Where Was I?

 

I would spend about 3.5 incredible weeks in New Zealand.

Because I went to so many places and did so many different things, I decided to split this into two blogs; one for the South Island and one for the North Island.  

Some of my geography challenged readers (especially from the U.S.) might not have realized that New Zealand even had a north and a south island, but I can attest that it did and they were both magnificent.   

Let’s get into it. 

I flew from Sydney to Christchurch and met the group I’d be traveling with for the next three weeks around New Zealand.    

After traveling solo for the previous three months, I was ready for another group tour.

Luckily for me this turned out to be quite the group. 

A mix of mostly Aussies, Europeans, and Canadians, which left me as the lone American for much of my time in New Zealand. 

 

The Best Thing I Saw in New Zealand (South Island)

Fox Glacier

 

Choosing ‘The Best Thing I Saw’ in New Zealand was one of the tougher choices to make because there were so many unbelievable sights I took in on the South Island, but none were more memorable than my experience on Fox Glacier.  

It’s a good thing it was because this was also the most expensive excursion I would do for the entire year of travel, but it ended up being worth every penny.  

I had never flown in a helicopter before, so the chance to go on a heli-hike on the glacier was too good to pass up.    

 

This was the only method of transportation to hike the glacier, so after some safety lessons from the crew, a few of us packed into the helicopter and away we went.  

We had to wear special boots with crampons attached, another first for me, which made it nearly impossible to slip once hiking on the glacier.    

 

It may be difficult to get the right depth perception from the picture, but it was a little intimidating staring up at the glacier from where the helicopter dropped our group off.   

We did have a great guide who had years of experience on Fox Glacier.     There were a few rules he made sure to have us follow, the most important one being don’t miss the return helicopter back down to the ground.  Or else you would be sleeping on the glacier.  

With our jackets on, boots locked in, and walking poles in hand, we were ready to hike.

 

We were up on the glacier for a couple of hours and it was a hell of an experience to hike on the ice.   Some of it was challenging, but nothing over the top for a novice hiker.

 

Some of the ice caves were really interesting and made for some great pictures.   

 

 

My sugar was 83 before I set off for the glacier, so I made sure to load up on Skittles just before takeoff to avoid a low. I also put extra Skittles and glucose tablets in my jacket because I wasn’t allowed to carry my usual bag with me.   I wouldn’t need them, but I wouldn’t have felt comfortable hiking around the glacier without my sugar supply.  

After a few hours of hiking, we helicoptered back down to ground level to close out the day. 

 

I’d recommend this to anyone traveling to New Zealand. 

 

Other Highlights

Milford Sound

 

The group took a day trip from Queenstown to Milford Sound, which remains one of most popular destinations in New Zealand.  

A beautiful fjord with breathtaking views, we went out on a pretty large boat for the afternoon and had lunch while staring out at the rock formations and waterfalls from the water. 

 

 

On the drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound, we made a few stops for some unreal scenary, including this one at Mirror Lake. 

 

 

The ride back to Queenstown wasn’t so bad either, as we stopped at a place called Devil’s Staircase and had these views. 

 

 

 

Queenstown 

 

Queenstown, labeled the ‘Adventure Capital of the World,’ certainly lived up to its reputation and was one of my favorite cities to visit on the year of travel.

This was my second trip to Queenstown as I visited this popular city in the south of New Zealand ten years prior when I was living in Australia.  

Anything from skydiving and bungee jumping to jet boating and something called bubble soccer, we could find it in Queenstown. 

I had already done a bungee jump here in Queenstown back in 2009, and that’s a once in a lifetime activity so I wasn’t doing that again. 

To be young again… And this was before I even had Type 1 diabetes.  

I was planning to do a skydive on this trip to Queenstown, but due to weather I would have to save that for the North Island.

For all of the high adrenaline things to do there, I actually found a lot of peace walking Lake Wakatipu and the Queenstown Gardens, where there were some great views. 

  

It was also fun to ride the gondola up the mountain, which claimed to be the steepest gondola ride in the Southern Hemisphere.  

There were more great views from the top, along with a restaurant and a luge ride, which was a fun way to spend an afternoon.  

 

It was also important to not miss out on the famed Fergburger, a place that always had a long line.  As a respected food critic, I’d say these were very good burgers, but also tasted better around 2AM after a night out.  

 

On one of the days we spent in Queenstown, I booked another Airbnb Experience and went on a winery tour where we biked through the vineyards.  

The weather was perfect, the views were amazing, and the wine was flowing.  

The only mistake I made was planning this the day after we went on a 13km bike tour of Arrowtown and I was a little sore after that much biking.  

 

The best part about doing these group tours was the transportation and lodging was provided, but once in a city like Queenstown, everyone was free to pick and choose what they wanted to do.  

And there were some dinners and nights out planned, like this one that began at the Ice Bar. 

 

Mt. Cook 

 

The first day of the tour we went to see Mt. Cook.  

This was one of the first “cold” days I had experienced of the entire trip.  

I planned to be in warm climates for nearly the entire year, but I do remember the first few days in New Zealand needing a jacket and long pants and it was still cool.  

 

On the way to Mt. Cook, we stopped at Lake Pukaki for some great photo ops. 

