Seriously, Who Can Get Me a Job Here?? - New Zealand South Island

Let me start by saying that the South Island is absolutely amazing, my ideal place.  So much adventure to be had!

After a quick 3.5 hour ferry ride across the Cook Straight from Wellington on the North Island, we got to Picton on the South Island of New Zealand as the sun was setting.  The next day we headed toward Abel Tasman National Park on the Northeastern part of the island.  Along the way we stopped in Nelson to use the library's free wifi to figure out our plans and check out their beach.  Nelson is a big microbrewery spot but it was morning when we got there and we had a lot on the agenda that day so we didn't indulge.  Then we spent a couple hours in Kaiteriteri trail running and enjoying that beach.  On the way to our campsite for the night in Marahau we stopped at Split Apple Rock.

Random viewpoint along the way to Nelson

Split Apple Rock

The next day from Marahau we took an hour boat taxi to Bark Bay where we began a 20km hike back toward Marahau on the Abel Tasman Track.  This is one of New Zealand's "Great Walks", there are 9 total throughout the country.  The full track is a 3-5 day 60km hike so we just did one leg of it.  A relatively easy hike along the ocean with beautiful views the whole way.  It really would have been a great one to run.  After the hike we headed towards Buller Gorge swing bridge and the pancake rocks at Punakaiki on the west coast.

Anchorage Bay from the Abel Tasman Track

Pancake Rocks

Sunset on Punakaiki Beach

The following day we did the Bealey Spur Track and got some great views of Arthur's Pass National Park and then headed to the Franz Josef glacier.  The next morning we took a walk around Lake Matheson where you can see Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand, in the distance.  On a calm day you can get a picture with reflection of the mountain in the water, sadly there were ripples on the lake while we were there.

Bridge and valley viewpoint in Arthur's Pass National Park

Viewpoint from the Bealey Spur Track

Franz Josef Glacier

Lake Matheson with Mount Cook in the background.

Next up was Monro Beach where we saw cute little penguins diving in and out of the ocean and then we took a very scenic drive through Haast Pass, stopping at a few waterfalls and the Blue Pools before we made it to Lake Wanaka where we would be staying for a few days.

 Blue Pools

Our first day in Wanaka we intended to do the Isthmus Peak Track, however, upon arrival we were met by a "Closed for deer fawning" sign so we adjusted our plans and did the brutal hike up to Roy's Peak.  It was straight up for 2 hours but the views were well worth the effort!  This may be the hardest one we've done yet, but definitely one of my favorite hikes.  The way down took less than 30 minutes (I pretty much sprinted it).  After setting up activities for the next few days at the info site in town and jumping in the lake to cool off, we had a real meal for the first time in a long time at the Speight's Ale House.  Speights is the famous New Zealand beer.

 View from Roy's Peak

A van parked at the Roy's Peak hike - so true, Monday's are nothing when you're funemployed :)

3/4 of the way to the top of Roy's Peak.  Lake Wanaka in the background.

The next day we skydived over Lake Wanaka!  Afterwards, I did a mini hike up to Mount Iron for another view overlooking Lake Wanaka and wandered around town for a bit.  That evening we hiked up to Rocky Mountain for the sunset.  The following day Doug did a jetboat tour while I did a canyoning tour.  For those who don't know, canyoning is basically making your way down a waterfall/canyon via repelling or zip lining from ropes, jumping into pools of water, or sliding down rocks.

Skydiving over Wanaka

Lake Wanaka Beach

Enjoying sunset at Rocky Mountain summit with Mom :)

Next up was Queenstown, which is also known for it's endless amount of adventure sports and hiking.  Although we did not do it, mountain biking is very big here.  The first day in Queenstown we went bungee jumping!  New Zealand is where bungee jumping was invented and the owner of the company we did it with was the pioneer (along with a partner).  The jump was over a river, 134 meters (440 feet) high providing 9 seconds of free fall.  We loved it!  I had been before but that one was only 120 feet.  This was on a whole other level, you just keep falling and falling... and falling.  I think it's a bigger thrill than skydiving - obviously both are very very high in thrill level.  We got some pretty funny footage with the GoPros as well :)

The following day we hiked to the top of Ben Lomond peak, giving some great views of the surrounding mountains as well as Queenstown and Lake Wakatipu.

Top of Ben Lomond.  I-L-L... 

Top of Ben Lomond looking over Lake Wakatipu and Queenstown (on the left)

The next day we hiked up to Mount Arthur.  The cloudy day didn't reveal it's full potential but the view at the top was still impressive.

Top of Mount Arthur

We then made our way to the other side of the mountain range over by Te Anau to get closer to Milford Sound National Park.  We hiked to Lake Marian which ended up being one of our favorite hikes yet.  It took about an hour to get to, hiking through dense forrest, and then you start hearing waterfalls and voila! you arrive at a big clearing where all the glacial water has pooled up into a big beautiful lake.  There was nobody else there when we arrived, so it made it that much better.  It was a super hot and humid day so we took a dip in the freezing cold glacier water and swam out to a boulder that was sticking out of the water in the middle of the lake.  So refreshing!

