New Zealand
When I Went:
February 2017
Itinerary:
South Island - Christchurch, Akaroa, Franz Josef, Wanaka, Mount Cook, Queenstown, Te Anau
How long:
10.5 days
Transportation:
Plane and buses. I flew Air New Zealand and took Intercity buses.
Notes:
This was my first time traveling alone so I opted to take buses instead of renting a car. The buses were SO easy. They were on time, clean, and a decent price.
Summary:
Traveling alone is easy if you are going that route.
I ate a lot of meat pies and fish and chips.
It's a long island so it'll take a decent amount of time to get to places whether you're on a bus or rent a car.
Everywhere is beautiful and looks like a national park.
You won't be able to see everything in one trip unless you're spending months there. Focus on an area and take into account the travel distance from each place.
CHRISTCHURCH (2 nights)
How I got there:
I flew from LAX, laid over in Auckland and arrived in Christchurch on a Sunday. I took a bus to the Bus Interchange and walked over to my hotel.
Accommodations:
Southwark Apartments (US$79.50/night). The apartment was a bit secluded, but an easy walking distance to the attractions.
Activities:
Since it was a Sunday, everything closed really early and was very quiet. I bought the Christchurch pass and used it to go on the Punting On The Avon and tram. Unfortunately because I only had one day, I couldn't use the gondola and botanical garden portion. So make sure to check hours for each attraction before buying.
Punting On The Avon was a cute boat ride down the river. After being on the longest flight I've ever been on, this was a nice way to get acquainted with the city.
Afterwards, I got off and wandered to the Christchurch Botanic Gardens and Hagley Park. There was also a festival going on with live music. I wandered some more until I reached the Christchurch Cathedral. It was still not completely fixed since being ruined in an earthquake in 2011. Cashel Street was nearby with a bunch of cute restaurants, art, and shops. Had dinner at C1 Espresso which had your food sent through a pneumatic tubes which was really unique!
Enough time?
I didn't spend a full day there, but I don't think I would've needed more than that.
AKAROA (day trip)
Transportation:
I heard good things about Akaroa on the coast, so I booked the Akaroa Shuttle ($50 NZD). It was about 1.5 hours away from Christchurch on the eastern coast.
Activities:
I didn't have a ton of time there so I mostly walked around and took a harbor cruise with Black Cat Cruises (NZ$79). I walked to the lighthouse and through the Garden of Tane. I booked the harbor cruise last minute since I wasn't sure how much time I'd have left over and I didn't want to book it since I wasn't sure how the weather was going to be.
The weather was so perfect the day I went. We also saw the rarest dolphins in the world, maui's dolphins. I would recommend if the weather is good and if you have time.
Enough time?
A day trip there was enough for me, though I heard you could spend a few more days there. I wanted to stop by Barrys Bay Cheese, but it was too far out.
FRANZ JOSEF GLACIER (2 nights)
Transportation:
As mentioned before, I took buses around the south island and it worked really well. I bought a bus pass from InterCity. Calculate the hours of travel for your trip if you go this route.
Going from Christchurch to Franz Josef took around 8.5 hours total. We stopped to transfer buses at Greymouth. I waited about an hour for this bus since there were some transfer issues, but that was the only time the bus was late on the whole trip. The scenery is really beautiful during the ride.
Accommodations:
I stayed at YHA Franz Josef in a mixed dorm room (US$22/night). It was so cheap and since I was staying by myself, I opted to save some money for more fun activities during the trip. Everything in town is very close to each other and walkable.
Activities:
I had booked a helicopter-glacier hike, but the weather was bad so it got canceled. I'm 0/2 lifetime in glacier hikes. If this is something you want to do, might want to stay 2-3 full days to see if you can make this happen since it's all dependent on weather.
Instead, I went to the Glacier Hot Pools, which is an outdoor spa basically. Afterwards, I took a VERY long walk to the glacier because I didn't know there was a shuttle I could take. I ended up walking about 5 miles to the Sentinel Rock Walk only to find it rainy and foggy and very hard to see the glacier. I feel like I would've had a different experience had the weather cooperated, but what are you going to do?
Enough time?
This was enough time for me, but the bad weather might've influenced my feelings on it.
Wanaka (2 nights)
Transportation:
I took the bus from Franz Josef to Wanaka which was about 6.5 hours long. While in town, everything is pretty close by so I walked everywhere.
Accommodations:
I stayed at YHA Wanaka in a female dorm room (US$25.50/night).
Activities:
I tried to book a shuttle to Rob Roy Glacier in Mt. Aspiring, but I was late to the party. Since my helicopter-hike tour in Franz Josef was canceled, I decided to splurge and go on a helicopter hike over Mt. Aspiring. I got lucky because one of the lovely ladies working at the I-Site Visitor Information Centre was going on the same tour with her husband and offered me a ride to the location which was slightly out of town (shout out to Liz!). I can't remember how much I paid for the tour, but it was abut 45-60 minutes long.
The views were absolutely amazing. We went over glaciers, mountains, rivers, etc. At first we saw deers running on the mountain side. We got off a couple of times to take a look around and take pictures.
When I got back in town, I had lunch on an outside patio then went kayaking for about two hours. Don't forget to bring sunscreen! After I was done, I took a stroll around the left side of the lake. I took pics at the iconic Wanaka Tree. The path I was on was also good for bikes if you prefer to get around that way.
Enough time?
I would've liked a day in Mt. Aspiring National Park, but I didn't have a car and the shuttles were sold out.
Mount Cook/Aoraki (1 night)
Transportation:
I took the bus from Wanaka to Mount Cook which was about 3 hours long.
