Trip to New Zealand happened because of an error fare. one summer morning i woke up and there was this offer for flight tickets to New Zealand at irresistible price. i knew in six months i’m going to New Zealand.
as time is passing quickly, suddenly there was the day when I went to the airport instead of going to work. it was long journey ahead of us. New Zealand is pretty the most distant place from Europe you can imagine. actually if you would dig yourself from Central Europe through the Earth then you would end up on the other side somewhere in New Zealand.

our travel group has been growing on the way. I set off alone from Vienna. In Munich, I met my second travel companion Klára that traveled with me in Iran. After one day spending Bangkok, we have arrived in Auckland. It was raining like crazy, but the rain was very warm. It felt like a hot shower. Anyway, we didn’t really care about the rain and went for a walk to the city. Although Auckland is relatively a big city (1,3 million inhabitants), it didn’t really feel like a big city. People were rather relaxed, smiling, not in a rush. You could feel the positive vibes. Although we had raincoats we got completely wet, so we stopped for some food and drinks.
The next day we went to the airport again to meet our 3rd travel companion Anežka, which we got to know through a facebook group and turned out to be a really nice person. So, we left Auckland for the South Island. After landing in Dunedin, we picked our last, but not least, travel companion Michael, a friend of mine from the university. we settled in a camp site on the sea side and set off for the city to meet my friend Sarah that lives there in Dunedin and that couch surfed at my place last year. She walked with us through the city.. well city.. it’s rather a small town 🙂 the buildings that are considered as historical are copies of buildings in Edinburgh 🙂 between those you have small houses of various types. Most of them have just one floor. New Zealand is a melting pot of various cultures, especially from Europe and Asia. Unfortunately, the original Maori culture you find only in museums and performances for tourists. In the evening, we went to a viewpoint, from which you could see the whole city. From there it looked definitely bigger than it is.

The next day our kiwi (=adjective for New Zealand 🙂 ) friend took us to the beaches next to the Dunedin peninsula to see the wildlife. and in deed… when we climbed down the sand dunes there were some seals laying on the beach. The coast is very hilly. on these hills, you can see sheep almost everywhere. Some people say there are more sheep than people.
In the afternoon, we had to say good bye to our friend and drive to the next stop. The schedule was tight. We wanted to travel through New Zealand in just 2 weeks. To be able to do that we rented a car and were driving from south to the north. The tricky part is that in New Zealand they are driving on left side like in the UK. It is not really difficult, but you have to be careful especially on crossings as you’re used to keep right automatically without thinking. this could be fatal mistake there.
We drove almost to Milford Sound. We ended up in Fiordland, in a humid mountain area with lot of trees, plants, mosses and of course rain. We built up our tents on the camping site called Deer flat. It was basically just a place with grass next to the river and a dry toilet (in New Zealand they call it “long drop”). Anyway, it had everything we needed.

The night in the mountains was cold. The next day it was still a bit raining, but the weather was already getting better. We crossed the mountains to Milford Sound. Milford Sound is a fjord with a combination of sweet water on the top and salty water in the bottom whereas the sweet water is reflecting part of the light enabling fishes and other sea animals from the deep waters to live in the fjord. We took a boat tour to sail through the fjord. you see trees growing everywhere in the steep parts of the rocks, hundreds of waterfalls, seal colonies and lots of birds. We made a stop in the underwater observatory where you could see the unique sea life. On the way back, we made couple of stops to walk in the forest. The forest there is very dense and reminds a bit of forests in Patagonia. However, the climate there is not that tough so there are more kinds of trees.
It was our fourth day in New Zealand. We started with a scenic hike called Key Summit. It’s part of the Roterburn track across the fiordland mountain chain. On that day, finally the sun came out and it got really warm. On the way, we had to change clothes like 5 times because of the temperature changes. Key Summit offers very photogenic views on the surrounding mountain chains and valleys. The geology, fauna and flora of New Zealand are unique. New Zealand is also considered as a separate continent. Fully impressed we drove back to Te Anau, where we dropped Michael for his plan to go to the Kepler track. Our next destination was the city of Queenstown, the center of outdoor and adrenaline activities in the region. On the way, we were admiring the changing landscapes. Now the landscapes were still hilly but dry in sense of a dry steppe. Next to Queenstown there is a huge lake with amazingly blue color being filled by rivers coming from the neighboring fiordland. Queenstown itself is rather a fancy touristic town. We spent the evening walking in the city, along the lake and having a nice dinner with local food.
As Queenstown is rather a small town we decided to move on in the morning. We took a scenic drive across the mountains with view on the valley with Queenstown and some mountain farms. The next stop was town of Wanaka. Our expectations of Wanaka were slightly higher than the reality was. But it was not bad at all. Huge lake with the Mt. Aspiring National Park in the background. I think you can find all tones of blue when it comes to lakes in New Zealand. We were more impressed by our next stop which we found by chance. In the middle of the dry steppe we found clay cliffs. Cliffs made of clay that rain formed into towers. you can walk between them and it seems to be like a maze. In the evening, we have reached the Mt. Cook National Park. We set up the tents as usual. This time it was a challenge to find a spot for the tents between rocks and rabbit poos. Apart from the rabbits running around there were screaming Keas, the mountain parrots that you can find only in New Zealand, and lots of other birds. At night, you could see then millions of stars in the sky.

