The internet in this hostel is a little crummy so the pictures still won’t load. Surely by the time I am in Christchurch again it will be much better.
The first week of my Easter Break is nearly over and I have a few does and don’t from my own personal experience to share after spending the past few days traveling around the South Island.
Don’t: Waste your money going on a glacier hike. The group of people I decided to go on the trip with all booked hikes up fox glacier. Though hiking it sounds pretty cool and you think you’ll get a lot of cool/ priceless pictures, please save your money. At about 80 US dollars it’s hardly worth tramping around on a solid block of ice. It’s entertaining for about an hour but then you still have about 3 hours of the half day trip to do and it gets really old really fast. All I can say I got out of that was a good case study for my Tourism 101 class due after break.
Don’t: Camp out unless you really love to or really have to. The South Island is riddled with temping free (or max $6 a person) camp sites. Though it seems cheap and easy it’s less than enjoyable. Every location near water is inhabited by sand flies. Mean little buggers that have the same bite as mosquitoes. They particularly enjoy ankles and hands. They always find their way into your tent/car and are impossible to get rid of because there are just so many. The public restrooms are always way below a comfortable standard and tend to leave you feeling like you should take a shower (which they only sometimes have and you have to pay extra for). The South Island is also constantly damp. It rains frequently wich can leave you quite unhappy in your sleeping bag once the condensation starts to build on the tent or if you have a leak.
Do: Book hostels. Never underestimate a roof over your head and the ability to shower as you wish. It’s nearly always possible to find an open room in the cities and if it’s got a high rating its worth your money. Always check details on websites like nakedbus (which does to hostels cheap) or other reputable sites. I’d say look for single rooms or rooms with friends mostly because then you feel safer and more comfortable than getting a dorm style room with 7 other people you don’t know.
Do: Stop on all the great nature hikes along the track from Hokitika to Queenstown. You can’t miss them, they are everywhere. Green signs stick out with yellow type claiming the great walk/ hike you could take in anywhere from 5 minutes to several hours. This is where I had the most fun this week. They are usually off the beaten track and once you get to the end of it there is always something beautiful. Huge waterfalls, deep glacier fed pools, giant man made or natural rock formations and even rainforest.
Don’t: Go to Milford Sound unless you are 100% sure it won’t be a cloudy/ rainy day which is almost impossible to guarantee. I have heard countless people telling me it’s a must see but in reality it is the biggest tourist trap known to man-kind and when it’s raining you can’t even see the peaks of the mountains where the waterfalls begin. The cruises are expensive and there are only 2 places to stay if you plan on spending the night. They are of course both expensive and capitalise on their middle of no-where locations. This also leads me to…
Don’t: Rent a car without inspecting it and also getting comprehensive insurance. Most companies only rent out manuals (a stick) and if you do want and automatic it will cost you a pretty penny. Even with someone in our group who drives a stick back home getting up some of the mountains in a rental is impossible because they are so cheap they lack the power to handle it. On one instance the car stalled in the middle of a hill which we had to correct by pushing it up the hill. The second instance, while leaving Milford Sound, the car died in the middle of the one lane tunnel which happens to be the only way to get in and out of the area. We then had to restart it, pop it into neutral and roll out of the tunnel and to the side of the road all on the side of a mountain. After which two of us got a ride on a tour bus back down the mountain to Milford to call the rental company. It then took 3 hours for a tow-truck to get to Milford Sound because it is in the middle of no-where and tow us back to Te Anau where we then waited another 2 hours for a bus to take us back to Queenstown where we picked up another rental the following morning. That same rental car ended up blowing a tire less than 24 hours later and less than 30 minutes away from campus. What a great way to end that trip.
Do: Try to give everyone in the group your traveling with a chance to pick places to stop on your trip. There is nothing worse than always having to stop at places only one or two other people want to go. It just makes you feel miserable and resentful toward the other people. Sometimes this is hard to avoid but don’t be afraid to stick up for yourself and get what you want. Otherwise you won’t have any fun and that’s the biggest reason people study abroad.
Until next time, cheers.
Location: Queenstown, NZ