KIA ORA!

I can't believe it's already time to say goodbye to the South Island of New Zealand. Its been non-stop adventure and excitement. I have never seen another place on earth that has such a diverse and changing landscape, within such a confined space, than I have seen here in NZ!

(Queenstown, South Island, New Zealand)

I flew into Queenstown, a lake-side mountain town in the southern part of the South Island. Before that, I had spent a couple days searching for somewhere to sleep once I arrived in Queenstown. I had no luck. Myself and some Kamboota hostel-mates spent HOURS searching and got so desperate that I sent a couple emails with pathetic pleas and even mapped out some homeless shelters as a backup plan. When backpacking, I always pack a sleeping bag for this very reason. It's like my safety blanket. I just tell myself, you won't die from sleeping on the streets a couple nights (as long as you are warm)!

But as my travel luck seems to go, I stepped off the plane and grabbed that few minutes of free airport wi-fi to find my prayers answered. The best hostel in town read my plea and had just had a family cancel their reservation........sooo, not only did I get a bed but I got a huge family dorm! By far my best room in all my hostel stays!

(The view from my $20 private bathroom shower)

A few days in Queenstown were a bit too many for me. So after a famous burger at Fergburger, a few day hikes up Queenstown hill, a visit to the rose garden, and walks along the lake banks, I headed to the little town of Glenorchy on the Northern tip of lake Wakatipu. From Glenorchy, there are two options to get to Kinloch, my final destination. One is a 5 minute boat ride across the lake and the other is a 45 minute drive down a gravel road. As the bus drove away, I was excited for my morning boat ride and to finally settle into my quite little Kinloch dorm. Well, the boat never came. So I took a 3 hour nap under a gorgeous large-leaved red beach tree and waited until the the kind coffee shop ladies I had met finished their shift and we all squeezed in their little two door for the drive around the lake into Kinloch.

(Queenstown, Rose Garden)

(Glenorchy, NZ (the "bigger" town across from Konloch)

As soon as I entered the room I was greeted by Sophia, a German girl on a 6 month "glamping" adventure around the world. She immediately reminded me of some people back home and we shared stories of our love for the Aussie culture;). And as the other two girls made their way into their beds we all found some familiar ground in being - thirty-somethings, single, traveling females;). There was Chantell, a Canadian, who lives in Saudi Arabia on a compound. She was just traveling for a few weeks to her favorite country of New Zealand. She told stories and painted a grim picture of her life as an un-wed, foreign, female, living in the Middle East, contrasted only by her NZ adventures, ultra marathon mountain racing, and wine tasting. And Judith, a sales exec from Ireland who filled us in on some of the NZ attractions through a Lord of the Rings lens. And me, the baby of the group with no plan, and no car!

We played for a few days: hiking during the day and eating and drinking at night until it was time for everyone to go their separate ways. Sophia offered to take me along with her up the West coast, so we packed in her lavender scented station wagon and headed for the West coast through Wanaka to Haast, just after a stop in Jackson Bay to see the Fiordland Crested Penguins. It pretty much rained for those few days but felt like weeks, as we made so many stops (Sophia had a very small bladder).

In Haast I had the worst accommodation. To start with, they timed your showers (but that doesn't matter if you don't take one, right!). I was in a small 4-bed dorm with 3 of the smelliest guys (they must of all just finished a trek or 10), so they spent the night snoring and farting in this humid, stuffy room. Meanwhile, I hid under the covers on my top bunk until the sun came up and I could escape into fresh air again.

Sophia and I hit the road early and headed for Fox and Franz Josef glaciers, in what turned out to be another full day of rain. The rain stopped in time for some good views of Franz glacier and for a few small trails off the road. I highly recommend renting a car in New Zealand. There are so many stops along your way and you would miss all these side-adventures on a bus or train.

A couple days later and we made it to a little town outside of Greymouth with gorgeous views of the Tasman Sea and right at the doorstep of the St. Elizabeth Walk, which I only completed halfway because I started late and got scared.

Traveling with Sophia the last couple days definitely showed me some of the finer ways of traveling but her budget must be a bit larger than mine. She was amazing and generous company and I will miss her, but it's time to hit the road solo again and I am headed North to Abel Tasman and its famous tramping track that follows the coastline of the Tasman and Golden Bays!