It was time to head to the south island so we headed down via Lake Taupo to Napier. Lake Taupo was huge, like an ocean in the middle of the country! The scenery between Taupo and Napier was unbelievable – so pretty with rolling hills, mountains, valleys, forests and green sights everywhere. We ended up staying outside of Napier at the beach at a place called Clifton. Great views again watching the sun set over the sea.
We both felt a bit sick on the journey away from Clifton Beach – the roads were particularly twisty on the way down, but the scenery was great. I texted Grant to let him know we were passing and he was in – he'd come home early from his vacation and offered us a bed – so we took it! We hung around We hung around Wellington centre for a while, had Nando's, walked the streets a bit. We then met and followed Grant and Helen back to their house in the 'burbs and met the 3 kids as they came home from school. It was nice to catch up, we walked on the beach in a howling gale with the dogs, fed the kids, Jenni read some stories (totally teacher time!) and we caught up over a couple of drinks.
Next day we were able to do some laundry, internet and went to the Te Papa museum, which was a free entry basis. We saw a colossal squid, whale bones, a 3d movie on the squid, some natural history and other exhibits. There were a lot of hands on exhibits that would be great for kids and the fact it was free was great for us! Back for more teatime terrors with the kids at Grant's and time for late night monopoly. At 1:45 am Jenni eventually won the game and was very excited to do so. Helen was a worthy opponent, never quitting!
South Island
The late night coupled with an early morning rise for the 8:25 am ferry meant we didn't say goodbye in person, but we did make the ferry in time and slept our way across. The sailing was excellent, I chose a great morning for it, smooth and gentle. The views of Marlborough Sounds were amazing, coupled with the still water. After reaching the other side, we headed to Blenheim and shopping, then a little further past a pink lake (salt works) and out to the coast to Marfells Beach. It was a DOC site, so we backed out to the ocean with more great views.
We were up early and headed to Christchurch, stopping off the cuff at a picnic area. I pulled in and said that I thought I had seen a seal, as it turned out there were about 100. We got close to one little fellow without disturbing him and snapped a load of others. It was quite a result as further down the road there were barriers and signs saying to stay 20 metres away from them! We tried whale watching at Kaikoura but yet again didn't see any – we'll keep trying down the coast... We then twisted and turned to Christchurch and both felt quite sick! But the wind must have changed direction and it got rather warm! We stopped in the town, visited the i-site for information, saw the cathedral, trams, punting along the river and used the library for internet before heading south to Beckenham for Nando's lunch. Again using free internet we booked ourselves into a swish serviced apartment for the night – not too pricey – and very close to town.
Being so close we dressed ourselves up in our gladrags (well, Jenni did anyhow) and we headed out for curry at the two fat indians restaurant. The food was delicious and we wandered back through the streets, past the hookers and the fairly empty bars in the nice warm weather to our place. I liked the feel of Christchurch, possibly more than any other NZ city.
The next day we took a walk along the river, saw baby ducks and generally soaked up the hot weather. We sat by the cathedral, squirted some aftershave in the department store and wandered the markets before going back to the all you can eat buffet restaurant for lunch by the river. The selection was huge and we filled ourselves up on yummy stuff culminating in chocolate pudding and custard! After that we went to Jucy to sort out the campervan. Turns out that after a lot of whingeing by Jenni that we could go back tomorrow and pick up a double upgrade! Means we'll have our own shower and toilet inside, yey! So we headed back to Christchurch and stayed at the top 10 camp site. It was another glorious afternoon that we spent relaxing on the grass and a bit of running about before going to the cinema to watch New Moon. Much better than the first film, but I guess that was a punt in the dark for the makers... This one was much better funded!
Someone had stolen our great quiet spot in the campsite so we flashed our headlights at their tent and went to another quiet spot! Trouble was, it got windy and cold! How quickly the weather can change around here... Next morning was drizzly and horrible and cold and wet for when we had to sort out the van for exchange. It wasn't nice. Getting the new van was nice though... They didn't even bother to check the old one, Jenni had scared them that much the day before... We just switched our stuff and headed off. Jenni was like a pit bull tearing at them for the bed collapsing, the chip in the windscreen, falling through and ending up in hospital, so we let them off lightly just taking a double upgrade to a Jucy Chaser.
The new van was bigger and newer and had a loo and shower. Only downside to that is emptying them! I'm sure we'll survive. After picking up the van we headed southwards and stopped in Timaru for the afternoon and evening overlooking the ocean again. Still no whales. But being able to cook inside was ace! A free overnight stay worked well before heading to Dunedin.
Along the way on our 2 hour trip, that in the end took about 6 hours, we stopped at potential penguin colonies, seal colonies (we saw seals but no penguins), we learnt that our car had been practically written off at home which was a bit of a shock. At the end of the day it's just a car, it can be replaced, but we are proud that it's safety features prevented something much worse from happening. I suspect we'll get another one when we get home... After all that, Dunedin was a very nice place. So Scottish it reminded me of Inverness! The weather got hot again, and then cold in the same day. I guess the wind plays a major part here, being so close to the Antarctic. In fact, one of the road signs today pointed to the South Pole – I didn't see how far it was though, along the SH1!
