Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Full Itinerary - With Limited Commentary

2 Week New Zealand Itinerary
August 22-September 5, 2018


*Use the sidebar to navigate or you can click on each date to redirect you to the daily posting*
*Also, if you are viewing on a computer, click on the pictures to make them bigger!*
*Also, also - I did zero editing. So if errors are driving you crazy, feel free to send me an email with all of your corrections....I know 'you people' are out there*

August 22 
  • Depart Honolulu for New Zealand (Air New Zealand)

 August 23

 August 24
  • Depart Auckland for Christchurch, NZ (Jetstar)
  • Accommodations:
  • Food:
  • Activity:
  • Food:
    • Greedy Cow - Start your day off with a Flat White (and some WiFi)
    • Doughbough - Meat Pies and Bagel Sandwiches - and so many cakes to choose from
    • Reflections -  Great Choices for dinner - make reservations as they fill up fast and almost couldn't seat us
    • Lake Tekapo Tavern - Chips are good! Didn't eat here but it has good reviews - open later than most places we saw 
  • Accommodations:

  • Drive from Lake Pukaki to Wanaka (2 hours - 170km)
  • Activity:
    • Wanaka Tree - You can't got to Wanaka and not see the tree (be basic)
  • Food:
    • Lake Bar - Amazing Mulled Wine, Gorgeous Outdoor Views, Great Lunch
    • Urban Grind - Coffee and Restaurant looks very cute as well - didn't eat
  • Accommodations:
    • Wanaka Kiwi Holiday Park - Close to town, Heated bathroom floors, swings, hot tub, comfortable indoor common area, shuttle into town
  • Activity:
  • Food:
    • Wanaka Speight's Ale House - Cobbler. Just get cobbler, who needs dinner. 
    • Francesca's - We didn't actually eat here but if you want to, make sure to make a reservation - actually, make a reservation everywhere. 
    • Cork - Late night drinks (Ashley's Favorite Thing Ever)
  • Accommodations:
    • Wanaka Kiwi Holiday Park - Close to town, Heated bathroom floors, swings, hot tub, comfortable indoor common area, shuttle into town

August 28

  • Long Way Around Drive from Wanaka to Queenstown (1.5 hours / 110km)
  • Activity:
    • Skyline Queenstown - Gondola ride with birds eye view of the city. Tourist trap - but we're tourists.
  • Food:
    • Meat Pies - Just eat each and every one you see
    • Ivy & Lola's - We only had a light lunch, but I have been told everything is amazing
    • Fergberger - The Southern Hemisphere's Best Burger - maybe. 
    • Surreal - Quaint bar - potential turns into dance club, karaoke bar or open mic night
  • Accommodations:
  • Activity:
    • Cardrona Alpine Resort - Great little resort. Prices were reasonable and if you are there in winter it's worth the detour for a day
    • Real Journey - Tour company the holiday park booked us through
  • Food:
    • Captain's Cafe - Lodge on the slopes of Cardrona where the Disney medleys flow like water
    • Roaring Megs Restaurant - Super good meal. Known for their award winning lamb dishes and the cobbler was also superb. 
    • Pog Mahone's - Fun Irish Pub. Good for rowdy bunches. 
  • Accommodations:
  • Queenstown to Fiordland National Park (2.5 hours/220km)
  • Activity:
    • Shotover Jet Tour - Looks far scarier than it really is - lots of fun and worth the thrill! 
  • Food:
    • Joe's Garage - Come hungry - you'll eat multiple meals of your own and others
    • The Ranch - Country feel - the normal favorites for lunch
  • Accommodations:
  • Mackay Creek Campsite to Milford Sound (1 hour/60km -- will take you double stopping to take photos)
  • Activity:
    • Mirror Lake Walk - Short super easy stroll - see if you can catch a mirror view
    • Chasm Walk - Another easy, short walk through water sculpted rocks 
    • Milford Sound - Have your camera ready! I think every day brings a new photo opp
  • Food:
    • Good ole noodles and cooking - although the lodge we stayed at does have a little restaurant
  • Accommodations:
    • Milford Lodge - Range of cabins, rooms, and RV hookups. Lots of Kea's to entertain you and try and steal your stuff
September 1
  • Milford Sound to Crown Range Road (4 hours // 300 km)
  • Activity:
  • Food:
    • Pio Pio Cafe - Ian & Lauren grabbed some breakfast to go pre-kayak and it looked great!
    • Gas Station Meat Pies
    • Wonderful Lamb by Emily
  • Accommodations:
    • Crown Range Road - Never thought I would sleep up here but it was where the RV decided to stop for the night