Lake Marian

The following day we headed to the Milford Sound and did a kayaking tour in the morning.  It's actually a fjord, not a sound, the English apparently named it incorrectly.  As Milford received 8 meters (315 inches) of rainfall last year, we were quite lucky to get a partly cloudy day.  The fjord was awesome, very serene.  It reminded us of the fjords of Norway but I think I liked these better (maybe just because it was actually sunny).  

On our way out of Milford we stopped to do the Key Point Summit hike.  It starts out on the Routeburn Track which is one of the Great Walks and then turns off to take you to the summit.  From the top you can see Lake Marian, where we had hiked the day before, and we didn't realize how high in elevation we had been at!

Key Point Summit - Lake Marian is in that high valley on the left

That night we made our way south towards Invercargill.  We ended up camping at a golf course in a small town 30 minutes outside of Invercargill, and the people there were awesome.  It was Thursday night men's night and apparently the only night of the week that the club bar is open so they invited us up for a drink after they were done with their round.  I learned a lot about New Zealand talking to them and they loved talking about America and Trump.  It's funny how interested the rest of the world is in our politics, sometimes I think they know more about it than the majority of Americans.  The next day we did a long day of driving through the Southland hitting Catlins National Park, Cathedral Caves, Nugget Point lighthouse, Purakanui Falls, and McLean Falls, ending in Dunedin where we made our way up and down Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world at an average grade if 1/3.41 (or ~29%).  At times during this day I felt like we were back in Ireland!

Purakunui Falls 

 Nugget Point Lighthouse

McLean Falls

Baldwin Street - Steepest in the world

The next day we made a pit stop in Hampden to see 60 million year old Moeraki Boulders on the beach (definitely not worth it in my opinion) before heading to Mount Cook NP.  It poured rain the whole way so it was not a pleasant drive.  We were planning to do the Hooker Valley hike that day but it literally just rained and rained and the wind was gusting quite hard.  So we sat in the car for a few hours reading, hoping it would pass.  There was a lull in the rain so we put up our tent and then Doug went and did the hike, I started watching Lord of the Rings (the trilogy is filmed in NZ).  The wind was brutal though and did some damage to our tent.

Awesome rainbow during the short lull in rain 

Our tent from the comforts of our car (our heads would have been at the end that is smashed on the ground by the wind)

As you can see from the picture, the conditions were not favorable for camping and had me very close to sleeping in the car that night but we ended up moving the tent to a spot more protected by the trees and managed alright.  The next morning was supposed to be clear until 11am when another storm was going to come through and we had planned to do the Mueller Hut hike that day so I got up early and ran the Hooker Valley track and came back to do the Mueller Hut hike.  Both were very pretty.  Hooker Valley is quite flat and takes you to Hooker Lake at the base of Mount Cook.

Hooker Lake - Mount Cook on the right

 Mount Cook from midway up the Mueller Hut hike

Mueller Hut takes you up Mount Ollivier and gives an awesome view of Mount Cook and the surrounding mountains and valley.  It was a great hike too in that it was one of those that you don't realize how long you have been hiking for.  It was technical and involved walking/shoe skiing on snow once I got closer to the top.  The wind was still quite strong that day and even worse on the top of the mountain so not much time was spent up there.

Top of the Mueller Hut hike

We successfully avoided the incoming storm and left Mount Cook village to make our way towards Christchurch stopping at Lake Tekapo on the way.  The following day we had a long day of driving (luckily through gorgeous scenery).  We made it to Nelson Lakes NP around 6pm to do a (very steep) hike up to the summit of Mount Robert for some more amazing views and then arrived in Blenheim at the northern part of the South Island at 9pm.  As we were arriving in Blenheim, the sun set was one of the coolest I have ever seen.  The sky was a gradual rainbow.

Top of Mount Robert in Nelson Lakes National Park

Blenheim is in Marlborough which is the main wine country for New Zealand.  That next day we made our rounds for tastings.  A lot of the wineries give free tastings, others will charge ~$7.  All in all, we made it to 7 wineries - Cloudy Bay, Hans Herzog, Forrest, Fromm, Framingham, Spy Valley, and Villa Maria - paid about $25USD in total and were sufficiently intoxicated by the end of it.  The main wine of the region is Sauvignon Blanc but most wineries have a wide range of wines.  My favorites were the Arneis and Tempranillo from Hans Herzog, Sauvignon Blanc F Series and Chardonnay from Framingham, and the Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot and Malbec from Villa Maria.

Not your typical snooty wineries, very chill

Love it

Sadly our time on the South Island has come to a close.  I have a feeling I will be back...