Odds 'n' Ends: Final Notes on Our NZ Adventures

Doesn't look like much in terms of size, but regarding opportunities it's enormous!

Roadmap of our trip. Follow the numbers to connect the dots.

Our Roadmap: Where We Went

The map above shows our routes. As you can see, we backtracked quite a bit - some of which couldn't be helped. We were based out of Queenstown, and started out heading north due to poor weather in the Milford Sound. We could have taken a different route from Franz Josef to Queenstown, but it would have added 5 hours' driving time. So we backtracked through Haast. From Queenstown we headed for Milford Sound, which is an out-and-back trip from Te Anau. Then we went south.

We covered Central Otago region, West Coast, Fiordlands, and Southland. Yet, we didn't even scratch the surface. The roads are very much like those of the US in the 1940s-50s before the development of our interstate freeways. They are windy and mostly two lanes. Driving speeds max out at 100 km/hr (62 miles/hr). So it was relatively slow going. But, it was beautiful everywhere we went.

Kristie & Chad's New Zealand Top 10

10. Complimentary jug of milk that came with all our rooms. Heck yes! 
9. Bruiser Rainbows
8. Traffic was no problem (outside of Queenstown).
7. Kiwi hospitality & the kindness of strangers.
6. The lack of deadly predators - no venomous snakes, gators, mountain lions, bears. In terms of wildlife, the only things native to the island are birds and bats.
5. NZ Department of Conservation (DOC). Very helpful and resourceful. 
4. NZ keeps it local - much of their energy comes from wind and water. They make their own wines, cheese, milk, wool, and have some of the best lamb and eggs on the planet.
3. New Zealand wine. My, oh, my, what fine wines you have.
2. The diversity of the landscape.
1. Epic hiking!

 

Things We Could Have Done Without:

*Sand flies! Our legs are eaten up!
*Wireless networks outside the cities were slow and not always available. Though - this was a blessing in a way...it meant we couldn't be glued to our phones. 

What We'd Do Next Time: 

*Explore the northwest and northern coast (sea kayaking the Abel-Tasman area), and Lake Tekapo area.
*A day or two in Queenstown doing the luge or shotover jet through the canyon.
*An entire tramp (Abel-Tasman Track, Milford track or Routeburn track). This would require some planning ahead. ;)

What We Got Right:

*Flexibility in our itinerary (although, this was also a challenge at times)
*The weather was remarkably good for much of our trip - a huge bonus.
*Our open minds & curiosity took us above and beyond the tourist spots. 
*We saved a load of money by staying in our van for about half the trip, cooking our breakfasts, snacking for lunch, and eating our backpacker meals for dinners. Otherwise, NZ can be costly.

Trip Stats: 

*Hiked a total of 35 miles (estimate) to 2 glaciers, wetlands, coastal areas, subtropic areas, fiordlands, mountain terrain.
*Drove 1,282 miles (2,064 km)
*40 g Chili Powder (obviously)
*10 backpacker meals
*1 jar of peanut butter
*3/4 jar of Nutella (gifted to us by a German traveler - some stereotypes hold true)

Kudos to the following resources:

*DOC website. Very useful in planning any outdoor adventures
*Campermate app was great in helping locate holiday parks, campgrounds, and things to do in the areas we were traveling to (although, internet was often inaccessible or too slow).
*New Zealand Frenzy (Scott Cook): We used this book a lot on our trip. Very useful (and entertaining) guide.
*I-Sites: Pretty much every town you go to you can get a map of the area from any I-site or hotel
*Top Ten Holiday Parks

*** That's all, folks. 
The honeymoon is officially over. 

I wonder what our next adventure will be? ***