September 2
  • Wanaka to Fox (3.5 hours // 260 km)
  • Activity:
  • Food:
    • Alchemy - Great for a big breakfast if you want it - might even see Chloe Kim
    • Cook Saddle - Bar food - great cobbler
  • Accommodations:
    • Gillespie Beach Camping - I could see this place getting super crowded in the busy season but ample parking and restrooms where you may be greeted by a sheep
  • Fox to Lake Mahinapua (2 hours, 150 km)
  • Activity:
    • Fox Glacier Heli-Hike - Helicopter up to Fox Glacier and guided 3 hours hike (just pull the trigger and do it)
  • Food:
  • Accommodations:
  • Hokitika Gorge to Hamner Springs (4 hours, 280 km)
  • Activity:
  • Food:
    • No. 31 - We didn't actually end up eating here (see blog) but Em & Jason said it's amazing
    • O'Flynn's - Pub food to the rescue!
  • Accommodations:
September 5
  • Hamner Springs to Christchurch (1.5 hours, 130km) -- thanks Jason =)
  • Activity:
    • Home to Honolulu by way of Christchurch to Auckland to Honolulu
  • Food:
  • Accommodations:
    • Auckland Airport 12 hour layover 


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Wednesday, September 5, 2018

DAY 14 - Hamner Springs to Honolulu

September 5, 2018

 So what had happened was...apparently when we booked our return trip from Christchurch to Auckland, we booked it for like 8AM. This put a little wrench in our plans because we were almost 2 hours away from the airport.

Jason, being the trooper that he is, agreed to wake up at 4:30AM in order to get us from Hamner Springs down to the Christchurch airport. Seeing as I am also an early bird, I woke up with him and jumped in the front seat for our last drive in New Zealand. I did my best to stay awake, but dozed in and out as we chatted about the rest of the trip him and Emily would be continuing on with...sorry Jason.

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to grab a meat pie and some coffee before our first flight from Christchurch to Auckland. Domestic flights are so funny here - you basically just walk right through "security" without showing a boarding pass or anything. As previously mentioned, the flight from Christchurch to Auckland is about an hour and a half so not bad at all.

Once landed in Auckland around 9:30AM, we grabbed our bags and walked from the domestic to the international terminal and checked in the for our next flight about 12 hours early to get rid of our luggage. So for the next 12 hours, we shopped for postcards and trinkets and found a cool little bar/restaurant called Glampground Bar & Kitchen that we crashed at for a bit while we used our limited internet to check in with family and charged our phones before feeling guilty for being squatters so we ordered some fish & chips and a few drinks. We honestly crashed here for 3 hours or so until it was time to move along.



The rest of our layover was reserved for postcard writing, betting the purchase of meat pies on poker hands and just sitting around. It was finally time to walk to our gate where we met up with Lauren and Ian who had been on a wine tour all day. The flight left Auckland at 8:50PM on Wednesday night and my favorite part of this whole post is that we landed at 7:00AM in Honolulu on...wait for it...WEDNESDAY MORNING! So long post short, I got to live September 5th twice.



Overall, an AMAZING trip that I highly recommend. More than happy to answer any questions if anyone has any! Until then #DREAMBIG
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Tuesday, September 4, 2018

DAY 13 - Hokitika to Hamner Springs

September 4, 2018

 Last day of adventure! Continuing the trend of waking up in weird places, today our natural habitat was on the lake! I went out early to check out the landscape and Andrew was close behind with the drone getting some pretty cool shots - always mountains included. We had a decent day of driving so we all munched on cereal and then hit the road for Hokitika Gorge.



Today was the day I had promised the boys I would polar bear plunge. Andrew had done two, Jason had done one and Ashley had done zero and Emily had never agreed to the challenge. The drive to the gorge was about an hour through backroads and the cute little town of Hokitika. When we finally made it to the small parking lot, I was already geared up in my swimwear and anything else that I would need after the jump into the water.

