New Zealand!
- Silvia W
- Apr 15, 2024
- 5 min read
Day 1 - Sydney to Queenstown
To the surprise of absolutely no one, I have been having so much fun here that I have fallen behind with the blog. In an effort to keep up to date, I am skipping several weeks of fun-filled adventures to bring you news of my recent New Zealand adventure!
My family visited me in the last week of March (a story for another time), and I left for New Zealand the day before they went home because it was the beginning of my week-long mid-semester break. I said goodbye to them at the Circular Quay train station and made my way to the Sydney airport for my flight to Queenstown on the Southern Island of New Zealand.
When I got off the plane, I had a beautiful view of the Remarkables, but we weren't supposed to take photos on the Tarmac. By the time I got out of the airport, it was already dark, but I still could see their looming shadows:
I got dinner from a popular late-night restaurant called Fergburger in Queenstown, recommended by the Uber driver who drove me into town from the airport. I waited 20 minutes and I would say it was worth it!
Day 2 - Queenstown to Lake Tekapo
The next morning, I got up early to take in the beauty of the area before getting on the bus to go to the next town. On this trip, I was traveling with a company called Kiwi Experience. I purchased a bus pass, and every morning there would be a bus waiting for me outside of wherever I was staying. I also booked hostels through the company and some experiences. Overall, it made solo travel a little easier, but I still wished I had a friend with me.
Anyway, it was lovely to look out over the lake in Queenstown with a cup of hot chocolate in hand.
Once I got on the bus, we stopped at Lake Pukaki to enjoy that view for a while and get some food. All these lakes are glacier fed so they are super blue and reflective.
Then we made our way to our overnight stop, Lake Tekapo. The village of Lake Tekapo is located in the world's largest dark sky reserve, which means they have some really great stars. During the day, I joined some people from the bus on a hike up the nearby Mount John, which has an observatory at the top.
That night, I laid out on the beach for an hour just looking up at the Milky Way, and it was gorgeous. Sadly, I don't have the right equipment to take great photos of that, so you'll just have to take my word for it. And don't worry. The clouds you see in those photos DID clear up completely.
Day 3 - Christchurch
The next day was spent in Christchurch, New Zealand. Christchurch's recent claim to fame is the earthquake that hit in 2011. I visited the Quake City museum to learn more about it. The earthquake was devastating, but many stories of hope and community came out of it too. My favorite place I stayed during the week was in Christchurch. Hotel Give was very nice. I was only sharing with 2 other people in a room that was basically just a hotel room, and there were communal single restrooms in the hallway. Everything was very clean, and I wish every hostel-type place could be like it.
Day 4 - Kaikoura
The day after that we made our way to Kaikoura. Kaikoura used to be a village that thrived off of killing their abundant populations of whales, dolphins, and seals. Now, they've stopped doing that, and most of their economy comes from tourism surrounding these amazing animals. We stopped several times on the drive into Kaikoura to observe dolphins in the water and seals on the rocks below us. We did not see any whales, but supposedly they were there, just too far out.
This picture is not that great, but it has one dolphin doing a belly flop, so I love it:
I also went ziplining on this day! It was beautiful. We were up in the mountains on the same property as a cow farm. So I was zipping over mooing cows. As the afternoon went on, it got more and more windy, and I actually got briefly stuck on the longest line, but they got me going again by pulling on the end of the line.
Day 5 - Kaikoura to Wellington
This day was by far the highlight of my trip. Why is it such a clear distinction, you may ask? DOLPHINS! THAT'S WHY! I got to swim with wild Dusky dolphins. I got suited up in a full body wetsuit, boarded a super rocky boat, and boated around until we found a pod of dolphins that seemed interested in us. And boy, were they! We got in the water and they were everywhere! Swimming past us on all sides, then coming back for more. They told us the best way to get their attention was to make noise through our snorkel and to dive down a little bit. I also learned that if I could get one's attention, I could hold its eye contact and spin around in a circle and it would be like challenging the dolphin to a battle. Who can go in circles faster for longer? Answer: the dolphin. Every time. I loved this so so much!
And for my seal lovers (which I now am), here is some seal content from a hike I did and a stop we made on the bus. Yes, those are the seals making the retching noises.
This second video is a seal nursery! Apparently mama seals bring their babies here to socialize them and teach them to swim in the rock pools.
Later that day, I went on the Inter-islander Ferry to get from Picton to Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand. The ferry was very nice, almost cruise ship level of luxury, and the ride was about 3.5 hours long, so I didn't get to explore Wellington much that evening.
Day 6 - Wellington
I woke up and got breakfast at a cafe near the government buildings. They were cool, and now I can say I've seen them. Then, I wandered around the city for a while, where I randomly found the world's largest Mjolnir (Thor's hammer). Apparently there is some sort of Marvel exhibition happening in Wellington at the moment.
For my last activity in New Zealand, I went to the Museum of New Zealand. It was a very interactive, kid-friendly museum but hey, that doesn't bother me! I especially loved their deep sea exhibit. On the left is me being eaten by an angler fish (duh), and on the right is a real actual giant squid (with albatrosses fighting in the background).
Once I learned all I could about New Zealand natural history, it was time to head to the airport to get back to Sydney. Here are some other little tidbits from New Zealand in general:
The bus ride was never boring with lots of sheep and cows out the window at all times.
Phone booths are still very common here because there's not much cell service anywhere in the country. This was the cutest one I saw - they don't all look like this.
There were several times on this solo travel adventure that I needed this reminder.
"Everything's going to be alright"
I'll throw the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit fans a bone. Here, have some Smaug.
This was at the check-in area at the airport.
Now for a little bonus content for this post. The day after I got back, it was my birthday!
Some friends and I went out to a gnocchi restaurant near where we live and then back to my apartment for some cake from the grocery store. They were even nice enough to get me gifts - fun socks!! What a nice way to turn 19.
Seal content is very appreciated!
Call box = British for those red boxes. I don't know what the Australians call it, telephone kiosk??
[I had to look it up; it's in my DNA]
Oh, Silvia, what a wonderful trip, even if it was by yourself. Write down in that diary all the things that you did not put into the blog so you have them for later. Believe it or not, details dim. And... Everything will be alright! Keep plugging. We love you. [Can you tell that I am envious?]
Love, Grammie