After Christmas, we went with a big group of friends to the South Island of New Zealand. We had planned this several months before, when lockdown was lifted. New Zealand borders are still closed except for urgent trips, so some of us are not able to go to the Philippines, as we usually do.
The South Island has a really different terrain than the North, and I’ll take any chance to visit there, anytime. On this trip, we went on long road trips along the West Coast, which is really beautiful, as my next posts will show.
Interislander
We took the early boat out from Wellington to Picton, crossing the Cook Strait. The Interislander is one of the few ferry lines bringing passengers and cargo between the North and South. It was an interesting ride for the girls. Patty got dizzy and took a nap for a bit, while Katie couldn’t quite get comfortable and had to be distracted several times.
Blenheim
After a three-hour ferry ride, sorting our rental car and getting some lunch, we proceeded to Blenheim to pick some cherries. Katie was really good at picking them from the tree and eating them (before they got weighed!).
Wharakiri
The next day, we went over to Wharakiri Beach, one of the most beautiful beaches you will ever see. It takes a 30-minute hike through the bush, farmlands and some sand dunes before you are welcomed by this awesome site. Remember that wallpaper that you see in Windows 10 computers? This is it! We were also fortunate to see a wild New Zealand seal, that was resting on the sand, which we thought was actually a rock. But then it started moving, slowly, towards the water. Truly awesome.
The waters can be quite wild, and it’s not really recommended to swim in it, but the girls were just happy to play on the shore.
Waikoropupu Springs
A brief drive followed, and we arrived at Waikoropupu Springs, a sacred place for the Maori. This is also the largest cold water springs in the South Hemisphere, and one of the clearest waters ever measured. The photos do not do justice to how clear it is, but you should definitely visit this spring.
Anatoki Salmon Fishing
We had to fish for our dinner that day. Thankfully, some of our friends were good at catching fish. We caught 4 salmon, which you can ask the restaurant to smoke and wrap for you to take home. We had a really good dinner. Patty was curious about the fish and wanted to try out casting the line.
We were already having such a good time, it’s hard to believe there will be much more beautiful places we will see in the coming days. In the meantime, here are some more photos.
