5 Sleeps in New Zealand: Part 1

When my two week School Holidays finally made an appearance, I was really looking forward to having the days off.  I had a lot of things to catch up on and I knew two weeks would really help me make this happen.  My friends Erin and Yvelle had planned a six day trip to New Zealand that would fall over the Labour Day holiday here.  When it came to everyone’s attention that my “holiday” was occurring at the same time, I was talked into joining them on this Girls Trip a couple of days before they were departing!!! 

Leaving Luke at home for a week while he was in pain and feeling miserable didn’t make my decision to go very easy, but he insisted.  I think we both realized it would be a good idea and something that I needed to do.  I had been itching to have another Australian Adventure to check off our list.  This was a major one we knew may or may not happen with the arrival of Ameribub coming soon.  So we got me all set up to leave two days later! 

Anyone who has ever told me anything about New Zealand has always said it is the most beautiful place they have ever been to.  I couldn’t wait to get there and see if all for myself.  I had a quick 3 hour flight into the North Island to Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand.  New Zealand is made up of the North Island and South Island.  To get from one island to the other you have to take a 3-3 ½ hour ferry. The ferry is much like a small cruise ship and there are only two ferry companies that are available.  New Zealand is about the size of Colorado and has only 4 million people who live there so it’s got a much less touristy feel than Sydney!  The weather was a little colder than what we were having in Australia, but we were fortunate to have beautiful weather for our entire trip.  Not bad considering it is south of Australia making it almost halfway to Antarctica!        

As soon as I walked outside of the airport to get in a taxi, I could already get a sense of this “beauty” that everyone raved about.  I had the taxi take me to the ferry terminal.  We weren’t able to confirm tickets for that evening because they were already sold out.  I was supposed to try again in case there were any openings because I arrived a few hours ahead of the girls.  Unfortunately, there weren’t, so I sat down at one of the Internet kiosks and was able to find us a good hotel deal for the night and secure our ferry tickets for the morning.  When the girls arrived we went to the hotel to check in and get settled before we went to dinner.  Then we walked around after dinner to get a brief view of the area. 

Lisa, Yvelle, and Erin ready to start this holiday!

The next morning Erin and I got up extra early to go on a walk to see if we could catch a glimpse of our first New Zealand sunrise.  Somehow we were TOO early because we ran out of time to wait any longer and had to get back to get ready so we could catch our ferry.  We took a taxi over to the ferry terminal.  Before we knew it we were boarding the Interislander Ferry on our way to Picton on the South Island to begin our adventure!  The ferry was a smooth ride and much like being on a small cruise ship, as I mentioned before.  It had a restaurant, bar, game area, kid area, movie theater, café, souvenir shop, and heaps of comfy “airplane type” seats.  The seats actually reclined almost all the way down making it very easy for us to start the early morning with a nap.  Erin woke up long before Yvelle and me to go up on the observation deck to take in the new scenery.  She finally came down and woke us up so I grabbed a coffee and joined her for some more views while Yvelle napped on.  It really was breathtaking…I’ve always wanted to use that cheesy word and it was truly fitting at this moment! 

I had to take a picture of this sign to show you our ferry because I couldn't ever get a view otherwise!

One of the lounge areas

Our comfy seats

Feel free to also say, "Breathtaking!"

Arriving in Picton

When we arrived in Picton we quickly picked up our luggage and then our rental car right outside of the terminal.  Luckily for me, Yvelle wanted to sit in the backseat for the entire trip so she could nap when she wanted.  I was relieved because I wasn’t sure if I was going to have pregnancy car sickness!  I had no idea since the only car rides I’d been in were short taxi rides.  Erin loves to drive so she did for most of the trip but I took my turn a couple of days.  We were all happy with our arrangement and I’m happy to report there was no car sickness despite some of the crazy, winding, hair pin turns on those mountainous roads! 

 Our tiny car...it struggled on some of the mountain climbs but we made it!

