New Zealand Bus Tour PT 3

South Island

My South Island journey around New Zealand covered the following locations:

• Abel Tasman
• Westport
• Lake Mahinapua
• Franz Josef
• Wanaka
• Queenstown
• Lake Tekapo
• Christchurch

After we crossed on a 3hr ferry, we jumped back onto another bus (all included in the tour) and continued our journey, but now, on the South Island of New Zealand. I was ready, with eyes wide open, to see this ‘Beautiful south Island’ that everybody talked about.

• 

• 

On the first hour or two of our drive there were vineyards and straight roads. I was like, “Meh – vineyards, okay”. But as the drive continued, it almost felt like the roads got smaller and emptier. The hills on either side began to grow to twice and three times the size of those I’d seen before, with the road and bus now winding on either side of a mountain. The vegetation and atmosphere began to change, and I quickly learnt what the hype was all about.

Here’s a run down on my experience in each location below:

Abel Tasman

This area (I learnt upon arrival) is a well known national park said to have breathtaking day walks (hikes) that many people traverse on. You can go on a hike that takes you 3 hrs or 5 days to complete – the choice is yours. The area is typically sunny on a regular basis however, a small hurricane hit just before we arrived (YES HURRICANE. Mi come all da way cross da worl fu see a nex hurricane – they’re quite frequent in the Caribbean) and they were in the final stages of recovery mode. You could see a bit of the hurricane’s effects but nothing major. While I was there, the weather wasn’t great but I was able to do the following:

1. A Wakka Tour – An absolutely fantastic experience where you paddle along the National Park Coast in unison with other participants in a replica of a traditional Maori canoe. You learn a bit about Maori traditions on the water and how they interact with the land. Wakka Abel Tasmin gave a great tour.
2. A walk in the national park (only 3 hrs though). I had to take a water taxi (boat that takes you to the park) as it was the easiest most affordable thing. As I left my itinerary open and wasn’t prepared for any major walks, I figured this was a good compromise. At this point I was kinda by myself as I opted to stay a day or two extra in this area (not sure why as it’s small) where as the friends that I had made had gone ahead after one night [Manuel left in Wellington and we never caught up with each other again :(]

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Overall, my experience was worthwhile as I enjoyed the alone time and the chance to explore the area by myself.

Westport

A SMALL town on the coast of the South Island, my trip here allowed me to develop a love hate relationship with the place. I loved the hostel I stayed in. The vybe was just chillllll. Hammocks and Beenie bags around every corner, a large lounge for the extroverts and a small quiet one for the introverts. It was a hostel and surf school and you could tell that was exactly their clientele – surfers and backpackers. (At this point I had stayed in enough hostels to know what a good one and bad one looked like). However, while at the hostel, I opted for the cheaper room option and was put in a mini caravan. (This is where I’m convinced I got bed bugs which would haunt me for the next few months.) Besides the hostel, there was BARELY anything else to do if you weren’t into surfing or drinking loads. There was a movie theater but nothing good was showing, I didn’t have money for a bar and wasn’t in the mood to make friends. It’s really a town where people go to surf (but I’m not about that cold water life), so outside of that you gotta make your own fun. After roaming around the one main street for a little bit, I opted to stay in (be a hermit and recharge my social battery) and watch some Netflix till it was time to go to sleep and get ready to leave early the next day.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Lake Mahinapuah

A stop that I’m convinced is only on the tour because it would be too far a drive without it, this place is as almost in the middle of nowhere as River Valley. The hostel we stayed in was set up to give all the entertainment you could want, because there was nothing else around. They even served food because there was no store close enough for you to buy anything. The hostel had a beach and a lake nearby, however as the weather was still crappy, I opted out. By this time though, I met someone on the bus that became my bus buddy (we were in separate rooms though). I was tempted to pull another hermit move for the evening but snapped myself out of it. Instead I did this:

1. Signed up and paid to make my own green stone carving necklace.
2. Jumped in the hot tubs they had around and met some new people
3. Dressed up and attend the costume party they have on site (They host it each night for the people on the bus cause they KNOW there’s no place else to go).

• 

• 

• 

• 

The party was one of the highlights of this stop because the costumes were hilarious & the music was pure throwback for 90s kids. It was also the moment I realized, no matter what language you speak or where you grew up in the world, everyone knows and can rap the lyrics to the song Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

Fanz Joseph

Now all this time, the South Island is warming up in beauty for me. But this is where it went to another level (not the top level, but it definitely ‘leveled up’). Another tiny but popular town especially during the tourist season, Franz Joseph is well known for its Ice Glacier that’s accessible to people from about a 2-3 hrs hike. The place becomes crawling with tourists for the opportunity to see and even heli hike onto the glacier itself. I swear, the town goes from about 500 locals to 5,000 people during their busy season. Funnily enough however, I loved it.

It was small but active when in high season. It was green and lush and beautiful. Like, you couldn’t hide it’s astounding beauty even if you tried. I loved and appreciated that about it. The weather wasn’t the right condition so the heli hike glacier tour (my ‘big spend activity’) never happened. This stop was also when I discovered I had bed bugs and began the lengthy process of washing my clothes and treating the bumps & itching. I still made the most of this stop though and appreciated the incredible scenic views of the place. I did a hike up to a spot that had a river flowing over the bridge. Fun fact though, the water that flowed through it was the melted ice from the glacier. I saw a friggin ice glacier river (if that’s even a thing). This girl, from this tiny Caribbean island, was there and saw that. I mean, what?

• 

Part 4 will come next week!