Our next destination was meant to be Wanaka's bigger sibling: Queenstown. However a large snow storm that was hitting Queenstown and the southern region was threatening to cause road closures for a few days. Since we could not afford to get stuck so far away from Christchurch with only a handful of days left on our trip, we decided to head to the west coast a day earlier. We set off for a day trip all the way to Frank Joseph Glacier, halfway up the south island,...

It is time to get out on the bikes!! Me and Benedetta had been planning to rent some mountainbikes in New Zealand for a while and what better place than Wanaka!? This town sits on lake Wanaka and is a very lively little town thanks to the ski resorts nearby. So the setting is, in true New Zealand style, very stunning! The lake is surrounded by snowy peaks and great round hills. The perfect spot to explore by mountainbike! We spoiled ourselves and rented two du...

We couldn't consider our journey to the mountainous region of the south island complete without seeing Mount Cook! This is the highest mountain in Australasia and training ground of the great explorer Sir Edmund Hilary (first man to climb mount Everest). It has been quite a good coincidence to see this place and see Hilary's museum during this trip as both me and Benedetta have been reading Greg Mortenson's book: "Three cups of tea" which describes some of Hilary...

From Akaroa we drove south to venture with our van through the southern alps. The sceneries we crossed were so stunning they often left us speechless. We were just driving in silence admiring every bit of the hills, lakes, mountains and rivers around us. First stop was lake Tekapo, a turqoise lake where we camped just by the water. On top of mount John, just by the lake, they set up a sky observatory as the night sky in this spot is the clearest of the southern...

While driving to Akaroa we started realising the kind of experience we would have in NZ: wide stunning landscapes, intense light and by far more sheep than people. The view over the Akaroa volcanic peninsula by the ocean is by itself enough to justify a trip to NZ. Once in Akaroa we were literally spoiled by Laurie and Nancy, Ed' s family friends, who welcomed us in their beautiful home. They showed us around some of the best spots in the area, such as the Otana...