Easter Break Road Trip with Pops- 19/4-4/5

      For 15 days, starting a bit before and ending a bit after my Easter Break from University, I was blessed with a visit from my father! Together, we adventured around the South Island, completing a counter-clockwise circumnavigation of the island, and enjoying countless experiences along the way. Given the extended nature of the adventure, I feel it is best to give a summary of the trip, day by day. The following map shows our road trip, starting from Dunedin and heading north:

      As you can see, we managed to cover almost the entire South Island in 15 days. Our starting point was H, Dunedin. From there we headed up to the unnumbered pennisula that is Christchurch. We then covered all of the following cities-
B- Picton
C- Nelson
D- Greymouth
The Franz Joseph and Fox Glaciers (unnumbered)
E- Haast
F- Wanaka and Queenstown
G- Te Anau
Then back to University in Dunedin.

       While summarization can do no justice in relaying the fun and adventure of the trip, the following summarizes all of our activites in each of the places where they occured:

Dunedin: Penninsula visit, Royal Albatross sightings, Speight's Brewery Tour- extended beer tasting session to follow!

Oamaru: Mouraiki boulders, blue penguin sightings, and New Zealand Fur Seal colony watching!

Churstchurch: Spent the night and witness some bad damage from the earthquake

Kaikora: Whale watching- saw 2 massive Sperm whales less that 30m away- totally amazing!

Picton: Queen Charlotte's Park day hike and drive along the Queen Charlotte Sound

Nelson: Delicious Thai dinner!

Abel Tasman National Park: Attempted sea kayaking, but the weather and ocean swells stopped us from going into the water, so we headed down to Nelson Lakes

Nelson Lakes National Park: Day tramp to Whisky Falls in the rain- amazing waterfall, which, to our dismay, did not flow whisky!

Punakaiki: Pancake Rocks and amazing views along the West Coast highway

Can you find the creatures in the rock shapes?!?!?!

Franz Joseph: Half day adventure on Franz Joseph Glacier!

Franz Joseph Glacier the night before the trek!

We went past cuz we're cool like that.

Fox Glacier: Fantastic lamb dinner, Matheson Lake- amazing views of Mt Cook (the tallest mountain in NZ) and Mt Tasman

Mt Tasman on the left, Mt Cook on the right

Wanaka: Dad's Birthday!! Mountain biking around Wanaka wilderness, NZ movie at the classic Cinema Paradiso- couch seating! And another delicious Thai dinner!

Dad with a random guy who wanted to take a picture with us! Haha!

Queenstown: River Boarding, it was freezing cold, but tons of fun. We rode atop body boards down grade 3 rapids in the middle of the beautiful NZ country. At the tend of the trip, we enjoyed being towed around by a jet ski, sliding down a massive waterslide, and doing cool tricks off of a rope swing!



View of Queenstown from our hostel!


Te Anau (Fiordland National Park): Milford Track- 4 days of "the finest walk in the world":

Day 1: 2 hour ferry to the starting point of the track, a short trip and long stay at a gorgeous river, and a short 1.5 hour walk to our first hut. We were lucky enough to complete the whole track with my good mate Ferran and his whole family! All of us enjoyed perfect weather for all four days, with a warm sun beaming down on our heads the whole way through, and no rain! In Fiordland, four days like this in  a row can be considered a miracle! The hut was a lot of fun, with good food and Spanish card games!

Day 2: Another beautiful hike through the valley leads us to Hidden Lake, where we eat lunch with plenty of sandflies! With Mackinnon Pass in sight, we enjoy the rapid changes in scenery and beautiful floral and fauna throughout the rest of the 6 hour tramp- taking it easy and enjoying all that the environment has to offer! Another great night at the hut finishes with some star-gazing!

Day 3: The day begins with a climb up to the highest point of the tramp- Mackinnon Pass, which offers breathtaking views of valleys, mountains, and fiords! The 7 hour tramp finishes with a slow downhill to a track leading to Sutherland Falls- the highest waterfall in the southern hemisphere at 500m!!! After taking showers in the mist from the falls, we head to the hut where we meet up with the rest of the group. More good hot food and lots of chocolate from our sugaraholic friend Kim from Belgium!

Day 4: This last day was filled with endless amazing waterfalls! The hike was just as perfect as the last 3 days had been, and as our feet began to get sore, we knew that the track was coming to an end.
After another day filled with perfect weather and gorgeous scenery, we reached Sandfly Point. From here we took a tiny boat to Milford, and grabbed the first beer and fish and chips we could find. Here we found out about Bin Laden's assassination, and the special at the tiny bar was 'Bin Laden Freedom Fries'! What a great trip!

Milford Sound: Sea kayaking in Milford Sound (not a sound, actually a fiord!)

Dunedin: Return to campus to turn essays in!

       In conclusion, the trip was truly an experience of a lifetime. Not only was it great to spend so much quality time with my dad, but the places we went, the experiences we had, the people we met, and the things we saw were all amazing and life-changing. I am so very blessed to have had such a fantastic Easter break, and such a loving father with whom to enjoy the trip!