The night was not too cold or maybe we already got used to the cold nights. We set off for one of hiking routes in the Mt. Cook National Park. Mt. Cook is the highest mountain in New Zealand and surrounded by a glacier, rivers and a large valley. The path we took was to the Muellers hut on the top of the mountain chain. On the way, you had a wonderful view on the valley and especially the glacier. The path was really steep. I heard many complaints from my travel mates on how steep it was, but unfortunately, i couldn’t make it any flatter :p it took us more time than expected to reach the hut but we all made it there and back, safe and sound. We were really tired after the hike but happy that we made it and even happier of the views we saw on the way.
it was time to say good bye to Mt. Cook national park. On that day, after the easy start in the beginning of the trip, this was one of the longer drives we had to take. The destination was the west coast. It was basically just on the opposite side of the mountains. However, as there are not many roads in New Zealand, we had to drive for 8 hours to reach the west coast. We did of course some stops on the way. Like the one at blue lagoons and hanging bridges. Or the one at a salmon farm where we tried dishes with fresh salmons. It tastes like a completely different fish compared to the salmon you get in Europe. Reaching the west coast, the landscapes changed again. In this area, there were again dense forests and humid climate. Bit different than in the fiordlands, though. The whole west coast is not much populated and the few towns and villages there are very small. After being the whole day on the road we have reached the village of Fox Glacier. There the camp site was already well equipped. It even had a shower with hot water. My travel mate has cooked a delicious dinner with the fresh salmon we bought and then we went to sleep to be fit for the next day.
The next day, we were exploring the area around Fox Glacier. As the name says, there is a glacier nearby. We walked to it through the glacier valley (moraine). Unfortunately, in the past years the glacier melted rapidly and now it seems rather small. It was more impressive how fast the glacier is melting than the glacier itself. After visiting the Fox glacier we drove to lake Matheson which is nearby. People say it is very photogenic because of the mountains reflecting in the lake. Because of the weather, we were not able to see that, but we were very impressed by the forest there. Again, the great variety of trees, mosses and other mosses. It’s not possible to put down in words the impressions you get there. Not even a photo can do that for you to that extent as if you are walking there, using all your senses.
Fully impressed by lake Matheson we drove to Franz Josef glacier. This glacier is much bigger. The walk to the glacier is longer. On the way, you can see how the glacier formed the rocks, stones with engravings made by glacier. It is a piece of art in deed. When it got dark we went to the forest near to our campsite to observe the glowworms. First, we were a bit skeptical if there will be any. But actually, after few meters walking in the forest it was like in a fairy tale. You could see glittering lights. In some areas there were just few, but in some especially the humid parts, there were plenty. And the animal producing the light was indeed a worm with form reminding Asian glass noodles 🙂
The next morning we overslept. The mobile phone of our wake-up manager got discharged overnight and the other travel mate thought we deserve to sleep longer. We had a whole day driving ahead of us. Of course, we considered couple of stops on the way. Apart from the biological stops we have stopped to see the pancake rocks at Punakaiki. The pancake rocks are a basically a natural orchestra. During a high tide, the waves that are splashing over cliffs are producing sounds. Unfortunately, we weren’t there during a high tide, but still seeing the pancake rocks themselves is an experience. They are formed with layers so they look like a column made of pancakes. After that we drove the very north of the south island, to the Abel Tasman national park. The landscapes changed again couple of times. The last part of the route was a very narrow road with tiny villages. It looked like we are going to reach middle of nowhere soon. When we arrived at the campsite it was already dark. Luckily old MacDonald (the camp site was called MacDonald’s) was still at the reception at gave a spot and we have booked our kayaks for the next day.
We had to wake up a bit earlier in order to be on time for the departure for the kayaking. It turned out that one of my travel mates is afraid of water. The safety training didn’t really make her confident about the boat safety. Not to mention that we were under constant attack of the sand flies (~mosquitoes). So, i guess, she hated kayaking before she even started. Anyway we went on a double kayak and then she felt more confident. in the end she loved that, I think, and it was definitely one of the best days. The kayaks were pretty fast and we were able to go quite far. Actually, if you’re staying for couple of days in the national park you can go for a 3 day tour on the kayaks. We sailed to the Fishermen’s island. This is tiny island was like a forgotten paradise with golden sandy beaches. Kayaking along the Fishermen’s and Adele’s island we were able to see various bird species and, the highlight, baby seals playing in the sea. Then we were just following the coast and made few stops on the beaches. The Abel Tasman national park has a mild climate and the forests on the coast remind of a jungle. So this was our last day on the south island. It was great to see explore things from a different perspective and to do a different activity after hiking, walking a driving.