We made our way down the path (all downhill) into the gorge. It is probably less than half a mile into the gorge through the woods and then it finally opens up to a bridge over incredible turquoise water. We continued to wind around until we came to a viewing deck where you could scurry down the rocks to get to the water.




We climbed the big rocks for a bit and then realized we were under serious attack by sand flies so we were going to have to make this quick. Before I was even down from the rock, Andrew had already jumped in, and then Jason, and finally I made my way to the jumping rock and took my polar plunge. I hadn't seen them get out of the water so I had no clue where I was doggy paddling to exit breathless and a bit chilly.

It honestly wasn't horrible and the surrounding gorge was holding off most of the wind, but the sand flies. Oh my goodness...the sandflies. By the time I got out of the water, they had gone full attack mode and my legs and back were polka dotted black by the patches of them that were thirsty for a snack. Trying to swat them off and put clothes on at the same time was tough and we all just took off running for higher ground.



Success!

From where we had parked, there were not many more hiking trails so we opted to hit the road and park by a cow field on our way out of the gorge to make grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. We had a long drive ahead from the gorge to Hamner Springs so we finished lunch and got a move on. For the first 2 hours, Andrew and I chilled in the back and played cards as we cruised the coast and then the last 1.5 Andrew drove and I again sat up front and entertained him with my singing and poor taste in music.







The rain had returned but the cliffs and valleys we were driving through were still from out of a storybook. When we arrived in Hamner Springs, we got a spot a the Top 10 Holiday Park and threw in some laundry while we had a little bit of time. Once laundry was done, we made our way over to the Hamner Spring Thermal Pools.

The pools consist of about 10 different areas that have different temperature and types of pools. Some are hotter than others, some have different minerals or healing qualities and some are lazy rivers. We were there at night so it was fairly quite but a welcomed change from the freezing, fly infested waters we had jumped in earlier.

We spent maybe an hour and a half at the hot springs and then made our way back to the RV to shower up for dinner. Emily and Jason had been to No. 31 last time they were here and got us pumped about the amazing menu. We hadn't eaten a ton that day so our last supper was bound to be a good one. Online, No. 31 said the restaurant was open until late so we were in no rush. However, when we walked in around 9PM, the lady behind the bar looked at us confused and said the kitchen had been closed for an hour and only their bar was open until late. Rats! Google failed us!

We went into survival mode and started running into every bar and restaurant we could find looking for a kitchen that was still open. With little luck, the only edible salvation was some pub chips and garlic bread at the Irish Pub, O'Flynn's. A bit thrown off guard, we ate our appetizers a bit defeated but figured at least we had food!

Andrew and I walked back to the RV early to pack up all of our belongings so we were ready to roll bright and early.
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Monday, September 3, 2018

DAY 12 - Fox Glacier Heli-Hike

September 3, 2018

 Wake up cliffside one day and beachside the next - that's sort of the trend we had going when it comes to freedom camping. I woke up pretty easy because I knew we were at the beach but hadn't seen it yet so I grabbed my camera and scampered outside. The makeup of the shore was smooth, gray pebbles or rocks. As told, every day brings something new in New Zealand that really takes your breath away. What did it for me today was the sight seen once I turned around on the beach to head back to the RV - you can see the mountains from the beach! I don't know why I was so blown away by this.






Back at the RV Andrew was awake and breaking out the drone so we went back to the beach for a bit to judge the waves coming in and then found a little nature trail with a bunch of old dredging equipment that started right in our parking lot. Even though we read signs, googled, and looked at pictures and old equipment, neither of us really understand what the purpose of suction dredging is - but made for some cool photos.




We were under attack by sandflies again as the sun rose higher so we retreated inside where Emily was whipping up sausage, eggs and toast before our big adventure of the day. Knowing we had a longer drive we needed to navigate back to Fox, we left with plenty of time to allow for any potential sheep crossings. Once at the Fox Glacier Guiding Tour meet up, we grabbed a few flat whites and then moved into our security briefing.


One of the cool things about the other people on our tour is that they were from EVERYWHERE. We went around the room and it was full of people from China, America, Japan, Thailand, England, Canada, Australia and Korea. We were given a briefing on helicopter safety and glacier safety and then given boots, socks, pants and jackets we could change into if we needed any gear.





