Our first long trip together (South Island) 

Our first trip together, it's been almost 3 years already. At the 10th of October 2017 I (Romi) took a flight from Amsterdam Schiphol to Auckland (NZ). I had my first stop over in Dubai and another one in Singapore, where I stayed for a day and a night. Followed by a last stop over in Sydney from where I could finally take my final flight to Auckland. 

I worked and traveled a lot in New Zealand, saw the most amazing landscapes and met some beautiful people. After working his ass off Jens could book a flight to the other side of the world to meet me! We hadn't seen each other for 4,5 months when Jens finally arrived in Christchurch at the 23th of February 2018. 

I had been traveling with another Dutch girl for those 4,5 months. We even brought a huge car, with a bed inside together. It was our own cute little house on wheels! We had an amzing time together and did some really cool things together, she became a really close friend! But for her it was time to move on, she was looking for a new adventure and flew to Vietnam. I continued my traveling in NZ together with Jens. 

Jens and I kept the car so that we would be flexible and we could just camp wherever we wanted! I will always remember the moment when I was driving to the Airport in Chistchurch to pick up Jens. This was such a special moment because I almost forgot how he smelled and how his voice sounded.. I was so nervous and excited to see him again after all these months. 

Our first eyecontact and our first hug felt so good, I immediately knew what I had been missing so much. We were both so happy to see each other again, and we directly started planning our trip together in NZ. 

Because we only had 6 weeks left together because we were running out of money we decided to make the most out of these weeks. 

Our trip started in Christchurch. We stayed there for 2 more nights and enjoyed the citylife. After Christchurch we went to a super cute Airbnb close to Culverden on NZ's South island. We spent some time there enjoying each others company and we  took the time to really talk again after all these months! Culverden is a super quiet and peaceful area with some amazing sceneries, it was an absolute treat to spend some days overthere. 

After our lovely days in Culverden we decided we had to move on, because there is so much more to see. We drove to Kaikoura, heaven for sealife lovers! We boarded a boat to watch some dolphins and whales, and we saw some, what an experience! 

Kaikoura was an amazing experience but after 2 days we thought it was time for a new adventure. We drove back inland and made a stop at the lovely hot pools of Hanmer Springs, a good way to relax a bit after all this traveling. Hanmer Springs is very close to some beautiful nature reserves, so that would be our next stop! 

After a drive through the mindblowing landscapes of this area we arrived at the Victoria Forest Park. Found ourselves a beautiful campsite in the town of Maruia. We went out exploring the area and found one of the most beautiful hot pools we have ever seen in our lives! They were hidden in the bushes and we almost passed it without even looking at it. We weren's expecting so much of it, but it absolutely surprised us! These Hot Pools were so beautiful, and so calming. It felt like a fairytale to be there. 

After all the relaxation it was time to resume our trip. The next stop was the West Coast. We went to Greymouth, took the highway 6 to Westport and saw NZ's rugged West Coast. In our opinion this is one of the most beautiful routes of the counry. Here you can see the rough sea crashing against the rocks and you pass the famous pancake rocks.

We continued our Roadtrip inland again, we drove to Murchison. Just another town, and it doesn't have so much special to offer, so we decided to only stay here for 1 night. But it does have 1 very special attraction, the swing bridge that crosses the wild buller gorge. It is the longest swing bridge in the country and it is very spectacular to walk on the bridge. 

We continued the journey via Nelson to Abel Tasman NP. Another beautiful National Park in NZ. It was a long drive to get there, but it was so much worth it. For us personal, this is the most amazing area in the country. We found a super cute campsite via 'Campermate' and stayed there for a few nights. Abel Tasman is like paradise for people who are into hiking, swimming and canoeing! This immense park is like a huge playground for nature lovers. And the absolute highlight is Golden Bay, especially Whararike Beach, so beautiful! 

We were already roadtripping for almost 3 weeks when we left Abel Tasman. It was time to move on to the far North of the South Island because we had to take the ferry to the North Island in a few days. We enjoyed our days in Picton and then it was all done on the South Island. We had 3 amazing weeks but the time had come to leave, off to the North: Welly was our next destination! 

We will tell you all about the North Island in our new blog. 

Down below you can find some more pictures of NZ's South Island because we didn't put everything into this blog (because it is simply too much!) We saw so much of the Island, we drove on almost all roads and only missed 2 of them.. !

Cheers, 

Jens & Romi