The South Island

Everybody told me that the South Island was more beautiful than the North Island. I kept hearing about gorgeous scenery and breath-taking mountain views. I was almost worried that so much hype would create a disappointing result of expecting too much. Our first day was not enjoyable because it was full of rain. I had to take a Dramamine for the ferry ride (I get really bad motion-sickness) so Torey had to drive the whole day. It wasn't a fun day to drive because of all the rain. New Zealand may be small, but the roads are narrow and windy which makes a short distances seem like forever. Not only was Torey driving along a rainy coastline, but it was rapidly getting darker.

Arriving in the rain also created a change in plans. Since we were faced with bad weather conditions, we thought it unwise to drive along the west coast where most of the and ice had landed. If we chose that route we would have to put chains on the tires and neither of us had driven with chains before.

Unfortunately not driving along the west coast meant that we would have to cancel all plans of glacier hiking. I was disappointed about this, but I also realized that our time in NZ has limited. Most people that we met were traveling for over two months, which made our measly two weeks seem pathetic. In fact, before I arrived in NZ I submitted to the fact that I did not have enough time. Although I wanted to do a glacier hike I knew that there were many other adventures planned for the South Island too, including wildlife spotting. Our new plans would take us along the east coast towards Christchurch where we hoped to try paraglidhing.

As it was a cold, rainy, and gloomy day I found that the Dramamine kicked in and I was falling asleep in the passenger seat. Every once and a while I would awake to views of the Pacific Ocean. It looked windy and miserably cold. We tried to stop and take pictures, but it was just too frigid for my liking. Torey was more of a trooper then me. He would get out of the car and I watched, knowing that I would get to copy his pictures!

In the brief moments that I was awake, I was privileged to enjoy the view. I thought, if only it was summer, for then we could park the campervan right on the side of the road, next to the ocean and fall asleep to the sound of waves. New Zealand is quite a convenient place for camping. You are free to park at almost any stop and just stay there for the evening. Had it been warmer, Torey and I would have done this more often to save money. Just looking at the views I knew that in good weather I would be more then happy to park and relax.

I also began noticing different road signs. On the way into Christchurch we saw a road sign warning of seals for the next 4km. I guess there is potential of seal crossing since the road was right on the cliff. Although I have seen seals before, I thought it would be fun to have a seal spotting. Not enough a kliometer from the sign and I saw one, lounging upon the coastal rocks. We stopped to take pictures at a few different spots. I was cold outside, but I guess it was perfect weather for sunbathing or even seal swimming.


It took some time to get into Christchurch and at this point, Torey and I both realized our grumpiness when we had not eaten. Most of the time, we tried to wait until we arrived at our destination before we ate dinner. This time we found a small shop along the highway to pull in. I don't remember what we ate, but the food and the environment were delicious. It was a long day of driving, but at least we had finally made it to the South Island.