New Zealand's South Island
New Zealand's South Island is an absolute explosion of scenic diversity. We've seen Turquoise blue waters at dreamy sandy beaches in the Able Tasman National Park, the southern Alps with ancient glaciers rolling down from mighty peaks, and the deep old-growth forest of the Fjordland National Park. This island offers pretty much everything you could wish for in a small space.
In between, there is the less picturesque side of the country: farmland as far as you can see! We did some farm work on the South Island for about a month and quickly noticed that as soon as you leave the touristy paths, you'll find yourself driving past many fields and orchards. From fruit to veggies to berries and nuts. Not to forget the Grasslands for cattle and sheep!
Our southern road trip was not only a winner in terms of landscape: we were also able to share this section of the trip with Anna's parents. For almost a month, we explored the island together, went hiking, camping, eating delicious food, and ended the evenings with a glass of wine and good conversations.
In this visual guide, you will find our personal highlights of the South Island:
Snap Shots from a special road trip.
You can click on a picture to find out where we took it.
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Since the last few weeks were packed with work and moving around, we decided to take a well-deserved break this week and just relaxed a bit at our current house sit. We are in a festive mood and must have gained a bit of winter flab by preparing delicious home-cooked meals in a decent kitchen. From our living room, we have a picture-perfect view down to the lagoon, loads of good food, two cuddly cats and a glass of gin and tonic in our hand - we feel damn lucky right now and are trying to savor these times before the cherry-picking madness starts next month.
Since Friday we are now in Wellington, the capital of New Zealand. Here we have a house sit again and take care of two cats and a wonderfully located house. The view over the lagoon to the East Harbour Regional Park is truly awesome! What’s even better is a proper kitchen and a private bathroom - luxury
The famous catchphrase by Roger Murtaugh from Leathal Weapon came more than a couple of times to mind: I’m too old for this shit! This time it's kiwi flowers. What do you do with a kiwi flower? Yeah, we did not know, either. You can not eat them anyway. ;) So here's the story of bees and kiwi flowers:
Wow, where should I start? To sum this steaming hot mess of a week up: it was weird. We had planned quite a lot for our last few days in Mangonui, unfortunately, we had to let go most of it because of the steady rain, wild storms and even a small earthquake (it wasn’t that bad;) .
With the last days of October, our last days of the house sit are approaching in Mangonui. On Thursday, Judy and Kim will be back from their Euro Trip and we have to say goodbye to George and this lovely gem of a home. Once in a while, you found these special places where you feel instantly secure, that inspire creativity and are somehow more than just a nice spot on earth. This is such a place.
The waves rush in evenly to the beat, the small island in front of us is dipped in the pastel-colored evening light, while water birds dive for fish for the last time of the day. That's one of the reasons why we're on the road, why we rented out our apartment and packed our things. These moments are simply priceless!
WE. ARE. SUPER. EXITED! We can’t tell you the whole thing (we don’t wanna jinx it!) buuuuuut: we received an unsuspected mail from one of our travel acquaintances and concretized our travel plans for next year! After New Zealand the journey will definitely go on, that's for sure. And even earlier than we thought it would: we will leave New Zealand in March or April to start the next part of our trip.
After an amazing birthday weekend, our third week here in Mangonui started rainy. We spent our time mostly to get ahead with the car conversion.
Basically, “Vanette” is ready to roll, as we have already covered several miles across the country from Auckland to the far north. But to be called a tiny home, she still lacks the final touch.
New Zealand's South Island is an absolute explosion of scenic diversity. We've seen Turquoise blue waters at dreamy sandy beaches in the Able Tasman National Park, the southern Alps with ancient glaciers rolling down from mighty peaks, and the deep old-growth forest of the Fjordland National Park. This island offers pretty much everything you could wish for in a small space.