As we prepared for New Zealand, we decided we would see the most if we rented a car between our tramping trips. (We felt justified in this decision when our hitch hiking experiment allowed us to hike an extra 26 km. Neither of us felt the need to hitch hike down the South Island.) So, we picked up our "hired" car.
I don't understand why they say "hire a car." It doesn't do anything for you, you still have to drive it yourself. Which brings me to my next point: we had to drive it ourselves on the left side of the road!
More than one person felt that they needed to tell us Yanks to "remember to drive on the right side of the road."
We always do.
Anyways, that joke was obvious. The best advice I got was actually to remember that the driver should always be in the middle of the road. I used this to check every turn I make. So far, so good. Although, we both still look over shoulders when we make a right hand turn expecting a car to come from behind us. I also find exiting parking lots to be especially confusing. And, as a pedestrian, I still can't figure out which direction to look when I cross the street.
Spoiler Alert: I'm writing this after returning an undamaged hired car, so all is well.
Matt and I have a pretty good system when it comes to road trips. Matt plans out the best and most scenic routes. We split the towns to look for accommodation. And the best part, we know exactly how to make the best salads for lunch on the trunk of the car. We've had a lot of salads. Usually, they involve half a block of blue cheese.
So, there we went on our merry way.
It was very merry. We saw some beautiful views. We stopped when we felt like it. Explored when we were interested. Ate when we were hungry. And stopped when we were done. We would have loved to have seen everything, but had to pick and choose. There's always next time.
After leaving Nelson, we drove down the west coast to Westport and stopped in Greymouth. This was the part of the road when I had to remind myself most often that we were in New Zealand and not Big Sur. The cliffs overlooking the oceans were rugged. The wind was strong running across the waves into the land.
The main difference between New Zealand's west coast and California's were the giant ferns and palms popping out of the vegetation. It was very prehistoric as if the land had not changed since dinosaurs were roaming around.
We stopped at one beach where there was suppose to be a seal colony. But, we never found them. So, I posed for pictures instead. Do you like my $12 boots?
We also saw this bird:
New Zealand has a lot of birds.
Next, we stopped at Pancake Rocks for a short nature walk. The rocks have formed in layers that look like stacks of pancakes. The waves come crushing in making great spraying displays. We really enjoyed this little stop.
The next day, we left the cold, wet coast and drove over Arthur's Pass. We stopped a few times for the mountain views and short walks. It was a beautiful landscape.
Matt played with this bird:
After crossing the mountains we ended in Christchurch. We didn't explore the city too much. There were reminders of the earthquake everywhere, but mostly in the form of information boards and sites rather than visible destruction. This is really bad, but we saw a cathedral-like building that was being worked on and took some pictures. I don't think it was the cathedral though. I think we missed it by a few blocks. But it was raining and we were hungry. I think I have to admit some form of lazy traveling in every post. We should work on that.
Anyways, the main reason we had come to Christchurch was for a day trip out to the east coast to a small town called Akaroa.
The landform of New Zealand was partly formed by volcanoes. Some are dormant, others are extinct. This particular volcano is extinct and it's circular base formed bays. Akaroa was a small French settlement that was built on one of these turquoise bays. We drove along the rim of the ancient volcano looking down on the town before descending into the bay.
It was gorgeous. Perfectly green hills. Pristine blue water. Just amazing. We stopped for a picnic in the sun. Which was warm and wonderful!
The town is small and touristy, but very enjoyable to walk around. People were even swimming. Well, one person was, but I felt the water and it wasn't too bad.
The next morning we left Christchurch and headed to Lake Tekapo. I love mountain lakes and this was not a disappointment. The white capped mountains were in the distance, causing them to blend into the blue lake. A small church sat overlooking the lake, inside a large window opened out to the view. A good place for contemplation and meditation.
We had arrived early so we decided to drive a little further to reach Mt. Cook, which we had originally planned for the next day. We reached Lake Pukaki, another stunning lake where Mt. Cook sits at the end. However, that afternoon was cloudy and we couldn't see any mountain tops. The valley we could drive into seemed clouded in, possibly with rain or snow. We decided to try again the next morning, hoping for clearer skies.
As we drove back we turned into the Mt. Cook observatory and cafe. It is connected with a university and sits high on a hill overlooking Lake Tekapo. Matt is always interested in observatories and I am always interested in cafés, so we were both quite keen to check it out. (Do you like how I used the word keen? I felt very Kiwi saying that.)
When we reached the top we were blasted with cold wind. I could not stand still or straight at times, the wind was so strong. We sat in the glass-walled cafe enjoying the view then walked (stumbled) around a bit. It was spectacular. I love when those random turns become some of the best spots of a trip.
We set out mid-morning the following day. It was still cold, but the sky was bluer overhead so we were optimistic about visiting Mt. Cook.
