Isti's space

After hiking back to Marahau, we decided to rent a car, since my friend’s had been having issues lately and we were looking to cover around 2000 kilometers in the coming week while explorimg the South Island.

Our goal was to reach Mount Cook in a couple of days and the drive took us through some truly scenic routes. On the evening of the second day, we ran into a storm, so we decided to spend the night at an Airbnb in Kaikoura.

On the third day we had a longer drive, close to 6 hours with just two stops along the way. Our first one was at Amberley, where we had a coffee break and sampled the famous steak pie, a New Zealand favourite. Later we paused at the stunning Lake Tekapo for a refreshing swim in the crystal clear water.

We started the day by doing some shopping to prepare for the upcoming hikes. I purchased a tent, a sleeping mat and some smaller items, like a portable gas stove, so we could cook while camping.

The main event of the day was a coastal hike in Abel Tasman National Park from Marahau to Anchorage. The walk was around 12.7km and it took us roughly 3 hours. We took our time since we were carrying our tents, sleeping bags and cooking equipment as we were planning to spend the night camping.

The hike offered some great coastal views and we took a well deserved dip in the ocean when we arrived. If you are cooking outdoors, like we did, then be aware of the Weka birds, they are very quick to steal your food. Our campsite was a stone’s throw from the shore, listening the ocean was a peaceful soundtrack for the night.

On my next visit to this national park, I would love to try kayaking – we saw a few people paddling from the shore, and it looked like an awesome experience. I also read about a campsite called Mosquito Bay, located on a small island. It seemed really cool, but the only way to reach it is by boat or kayak.

Getting to NZ was an adventure on its own. 10 hours flight from London to Shanghai, 8 hours layover, then another 11 hours to Auckland. Finally an 1.5 hours flight to Nelson to the top of the South Island where my journey starts from.

To use my time in Shanghai I decided to leave the airport and head to the city. I got to use the magnet train, which was pretty cool. Then walked around the Bund and Lujiazui areas. It is a buzzing modern city. One thing to keep in mind is that most shops don’t accept debit/credit cards, normally you can only pay with WeChat or Alipay, so best to prepare for that.

For the final leg of the journey, I took an Air New Zealand flight on a small propeller plan. The weather was great when I arrived – sunny and around 20 degree Celsius.

I only recently began exploring the world—just six months ago, I took my first trip outside of Europe. That journey took me to Hong Kong and Vietnam, making me excited to do more traveling in the future.

Not long after I got back, my friend Peter mentioned that he was planning to spend a few months traveling around New Zealand. It had always been at the top of my bucket list, so I figured it was the perfect chance to join for a couple of weeks. Peter and I have known each other since high school—more than two decades now—so getting to explore the other side of the world together seemed to be a great idea.

When it came to planning, we kept things flexible. Since I was flying in from London, and this might be my only visit to New Zealand, we decided to split our time between both the North and South Islands. We will be driving around to be able to cover more and will be using campsites and Airbnb’s as our accommodation.

Join me as I embark on an exciting two-week adventure through the wilderness of New Zealand! My journey begins on March 2nd, and I’ll be sharing stories and experiences along the way – stay tuned for more!