Leaving Christchurch, Danni and I had a long drive in front of us going all the way down past Queenstown to get to Fiordland National Park. We drove past familiar landscapes like the Southern Alps stretched across the horizon with Mount Cook on the right this time and the giant, blue lakes of Tekapo and Pukaki. However, as beautiful as those places are we knew we were on our way to something even more spectacular. The next morning, we drove along the winding highway 94 below rugged peaks. Emerging from the Homer Tunnel was an other-worldly experience and then, we finally arrived at Milford Sound. Mistakenly named a sound though actually a good (for all you geology nerds out there: a sound is formed by the flooding of a valley carved by a river whereas a fiord is formed by the flooding of a valley carved by a glacier), Milford Sound is New Zealand's most famous turist destination and as much as Danni and I enjoy the more unbeaten path, we got to give in: Milford Sound is one of the most beautiful places we have ever seen. We jumped on a cruise and spent a couple of hours sailing beneath the nearly vertical walls that surround the water going out to the Tasman Sea and back. On our way, we saw seals playing in the water and taking in the rare sunshine as it rains more than 200 days a year in Fiordland.
Cruising in Milford Sound
Some of the seals we met along the way
With a lot of daylight left, we went on a hike up to Marian Lake, an alpine lake surrounded by 1500 metre high sheer granite walls. Not a bad place to take a stunning albeit cold swim. The following day, we set out early on a more challenging hike called Gertrude's Saddle with warning and danger signs along the way. Just all the more fun that way. We crossed icy streams (Danni confidently jumped across whereas I played it safe, took off by boots and socks and walked), traversed wet, slippery rock and had some cables to help us out on the worst bits but my my, that view! Looking down into that untouched valley was like looking into paradise.
Marian Lake
An afternoon swim
Making our way up to Gertrude's Saddle
Type 2 fun
More type 2 fun
A small alpine lake on the way up
Almost there
We made it and DAMN!
The next day, we went to Doubtful Sound, also a misnamed fiord and less visited than Milford as it takes quite the trip to get there. First, you have to cross Lake Manapouri and then drive 45 minutes over a mountain pass to get to it. The second longest and deepest of the South Island fiords, Doubtful is wide, calm and soulful. It was like moving along the edge of the world which I guess we kind of were. At one point, the skipper drove into one of the fiord's sheltered arms where he turned off the motors completely and asked everyone to stay quiet and still. As the silence set in around us, a misty rain began to fall. It was pretty magical. Also, the boat had unlimited cups of hot chocolate so I was a happy girl.
The face you make when life is just as beautiful as your surroundings
Me taking full advantage of the complimentary unlimited hot chocolate
Then we drove a little north again and spent a couple of days in crowded Queenstown, the adrenaline capital of New Zealand and of course we had to try a little sample of that. A good 40 minute drive from Queenstown lies Nevis Valley where you can find the world's biggest swing. 300 metre arc and 70 metre free fall. Now, I have skydived a few times before so I tried to play it cool but honestly, when I stood on the edge of the ledge my legs began to shake. However, when we finally dropped, Danni was the one who screamed, not me though I was no way immune to the experience as you can tell by the look on my face (see photo below where I have also put a link to the video of the whole damn thing).
A picture of the exact moment we began to fall
Link:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7zPBKZhu16/?igshid=rc3k14q0yfh7
By Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown
The Nevis Swing was not the only swing we tried in Queenstown
From here on, we did not have much planned. We drove around what is called the deep South which dominant landscape is flat farmland and bays good for surfing and spotting wildlife. We drove down to the most southern point on the South Island and up along the east coast. On our way, we stopped in Dunedin, an old Scottish settlement, where you can find the steepest street in the world according to Guinness World Records. Otherwise, Dunedin was a good laundry- and WiFi-stop which is highly appreciated when you spend the majority of a month sleeping in a tent far away from a half-decent coffee shop. Nonetheless a pretty awesome month. In Christchurch, it was time to drop off both the car and Danni who was catching a plane to Japan. As for me, I headed straight back south to work on a dairy farm for a couple of months saving up for the next leg of the trip.
At Slope Point, the most southern point of the South Island
The best part about driving up the east coast: the pretty sunrises
Baldwin Street, the steepest street in the world
Jajaja que funny
Danni went for a nice, cold swim in The Pacific
One evening, we went looking for penguins but found seals instead
And more seals
When we came back in the morning, the atletic seals had made it pretty far up