Day 1. Shanghai - Auckland

After 5 years, we started another trip to New Zealand. This time, we traveled with our family. The first problem after arriving at Auckland was we couldn’t find the place to buy AT cards. Without AT cards, we were not able to take the bus to the hotel. Thanks to kind passengers at the bus stop, we finally figured out how to purchase AT cards. It felt good when I was on the bus to the hotel.

Day 2. Auckland - Queenstown

Having stayed one night near Auckland airport, we took an early flight from Auckland to Queenstown. It was so beautiful when we were approaching Queenstown airport, especially the snow mountain outside the window. The way to our hotel was quite familiar to me - lake at the left hand side, and houses on the mountain at the right hand side. This time, we would like to spend more time at Queenstown, so we booked some activities. However, our Shotover jet ride was canceled because of heavy rain. Then we walked around in the shopping mall for sheltering from the rain. The rain stopped in about half an hour. We were lucky to find another jet ride available. It was extremely exciting especially when the driver was spinning the boat. After the ride, we took the cable car to the top of the mountain. The view was excellent. We also played luge there, which was quite interesting.

Day 3. Queenstown - Dunedin

The wind was very strong these days. When we were at Bluff Hill lookout, it was hard to stand steady. The Stirling Point was beautiful as before. We took a walk to the lighthouse and got my shoes wet there. Last time we didn’t have time to go to the southernmost point. This time, we crossed the grass and finally reached the southernmost point at Slope Point. It was raining, gaze. We hold the sign to avoid being blown away.

Day 4. Dunedin - Oamaru

This part was similar as our last trip. The different things were raising water level, heavy wind and cold weather. We visited Dunedin railway station, tunnel beach, Moeraki Boulders. Almost all boulders were in the water this time.

Day 5. Oamaru - Lake Tekapo

Our initial plan for Hooker Valley was to return at the first swing bridge. When we arrived at the first swing bridge, it looked like the weather was not too bad, so we decided to walk the whole track. However, as we walked to the end of the track, the weather became worse. Heavy rain and wind made us wet. It was the similar experience as the last time. MM didn’t want to walk this trail again but I still want to see how it looks like in a sunny day. Since we spent too much time in Hooker Valley, we didn’t have enough time to walk around Lake Tekapo. It’s a pity that we only stayed one night at Lake Tekapo. It’s a very beautiful town.

Day 6. Lake Tekapo - Hokitika

After a fine branch, we left Tekapo to Hokitika. It’s a long trip but we had to be there because we booked a heli-hiking tour the next day. A bonus was there was a glowworm cave just near the bnb we stayed. It’s only about 5 minutes walk, opposite of the road. We saw a lot of glowworms, quite amazing. It also saved us half a day in north island as we didn’t need another tour for glowworms.

Day 7. Hokitika - Franz Josef

The heli-hiking tour in Franz Josef glacier was the reason why this trip was so tight. We needed to be there before the noon. My friend booked a tour in Mt Cook a few days before but it was canceled because of the weather. We were lucky to have a good weather. For MM and me, this was the second time for heli-hiking, still we felt excited. My family gave a very high rate of this tour as well. After the tour, we had some free time to walk around and had a fine dinner. The town was quiet and peaceful.

Day 8. Franz Josef - Wanaka

We actually prepared a backup plan to return to Queenstown along the original route instead of the State Hwy 6 because Haast Pass was closed due to flooding. Luckily, it’s reopened which saved us a lot of time. Wanaka lake is a beautiful place especially in sunny days. However, this time it was cloudy. The water level had risen a lot. It looked wilder than last time, but it’s still good to see the lonely tree in Wanaka Lake.

Day 9. Wanaka - Te Anau

Since the reopen of SH6 saved us a lot of time, we decided to have a trip to Milford Sound. It’s hard to book a hotel near Milford Sound, so we stayed at Te Anau. It’s a quiet town near the river.

Day 10. Te Anau - Milford Sound - Queenstown

Milford Sound is a very famous scenery spot. We didn’t visit it last time because we went to Norway which is also famous for its fjords just a couple of months before. On our way to Milford Sound, the valley was wild, tall mountains at both left and right side. But it’s not easy to find a place to park the car and take pictures. It’s a pity. The cruise tour in Milford sound was good. It took us just below the fall. It’s a cloudy day. The boat was bumpy, but we enjoyed our trip to Milford sound. We then took the flight to north island in the evening. There was an incident in the Queenstown airport earlier that day. We were lucky that our flight was not impacted.

Day 11. Auckland - Whakarewarewa

Redwoods – Whakarewarewa Forest has different views in daytime and at night, so we visited it twice in the same day. The Redwoods Treewalk in the afternoon gave us a bird’s eye perspective of the forest. In the evening, the lights made it even fantastic. However, we didn’t want to buy the tickets twice, so we just took a look at the entry. Besides Treewalk, we also walked the trail to have a closer look at these giant trees and the forest.

Day 12. Whakarewarewa - Rotorua - Auckland

Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland is a famous geothermal attraction. Since we had been the Yellowstone National Park before, it’s not so new to MM and me. However, we still had a great experience there. We were attracted by its colorful pools and special geothermal sights.

Day 13. Auckland

Today we mainly explored the city of Auckland. We climbed Mount Eden, where we could overlook the downtown area. Walking around the volcanic crater was interesting. I guess it would be more interesting to slide down to the bottom of the crater if it’s allowed. As a bonus, we saw many cherry blossom trees in the town nearby, which surprised us.

Day 14. Auckland - Shanghai

What a wonderful trip!