Auckland and final thoughts on NZ

17-19 May

My final few days in New Zealand were spent in Auckland with Matt.  We had a great Saturday evening at a Belgian bar followed by a Comedy show and a drink at the Irish bar.  On the Sunday, we took the ferry to Davenport, a small town which reminded us both of home.  We popped by the navy museum! walked up to the viewpoint, bought some home comforts and ate a roast dinner.  It was great seeing Matt after so long and I wish him all the best with the rest of his stay in NZ.

After checking out of nomads for the final time, I wandered round the city centre and went up the sky tower to enjoy the view.

So what are my final thoughts on New Zealand:

First impressions: stunning, magical, breathtaking

Favorite place: Queenstown

Unforgettable experience: skydiving in Taupo

Unforgettable moment: Maori night

Favourite view: every view along the road from Queenstown to Christchurch and Tongeriro crossing

NZ is one of the most beautifully green places I've ever been in the world.  It's somewhere that everyone has to visit in their lifetime.  When you look out of the car window, you feel like you're looking into a picture.  It's a place that I can't wait to go back to!

Next stop: San Francisco 

Punakaiki, glacier walking in Franz Josef and Wanaka

12 - 15 May

In the morning we headed south through the Buller Gorge to the 'wild' West Gorge, which stretches for over 600km along one of the top 10 drives in the world.  We stopped off at a few places along the way before heading onto Punakaiki, a town famous for its blowholes and Pancake Rocks.  

The next morning, whilst the others were off making bone or greenstone necklaces, we went off to a local beach in search of our own greenstone but sadly we didn't find any!  Our evening stop was in Franz Josef, a town famous for its glaciers.  A few of us opted to stay in another hostel purely for the freebies including. BBQ, wifi and spa.  The local area isn't easily accessible by foot so when they offered to take us over to Lake Matheson, we jumped at the chance.  For me, this was one of the prettiest places on the west coast.  Picturesque views particularly when the sun bounces off the snow-capped mountain tops.  Although as Esmae and Axel (Holland/Belgium) found out, the water was cold!!  The view of the Fox Glacier is also one not to be missed.

Our time in Wanaka was short but sweet.  Seb (Banberg), Lilly, Yohann and I went for a walk by the lake before playing uno and drinking wine with the others.  The next few days went by in a bit of a blur, we left Wanaka and headed for Queenstown via the Nevis Bungy.  Although I'm too much of a wimp to do one, I did fancy the swing but sadly due to my back, I couldn't!  Queenstown was a lot of fun and it felt great to be back.  After a bit of shopping with the girls and a few drinks in our room (with everyone- literally) we headed for the pub crawl and danced the night away.  I've loved spending time with this group and couldn't have asked for a better group of people to explore this country with so....thank you!

Next stop: Auckland...final stop in NZ

Windy Wellington and Abel Tasman

9 - 11 May

After a fairly long drive, we finally landed in the capital of NZ, Wellington.  We spent most of the afternoon picking up bits and bobs followed by a trip to Te Papa, a new interactive museum.  It was a great place to visit especially as it was FREE!  

In the evening, we decided to have a night out.  We all met in the hostel bar making the most of the free spaghetti bol and cheap drinks before heading out to one of the local bars.  It must've been a good night, if the hangover was anything to go by...

At some ungodly hour, we checked out and headed for the ferry over to Picton.  This is where we said goodbye to our driver, Seagull, and met our new driver Wee-Man.  We briefly stopped in the city of Nelson where we not only picked up 2 fellow Welshies but also Rupert Hughes who I went to school with!  What a small world....

Abel Tasman is a beautiful place and the hostel was amazing, particularly the single beds.  A perfect base for walks or just generally relaxing in the sunshine.

Next stop: Punakaiki