Posted by: Jenn
I am so sorry this has taken me so long to post! It is one of the most exciting posts from New Zealand and I have made you wait for it. So I will just get right to the point!!
After several discussions about what we wanted to do our last two weeks in NZ we left Queenstown and decided to head back down south to the Fiordland’s to see the Milford Sound. The drive alone was so worth it.
I am so sorry this has taken me so long to post! It is one of the most exciting posts from New Zealand and I have made you wait for it. So I will just get right to the point!!
After several discussions about what we wanted to do our last two weeks in NZ we left Queenstown and decided to head back down south to the Fiordland’s to see the Milford Sound. The drive alone was so worth it.
We arrived at the Milford Sound and snapped a few photos of Mitre Peak while it’s snowcapped top glistened under the morning sun.
The sand flies were so bad that we couldn’t stand to stick around for long so we hit the road again and headed out of the Fiordland’s for good. The scenery was some of the most spectacular that we had seen and we had perfect weather so it was a really great experience.
As we were heading out of the Fiordland’s we passed a plethora of hiking tracks. Seeing as it was a gorgeous day and it was only about lunchtime, we decided to tackle a trail. We agreed on a three-hour return hike called Key Summit.
As we climbed the mountainside we took in views of the surrounding peaks. We finally made our way to the summit and were greeted with a breath taking 360-degree view.
Now, we all know how I feel about hiking uphill but that was definitely a worthwhile hike!
As the sun slowly made its way down, we made our way back to Te Anau so that we could enjoy a dinner by the lake and then find a spot to camp.
As the sun slowly made its way down, we made our way back to Te Anau so that we could enjoy a dinner by the lake and then find a spot to camp.
The next day we spent covering some distance between Te Anau and Mt. Cook.
We stopped before dusk so that we would have daylight to cook and set up camp (aka park the peacock fighter on even ground).
We had heard that the weather could be iffy for the following day so we decided that we would spend the day in a hostel doing laundry and getting showered…and sleeping in a real bed – no offense Peacock Fighter. We headed towards Mt. Cook and found a quaint hostel and settled in.
After a wonderful nights rest in an actual bed we drove up to Mt. Cook Village. Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand and on a clear day the surrounding mountains and lakes are just beautiful.
After a wonderful nights rest in an actual bed we drove up to Mt. Cook Village. Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand and on a clear day the surrounding mountains and lakes are just beautiful.
We started the day with a hike to a glacial lake filled with icebergs.
Because Mt. Cook Village has some really great day hikes or multi-day hikes, Jonathan really wanted to do some serious trekking. I really liked the views from the road… So we compromised, kind of.
Yep! We took a helicopter ride around Mt. Cook. It was one of the coolest things I have done on the entire trip. I have never been in a helicopter before, much less through awesome snow-capped mountains. It was amazing!!!
The helicopter landed on one of the mountains and we got to get out and take it all in.
We flew over the Franz-Josef Glacier and Fox Glacier as well, catching small glimpses of the Tasman Sea through the clouds.
As the ride came to an end I could not believe that we just did that. A helicopter ride in New Zealand…whaaaat!? Awesome.
While we still had some daylight left we decided to do one more short 30-minute hike to a nearby lookout called Kea Point. The lookout had stunning views of the Mueller Glacier moraine wall. A moraine is a mass of rocks and sediment that has been deposited by a glacier.
While we still had some daylight left we decided to do one more short 30-minute hike to a nearby lookout called Kea Point. The lookout had stunning views of the Mueller Glacier moraine wall. A moraine is a mass of rocks and sediment that has been deposited by a glacier.
While hiking back to the carpark Jonathan noticed that he could continue on a different trail, the Sealy Tarns track, in a different direction and see some more. Because the sun was setting and the track difficulty was listed as a difficult trek and it said it would take about three hours to get there and back I opted to head back to the car and start setting up camp. The weather was still nice and there was not any rain predicted for the night so I decided to set up the tent for us so that we could give the Peacock Fighter some rest.
