Day7 Franz Josef to Queenstown

On 28th December, Franz Josef to Queenstown.
In the morning, I got up early and tried to see the sunrise. I thought I'd like to fully enjoy the great nature as I came here paying much money. Unfortunately it was not so clear day. At first I predicted that I couldn't see the sunrise, though, it appeared for only a few minutes. It was amazing sunrise which was like a magic. I like this kind of scenery.

By the way, our next destination was "Queenstown" which is one of the most famous place for travelers in New Zealand. We stopped off at Lake Paringa and Lake Wanaka on the way. Only what I could remember regarding Lake Paringa was that there were a lot of mosquitoes. It was terrible and also  the water wasn't so good. However, Lake Wanaka was beautiful place. We had lunch at the lakeside.

We arrived at Queenstown at 4 or 5 pm. The accomdation was on the upslope place where it was hard to walk to the downtown. Moreover as a number of people were put up there, it was very noisy.
But I like this town because it was clean, idylic, quiet and beautiful. Actually this town is the second biggest city in South Island, but it was so tiny. I realized that the so-called big cites are only three (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch) in New Zealand.

Anyway, I went to bed early in this day because I had to prepared for the next day's big activity... 

Lake Wanaka



Lake Wanaka

Lake Wanaka

Day6 Fox Glacier's walk

On December 27, Fox Glacier walking
It was also good weather, especially in the morning.
I woke up a little bit early and ran for an hour.
As it was not so high temperture, I felt comfortable during running.

In the afternoon, we went to Fox Glacier. It took approximately 30 minutes from accomodation.
After arrived at the base of Fox Glacier, we were received some instruction by the guide and we set off to walk on the Glacier. At first we walked up to the mountain which was like a hiking, and then we arrived the place having glacier. We weared the climbing iron which is light one and walked up higher place. I felt a little cold at that place, though, I think it was one of the most interesting place I have ever visited. We heard the explanation about the Glacier and took a lot of pictures. We spent about 4 hours on this guide tour. Because of the great weather, I enjoyed it much enough. It was an amazing experience.

Day5 Motueka to Franz Josef

On 26 December, long trip from Motueka to Franz Josef
Our next destination was Franz Josef which is a long glacier located on the West Coast of South Island.
We departed early because it took more than 8 hours from Motueka to Franz Josef.
On the way, we stopped off in Punakaiki located on the West Coast of South Island. Punakaki is known for its Pancake Rocks which is seemed to be very popular for the tourists. Pancake Rocks have some walkways and we can see the rock formations like pancakes.
We walked for 30 minutes and set off to Franz Josef again.
Finally we arrived at the accomodation in near Franz Josef Glacier at 5:30pm.
The town was so tiny that we didn't spend much time to walk around, though, I like such a small town and the scnery was beautiful.
Although the accomodation was also small, it was comfortable to stay. Free tea and coffee were good.

Mt.Tasman(?)

Mt.Cook(?)

Before Sunset

Before Sunset

After Sunrise

Day4 The Abel Tasman National Park

On 25 December, Christmas, free day in the National Park
What a beautiful weather today!
It was the best day to enjoy the great nature.
We went to the Abel Tasman National Park established in 1942, and renowned for its golden beaches, sculptured granite cliffs, and world-famous Abel Tasman Coast Track.

On the way to the park, we stopped off at Kaiteriteri which is the beautiful seaside resort town. This beach was also great. Some people were enjoying sunbathing, waterskiing, swimming, and they looked so happy.

After spending about 30 minutes there, we set off to the National Park.
Although there were some trecking cources in the park, we just went to the beach. At first we entered in the forest and walked for 20 minutes. The cource was easy and comfortable to walk in.
Finally, we arrived at the beach in the park. How can I express how beautiful it was?
Water was clear, easy to walk in because it was warm and shallow enough.
Needless to say, the view from the beach was amazing because the blue sky spreaded vast and the mountains ran tidily.
We spent about an hour in the beach, we went back the same way to the place bus is stopping.

Regardless of a free day in such a brilliant place, we finished the today's schedule only in the morning.
Why do we need to go back so early? I wanted to stay more in the park.
I thought the schedule was crazy. If we had spent more time in the national park, we could have enjoyed more. With no other choice we bought some foods for lunch and went back to the accomodation.
As it wasn't walking distance from the accomodation to the national park, we had nothing to do in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, there weren't anything special near the accomodation, and all of shops were closed because of the Christmas day.
Some people were playing table tennis, some people were washing their cloths and some people were having a nap.
In my case, after just reading books and talking with my friends, we went to the beach which we visited the last night.
At first I didn't think it's a good beach, though, I found out that it was much better than I expected.
Because of the nice weather everything was great except for a little dirty water.

