On the 18th September, James and I moved from Wanaka back to the Kapiti Coast. We were sad to be leaving but excited to see our family again. On our way down to Wanaka we drove on the East Coast of the South Island, so this time we decided to do the West Coast. My dad flew down to help us drive the Campervan up. The West Coast is like a rainforest, moist, damp, cloudy and rainy. Its filled with rivers, waterfalls, lush forests and glaciers. Quite the opposite from the East Coast which is sunny, with mountains and beaches.

With dad in the campervan and James and I in our car, we started our drive over the Haast Past and stopped off at some rivers and the thunder creek falls. The falls were really beautiful, and had a rainbow reflected at the bottom.

The next stop on our journey was Franz Joseph Glacier. When we arrived it was raining and getting late, so we weren’t sure about going for the walk. But just as we were about to leave, the rain subsided and so we quickly did the walk. You can’t get very close to the Glacier which is a shame but it still looks pretty incredible.

That was the last of our first days adventures, after about 8 hours of driving we stopped for the night at a carpark just out of Greytown. The next morning we woke up early and hit the road once again. Our first stop was at the Knights Table lookout, a formation of rocks which were quite cool.

On we headed to the Pancake Rocks. We went on a short walk through Nikau Palm trees until we reached the beautifully layered rocks. The waves were massive on the day we went due to stormy weather, so the blowhole was in full force. The Pancake Rocks never fail to amaze me and I would definitely recommend visiting them on your way through.

On our second night we stayed at a gorgeous beach 15 minutes north of Blenheim, called Rarangi. We got there just in time to see a beautiful pale pink sunset across the ocean. The beach was filled with magical rocks and hidden coves.

During the night the tall pine trees above our campervan were whooshing all night, which made it hard to sleep. As morning came, I was quite tired. Dad and I decided to go for a walk to Whites Bay, so we set off from our campsite up a steep hill. It took us about 2 hours to complete and it had stunning views.

On the walk, I spotted three beautiful fantails, my favourite bird. They are so talkative and friendly.

After the walk, we drove to Picton and boarded the ferry home. It was a good trip up, with lots to see, but quite a lot of driving.