Monday, August 5- Christchurch
Schedule
Christchurch was nice, but honestly, it wasn’t my favorite city. It still has a lot of damage from the earthquakes a few years ago.
I did enjoy the trolley that circles the town though. It gives information about all the places and allows you to hop on and off for only $25.
I LOVED the Canterbury museum! It had some really cool stuff in it, including a replica of what Christchurch would have looked like back in the day. It also also had the really cool bike pictured bellow!
Lodging: JUCY pods
The best Hostel ever is there- Jucy Snooze- It is clean and you get your own private space by means of a curtain on your bunk. Also, it low key looks like you are sleeping in a space ship, which is cool! If you do stay there make sure to look in the free stuff baskets to see if there is anything you may want! Rebecca and I found two New Zealand books which we found Extremely helpful.
Our rental car
Jucy is also a car rental company. It rents cars for very cheap and is one of the only places in New Zealand and Australia that rents to under age (under 25) with no underage fee. However, because you are in New Zealand’s Southern Island, you will probably want to get a four wheel drive. Especially since you will be in Queenstown. Unfortunately, most of Jucy’s cars are pretty dinky so we went with RAD (rent a dent) car rentals. Our one complaint was that our car functioned COMPLETELY in Japanese!
Also, Make sure you know how to put snow-chains on and have them on your car, You will have to have them if it is snowing.
Tuesday, August 6- Punakaiki and Hokitika Gorge
1:30p – 2:30p: Punakaiki
From Christchurh we headed to Punakaiki to see the Pancake Rocks. The Pancake Rocks are interesting, but the real treat is the blow holes. SO cool! Every time a big wave came up, mist would shoot up through the chimney!
5p – 6p: Hokitka Gorge
From there we went to Hokitika Gorge. I is seriously the bluest thing I have ever seen! Like seriously you have to go! I hope you are able to go in the summer (our winter) so you can swim! The water really looks so nice to jump into.
Late: Glowworms on Minnehaha Walk
That night we headed off to Franz Josef Glacier were we spent the night! There are some glow worm walks at both Franz and near by Fox Glacier. I have to say there weren’t that many glow worms on the walk we went on. We REALLY had to search to notice even just a few. If you want the full effect there are glow worm tours in caves around New Zealand were you will be able to see hundreds, but you will pay.
Lodging: Fox Glacier
The hostel is connected to a bar and honestly this was a pretty pathetic hostel. It looked like a boy scout project. Next time I’d stay somewhere different.
Wednesday, August 7- Fox Glacier, Franz Josef Glacier
Schedule
8am – 2:30 Franz Josef Glacier The Next day, we took some of the glacier hikes. Something that I didn’t realize is how far away the glacier is from the end of the hike. Really the only way to touch the glaciers is by taking some sort of guided tour. Again, you will pay for this as well. Even though the walk is not super up close it is definitely worth it. It takes you by beautiful water falls and rock formations. Do beware that the roads often wash out near these glaciers causing the hikes to close, so make sure you look at the weather conditions before going.
Glacier Hot Spring
We did not end up doing the hot springs because we stopped by and they just looked like hot tubs to us. When we asked they were heated by the company, not the earth. Which isn’t worth the money to me.
Lodging: Jucy Pods Queenstown
Thursday, August 8
Milford Sound
Milford Sound
Schedule
12- 3- Milford Sound Tour
Milford Sound- Holy. Cow. Must. Do. But, make sure you wear water-proof clothes. It is one of the wettest places in the world! And very cold if you go in the winter. The tours are pretty cheap too!
Friday, August 9- Queenstown
Schedule
8 am- 5 pm – Queenstown
This is the sweetest ski town. There are ski resorts all around but my personal favorite was night skiing. The only place that does this is coronet peak. It’s not a huge mountain and there aren’t a tone of runs but the night skiing is a must try experience! There is a DJ and all
Of course you’ve gotta Bungie! A.J. Hacket is the way to go!
Saturday, August 10- Lakes
We were thrown a little off our schedule today because a snow storm. We had to pull over to put our snow chains on…it was a lot more difficult then it looked. After that most of our day was gone so we mostly just went around to the lakes before ending in Dunedin. We went and saw the Wanka tree, which I have to say, was not that impressive. But one thing that Wanka did have that we Loved was The puzzle world. It is a whole museum of opticle allusions! really the best thing in Wanka!
Sunday, August 11- Dunedin
Schedule
8 am- 12 am- Dunedin
I went to Dunedin but really didn’t get to see a ton of the city. I did get to see the the penguins and sea lions tho! That was super-duper neat!
Rest of the day- The lakes
The next day we went around to some of the lakes. If we are being honest they were cool but kinda anti-climactic. They all kinda look the same. And if we are being honest the Wanaka tree was pretty lame. It is just a tree. I mean its kinda cool but there are so so many cooler things in New Zealand!
You must go to Lake Tekapo but when you go CHECK THE WEATHER. We could dead serious not see one star. How disappointing!
In the End…..
Milford sound
Puzzle world
JUCY PODS
Bungy Jumping
Could have skipped-
Wanka tree
Christchurch
Wish I would have-
Stewart Island
The Catlins
Tekapo in the actual dark
