Summary

Our family trip to New Zealand in April of 2019. Monica was studying at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch New Zealand for the semester. She had a three week break in the middle of the semester. Doris and Paul met Monica and traveled around New Zealand for the second and third week. Martha had an entirely different spring break several weeks earlier so she did not attend.


We toured both islands, starting with the north and then heading south. We took the ferry between them. We finished the trip in Christchurch returning Monica to the university. We flew out of Christchurch to Auckland and then back home.

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Stop #1 - Coromandel Coast

We arrived in Auckland on Saturday 4/13. We met Monica at the airport, picked up the car and drove south and east to the Coromandel Coast. This area is known for it’s costal mountains, rain forests and beautiful coastlines. After a quick grocery store stop we made two other stops along the way at Karangahake Gorge and Owharoa Falls.

The Coromandel Coast

Photo Gallery

Stop #2 – Waitomo


We drove to the Waitomo area Monday morning. This area is famous for it’s many caves, waterfalls, gorges and lush rain forest. We first visited Marokopa Falls. We next visited the Mangapohue Natural Bridge which was formed from a large cave with an underground river that collapsed. Very impressive.
Waitomo Cave Glow Worms
We next had two different cave tours lined up. The first was to Aranui Cave. Aranui is a wet cave and had an impressive number of large colorful stalactites and stalagmites. Next we visited Ruakuri Cave, famous for it’s limestone formations, crystal tapestries and famous glow worms. This cave contains underground rivers and waterfalls also used in other water based tours. We ended the day with a stay at a B&B in Te Awamutu, a short drive away from the Waitomo area. 

Stop #3 - Rotorua

Our next stop was Rotorua. The town of Rotorua is all contained within the crater of a volcano. The area is known for its geothermal activity and Maori culture. In Te Puia’s Whakarewarewa Valley, there are bubbling mud pools and the 30 meter tall Pohutu Geyser, which erupts many times daily. It’s also home to a living Maori village and the New Zealand Maori Arts and Crafts Institute, with traditional wood carving and weaving schools.
One of many geothermal sites in Rotorua
We spent our first day here at Whakarewarewa - The Living Maori Village. We loved seeing how this actual Maori Village functions today in the middle of this geothermal area. That evening we visited Redwoods Tree Walk. The tree walk is a set of 22 suspension bridges you walk high above the rainforest floor viewing the trees and foliage below. We took the night tour; famous for its lanterns display. It’s quite a sight! The next day we visited Te Puia, which is a Maori cultural center at a geothermal preserve with a dramatic geyser & crafts institute. That afternoon we visited a local hot springs pool; Waikite Valley Thermal Pools. A nice way to take a break from sightseeing.

Stop #4 - Tongariro Alpine Crossing

Our next stop was Tongariro National Park and the famous Tongariro Alpine Crossing hike. This hike is by most accounts the most famous hike in New Zealand. It did not disappoint.
A crossroads on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing 
The hike is almost 13 miles in length and takes you across a mountain range recent geothermal activity. The hike is a one-way hike across the range so we used a shuttle to get to the start. There are various mountain peaks, craters and hot springs along the trail. Lord of the Rings fans will spot the famous Mount Doom in the photos (Mount Ngauruhoe). Monica was able to complete the hike a few months before with her geology field camp group and was eager to show it to us.


Stop #5 – Wellington Ferry

New Zealand is essentially two large islands that roughly split the country in two. After our Tongariro hike we headed to the New Zealand’s south island. We drove to the southern end of the north island and boarded the Interislander Ferry in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital.
Interislander Ferry Crossing the Cook Strait
The ferry takes about three hours to make the crossing and arrives in Picton. We left our rental car at the dock in Wellington and picked up a new one in Picton. The ferry’s path to the south island is quite beautiful as it travels through a series of islands in its way to the Picton harbor. Upon arrival we drove to the northwest corner of the south island and the town of Motueka for the night. We would spend the next few days making our way down the west coast of the south island before heading back up the east coast and Christchurch.

