It is with much joy and disbelief that I write to you today to tell you that our time in Wallace has ended. Wallace, our trusty campervan, carried us all throughout New Zealand, from Auckland to Christchurch. For sixty two days we lived within his metal walls, and though I am weak with relief at the thought of no longer banging my head on his door frames or having to go outside to pee at 2am in the freezing cold, I am very grateful for the time Wallace and I spent together. My bruises will fade, but the memories will last a lifetime.
Last I wrote Byron and I were in Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city on the southernmost part of the North Island. Shortly after I wrote that post we took the Interislander Ferry from Wellington to Picton.
Taking the ferry was a unique experience (did you know you could just drive onto a boat? Wild.). The crossing was freezing but beautiful, and we had a clear day for our first glimpse of the South Island.
New Zealand’s North Island is beautiful, but it’s a constant, casual beauty. There are lots of rolling green hills and blue lakes, and miles of beaches and rocky shoreline. The South Island is more dramatically beautiful. The mountains are taller and capped with snow, and coasts are dotted with seals and dolphins. The South Island is also much more sparsely populated than the North, especially now that winter and COVID have depressed tourism so severely.
Because we booked our campervan for far longer than strictly necessary, we had plenty of time to meander wherever struck our fancy. We started off in Abel Tasman, a beautiful national park with golden sand beaches and impressively long walking trails. We spotted a weka, which is a hilarious-looking bird that is famous for stealing things – food, shiny objects, anything it can get its, uh, beak on, I suppose.
From Abel Tasman we drove south along the west coast. There isn’t a whole lot to do on the west coast except for drive from small town to small town, but the drives are stunningly beautiful. We drove from Westport to Punakaiki to Hokitika (an old gold-mining town), and finally ended up near Fox Glacier where we walked around Lake Matheson and enjoyed the incredible reflections of the nearby snowy mountains.
As a side note, I am still totally thrown off by the different seasons in the Southern Hemisphere. I mean, I get that that’s how it works geographically, but it still feels so wrong to be this cold in June and July! Ah well, on the bright side all of the knitting totally paid off and we were well insulated from the cold. (Byron disputes this, but he doesn’t like to wear socks, so I think there are deeper issues at play).
After our tour of the west coast we went through the Haast mountain pass and spent some time in Wanaka and Queenstown. Both locales sport extremely cute cities up against lakes, and both come equipped with excellent options for bubble tea. I may have gone slightly overboard…
We spent the Fourth of July in Dunedin, where we celebrated by eating hamburgers (the most American food we could get our hands on) and watching our first-ever rugby match. I don’t 100% know how the rules work but it was very exciting, even though our newly-adopted team, the Otago Highlanders, got crushed by the Canterbury Crusaders.
Dunedin was a lovely city, full of old stone buildings and tons of bookshops. It’s also home to the University of Otago, so it has sort of a college-town feel, which we enjoyed after spending so many nights in holiday parks. Holiday parks are nice, but in most places they tend to attract a lot of older Kiwis who are usually perfectly pleasant, but can sometimes be quite xenophobic and judgmental. I think because New Zealand was isolated from most of the world for so long, a lot of the older generations aren’t really that jazzed about globalization and mostly want the foreigners to conform or get out. Most of the younger people we met, however, were much more welcoming, and much more accustomed to meeting people from all over the world.
After Dunedin we continued up the east coast to Oamaru, then headed inland to visit Mount Cook. Mount Cook was freezing, but absolutely worth the trip. Really if you are only ever going to see one snowy mountain in your life you should make it that one, because it is just lovely. Plus, there’s a great walking trail to get to the base, so you don’t actually have to hike up the mountain to get the incredible views.
After Mount Cook we made our way to Christchurch, New Zealand’s second largest city (behind Auckland). We hung out there for a few days, just long enough to get the lay of the land, before making our way to Kaikoura, our final stop of the trip.
I am still amazed and relieved that we were able to travel for the full two months of our campervan rental. New Zealand has still seen no community transmission of COVID, and while there have been new cases from Kiwis returning from overseas, the risk of contracting COVID while we are here is currently almost nonexistent. We got ridiculously lucky to be here, we only wish we could teleport our family and friends here as well.
Now we’re just trying to decide what comes next. We’re thinking of living in a few different cities while we’re here, starting with Christchurch. We found a nice hostel with a courtyard, and we have a private room with our own attached bathroom (ah, the luxury!). I bought a bike and joined a climbing gym, and so far I’ve only gotten lost twice so things are looking good.
In another bit of good news, I finally got my working holiday visa! Now, both Byron and I are approved to live and work here until next May. It’s not totally clear what sort of work we’ll be able to find, as there are conditions on the types of jobs we can accept with this kind of visa, plus most companies would rather hire New Zealanders who will be in the country for longer than a year But still, even to be allowed to stay here and enjoy the freedoms of normal life is amazing and surreal, so I really can’t complain.