Now, I will remind you that we had an ongoing discussion about hitch hikers. Should we pass the favor on and pick someone up? We had passed by a couple of people looking for a ride, but we just weren't sure. On our way out of town there was a guy waiting. But we hesitated and drove on. Then, Matt felt bad and more convicted than me and turned back. I think we made another turn before reaching him, changing our minds again. Finally, we realized we needed to go back to town to get gas. We agreed that if he was still there we would pick him up.
He was still there. If he had known how many times we had driven by debating, he might have decided to let us drive on. But, he didn't know and he got in, grateful for a ride. It turned into a positive experience. He was hoping to get to Queenstown, but we weren't going that far. We told him we were planning on either exploring Mt. Cook or continuing straight on to our next stop in Twizel (that's a funny name, you can admit it), all depending on the weather.
He was fine with that, knowing you piece together the rides you get. He was hitch hiking all the way down the South Island, so it is possible, although he did say he was cold. He was an actor in between shows in London. So, that was kind of exciting.
Anyways, the weather was good, so we decided to drive up to the Sir Edmund Hilary Center at the far end of the lake. Our new companion decided to join us, so the three of us explored. There were beautiful views along the way. The information center was really great. However, the free part only told us that Sir Hilary had climbed Mt. Cook, but he was not the first. We never learned if he did Mt. Cook or Mt. Everest first. I suppose you had to go to the museum that required a ticket to get those details.
Oh well, what we saw was still impressive. There was a lot about weather patterns, early climbers, rescue expeditions and those formidable women who were climbing with the boys, but wearing skirts. I love that.
When we got to Twizel, we said goodbye and left him on the side of the road and checked into our hotel, which was actually a little a-frame cabin with a kitchen. So cute, I wish we could have stayed there longer.
Our next stop was Wanaka. We had a kitchen again and enjoyed cooking our meals for a change. It was a cute little town sitting on another windy lake.
Finally, we reached Queenstown. As you drive in past mountains, called The Formidables, you come to an adventure-filled town sitting on a lake surrounded by mountains.
We took in the adrenaline of the town for a couple hours before moving on. This is where adventures like bungy jumping happens. I knew this was coming, so I had already started the conversation with Matt that I would not be jumping from anything. He was reluctant, but receptive. And how could he refuse when I pulled the "just being frugal" card?
To end our road trip we were driving another two hours to Te Anau before returning to Queenstown for a few more days.
On our way out of Queenstown we drove out to Moke Lake. This was a lake that I was determined to see. I had learned about it because a tv show I watched had been filmed on it and I thought it was just incredible. (It didn't hurt that this show had a group of women set up a colony on the lake with shipping containers. I love buildings made from shipping containers and I love hippy women, so Moke Lake was a must).
We followed a map until we reached a gravel road. A sign cautioned that only cars with 4-wheel drive should use the road during winter and spring. Matt quickly checked our car rental agreement to make sure this wasn't one of the dirt roads we weren't suppose to drive on. It wasn't, so we continued with trepidation. After 3km we reached the lakes picnic area. (There were a lot of cars similar to ours, so the road was narrow but, really, no big deal.)
I loved Moke Lake. What is it with a lake nestled in grassy hills? I can't get enough. It was so pleasant to sit on the banks. We considered a swim, but it was cold, so just sitting next to it was enough. I could have stayed out there for hours.
I love this little lamb's dedication to eating:
That evening, we reached Te Anau, our first stop with a shared bathroom.
It is a tiny town with one street and four Italian restaurants that also sits on the bank of a cold lake. We had come here for logistical reasons. One reason was to leave food so we could resupply in between hikes. The other reason was because we had booked a day cruise on the Doubtful Sound.
Matt had hiked in Milford Sound when he was here before and loved the fiordlands. We heard Doubtful Sound was even more beautiful, so we were eager to see it.
We had to take a boat across Lake Manapouri, a bus over a pass and then we got on the boat that took us through the Sound out to the Tasman Sea. The weather was just beautiful. It was the first sun they had had in days and it just made the water and mountains unbelievable. As we approached the sea we saw penguins swimming and a colony of seals sunning themselves.
Doubtful Sound got it's name from explorers (I think Captain Cook) who were sailing along the coast looking for potential harbors. On the map they noted that this particular sound was a "doubtful" option because the wind was so strong it would be difficult for a ship to return to sea once inside. Isn't that a great naming story?
Our boat had a lovely machine that gave you all the coffee or hot chocolate you wanted. The sun was out, but the wind was cold, so we drank a lot of hot chocolate.
The next day we returned to Queenstown and returned our hired car. It was sad to say good bye.
We spent a couple days wandering around town. The night before we left we went to some hot pools. This was our view as we sat in the hot water.
So, now that we're all relaxed, we're ready for our two tramps. I'm trying to figure out how to get to those hot pools again AFTER our hikes...
