WOW

Sunday, January 13, 2008

WOW!!!

In planning our travels to New Zealand we expected to see some natural and beautiful parts of the country. We have now been on the South Island for almost 2 weeks and have toured nearly ¾ of the island. What we have seen is a country with incredible and unspoiled beauty. It seems that every time we go around another curve in the road all we can say is “WOW”.

We started our journey at Christchurch, which is a quaint city set in an English style. On our first day of driving, we drove north up the east side of the island. We felt like we were back in the South Pacific Islands. The ocean was deep blue mixed with a rich green color inside of the coral reefs. The hills were a lush green from a variety of plants giving it a sub tropical feel. Arriving in Picton, you can’t help but notice the many small islands, bays and inlets of the Marlborough Sounds. It is so picturesque. WOW. We could have spent a couple of weeks just exploring this area. After a few days in Picton, we drove a very winding road along the sounds which gave us some incredible views. We continued through the town of Nelson to the Able Tasman National Park where we stayed for another couple of days. Taking a water taxi up the coast, we were dropped off at one of the bays for a day of “tramping”. This coast line is full of small inlet beaches with beautiful sand and rocky cliffs. The water is very calm and the change in tides either filled an inlet bay or it became a huge sandy beach. Our trek took us through a forest that felt like a jungle of tropical plants. And at every turn in the trail there was another beautiful cove with a sandy beach. WOW.

Our next drive took us into the interior part of the country with hills of greens and light browns where the sheep were grazing everywhere. After a night in Westport we were now on the western side of the island and ready for a day of driving along a very winding road. The landscape is completely different with the Tasman Sea very rough and the coast line rugged with high cliffs and many different types of rock formations. We found ourselves stopping so many times to take in the views. The town of Punakaiki offered some very unusual rock formations with a walking tour. It was breathtaking. WOW.

Continuing our drive the next day, we made our way to the Southern Alps region to view the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers and the snow capped mountain tops. We were able to hike into both for a much closer look at the glaciers. So magnificent. WOW.
This takes us to our current town. The drive here took us inland through a very lush green mountainous region (I guess that’s why it rained most of the day) and over a summit that overlooked a spectacular valley where we would find Queenstown. It’s a very charming town nestled in the middle of the island, in a valley surrounded by high alpine mountains and situated on the shores of beautiful Lake Wakatipu. WOW.
The beauty we have seen in the last several days is beyond words. We hope the pictures will help represent this incredibly picturesque country of rolling country side, towering peaks, lush rainforest, rugged coastlines and sweeping sandy beaches. With all that we have heard about the beauty of New Zealand, it is so much more.
More later after our Milford Sound trek.

Where’s Pat and Mike?

1/14/08