NZ Overview and Itinerary

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This is just for those of you who have expressed interest in our itinerary...

We started and ended in Christchurch (L).

Day 1 - Drove from Christchurch (L) to Lake Tekapo, camped near Tekapo at Lake McGregor (B).
Days 2 & 3 - Drove from Lake McGregor (B) to Mt Cook (C), camped at White Horse Hill. Hiked Hooker Valley Track.
Days 4 & 5 - Drove to Wanaka (J). Hiked Rob Roy Glacier Valley Track. Rock climbed Hospital Flats. Camped at Mt Aspiring Holiday Park.
Days 6 & 7 - Went to Carrick Winery (E). Drove to Te Anau (F). Camped at Te Anau Lakeview Holiday Park. Took a day trip to Milford Sound (G).
Days 8, 9, & 10 - Drove to Glenorchy (H) and camped at Glenorchy Holiday Park. Spent a rainy day at Queenstown (I). Day-hiked the Routeburn Trail.
Days 11 & 12 - Drove to Wanaka (J) and camped again at Mt Aspiring Holiday Park. Hiked Roy's Peak.
Day 13 - Drove back to Lake Tekapo (K) and camped at Lake Tekapo Holiday Park.
Day 14 - Drove back to Christchurch (L). Stayed at Belmont B&B.
Day 15 - Caught an early flight back to Japan.

New Zealand Days 11&12 - Back to Wanaka, Roys Peak

To finish out our trip, we looped back through the Central Otago Wine Region and Wanaka.

Gibbston Valley Winery.

Wine tasting and lunch. Mmmm.

LEAVES! This entertained her throughout lunch.

Soaking up the beautiful spring weather before we go back to winter in Japan:)

 Our final hike in NZ was Roy's Peak just outside of Wanaka. We definitely saved the best for last.

We debated for a bit that morning on whether or not we should go. It was pretty rainy and windy. But we set out anyway. The hike was a series of switchbacks climbing first through privately owned sheep pastures, then topping out at 1578 meters (total climb of 1300 meters) with beautiful views. 

As we climbed the weather began to clear.

Katelyn slept most of the way.

That's me, the orange speck on the ridge line. 

*sigh* I already miss this country:)

New Zealand Days 8,9,&10 - Queenstown/Glenorchy

From Te Anau we drove back up towards Queenstown and Glenorchy.

The road from Queenstown to Glenorchy is pretty famous, and rightfully so. It was gorgeous, even in cloudy weather.

We spent the night in Glenorchy, hoping to hike the Routeburn Track in the morning. I'm pretty sure we ate better in our campervan than we normally eat at home. Grilled lamb, fresh salad greens, local wine... Of course, by now I had broken not one, but two wine glasses, so we were drinking our wine out of the more sturdy water glasses instead. I don't know what my deal was.

The next morning the weather wasn't pretty. So we had a leisurely breakfast (what's with the Cheerios in NZ? It's a totally different company!)...

Chris did some of his Masters homework. Katelyn helped by keeping that pesky power cord out of the way. (Most of the motorhome parks we stayed in had WiFi... pretty sweet.)

And then we drove back out of Glenorchy and spent the day exploring Queenstown. We found this great wine tasting place that took up most of the afternoon. 

They had hundreds of NZ wines that you could taste. You just inserted your card, and then pressed the button on the wine you wanted to taste. 

We spent the second night in Glenorchy again, hoping that the weather would be good for hiking the following morning. This was right outside of Glenorchy.

The following morning the weather was good, and we set out to do a day hike on the Routeburn track. We went to the Routeburn Falls Hut and back. 

Bridges with these signs on them don't inspire a lot of confidence.

Stunning view from on the way up towards the Routeburn Falls Hut.

Falls Hut

Just above the Falls Hut (you can see the hut roof below Chris)

New Zealand Days 6&7 - Te Anau

Our next destination after Wanaka was Te Anau. It was about a three hour drive, but we made a day of it.

We stopped when we wanted to stop... just to stretch our legs and enjoy the sunshine.

You have to take some time to appreciate the views, you know.

We also went through the Central Otago wine region, known for it's pinot noir.

Naturally, we had to stop and do some tastings. 

Appetizers at Carrick Winery.

Do all wineries have a box of toys and a blanket that they will set out near your table so your child can play while you drink wine and eat mussels and lamb? No? Well, they should. Because Katelyn loved it.

She also liked the garlic bread. Or at least she liked smearing it around the high chair and on her face.

We spent the night in Te Anau, and woke up early the next morning to drive to Milford Sound. It's about an hour and a half drive, but everybody says to allow much more time than that, just to enjoy the views. It's pretty spectacular.

One of many viewpoints.

Chris spent most of the drive craning his neck to try to see the tops of the mountains.  

The road is pretty decent. Except when it's covered with avalanche debris.

The one-lane Homer Tunnel makes the drive to Milford Sound possible. There's some pretty cool history behind the tunnel if you're interested in Googling it. This was us waiting to proceed through the tunnel.

On the other side of the tunnel, the views get even more spectacular.

The famous Milford Sound on a rare sunny day.

Ready for our Milford Sound Cruise!

Scarfing down a quick lunch so we could get up to the top deck for all the awesome views.

We spotted some seals or sea lions. I'm not sure which. But the boat captain sure did get us in there for a close picture! 

Penguins! I'm pretty sure this is the only time I'll see penguins in the wild.

The cruise took us out to the Tasman Sea and back. This is looking in at the Milford Sound from the ocean side.

At the end of the cruise we took a short detour to an underwater observatory.

We even saw some super rare black coral. Yes, I know. It's white. But it's called black coral because I guess it turns black when it dies.

We finished off a great day with a stroll along Lake Te Anau and a picnic of local wine and cheese. I really wish it didn't cost so much to ship NZ wine to Japan, because Mt. Difficulty Pinot Gris is AMAZING!