Chug Chug
Well, the season came to an end and we had a bit of time before flying out of New Zealand and heading over to Austria. So, Nathan and I went on a little road trip around the South Island in our friends old van, chuggy. I didn't have time last year as I was saving all my pennies to head to America, so it was nice to get to see a bit more of this amazing country.
We headed up the west coast first, but unfortunately were faced with 3 days of solid rain. Although this apparently is pretty standard at this time of year. It was still great to see all the rain forest running along the coastline. It was so different to the desert like drive up to Snow Park.
Once we left the west coast, we almost instantly were greeted with sunshine! yay! We could actually leave our little chug chug without getting drenched. We found an awesome spot by the sea to camp for our first night up in Nelson.
We then headed up to the most northerly point of the south island, Cape Farewell. The nice thing about travelling around New Zealand is that there aren't loads of tourist attractions...there are just lots of nice natural things to do. We walked around lots just taking in the scenery and surroundings (and sheep, baaa). We found an amazing white sand beach called Wharakiri Bay, it made a lovely change to be by the sea after snowboarding all summer.
We then head south through Christchurch with a quick stop off to see our friend Jon. He was a very good tour guide as he studies geology, and following the earthquakes it was very interesting to see the effects and it is amazing how the locals have coped with the situation.
We also got to see lots of seals and seal pups on our travels...but unfortunately only saw one little penguin from really far away. They are quite shy compared to the little sealy pups! It was a great trip and after having a nice summer (ish) break i'm ready to head back to Europe and shred the gnar!! haha
