It’s been a while since I’ve posted something on the blog. The reason is simple and hopefully understandable. I had to write a quite extensive article about a trip to New Zealand for Slovenian magazine Avantura, which is published at the end of April. But here I am…

Goodbye and thanks for the lack of snow!

After a disappointing start of winter, I decided that what is enough is enough. I’ve booked a flight to Kiwiland and left in the second half of January. It turned out as a good call since there was no real snow in Slovenia for all winter. The main goal of a journey was (unsurprisingly) to do as much beautiful Kiwicanyons as possible. I will write more posts about New Zealand canyons in the nearby future.

Morning on the sunny side of Alps.

Singapore

First stop on the way to New Zealand was 16 hours layover at Singapore. I must say I was quite positively surprised by the city. It is amazing how the city developed from the land which was supposed to die, because it lacked of resources, to one of the fastest growing cities in the world. Singapore is really a trendsetting city for the 21st century. But I must confess, this big cities are really not my thing. If you want to know more about Singapore I suggest you read my post at our company blog.

Singapore skyline
Chinatown in Singapore

Christchurch

A day after landing in Singapore it was time to enter New Zealand. I had landed in Christchurch, the city that is population-wise quite similar to our capital. But covers bigger area, since there is no big blocks of flats. People seemed relaxed and friendly. They didn’t rush around like they would be robots and they took time to enjoy their life. That’s the way I would want it…

Early morning at the New Brighton beach.
Christchurch Putting in the park
Elder men enjoy saturday in the park.

On the way to Arthur’s Pass

After spending half a day in Christchurch because my baggage was being delayed, we hit the road and traveled towards Arthur’s Pass. Amazing scenery with beautiful mountains opened. Andrej who was driving the car was probably annoyed by my constant wishes to stop the car so I can take the photos of the breath taking scenery.

The rocks of Castle Hill. About 5 meters high bunch of rocks, quite popular with climbers.
Entering the canyonland.
The longest bridge in New Zealand. Makes wierd turns, but Koryn says: “That’s Kiwi straight bro”.

Rainy day on the west coast

After doing the first canyon in Arthur’s pass region the weather prognosis was far from ideal. There will be fair amount of rain so the best option was to do day or two of sightseeing. West coast here we come!

The biggest New Zealand export is milk and diary product. It doesn’t surprise me, there is cattle or grass fields everywhere where the land is flat.
The roads… That’s a different story. This is highway – just to clarify.
Spending time by the Lake Brunner.
YOLO! Well, we managed to wrap the rope around the branch. Sorry guys! Wasn’t on perpous.

Discovering the old mines

Primož, who was most of the time my companion is big exporer. On the map we discovered that there are some old, disused mines somewhere by the coast. We were curious and we went to see them. That was one nice detour that occupied us for couple of hours.

On the gravel road towards the mines.
Some mining buildings by a Ten Mile Creek.
If New Zealand has a lot of something it is water.

Perls of the West coast

After the non-sightseeing sightseeing the weather got his shit together. And then the classic West Coast sightseeing tour started.

One of many bolder groups by the coast.
Ponakaiki pancake rocks.
New Zealand famous Fern.
Evening on the beach. But it was quite cold evening, I must say…
New Zealands Nile River
Karangarua River with a Fettes peak in the background.
Glacier that reaches down to 200m above sea level.
End of the day on the west coast.

So that’s a quick peek at our sightseeing at the west coast. I was quite interesting journey and shouldn’t be left out if you visit the country.