Three hours later Jonathan strolled up dripping sweat and not smiling. In asking him how the hike was he simply shook his head and showed me this video.
We enjoyed a dinner of an assortment of soups that we cooked up on our gas stove then hit the hay after an exhausting but exhilarating day!
Fresh the next morning from sleeping so well in the tent, which after sleeping the Peacock Fighter seemed like a mansion, we packed up and hit the road again. With another beautiful day ahead of us we made our way to Lake Tekapo. We had heard from several travelers that Lake Tekapo was the bluest lake they had ever seen – they weren’t lying.
Fresh the next morning from sleeping so well in the tent, which after sleeping the Peacock Fighter seemed like a mansion, we packed up and hit the road again. With another beautiful day ahead of us we made our way to Lake Tekapo. We had heard from several travelers that Lake Tekapo was the bluest lake they had ever seen – they weren’t lying.
We spent the day hanging out by the lake and enjoying the sunshine. We relaxed, read, listened to music, had a picnic, and took lots of photos.
We explored the Lake Tekapo area most of the day before deciding that we should head onto Christchurch, our destination for that day.
I’m not sure how many of you knew or were keeping up, but New Zealand made the Rugby World Cup finals and they were playing France that night. So another reason we wanted to get to Christchurch was so that we could go somewhere to watch the game. We had it in our heads that we would just drive through downtown Christchurch and stop at a crowded bar. What we didn’t think about was that the two earthquakes that hit in September of 2010 and then again in February of 2011 with continuing aftershocks that are preventing any reconstruction from taking place demolished ‘downtown’. So as we were driving through downtown all we saw were dark streets and yellow tape. It was a pretty devastating sight. We were starting to think that finding a bar was going to be way harder than originally planned. We kept cruising around the area and as we rounded a corner I noticed several signs that said “EVENT”. We followed the signs and arrived at a huge park packed with people surrounded by three huge TV screens. We parked the van, bundled up and joined the crowd to cheer on The All Blacks (NZ’s Rugby Team). We still don’t know all the rules to rugby but we enjoyed the party! Forty minutes later the All Blacks walked away with a Rugby World Cup Championship beating France 8 to 7! Way to go New Zealand!!!
I’m not sure how many of you knew or were keeping up, but New Zealand made the Rugby World Cup finals and they were playing France that night. So another reason we wanted to get to Christchurch was so that we could go somewhere to watch the game. We had it in our heads that we would just drive through downtown Christchurch and stop at a crowded bar. What we didn’t think about was that the two earthquakes that hit in September of 2010 and then again in February of 2011 with continuing aftershocks that are preventing any reconstruction from taking place demolished ‘downtown’. So as we were driving through downtown all we saw were dark streets and yellow tape. It was a pretty devastating sight. We were starting to think that finding a bar was going to be way harder than originally planned. We kept cruising around the area and as we rounded a corner I noticed several signs that said “EVENT”. We followed the signs and arrived at a huge park packed with people surrounded by three huge TV screens. We parked the van, bundled up and joined the crowd to cheer on The All Blacks (NZ’s Rugby Team). We still don’t know all the rules to rugby but we enjoyed the party! Forty minutes later the All Blacks walked away with a Rugby World Cup Championship beating France 8 to 7! Way to go New Zealand!!!
We spent that night in some random neighborhood in Christchurch just parked on the side of the road in front of some random person’s house. The next morning we got up fairly early so as to beat the neighbors before they all left for work and wondered why there was an unknown van parked in front of their house.
So now you must be thinking that there is just absolutely nothing left that we could do and still get excited over it. Well think again.
To be continued…I’m going to make you wait for more awesomeness because this post just got too long! Check back in a few days and I will try to have the rest of it up!
So now you must be thinking that there is just absolutely nothing left that we could do and still get excited over it. Well think again.
To be continued…I’m going to make you wait for more awesomeness because this post just got too long! Check back in a few days and I will try to have the rest of it up!