Part 3: The final instalment of Michaela’s New Zealand Adventure Trilogy

Day 13 of our travels in New Zealand was spent exploring Doubtful Sound. The weather was perfectly clear and we were excited for the opportunity to see some wildlife like dolphins, seals and penguins. The trip started with a boat ride across a lake. At the other side we took us a bus into a tunnel to see a hydro-power station, and then the bus took us on a road through the mountains to Doubtful Sound. Doubtful Sound is similar to Mildford Sound, except it is much bigger and less commercialized. The boat ride was about 3 hours long and it was very beautiful, but we unfortunately didn’t see any dolphins or penguins, only seals who were playful and cute. Even though we enjoyed the day, it was very long, expensive, and pretty similar to Mildford Sound.

We celebrated New Years Eve by playing Dutch Blitz and then watching fireworks along the lake shore in Te Anau with loads of locals and other tourists. It was fun to celebrate New Years hours ahead of most of the world.

On our last day in that area of the country I was able to go up the Luge in Queenstown with Matt and Rocio since Matt was flying out that afternoon. We took a gondola up the hillside and then rode the Luge track at the top. It was fun to zoom around corners and feel a need for speed. Afterwards I enjoyed the lovely view of Queenstown, the lake and the mountains.

We left Queenstown that afternoon and headed up to Fox Glacier area. On the way, we stopped for a short bit in Wanaka, which is a town similar to Queenstown, but much less touristy. Afterwards we continued on the road and stopped to look at mountains, waterfalls, and gorgeous ocean look-outs. The west coast drive was very lovely, but we arrived late in Fox Glacier Village and were happy to be finished driving.


The Fox Glacier is just down the road from Franz Josef Glacier and the area is beautiful and rural. We decided to take a full day tour of Fox Glacier with a local guide. This tour took us up beside the glacier and over rocks and through some forest. Shockingly, the forest next to the glacier is a rainforest with beautiful ferns and springs running through it. There was a significant temperature change when we walked from the forest onto the glacier, so we put on a few layers and strapped crampons to our boots so we could walk on the glacier. The guide walked ahead of us and used an ice axe/pick to make the ice grippy and blaze a trail for us to follow. It was an amazing hike that took us past huge boulders, deep blue holes, a cave and steep ice slopes. There were even places further up the glacier where ice climbers come to do a little exploring of their own. At the end of the day, we were happy to have taken the rare opportunity to explore a glacier.

After romping around on ice we headed up the road to the Greymouth area. We did not spend a lot of time there because the weather was damp and there wasn’t much to do, but as we drove up the coast we got to stop in Punakaiki. There are some rock formations in Punakaiki, appropriately named the Pancake rocks. They look like thin rocks that have been stacked up on each other on the coast. No one really knows why they are shaped, since there is no where else in New Zealand (or the world?) that has rocks like them. The rest of the day was spent driving further north to Abel Tasman National Park.

Our lodging for the following two days was exactly next to the trail leading into the National Park. It was a quite area, but the campsite/hostel was a popular place for many tourists and hikers. One of the interesting aspects of the hostel was the outdoor bathtubs that were used as hot tubs for anyone who rented the plug! Becky and I decided to soak in the tubs after our first day there. The first day was spent hiking up into the park to one of the closer beaches where we layed around and soaked up the sun. I went in the water once, but it was icey cold! The beach reminded me of some tropical location with it’s turquoise waters, gold sands and lush forests.

On our second day in Abel Tasman we rented Kayaks for the day and explored the park from the water. The park is huge, so we only got around a nearby island and back, but there were tons of beaches and islands that were left unexplored. Many people go on 2-3 day trips and camp along the trails and beaches. I would have loved to have done that too, but we didn’t have the time or supplies to do it. I guess I will have to go back another time!

Our last times on the South Island were spent in Nelson. It was a nice town, but we didn’t do a whole lot there except shop around and explore the town. We heard the beaches were nice, but we were happy to be low key and finish watching the last LOTR movie before leaving New Zealand.

From Nelson we took a insanely twisty road to Picton. Becky, Caroline and I split off from Rocio who dropped us off and the ferry landing in Picton. She then took the rental car back to Christchurch because that is where her flight departed from. The ferry was only a few hours long, so that gave us some time to explore Wellington. We took a walk along the harbour and checked out the Te Papa museum there. It was fun and interesting, but we didn’t stay long because we also wanted to take the cable car up a hill and visit the Botanic Garden. It was nice to walk through the city garden, smell the blossoms, and photograph everything beautiful. We especially loved the rose garden. After returning to the down town area we looked for a restaurant, but were disappointed to discover that all of the restaurants were closed. Because it was the business district there was not a sole around and everything was closed. Thankfully, there was an open Mc Donald’s near our hostel. Our last meal in New Zealand was at a Mc Donald’s. Go figure. 

We had an early 6:00am flight out of Welly the next morning, and we thought that our adventures were over before we returned to Indonesia. But, we realized that we had a 7 hour lay-over in Sydney. Who wants to stay in an airport for 7 hours? We didn’t! So, we thought we would ask the customs officer and see what would happen. Unfortunately, you need to have a visa to enter Australia. (Yes, even us fellow commonwealthers) But, the costumes guy said he would look into it. Amazingly, the head officer was super nice and he gave each of us FREE 12 month multiple-entry visas! We were ecstatic and ‘ran’ out before he could change his mind. There is a train that goes directly from the airport to Circle Quay, the Opera House area. We took that train and got to see the Opera House, Harbour Bridge, and The Rocks area that had a fun Sunday market with local craftsmen. It was a lovely day of site-seeing and random fun. We met tons of friendly Australians, had heaps of laughs and even managed to avoid paying extra for our bags at the bag drop. The spontaneous trip into Sydney was the perfect finale on my amazing trip to New Zealand.

I was told that New Zealand was a beautiful country, but it was awesome to see it and experience it for myself. One thing I learned about New Zealand is that you don’t just see things, you DO things in New Zealand. With so many adventure sports and tours, I could have travelled for weeks longer and never been bored. Everything, from the Hobbit holes in the North to the Glacial-carved Fiords in the South blew me away. I recommend New Zealand to everyone, adventure seekers and Tolkien fans alike.