James and I have moved to the South Island for the ski season so that James can train for his FWQ Competitions which are at the beginning of September. We will be living in Wanaka for the next few months in my grandparents campervan at Glendhu Bay Motor Camp.

Early Saturday morning, July 1st 2023, James and I embarked on our journey to the South Island. Joined by my mom and little sister Aadya, we boarded the ferry from Wellington to Picton. My mum was helping us drive the campervan to Wanaka and Aadya was tagging along for the drive. The ride on the ferry went by quite quickly as there was lots of things to look at and food to eat. I enjoyed going through the Marlborough Sounds, which was a beautiful sight to behold.

We hopped off the ferry and started our journey down the East Coast of the South Island. The road starts inland but very quickly runs along the seaside. It was quite a magnificant sight to see snow capped mountains on one side of the road and black sand beaches on the other. As we neared Kaikoura there were so many cute seals lounging about on the rocks and swimming in the water.

We decided to take a break from driving, and freedom camped at lake Pukaki for the night. It had been a long drive and took us a lot longer than we anticipated. Lake Pukaki is located 30 minutes from Lake Tekapo and has some beautiful freedom camping spots right on the lake front. We were the only ones there and the view we woke up to made me feel very blessed. There were snowy mountains surrounding the lake and as the sun rose, it cast shades of pink across the mountains, giving them a pink glow. The lake was the most beautiful turquoise colour, with crystal clear water and the most perfect flat skimming rocks.

That morning, James and I drove to the other side of the lake to catch a glimpse of Aoraki/Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand. It was an incredible sight, standing proudly and majestically before us. Although we couldn’t make it all the way to the mountain’s base because we had to continue our journey to Queenstown, I hope to have the chance to go back and spend more time there in the future.

On we headed to Queenstown where we passed through the Lindis Pass and the Roaring Meg River, the final stops before reaching our destination.

At last we made it to Queenstown where we met up with my sister Caci and her son Nas. From there we spent a couple of days in Queenstown, spending time with the family and doing fun activities like going up the gondola, jet boating and mini golf. Queenstown is quite a unique town and a very popular tourist destination. We did go during the school holidays so it was a bit busy for my liking but still a beautiful place.

After Queenstown we drove to Wanaka where we have set up camp for the next few months. We are at a very pretty campground about 10 minutes drive from Wanaka township.