Finding my way through New Zealand
Yeah, one of my biggest dreams came true. I was in New Zealand for over two weeks and on the way I visited Sydney in Australia.
I want to briefly present to you the places I saw. This article might be really helpful when you decide to plan your own trip through New Zealand.
The North Island
The Hobbiton Movie Set
Before Peter Jackson recorded the The Lord of the Rings trilogy, he had been looking for the best place to place the Shire, the land of the hobbits. He decided a family farm situated near Matamata was exactly what he was looking for. Now, The Hobbiton Movie Set is one of the most known tourist attractions in New Zealand.
For 79$ per person, you can spend two hours walking through the place you could see in the famous trilogy. During this time, a guide will tell the stories related to this area. At the end of tour you will be treated to some special hobbit’s beer, which is seriously very good.
For me, that was nothing special (I think, one of the most ordinary places we visited during our trip), but if you are a Lord of the Rings fan, don’t listen to me, you have to be there.
The Tongariro Alpine Crossing
The best of the best! That was our first, longer walk and it is clearly my number one!
This tour took us something about 8 hours and we were really tired at the end of it, but that’s one of the most gorgeous hikes we ever did.
The landscapes are very varied, from heathland terrain at the start, through volcanic areas, green mountain lakes, great meadows to jungle at the end.
During this walk, you can see Mount Ngauruhoe, an active volcano, which is Mount Doom in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Blue Spring — Te Waihou Walkway
After several hours’ hard hiking we needed a break and a light walk across Te Waihou Walkway gave us a moment to take a breath. The walk follows a track alongside the Waihou River and offers views of native flora, small waterfalls and The Blue Spring, internationally known for its pure, 100% crystal clear water.
Wai-O-Tapu
That was first time in my life I’ve seen natural geothermal springs and it was a really interesting experience. There are a lot of various types of them, from holes in the ground or rocks, which emit stinky vapours to beautiful, colourful boiling lakes.
If you go there at the right time, you can also see the geyser eruption.
The South Island
Dolphins in Picton
Swimming with dolphins (especially in their natural environment) is on the top of our bucket list, so it was obvious we had to do it during our journey. We got on the boat in the port in Picton and we went in search of these mammals. After one hour we found Hector’s Dolphins. They are the world’s smallest and rarest dolphins and occur only off the coast of New Zealand. Because of the rarity, they are under protection, so we could not swim with them. Despite this, it was really enjoyable to see them. They were so friendly and they showed off their jumping skills.
Unfortunately, we could not find other types of dolphins, so finally we did not even touch the water. Maybe next time ;)
Abel Tasman National Park
We had a 3 hour return walk through the national park. The track leads mostly through forest, with occasional views of the coast. Once in a while you can easily go down to the beach using special roads.
The scenery was totally breathtaking: majestic cliffs, golden beaches and turquoise water.
If you have a lot of time you can go on a 3–5 day hike along these beautiful, heavenly beaches.
Hokitika Gorge
You can’t miss this spot! The walk to the gorge was pretty easy and short and included a crossing over the line bridge. The unreal, milky blue coloured water was breathtaking. There were also great rock formations.
This place is great to take a break, sit on the rocks and be delighted by the beautiful natural wonder.
Roberts Point Trail // Franz Joseph Glacier
When we were planning our trip, we added to our list a helicopter flight to the top of Franz Joseph Glacier to do some hiking and climbing there. But costs were rising and rising, so we had to abandon this idea to save our budget ;)
Instead of the flight, we decided to take a walk through Roberts Point Trail. That was a good plan, because the landscape was very interesting. It had everything; rainforests, waterfalls, swing bridges, and of course a pretty great view at the glacier.
You should know, this track can be dangerous during bad weather, so you have to be careful, do not leave the marked road (do not cross the river) and turn back if you are unsure about the weather.
Roys Peak
Roys Peak Track was our second biggest hike in New Zealand (5–6 hours return). From the bottom it looked really easy, but in fact it was different. It is a challenging track, so at the end we were truly tired… but extremely happy.
The panoramic views from the peak includes most of Lake Wanaka, the surrounding peaks and Mount Aspiring (highest mountain outside the Aoraki/Mount Cook region). The landscape was gorgeous and the moments spent on the top were worth the effort.
Queenstown
Queenstown is the most popular tourist town in New Zealand. It is well known for the extreme activities you can try there (hiking, jet boating, bungee or swing jumping, skydiving). We decided to jump from 109m high cliff with Shotover Canyon Swing team. Ewa was the bravest and jumped from the runway, Marcin jumped backwards on a chair and I made up my mind to swing on a small tricycle. There was some fear when we was waiting for our turn, but finally it was really great and enjoyable. So, if you find yourself there, beat the fear and do something crazy!
Nugget Point
Nugget Point was one of my favourite spots in the whole trip. We really enjoyed the beautiful coastal views from the Tokata Lighthouse, despite the
bad, grey weather.
Sometimes you can see seals and penguins near this place. Unfortunately, we didn’t meet seals and penguins because we were so far away we couldn’t see them without binoculars.
Katiki Point
As we couldn’t see the seals and penguins at Nugget Point, we went to Katiki Point hoping to meet them there. And we did! This time the penguins were only a few meters away, so they looked like penguins not like a dot in the fog. But a more exciting moment was shortly to come. A few minutes up the road to the cliff was enough to meet seals. They had a break and slept on the rocky platforms and on the grass around the road. It was a really great experience to be in the centre of this wildlife.
Mount John University Observatory
Mount John University Observatory is situated at around 1000m, near Lake Tekapo. There are some great views at the top of the mountain. There is also a little coffee shop so you can drink a good coffee and eat a great carrot cake admiring the fantastic panoramic views.
“Quite possibly one of the planet’s best locations for a cafe”
— The Lonely Planet
Lake Pukaki
We went there twice. The first time was at noon in the full sun, we were siting on the stones, drinking beer and just chilling and admiring the extremely blue (or turquoise) lake and the mountains on the horizon.
The second time was the day before we went to the airport in Christchurch. The weather wasn’t as good as before. It was cloudy and very windy. But thanks to that, we could see the lake from a completely different perspective. The waves were so big that it looked more like a sea than a lake and the colour turned from beautiful, clear blue to muddy purple.
The last dinner at the lake side was the perfect finale for our two weeks’ gorgeous journey through this beautiful country.
At the end I would like to thank my mates, Ewa and Marcin, for organizing this magnificent trip.
… and thank you Andy for adding some missing articles :)