Greener Pastures in the South Island of New Zealand, part 2

February 18 – March 2, 2023 (entirety of South Island)

February 23 – March 2, 2023 (covered in this blog post, part 2)

Kia ora, friends and family! This post will cover the rest of my adventures in the South Island of New Zealand, picking up from Milford Sound. You can read the first post here.

After leaving Milford Sound in the far south of the island, we drove back to Queenstown around noon. I spent the afternoon on my own, trying a meat pie from a popular bakery called Fergbaker, rinsing off in the lake, and then going to department stores to make gifts for Mel for when she arrived from Fiji late at night at the Queenstown airport. We got some McDonald’s after the airport and drove about an hour to Albert Town campground in Wanaka.

The next morning, Mel and I slept in a bit later than our friends and stopped in the cute town of Wanaka to get coffee and groceries and then drove into Mount Aspiring National Park. On the drive in we passed a huge herd of cows being rounded up by a dog. We had to pull off to the side because the cows were right along the main road into the national park.

When we made it into the park, we did the Rob Roy Glacier Track. It was a fun hike with a flat beginning and a steady incline to an amazing view of the glacier after three miles.

We passed by Kip, Andrew, Jenna, and Joseph on their way down and told them we’d meet them at the next hike. Mel and I ate at the glacier and then drove through the middle of the island past two scenic lakes to get to a hike called Blue Pools.

Our timing was off so we ran into our friends leaving as we were arriving at the trailhead, but it was a pretty short hike with swimming at the end so we decided it was worth it to do it. There was a bridge about 40 feet up at the end that Mel and I were going to jump off. We got cold feet (literally) up there and were on the edge of the bridge for about ten minutes before I finally went for it. It was really scary but refreshing and exhilarating.

We spent the night at the campsite across the street from the hike and hung out with our friends and played some taps with a volleyball. Mel and I had pasta and wine for dinner and it was lovely.

The next morning, Mel and I did Fox Glacier South Side hike on our own since our friends were doing an awfully steep and grueling hike. Our trail was more of a leisurely walk and it had some decent views of a glacier.

We stopped in town after to get some drinks and meat pies before having a picnic lunch at Lake Matheson. We walked a bit around the lake before swimming in the lake at the McDonald/Otto campground with our friends. We drank some beers, made grilled cheese for dinner, and played a card game called golf at night. This felt like one of the first days we had a lot of time at the campsite, and it was nice to have some time just hanging out with each other after the hiking.

The next day we got coffees in the small town of Franz Josef and did a couple short and sweet hikes at the Franz Josef glacier. We drove a couple hours afterwards to Hokitika Gorge Hike where we cliff jumped and swam for an hour. The jump wasn’t as high as the bridge at Blue Pools but it was enough to be thrilling. The water was a gorgeous blue and the gorge was stunning.

We did one last small hike at the end of the day called Devil’s Punchbowl in Arthur’s Pass that ended with a view of a pretty waterfall. Mel and I made a big, delicious Mexican dinner and we all played three hours of the golf card game in the yurt at the campsite.

The next day Mel and I drove several hours back to Christchurch and met Jenna at New Brighton beach pier. We played a fun volleyball game and swam in the afternoon. We considered surfing but the waves looked crumbly, which isn’t ideal for riding them.

The beach was nice and Mel and I finally used our solar shower bag afterwards to take a warm shower and get clean. Then we hung out with Jenna in Christchurch and got cocktails at a fancy hotel and drinks and food at an Irish pub with live music. We shared some shared cauliflower bites and then made our own dinner of grilled cheese at the campervan and ate on the sidewalk of the city. It was a funny scene, eating our food on the side of a popular street in the city. Surprisingly, though, there wasn’t much activity in the city for it only being 8 or 9pm.

At night, we met Andrew, Kip, and Joseph at a bar for one last round of drinks before saying goodbyes, since Jenna was flying out the next night and our other friends had an ambitious agenda with lots of driving that Mel and I didn’t want to do. It was an amazing trip and I’m really glad I got to see my Hawai'i friends there.

Mel and I drove north to the town of Kaikoura the next day. We did a walk around the seal colony and saw dozens of seals but no dolphins sadly. The walk was pleasant and a good way to see the nature.

We had lunch at the car and then went into town. The town was cute; there was one main road with several restaurants, bars, and clothing stores. We didn’t have much of an agenda so we got some ice cream and then happy hour drinks at a beer garden and played Jenga. We checked out the beach afterwards and took some cheeky mid-afternoon naps on the beach. We hadn’t planned to but once we lied down we realized how tired we were and the rocks were warm and surprisingly comfortable so we dozed off a bit to the sound of the ocean. We parked in a lot nearby and made more grilled cheese and soup for dinner and enjoyed it with some drinks. The camping spot was really nice since we were right by the beach, so we stayed up late and enjoyed the ocean and open air.

The next morning we watched the sunrise from the back of our campervan, since it had finally been warm enough to set up the awning. The sunrise over the ocean was a serene way to start the day. Unfortunately, we got a ticket for illegally parking/camping. Fortunately, I talked to a woman in the town council who helped me appeal the ticket, since Mel and I were unaware we were camping illegally because the signs were hidden in the back corner of the parking lot. After some back and forth over email, the town agreed to change the fine to a warning, which was nice since it would have been a $200 NZD ticket. We spent the rest of the morning mailing some postcards and getting coffee before driving to Christchurch. We spent most of the afternoon in Hagley Park, a big grassy area with a pond and lots of bikers, joggers, dog walkers, and more.

We peppered a volleyball, practiced handstands, did yoga, played more volleyball, and relaxed. It was a lovely afternoon. At the car, we packed up our stuff and got meat pies and fries for dinner. We stayed at the campsite closest to the airport and had our dinner and our last couple drinks.

We woke up at 4am the next morning and I dropped Mel off at the airport before dropping the campervan off at the depot a mile away and walking to the airport for my flight. Mel was going to Australia and I was going to Wellington to explore the North Island of New Zealand.

South Island was so much fun and so beautiful to see. I did the math and found out I drove 2,887 kilometers (1,794 miles) and saw so much along the way. It was great seeing my friends and mixing up the travel to have some other people to hang out with for a couple weeks. I really appreciated their planning the trip and my not having to worry about figuring out what to do. I was just along for the ride and I had a blast.

I thought the campervan was an incredible way to see the South Island. The roads are windy at points but the driving is pretty easy and similar to America, except that Kiwis drive on the left and there are many more roundabouts. Even though it was peak season for tourism, I rarely saw too many vehicles on the road and traffic wasn’t an issue. Many of the vehicles I saw throughout my time there were other campervans since they’re a great way to access the more remote parts of the country, where there are usually a few campgrounds but very limited accommodations. The South Island alone is nearly as large as Florida, but it’s sparsely populated with only 1.2 million residents. In almost all parts of the South Island, the highway had just two lanes, one going in each direction. Every ten kilometers or so there would be a passing lane where faster vehicles could pass. Sometimes the road was straight enough that overtaking without the passing lanes was possible, but in many places it’s too curvy and hilly to overtake. Even around the cities in the South Island, the roads typically only expanded to have two lanes going in each direction. I liked the minimalist highway system they had. Especially in the more beautiful and remote parts of the country, I felt like they’d done a good job preventing the road from scarring the land and taking away from the natural beauty. The road provided its function without becoming a blemish on the land.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in South Island and getting to see most of the country. If I’d had another week or so, I probably would’ve tried to see the city of Dunedin in the south, and Abel Tasman National Park and the French Pass in the north. Traveling by campervan was a surreal experience and it exceeded all my expectations. That’s all on the South Island, thanks for reading!