New Zealand’s South Island—Beauty on Steroids

At Abel Tasman National Park near Nelson

 If we had a dash cam, it still wouldn’t have conveyed the stunning South Island of New Zealand. It would miss the delightful smells, bird sounds, the weather on our skin, rocks beneath our feet, the taste of our meals, and above all, the delightful interactions we had with everyone we encountered. (Yes, Everyone.)

A lot of long and winding roads with stunning beauty.

We’re wrapping up over two and a half weeks and 1500+ miles of a road trip on the South Island. Our words and photos can’t really convey the whole wonderful experience. We loved nearly all of it, except for some of the long driving on tortuous roads on stormy days, a couple of bad beds, and one experience that now makes for a good story. More about that later.

Paparoa NP, aka Pancake Rocks NP in the NW

We can’t speak for the North Island yet, but everyone has told us the two islands are totally different. The southern island is more wild, mountainous,   non-industrialized, and sparsely populated with only 25% of the country’s population.

It really wasn’t until our last few days when we got to the east coast and the more populated parts of the island that we met local Kiwis in the service industry. The remote areas were staffed almost entirely by guest workers on three-month to three-year visas, mostly from Asia, Canada, and the UK. 

Lake Matheson, near Fox Glacier Village on Day 5

We loved visiting with nearly everyone we encountered, and to a person, they seemed eager to visit with us if circumstances permitted. Some were homesick and lonely, some were here for the adventure, and some were hoping to get permanent residency here. 

New Zealand is a first world country with second world prices. Cheap for us, and better wages than many would get at home. 

Now onto the road trip. Some quirky fun facts that don’t fit this narrative are at the bottom. 

We started off in Christchurch, the largest South Island city with a population of about 408,000. The Quake City Museum about the devastating 2012 earthquake was a real eye opener for us and a reminder to update our earthquake kit when we get home. We took a scenic train to the west coast where we rented a Hybrid Toyota RAV 4.

One of many on the South Island

We purchased rain parkas, plugged in our iPod touch fully loaded to the max with all genres of music, and proceeded along the route you can see on the map. On one day, we crossed about 30 one- lane bridges.

We adapted quickly to roundabouts and driving on the left side of the road. Only problem was, nearly every time we wanted to signal a turn, we would activate the windshield wipers. And everytime we wanted to wash the windshield we signaled a turn. (We’re better at it now, fortunately!)

And for us hikers as well

We are so glad we didn’t do the popular thing and rent a campervan. As it was, our small suv seemed too large for the road at times. Campervans here come in all shapes and sizes. The bigger ones are slightly larger than the so-called sprinter vans in the States. The smaller ones are basically small minivans. Here’s a link to about 14 photos of them. 

We would have been so miserable and claustrophobic for 34 days in the rain and wind we initially

Laundry day

encountered. Plus finding campsites is hard now in the summer.

But no matter the weather, the scenery was always beautiful, if not stunning. The weather gradually improved after the first week, but near the end of our trip, a wind gust 

at Mt. Cook National Park ripped the car door handle from my hand and nearly sheared off the door. A kind Chinese clerk at the park HQ that we had befriended hours earlier, discreetly gave us lanyards reserved for tours. 

Along with a long cell phone charging cord, we lashed the door almost shut to make the noisy 6.5 hour drive to Christchruch. There, a friendly rental agent gave us a blue-colored replica of our vehicle, no questions asked. The Kiwis here are so polite, friendly, and laid back. And they are mostly very polite and safe drivers, too.

 

on a bike ride near Wakanda. This area is at the 45th
Parallel, so we say many similar plants and enjoyed
Pinots and Chardonnay’s.

The so-called “Instagram Tree” in Lake
Wanaka. It started growing out of a
Fencepost in 1930

But it wasn’t all about driving. We traveled by boat, hiked and mountain biked, but our gonzo days of those activities are past us. Watching the bungee jumpers, surfers, backpackers, and long-distance cyclists made us feel old, but we are grateful we can still travel independently and experience this magnificent place. 

The spectacular Milford Sound in the SE.
It gets 17 FEET of rain per year. We hit it on
One of only 100 days of no rain.

We watched whales, albatross, penguins and many other unique birds. We had some great seafood and ethnic dishes, tasted good pinots and ok grapefruit juice (aka sauvignon blanc) in wine country, and played rounds of cribbage together.  Above all, we enjoyed conversations with locals, fellow travelers, and of course, the guest workers.

The Tasman Glacier and Mt. Cook, just before 
The door incident.

We will miss this amazing island and the experiences we had on it. But if the North Island, with all of its differences, is even half as good as the South, we will be delighted. 

A 45’ Sperm Whale near 
Kaikoura

View from our BnB in the wine country
near Blenheim in the NE

More photos from posts on this trip are on my Instagram account @KelemenRon. Also on my public Facebook profile, which doesn’t require you to be a friend or on Facebook to view them. Enjoy!

”What We Can, While We Can”

”What We Could, While We Could”

Waiting for the Little Blue Penguins to come home from a day at sea to feed their young. 
Near Dunedin in the SE

Odds and Ends (Some or all of these may also apply to the North Island):

• NZ has 5X more sheep than people. 

• And the SouthIsland has more helicopters per capita than anywhere else in the world. This stems from the days of bounty hunting in the 70’s for deer, considered an invasive species, and also because hospitals are few and far between.
  

• And speaking of invasive species, rabbits, possums, ferrets, rats, mice, dogs, cats and even Douglas Fir trees (yes, Douglas Fir!) are also considered invasive. 

• Good news: There are no big predator mammals, snakes or crocodiles. The only native mammals are bats.

• There’s basically no disposable plastic here.  Recycling is everywhere and taken seriously. Even the electronic door keys to hotel rooms are made of wood.

• NZ was first nation to give women the right to vote in 1893.

• NZ has $1 and $10 commemorative coins featuring hobbits.

• Drones are prohibited nearly everywhere to avoid ruining the views of visitors, the harassment of wildlife, and conflicts with helicopters.

• We never went to an ATM. NZ is Mostly cashless, but paradoxically often a 1-2% surcharge applies, even in places that don’t accept cash. Sometimes it applies only to “tap” transactions but not when a credit card is inserted. 

• The latest statistics are that 15% of New Zealanders have migrated to Australia, mostly for better job opportunities and higher pay.