Anyway, I recommend that you should visit the Abel Tasman National Park when you go to New Zealand because it is supprisingly beautiful!

Kaiteriteri



The beach of the national park

The beach of the national park

The beach of the national park

The beach of the national park



The beach of the national park

 

Day3 Wellington to Motueka

On 24 December, Christmas eve, moved from Wellington to Motueka through Picton.
We departed at 7 am to cross the sea to go to the South Island by using ferry early morning.
I really wanted to see the great scenery during crossing the sea, but I couldn't see it because of the foggy weather and I also couldn't stay outside because of the very strong wind.
As such, I had nothing to do in the ferry. All I could do was just walking around and sleeping.
The sofa in the ferry was so comfortable that I had a good sleep.

After 3 hours crossing, we arrived in Pincton.
We had lunch in Picton which is a town in the Marlborough region of New Zealand, and the main link between South and North Islands.
After we arrived at the accommodation in Motueka which lies close to the mouth of the Motueka River, on the western shore of Tasman Bay, we went to the supermarket to buy something for dinner.

Almost all of us drunk a lot tonight.
Moreover someone suggested that we should go to the beach regardless of midnight (it was already dark).
Even though we went to the beach, it was so dark that we could see nothing.
But after walked to some extent, some people in the other group were already there.
I didn't know why people gathered in such a place, but they enjoyed drinking and talking like a christmas party.

View from the ferry - near Wellington

View from the ferry - near Wellington

View from the ferry - near Picton

Day2 Wellington

On 23 December, free day in Wellington.
I could use much time to go sightseeing in Wellington today.
In the morning it was very good weather to walk around.

At first I went to the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa with other students.
This museum is the sole national museum in New Zealand opened officially in 1998.
We could see a variety of different contents including the history and the lifestyle, culture of Maori, New Zealand's natural world in this museum.
As this was a large museum, we spent much time there.

After that we walked to the north side of the city centre to see the parliament building which symbolizes Wellington.
This building seemed to be called "Beehive" after the exterior of this building.

The cable car goes from the city centre to Kelburn, the residential district located on the steep slope, was also great.
We could see the whole of the city from there.

There was an small beach near the city centre named "Oriental Bay".
The beach was crowded with people who were enjoying swimming and sunbathing.

Finally we went to the Mt.victria which is located in the southeast side from the city centre.
But when we went there, we could see nothing because it was foggy in spite of good weather in the morning.
If it had been fine, we could have seen the great view from the summit of the mountain.
As we still had much time, we walked down from the mountain to the city centre.
It took approximately 40 minutes. Though it was good exercise, I was exhausted.

Wellington was smaller and more quiet than Auckland. I like this city as a living place.
But if you plan to go to this city, a day or half a day is much enough to go sightseeing.

Lambton Harbour



Maori corner in Te Papa Museum



Old Government Building

Parliament Building



Waterfront viewing from Oriental Bay

View from Kelburn (Cable car)

Day1 Auckland to Wellington

On 22 December, quite a long trip started.
There were many people who joined in this trip program.
At the first of this trip we set out for Wellington, the capital city and second most populous of New Zealand. Needless to say, the most populous city is Auckland.
Since Wellington is also political centre in New Zealand, it has Parliament building, the head offices of all Govermment Ministries and Departments and has an important function in foreign diplomatic missions.

It took more than 8 hours from Auckland to Wellington.
It was very tough time for me because actually I always can't sleep well in the bus.
As such I had nothing to do, so I spent much time to listen to music.
During the driving I could see the scenery of country side which is more idyllic than I expected and there were many cows and sheep all over the regions.
They were sometimes walking around, sometimes sleeping, sometimes just standing as if they were an art.
When 3 or 4 hours passed after the setoff, it rained a lot all of a sudden.
But it stopped soon, and the good scenery spreaded widely again.
Such a changeable weather was same as Auckland.

As soon as I arrived at Wellington, I could see the beautiful sea from the window in the bus because this city locates along the coast and it has the harbor. Using the ferry in this city, we can go to the South Island.
After arrived at the accomodation, we walked around the centre of the city and we went to the supermarket to cook for dinner so as to save money.
Indeed we were sharing the dinner everyday during this trip.

Anyway I sometimes felt the difference of nationalities today.
I recognized that Japanese common sense and other countries' one is completely different.
I might have to reconsider how to get along with them.
Although that made me a little upset, I thought it was one of the important experience to communicate with the foreigners.

I thought it was important not only to just enjoy the travelling but also to learn the other culture, living, how to think, and so on because I can't get an opportunity like this for many times.
Of cource I don't and I can't change my mind easily because I'm Japanese and also I'll keep being Japanese in the future. But I can make an effort to comprehend the other nationalities.