 

 

 

Lake Matheson

 

We had a long bus ride from Fox Glacier back up to Christchurch, but it was broken up with some nice views of Lake Matheson around sunrise.  

 

We also made a few stops to say hello to the livestock.

 

Walking and Fishing in Kaikoura 

 

We spent a day in the coastal town of Kaikoura, where there was a great walk with more amazing views.  

 

 

 

 

We also tasted this delicious crayfish, something the town was known for. 

 

Before leaving the next morning for Nelson, I decided to book a fishing charter out on the sea.  

I would’t classify myself as an avid fisherman, but I did want to get some fishing in at some point in New Zealand.

I did some research and then set this up on my own outside of the group I was traveling with. 

I ended up going out on the water with a charter for about two hours and caught heaps of fish, mostly consisting of perch, cod, crayfish, and barracuda. 

 

  

 

The best part was after we finished on the water, I was allowed to take some of the fish we caught with me and I was able to bring it to a local Chinese restaurant where they cooked it and served it to me for lunch.  

 

Abel Tasman National Park

 

On the final day on the South Island, I was able to visit Abel Tasman National Park, a real wonder of this region.  

There were a few options we could choose regarding what to do while visiting this national park, but I and one other guy from the group went for the 14km hike. 

The trail we ventured off on had a few challenging sections, a few nice lookouts, some beaches to lounge, and a nice campground area to eat lunch.  The whole hike took about four hours to complete and it was one of the better ones I did during my travels . 

 

 

After visiting the park, we spent that night in Nelson, which would be the last night on the South Island.  

The next day, there was a winery stop in Marlborough, home to some of New Zealand’s finest wines, where we did some wine tastings. 

Then it was off to the ferry for Wellington and the North Island.  

 

The Sugars

Highest high: 269

Lowest low: 73

Avg Morning: 143

Avg Afternoon: 126

Avg Night: 156

Insulin Pods: 5

Avg Basal Rate: 1.10

Emergency sugar supply: Skittles, glucose tablets, energy drinks, M&Ms

  

 

One of the biggest differences when traveling on one of these group tours compared with being on my own, as I was the previous six weeks in Australia, was that we were constantly moving from hotel/lodge to hotel/lodge.  

I had already experienced this kind of travel when I went through Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam, so I knew what to expect, but there was still adjustments to be made. 

I’d need to store my insulin in my Frio bags for any long bus rides and then had to ensure there was a refrigerator either in the room or on the site once we arrived in a new location.  

We switched roommates at each stop and at one of the locations one of my roommates saw my insulin vials in our refrigerator and was so confused he thought they were some form of alcoholic shooters.  That was a good laugh. 

Luckily, I was in the room when he made the comment about the vials and I could talk him out of trying to drink these (which wouldn’t really be possible anyway based on their design).   I explained that I needed these to survive and they probably wouldn’t taste great.  

 

I mentioned a few precautions I took when on the heli-hike at Fox Glacier, where I needed to store some sugar in my jacket because it wasn’t possible to bring a bag with me.  Even when completely prepared and when I took all the proper precautions, there was always a bit of anxiety doing something new like this.

As a Type 1 diabetic, we always try and prepare for every situation, but it’s impossible to predict everything that could happen. 

My sugar was 83 about 20 minutes before going up in the helicopter, so I pounded a juice, ate an apple, and then packed my jacket with candy. 

The uncertainty was mostly about not knowing how strenuous this hike would be on a glacier and how the elevation, temperature, and physical activity would affect my sugar levels. 

A low would obviously be dangerous in this kind of situation, but I also didn’t want to go too high because then my body would be weak and I may struggle to get around the glacier.    

Anytime I did something like this, I’d always aim to be a little higher than normal, but again, I never wanted to go too high.  So, the juice and apple was a good pre heli-hike snack to put my sugar in a good range for the few hours I’d be up there.  

Along with the sugar, I also stored my PDM in my jacket, and tested my sugar once up on the glacier and then again when the hike finished and we were back on the ground. 

My sugar was 143 on the glacier, but I waited until the hike was over before correcting to make sure I’d avoid a low. 

For me, anything below 200 and I wouldn’t feel too lethargic trying to do physical activity, so although 143 was higher than my target range, I could finish the hike comfortably and then correct when it was over. 

 

The day after the hike, my pod actually malfunctioned on the long bus ride from Fox Glacier to Christchurch, so I had to grab my emergency pod out of my diabetic bag and do a pod change on the bus.  That wasn’t ideal, but after 10 years of changing pods I could probably do it blindfolded, so I made do.  It did cause my sugar to be a bit higher that day as I spent most of that bus ride in the 200’s. 

 

The hike in Abel Tasman National Park was the other long distance hike I’d need to make preparations for.  I packed a few Gatorades in my bag and drank one of them periodically throughout the hike. I managed my sugars pretty well for the duration of the four hour hike, but on the ride back to Nelson I did suffer a low and had to go into my sugar supply.   I must have over corrected because my sugar went up to 269 before eating a big rib dinner later that night.   

Overall, my sugar levels weren’t too bad considering all the activity I was doing over this 11 day stretch.

After a week and a half on the South Island, we were ready to head to Wellington to begin the next few weeks on New Zealand’s North Island.   

 

Keep the sugar levels steady. 

Jeremy

 

 

 

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