14-day NZ trip : South Island

25th Apr- 1st May

It's time for South Island. This is New Zealand map so that you get the overview of how a NZ should be explored.

                                                                     source:Google


We went to South Island via Jetstar starting from Christchurch. There is another option to South Island via road and surely it will be more adventurous. But we only learnt the option when we arrived in Auckland. Nevertheless, time is not really on our side, thus, having flight to Christchurch saved a lot more time and energy before we started our real adventure. Yes, real one.hihi.

So we reached Christchurch Airport before we were picked up to Kea campervan agency which is located just a few minutes away from the airport. The briefing session took like, hours that I cant wait to toss our bag and suitcases to get some rest. Oh yes,did I tell you that  we have almost missed our flight back in Auckland. It was very nerve wrecking chasing and decision making moment. Imagine, we have like less than 1 hour to return our car to Jucy rental agent, when we were yet to check in. Thankfully Jetstar ground staff was so helpful and considerate to let us in at the very last minute. Huhu. Seriously tiring, mentally and physically.

Finding halal food in Christchurch is not as easy as in Auckland. We were starving thus decided to go  for vegetarian dinner in a nice Indian restaurant.

So we started our trip in Campervan heading to Lake Tekapo. Of course we couldnt resist to stop by every now and then to snap some pics before resuming our journey.

it was a very peaceful and stress-free drive, that we could enjoy the beautiful view while glancing to the GPS every now and then to ensure that we were on the right track.

We arrived at Lake Tekapo at noon, and it was rainy. So we decided to have our lunch while waiting for the rain to stop. And yes, it was time to cook in the campervan. Yay!

We were lucky that the was brighter when we finished everything and ready to enjoy this picturesque place.

Next place to rush to is Mt Cook. We need to get there before it was getting dark. The road was lonely and any unfortunate incident was the lassssst thing we wish to encounter.

The weather was pretty yucky when arrived at the location. We went longgg way to get here. Thus, be it sunny or rainy, we have no option but to make full use of the the day, no?

Our journey continued to Queenstown.

I lost count of hours spent on the road. It was not one or two hours surely. But the view along the way was enough to make us enjoy the drive to the destination.

Queenstown is well known for various extreme activities. We opted for less extreme but still enjoying the nice weather in Queenstown.

Apparently Queenstown is not as big as I thought. There are souvenir shops, halal kebab cafe and restaurant at Queenstownmall.

We spent the evening strolling at the nearby lake before having our dinner. Ah yes, it was Zera's birthday too!

We drove to Te Anau as our transit to our next attraction, Millford Sound. We started our journey from Te Anau in the morning and drove over two hours to Millford Sound.

We were lucky having rented the car from Jucy earlier, thus made us entitled to enjoy best price of all available cruises at the jetty.

The cruise took over 1 hour, and I have to say, this-is-a-must -do when you are in South Island. The experience on cruise, the breathtaking view of fjord around us are so priceless.

 

And so we took our own sweet time, cooked our lunch in the campervan, made ourselves comfortable by fulfilling all obligations, before we left to next place.

Our next destination was Fox Glacier.  We arrived in the place just in time when the day was getting dark. The place is famous with helicopter scenic tour. Yes, we couldn't afford it. Gah!

So the following morning we resumed our journey to our initial point, that was Christchurch. The drive took almost whole day. We stopped by for fuel, picture taking every now and then. 

Along the road, there are places where the topography was challenging to drive. Being an amateur campervan driver, we took precaution to drive very slow. And there was also days when we were not so lucky in one incident when we were forced to pull over by an angry local road user,just to lend our ears to hear his curses to our face for our slow speed on the 100km/h highway. Of course we were scared that the comboy-like man would take out his gun and shoot us to death. Huhu.

Nevertheless, we refused to allow the incident to take our good mood away. Thankfully the view of the place is pretty that we can stopped by to release the stress.

All in all, despite the bitter sweet moments throughout the 5-day journey exploring SouthIsland, we managed to keep ourselves safe to end of the trip. Alhamdulillah, this trip is indeed another eye-opener for His Almighty.