Our Self Guided Tour of New Zealand Part 2
Place: South Island NZ
Country: New Zealand
Towns: Wanaka & Queenstown
Time of Year: February (Summer in New Zealand)
How we got there: Automobile, plane & boat
This is Part 2 of our Self Guided Tour of New Zealand so if you have not read Part 1 you may want to go back here https://dawntillduskaz.com/our-self-guided-tour-of-new-zealand/
Road trip from Franz Josef to Wanaka
We were still flying high from our HeliHike in Fox Glacier. I needed one more look at that icy glacier so we drove out to Peak View to take one more peak, this time from a distance. It was just as beautiful from this view as it was standing on top! I didn’t think we could beat it however we still had some pretty amazing stuff ahead! A 3 hour scenic drive from Franz Josef to Wanaka was on the lientery for today which turned into an 8 hour drive. There were just too many places to stop and soak in the beauty of this country! First stop was Knight’s Point Overlook with its incredible coastal views then on to several waterfalls each with their own unique features. Roaring Billy Falls, Thunder Creek Falls and Fantail Falls to name a few. Each had a short rainforest hike that ended in picture perfect views of the falls crashing into crystal blue waters. I loved the vegetation on these hikes especially the ferns!
The big stop of the day was to be The Blue Pools! This is a must see on this coastal drive! The Blue Pools are part of the Makarova River which runs down from the mountains in Mt Aspiring National Park. The water here is so blue it doesn’t look real! You almost think someone poured a large bottle of aqua blue food coloring into the river! The color is actually formed by rock flour which is created when the moving glacier crushes rock as it grows and recedes. The light then reflects off the rock flour particles creating those crystal blue colors that make you want to jump right in!
Wanaka
Our destination for the day was Wanaka, NZ. We arrived in the cute little town as the sun was close to setting and thought that this would be the perfect lighting to see That Wanaka Tree for the first time! This famous willow tree grows out of the middle of Wanaka Lake and is quite a sight to see at dusk! This little tree sprouted from a fence post that was erected back in the 1930’s to keep the livestock out. The willow tree that supplied this fence post must have been determined to not go unnoticed so it grew into a beautiful tree in the lake and attracted photographers from all over the world! The Southern Alps frame your picture with that determined tree the center of attention.
This cute little fairy like room was our home for the next two days! We called it “The Hobbit House” as we had just visited Hobbiton and felt that this little place would have fit right in! It was tucked in a fairy garden of a home near downtown Wanaka and was a whole $50 per night! We had to go out on the porch to enter the bathroom and we were attacked by mesquites when we tried to eat our dinner on the lawn however this is what adventure is all about and I love it!
Lake Hawea to Lake Wanaka
The next day was decided to go mountain biking which is Cesar’s sport of choice! We rented our bikes from Wanaka Bike Tours who also offered a shuttle that dropped us and our bikes off at Lake Hawea. We then could ride the 22 miles back to Wanaka and experience the spectacular scenery along the way. We rode next to the crystal clear river, through golden fields and hillsides, & over bridges in the 70 degree summer! We wished we had more time to ride as we could see trails all over just calling our name!
You may have been wondering where we’ve been eating while in Wanaka. Wanaka is definitely a tourist town so many of the restaurants were a bit crowded and overpriced. If you know us, you know that we are not ones to do a sit down dinner in a fancy restaurant especially if we are having to eat out every evening. So we look for other options like the grocery stores or local hole in the wall places. Here we opted for the grocery store for dinner! No fuss no muss! We did however find a great breakfast spot called Scroggin where I enjoyed a bowl of homemade porridge and Cesar got a breakfast sandwich. It was so good we wanted to go again the next day however it didn’t open as early as we needed to leave town so we tried a local bakery called Doughbin and it was fantastic! New Zealanders really know how to bake a good pastry and according to Cesar brew a tasty cup of coffee!
