South Island Experience

I arrived in Auckalnd today, my last destination in NZ except for a day trip to the Bay of Islands on Monday. These amazing three weeks all started in Christchurch, where I only stayed one night before hopping on the Kiwi Experience bus and heading to the west coast, on the opposite side of the south island from Christchurch. We rode in a small van, with only 10 or so people in it. On this bus I met two Irish girls named Kate and Louise that I ended up travelling with through most of New Zeland. It was a really senic drive through Aurthurs Pass. We stopped a few times, to look at waterfalls and lakes, and a spring bridge. We also stopped along the way at a place called Bearded Miners Inc. It was just this sort of shack run by these two old mountain looking men. They did some blacksmithing and showed people how they used to pan for gold back in the day. I think it

Our first stop was in Westport, where we just stayed one night. The next day we started heading down the west coast, joining a big bus with people heading down from the north. Our first stop was at the Pancake Rocks in Punakaiki. They are called Pancake rocks because, well, I guess they look like stacked pancakes. They were really cool, all these towering rock struct

We stopped that night at a hostel sort if in the middle of nowhere, owned by a guy named Lez. He is the cute old man with the huge beard. He made the most amazing dinner for us, huge steaks, potatos, salads, it was such a good meal. There was a bar there called the Poo Bar (not sure why) and they do a dressup night there everytime the bus goes thro




That night we stopped in Franz Joseph, and I loved loved loved it there. It reminded me of Canmore. It felt so good to be back in the moutains, it was stunning. We stayed two nights there. Lots of people did glacier hikes, I just walked around and enjoyed the town. This pic is of the Franz Joseph glacier. I didn't hike it, this was as close as I got.
The next day we drove to Wanaka, a cute little town on a lake. We got to stay in a hotel there, it was very thrilling. I actually started getting sick there and debated staying, but decided to head to Queenstown. If Franz Joseph is like Canmore, Queenstown is like Banff. It was gorgeous, and I guess had a lot of the good and bad things that Banff has. I actually got really sick there, and stayed in bed the whole time. I sort of missed it, but I was glad to have a few nights just to stay in bed and recover. On March 8th we headed back up to Christchurch, having done a big circle across the island, down, and back up the other coast.

We stayed two nights in Christchurch, and I decided to get my Lord of the Rings fix there. I took a tour out to Mount Somers, where they flimed Edoras, the capital of Rohan. For thoes non LOTR tivia masters, that is the city on the hill, with the king who Gandalf helps, and then they have to flee the city and head to Helm's Deep. If thats not ringing any bells, go watch the movies again!! I took tons of nerdy pics of me running around with swords and axes, but this is one of the uber nerdy ones of me with Aragorn's sword and Helms Deep in the background.
So, we drove out to the Moutain, and then got to climb up it. They brought swords owned by the King of Rohan, Aragon, Eowyn, and Gimli's axe. So we got to run around and play with thoes. It was really fun. We could see the shot of Helm's Deep, although the scene was filmed in a rock quarry. So it was a great day, and I'm glad I went. The only thing that wasn't great about it was that I was defi

That night Yu and I also went to listen to a Maori named Dave Brennan from the Ko Tane come to the hostel and give a talk about the history and culture of the south island Maori. I was really interested in what he had to say, and we even had a really good discussion after he was done about the settlers in New Zeland and their impact on the Maori, compared to the settlers in North America and their impact on the Native American. He was very well spoken, and I was grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone so passionate about their people and educating others.

On March 10th we headed up to Kaikoura, which was a lovely little beach town. You could go swimming with the dolphins, or go kayaking. We stayed in a nice hostel, and Louise, Kate and I got the 'Love Shack', which looked like a little cottage covered in vines that fit three people. We met some cool people who were, surprise surprise, from England, named Kristian and Kyle. Kyle was about 8 feet tall, and we took some funny pics of Kristian and Kyle trying on each others shoes. These are the kinds of things you do at two in the morning at small hostels in the middle of nowhere. This pic just makes me laugh though, and reminds me how many great people you meet while travelling, and how people can imprint themselves in your memory after meeting people for only a few hours.

The next day we headed to the north island. We had to take a three hour ferry ride, and it must have been the biggest boat I've ever been on. We arrived that afternoon in Wellington. That night was a Saturday, so we went out. Kate and Louise wanted to watch a rugby game that wasn't playing until 4 am or something crazy, so we went to an Irish pub to hang out for a while. I was surprised how crazy the streets were. Wellington is not that big, I think less than half a million, but around the corner from our hostel was the main drag, and it was absolutely packed. I wasn't quite up to staying up till 7am to watch rugby, so I hung out at the pub for a bit, then made my way back to the hostel.
