Road Trip NZ!
Having loved our first taste of RV life (the only way to safely travel during COVID summer 2020), we figured we’d try our hand at RVing across the whole of New Zealand. Though this meant we’d be driving a 7 meter (nearly 23 feet) RV up and down mountains, across two islands, all while on the "wrong” side of the road, we were not deterred. From everything we read, this is THE WAY to see New Zealand and nearly two weeks in, we’d have to agree!
New Zealand is beautiful!
Everywhere you look there is natural beauty. The country is spread across two major islands so water views are never too far away. We started out of Auckland on the North Island and made our way to the South Island (traveling through Middle Earth for all our LOTR and Hobbit fans out there).
With the freedom to travel anywhere, we are trying to go everywhere! By the time we are done, we will have made a good dent in seeing and doing many of the ‘must dos’. That being said, we could stay another three months and still not experience all there is to see and do here. Honestly, I could write a full blog about each and every experience, but I’ll let the kids and Ben cover some of the specifics while I summarize the overall road trip.
Goal: 2,362 km (just shy of 1,500 miles) over 15 days
We lost a day in Auckland thanks to the less than clear opening times for NZ. Long story short, the NZ immigration website said they’d be open to international tourists beginning 1200AM May 1st. We booked our flight to NZ for May 1st. What they (supposedly) actually meant was they are open beginning at 11:59pm on May 1st/ 1200AM on May 2nd. So, we got an extra night in Fiji and flew into NZ a day later. All this to say, we didn’t do much in Auckland other than pick up our RV and head south.
North Island Highlights:
First up was HOBBITON! For movie lovers like us, this was epic. We loved walking into the set of the movies and seeing some of the iconic places and spaces in the Shire. The attention to detail was so impressive.
Within a 1-2 hour drive from Hobbiton are two other must do locations. The first was Rotoura where we visited a living Maori village and even had corn cooked in a geothermal natural hot spring (aka boiling sulfur pool; surprisingly, the sulfur doesn’t flavor the food at all, but cooks it in minutes). The village, consisting of 20 families, still use the geothermal pools and steam to cook their food.
The second is Waitomo Caves, where we hiked and tubed through underwater rivers in the pitch black, with only the light from thousands of glowworms overhead. Amazing!
Our final stop was Wellington, where we toured Weta Workshop. Weta Workshop is a special effects and prop company responsible for stunning visual effects and props in movies like Lord of the Rings, the Hobbit, Avatar, and countless others. The kids loved learning more about the creative genius and work that goes into making movies.
Transition:
From Wellington, we took the 3 hour Interislander ferry (RV and all!) over to Picton and then drove about two hours to Nelson. All along our route, we are staying in Top10 Holiday Parks, which have everything we need from power and water for the RV to kitchen and laundry facilities and even play grounds for the kids and recreation rooms where we can al lounge and watch movies or play cards. Highly recommend!
South Island Highlights:
Everyone told us we should spend more time in the picturesque South Island, so we have about double the time here (10 days). We started in Nelson where Ben and I left the kids and treated ourselves to a tour of the region’s wineries. We ended up being the only two on the tour and had a great time with Elissa from Wine, Art & Wilderness. We visited 6 wineries and found some Pinot Noirs and Sauvignon Blancs that we loved.
From Nelson, we made the 6+ hour drive to Fox Glacier, stopping at Buller Gorge to cross New Zealand’s longest swing bridge. The RV park in Fox Glacier is perfectly situated with a view of the mountain range and a mere 5 mins from Lake Matheson, a glacial lake famous for its mirror images of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman and its’ electric blue mushrooms (we also found a Mario Brothers-looking mushroom too).
The total splurge and highlight of our time on the South Island was a heli-hike to Fox Glacier. After a short helicopter flight (something we all were super excited for), we were dropped off on the glacier where we met our guide, strapped on crampons, and spent 3 hours exploring the caves and crevasses of the glacier. The day was mostly sunny and there were many streams of water flowing across the glacier, which moves 1 to 5 meters (more at the top, less at the lower levels) a day. The impact of global warming on the glacier was evident; it is hard to imagine it enduring even through our lifetime.
We are currently in Wanaka and will be heading to Queenstown next and then finally Christchurch. I’m not sure what adventures lie ahead, but I am sure the scenery along the way will be stunning (and the company is alright too).