We did our usual shopping and found our way to the camp site, to plug in for power and figure out how to empty the toilet! Jenni did scavenge a 15 cents off per litre voucher for petrol from the floor – where's the shame? It saved us $7!
Otago Peninsula
We drove along a beautiful bayside road, no barriers so had to take it easy, that wound it's way round the bay of Dunedin. Not sure that's it's real name, but I'll roll with it! After a bit of twisting, turning and climbing great hills, we reached target number 1 – Larnach Castle, so named after it's creator. It was more like a nice old house, a stately home perhaps, than a castle. But all the same it was very nice to read about it's history and take in the great views and gardens. We wandered around the castle and grounds for a couple of hours and then stopped at our camp site for that night.
At the very end of the peninsula was an albatross colony and lighthouse etc. So we aimed for there, not knowing if we'd want to pay $40 for an up close encounter with albatross... But without paying we went to the cliffs and looked out. Lo and behold we saw an albatross flying about our heads – he had an incredible wingspan and glided so easily in the very gusty winds. We snapped him and headed off to find some more animals...
We'd heard about a spot where penguins, seals and sea lions may have been so we wound our way there. The penguin place – official place – charged $40 each. The beach was free! We headed to the beach and stopped at the top of the cliffs. We didn't fancy the hike down the sand dunes at first but, after some deliberation, we went for it. Getting down the sand dunes was easy... At the bottom we ventured to the edge of the beach and found one penguin and baby up in the rocks (never expected to see it there!) and another one climbing a sand dune. They were rare yellow eyed penguins. Also on the beach were a few packs of sea lions – very big and very unafraid of humans! It was pretty cold so we headed back up the sand dunes which was pretty tough work, but we felt better for our exertions.
Apart from some stupid frenchies turning off our TV in the kitchen when Corrie was on, the evening was uneventful.
We had a nice trip along the scenic south coast route to Invercargill, where it rained. We looked daft in our shorts and sunnies, but it was scorching when we left and cold and chucking it down when we got there... Ah well, we found our way to a camp site just out of town, but on the way to Te Anau. It seemed like a big farm, and it was confirmed when Jenni got to feed a lamb, just after we arrived. It sucked really hard on the bottle and was cute running around in circles! Next came the cat, big fat and black and very fussy. He was cute... We bought fresh farm eggs and they were massive, really yellow and miles nicer than stinkin' supermarket eggs. The weather was very blustery and horrid overnight and the wind didn't change much on the first section to Te Anau, but it soon brightened up and we had a lovely drive to Milford Sound.
The scenery was breathtaking all the way along the 120 kilometre stretch of road. One way in and one way out though, so it was kind of frustrating. Snowy mountains, we got to see mirror lakes (but it was too windy to be mirrored properly). We got up close and personal with snow near Homer tunnel (traffic lights are on 15 minute intervals!) where it was a bit of a ride going down the dark tunnel. The chasm was a spectacular viewing point, water gushing through the “chasm”.
At the end of the road, Milford sound itself was a nice bay, nothing special – we didn't go on another cruise, but had a little walk about. It was too windy to get the picture postcard views.
We drove back out part way to the cascades camp site – we actually paid our fees so we won't get blacklisted just yet at DOC campsites (if the DOC lady hadn't come around we probably wouldn't have though!! heh heh). Beautiful site, awesome views of a crystal clear stream and glorious sunshine. Shame about the infinite number of mozzies. Ugh, Jenni got bitten 18 times inside our van so she was pretty tasty! It was kinda cold but that was OK, I wore my hat to bed!
Jenni wanted to check on her ebay bid, so we bee-lined to Te Anau to check the internet – she had won the bolero she wanted, so paid for it and on we trucked to Queenstown. It was windy and horrible all the way there, the camp site seemed unfriendly and lacked class. Cramped all the vans in together and charged extra for showers. Not very good at all. It's not like they are short of water here!! We had Nando's again – a super large portion as I was hungry for the first time in ages – and skulked back to our camp site to relax. We heard the longest bit of thunder that felt a bit like an earthquake to be honest – followed by a siren – a tad worrying of course! But just the local volunteer fire fighters.
Our power went on and off all night, hasn't done it since or before so we complained and got 10% off... We found Queenstown to be too touristy with everyone there a tourist or working in tourism. The park really crammed in the visitors, it rained and so we decided to head off.
Just a short trip over the Cardrona mountains lies Wanaka. Close in Geography but miles apart in terms of pace of life. The valleys, winding roads and high mountains gave way to a picture postcard serting. The large lake that is the basis for the town gently rippled in as the winds subsided, the lakefront was very prominent and the houses and shops set well back across the road allowed easy access to walk along the front. The shops were quaint and we found some great stuff in one such local shop called “kaleidoscope”.
We opted to stay at a slightly pricier holiday park as they had a spa, great facilities and offered free DVD rental. We watched quite a few DVDs, of course people disturbed us by washing dishes, talking etc, but when it was our turn to talk during someone else's DVD the psycho lady kept turning the volume up and up and up until it was so loud. She could have asked us to be quiet!
