After a 3.5h cruise with the Interislander Ferry departing 3.30am in Wellington I passed the Cook Strait and arrived in Picton on the South Island. First I was looking for a nice spot on the Marlborough Sounds to have a nap 😉 .
After that I went to Nelson and further to Kaiteriteri which is located on the south end of the Abel Tasman National Park. In Kaiteriteri I booked a whole day Kayak Trip for the next day.
Kayaking on the coastline of Abel Tasman is really an adventure. It was awesome and I met lovely people (also from Austria) and we had a great time together! We were a little group with 8 people in 4 Kayaks and one Tour guide. It was really a lot of fun and the scenery and weather were fantastic!
During my travel in NZ I heard a lot of people saying that the Westcoast of the South Island is not worth to visit because it is always raining.
Therefore I first checked the weather and the decision where to go was made. The weather forecast said that for the next couple of days it will not rain on the Westcoast. Jippie!
So I travelled further along the whole Westcoast to the South pit in Bluff. And I have to say, that the Westcoast is very beautiful because you can drive a long part directly on the coastline with the Mountains on the other side (For me it was better than the Great Ocean road in Australia).
My highlights on this part of the NZ journey were of course the beautiful, breathtaking Milford Sound cruise, the Southern Alps between Westport and Queenstown (especially near Wanaka) and the Kayak Tour in Kaiteriteri.
We’ll see us on the east coast, maybe…
Overview of the route:
– Picton
– Nelson
– Kaiteriteri
– Collingwood
– Westport
– Franz Josef Glacier
– Albert Town
– Wanaka
– Queenstown
– Milford Sound
– Orepuki
– Bluff
