New Zealand 2014

It’s bright and early when the alarm comes on this morning, and it’s time to get up, get ready and get going. After having completely lost the day of April 12th a couple of weeks ago, today April 28th will last a full 43 hours … with a big chunk of that going towards travel time. By 8am we are at Queenstown Airport, dropping off our campervan and checking in for our flight to Auckland. As we land in AUK … Read More

Video of us taking the Nevis Swing plunge. The Nevis Swing is the “Biggest Swing in the World” with a 300 meter (984 feet) arch and 175 meters (574 feet) above the ground. Here is a view from the platform of the next pair that dropped.

It’s our last day here in New Zealand (with the exception of the trip home tomorrow) and Queenstown still has one more thrill ride waiting for us! After an earlier start than normal we pack up the camper for the last time and check out from the campground, heading to town. As we get a bite for breakfast at Ferg Bakery, we run into the film crew around Sam Wang yet again – it’s barely 10am and the Taiwanese celebrity … Read More

It is cold in QT. Very cold. But as the sun is making an appearance this morning, we are getting up and out rather quickly. After a great breakfast at the Red Rock pub we are on to our great adventure of the day: a Shotover Jet Boat Ride down the Shotover River through its canyons with narrow rock walls and plenty of other obstacles. But if the Duke & Duchess of Cornwall can do it (a couple of weeks … Read More

It’s our 13th day in New Zealand and 11th on the road. We begin the final leg of our left-side-of-the-road journey to Queenstown today. Haast, last night’s stay, is the entrance to Mount Aspiring National Park which has over a dozen stops along the way for views and hikes. The downpour of on and off rain from last night continues through the morning part of our drive. While the rain puts a bit of a damper on many of the … Read More

Our fellow neighbors here at the campground surely get up early! But once we take a peek out the window, we understand why: the sun is out and the mountain tops are clear … It’s time to pack up & get going! Already in town for our next adventure, we stop quickly only to get some shots of the sheep … only a handful of the estimated 9 million in NZ. No way Kirk can leave this country without some … Read More

Day 11 starts out a bit sunny as we’re getting our 2-monthiversary date heading into the town of Hokitika. With the National Kiwi Centre located here, we make this the first stop. Right on time or the giant eel feeding, which seems to be more of a highlight than the 2 kiwis they house, we check out the place (a bit dinky). After the eels, we are excited to see the kiwis running around in their dark enclosures. The one … Read More

Today’s adventure began as we left Greymouth and headed south on Highway 6. Eager to get away from the rain, we took a detour towards the center of the island to Arthur’s Pass along Highway 73. Highway 73 is a beautiful drive starting at the coast where the drive is flat, up to the sharp mountainous peaks New Zealand is known for. Clouds seemed like fluffy cotton candy sticking to the alpine trees. Vegetation is green and very lush like … Read More

Here is a five minute video tour of our campervan rental from Discover NZ. This is the 2 Berth Deluxe S/T Campervan. Customer service was excellent and extremely painless. We’re in the middle of our trip and the van is a great home-away-from-home. We’d highly recommend Discover NZ if you are ever thinking of renting a campervan throughout New Zealand. We found them on Rankers New Zealand Travel Reviews.  

Today’s weather forecast calls for a mix of rain and sun, and we’ll get both. Plus gusty winds … and not just at our starting point here at Cape Foulwind (pun intended). The breeze was to be expected since we’re right at this sandy beach on the Tasman Sea. After breakfast and a short walk on the beach, we’re heading south on Hwy 6 towards the Fox River just south of Charleston. Here is where our guide-book highly recommends stopping … Read More