A lot has happened in the past week since we left Wellington. Last Saturday we took the ferry to Picton - the beginning of a two day trip to get to Christchurch. The ferry ride was enjoyable -beautiful scenery as we came into the Marlborough Sounds. The first night was spent in a caravan park right outside Picton, where we got to set up our tent in the pouring down rain. On Sunday we wandered around Picton in the morning, until we caught our bus to Christchurch. It was a pretty long ride, but went by quickly. Upon arriving in Christchurch we were tired and hungry, and after checking into our hostel (Foley Towers), went out to get dinner.  We had made reservations for a rental car starting on Monday for a week, so at 9am their shuttle picked us up and took us to the depot in the morning sunshine. After getting the car it was off the to market to stock up on food, and then on the road to Arthur’s Pass National Park. The drive there was amazing - huge mountains, blue lakes, wildflowers, and clear skies.
By the time we made it to the park we still had enough time for a day hike. The Bealey Valley Track took us up along the Bealey River, and at the top of the hike was a “fake” glacier - where avalanched snow gets caught and the river flows underneath it. It was an awesome hike and really got us excited about doing more during our trip. After the hike we went to our campsite for the night at Kelly’s Creek - which was free!

In the morning we continued to head west, all in an effort to get to the trailhead of the Copland Track - a multi-day hike that had been highly recommended to us. On the way we stopped at Lake Ianthe (the warmest lake I’ve ever swam in), Fox Glacier, and Lake Matheson. At Fox Glacier we did the Chalet Lookout Trail, which got us to a good view point. At Lake Matheson there was a walk around the lake that was incredibly well-kept and didn’t take too long, but was very pretty.

We waited as long as we could to go to the trailhead because we had been forewarned about the sandflies. These bugs are awful - like mosquitoes but smaller and more annoying. Apparently only the females bite but that doesn’t help much. We set up our tent and got in without too many bites or bugs getting in. However, in the early morning, the sound of light rain was confused with about 200 sandflies flying between the tent and the rain-fly. We were happy to get away from our newfound annoyance and get on the trail. Our destination for the night was Welcome Flat Hut - 17 km from the trailhead. It was a lovely day out, and the hike was really nice in that the terrain and scenery changed regularly. At first it was through a forest, then along the riverbank, through a grassy flat, back into the forest, through a dozen streams, and on. At about halfway there was a 70m suspension bridge over Architect Creek, which was definitely a more exciting portion. The hike took us six hours, and when we reached the hut, we were exhausted. The last few kilometers was really steep, and hard on legs that had been working all day.

Welcome Flat Hut was a really nice place to come to after such a day. The attraction of the hut is that not only are mattresses provided so a tent doesn’t have to be carried on the hike, there are natural hot spring pools. It was about 4pm when we arrived, and we went to check out the pools right away. We were quite surprised to find that the pools were so hot that some were literally boiling! Needless to say, we knew we had to wait for the sun to go under before we could go in. When we did, it was amazing - the water was so warm and such a relief to our pitifully tired legs. Since the hut holds about 20 people, there was a small group of people enjoying the pools when we did. Austria, New Zealand, Australia, Italy, Germany, Canada, Holland, England, and the US were all represented the night we were there - and even someone else from Portland Oregon!

The next morning we got up early and on to the trail by 7am. It was much cooler than on our way up. We made it back to the trailhead in 6:40, and jumped in the car to escape the bugs. We headed straight to Queenstown, where we would be staying the night. On the way we stopped in Wanaka, and refueled on one of the best burgers (tofu, of course) I’ve eaten on this trip. When we reached Queenstown and found our campsite, we were exhausted, as were our legs and shredded up feet.

A day of hanging around Queenstown after 11 hours of sleep did us well. We ate lunch by the lake, walked around town, went to the Queenstown Gardens, and then got on the road to head back to the East Coast. That night we stayed at a caravan park south of Dunedin.
We headed into Dunedin the next day, where it was raining. Fortunately, we wanted to go to the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Our morning was spent there, looking at the few exhibits they had and passing the time. The rained stopped, so we walked along the main streets after lunch.

On our way out of town we stopped at the World’s Steepest Street. Whit was skeptical of it’s steepness in comparison to some streets in San Francisco - but the Guinness Book of World of Records does not lie! It’s so steep that you cannot stand straight up without falling.
Once out of Dunedin we stopped at the Moeraki Boulders, also known as the Dinosaur Eggs. There’s nothing exceptional about these boulders besides their roundness and position on the beach. That night we camped in the Waitaki Valley, at the windiest campsite we had ever been to. All night we thought we would be blown across the valley!

Our last day with the car, time to head back to Christchurch. Our friend Spencer from the Bay Area had moved to Christchurch just four days earlier, so we called him up the afternoon we arrived. He will be starting school here in February to do a viticulture program. Before meeting up with him we went to the Botanic Gardens, and walked around the Cultural Centre, where the Busker’s (Kiwi for street performer) Festival was happening. There were tons of people out, and a really good selection of food vendors. It was really fun to meet up with Spencer and to see a familiar face. We dropped our stuff at his house and went to Winnie Bagoes for a beer. Then we headed to the Busker’s Festival and watched a few acts while we ate dinner. We all went back to his house and played cards with his new roommates.

Today will also be spent with Spencer - we’re going to head out to the beach and maybe go wine tasting. Tomorrow we’re getting another campervan and heading back up to Auckland by Saturday - another road trip adventure!

-Claire