Living in a van down by the river

We have been loving New Zealand and can't believe it's almost time to go home.  We have been living in a van for the past month. A regular minivan, probably the size of your family's car! Renting a camper van is a popular way to see New Zealand as it provides a lot of flexibility and an easy way to see the famous scenery. It allows us to be more independent and get out into the countryside. It has two benches that turn into a bed at night. Underneath the benches is some storage space for our clothes, back packs, cooking supplies, and food. In the trunk area we have a tiny sink, cooler box, and gas burner. It's wonderful to have our bags unpacked and feel like we have a home. We bought some bins and trays to make the most of the small storage space. Mom would be extremely proud.

We've packed a lot in this month.  We got to New Zealand's South Island late on Valentine's Day and met up with a friend who lives there for a day.  Our first few days in the van we drove through some small, cute gold mining towns that still look like they did in the 1860s. The drive across the island was full of expansive valley and mountain views with almost no houses in between the scattered small towns.

Then we went across the island to meet up with two of my college friends, Alex and Matt, who came to visit us and then do their own vacation in NZ.  We did one of New Zealand's most famous treks together: the four day Milford Track which is on the west coast and ends at the Milford Sound.  We carried our clothes, food, cooking utensils, and sleeping bags.  Each night we stayed in a hut that had a kitchen area with gas burners and bunk rooms.  We hiked through rainforest and along rivers and lakes through the valley floor. Our third day of hiking provided our best views down into two huge valleys. It usually rains all the time but we got very lucky and had clear views into the distance. During the hike we also saw several birds including the national bird, the kiwi.

After doing the Milford Track we kept quite busy. Here's some quick highlights of the rest of our time:

• Hiking above Lake Hawea -- After the Milford Track we headed north along the west coast of the South Island. The landscape was absolutely stunning. We stopped for the night at Lake Hawea, which isn't even mentioned in our guidebook, but which was gorgeous. We did a sweaty, steep hike above the treeline to see great views of the turquoise lake and jagged mountains.
• Glacier hiking -- Franz Josef Glacier is one of New Zealand's largest. We wore special "claws" on our boots called crampons to walk on the ice, grabbed an ice axe, and followed our guide up onto the glacier. The glacier was beautiful, with shades of bright blue in the white. It was a very adventurous, fun day, as we scrambled up the ice, squeezed through tight cuts in the ice, and crawled through tunnels. 
• Marlborough Sounds -- We then headed to the northern end of the South Island, where we took it easy for a few days. The Sounds consists of hundreds of islands, coves, and bays. We found a quiet area of beach on the ocean to camp at before heading to the North Island.
• Wellington and the North Island -- After 3 weeks in the South Island, arriving by 3-hour ferry to the North Island was a shock. It was crazy for us to see traffic and lots of houses again!  Wellington, the capital, is a big, modern city. But we still enjoyed it, visiting its National Museum and having a nice dinner.
• Tongariro Alpine Crossing -- I didn't think the scenery on the North Island was as spectacular as on the South Island but we still saw some pretty spots.  We stopped to do the Tongariro Crossing, the country's top 1-day hike which goes along the lava flow near 2 volcanoes. Unfortunately, we had really, really strong winds and major thick clouds-- pretty scary as we walked along the ridge of a crater to an active volcano!  (For Lord of the Rings fans, we were at the base of the volcano used as Mount Doom.)
• Skydiving! -- We did this at Taupo and I still can't believe I had the courage!  I was proud of myself afterwards.  And I actually had a lot of fun.
• Rotorua -- This city is in an area where water gets heated from underground because it used to be a volcano.  We spent our time relaxing in hot springs and taking part in a hangi, a traditional Maori (New Zealand natives) feast.
• Waitomo Caving -- Our last adventure of the trip. This was a lot of fun. We went 85 feet down on a rope into a huge cavern and then spent a couple hours caving -- squeezing through tight areas and crawling through small holes and tubing on the underground river. At the end we rock climbed 60 feet back to the surface.

The past 6 months have flown by. New Zealand was an awesome way to end our trip. Our Jucy Campa(van) has truly felt like home to us, and we're sad to drop it off. We're now spending our last day in Auckland. At 4:30AM tomorrow our 35 hour journey back to Boston begins!