NZ Day 12: Franz Josef Glacier

We loved the hike at Fox Glacier, so that made us even more excited to see what Franz Josef Glacier had to offer. The Lonley Planet guidebook that we were using said, "Franz Joseph is the superior ice experience and visually more impressive." So we had high hopes for this glacier, and were hoping the weather would cooperate so that we could go on a helicopter tour!

LUCKILY, it was a fantastic day, and we had the opportunity of a lifetime to see these magnificent glaciers from the sky! We even landed on top of Franz Josef and were able to walk around. IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!

 

Because we had such an awesome experience on the helicopter tour, we felt it was really unnecessary to do the hike to the glacier terminal face for Franz Josef. So we took the rest of the day "off" and relaxed.

This helicopter tour was Joe's favorite part of our New Zealand adventure!

NZ Day 11: Fox Glacier

Day 11 was all about exploring Fox Glacier! Fox Glacier is an 8-mile long glacier located in Westland National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island.

We had a reservation to do a helicopter tour, but due to poor weather conditions it was cancelled. The guy at the desk basically said that if you can see clouds up there, don't count on the choppers flying.

So we decided to do the Fox Glacier valley walk. This short 1-hour hike takes you to a close view point of the terminal face. This glacier is actually considered the most accessible glacier in the world. Fox Glacier (as well as the nearby Franz Josef Glacier) are unique because they end amongst the temperate rainforest. Interested in knowing how these glaciers work? Find out here.

The start of our hike.

Getting closer...

 

Here!

NZ Day 10: Wanaka

Day 10 ended up being a travel day. We drove from Queenstown up the west coast to Fox Glacier. Google maps estimates this drive to take 4.5 hours. Knowing how mountainous the South Island is, we estimated it would take about 6. It ended up taking us over 8 hours! Luckily, there was beautiful scenery the entire way.

We left Queenstown in the morning and planned on stopping in the quaint town of Wanaka for brunch on our way.

Wanaka is known as a smaller Queenstown. It's a tourist resort town with beautiful lake and mountain views - but less commercialized than Queenstown. Want outdoors adventure? This is the place to go! It would be the perfect spot to set up camp and take on some of the many adventures there - biking, hiking, climbing, fishing, kayaking, or skiing in the winter. I would have loved to spend more time in this beautiful little town.

After brunch we hopped back in our campervan and traveled the rest of the day until we finally made it to our Holiday Park at Fox Glacier.

Beautiful view on our long drive.

A very scenic and absolutely stunning drive, but we were all very happy to get out of the campervan.

NZ Day 9: Arrowtown

Arrowtown was "Born of Gold" in the 1860's and it looks like it hasn't really changed since then. Nestled below the beautiful mountains that surround Arrow River, Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town located just 20-minutes from Queenstown. Quaint, charming and historic are words I'd use to describe this little town. Actually, I wouldn't really call it a town - it's just one street!

Honesty though, I think we would have enjoyed it more if we were wanting to just sit back and relax - enjoy a cup of coffee and people watch. But we were on a mission to see and do as much as possible, so unfortunately, this town didn't excited us all that much.

We ate at the local Arrowtown bakery, known for their famous pies (which were really good!). Then we walked through some shops and down the historic tree-lined street.

It really was a cute, historic little town. But I guess we were just expecting something a little bit more.

NZ Day 8: Queenstown

Day 8 was pretty much entirely dedicated to me checking off something from my bucket list: bungee jumping (sky diving is next!). Unfortunately Emily was pregnant at the time and could not participate.  Shotover Canyon Swing is the world's highest cliff jump and it did not dissapoint.

Apparently there are over 70 different ways to jump off this cliff! I decided to do two different jumps.  They encourage you to simply jump on your own free will for the first time.  I'll tell you that anyone can say they want to do something like this but until you are hovering over the edge it is all talk.  For a picture they held me by my harness and let me dangle over the edge.  Despite knowing I wasn't going anywhere it was quite nerve racking.

