Well I made it back alive and in one piece from my amazing 10 day roadtrip! However, I encountered the vicious wild life of New Zealand...sand flies. I'll get into those details in a bit...but for now let me start from the beginning of my adventures. Bare with me, this is going to be a LONG post:
Thursday, April 21st
A group of us left Dunedin Thursday night around 6pm. Our first stop was Christchurch as it was a good midway between our destination in Nelson. The drive took a little over four hours and all of us got a strange feeling being back in Christchurch. We drove past all the places we went to back when we were students at the University of Canterbury for that wonderful week and a half. There was still visible damage to homes and stores that we noticed and it made us a little sad. We stayed with some friends for the night (yay for free housing!) and thankfully did not experience any aftershocks.
Friday, April 22nd
The next morning we woke up early and were on the road around 9:30am. We stopped for lunch in Kaikoura which was a cute little beach town known for their dolphin and whale encounters. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to do any boat trips to see them but we did find a bunch of seal colonies along the side of the road. The weather was sunny, beautiful and warm! It was such a nice change from cold and dreary Dunedin... We had lunch in a little fish and chip place that was owned by the nicest couple. The older man recommended the daily catches and I went with some elephant fish. It was sooo delicious. The fish and chips in New Zealand are simply amazing anywhere you go. We weren't sure if we wanted to stay the night in Kaikoura and camp on the beach but after some discussion we decided to keep driving to a campsite in the Marlborough area called Whites Bay. Daylight was quickly fading when we arrived and had to rush to put up the tent before night fell. We picked a spot right next to the beach so we could hear the ocean waves all night, not too bad? Once we were all set up we turned on the stove and made some delicious bean and rice burritos for dinner. Definitely one of the best dinners I've had camping. After dinner we played some card games in the tent to pass the time and went to bed pretty early.
Our fabulous car for the week named, Sailor Moon.
The beaches of Kaikoura
Seal colony!
One was really close to us
Snow in the mountains and ocean to the right, pretty cool I think!
Our campsite location
Making our burritos!
Us in the tent
Another view of the beach the next morning
Saturday, April 23rd:
We woke up the next morning to pouring rain and were sad to not have sunny weather like the previous day. We made porridge for breakfast and decided to explore the beach before heading off. Despite the rain it was still really pretty so we didn't mind. Our destination for the day was Nelson where the wine tasting was supposed to be excellent! However, the weather had other plans for us. We drove the whole way in pouring rain and when we arrived in Nelson it was cold, windy and rainy. A lot of places were closed for the holiday, I had completely forgotten it was Easter weekend! We wanted to do a hike but decided against it as the rain refused to let up. After a short stay in Nelson we drove to a town close by, Moteuka, to find a hostel to stay in. Our tent was soaked and smelly and there was no way we were going to camp in it for the night. The weather was a downer for our trip so far and I was bummed out hoping it wouldn't be like that the whole week. However, the hostel we stayed at was very nice and we all got to take hot showers. It's amazing how much I take showers for granted normally...Also, with all the rain there were plenty of rainbows to see, it was beautiful!
View from the top of a hill
A few more pictures from our campsite
Now for some rainbows! There were so many.
I love this one and how the cows are at the foot of the rainbow
Sunday, April 24th:
Today we all woke up REALLY excited. It was the day we had planned to go skydiving! BUT, once again the weather decided to change our plans. Again it was cloudy and raining slightly, not exactly ideal conditions to skydive in. We were pretty bummed out at this point. But some quick arranging of plans with everyone we decided to drive to Abel Tasman National Park to find a day hike to do. When we arrived we found the perfect hike to do and even a campsite nearby. Even though it was pouring rain, we put on our raincoats and headed off on a beautiful 4 hour hike around Abel Tasman. The scenery was amazing! The hike took us through a rainforest with hidden streams and waterfalls all over the place. The beaches were amazing and as usual the water was crystal clear. It was incredible. When we reached our destination on the hike we had lunch and took a water taxi back to our campsite. I know water taxi sounds like a big, slow boat that puts you to sleep. But it was far from that! The boat was a small power boat that raced around the island and flew over waves, it was like a ride! The hike was amazing and we all were exhausted when we got back to the campsite. However, now comes the bad news and I'm referring to the title of this post. So let me tell you a little something about sand flies. I was warned about them and that they were all over the West Coast of the South Island and Abel Tasman. Before we started the hike, we asked one of the workers there if we needed to worry about sand flies in the rain. He tells us, “Oh no, they don't come out in the rain and wind. You'll be fine.” So of course, none of us bother to put on bug spray. Now let me tell you, this guy was DEAD WRONG. As soon as we finished our hike and arrived on the beach we were attacked. Now with sand flies, they are very different from mosquitos. Mosquitos have little needle like mouths that just suck blood and are really painless. But no, not sand flies. These vicious things (which are the size of fruit flies, maybe slightly bigger) tear open your skin and full on bite you, even going through thin clothing. And when they bite, it hurts! So of course I'm casually walking the beach when I start feeling bites on my ankles. I look down and I'm bleeding! So all of us start panicking and running back into the safety of the trees while slapping our legs. I'm sure it was hilarious to watch. Now with sand fly bites, the itchy red bumps don't appear until 1-2 days later. The bumps are much larger then mosquito bites and they last for about 2-3 weeks. Fan-tas-tic. A few days later and sure enough, 15 bites. I have a constellation on my leg, it's very attractive. They itch pretty bad and once you scratch one bite, they all start itching. Very annoying...