We began our drive to Franz Josef which our map claimed would be about a 7-8 hour drive.  We took into account that we would stop along the way for breaks, food, and if there was anything exciting but we didn’t realize how mountainous the roads would be to contribute to our timing.  If you ever have the opportunity to come to New Zealand, we highly suggest that you rent a car (please get one much bigger than the little wind-up one we got!) and drive the islands so that you get the same “breathtaking” views!! J  I had no idea that New Zealand looked like this and all of those people who said it before, you couldn’t have been more correct!  On one side of us would be a tall, snow-capped mountain, on the other side a beautiful crystal blue ocean coastline, in front of us would be green, rolling hills covered by sheep, and then behind us would be a forest leading into more scenic views.  It was unbelievable and that’s all Erin and I kept saying as we drove along.  (Yvelle was already napping in the back!) 

We found this black swan swimming in a small lake.

 Much of NZ reminds me of Colorado 

 Please notice me in the background running from sandflies that were attacking me in a few short minutes!!!!

We saw a sign for gold panning so we pulled off thinking that would be a fun adventure to start us off!  But once we got inside the small shop in front, the woman told us it was too late for that because it takes several hours.  She then asked if we’d like to walk over New Zealand’s longest swingbridge, which is why the majority of people would have stopped there in the first place- even if we didn’t have a clue!  Walking across the Buller Gorge Swingbridge for only $5?  We were sold!  So off we went in complete opposite to American style- no helmets, no safety waiver to sign, and no instructions; just a tiny sticker that we had to stick on our shirts showing that we paid. (www.bullergorge.co.nz) This was just the right amount of “thrill” for me as you will later read about all the things on this trip I wasn’t able to do as a pregnant participant.  It was exciting to walk across the intimidating bridge and it got my heart rate up just enough to feel like I was doing something daring!  ;)  If you happen to stumble upon this place they also have nature walks, jet boat rides, and a zip line.  Worth the stop! 

 The beginning

 The surrounding views were great!

 What we were walking over

 Check out our shadows!

 We made it to the other side

This might give you a better understanding of what we had to walk on.  As you are walking the bridge bounces and swings a bit.  Luke would have loved to be on this and get to be the one jumping behind me to make it more stressful!!!! 

 If someone needed to pass, it wasn't easy!

 Ameribub, you enjoyed it, too!

We continued on, stopping a couple more times before arriving at Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes at sunset.  AMAZING!!!  Another worthwhile, random stop where we hit the jackpot on scenery and fun.  When we saw the signs for this we knew we had to stop and check it out.  The rock formations along the beach have a layered “pancake” appearance giving them their name.  We also experienced what we later referred to as, “Thunder Cave.”  There were massive waves crashing into a secluded open cave area creating the thunder sound.  Definitely something you’d need to see and hear for yourself to get the full effect of it all completely. 

This is a picture Yvelle took and probably one of my favorite from the trip!  The different colors really were beautiful.

 A quick stop to catch the sun starting to set

 A fern- a NZ symbol (so is a kiwi bird but we never saw one in person)

Another cool fern picture

 

 Random large plant just growing on the side of the road!

 Ahhhhh

 pancake rocks

 "Thunder Cave"

 Pancake rocks

Views around this hike

After leaving here, we realized that there was no way we would make it to the cute, little cottage where we were supposed to be staying the night.  When we tried to call to see how late we could check in, the phone service was awful so we had to drive another hour before we could try again.  When we finally got ahold of the owner, she told us she would just upgrade us to another place close by the cottages and put us in another room.  She just left it unlocked for whatever time we could arrive. 

As we continued driving into the dark night, Erin decided to pull over all of a sudden.  We had found a completely unlit stretch of the road which was perfect for some stargazing.  Ok, Luke and I have taken many opportunities to enjoy a beautiful night of stars, most memorably in Tahiti and here in Australia.  But in this particular location, I can honestly say I have never seen the sky or the stars look the way they did at that moment.  I obviously couldn’t take a picture to share with you but I will forever have that picture in my head!  With absolutely no light interfering, all you could see were bright stars all around you.  Wow! Wow! Wow!

When we got to Franz Josef at 11:30pm, we were very happy to walk into this cute and spacious place.  She had even turned on a space heater and plugged in heating blankets on the beds!  It was just what we needed after a productive but exhausting day. 

Read "5 Sleeps in New Zealand: Part 2" for an update on the rest of our trip!  I had to split them up due to all of my pictures!