New Zealand

Our First Day in New Zealand

I am not going to lie about this one. Not only going into New Zealand has been the longest flight I have been on, but it can get a little bumpy.

We drove everywhere. Apparently, we did our best to beat the sunrise and the sunset. We woke up every day around 5 am, but it got light later than six. We stayed up until midnight (it got dark in between 7 pm and 8 pm) and then, started over. Excitement was bigger than sleep. I wanted to see it all. No down times.

The Volcanic Rotorua

Volcanoes are extremely interesting, In a very particular way, reserved. In others, obscure and scary. Most likely, what I admire is their force and power to change the planet. There has been 11 super volcano explosions and 6 of them have been around New Zealand. You can’t ignore them, just admire and appreciate them in all its beauty.

Abel Tasman National Park

Today, we planned a tour boat to Abel Tasman National Park. We were excited for the adventure so we got into Wellington late at night, did a few sights downtown and then went to bed. In the early morning, we headed to Kaiteriteri to take the Abel Tasman Sea Shuttle- Cruise and Forest Walk.

Glacier to Queenstown

I was not very thrilled about Pancake Rocks. Although, we did reserve a hotel that was close by, we were not very hopeful that we could get there before it got dark. Funny thing, actually had time to spare and apparently chose the best time to visit: at sunset.

Queenstown & Milford Sound

All I can say is: What an adventure! We were certainly not prepared to what was about to hit us hard and almost kill our mood and our itinerary. Turns out that just lucky people get to enjoy this portion of the trip.

Christchurch

We made a short visit to Christchurch, and to be honest I wasn’t impressed. Famous because of an earthquake that killed 185 people and almost destroyed it back in 2011, the place still feels nostalgic, quite gloomy.