Our group consisted of one Aussie, one Swedish, and one American. Our Swedish mate had to leave once we hit the north island and was exchanged for my friend Emma, from Aussie. I met everyone, besides my friend Emma, on Couchsurfing. I was going to be on the road for a total of six weeks. Splitting up my trip about half and half on each island of New Zealand.
Queenstown
This is where our adventure started. We flew in with the plan to buy a car. This was not an easy task, as we learned the hard way. After a couple days of staying in a hostel, we were able to find van within our price range. While here, we picked up a German hitchhiker for a bit. Him and my travel partner, Pepper (the Aussie), met some locals who owned a couple businesses in Queenstown.
Milford Sound
This was an absolutely stunning place. Image going down a fjord where there are constant waterfalls streaming on each side. Here we took a cruise that slowly went through Milford Sound. As you cruise down slowly, you can see small trickles of water coming down the sides of the mountains and in some places, rushing waterfalls.
Fox Glacier
Fox Glacier was my first contact ever with a glacier.Located inTai Poutini National Park, here we hiked up a little bit and met some Italians that traveled with us a bit. They were pretty fun ladies.
Christchurch
My absolute favorite city we visited in New Zeland. An earthquake took out this city four years before we got there and it was just not starting to be finished rebuilding. The first day we were there, they opened their train line again. The city had a strip that was completely built using shipping containers, which I thought was really cool. Apparently, they were all they had to makeshift offices, shops, restaurants and more. While here we also went to a Couchsurfing party at a doctor’s house. It was a lot of fun!
Able Tasman
This was probably my personal favorite our trip. Able Tasman is a National Park located on the South Island. Home of crystal clear beaches and traveling around on a water taxi from beach to beach. here we spent some time kayaking and doing a bit of cliff diving into the water.
