wanted to cut down on the final drive to Christchurch, so instead of staying in Tekapo, we went another hour and a half further, and stayed at a little hidden gem campsite I found at Waihi Gorge. There was nothing special about it – nothing to do, and no amenities other than toilets. But, it was quiet, only a few locals there since it was off the tourist path. And it was just simply pleasant, a green field aside a little bubbling river, with some hills in the distance.

It was a great spot to just completely unwind for our final camping night. I did some yoga in the sunshine, we cooked our last meal, and we split a bottle of New Zealand pinot noir rose.

The following morning, the weather matched my mood, gloomy for my last day in New Zealand.

We stopped at Rakaia Gorge, planning on doing the scenic walk there, but it was wet and chilly, and I just didn’t feel like it, so we continued on to Christchurch, saying goodbye to our trusty campervan.

We ubered to the Little High eatery for lunch, which was delicious, and then walked to our apartment, right next to Cathedral Junction.  While we love camping, it is always such a wonderful feeling when we finally have an apartment or home to get comfortable in, take a nice, hot shower with good water pressure, and wash our dirty clothes. We didn’t leave the apartment again until it was time to find dinner.

The brief walk to dinner was actually really neat. We walked through the lovely New Regent street, then along the Avon river and by beautiful Victoria Park, and on to lively Oxford Terrace, a fun area full of bars. I ended up far more impressed with the little city of Christchurch than I thought I’d be.

After dinner, we grabbed a pint of Guinness at the Irish pub across the street, reminiscent of our last night in Iceland. We’ve decided it should be a tradition when possible.

And with that ended all the fun we had in wonderful New Zealand. Cheers to another fantastic trip!

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Majestic Mt Cook

When we left Moke Lake, we headed straight to Mt Cook, hoping to beat the rain that would be soaking the area for the day.

The drive was long, but lovely with the gentle gold mountains around Lindis Pass.

But the real magic was when we turned off toward Mt Cook. Already, the clouds were filling in around the mountains and glacier, but it was still spectacular to see the entire approach, much of it along turquoise Lake Pukaki.

We arrived at White Horse Hill campsite, picked out a great spot looking up at the glacier, and ate some lunch.

Pretty much immediately after that, first gale force winds and later heavy rain arrived, causing us to lock ourselves in our van for the majority of the day.

We eventually braved the elements to run to the covered area to cook our dinner. The rain finally cleared around 7pm. Clouds were still heavy, but we had cabin fever, so we went on the short Kea Point track to stretch our legs.

The next morning, there was still some fog lingering, but we could see it clearing around Mt Sefton, so we went marching our way down the famous Hooker Valley track.

Clouds framed the pink and blue ice which was pretty spectacular.

We crossed some suspension bridges, climbed up to some viewpoints, enjoyed the cool morning air.


Then we turned a corner, and caught our first peak at Mt Cook, which was clearly about to be fully covered in fog.

And so, the rest of the hike was through a cloud. Occasionally, we could see the outlines of mountains through the fog, but more often, it was just a heavy gray.

We made it to the lake, the fog coming and going, teasing us with amazing views of Mt Cook, and then reforming and blocking it from sight.


This time, our patience paid off though, and after a half-hour freezing cold wait, it cleared completely.

We practically did the return backwards, taking in the sights we couldn’t see on the way there.


Also got a good after shot of Mt Sefton.

After that hike, we made the short drive over to the Tasman Glacier overlook track. We practically ran up the million stairs to the top, only to be a bit disappointed in what we saw compared to our hike we had just finished.

So we hurried back down and went on our way, watching crystal clear views of Mt Cook through our mirrors as we drove away.

I made Anthony pull over for “one last look” about five times, and then we were gone.