We arrived in New Zealand rather unprepared, but the best journeys always start that way, right? Touching down in Christchurch, there came a sudden realisation that we would need a tourist visa to enter the country – cue a mild panic that we may be about to embark on the shortest holiday ever. Luckily, we were able to get a tourist visa on arrival and, after Caroline got frisked by a huge dog (due to the fact that she’d had a small orange in her bag earlier the day), we were on our way!

Our first stop was Christchurch itself where we stayed in a tiny cell of a room for the night (literally – it was the old prison) before venturing out to see the city and get supplies for our road trip. We were pretty shocked to see that the devastating effects of the 2011 earthquake were still very visible – the beautiful cathedral lies in ruins and dozens of multi storey office blocks sit with their windows boarded up still waiting to be demolished. On the flip side, it was really inspiring to see how the people of Christchurch have picked themselves back up, with enterprising businesses, including banks and international clothing stores, operating out of row upon row of colourfully painted shipping containers.

Shipping container shops, Christchurch

A 300km drive through beautiful, ever-changing scenery and we arrived at Lake Tekapo and the famous Church of the Good Shepherd, a beautiful church which sits at the head of the vividly blue lake. Getting out of the car, the first thing we noticed was how cold it was – camping was going to be fun!

Church of the Good Shepherd, Lake Tekapo

Onwards we headed to Lake Pukaki, where we hiked the Hooker Valley Track – a beautiful route which took us through a valley surrounded by huge snow-capped mountains and across glacial rivers on bouncy suspension bridges. We were rewarded with spectacular views at the end of the track where it opens out to reveal Aoraki (Mount Cook), the highest mountain in Australasia, surrounded by its icy blue glacial lake. Sir Edmund Hillary, a New Zealander, trained for his Everest ascent on this very mountain.

Hooker Valley Track

Aoraki (Mount Cook)

Camping at Lake Hawea that night, we were delighted to snag the best pitch in the campground with unobscured views of the mirrored lake. A few ‘handles’ of beer in the village later and we were back at camp, cooking up a storm on our little stove and watching for shooting stars.

Camping at Lake Hawea

A chilly one degree start to the day got us out of our measly one season sleeping bags nice and early and onwards to the Rob Roy Valley via beautiful Lake Wanaka. 30km of bumpy unsealed road later, we were charging up the Rob Roy Glacier Track, through the forest canopy towards the enormous 20,000 year old glacier – a remnant from the Ice Age.

Looking up at the Rob Roy Glacier

After stocking up on warm clothes in Queenstown, we headed south towards Milford Sound in Fjordland National Park. The weather was closing by this point, making the beautiful drive through the enormous mountains and waterfalls incredibly eerie and dramatic. We arrived at Milford Sound with heavy rain pouring down and enormous grey clouds obscuring the views. The planned boat cruise was abandoned for the day and so, with frayed tempers and biting sand flies, we set up camp in the sideways rain. After a wet and miserable night (no one has ever been more soaked than us that night), the weather improved the next morning and we headed out on the boat through Milford Sound. Highlights of the cruise included seeing the famous Mitre Peak, getting a drenching by the 158m Strirling Falls when our boat got a little too close and looking out to sea at the end of the fjord – next stop Antarctica!

Mitre Peak, Milford Sound

Stunning Milford Sound

In the afternoon, we broke up our drive north with another incredible short hike – the Key Summit Track, which sits at the head of three glacial valleys and is part of the famous Routeburn Track.

At the top of the Key Summit Track

We drove and drove and drove and, not wanting to sleep in our soaking tent, we booked ourselves into the Tanoa Aspen Lodge in Queenstown. A roast dinner in front the fire and a real bed in a room with a roof could not have been more welcome. We were both so relaxed the next morning after a great night’s sleep that I was hardly phased when the fire alarm went off while I was sitting on the throne! We dried our camping gear and headed into town – burgers for breakfast (naturally) at Fergburger before a lazy gondola ride up the mountain behind the town for spectacular views of The Remarkables mountain range. A couple of shots on the luge later and we were back in the car. This time only managing 19km to Arrowtown, a quaint little 18^th century gold rush town that wouldn’t look out of place in a Wild West movie, instead of the 300km planned.

Taking the gondola up the mountain at Queenstown

Views over Queenstown and The Remarkables

Our next stop was the enormous Fox Glacier which extends approximately 13km from the huge 32km² snow field at its head down to almost sea level. Driving up the path, there were signs marking where the glacier had been 100, 300, 1,000… years ago. It was incredible to see just how much the glacier had retreated over the last 300 years alone due to the warmer climate (and people doubt global warming?). Fox is a ‘hanging glacier’ which means that huge ice blocks fall from its face onto the valley floor below every day, making it pretty treacherous. Sadly, a number of tourists have been killed here, having gone out beyond the barriers, so we kept a safe distance and viewed its enormity from afar.

Safely back at our campsite that night, I was left to stir the chilli that Caroline had spent a fair bit of time preparing. Distracted momentarily by a leaf, the chilli may have fallen on the ground. Caroline arrived back just in time to see me sheepishly trying to scrape those bits that weren’t covered in mud back into the pot. I was not in the good books.

Chilli-gate

Early the next day, we headed out to Hokitika Gorge, renowned for its bright blue waters, before rushing (although perhaps not quite quick enough as I got pulled over by a traffic cop for going too slow) to make it to Punakaiki in time for high tide. Here, each day at high tide, the water rushes in at an incredible force over the over the pancake-shaped rocks, creating enormous blow holes spitting out huge jets of water and earth trembling noises. Back in our tent that night, we fell asleep listening to the huge waves crashing against the cliffs below and felt pretty lucky to have seen all that we had, so far…

The blue blue waters of Hokitika Gorge

Pancake rocks at Punakaiki