We hoped on buses that took us down and around the corner to the helipad where they weighed our groups to determine which load we would be in. Emily and I got stamps on our hands that meant we were allowed to ride up front in the helicopter -- poor pilot had to deal with all of my overly excited antics. I don't think I have been in a helicopter many times in my life so this was awesome. With the boys sitting behind us along with a couple from Tokyo, we took off into the wild and headed towards the glacier. The views were incredible - such a different view point than from the ground.








We landed ON the glacier (sidebar: Everyone in New Zealand pronounced "glacier" like "Glaaay-C-er" so every time I type it I hear that pronunciation) - back to the glacier. Once off the helicopter, we met up with our guide Bex and broke into two groups. Bex gave us crampons and taught us how to put them on along with a walking pole. Our group had our 4, the two from Tokyo, a couple from England and three girls from Thailand who were HILARIOUS.



Once geared up, our tour started down the glacier path that Bex continued to "trim" with her axe. As we walked on the glacier, we stopped to look at different formations like bridges, streams and crevasses. The glacier moves and changes daily so every trip is different. We got to one stream we were able to fill up our water bottles from and it was the most refreshing water we will ever drink. We also had a ice slide we got to go down and a few ice tunnels we got to scamper through.





Scamper is putting it nicely because when you have big metal ice talons on your feet, you are doing everything possible to not stab yourself and also stay upright. Long story short, I have a few bruises from poor penguin waddling through tunnels. The trio from Thailand took the best photos ever - they never had to coordinate or talk about it they just had this instinct that any time one of them put their camera up, the other two had coordinated poses or movements to go with it. I don't know if the glacier or the girls were more entertaining.















About 3 hours of exploring later, we made our way back to the glacier helipad and waited for our ride. It is so surreal chilling on a glacier and out of no where pops this big red flying bird that just drops out of the sky. And then you walk briskly, head down, to the chopper and hop on like your bus has just arrived at the station. Casual. The flight down was just as cool as the flight up - but at one point the pilot dropped us surprisingly fast likely just to laugh at the "whoops and hollers".



Back into Fox we went to return our shoes and get some much needed late lunch. Bex recommended pizza across the street at Cafe Neve and she could have recommended worms and we would have eaten them. We ordered two pizzas and then while we waited for those, I entertained the man behind the counter with my detailed, meticulous decision making process at the dessert counter. He was very patient as I scanned the carrot cakes, tan bars, chocolate bars, coconut bars yet never making a decision until after we ate our pizza -- what?? a girl needs to think! While we were eating pizza suddenly all of the staff ran outside and there was a double rainbow up over the cafe - pretty cool!



Emily went and grabbed some groceries to hold us over for the last few nights and then I snuck in behind her and got some candy as well. It was around 5pm or so as we continued our trek north towards Hokitka. We had driven for about an hour or so when we briefly stopped at sunset along the Whataroa River thinking we would camp for the night. After a few minutes, we opted to continue driving further north to cut down on the drive time in the AM. So, we buckled down again and drove about another hour a camp site at Lake Mahinapua.



I don't think I've mentioned this yet, but the fridge in our RV is a haunted mess. Out of nowhere while driving it will just open throwing food everywhere. Being the engineer that I am, we learned the best way to attempt to keep it closed is to wedge a certain part of my boot under the door. (Sidenote: Emily texted me a few days after we had left and said the door finally completely fell off).

Once we arrived, it was very dark and we couldn't really tell what we were around so we just parked the RV near a few others for the night. Because it was so dark, the stars were incredible. Jason is really good with a camera so he took mine and set it up outside to show me that I could take cool pictures too! We spent probably an hour or so outside coming up with creative ways to mess with the lighting, shutter speed and all of that fancy stuff I'm saying wrong. The Milky Way shots were the coolest!






Once done playing, we went inside to look at all of the photos and then a bit exhausted from a late lunch and all day glacier hike, we ended up just eating noodles for dinner. Because they are our favorite =)


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Sunday, September 2, 2018

DAY 11 - Wanaka to Fox

September 2, 2018

 Waking up on the side of a cliff is one thing, but waking up surrounded by tourists out all windows on the side of a cliff? Now thats an experience. We opted to get out of that odd scenario by just hitting the road. Low and behold, we were less than 25 minutes from Wanaka - which explains why when we were there last the grocery store and town was crawling with people all in their ski gear. Makes sense now...




