I apologize it has been so long since we have checked in. We have been enjoying an incredible adventure with our first visitors, my mom and dad. We have seen so much beauty and experienced so many things in the last two weeks I don't even know where to start!
We are so thankful that they were able to come and visit and it was very hard to say goodbye to them yesterday. They rented a campervan so they could truly experience van life the way we do. I think they learned to enjoy it, but it definitely took some getting used too. Waka and Little Suzy (their “pod” rental) became good friends and only got lost together a few times ;)
We started in Christchurch and spent a day exploring “the hills,” a very beautiful bay with rolling hills and mountains on each side. We then started our travel southwest to our first destination, Mt. Cook National Park.
We did a beautiful hike which took us to our first glacier experience in New Zealand. Unfortunately, the clouds covered Mt Cook for the majority of the day but the views were still incredible. We left a rock here in memory of Leo so he can always enjoy the view of the glacier.
After Mt Cook we made our way to Lake Tekapo and the fun town of Twizel. The blue of the water was truly a sight to see and Dan and I hiked along the coast up to an overlook of the lake, city, and mountains. Mom and Dad were able to drive up there and met us at the top (and gave us a ride to the bottom).
We continued Southwest until we reached the town of Te Anu which is the gateway to Milford Sound. From here we started the 120 kilometer journey on one of the most scenic drives I have ever experienced. Mom and I were so thankful that Dan and my dad were willing to drive us through the twists and turns, ups and downs, and countless one-lane bridges to get us to Milford. We took our time and stopped at nearly every overlook and hike on the way. We were able to see such a variety of truly stunning waterfalls. Dan and I hiked to the “Key Summit” and it was snowing. I have never seen snowflakes this big. We left a rock for Leo at the summit in one of his favorite things, snow!
Milford Sound is one of the wettest places on earth and typically has 8-10 meters of rain annually! Locals tell us we should go
twice, once when it is pouring because waterfalls appear everywhere
and once when it is clear. When we did our cruise in Milford sound we were lucky because they had a lot of rain in the morning but we sailed during a
clear afternoon, meaning that most of the waterfalls were still there but we got to stay dry!
We definitely understand why Milford Sound is so popular because it is truly like nothing we have ever seen before and we completely immersed ourselves in the enormous, powerful mountains and
waterfalls. At one part of our cruise we could see 5 landscapes all in one spot. We could see a mountain, glacier, river/waterfall, rainforest, and the ocean! Milford Sound is definitely a sight to see and something I highly recommend to everyone!
We also spent a couple of days exploring Queenstown. We went kayaking on Lake Wakatipu and also went ziplining off Kawarau Suspension Bridge which is also the place that bungee jumping was invented. We didn't quite have the courage for bungee jumping yet, but Dan says he will work up to it :\
We had a wonderful time with Ma and Pa and loved showing them around New Zealand. We are praying for safe travels for them as they make their way home! Dan and I are now working our way further South so we can explore the southern most tip of New Zealand (and closest point to Antarctica) before the snow starts falling and the nights get too cold for van life!
*We went to Queenstown hill and built an inukshuks. Leo and I built these together on our trip in Canada. The trail to this summit was filled with inukshuks everywhere!
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