Wakana, Queenstown, Milford Sound and Christchurch

It’s counting down to our last week in New Zealand with just 3 more stops remaining. The first of which is Wanaka. We’re only here on night and we get there in the afternoon when it’s hammering it down with rain. We’re not sure what else we can do so we decide to go to the quirky independent cinema to see War for the Planet of the Apes (8/10). Next stop is Queenstown, the country’s adventure and party capital. On the way in we stop at the original A. J Hackett Bungy, the first commercial bungy jump in the world. We watch a short documentary about the man, who turned his hobby of jumping off tall things into, I presume, a multi-million dollar industry. One person on our bus does the jump here, other adrenaline junkies are saving it for the Nevis bungy, the largest in the world. Go hard or go home, I suppose.

We arrive at the hostel, do a quick food shop then think about what we want to do. Heidi and I are not really down to do much in the way of thrill rides, or partying, but because of how the bus works we have three nights here. I go with two lads from the bus up the gondola, which takes you up the giant mountain that overlooks the town. The views from the top of Queenstown surrounded by beautiful mountains and the massive lake are spectacular. From there, we get on the luge – small carts you roll down a paved track. You only have a brake and let gravity do the rest, it’s pretty great fun.

That night there’s a dinner put on by the Kiwi Experience – chicken and ribs. It’s a great meal but we don’t hang around for drinks as tomorrow we have a day trip, also courtesy of kiwi, to Milford Sounds.

We get up seriously early and hop on the bus. The sounds are a good two hour drive, so halfway we stop for coffee and snacks. The last 45 minutes of the drive are a stunning jaunt through the snowy mountain range, at one point going through a mountain via a tunnel. We emerge from the other side as our driver plays the Jurassic Park theme. It’s apt but not needed to inspire awe at our surroundings.
We arrive at the ferry port and shortly get on the ferry. The trip is about 1 ½ hours. Milford Sounds is pretty incredible, and our ferry captain provides narration pointing out waterfalls and, once again, seals chilling on the rocks. Fun fact: It turns out Milford Sounds is misnamed because it’s actually really quiet actually a fjord.

No scuba gear, no pot of gold

It’s a long day so we’re pleased to get into bed. Unfortunately, there are people in our 8 bed dorm who don’t seem to care we’re trying to sleep and chat for ages (mainly umming and arring about whether to go out). When some of them eventually do go out they come back and wake us both up. I can’t get back to sleep so I read for a few hours in the log cabin-esque lounge (complete with fire). We change rooms for our final night.

On our last day I do the walk up the same mountain where the gondola and luge is. The walk is longer and harder than I imagined, but as it’s a clearer day the view from the top is that much better. Later we meet people for drinks and have a nice night chatting, and saying goodbye to some of, our travellers from the bus.

As if the walk wasn't "breath-taking" enough

Queenstown is often where the crowd on the kiwi bus changes. Some people go south to Invercargill and Dunedin, some people spend more time in Queenstown. The bus, therefore, becomes instantly more clicky with people predominantly sticking with those from their previous bus. As a result, Heidi and I are mainly hanging around a group of lads (a mixture of UK, Germany and one American). Next stop is Lake Tekapo.

Before arriving at the hostel we visit the church that sits on the side of the lake. This is one of the most photographed buildings in New Zealand, not just because of it’s beautiful surroundings but because Lake Tekapo is a great place to see the milky way. Which is why Heidi and I are booked on a star gazing tour at night.

This might actually have been on the way to Lake Tekapo...

We treat ourselves to a double room at Lake Tekapo, a small chalet with a double bed and two heaters. The hostel has a large dining/lounge area with a roaring fire. We venture out with the lads to climb the mountain. Before we begin our ascent there are warnings of ice – enter at your own risk type of things. These are ignored, but after about 30 mins Heidi and I are separated from the guys and she quite rightly points out that we will have to descend through the ice, a task more arduous than traversing up through it. She’s right, so we return to the hostel and drink hot chocolate by the fire.


We get picked up for our star gazing at 10.30pm and get taken to the observatory atop the same mountain we attempted to climb earlier. We’re given something of a tour around the observatory, and our guide points out stars and constellations with a laser pointer. We then get to look through some powerful telescopes at the moon, Saturn and a great number of stars. Unfortunately, because it’s a full moon it’s too bright to see the milky way. When we get back down the mountain it’s minus 8 degrees and it takes a while to stop shivering and go to sleep.

Me, shifting in and out of our known reality

Out final stop is Christchurch. We arrive here on the 5th but our flight isn’t until the 10th – we thought we could use the downtime. And downtime there was because Christchurch is still recovering from a large earthquake in 2011. We find that for the most part they have been planning the rebuilt, and it’s only this year they have actually started. There are some temporary work-arounds, such as the Re:Start mall, which is entirely comprised of shipping containers and food trucks.
The only attraction we decide to do is the tram, which is a restored antique one. The tram itself is very pretty but the tour consists of listing the buildings that were destroyed, and the buildings their completing. As we go round there’s some concern part of the track will be closed off because the local super rugby team the Crusaders are having their victory parade today (remember, we watched the final in Franz Josef?). We get off the tram, pick up a free flag and become loyal supporters for the afternoon.

Heidi and I manage to get our flag signed by a few players, including All Black captain Kieran Read. We listen to the speeches then have our picture taken with the cup. It’s the highlight of our stay in Christchurch.

We book our last night in a hotel near the airport and for the last meal I have a burger from New Zealand’s own Burgerfuel. We first saw one of these in Sri Lanka, but their everywhere in NZ and...their pretty damn good. The quality of the patty far surpasses other mainstream burger joints and the other ingredients, of which Heidi is not a fan, compliment it perfectly. It’s only my second since we’ve been here and I’m sad I haven’t had more. I also attempt to eat a McDonalds pie because, y’know, it’s a pie from McDonalds but as always my eyes are bigger than my stomach (also the pie was surprisingly average).

It’s an early flight so after only a few hours sleep we get up and trudge along to the small airport and leave our temporary home. We’ve spent 10 months in the land of the long white cloud, while we only planned 4. Just like when we left Wellington, I’m keen to leave but the feeling’s ultimately bittersweet.


Next stop...Australia!