So back into Wanaka we ventured seeking after a good breakfast. As always, we really just stopped at the first place we saw that had a decent menu, a decent crowd and an open table. The Alchemy seemed like your local hot spot for coffee but we were hungry. A nearby eater had a mixed plate of food called the "local plate" which consisted of eggs, sausage, baked beans, mushrooms, potato puffs and bacon and I immediately said yes. The Auburn game was on but we only had Andrew's phone to watch the score updates so that is what we did at breakfast.





A squad of snowboarders wandered in not long after we had gotten our food and we all felt a bit of familiarity to them. We carried on eating until out of nowhere Andrew proclaims "I knew it!" and shows us his phone -- one of the girls from that group eating nearby was Chloe Kim! The 17 year old American olympic gold medalist! How cool!? I had my back to her so I did not take any stalker photos but you'll just have to believe me.

We had a longish drive up to our next stop so we decided to head along in the RV. For the first time in the 11 days of this trip, we got a bit of ugly, gray, rainy weather. It wasn't an issue since we were driving, but we had wanted to stop at the Blue Pools to do a polar bear plunge into the water. Once we got to the parking lot for the area about an hour north of Wanaka, we sat in the RV looking out at both the rain and the sign that said "30 minute walk to pools" and make an executive decision to pass on this adventure. Nobody was feeling the urge to spend so much time cold and wet. So we carried on.

Lucky for us, there were several cool falls with short walks along the way like Fantail Falls and then finally hit the coast and stopped at Knight's Point that looked out over the Tasman Sea. We continued along the winding coastal mountain road for another hour until landing in the small town of Fox. When we got to Fox, we did a little counter hopping around the different helicopter hike locations trying to get the best deal. Undecided, we went over to grab a late lunch at Cook Saddle to discuss and breakdown what a later heli-hike would mean for the last few days of our trip.






Cook Saddle had a nice selection of food - I wasn't super hungry (and really wanted cobbler) so I just split chowder and fish and chips with Andrew -- and then got cobbler and did not share. We decided on a 11:30AM heli-hike up to Fox Glacier and went and booked it with the tour company and then went off to do a little exploring.



Looking for a well know swing bridge, we ended up at the end of a glacier lookout road that had a couple lakes at the bottom. Before I knew it, the boys were scurrying down the hillside in towels and went right in the water one at a time, unable to breath on the way out. Emily was filming and didn't catch all of round one so she nicely asked them to plunge back in again. Poor guys! But they did it! I was not about the peer pressure life and decided I would wait until a non-rainy day.




On the way back we found the swing bridge and then went to hang out at the RV until it got a little darker so we could go see the glowworms. So my god parents, the Walkers, had come over to my house in St. Louis for dinner and brought all sorts of maps and reading materials before I left for Hawaii. They were excited about my trip and knew I didn't have a ton of control over the itinerary but told me that I HAD to see the glow worms. Then suddenly - we found a place by not even trying!




We wandered the Minnehaha glow worm trail with head lamps and flashlights until we found the magical little creatures. The glowworms up close look like tiny dangling chandeliers that wiggle when you put a light on them. But without any light, they look like thousands of little stars in the trees and between rocks. They are super cool! We stopped to attempt a few photos but per usual the boys went up ahead leaving Emily and I to find our way back to the RV in the dark.



Excited to have checked that off my list (thanks Walkers!), we headed towards camp for the night which was down a pretty secluded road for 30 minutes or so that ended at the beach! There were several other RVs at the Gillespie Beach Camp Site when we arrived but it wasn't an issue as it was raining and we weren't setting up any camp outside. Walking to the bathroom, I was startled by a random sheep or two coming out of the brush. In most camping situations you think bears or raccoons or deer but nope -- just sheep.

Emily made dinner, per usual (what an angel), of pasta and garlic bread, while the rest of us got into a heated dual of gin. This is not a group where anyone likes losing card games. Knowing we had another full day ahead, we called it a somewhat early night excited for our helicopter tomorrow!
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