South Island, New Zealand Travel Log 3

Kia Ora friends! Welcome to my third travel log featuring my adventures visiting the South Island (Māori: Te Waipounamu) of New Zealand. 

A quick recap, if you haven't been following along...I just returned from traveling to New Zealand with my momma and second dad for an adventure-filled few weeks. We arrived in Christchurch a few days before meeting up with our tour group to hike the South Island for a couple weeks. There were eleven of us, plus one guide. We traveled daily in a Sprinter van to grand locations throughout the South Island and experienced some incredible trails, scenery and excursions.

Next up - one of the hikes I enjoyed the most - the Lake Matheson Circuit. Lake Matheson has views of Aoraki/Mount Cook and Mount Tasman and is nestled in forest. The views were breathtaking...and even with a little rain on our hike, it was memorable. After the hike we sipped coffee surrounded by the incredible views at the Matheson Café. We then drove to Ship Creek and enjoyed lunch and a short hike. We had to cancel our afternoon hike on the Blue Pools Track due to rain (visibility would not have been good)...so we headed to our next destination, the Edgewater Resort on Lake Wananka. After getting settled in, I decided to walk the Lake Edge Walking Track for several miles. I just had to visit one of the most photographed trees in the world (The Wanake Tree) and it did not disappoint - I took some wonderful photos (I even went back the following morning at sunrise to capture it again)! After my walk, it was time for dinner at the hotel.

The following day, I was awake super early to walk along the lake at sunrise - I *had to* photograph the Wanaka Tree a few more times. After breakfast at the hotel, we made our way to the marina to take a 35-minute Lake Wanaka boat cruise to hike Mou Waho Island wildlife reserve. This island was truly incredible...we hiked a very scenic track (with an extremely knowledgeable ecologist) that climbed to the top of Tyrwhitt Peak where we gazed upon Arethusa Pool (a small lake on the island, with more islands in it) and enjoyed "high" tea. At the top was a lovely view of Lake Matheson and all the surrounding mountains. We also got to meet the two native Weka (the Māori hen or woodhen - a flightless bird species of the rail family, endemic to New Zealand) named Sally and Wilson - who were quite friendly and photogenic. After our hike, our tour group planted a native tree on the island, before heading back to Wanaka for a fabulous lunch at Francesca's Italian Kitchen. We had a little extra time to explore the shops of Wanaka before driving to our next stop - Queenstown. Once in Queenstown, we checked into our next hotel before heading to dinner at Public Kitchen down on the waterfront. After dinner, I opted to walk back to the hotel on my own along the waterfront and through the Queenstown Gardens.

Again, I hope you are enjoying my photo journey of the South Island...I'm working to get it completed in a timely fashion, so we can get back to the creativity posts. I will be back very soon with my next travel log. Thank you for visiting!

South Island, New Zealand Travel Log 2

Mosaic Park - Hari Hari

Kia Ora friends! Welcome to my second travel log featuring my adventures visiting the South Island (Māori: Te Waipounamu) of New Zealand. 

After a couple days in Christchurch, we met up with our tour group to hike the South Island for a couple weeks. There were eleven of us, plus one guide. We traveled daily in a Sprinter van to grand locations throughout the South Island and experienced some incredible trails, scenery and excursions.

First, we drove through Arthur's Pass with spectacular views of the Southern Alps and made our way to the Devil's Punchbowl Walking Track. Here we hiked through beautiful native forest to stand at the base of the Devil's Punchbowl Falls. We then enjoyed lunch at the Bottle Store Café and made our way to the Pancake Rocks at Dolomite Point near Punakaiki. The Pancake Rocks are a heavily eroded limestone area where the sea bursts through several vertical blowholes - this was a lovely hike on a beautiful path. We then checked into the Ocean View Retreat (Punakaiki Resort), our accommodation for the next couple nights. This was an incredible resort, right on the beach and I had a breathtaking ocean view. Dinner at the hotel was also impressive and with a view...

Our two week hiking tour was off to a great start...but Mother Nature had a bit of a twist to add to our second day. On day two, we were supposed to explore the Nile River GlowWorm Caves and hike Paparoa National Park...but that is not exactly what happened. We arrived at the Nile River GlowWorm Caves, ready for a 4-Hour Nile River Cave and Tubing Adventure (wet suit and all)…but it was pouring rain and the river was unsafe for the tubing adventure, so we were told we would be doing the "dry tour." We were taken by van to the Nile River Rainforest Train which took us to a trail to the GlowWorm Caves...the rain had washed out some of the trail and we were taken on a new trail that was not complete yet...all in the pouring rain. We arrived to the caves appropriately soaked and muddy....only to find out it was too dangerous with the water levels to visit the bottom level of the cave where the glowworms reside....so, no glowworms. The remaining cave exploration was interesting - we explored passages of stalactites and stalagmites in a unique ancient multi-levelled cave system (headlamps and all). However, while we were exploring inside, the downpour continued outside and when we went to return to the train, parts of trail were underwater and completely washed away. The hike back was miserable - it was pouring rain and water and mud were deep - at one point we crossed an area where the water was chest high. Of course we were wearing our hiking gear and waterproof hiking boots...which were now completely soaked and filled with river water. I was happy we finally made it out in one piece, but there were definitely times I did not feel safe...this was not something I wanted to experience on a vacation! Afterwards, our hike in Paparoa National Park was cancelled and we spent what was left of the day drying out in our hotel rooms and trying to dry all our gear and hiking boots with hair dryers. We did have dinner at the Pancake Rocks Café and it was wonderful - fresh fish and chips. It was quite the day! I did get a few good photos...and I am including a photo Dan took of me, where my expression says it all (insert laughing face here) - this photo was taken before we hiked to the caves, I can't even imagine my expression after the hike back...

The following morning, we had breakfast at the hotel and packed up to head to our next destination. This was a banner day after chest-wading in the Nile River. Our first stop was Hokitika - where we had time to explore. We found a place to pick-up new inserts for my mom's hiking boots that were ruined the day before...then stopped at Kitchen for coffee (this was a great café and I had the best flat white coffee)...I took a photo of one of the food cases, as it was so pretty!). We then walked to the National Kiwi Centre, where we watched a kiwi feeding...and I fed the eels (really!). Our next quick stop was in Hari Hari for a restroom break - I opted to walk over to the artistic Mosaic Gardens and take a few photos. We reached our destination of Okarito just in time for lunch at the water...then we suited up for kayaking in the Okarito Lagoon. This was my first time kayaking and I must say, quite enjoyable. The lagoon is peaceful, with spectacular views of coastal wetlands - there was a lot of birdlife and our guides were quite knowledgeable. Next up, we headed to the Franz Josef Glacier Terminal Face Walk, where we had a scenic forest hike to a riverbank view of the glacier and waterfalls. Afterwards, we checked into the Scenic Hotel Franz Josef for the night, where we had a lovely dinner.

Fun display on the wall in Kitchen with the
evolution of cell phones.

I hope you are enjoying my photo journey of the South Island...I promise to get it completed in a timely fashion, so we can get back to the creativity posts. I will be back very soon with my next travel log. Thank you for visiting!