I left off with our hike to the Welcome flats. Inspecting our car after getting off the trail we sighed with relief. There were signs all over the parking lot warning us of the potential for Keas to damage our car. These alpine parrots are insatiably curious and destructive, known to rip up cars while the unsuspecting owners are on the trail. Thankfully our car was untouched!
Our next stop was to visit an ancient Kahikatea forest, a tree species that was almost completely logged away as New Zealand was colonized. The tall mossy trees were majestic and fairytale like!
Next began our drive through Mt. Aspiring National Park. By this time, we had really settled into the road tripping/camping life, enjoying our typical meals of cheese and apples, chaotic jumble of gear in the car, and jumping in rivers or lakes to get clean.
Entering Mt. Aspiring National Park
Secret waterfall hidden near the famous Fantail Falls
The exquisite Blue Holes, they were icy cold! We jumped in only to jump right out!
Exiting Mt. Aspiring National Park we arrived in Queenstown. It was super busy and packed with tourists. After the serenity of nature we experienced the last weeks all the hustle and bustle was very overwhelming, but we were very excited to have lattes!
Thankfully we found a quiet campground outside the city where we could rest after fighting our way through the crowds to restock on food and supplies for the next leg of our trip: Milford Sound. Rudyard Kipling notably called this beautiful area the 8th wonder of the world!
We had surprisingly sunny weather for the 5 days we camped here, Milford Sound being known as one of the rainiest areas in the world, it rains nearly 200 days per year!
We were able to catch one of the Milford Sound cruises and explore the underwater observatory. The water in Milford is full of tannins that make the water very dark, which mimics a deep-sea environment, allowing for observation of specials normally only seen at 50 meters at just 10 meters deep.
Milford sound is also where are camping mat met its end…we meticulously patched the first leak it sprung, only for it to have 2 more the next day, which we also patched. Thinking all was well after a night of good sleep and our mat not deflating at all, we were surprised to wake up the next day on the ground. This time when we poured the soapy water all over our mat, we found not 2, not 4, but 10 new holes! And we still had another couple weeks of camping before our house-sitting job started.
Thankfully, the camping mat company was sending us a new mat, unfortunately it wouldn't arrive till we were done with our road trip. So leaving Milford Sound took us back up through Queenstown where we picked up some gear glue. Settling into a Holiday park in Wanaka, we covered our entire mat with glue. It worked like magic!
The Wanaka Tree
Leaving Wanaka, we made our way to Mt. Cook national park.
After Mt. Cook, we went to Akaroa, which I failed to take pictures of, and after Akaroa, to Castle Hill (a Narnia film location)
After Castle Hill, we made it to the Pancake rocks in Paparoa National Park, our last destination of our great South Island tour!
Amazing pictures and adventures...I'm a "little" jealous...in a good way. Mom and I are looking forward to seeing you both again...at least briefly before we head off to Georgia (where you are presently) for 3 weeks. Praying for you both. Keep taking those "roads less traveled".
Awesome...so happy for you. I remember your first introduction near the fountain here at BC and now look at you.