This is the beginning of a series of articles about our 55-day trip to New Zealand and Australia. If you are interested in taking a Fantasy RV Tour, or just visiting this beautiful area of the world, I hope these articles will be helpful for you. We had not traveled overseas in quite a while, so I am including tips that proved useful to us. Even if you don’t have plans to travel, please feel free to enjoy the beautiful photos and learn about some of the best spots in the amazing land down under.
Preparation
With our friends Steve and Joan, we signed up for a Fantasy RV Tour almost 2 years ago (they book up fast!) and then anxiously awaited our time to travel to these bucket-list destinations. We spent the time preparing and researching, watching YouTube travel gurus, and getting lots of Amazon packages. Words like TSA precheck, packing cubes, luggage smart tags, capsule wardrobe, international phone plans, plug adapters, and compression socks became part of our new vocabulary.
We also each got Capital One credit cards and joined mileage programs for American and Quantas airlines. By putting all our monthly expenses that we could on the credit card (and then paying it off each month), we earned enough points to fund the flights for our trip. Of course, it was economy class, but it covered the outbound flights from Dallas to Los Angeles to Sydney to Christchurch and the return flights from Sydney to Los Angeles to Dallas. That saved us a bundle…or at least gave us more money for souvenirs!
The time finally arrived and on March 27 we made the 19-hour trip all the way to Christchurch, New Zealand. We were glad we added a few days at either end of our tour to allow us to adjust to the time zones and catch up on sleep, because then we were ready to hit the ground running. Our Fantasy RV tour is a complete package that includes hotels, rental rvs, regional flights, some meals, and activities and attractions for 3 weeks in New Zealand, 2 weeks in Australia, and a week in the Outback. We couldn’t wait for this epic adventure to begin!
New Zealand South Island: Mar 31-Apr 13
This first post will give highlights for our travels within the South Island of New Zealand. You can follow the links to my Facebook sites for more details and see pictures I posted each day of the trip. We arrived as autumn was approaching so the temperatures during our travels averaged mostly in the 50s and 60s, but we did have quite a few days of rain as well as a major storm.
Although geographically larger, the South Island has only 1/5 the population of its neighbors on the North Island. It is known for the rugged beauty of the Southern Alps with its stunning fjords and icy glaciers. While 60% of the island is mountainous, the other 40% is filled with the numerous farms that contribute greatly to the country’s economy. Our travel route followed much of the coastline for beautiful views of both the farmland and the surrounding ocean.
Christchurch
Our tour began in Christchurch where we met the 19 other couples on our tour. We spent several days here and enjoyed a city tour, high tea at Mona Vale Homestead, the botanical garden, and a tour at the International Antarctic Center. I didn’t know that Christchurch is one of 5 gateway cities for people heading to Antarctica—it’s THAT far down in the southern hemisphere! We really got a taste of what life is like for researchers and scientists on this desolate and cold continent.
Joan has a niece who lives in Christchurch, so we were lucky to have some additional sightseeing at nearby Castle Hill, Arthur’s Pass National Park, and Akaroa. Staci gave us the local perspective of the area and was a wonderful tour guide.
As full time Rvers at home, we were looking forward to trying out RVing overseas. We picked up our camper vans and had a quick instructional tour. It was a bit of an adjustment transitioning to a Class C type RV from our large motorhome, as well as learning to drive it on the wrong side of the very curvy New Zealand roads! However, we did find it easier to maneuver, park, and set up and break down camp. Being able to drive to each destination gave us an up-close look at the countryside and the natural beauty around us.
Dunedin
Once we got on the road, one of our first stops was the town of Dunedin. This city is the oldest in New Zealand and has so much to see. We visited the beautiful botanical gardens, historic railway station, farmer’s market, and University of Otego. Fun and informative tours included Speight’s Brewery and Larnach Castle.
We even climbed the world’s steepest street and walked the path out to Tunnel Beach. Another favorite spot was stopping to see the large spherical Moeraki Boulders on Koekohe Beach.
Queenstown
Our next major stop was the harbor town of Queenstown. Called the adventure capital of the world, it offers adrenalin thrills and majestic views. We had a lot of adventures here including a gondola ride to Bob’s Peak, screaming down the mountain on the luge track, and even paragliding. Everyone enjoyed a delicious deluxe buffet at the Stratosphere Restaurant at the top of the mountain overlooking the city.
It was a thrilling experience to traverse the narrow mountain roads down to Skipper’s Canyon for an exciting speedboat ride. We learned that many action and science fiction movies have been filmed in the rugged countryside of the South Island.
A slower paced bay cruise on the historic TSS Earnslaw was just as enjoyable and ended with a dinner buffet and sheep shearing demonstration at Walter Peak Farm.
Western Coast
A major storm heading for the area caused us to change our itinerary at this point. We were due to stop at Franz Josef Glacier and see the breathtaking Southern Alps, but sadly that was not to be. We will have to wait until next time to take a helicopter ride to the glacier and also to Milford Sound. Our experienced Fantasy Tours wagonmaster was on top of the weather situation and expertly worked things out for our group of 20 RVs. It was a good thing too because just hours after we headed north, there were 3 road washouts that would have trapped us in the area.
Even though we had lots of rain along the way, we were able to enjoy stops in Hokitika to see the New Zealand Jade factory and several wool stores, wander among the ancient Pancake Rocks at Paparpa National Park, and visit several beachfront towns along the coast. This western part of the South Island was covered in lush rainforest as we made our way along the curvy mountain roads.
At the north of the island, we hit the open farmlands and fertile vineyards of wine country. This first part of our trip ended at Picton where we drove our RVs onto the ferry for a 3-hour cruise over to the North Island.
Stay tuned for part 2 of this series where I detail our experiences on New Zealand’s North Island.
