New Zealand Adventures

Adam and I arrived in Christchurch, NZ on January 11 anxious to explore the beautiful country. We decided that the best and most economical way to see as much as possible was to buy a car. Even though we thought it would be cool to cruise around in a VW bus ‘Spicoli’ style, we opted for the old faithful Subaru. After 10 days of searching, we finally found a 1994 twin turbo Subaru Legacy; the dent in the door came at no extra charge.


While waiting for a few “minor” fixes (like a new transmission), we checked out Christchurch. The town has a similar feel to Boulder; a very laid-back and friendly environment. There are beautiful Botanic Gardens where we enjoyed early morning walks and evening sunsets.

On only our second day in town, I (Cathy) experienced my first earthquake aftershock (if you are not aware, Christchurch experienced a 7.1 earthquake on September 3), thankfully no one was killed or seriously injured, yet it caused a lot of structural damage to many of the buildings; most of the town looks like a big construction zone. One morning while Ad and I were enjoying a cappuccino, we felt a strong shake throughout the building, then a few days later, we were woken up at 6:00 in the morning to a 5.1 tremor that caused us to jump out of bed and head to the nearest corner of the room.

Even though we had to deal with a few aftershocks, we enjoyed the very friendly people and also found some great local breweries that served delicious beers and food. My favorite beer was the ‘Ginger Tom’, and for Ad, a dark stout called the ‘Black Shag’. Next to the local brewery was a farmers market; we roamed around, checked out the local artists, tasted some local cuisine and enjoyed the sun while it was shining.

Akaroa, Lake Tekapo, Mt. Cook, Otago Bay, Catlins National Park

Our car was finally ready and we were anxious to hit the road in our ‘new’ silver Subaru. We headed to the Banks Peninsula and the town of Akaroa, a small harbor town and the site of the country’s first French settlement. The charming town is filled with B&B’s, cafés, small bistros and beautiful bays.

For the evening, we headed to a campsite located outside Akaroa in the beautiful Okains Bay. It was chilly, rainy, and foggy yet we pitched our tent and enjoyed a delicious pasta dinner on our new camping stove.

After Akaroa, we headed to the ‘Southern Alps’ of Lake Tekapo, a turquoise lake with a backdrop of green rolling hills and mountains. The blazing turquoise water, called ‘Blue Crush’ is due to the sediment in the water. This sediment gives the water a milky quality and refracts the sunlight which gives it its brilliant blue color.

Next, we headed to Mt. Cook National Park, a World Heritage Area in the Southern Alps that has a blanket of permanent snow and glacial ice. Of New Zealand’s 27 mountains over 3050 meters (9150 ft), 22 of them are within this park. Ad and I headed out to enjoy the awesome peaks and the surrounding landscape by hiking up to the base of Mt. Sefton and checking out the amazing view of Mt. Cook (Maori name is Aoraki). Mt. Sefton includes the Huddleston Glacier, and the Footstool.

Not only is the Mt. Cook Wilderness area surrounded by incredible mountains and valleys, it is also home to the Sir Edmund Hillary Alpine Centre, which was opened three weeks before his death; Mr. Hillary is regarded as the greatest New Zealander of all time. Above the Alpine Center is New Zealand’s most famous hotel, the Hermitage Hotel which was constructed in 1884 and rebuilt twice after a devastating flood in 1913 and then a fire in 1957.

When we left Mt. Cook, we headed south towards the Otago Peninsula, but stopped in the small town of Cromwell first where we enjoyed a delicious wine tasting at ‘Wooing Tree’ winery; oh these wines were spectacular! After spending the night, we continued our drive and reached the Otago Peninsula, which is located along the rugged southern countryside and home to an albatross reserve. As we traveled along the coast, we enjoyed incredible views of the rural countryside, beaches, amazing coastal birds and many sheep along the rolling the hills.

We stopped at the Royal Albatross Centre and learned about the world’s only mainland royal albatross colony. We learned that the birds spend eighty percent of their time at sea and New Zealand is the only place where they touch-down to nest. In addition, the female albatross will only lay one egg every two years so the species has been enlisted as endangered.

Once we left Otago, we headed further south to Catlins National Park. The Catlins combine lush farmland with amazing forests and rugged bays. Our first stop was Kaka Point (hee hee) to walk on the huge beach and collect sea shells. After enjoying the fresh cool air and the beautiful view, we headed to Nugget Point, which offered breathtaking views of the ocean, and unique rock formations. As we followed the path to the lighthouse, we enjoyed watching the fur seals and sea lions laying out on the beach and frolicking in the water.

We are now in Invercargill and planning our route to the Fiordlands, which lie in the southwestern part of New Zealand’s south island. We are enjoying our journey in the far south of the world and hope you are all doing well!

Love and miss you,

Cathy and Adam