Hello, New Zealand

After we landed in Christchurch, we picked up our new house on wheels for the next 3 weeks. This time a bit bigger and more comfortable motorhome than the camper van we used in Australia – we agreed a bit more comfort will be better for our positive mood. We started first to drive around the South island and then moved to the North island.

Our home. 7.7m double-up with all the blinds and things.

South island is simply breath taking. Snowy mountains in the background, shiny blue lakes in front and everywhere else green. We were constantly amazed by the beauty of the view while driving and get surprised, since the scenery keeps changing dramatically every 10 minutes. First everything green and then brown and yellow, 3 minutes later again fantastic combination of green and blue .

View on our way (lake Pukaki)

This land must be the creator’s masterpiece, collection of all the beautiful parts of flora & fauna. And we have to admit, that it is extremely well kept. Kiwis know their rules, and they are very precise in everything related with nature. We felt that visiting this country is like coming to someone’s extremely tidy house. “Here goes the lake, here comes the mountain and let’s add a bit of snow on the peak… and voila, it’s perfect!”

Our route in South Island

Joke aside, the aesthetic values are really strong here; houses, gardens, fields and roads all are well kept. The nature itself has its order but it is impossible to ignore all the man made farm fields, perfectly cut grass, even human trimmed trees in the middle of nowhere – which we couldn’t understand, why. On the other hand, we came across in Wellington, in Te PaPa Museum a lot of self criticizing content about this. For example, after Europeans arrived to new Zealand, almost 80% of the natural forest were cut to create grass fields for sheep and cow farming. Right now, all the natural forest areas are defined as national park, and well protected.

Akaroa

In Akaroa library

Our first destination in NZ was Akaroa. This small & lovely French village is on the East coast, behind some scary high hills. We stayed there for two nights and acclimatized our selves for the Kiwi adventure. Lovely people, nice food and coffee, but shockingly cold. Swimming with dolphins felt first tempting, but soon like a far fetch idea. We had some cozy time in our camper and spent hours reading books in a sweet little library in the center of the village. Evening we were enjoying the stunning views and sunsets.

After Akaroa we head down towards Lake Tekapo. The surrounding nature changed from green hills to rocky mountains and ruby colored lakes. There we stayed also two nights, enjoying walks on the lake shore, thermal baths and hikes on the nearby summit. Outdoor life as it’s best and the temperature kept on sinking.

From Lake Tekapo we drove to Queenstown. We passed through the South end of Lake Dunstan and had a lunch break there. We also filled our “Home” with local vegetables, fruits and home brewed cider. It was sunny and still + 10 degrees during the day. Couldn’t ask more!

Pictures will explain better then words.