Month: May 2016
South Island stop #3: Abel Tasman
We ended our tour of the South Island of New Zealand with a drive up the west coast to Takaka, near Abel Tasman National Park. The western coast is entirely different than the rest of the island, as all of the rain gets dumped there before it crosses the Southern Alps. The climate is more wet and warm; the area has a lot more palm trees and fewer conifer trees. We had hoped to see Franz Josef, a famous glacier that is quickly receding, but the day was so rainy and miserable that we had to stay indoors on our brief stop there.
South Island stop #2: Queenstown
So everyone that I talked to about Queenstown, where we stayed for the last 6 days, said that it was interesting and had a lot to do but was very tourist-y. I’d agree. But when you arrive you understand why. It’s surrounded by beautiful mountains on all sides, borders a sparkling blue lake, and is said to have one of the prettiest airport approaches in the world. The town reminded me a lot of Breckenridge in its classy, touristy, snow bunny vibe.
South Island stop #1: Mt Cook
On Saturday we packed up all our stuff in Christchurch, picked up our housesit family from the airport, watched a really sweet reunion with them and their happy dogs, and got our road trip podcasts and peanut butter cookies ready for a drive to our first stay in Twizel. It’s a small sleepy town of about 1200 people, but a great jumping off point into our first area: the Mackenzie District, with its beautiful lakes, Church of the Good Shepherd and iconic Mt Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand.