New Zealand Bus Tour – PT 4

Diving right into the last four places of my bus tour, here’s the next stop:

Wanaka

Wanaka. Wanaka, Wanaka, Wanaka. A little town along the West Coast, it’s an area that deserves much praise while at the same time needs to remain under wraps to preserve what its got. Almost everyone you meet says “Go to Queenstown”. But Wanaka, which is only an hour away, is its smaller comparable rival.

Our drive from Franz Joseph (a micro climate that resembles a rain forest with constant rain at the time and overcast skies) to Wanaka (clear blue skies with the bluest of lakes) highlighted just how elaborate and varying New Zealand landscapes can be over short distances. The landscape transformed right before our eyes. Bushy, lush hillsides turned into barren mountains, and when we drove around the final bend, there it was – the sun, the lake, the mountains – a truly dazzling moment like no other. (Having had dreary weather for the last 6 days, added to the majesty of it all). But after that moment, I was like “AHA! So THISS is what everyone’s talking about!

The lakes, the town layout, the activities (walks, kayaking etc.) were on just the right scale to provide you with stunning scenic views and comfort. To make it even better, it’s just as beautiful in winter! The town transforms into a popular ski hub in the South Island. If you’re ever there, go to Wanaka. It’s the place to go, spend a few days and just enjoy what earth has to offer.

Queenstown

Queenstown is the mega tourist hub of New Zealand. The hot spot/ hot shot town has an array of activities for people to choose from – Bus tours to Lord of the Rings movies sets to Cable car rides to Jet boating to Bungy Jumping – so much to choose from. It hab da works. The town lays around the edge of an incredible lake where the shops and towns can do nothing but ensure their set up matches what nature has to offer.

The main attraction people go to Queenstown for (besides bungy jumping), is actually a four hr drive away, a mystical place called Milford Sound. Milford Sound is….something you need to see. It’s where you’ll be humbled by nature again and again until you can do nothing but stand in awe.

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In any event, my trip to Queenstown looked like this:

Day 1 – arrived and went ‘liming’ on the streets with some peeps (nothing too drastic but one or two bars were hit)

Day 2 – First attempt to go to Milford Sound was made. We had bus issues 2hrs in (mi min bex), so a movie (Moana) was the highlight of the day as we watched it on the bus drive back into town.

Day 3 – Milford Sound. Astounding.

Day 4 – Roll out.

Queenstown is definitely pricey but there’s a lot to do and it’s definitely worth it.

Lake Tekapo

After Milford Sound and Queenstown, I was like, okay, I’ve finally seen what everyone’s been talking about, that was the highlight of my trip, my cup of nature’s beauty is satisfactorily filled. Let me get to my final stop. I just about had ‘enough’ of the bus tour (21 days can do that to you). To my surprise though, the fantastic scenery kept coming. And that was at Lake Tekapo.

This is a gorgeous lake with a small town surrounding it. It’s also THEE place to do star gazing. Now me, I’m like “Oh, we have stars in Antigua man. Is no bigs. These big countries not used to seeing plenty twinkle in da sky wid all their light pollution”. But dis place, dis place have a lake dat pretty pretty and it sky prettierrr to prettiest. Lemme tell you, when you look up, it’s almost like someone sprayed a bottle of windex and wipe it down with a good good cloth. Da sky light up, with so many stars, constellations, balls of fire, anything you could think of. You could see it. You could see them all. You could see so many things in the sky with your naked eye, that it’s breathtaking. Once again you’re smacked in the face with a sight unlike any you’ve ever seen. It makes you think about the majestic world we live in. I occupied myself with a walk up to see some fantastic views of the lake and roamed around the town a bit. A few of us stayed up until 1am (as that was the best time to see the stars), stepped outside (in the cold) and awed at the stars. After that moment we headed to bed and prepped to take our final bus stop.

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Christchurch

Christchurch was completely devastated by an Earthquake in 2011 (seriously, the after photos are unbelievable). Seven years later, the side effects are still evident as they continue to work to rebuild the city. The third largest city in New Zealand, it was a mix of brand new buildings, dilapidated ones and construction. While in the city centre, I took a hop on hop off bus tour around the city to its main sites and learnt a bit about the area.

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For me however, the highlight of this, the last stop of my bus tour was not the city itself, but the people I’d stayed with just outside of it in a suburb called Rolleston. An older couple who have been running a Bed & Breakfast out of their home for the last 15 years, who lived in Antigua & Barbuda with their kids many years ago. They formed a bond with my family circle in Antigua and maintained contact with them for over 40 years. They knew my grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and everyone in between. Their generosity and genuine kindness is unparalleled. And how they took care of me, (a stranger to them as I met them for the first time) I’ll be forever grateful.

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I also met a sister and brother from Iceland (guests at their bed & breakfast at the same time I was there) who had me join them on their drive to Akaroa (a small town about 2hrs drive outside of the city) and who I did the tour of the city with. It was the perfect way to finish such a journey, across a country I did not know, but with a family that knew and treated me as their own.

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3 days later, I jumped on a plane back up to Auckland. This concluded my 26 day trip around New Zealand! I covered a lot of ground and learnt so much more about this gorgeous country. I hope you enjoyed the read.