The first jump I jumped sideways off the stand and literally did a giant cliff swing, it was pretty awesome!  After jumping on my own the first time I decided to be a little more daring on the second and suspended myself upside down until they pulled the pin without me knowing.  The adrenaline was flowing and suspense was ridiculous in this jump they called "gimp boy goes to hollywood".

Check out the video of my second jump below:

NZ Day 7: Queenstown

We've been so fortunate to be able to travel the world a bit, and every place we've been we've said, "Wow, this is great!" but this is the first time we've said, "WOW, we could LIVE here!"

Queenstown is absolutely charming. It has a small town feel with numerous cafes, bakeries, and local shops. But not only is this town charming, it's also surrounded by beautiful scenery and it's known as the adventure capital of the world. Here you can do activities such as: skiing, snowboarding, jet boating, whitewater rafting, canyoning, river surfing, bungee jumping, mountain biking, sky diving, etc.

The Queenstown brochure pretty much sums it up, "From the snowy mountain peaks to giant Lake Wakatipu and the cosmopolitan town center, Queenstown will stay in your memory forever."

NZ Day 6: Milford Sound

After a long day 5, we had another drive before we could embark on our Milford Sound Cruise.  It was over a 2 hour drive which set the stage for the cruise and our highlight of Day 6.

On the drive to Milford Sound from Te Anau

We took a two hour boat cruise with Mitre Peak to experience Milford Sound the best way possible.  Milford Sound is a fjord which is a long, narrow inlet with steep cliffs formed from glacial erosion.  Knowing how it was created puts an emphasis on how truly magnificent and incredible Milford Sound is.  It is considered the crown jewel of New Zealand and arguably one of the most beautiful, must see places on the planet.  We would have to agree and our pictures back it up.  It was such a tranquil cruise and well worth the visit.

Looking on to the cruise terminal.

One of many waterfalls along the cruise.

Pretty girls!

Stop looking at us!

Absolutely, positively stunning!

Incredible beauty!

The Schreurs @ Milford Sound

NZ Day 5: Te Anau

Day 5 was a busy travel day: flight from Auckland to Queenstown, picked up our campervan, and then drove to Te Anau where we ended at our first "Holiday Park." Holiday park is a glorified name for campground or campervan park that come in all shapes, sizes and features. Each night we would pull into the park to our designated spot and plug the van in so we had power. We would prepare food in the community kitchen/bbq area if we hadn't eaten already and follow it with showers and bedtime. There weren't any bathtubs in the community shower room in any of the parks so showering with Elodie in your arms was a bit tricky but manageable. She was such a trooper.

We traveled the entire south island in a campervan staying at Holiday Parks along the way - and it was awesome! This particular model had a bed up top (that we used for storage), and then the table below folded down to create a big double bed for Joe and me to sleep on. The only problem was Elodie. The company gave us a 'pack and play,' but there was hardly any room inside to put it. So we crammed it in the small space at the foot of our bed... which was in front of the door. So this basically meant that once we put her to bed, we were stuck inside the camper van for the rest of the night. The other annoying part of this was that we (hubby) had to assemble it every single night and then take it down to store in the morning.

Here she is standing in the space we put the pack and play every night.

And then here is the view the other direction (our bed).

So as you can see... it was pretty cramped! But nonetheless, we still really enjoyed the NZ camping experience. You probably think we saved a lot of money traveling the country this way...? But that's a common misconception. By the time you add up rental fees, fuel, insurance, plus the expensive nightly campground fees it might have ended up being more expensive than had we rented a car and stayed in hotels. But yet this is the option that the majority of tourists end up choosing to do in NZ. It's really a relaxing way to see this beautiful country. You can be a bit more flexible and travel at your own pace, explore hard-to-reach places that don't necessarily have accommodations, and it also gives you a single place to call home for an extended period of time - no packing and unpacking every single day as you move from hotel to hotel! Traveling by campervan really gives you a great deal of flexibility and freedom. Plus, you're able to keep food in your refrigerator at all times - which was especially helpful with Elodie!

So as I said above, our first stop of the south island was Te Anau - a beautiful little town bordering Fiordland National Park. It's basically the gateway to the the famous and breathtaking Milford Sound (which I will be writing about in the next post).

