New Zealand - A dream comes true (Part 1)

New Zealand has always been a dream destination for me. "The land of the long white cloud", as it was called by the Maori when they first discovered it, offers amazing landscapes, beautiful mountains, forests, lakes and gorgeous beaches. Although tourism is an important income for the country, I felt that New Zealanders are very proud of their land and wish to protect it the best they can through ecotourism initiatives. 

Some people might comment on the fact that this was far from being a green holiday. And I agree. My aim is to pursue my travels in the most environmentally friendly way possible when options are available. In this case, I will probably visit New Zealand once in my life and 2010 was the right time for me to fulfil that dream.

Our itinerary

We spent 18 days travelling across both south and north islands. Obviously, we had to select the areas to visit as several months would have been needed to visit the whole country.

Our method of transport and accommodation was a campervan. We did manage to get a good deal but we ended up with a pretty old vehicle. It did survive the trip (just!).

Although this method of transport involves a lot of driving, it is a fantastic way to discover a country which has so much to offer. Being able to park up and spend the night wherever we fancied was amazing.

View from our campervan, in a DOC campsite

The advantage of having a campervan is that you can stay in a campsite or freedom camp where allowed. Some areas are against freedom camping particularly around Wanaka and Queenstown. So you need to check the signs. We have stayed in both basic campsites which offer toilet facilities and fresh water only (no hot water and no showers) and modern campsites which offer a whole range of facilities.  

We decided to spend 2 weeks in the South island and 1 week in the North island. Below is our itinerary.

South island - A chance to re-connect with nature



         

Photo diary

Lake Wanaka

Lake Wakatipu

Milford Sound

Climbing Fox Glacier



A scenic route between Queenstown and Wanaka

Blenheim - The wine region

Whales watching in Kaikoura - Magical!

In my next post, I will share our itinerary for the north island. Feel free to ask me any questions if you are planning a trip yourself. It really is a beautiful country, just like I had imagined it (and much more!).