2000km and counting

So we’ve been in New Zealand for just over a week. To be honest, the trip started out a bit rough. Beyond the usual jet lag, we found it tough to be thrown back into winter so abruptly – by 3:00pm the shadows are very long and you feel like you are racing against the sunset, and this morning, it was -7 degrees Celcius in Queenstown! However, the most unfortunate part was that we arrived to 5 days of pretty much solid rain. But since then, the weather has improved dramatically and so has our experience!

We’ve clocked about 2000km of driving so far – and it is VERY slow going. Twisty, double lane (one each way) roads, and the intimidating SeaFoam Monster (or Foamy as we’ve nicknamed the car). So we’ve spent a lot more time in the car just getting from place to place than I anticipated. And you can drive for hours and not see anything other than rolling countryside, rugged mountains, and sheep. Parts of it are very beautiful but more than anything, I can’t help but think about how isolated it feels here. Supposedly there are about 40 million sheep in NZ, and only 4 million people!!

Our take so far is that we like the South Island better than the North, but in all fairness, we have yet to do see some of the “best” parts of the North Island – like the Tongariro Crossing (Mt Doom for you LOTR fans) and Bay of Islands (known as the “winterless” north). We’ll keep you posted! In the mean time, here are some pics from our travels.