They're so excited to hike in the rain!
The beautiful beach where I was attacked by sandflies
Kind of hard to see but that's only one leg...
Monday, April 25th:
We were happy to wake up to sun and no more rain! Although our tent was still wet, including all of our belongings from the previous day and smelled pretty bad. Oh the joys of camping in the rain...but oh well! Today was our long day of driving and we headed out early. Our next stop was Hokitika, a small town on the west coast where we planned to camp again. We were really excited about the drive because we were going to drive down the West Coast which is rated as one of the top ten most beautiful drives. And when we got there, wow they were right. It was beautiful beaches the whole way! We had quite a few scenic stops along the way. More seal colonies and beaches. Once again, more amazing scenery. We stopped at a place called Punakaiki where we found the famous Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. These were so cool! Check out the pictures I took below. Once we arrived in Hokitika we set up camp that was right on a lake, star gazed for awhile and eventually fell asleep.
Pancake Rocks!
Tuesday, April 26th
We woke up VERY early to the strongest winds I've experienced in awhile. We were afraid our tent was going to blow away! It was kind of scary so we packed up as fast as possible, jumped in the car and drove away from the windstorm. Today we were headed to the glaciers for a half day hike on Fox Glacier. The rain was gone and it was a beautiful sunny day. The drive was only a few hours so we got there pretty early and checked into our hostel. No more camping in a wind storm! Also, we were moving further south and didn't want to camp in the freezing cold. We wandered around the town that surrounded the glacier until it was time for our hike around 1:30. We checked into the place and they gave everyone in the group some awesome hiking boots, socks, raincoats and crampons! We felt official. They loaded everyone on a bus and a few minutes later we were at the foot of the glacier. It was spectacular the way the glacier formed in the mountains and I couldn't get over how big it was. Since we were apart of a tour group we were allowed to walk on top of the glacier. It was really cool to see. They had carved stairs into the glacier, there were random waterfalls from the snow melting, caves, and tiny crevasses we had to walk through. It was definitely one of my favorite activities of the week. After the hike we headed back to our hostel for the night.
Our hardcore boots
The valley around the glacier
Fox glacier!
The stairs leading up
Got our crampons on!
My trustee hiking stick
A small cave that formed
It's hard to see here but the snow was melting creating a really cool glacier waterfall
Wednesday, April 27th:
This morning we got up and headed of to the next place: Wanaka. The drive was beautiful as usual. We no longer drove next to the ocean but now that we were inland we saw tons of lakes and rivers that were absolutely stunning. I've never seen water so blue and clear! The town of Wanaka borders Lake Wanaka and it was beautiful. All the trees around had the colors of fall and I finally felt like it was, even though it's April! Our hostel was up on a hill that over looked the lake which was beautiful. We went on a short hike that took us up a mountain called Mt. Iron that overlooked the whole town and two lakes. The views from the top were amazing! After our hike we went to the famous Puzzling World. This place was so cool! It was kind of like a giant amusement park but instead of rides there was a giant Labyrinth and multiple rooms full of optical illusions. One of the rooms in particular made me a little nauseous because of the way the floor slanted and everything inside was meant to confuse you. Definitely an awesome place to spend a few hours in just staring at pictures. That night we went to bed restless because the next morning we were going SKYDIVING!!
A lake we stopped at along the drive to Wanaka
Another lake, I think it was Lake Hawea?
The town of Wanaka and Wanaka Lake
Puzzling World!!
