This video highlights some of our North and South Island trip for the third time, just before Covid-19 shuts down all global travels. From Auckland, we drove down to New Plymouth and hiked the Mangorei Track below Taranaki. Then we drove down to Windy Welly where we did some MTB around Pencarrow Head. From Wellington, we flew directly to Queenstown. We did many outdoor activities like hiking to Lake Alta, up Ben Lomond Peak, hiked the Routeburn Trail, and visited Glenorchy. We also took a long drive to Milford Sound and took in the views and waterfalls. From here, we drove to Haas and Franz Josef Glacier along the West Coast. We also hiked up the Franz Josef Glacier for a closer inspection of the retreating ice. We continued our journey to Hokitika, through Arthur's Pass and finally back to Christchurch.

This is a must do hike when in Queenstown, the adventure capital of the world. The hike takes one through forests, open grassland, and lastly through open rocky terrain. The last section is without any shade and very exposed to the elements. From the top one has a 360 view of the Southern Alps, all of Queenstown, the Remarkables, and all the way across the water to Glenorchy. Beware of the thieving Kea (local parrot) who may decide to make off with your belongings!

This is our second trip to New Zealand, where we visited the South Island for the first time. We flew into Christchurch and drove to Lake Tekapo. We stayed at the Pepper's Blue Water Resort. From here we went to the Mount Aoraki National Park and hiked up past the Sealy Tarns to Mueller Hut. We then drove on past Lake Pukaki to Wanaka and eventually to Queenstown. There were tons of people at Queenstown celebrating the new years, so to avoid the crowds we drove to Te Anau. Here we had the opportunity to take a helicopter ride over Fiordland National Park. On our way back we drove to Dunedin, stayed to see Tunnels and the surrounding area of Otago. We finally drove up the east coast back to Christchurch.

This flight took us from Te Anau through Fiordland to Dusky Sound and back. Along the way we made two stops - one on Mount Pender overlooking Long Island in Dusky Sound, and the other on Mount Kitt overlooking an alpine lake. The weather was touch and go with some rainy spots but that was to be expected in Fiordland. It was amazing to see the alpine peaks and the incredible blues of the sounds.

First trip visiting New Zealand. We travelled around the North Island and took in the sights while hiking several of the major trails in the area. This included hikes in the Coromandel Peninsula, Honua Mountain Range and Ruapehu. We also visited many of the cinder cones around Auckland as many are parks within the CBD. Once bitten, we had to come back to visit the South Island thereafter.