Te Anau was basically just a pit-stop for us to spend the night since it's really the only town between Queenstown and Milford Sound. There wasn't a whole lot to do there other than walk the trails near the lake, explore the touristy shops, and enjoy the beautiful surrounding scenery. It's a great camping spot and perfect place to relax, but our main objective was to continue on to see Milford Sound.

NZ Day 4: Waitomo

Waitomo is a small town on New Zealand's north island that is basically known for one thing: glowworms. We took a tour through Spellbound, where we were able to glide through a cave and experience Waitomo's largest glowworm colony. Thousands of glowworms were shining above us as we drifted downstream in a boat. It looked just like a bright starry sky, and was absolutely stunning. It was really difficult to get a good photo inside the caves, the photo above is from here.

Surprisingly Elodie did really great on this tour. We were worried that 1) she'd get carsick on the bumpy back road drive to the cave, and 2) she'd cry once we were on the tour because of the darkness - because let's be honest here, most people are NOT thrilled when they see a one year old headed on the expensive tour they prebooked. But she did awesome!

Other than seeing the glowworms, there really wasn't a whole lot to do in the area. It's definitely located in the country and pretty isolated - lots of farmland and animals. We actually stayed at a bed and breakfast that had a miniature animal petting farm. This was really great for Elodie!

We were the only ones staying here at the time, so the owner took us out and introduced us to all of the animals. Elodie was able to ride a couple horses and cows, and we were even able to feed the llamas. She had a blast! We have been so busy the last couple of days that it was nice to have a little down time and let her explore the farm.

Here we are standing next to the world's second smallest bull. The owner said he has an "attitude" and can be mean - but yet she encouraged us to take a photo next to him. She gave him a bowl of food to try and distract him from noticing us. I love this photo - we're all looking very nervous, haha!

We even had a fresh ostrich & emu egg omelet for breakfast. Joe loved it! ;)

Waitomo was our last stop on the north island. We really enjoyed our journey through this part of the country! With such unique culture, landscapes, and activities we feel that we got to experience so much in the past few days. We were sad to leave, but still excited to see what the south island had in store for us.

NZ Day 3: Hobbiton

Day 3 began with a short drive from Rotorua to Matamata where we would then embark on the Lord of the Rings Hobbiton Tour.  Matamata, or rather the Alexander farm, was discovered by Peter Jackson while on an aerial search for suitable film sites for his LOR movies.  The rolling countryside resembled Middle Earth perfectly and the land was untouched by 20th century clutter like roads and power lines.  The rest is history.

I (Joe) was very much looking forward to this part of our trip.  I have to admit that although it lived up to its hype the weather, namely the rain, put a damper on things.  We were as prepared as we could be with rain coats and the provided umbrellas.  However, carrying/entertaining a one and half year old while holding an umbrella and carrying a diaper bag all the while on a walking tour trying to listen in and take photos was needless to say difficult and quite frustrating.  Emily was also 5 months pregnant at the time.  The silver lining was that this really was the only bad weather we had to endure on our trip and it could have been worse had we not been able to go on the tour at all.

Aside from the aforementioned cumber the tour really was fantastic.  The amount of undertaking that went on to develop the set is very evident.  I won't go into all of it for fear to bore you but apparently the New Zealand Army was contracted for a lot of the heavy duty work and it took 9 months to complete  And amazingly most all of the set was torn down after the initial filming.  No one had the foresight that it might be a tourist attraction! Only recently was everything rebuilt when The Hobbit trilogy was announced and it is all now carefully maintained.  It really is like you are in the movie going on the tour, well, because frankly you are literally walking through the set where they filmed it.  I would go back again and recommend to anyone who loved the books and or movies.

Oh, and of course…pictures!

Bag End

Hobbit Hole (1 of 37)

The only hobbit hole they will let you in.  It was empty if you were wondering.

Inside the Green Dragon Inn, a replica of the Inn
that was featured in the LOR movies.

Southfarthing Ales!

Cheers!