South Island- Part 1

What's up everyone?

  Checking in from the South Island of NZ! It's been a whirlwind tour, but wicked experiences all around.  We started out in Christchurch, and I'm happy to report it was earthquake free! We boarded the plane to Auckland in the warm, sun and arrived in Christchurch to intense winds and cold temperatures.  Apparently they were expecting a "Weather Bomb" that night - yeah, that's what they call a storm here... awesome! There we met our van, which would be our home for the next three weeks..

Wobs helped us get to stop at any amazing viewpoint we liked!

Introducing Bobbi Wobbles (fondly referred to as Wobs). Why the name? Our trusty Honda Odyssey has quite the body roll on her, it took some getting used to.  Wobs has a few flaws; the stereo speakers are so crackly as hell that we have to pretend we're back in the 50s to appreciate the music, she has trouble kicking from 3rd to 4th gear and as a result could be a bit better on  outfitted with a wooden frame in the back and a mattress for easy "self-contained freedom camping".

We have been touring the South Island in Wobs since and loving it! We've made some damn gourmet meals and stayed at some sweet beachside / lakefront locations, spending virtually nothing on accommodation for the whole trip!
We spent a couple of days headed down the East Coast and even saw some penguins and fur seals.  Though it was really cold and windy it was still clear enough to appreciate the amazing views! Queenstown was gorgeous and I think one of the reasons why NZ is often compared to BC.  We went to a sweet bar on the way to Wanaka called Cardrona Hotel, this old country pub Chris used to hit after a day of snowboarding.  It was pretty awesome (see Cardrona Pub details here and definitely stop in for a pint)!

Moeraki boulders, East Coast of the South Island near Dunedin

On the drive from Queenstown to Wanaka.  This is not a fake background!!

 We went to a kick-ass movie theatre in Wanaka (the weather has been pretty crappy unfortunately!) where the makeshift theatre is filled with donated oversized comfy couches.  So cozy! They even stop the movie for intermission, during which they bring out fresh out of the oven home-baked cookies! My kind of heaven!! The picture doesn't begin to do it justice (check it out, Cinema Paradiso)!

The highlight of our trip so far has been without a doubt the Kepler track, a three-day hike in the Fjordlands of the South Island.  Chris and I, though we are a great team, have been spending a LOT of quality time together, and it wasn't until the hike where we got to spend some social time with fresh faces.  The hike was pretty intense - the first day a steady climb up (think slightly less than grouse grind, but for 4 hours and carrying your own pack..) to the peak of a mountain.  They have huts along the way, bunk-bed-filled rooms to sleep 60, with bare-bones gas cookers and benches downstairs for hanging out at night.  We met a sweet group of people- some from Turkey, the US and a whole lot of people from Israel.  We had a fun-filled. booze-free night (some might say that's an oxy moron, but it was awesome!) playing cards and praying that the forecast for intense rain come morning would turn out to be wrong! Unfortunately the forecast held and we spent day two battling sideways winds and constant drizzle crossing the mountains totally exposed.  The worst part was that this was supposed to be the most scenic, amazing day and we spent the day looking out into a grey abyss of miserable clouds! Nooo!!! But we were all in it together and it's cool being able to share those experiences with good people. The trek ended on day three with a lot easier hike and nicer weather.  Doing a hike is pretty much quintessential to the South Island experience, and it didn't disappoint!

Top of the Kepler track after a steep climb on day 1!

The view on Day 2... stunning, isn't it?

Our crew,.. before leaving the hut on Day 3 for a 20k hike out!

Celebrating an exhausting yet rewarding three day hike!! 

Chris and I scored ourselves some travel buddies en route as well - Matan and Andrea, two (we love them anyway) Americans we me on the hike.  Through beach bonfires, random pictures at tourist attractions, discussing roadtrip challenges, sharing crazy dance moves, and Chris and Matan's incessant conversations about whether Football or Rugby is the better sport, we grew quite attached to these two Americans!

Andrea, Matan and us at the terminal face of Fox Glacier

The last night we spent together we went out in Nelson - I felt right at home :) It also just so happens to be the sunniest place in NZ, love it! Anyway, we went out to this 'bar' with a live band... I have never experienced this kind of weird before (uh-oh, maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that this happened in Nelson).  There were probably 6-8 men in their 40s who were drunk or high off their faces, hitting on the men in our crew.  Matan and Chris kept getting pulled out to dance in weird ways with these hippy freaks.  It was so incredibly entertaining! We also randomly met up with Onur and Pinar, the turkish couple we spent a lot of time with on the Kepler track, so the six of us had a great time people watching and joining in amongst the crazies!

   
All in all, we are looking forward to the last week of the South Island, but will be sad to part with our travel buddies!! Stay tuned for more adventures to come.
Lauren and Chris!

PS I updated pics on the other two entries as well -check em out!!!