Stop #6 – Abel Tasman Coast

Today we visited Abel Tasman National Park and the Tonga Island Marine Reserve. This area is famous for it’s gorgeous coast line with rocky coasts and sandy beaches. Our day was spent on a route that combined water taxi’s, kayaking and hiking.
We first took the water taxi north along the coast from the town of Marahau to Onetahuti Bay. We then kayaked north in the park to the marine reserve. We paddled along Tonga Island and then the coast south to Bark Bay. We got a good look at the seals, birds and other wildlife in the reserve. We then hiked south along the famous Abel Tasman Costal Track through Torrent Bay to Anchorage. We me the water taxi’s there and took the final leg of the journey back to Marahau.

Stop #7 – Paparoa National Park

Paparoa National Park is another great New Zealand National Park new the top of the south island’s west coast. On this day we did a series of hikes along the coast.
We visited Cape Foulwind to view the seal colony and visit the lighthouse. Additionally we hiked the Truman track and completed our day with a visit to Punakaiki and the famous pancake rocks. We stayed in Kumara Junction that evening.

Stop #8 – West Coast Glaciers

Traveling further south on the west coast we entered New Zealand’s Glacier country. Franz Josef and Fox Glacier areas kept us busy this day. Both of these areas have been affected by recent weather events. Heavy flooding caused rock slides closing roads up into the mountains that access hiking trails leading to these glaciers.
We hiked some trails in lower areas and completed one available hike that gave us a better view of Fox Glacier. It was amazing to see some of the damage from the rock slides and how mother nature re-routed the fox river running from the glacier. We drove further south to the town of Haast for the night.

Stop #9 – Haast Highway

Next we would leave the coastline for a bit and go over the mountains to visit the Wanaka and Queenstown areas. The Haast Highway is famous for its alpine scenery with many vistas, waterfalls, rivers and lakes.
Haast Pass Approaching M. Aspiring National Park
We took in various stops along the way including Haast Pass and Blue Pools hikes. We completed a longer tramping hike up Mount Shrimpton. The highway weaves it’s way down the eastern slope passing by the beautiful lakes of Hawea and Wanaka before arriving at the town of Wanaka where we stayed that evening.

Stop #10 – Roy’s Peak and Wanaka/Queenstown

Wanaka is a beautiful town set on Lake Wanaka surrounded by mountains. This town had a great energy and tons of awesome outdoor activities to do including downhill skiing at nearby hills. We completed the Roy’s Peak hike in the morning to check out its famous views. In the afternoon we visited a lavender farm and a fun place called Puzzling world.
#wanakatree
We made sure not to miss the famous Wanaka Tree to round out the day. Queenstown is close to Wanaka and was our destination for the night. We would spend the evening in the historic Arrowtown area for dinner before ending the day.

Stop #11 – Fjordland National Park Cruise

New Zealand’s southwestern corner is home to one New Zealand’s most beautiful and remote regions; Fjordland National Park. To best see this area you need to travel deep into the park via water, land and more water. We took a one night cruise to Doubtful Sound for our visit. Doubtful Sound is one of many fjords extending in from the coast. It’s famous for its size and abundance of towering cliffs, waterfalls and wildlife. We left Manpouri and traveled on our first boat across Lake Manpouri to an area called the West Arm. This took about an hour. This area is known for its hidden dam that supplies power to a large portion of the far south of the island.
Fjordland National Park
There is a road that we traveled by coach bus that was built with the dam connecting that lake to Doubtful Sound. We traveled that road to reach our cruise boat for the remainder of the day, night and next morning. The boat held about 70 and was ideal for touring the sound. A highlight of our cruise was viewing a pod of bottlenose dolphins that call the sound home. The cruise also allowed us to kayak in the sound for portion of the afternoon, allowing us to get close to the shore. The area gets an astounding nine feet of rainfall each year and we experienced some of that in the afternoon and evening. That rainfall is what powers all the waterfalls so we were happy to have that for all our touring the next morning. Traveled back by bus and boat to Manpouri arriving back in town about mid-day. We then traveled south to the Catlins area to the town of Tokanui for the night.

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