Looking back, moving forward

So after you have returned to the real world, unpacked, sorted the pile of dirty laundry and waded through the many photos of your travels (ok, so technically I'm still doing this, but 3000 photos are a lot to get through!), what comes next? Why, planning the next trip of course! My adventures in New Zealand were very much a 'highlights' tour, and there are many places I'd like to go back to, plus visit a few places we missed - and that's just on the South Island! So, here is what I'll be looking to do on my next trip to New Zealand, along with a few tips and recommendations for places to go and things to do...

Marlborough Sounds - like many visitors to the South Island, our experience of the Marlborough Sounds was limited to the ferry ride into Picton and travelling along the Queen Charlotte's Drive. But the glimpses of hidden inlets, golden beaches and lush, forested hills has put it firmly in my top 10 of places to go and explore properly. Our of season, the Queen Charlotte track is open for mountain biking - and with the lack of crowds that flock to Abel Tasman, what are you waiting for?
Nelson Lakes National Park - definitely one of the remoter parts of the South Island - head here for some solitude and a good old tramp!
Golden Bay - a place to relax, take life easy and escape from the world for a few days
Arthur's Pass - the TranzAlpine train journey is supposed to be one of the most spectacular in the world, but sadly we didn't have time to fit it in. Though if the weather was good, I'd also want to take in the views from the summit of Avalanche Peak
The mountains - ok, that's a bit generic, but I'm a mountain girl at heart and boy, did we drive through a lot of mountains... The beautiful drive through Mt Aspiring national park, and our all-too-brief time round Mt Cook reminded me of alpine adventures and the magnificent views you get from mountain summits - I was down in the valleys but longed to be on top of the mountains.

And places not to return to?  Well, we didn't feel our heartstrings tugging when we left behind the grey gloom of Bluff and Invercargil...but perhaps we were just there on a bad day.

Don't miss!

In no particular order, my top 10 Trip highlights:

1. Swimming with dolphins in the Catlins
2. Trekking the Routeburn - great track, fantastic views
3. Floating through pitch-black caves with thousands of glow worms overhead with Underworld adventures
4. Golden Bay - the wild expanse of Wharaiki beach with its nursery pool of baby fur seals, followed by the tranquility of Shambhala and the nearby, lively Mussel Inn
5. Sunrise over Milford Sound
6. Sea kayaking round Abel Tasman National Park
7. Swimming in Scorcher Bay followed by great coffee and lunch at Scorch-O-Rama
8. The West Coast - desolate, beautiful beaches, weird rocks and tongues of ice- trapped between the mountains and the sea, this is one place I would definitely like to explore more
9. Mt Cook National Park and Lake Tekapo - beautiful moutains, stargazing and hot pools - what more could you want?
10. Wine tasting in Marlborough country

Golden Bay

If you take the SH60 north from Motueka, you drive steeply up a twisty road over Takaka Hill and down to Golden Bay. Although it's only a few hours drive from Abel Tasman, Golden Bay feels somewhat more remote. The backpacker tour buses only go as far as Abel Tasman, so you need your own wheels to explore further north.

When researching where to visit in New Zealand, I had originally missed Golden Bay off the itinerary. Then I came across a photo of Wharariki Beach - beautiful, windswept white sands with pounding waves - and Golden Bay was firmly on the list.

The trouble with driving in New Zealand, is that you want to stop all the time to admire the incredible scenery. We made it over Takaka Hill with only about four photo stops and popped into Payne's Ford so I could drool over some beautiful limestone sport routes and play at bouldering in sandals - somewhere to return to with climbing gear in tow.

Next stop was the Grove Scenic reserve, which felt straight out of a Tolkein book, with weird limestone formations and ancient, lichen and fern covered trees. After a bit of an explore, we drove to the Rawhiti cave. Actually getting to the cave involved a gentle walk by a dried up riverbed and a steep pull up to the cave entrance. Supposedly an hours walk - but we made it in 30 out-of-breath minutes. As you wheeze up the final stages of the track you suddenly spy the yawning mouth of the cave itself - a mouth full of teeth...

The stalactites here have developed through a combination of calcite deposit and plant growth, leading to the phytokarst phenomenon, where the stalactites 'grow' towards the sun. There are some nice warning signs suggesting you don't linger too long at the cave mouth, and the presence of thousands of daggers of rock above you does lend a rather ominous air.

We then headed further north, way up to the base of Farewell Spit, where 6km of dirt track landed us a short walk from Wharariki Beach. We donned flip flops and headed for the sea. The golden sands and calm blue seas of Abel Tasman were beautiful, but I loved this wild, untamed beach of endless sand and crashing waves. Sadly we only had a few hours, but you could spend days exploring it.

But we weren't the only inhabitants of the beach. New Zealand fur seals also use it as a playground and we were fortunate enough to see a group of baby seals playing in a rock pool. Tiny compared to the grey seals you get in the UK, they were playful and curious and very happy to be photographed. Eventually an adult came along to supervise the nursery, and the tide started coming in. Rather faster than anticipated as it turned out, and my camera bag nearly joined the seals in playtime.

After breathing in our fill of sea air, we headed back to the car and drove to our accommodation for the night - a beautiful eco-hostel with gardens leading down to a long stretch of private beach.  It was the sort of place we could have quite happily stayed a week, but sadly we were moving on the next day.  After a good meal and some proper ale at the Mussel Inn, we were lulled to sleep by the gentle sound of the sea.