We had to wake up at 5 am in order to be on time for the ferry to the north island. The ferry is departing from Picton and arriving at Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. After leaving Picton, the ferry is sailing through Marlborough Sound, a hilly area with bays and peninsulas. The travel time to Wellington is 3 hours. We spent most of the time on the upper deck. In the sea you could see whales, dolphins swimming along the ferry. So far the best water safari I’ve seen 🙂 In Wellington we walked along the quay and the city center. Unfortunately we were very limited by the time, but the impression we had by the city was really good. Wellington didn’t have any of the bad characteristics of a big city like too much traffic, people in a hurry. It seemed that people there are very relaxed, smiling a lot. From Wellington to Tongariro it was a long drive. We arrived at night. This time the reception of the camping site was closed already. There was just a sign that everything is booked out. Anyway we drove in trying to find some spot where to place our tents and sort out the administrative things the next day. First it looked really full. But then, an older man suddenly appeared next to our car. He offered us to use his second site he was not using. I really enjoyed how helpful and friendly the people in New Zealand are. This is becoming a rare thing in Europe.

The next day we wanted to do the Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike. This is a 25 km long hike on the lava field between the volcanoes and sulfur lakes. It is not a roundtrip so there are organized transports that bring you to the beginning of the track and in the evening, they pick you up at the end of the track. The weather was so bad on that they so they cancelled all the tours. Anyway, not even a bad weather is gonna stop us. So, we found a “bad weather alternative” track. The route started between bushes which then turned into a forest, river ended up with a waterfall and in the end the drizzle turned into an into a rain. The last part was just a lava field without any vegetation. As the rain was getting more intense all of our waterproof clothes and rain jackets gave up and everything was completely wet. The visibility was very limited so we were watching carefully for the lake. And then we reached it. Like most of the other visitors we couldn’t believe our eyes. There was just a hole in the ground and no lake. That was the laugh of the day. The rain and all the wet clothes made us reach the camp site very quickly. The rest of the day we were just drying our clothes.

the rain was over and it got really warm and sunny again. We decided to spend our spare day we had in the Coromandel peninsula. But before we have reached it, we did couple of stops on the way. We were crossing the landscape with lots of thermal activity you could see steam coming from forests or meadows. First, we were not sure if people are just burning some trash, but then we were positive it was thermal and not human activity 🙂 our stop on the way was what else than a thermal park. It was a great one. you could walk there for more than an hour, observing the artistic masterpiece of thermal activity. I guess it would take too long to describe it and would never be enough. It’s just another must see. We moved on direction Rotorua, where we wanted to visit a Maori village. This is supposed to be a living Skansen (reservation) of the native inhabitants of New Zealand. Apparently, there are more Maori villages around Rotorua. The first one we reached was offering only performances in the evening. The second stop was a park combining a thermal park and cultural park of Maoris. Finally, when we have reached the living Maori village, we were not able to enter it, because you can visit it only with a guide and the last guided tour has left. I didn’t have any good impression of it anyway, it seemed to be very touristic and very organized. It was expecting to see something more natural and not a show for tourists. Anyway, we stopped in the town of Rotorua. It was really hot on that day and we were a bit tired of the heat already. There was a street food festival and market in the town so we grabbed something to eat. It was still couple of hours drive to reach Coromandel. The last part of the route to the camp site was like a scene from a horror movie. Night, gravel road, surrounded by a forest, crossing a river, dark farm houses. The camping office seemed abandoned was well. After ringing the bell several times a woman came out with her kids and was able to give us a spot. The camping place was partly in a forest with some animals running around we were not really sure what it was.

We had breakfast with our Canadian neighbors and set off for the last day in New Zealand. It was hard to admit that, but it was a fact. First, we were heading to the festival of old timer cars and caravans, which the lady in the camp reception recommended us. The caravans were very classy like from the old US movies. Also on our way to the hot water beach, we could see old timers on the road and people along the road waiting to see them. The hot water beach is another specialty of the thermal activity in the region. The sand on the beach is hot because of the thermal activity and if you dig a hole in the send you can create a hot pool once it is filled by the sea water. So, you can see people coming with shovels and then sitting in their hot pools on the beach. What was more fascinating for me were the sea waves. But I’m just a big kid. From the hot water beach, we have moved to the cathedral dove. Cathedral doves are tunnels in the rocks on the coast that were created by waves and erosion. The whole sceneries are like from a tropical paradise. We just laid on the beach and enjoyed the last moments there. It was time to leave for Auckland, the place where the adventure started and was supposed to end. In Auckland, we accommodated us in a hostel and went to the city for the last dinner.