The views were amazing, snow capped mountains all around, with the picturesque lake in the foreground. We were lucky and had cloudless skies.
I had the opportunity to watch Man United but spurned the chance of getting up at 4am to watch them! But at least the facilities allowed it!
We tried our hand at mini golf but it didn't work out so well, tried to have a nice dinner overlooking the lake and finally try lamb shank in New Zealand – it was terrible so I sent it back. Got some free wine for our troubles. We hired an aquabike and pedalled out to the lake for 20 minutes, it was quite enjoyable but hard work and Jenni was scared she might fall in! The water was only shallow though and clear enough to see the bottom!
Wanaka was one of our favourite places so far, everywhere you look the views are stunning and it is the most beautiful place.
As we had started our journey north, we opted for the west coast route back via the glaciers. Our original target destination was Haast, but it turned out to be a small village en route. It was treated as a lunch stop and a changeover opportunity for the driving. We've done pretty well on that score – although usually Jenni drives first and sleeps after lunch but this time she was under the weather and after lunch felt well enough to drive to Fox Glacier.
The scenery was again pretty breathtaking. The snow capped mountains we could see from Wanaka, we were now in, and we wound our way along the lake until we found a crystal clear river. We snaked our way along the river, weaving back and forth across small one lane bridges (I have lost count of the number of those bridges in NZ) stopping to see a couple of waterfalls, to dip a toe in the freezing, glacial water and to marvel at the clarity of the water. Jenni was bitten another 3 times on our short pit stops, she's definitely tasty to these west coast sand flies / mozzies...
The small main road of Fox Glacier made up the majority of the village, but the main attraction is the glacier – a slow moving ice formation created many thousands of years ago. We had a nice chat in the restaurant with some kiwis and had a nice lamb shank and beef pie tea.
Not knowing what to expect, we headed for the glacier and took a walk to the glacier. It seems that the glacier is constantly moving forwards yet melting backwards at a faster rate. The terminal face was a bit of a walk away, over lots of gravel, unstable ground and little rivers. The face itself was a little like the meteor in Armageddon, spiky and rough looking, not like an iceberg or a Fox's Glacier mint! It was a good walk, but not worth doing twice at Franz Joseph glacier as well. We stopped there for lunch but that was it. A nice indian meal, but a shame the restaurant was out of the way.
More scenery along the way, up and down the hills and along the coast, it was nice to see it. We made it to Hokitika where it rained. A lot. It was a grotty place, not helped by the rain, but we rented a couple of DVDs and settled in to watch them and it continued to rain all night. A little better weather didn't help the town much the next day and we headed off over Arthur's Pass and stopped a little way over at Jacksons retreat, a way out place with walks and so on. We had a little drive, watched a DVD and took in the scenery. We took a walk up to the gorgeous waterfall the next morning which was a lot of fun.
More fun than telling the owner I had got the van stuck in the mud at the top of the property. We had to be rescued again, but this time there were no elephants or lions to scare us! We got out, headed over to Christchurch. We thought we could catch up with some free internet and maybe go for a buffet dinner again. We did our internet time again and stopped at Countdown for some groceries, the drunk guy in the car next to where I parked made some smart comment about the van as we walked off. We were suspicious, so we kept an eye on him as we got into the supermarket – after we were out of view he got out of his car and looked like he tried our door, cheeky bugger. So we just ran back, got in the car and his little kid was giving us the finger. Utter chav, pikey bastards. The kid didn't even flip the right finger – stupid chav, pikeys!
Anyway, we got groceries from a local grocery store and headed off.
We went for the buffet lunch, filled up nicely and then next stop, after a bit of driving out of the city, was Hanmer Springs – another hot pools place. We stayed in a nice place outside of the village after renting DVDs and getting snacks. Lovely, but full of sandflies again.
Hanmer Springs was back across the country again towards the west side of the island, via Lewis Pass and we continued along that way to Murchison. That was a little pikey looking place, but we stayed in a nice rural place and fed lambs, sheep, emus, deer and ducks and chickens. There were also pigs, geese and horses and cows but we didn't feed them! We enjoyed the interaction with the animals. But again, major sandflies – becoming annoying, almost as much so as the aussie flies. Oh and another thing, why is it so hard to put on a a pair of shoes. No wonder their feet hurt walking across gravel! Put shoes on Australasian people!!!
From Murchison we drove a bit through nice countryside northwards and got to Nelson. The weather was raining for Africa (reference the dude) so we did the following:
Rented Lost seasons 4 & 5.
Ordered 3 Hawaiian Pizzas from Domino's (cost $5.90 each)
Watched Lost – lots. 31 episodes in 36 hours. Jenni got grumpy on the first night as she was tired. But even on the second day, which was beautiful and sunny, we still watched Lost. We “lost” 2 days! A good job I asked the guy at the holiday park how long it took to get to the ferry as it was about 2 hours, we made good progress to Picton and were able to stop there for lunch.
