Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Campervan: The Sequel
Day 1: Christchurch - Pareora
Collecting our 'Jucy' campervan in Christchurch was a much easier and far more pleasant experience than collecting our previous campervan had been. Equipped with enough headroom to stand up and a fridge, microwave and a heated towel rail we felt we were fully set…this is flashpacking.
We took to the road heading south to Pareora, just outside Timaru where Rachel's parents (a friend of Jenny's) were waiting to greet us with a fantastic BBQ and a readily flowing supply of beer, wine and tea and we spent a lovely evening chatting away. Thanks again Cossies, you really couldn't have been kinder!
Day 2: Pareora - The Otago Peninsula
Following a BBQ breakfast of bacon and eggs (thanks Ray!) we set off towards Dunedin and the Otago Penisula, taking a detour to Lake Tekapo as suggest by Barbara and Ray the previous evening.
Lake Tekapo is a truly stunning spot and we took the opportunity to park up and brew a nice cup of tea as I went a bit crazy with the camera. A lunch stop at the neighbouring (and equally stunning) Lake Pukaki followed shortly after and we successfully cooked our first meal - fish finger sandwiches.
A longish drive saw us arrive on the Otago Peninsula early evening and we immediately set off in search of penguins and seals. At the second (and furthest) beach we slid down the steep sand dunes and walked along the long beach. While beautiful there was little wildlife in sight. As we approached the end of the beach we were discussing whether to climb the steep dunes to the penguin hide when a DOC guide approached and told us that there were penguins up there…if we were quick. Trying to climb a steep sand dune quickly whilst trying to make as little noise as possible is no easy task but we were rewarded with a fantastic view of a rare yellow eyed penguin as it climbed the cliff to its nest.
Walking back along the beach we came across a couple of seals lazing on the sand and also caught a glimpse of another penguin as it waddled its way up the dunes. The luck was obviously with us by then as we saw a couple of others on the far cliffs as we made our way back up the beach.
To be able to see both the penguins and the seals in the wild was just amazing (and we have the million and one photos to prove it!)
Day 3: Otago Peninsula - Te Anau
The morning was spent in the lovely city of Dunedin which has a really nice feel about it. We stopped and took pictures of the impressive railway station - supposedly the most photographed building in NZ.
Then we were on the road again to get to Te Anau, gateway to Milford Sound, arriving early evening.
Day 4: Te Anau - Milford Sound - Queenstown
A crack of dawn start (the time David used to get up for work but he is well out of practice at doing that) saw us making the 2 hour drive to Milford Sound to get on the early boat cruise in an attempt to avoid some of the crowds that flock there. The drive itself was incredibly picturesque, especially with the morning mist lingering over the mountains.
Milford Sound itself is just stunning with mountains rising impressively out of the turquoise blue water. Formed by five glaciers over many years the top 40m of water consists of fresh water from rainfall (it gets 7m a year!) Luckily we had a beautiful clear day and the scenes as the boat drifted along were just awesome. We were also lucky enough to spot seals and dolphins. It is by far my favourite spot on our trip so far and I don't think I can adequately express how beautiful it is so I'll stop there and let the pictures do the talking.
On the way back to Te Anau we stopped off at the many view points along the road, taking in mountains, valleys, lakes and waterfalls. Just beautiful.
A quick snooze in the van to catch up on the early morning (the joys of a campervan!) and we headed to Queenstown, adventure capital of NZ.
Day 5: Queenstown - Wanaka
In Queenstown you can partake of every single adventure type activity you could dream of. We steered away from the fear inducing bungy and skydive and settled instead on the world famous Shotover Jet. This is a flat bottomed boat which operates in just 10cm of water, pushing out 600 litres of water per second to give it its speed and steering. The driver sped us through Shotover Canyon, seemingly only narrowly avoiding the steep side rock all around and throwing in the occasional high speed 360 degree turn to make sure we all got wet. It was great fun and there was some fantastic scenery to boot.
For a more sedate time of it we took the cable car to the top of the mountains surrounding Queenstown for some awe inspiring views of the town and Lake Wakatipu and the surrounding mountains.
Having not had quite enough adventure for one day we also did the luge which is a cart which you steer yourself down a winding and sloping track. One of us wasn't quite brave enough to do the fast track though.
A shortish drive over some more mountains saw us arrive in Wanaka for the night.
Day 6: Wanaka
The day dawned with bright blue skies and warm sunshine - something I don't usually get to experience much of on my birthday! It was also perfect weather for our next adventure activity: paragliding.
We headed out towards the surrounding mountains and the local ski area, Treble Cone, where we were met by our paragliding companions for the steep drive up the mountainside. Getting out of the van and looking down over the beautiful views below us was when the nerves started to set in. Our 'pilots' took us through the basics and then it was time.
It's a strange sensation running off the side of a mountain but when the paraglide takes the weight the nerves are all forgotten and you feel like you're floating effortlessly through the sky.
Landing didn't sound quite so easy as the ground rushed up before us and the pilot said, extend your legs and get ready to run, but it passed without hitch for me and we made a textbook landing. In true form, David's landing wasn't quite so elegant and he and the pilot ended up in a tangled heap on the floor (unharmed I might add).
An absolutely awesome experience and certainly a birthday I won't forget in a hurry so thanks to everybody for the birthday donations, this is where it went!
After the exertions of the morning a relaxing afternoon was called for and we headed to the shores of Lake Wanaka for some sunbathing - again something I don't usually get to do much of at the end of January.
