New Zealand – South Island – Part 3

This will be the last post of the big travelling. Since then, I have been in so many places, I will try to post 1-2 more post about New Zealand. Well, it’s a lot I know, but still doesn’t seem enough…

So I left Wanaka and instead of staying in Queenstown I was heading to Milford Sound. This was the only day I could not go with the flow, as I booked a ticket for a boat trip.

The road which is leading to Milford Sound is pretty long, but the scenery is amazing. I have to say, I was more amazed with that road, than the actual sound. I couldn’t take many pictures as you can’t stop on the road and also my pictures are just not showing the sizes of the surroundings. There are waterfalls all around, lakes, mountains, valleys and a tunnel. A tunnel which still gives me nightmares. It is narrow, long, dark, water dripping from the ceiling and you can only drive 30km/h. It seemed forever, especially on the way back, when I was the first car. 

Before you go Milford sound, check the weather forecast. If it’s rainy and cloudy you might not see anything, also at the moment the road is closed due to flooding. Unfortunately it happens quite a lot in the south island that a road is washed away by the rain and floods, so always check the road conditions before you are heading to Milford Sound or the West Coast.

From Milford Sound I continued my trip to the one and only, world famous Queenstown. Well, if you ask me, you should avoid that city. For me it was waaaay too touristy and commercial. Also, by this time I was quite poor and the city is very expensive. Really, if you have a lot of money, you can enjoy it, do all the extreme sports (swing, bungee jumping, rafting etc) and party and dine out all week but as you know me by this time, I am not into this at all. So I went back to my car and I found my very first parking ticket… On a Saturday afternoon… I made sure I park in a place where you don’t need to pay. Well, I was wrong I guess. So yeah, I definitely don’t like Queenstown. I left asap and because of the unexpected expenses (fine) I decided to free camp that night. First time ever, alone. But before that, I went to Arrowtown, which is a really nice place next to Queenstown. It was a gold mining town and if you are lucky, you can still find a gold nugget in the river. I tried to find a small piece, but I didn’t have any luck – so I still had to free camp. I choose Champagne Gully which is between a river and the main road. Not the most quiet place but for one night it was okay. I waited for a couple more cars to arrive to see if I will be safe during the night, but it was smoother, than expected. 

The next day I went to visit my friend in Ettrick, who I met in Taupo. Small world 🙂 She was really nice, they asked me if I would like to stay overnight, have a nice warm shower etc. We even went for a housewarming party to theirs friend place. It was really nice. I mentioned this before, but people are sooooo amazing here, I still can’t believe this (even after a year).

In the morning I jumped into Sullivan and we visited Nugget Point Lighthouse, which means we arrived back to the East coast. The weather was not so great, but what I could expect just before winter? As I was walking to the lighthouse, I spotted some seals and all of sudden some orcas in the water. I know, I am very lucky, I see orcas everywhere around New Zealand. 

From Nugget point I was heading back to Christchurch on the east coast with a couple of stops.  My first stop was Dunedin, which is a really nice town (with a university so mostly it’s full of students) in the south island. I was hoping to see some blue penguins, yellow eyed penguins or sea lions, but I was not lucky that day, however I still saw a couple of albatrosses and seals.

Dunedin is the only place in New Zealand where you can find a castle! Only one in the whole country. Well yeah, you are definitely not coming here for the architecture… Nature is too amazing so you don’t need nice buildings. I love castles, but I haven’t visited it, as the entrance ticket costs $45, so I could not afforded it. At this point you are wondering why you heard about this town? Dunedin has (well had) the steepest street in the world. It was the world steepest street until last July, when a street in Wales take this record. 

Of course it is a must to visit Baldwin street when you are in Dunedin. It doesn’t seems steep from the bottom, but as soon as you walk up you realize you were wrong. 

If you are travelling north on the east coast, the next stop is probably Moeraki for everybody, however I really wanted to see a penguin so I stopped at couple of beaches but all I only found some beautiful paua shells. I met a guy back in Akaroa and he said he saw yellow eyed penguins at Katiki Point Lighthouse, so of course I went there, maybe I have my luck still. Unfortunately again, all I saw: seals, a lot of seals. After a while you are just used to hang out with seals on the beach, it is really weird. 🙂

I continued my trip from the lighthouse. If you visit Moeraki boulders, by souvenir shop there is donation box where they ask you $2, however if you stop at the DOC car park further down, you can walk all along the beach to the boulders and it’s free. I tried to hatch at least one of the eggs, so I can become the new Khaleesi, but I guess I need way more time to spend there. 🙂

Oamaru was my next stop. There is a street in town which I immediately fall in love, especially with the book store. As soon as you step in, you saw a boat which was on the Antarctic and all the books are travel related. I spent there at least 2 hours. It had an amazing vibe and the shop owner know a lot story about the boat and travelers. There are also a couple of  books signed by the author. I really would like to visit more places like this.

This morning I woke and I told myself I will see a penguin today. So I headed to the penguin watching spot next to Oamaru. They say the penguins arrive home 2-3 hours before sunset. I spent there 3 hours – I know, I am patient, but I had a book with me, so I was not bored at all. After 2 hours waiting, the first yellow eyed penguin showed up! And after I saw 2 more. They were very far, but you can clearly see them walking on the shore. 🙂

I still don’t have a proper camera, so please apologize for the picture quality… 

From Oamaru, I went back to Christchurch and started to apply for jobs all around New Zealand. While I was waiting for any news, I did a couple of hikes around Christchurch as well. It is quite easy to find a travel buddy in the group on Facebook. I found a nice couple and we went to hike Kennedy’s track.

Not long after, I got a job offer…  in Auckland so I crossed the sea, drove 1000 km -16 hours drive-  in 3 days (stopped in Kaikoura of course to say hi and was lucky enough to see some dolphins on the ferry as well) and settled down in Auckland. I spent half year in the big city… But that’s another story. My big New Zealand trip finished here. I traveled all along the north and south, saw as much as I could in 3 months and enjoyed every moment. Of course since I traveled a lot but I keep that story for another post. 

Will be back soon with 2 more posts about New Zealand, but in the meantime I am planning my upcoming trip as I need to leave this beautiful country soon and also I have big plans for this year so stay tuned. 🙂 Travel safe, take care, kisses and hugs