Queenstown
We devoured our pastries, coffee and hot chocolate at a picnic table in the dark outside Doughbin Bakery then got an early start on our drive to Queenstown. There was an adventure waiting and I was excited and a little scared! I would describe our upcoming activity as canyoneering but here is New Zealand its called canyoning. No matter what you call it, it was amazing! Neither one of us had ever done anything like it! We started our adventure with a drive into the canyon and a steep hike all “kitted out” in our wetsuits. Wearing loads of gear we walked like penguins up to the top. Two ziplines got us across the gaps and from the top of the canyon we abseiled (repelled) down the side of a cliff . We could see the frigid water below as we mounted another zipline and one by one dropped in. What a shock! The water slowly rolled down my bare skin as it entered the neck of my wetsuit. We were asked to turn around and put our arms across our chests as we were pushed off backwards into another pool below. It’s all about trust here! We slide down a huge waterfall like it was an amusement park ride and then dove under it. Cesar jumped off a 20 foot cliff. Our hands were turning blue from the freezing water but all in all it was a great day! These are the pictures the tour company Canyon Explores took for us. They did a fantastic job guiding us and keeping us safe!
Hyped up from the incredible day in the canyon we checked into our Airbnb in Queenstown, showered and made it to the docks just in time for our evening cruise on the TSS Earnslaw. Built in 1912, this vintage steamboat was stunning on the water. As we floated across Lake Wakatipu taking in the beautiful mountain range surrounding us we snuck down to see the engine room and bridge of this coal-fired steamboat. What a job that must be shoveling coal into the boiler! An hour and a half later we arrived at Walter Peak High Country Farm where we had the most delicious gourmet BBQ dinner complete with dessert. After dinner we were treated to a sheep herding and sheering demonstration . Top it off with perfect weather and you could say this was a pretty great first day in Queenstown, NZ!
Milford Sound
As if we hadn’t experienced that most epic adventures on this trip already, we had one more big thing planned! The next morning we walked up to the bus stop near our Airbnb where we were picked up and driven to the airport( only about 5 minutes away). We boarded a brand new semi private plane to Milford Sound! I booked our tickets on this Glenorchy Air owned plane through Backpacker Deals. It costs us about $650 total and was worth every penny! With about 15 passengers, we each had our own window seat complete with the most unbelievable alpine views. We flew over glaciers and alpine lakes unreachable by human explorers, two national parks; Mt Aspiring and Fiordland NP, and glacier fed waterfalls! Views you can only see from the air! We touched down next to Bowen Falls and Mitre Peak. A short walk took us to the boat terminal where we boarded the vessel that would take us on a scenic journey through Milford Sound and to the Tasman Sea. We learned that this was not actually a sound but a fiord. A sound is fed by the sea and a fiord is fed by glaciers. Off the back of the boat we noticed a group of curious bottlenose dolphins who kept up with us most of the way! We observed young seals playing by the rocks and got close enough to Bowen Falls to get a glacier facial! On the flight back to Queensland, we took a different route over the Southern Alps with new breathtaking views! Wow is all I have to say about that!
Still flying high from that epic flight we headed into town to spend our last afternoon in New Zealand! Queenstown is a beautiful town and is very popular with the tourists! So much to do there! A gondola took us to Skyline where we tested our driving skills on the super fun luge! Little shops and restaurants covered the lakeside where we had dinner at the most popular place in town Ferburger! And if that wasn’t enough we topped it off with a dark chocolate dipped ice cream bar rolled in hazelnuts! Yum! A stroll down by the water was just what we needed to unwind after another amazing day!
Our Detour to Sydney, Australia
I really thought that was the last adventure of this incredible trip but I was wrong! Right before we arrived in New Zealand, Auckland had been hit with severe flooding and now we were hearing that Auckland was again the target of a cyclone. We were supposed to fly back to Auckland then home, but we got a little nervous about getting stuck there as many flights out were being cancelled. A spontaneous decision was made to cancel our morning flight to Auckland and rebook a detour to Sydney, Australia. Visas were obtained and a hotel was reserved in the middle of the night (thank goodness for free Marriott points!) and we were all set! We had traveled to Australia in 2018 and we knew a little about Sydney. We have climbed the Harbor Bridge and toured the Sydney Opera House but we had never seen both at night all lite up!
The perfect ending to the trips of all trips! I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the culture and beauty of this magnificent country! I hope that one day you will too!