In the evening we had a fantastic meal which made us remember that it can be a real treat to eat out when you're not trying to do it cheaply! Delicious food in a great setting.
Day 7: Wanaka - Fox & Franz Josef Glaciers - Lake Matheson
With a long drive ahead of us we set off early to get to the west coast. The Haast Pass was a lovely drive, though with all the twists and turns we now understood why our map said it would take 3.5 hrs to drive just over 100km.
Arriving at the bottom of the Fox Glacier we were able to walk up to 80m from where it stops. It was a truly awesome sight and slightly strange (for me at least) to see glaciers when you think that they've formed a large part of the country over millions of years.
We were planning to do a helicopter flight over the glaciers the following day so started to have a look around when we learnt that there was a flight we could do that evening. A fair amount of faffing around later (and some driving in between places) we had a right result when we ended up with a 30 min flight when we had only planned on the 20 min one.
Flying over the glaciers we could see that the surface of the snow was covered in a fine layer of brown dust which the pilot told us had come over the Tasman Sea from Australia a couple of months before. We also could see the temperate rainforest right beside the glaciers (the only place where the two occur side by side in the world) and the beautiful red flowers which only happens once every four years or so.
It was amazing to see the full extent of the glaciers from above and even more so when we landed on the top of Fox Glacier, when we'd been standing at the bottom just a few hours before. At the top the glacier is 300m thick and the surrounding whiteness of the snow is incredibly impressive (the snow and ice looked magnificent, we were not sure why everyone at home moaned about it so much!). Thanks Mandy for a fantastic Christmas present.
Heading back to Lake Matheson we walked around the lake and got impressive reflections on Mount Cook and Mount Tasman in the beautiful clear waters. Many many pictures later we parked up in the car park for the night.
Day 8: Lake Matheson - Westport
After all the excitement of the previous day it was time to get some serious kilometres under our belts. The drive was pretty spectacular up the west coast (rated by LP in the top ten in the world of coastal drives) providing interesting stopping off points to see some pretty good rock formations (Pancake Rocks and Blow Holes) and further up the coast a seal colony at Westport.
Westport was where we parked up for the night at the end of what had been, in comparison to what had gone before, a pretty unremarkable day.
Day 9: Westport - Abel Tasman
We set off from Westport to head up to Abel Tasman National Park. After sorting out a berth for the night we caught the water taxi 13km up the coast to Anchorage Point for the coastal walk back to the campervan.
We were expecting the taxi ride to be short and dry but it was neither. Before we boarded we were warned that the sea conditions would make the journey rough and wet, both of which it was. At times our voyage was more hair raising than the jet boat a few days before. Fifteen minutes later and with sore arms from holding on so tightly we arrived in the beautiful Anchorage Point.
It was great to be walking again after spending much of the previous couple of days in the campervan (and to feel justly tired at the end of the day!)
Despite the best intentions of having a budget conscious pasta dinner, as we arrived back in civilisation at the end of the walk we noticed a fabulous looking restaurant overlooking the sea. We decided there and then on eating out and were treated to a fine meal consisting of New Zealand scallops and mussels. The pasta could wait until tomorrow night!
Day 10: Abel Tasman - Blenheim
After our eventful water taxi ride we decided against the sea kayaking and instead spent a relaxing morning on the beach…retreating to the grassy edge as the tide came in.
We then set off east towards Blenheim and the Marlborough wine region.
It was a pretty coastal drive and we also hit the Queen Charlotte Track between Nelson and Picton from where we got great views of the Marlborough Sounds., though the windy windy nature of the roads got a little tiresome at times and we were relieved to arrive at Blenheim and our campsite for the night (though David was happily asleep for a large proportion of it!)
Day 11: Marlborough Wine Tour by Bike
We had been told that a good way to tour the wineries in the Marlborough wine region was by bike so we duly picked up our bikes and trundled off.
We were lucky with the weather and it was a nice way to see the surrounding countryside and take in some tastings without worrying about driving. We also discovered that my cycling improves markedly after a glass of wine or several, though to be fair it's a very low base from which to start.
8 wineries and a brewery later we decided we'd had enough to drink so wobbled merrily back to our campervan.
With aching limbs and having fallen off the bike twice I have now decided to retire from the cycling world…somehow I don't think it will be a great loss.
Day 21: Blenheim - Christchurch
With a longish drive down the coast ahead of us we started in great fashion by stopping at a local chocolate factory which we couldn't quite cycle the distance to yesterday. Nice enough but the tastings were a bit nut heavy for David's liking.
Stopping in the wildlife centre of Kaikoura we parked up in the whale watching centre car park to have our lunch and were rewarded with dolphins performing acrobatics for us not far from the shoreline.
Further on we smelt a fur seal colony before we saw them (David was not to blame for the smell in our van this time) and pulling off the road were able to see young pups playing in the water pools.
Arriving in a campsite close to the airport for our flight the next day we settled in for our last night in the campervan.
Summary of Campervan: The Sequel
And so ends our South Island adventure, We've been incredibly lucky with the weather and had some beautiful bright and warm days in which to enjoy the spectacular scenery on offer. I think its fair to say that we'll be back here again some day…the Tranzalpine railway and numerous walks that we didn't have time to do are calling…
Next stop is the North Island and Wellington, though only briefly, before we continue onto Taupo to meet up with David's Mum & Dad…
.
- comments
Cozzie Have I mentioned before how JEALOUS i am of your kiwi adventure! And you saw yellow eyed penguins, I am sooo envious! Glad you've got good intentions to return - I'll do it with you next time!
Louise Don't forget me....
MIB More penguin action - marvellous