Welcome to the penultimate chapter from our New Zealand adventure! I hope you have enjoyed it this far. I appreciate you stopping by, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
The plan after our last night in the campervan was to wake up whenever we felt like it, meander around the campground, and relax. For the first time since arriving in New Zealand, we had no place to be, no schedule to keep. When I went to bed that night, I was looking forward to waking up of my own accord, relaxing, and heading on our way whenever we felt like it. No hustle, no bustle, just a chill morning by the lake.
To my own surprise, I found myself incredibly restless as soon as I woke up. I didn’t sleep very well, probably due to the steep angle of the hill I parked the campervan on. That and the strong winds that felt like they were going to tip the van over and send it sliding downhill with every gust. Jenny and I tried to alleviate this restlessness by going for a morning walk by the shoreline.
Yes, it was very peaceful, but I was still feeling restless. We returned to the campervan after the walk, where Jenny and I took care of our morning hygiene. I tried reading my book, but was only able to knock out a chapter before I gave up trying to relax. We packed up our stuff, fired up the van, and left the campsite before most of the other campers had stirred.
We drove into Kingston to get coffee and muffins at an Airstream-turned-food truck. Jenny and I ate our breakfast then climbed back into the campervan to continue on our way.
Our next stop, our last stop on the South Island, was Queenstown. Hailed as the “adventure capital of New Zealand,” Queenstown reminded me of a cross between a ski town in Colorado or Montana crossed with what I think a frontier town in the waning days of the American Wild West was like. There were tons of shops selling outdoor and adventure gear, along with tourist traps, restaurants, and parks, while still maintaining a small town feel.
We still had several hours to kill before we could even check into the hotel we reserved for our last night in New Zealand, so we took advantage of a public holiday offering free parking in the public lots. Leaving the campervan in a centrally located parking lot, we hoofed it to a bird sanctuary.
Jenny was on the hunt for a kiwi the entire time we were in New Zealand. Kiwis, the flightless bird and not the colloquial term for a New Zealander, are nocturnal, evasive, and tiny. As such, we had no luck finding one in the wild, but we were fortunate enough to find some while we were at the bird sanctuary. Due to their nocturnal nature, the kiwi exhibit was kept quite dark, with just enough light to see the elusive birds rustling about in their glass-lined artificial habitats. We were unable to take photos in the exhibit, but Jenny did get a photo of me standing next to a sign that showed how big the Moa was. The Moa was the tallest bird ever, and is an extinct cousin of the kiwi, which you can see represented all the way to the left in the below photo.
We wandered around the rest of the exhibits in the bird sanctuary, taking in alpine parrots, birds of prey, more Weka, and a bunch of warnings about how everything is going extinct. Having had our fill of bird-zoo, Jenny and I were now hungry.
Jenny had picked out a famous burger joint to grab lunch at, a place called Fergburger. I guess it was famous because when we got there, there was a huge line of tourists, and definitely nowhere to sit and eat. Jenny and I stood in line, which moved surprisingly quickly for how long the line was, and took our burgers to go. Jenny ordered a “Classic Fergburger” and I ordered a “Sweet Bambi,” a burger made with venison and topped with wild berry marmalade and toasted brie. Both burgers were very good, I can see why Fergburger is apparently famous.
Since we took our burgers to go, Jenny and I walked over to the Queenstown gardens to eat our late lunch. It was a bit chillier in the gardens, due to the stiff wind blowing off the nearby lake Wakatipu, forcing us to walk a bit further in search of shelter to enjoy our burgers. Lunch eaten, we walked around the gardens, taking in the statues and the scenery, killing the last bit of time before it was time to check into our hotel.
Jenny and I checked into our hotel, dropped our bags off, then promptly drove the campervan over to the drop off location. We were pleasantly surprised to find that the drop off location, a parking lot near the Queenstown Airport, was walking distance from our hotel. If worst came to worst, we could walk to the airport in the morning. Back at the hotel, it was time to take the first hot shower since setting foot on the South Island almost a week ago.
Refreshed, I unpacked my bags and laid all of my equipment out, then reorganized it and repacked it for the next morning. Jenny had planned one more adventure for the evening, and we caught an Uber after we had both cleaned up a little bit.
While we were riding to our next adventure, the grey clouds that had been looming overhead since we woke up finally let go of the rain they were carrying. A gentle rain fell as we arrived at Onsen, our relaxation destination for the evening.
Onsen Hot Pools is a Kiwi twist on Japanese-style, wooden barrel hot tubs. Jenny and I had a reservation for a private Onsen, which came with a little snack and a glass of wine. After ten days of fast-paced adventuring, relaxing in hot water was a much needed, earned finisher to our time on the South Island. The outdoor hot tub was covered by a sunshade, blocking the rain from hitting us while we relaxed. We sat in the Onsen and chit chatted, drank our wine, ate our ice cream, and drank in the scenery as the gentle rain continued to fall.
When our time was up, Jenny and I dried off, then made our way to the front desk. We purchased a couple souvenirs, then left to find a light dinner. The rain had picked up and the Sun had set since we left the sanctity of the hot tub. We walked through the rain to the Irish Pub next door, ordered some light dinner, and waited for our ride back to the hotel. We arrived back at the hotel, relaxed, full, and exhausted. Still smelling faintly of chlorine, Jenny and I went to bed and promptly fell asleep. We had flights to catch the next day, but still had one last adventure waiting for us back on the North Island.
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