This campervan thing is getting tiring but we wouldn't want it any other way (well Mohit wouldn't but Fate might!) Each day is rush: wake-up, bathroom routine, breakfast, gorgeous drive, quick sandwich lunch, another drive and maybe a short hike, find a campervan site by 5:00pm because the sun goes down fast, and then cook dinner, write blog (woooo!), heat up the van and sleep. Repeat.
Day 4 was again a blast. Here's what we did, followed by things to know if you visit, and our favorite pictures.
- Drive from Wanaka to Queenstown
- Drive from Queenstown to the town of Glenorchy via Lake Wakatipu
- Drive towards Routeburn
- Night 4 - Top 10 Holiday Parks in Queenstown
Also, in case anyone cares, the video summaries take Mohit some time to edit so they will be uploaded in a later post when he gets to edit them (probably on the next long haul flight).
Things to know if you visit
- There's two roads to drive from Wanaka to Queenstown: SH 6 or Cardrona Valley Rd. We took the latter and found the scenery to be quite nice. If only it wasn't cloudy. Short drive too, just over an hour and half.
- Top 10 Holiday Parks will book local activities for you without any additional cost as a service to their guests. It can be quite helpful to save on international minutes and have someone talking in a local Kiwi accent.
- Grab a sandwich at Glenorchy Cafe at lunch, they're huge!
Fun facts
- The drive from Glenorchy to Routeburn (around 16km only) brings you to a bridge over Dart River. Some tour companies, websites, and helicopter tours claim that LOTR shot the scenes for Isengaurd and Lothlorein in the backdrop of this bridge. Even if you aren't an LOTR nerd, its a beautiful place to visit.
- The Chinese/Korean/Taiwanese/Japanese campervan people always cook up something delicious with cabbage and meat at the communal camper site kitchen.
- They also leave behind free oyster sauce, Maggi seasoning, and dark soy sauce.
Day 4 Picture Summary
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| Sheep alert |
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| Lake Wakatipu view point towards Glenorchy |
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| One more look at the view at Wanaka |
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| Mohit barely took this picture because a police man was nearby |
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| More proof about the amount of sheep in this country |
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| The van went up this quite un-splendidly |
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| Gonna hit that mountain head on |
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| We couldn't believe what happens at every other turn of the road |
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| "Get off my property!" |
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| She's a thing of beauty |
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| Mohit's quest for LOTR scene views |
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| I have to start to a "Follow me" series too! |
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| Queenstown is in such an amazing location! |
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| Photobomb! |
Another great post with beautiful pictures! How did y'all navigate? With a paper map?
ReplyDeleteWe've got a T-Mobile phone that has offline maps that we use. However, you really just need one paper map of the south island you'll be fine. The roads are extremely well marked for all major attractions and there's really just a couple of main highways. Most of our driving has been on SH 6.
DeleteGreat pictures guys, so far the NZ photos are my favorite. Are you guys going to check out 90-mile beach (from top gear)? :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Gowtham! Glad you're enjoying the pics :)
DeleteUnfortunately we won't make it to 90 mile beach since it's too far north. BTW, most rental vehicles are not allowed there. I checked up on this as well when we were first planning this trip because of Top Gear. Something about a fear that the cars will get stuck in the sand :)