A few weekends ago me and my french housemate Bruno decided to rent a sweet as Hyundai Geytza and head out for a three day roadtrip to check out some of the scenery on the Southern Island of New Zealand. We left Queenstown without any real plans for the trip except for that I was going to buy a bike in Christchurch and that we wanted to go to Mount Cook.
The first 480km from Queenstown to Christchurch took us around 8 hours since we constantly stopped to shoot photos and video on the breathtaking scenery. What really stood out was the fact that after a 30 minute drive the landscape had changed completely, basically making us forced to stop a few times every hour. Massive mountains, lakes, open fields and endless of photo snapping Japanese people.
When we arrived in Christchurch our plan was to find a hostel for the night and then meet up with the guy selling the bike. Our initial thought was that we’d just find a good hostel in Lonely Planet, but it turned out not to be that easy. Every single hostel in Christchurch was either fully booked or closed due to the earthquake. After calling 15 different hostels we had to change our plans to find a place for the night. Finally we were able to get a room at a place in Oakins Bay, slightly south east of Christchurch.
After that we headed to pick up my bike which offered yet another surprise. We checked out the bike, managed to get the price down a bit and then handed over a big pile of cash. As we walked in to the shed to check out the rather massive amount of bikes in there we were told that this was Cam Cole’s house and his brand spanking new Lapierre was hanging on the wall. Had a spin on it and drooled over all the shiny Easton gear! And yeah, the bike was HUGE.
The drive to Oakins Bay took way longer than expected, mainly since we took a detour on a sketchy gravel road in pitch black with running sheep in front of the car. And we missed the exit from the main road… We arrived to hostel and it turned out to be one of the best $30 stays of my life. Beautiful house with a great kitchen, big comfy beds and a soft lawn to have breakfast in the sun on. The beach just next to the hostel was something out of the ordinary!
We continued the trip by driving along the sea front to Akaroa, ”a historic French and British settlement nestled in the heart of a volcano”. Strolled through the town, had some pie and beer and just enjoyed the glory days of unemployment.
A few hours later we found ourselves at the foot of the highest mountain in NZ; Mount Cook. Majestic for sure! After a horrible night in the Japanese-crammed hostel with easily 30 degrees in the room we headed out for a hike to Kia Point, a vantage-point over Mt Cook. Snapped photos of the peak, had beer in the sun and just enjoyed life like every day in NZ!
Unplanned, impulsive trips like this could either turn out to be a complete disaster or a massive success, and this one was a blast from the first minute to the very end. Thanks Bruno for excellent french company! Check out more pictures on my Flickr Account
