Our last stop before leaving New Zealand was to the region of Marlborough. We are staying at an adorable hotel near Blenheim and arrived early on Friday after driving from Abel Tasman National Park. The Marlborough region is best known around the world as a leading producer of sauvignon blanc wine and there are numerous wineries in the area. We read the best way to explore the wineries is by bike as most of the vineyards are clustered around a few square miles.
Read MoreTo break up the drive from Fox Glacier to Abel Tasman National Park, we stayed one night in Hokitika. By early afternoon we had arrived at Hokitika Gorge to enjoy the milky blue-green waters of the Hokitika River as they flow through the gorge. There are several viewpoints along the trail and it was pretty as a picture!
Read MoreAlex and I made our way from Wanaka to Fox Glacier which took a little over three hours. It was a rainy and foggy drive for the most part, but we did make a couple of stops to admire the views alongside the road when the rain let up.
Read MoreThe drive from Queenstown to Fiordland National Park took a little over three hours. Fiordland National Park is the largest national park in New Zealand covering 2.9 million acres. It is considered the "Walking Capital of the World" as it is the gateway to numerous walking and hiking trails. There are very few places to stay in Fiordland National Park other than camping sites, so we made Te Anau our home-base for the time we were there. Once we arrived to Fiordland National Park, there were several lookout points where we stopped to take photos.
Read MoreThe drive from Cromwell to Queenstown only took an hour and we started the morning with a hike on the Moke Lake Loop Track. This short two-hour hike goes right around Moke Lake through grassland and is surrounded by mountains. It was a chilly morning and there was even a few snow flakes falling.
Read MoreWe left Mount Cook Sunday morning and drove to Cromwell. On the 2 1/2 hour drive, we passed through Lindis Pass, a scenic reserve with grass-covered mountains and valleys. It is a winding road and the views were just beautiful. There were several lookout points where we stopped to take pictures and enjoy the scenery.
Read MoreIt is only an hour from Tekapo to Mount Cook and the drive was absolutely beautiful. We passed by the turquoise waters of Lake Pukaki and could see Mount Cook in the distance. Mount Cook is New Zealand's highest mountain with a height of 12,316 feet.
Read MoreOur drive from Christchurch to Tekapo took us three hours. Driving around the corner and seeing our first glimpse of Lake Tekapo had us grinning ear to ear! We did not expect such a bright turquoise blue color! The unique color is caused by finely ground rock in the glacial melted waters that formed the lake.
Read MoreWe flew from Auckland to Christchurch on Monday and arrived in the South Island at 10:00am. We picked up our rental car and drove to the city center. Walking around Christchurch, Alex and I could not help but notice how bare and damaged many of the areas still are around the city.
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