The Ames Illusion
View from the top of our hike
Thursday, April 28th:
Today was the day I was jumping out of a plane! Woke up to the best weather we could have asked for, not a cloud in the sky. We took the short drive to the airport and checked in at the desk. We had to go through a short tutorial and sign a few papers. Our favorite was the one that said something like “Skydiving presents risk, I accept these risks that include injury, personal loss and death.” Was I crazy? After the paperwork we had to wait outside for our turn to go which seemed to take forever! Finally, they called our name and passed out our jumpsuits, hats, gloves, and goggles. We suited up and put on our harnesses. Since we had to do a tandem skydive our instructors came over to us and introduced themselves. Mine was from Brazil and had a very thick accent so I couldn't really understand his name, but he was really nice! Before I knew it we were walking over to the plane together and climbing in. It all seemed to go so fast I couldn't believe it. All of us got to ride in the same plane so that was exciting. The plane was much smaller than I imagined. There were two long benches on both sides that we had to straddle and sit with our instructor behind us. The plane ride up was about 15 minutes and the view was AMAZING. We flew over two lakes, a river, mountains, snow caps and could even see Mt. Cook and Mt. Tasman, the two biggest mountains in New Zealand. My instructor talked to me the whole way and kept me pretty calm. All of a sudden the plane seemed to stop in mid air and the side door flew open. I stopped feeling my legs at this point. Two people were in front of me and they jumped out the plane so fast and before I knew it, it was my turn. My instructor and I slid over to the door, he sat on the floor while I was hanging outside (strapped to him of course). I looked down and thought, OH MY GOD IM ABOUT TO FALL OUT OF A PLANE. My instructor tapped me on the shoulder, yelled “You ready?!” I looked up at the sky and started screaming! He jumped and I could feel myself falling. I closed my eyes but remembered to open them and I was in shock of the view. The ground was rushing towards me and I could see everything. I felt like I was floating and had to calm my breathing, I tried to scream but couldn't make a sound with all the air rushing into my lungs. I could feel my cheeks flying back and I'm sure I looked like a chipmunk or something haha. Before I knew it, 45 seconds were up and I felt the pull of the parachute pull us up. This was my favorite part of the fall! It was so calming as we slowly floated to the ground. I couldn't believe I just did that. Before I knew it my instructor told me to put my legs up and when we touched down I took a few steps and was standing. I DID IT! I gave him a hug and high five and had a complete adrenalin high. When my friends landed next to me we all screamed and ran for a giant group hug. We had just fallen 12,000ft and survived! I think I could do anything at this point. Unfortunately, we had to climb back in the car and head to our next destination. You could say we slept well that night!
I only got a few pictures here since the professional pictures from the air were an extra $140...rip offfff
I only got a few pictures here since the professional pictures from the air were an extra $140...rip offfff
The plane we rode in!
Me getting suited up..
All of us before we jumped!
Friday, April 29th:
Today we were in Te Anau. We had checked into our hostel the previous night and it was by far my favorite one. It was a little cute cabin called The Barnyard that was on top of a hill in the middle of the wilderness. We had our own cabin that looked over looked the mountains and it was gorgeous at night to watch the sunset. So this morning we got up and drove a few hours to the spectacular place called Milford Sound. Once again we lucked out with weather and it was an amazing sunny day. We made a few scenic stops on the way but once we arrived in the sound it was beautiful! Our plan was to take a 2 hour cruise around Milford. We knew the sound was inhabited by TONS of sand flies so I came prepared: Jeans (they can't bite through them), high socks, tennis shoes, and lots of layers on top. I was pretty sure I outsmarted them and I made sure to swat at every single one I saw. When our ship departed we amazed with the views. I couldn't stop taking pictures! Although the sad part about New Zealand is you really can't capture it on film, it just doesn't do it justice. We saw a few seals on the cruise although sadly no dolphins, we were bummed. The boat went all the way out to where the sound met with the Tasman Sea, the views were so pretty. On the way back the boat took us under a waterfall which was so cool! Got a little wet but it was worth it haha. After the cruise we said goodbye to the gorgeous sound and headed back to our hostel for the night. We ate dinner next to the fire pit in the hostel and were sad our roadtrip had come to an end. It was such an amazing experience and I loved every moment of it. We accomplished everything we wanted to and the weather worked for us the majority of the time.
Another lake we passed on the drive
Mirror pools, on the drive to Milford Sound
The famous Milford Sound picture
At the end of the sound, the water met with the Tasman Sea
Right as we were going under the water fall!
Another really pretty waterfall
Saturday we headed home and got back to Dunedin in the late afternoon. Now that I'm back it's been really hard for me to start thinking about school and doing work. I just want to travel around the whole time! Now that's May (where did April go?!) it's really cold but I bought something I was introduced to in one of the hostels. I got myself my own personal hot water bottle to cuddle with! My mom made fun of me when I told her about it saying how old fashion I am...well New Zealand is a little behind I guess? It basically looks like a giant whoopie cushion that you fill with hot water. It stays warm for hours and I sleep with it every night. It's become my new favorite teddy bear. :) Haha, kind of like living in the 1900s?
Our water bottles :)
Anyways, I hope you got all the way through. Sorry for the long post but I had a lot to say!
Hope you enjoyed reading, miss you all!