Accommodations:
I stayed at YHA Mt Cook in a mixed dorm room (US$30/night).
Activities:
First of all, holy cow. I was in awe of the beauty of Mt. Cook. We drove in and stopped a the Lake Pukaki Scenic Lookout. The water was SO blue and beautiful. We didn't stop for long so I wasn't able to get better pictures.
I got there in the morning/afternoon so I jumped right into the highlight of the stay, the Hooker Valley Track hike. I walked from YHA Mt. Cook to the start of the trail which added 35-45 minutes to the journey. The hike/walk is easily one of the best ones I've ever been on. There wasn't any uphill and remained pretty flat, but it was about 3 hours total. There was scenery the entire walk. The mountains are right there and feel so close to you.
There are a couple of swing bridges and you pass by Mueller Lake and Hooker River. The walkways are paved and in general a really easy walk for all fitness levels. Once you get to the end, you end up at Hooker Lake. To be honest it was a little underwhelming considering how beautiful the whole walk was. This is definitely more about the journey than the destination.
Don't forget to bring sunscreen, plenty of water, and some snacks!
The next day I did the Kea Point walk/hike. There weren't as many people on the trail. It was very easy and about 2 hours from YHA Mount Cook. There's a good outlook on Mueller Lake and you can see parts of the Hooker Valley Track.
Food:
Restaurants in the area are very scarce. I stopped by the Hermitage Hotel for a really early dinner. I think they have a restaurant you can go to, but it might be a bit pricey.
Enough time?
Another day to do a couple more hikes would've been great!
Queenstown (2 nights/3 days)
Transportation:
I took the bus from Mount Cook to Queenstown which was about 4 hours long.
Accommodations:
I stayed at an Airbnb which was a 10-15 minute walk to town. If you take the bus, just be aware that you might have to walk up a fairly steep hill to get to your place if it's outside of the main part of the city.
Activities:
Queenstown was very cute and had a lot of shops and restaurants. Definitely pretty touristy, but it was still nice. I packed a lot into my stay here!
I took the Queenstown Skyline gondola to a nice view of the city and Lake Wakatipu. I purchased the gondola pass and 2 luge rides (NZ$49). The luge was fun and I had fun both times I went and don't think I needed anymore than that. There's a restaurant or two in case you are hungry.
From there, I made a short walk to do a zip line tour (NZ$89). If you book this, keep in mind that you have to take the gondola up and that price is separate. For the tour, they give you some facts about the area and nature. I did the Moa 4 Line because of time constraints, but I would've liked more zip line action.
The next day, I went skydiving through Skydive Paradise (NZ$335 - 12,000 ft). I had been debating going skydiving since high school so I decided to bite the bullet and do it! We drove out to Glenorchy from Queenstown (30-40 minute drive). Glenorchy is northwest of Queenstown at the end of the lake. We waited for a bit and I wasn't really that nervous until I got into the plane and saw the two other tandems go out before me. It's a surreal experience seeing people before you jump out of the plane then knowing you are next.
I didn't look down when we were sitting at the edge and I'm glad that the person I was with just shoved us off. Haha. They tell you that it takes about 10 seconds to really understand what's going on. Your body is in shock and you're just tumbling in the air. I will say that the view was gorgeous and I don't know that I would've gotten any better than that.
I took a trip to Te Anau for a night then came back to Queenstown before my flight. I went on a KJet boat tour (NZ$110) down two rivers from a dock on Lake Wakatipu. You go pretty fast a majority of the time, but it felt really safe and I didn't worry about flying out of the boat. Hang onto the rail and your hats and glasses though ;)
Food:
Lots of food options in town. I opted for the quick and easy route. I ate at Fergburger which is very popular and you see it recommended in blogs and travel sites. It was good and the wait wasn't too bad. I just did some shopping while I waited for my order.
If you go next door to Fergbaker, there are some meat pies and pastries that are also good. There was no line the 2-3 times I went.
Patagonia Chocolates is good if you're craving some sweets. I bought some chocolate for gifts and also got some gelato. There's a room upstairs where you can eat and enjoy the lake view and you can also see them making some of the chocolate.
Enough time?
I probably could've done one more day, but was happy with the amount of time there.
Te Anau/Milford Sound (1 night)
Transportation:
I took an early bus ride from Queenstown to Te Anau which was about 2.5 hours long.
Accommodations:
I stayed at Te Anau Lakefront Backpackers in a single room (US$66/night).
Activities:
I booked a Milford Sound Nature Cruise and Te Anau Glowworm Caves package through Real Journeys. (NZ$248). The Milford Sound cruise included pickup and return from Te Anau. It was a completely full bus so plan accordingly! The weather was gorgeous the whole day! It was a bit windy on the boat, but it was crystal clear.
We got back from the tour and I had some time to get dinner at Miles Better Pies (meat pies of course) before the Glowworm Cave tours. We took a boat across Lake Te Anau to where the caves were. We had to wait a little bit, but then we were guided into a cave. We sat down in a small boat and glided through the caves in complete darkness. They can be a little hard to see when they're far away, but they are definitely glowing.
The next day I woke up early to walk to Fiordland National Park. I wish I had more time to do a real hike or two in the park, but I only had a couple of hours left. There was a lot of fog in the morning which created an amazing atmosphere. I just walked along the lake as far as I could before I had to go back.
I wouldn't mind trying to make it back here one day. You probably need at least 2-3 days in this area.
Enough time?
I wanted a couple more days to do some hikes in Fiordland National Park.
