New Zealand Part III - More South Island

The day after dropping off the camper we picked up our new wheels from the airport. We had booked the cheapest car available and were surprised to find a brand new car with just 29km on the clock - no pressure on keeping it in pristine condition then! It was very comfortable and would serve us well for the rest of our time in New Zealand. Our first stop was the town of Oamaru where we stayed in our first hostel for a month. Shared kitchen, bathrooms and bunkbeds were back! The town has a quirky steampunk museum, a street of old warehouses converted into independent shops (including a great adventure bookshop with a replica of Shackleton's boat the James Caird!), but the highlight of the town is the Little Blue Penguin colony. At sunset we sat on the edge of the shore and watched as 143 penguins came ashore after a days fishing and returned to their nests.

Little Blue Penguins

Heading further south we visited the Moeraki Boulders, which are an unusual series of perfectly hemispherical rocks strewn across the beach. For those Star Wars fans out there, one looked just like the Death Star had crashed into the sand. Later that day we arrived in the university town of Dunedin and spent the evening at rugby game. The local team, The Highlanders, were playing The Crusaders from nearby Christchurch. It was the closest thing to a local derby and it made for a great atmosphere. A large portion of the settlers that founded the modern town of Dunedin were from Scotland, hence the team name, and they are proud of their heritage. The team were led out onto the pitch by a full pipe band in tartan. Despite leading 27-6 the Highlanders managed to concede 3 tries in the last 15minutes and lose the match in the dying moments of the game. An exciting game to watch even for non-rugby fans! Whilst in the town we visited the very interesting Otago Settlers Museum charting the history of the town and providing an insight into the reasons that people gave up their lives in the UK and set off to the other side of the world. The museum included a fascinating exhibit on the 'Dunedin Study', a 40 year longitudinal study into health and development, following the same 1000 children from birth in the early 1970's to present.

The Moeraki Boulders

Highlanders vs Crusaders

Before leaving home last August we had booked huts on one of the most popular Great Walks in New Zealand. The Milford Track, the most popular, had already sold out 8 months in advance, so we had booked the circular Kepler Track instead. This is a 63km route from Te Anau and includes a sample of most of the terrain to be found in Fiordland. The first day starts with a flat walk along the edge of Lake Te Anau before heading steeply uphill through the bush at Brod Bay. It was hard work in the heat with a heavy pack, but we were treated to amazing views across the lake once we'd cleared the tree line and reached the first hut. The following morning we awoke to find ourselves above the cloud that had settled over the lake during the night. Most of the walk that day was along the ridge line, including a small detour to the top of Mount Luxmore, again with incredible views all day.

Not a bad view to wake up to

Along the ridge from Luxmore towards Iris Burn

The final hour was a steep rocky descent through the bush to the second hut at Iris Burn. Here we were advised to hang our boots up from pegs rather than leaving them outside for the night as the local cheeky Kea (mountain parrots) had a habit of stealing boots and pecking holes in them. The third day was an easy 4hr walk through the beech forest to the edge of Lake Manapouri at the Motorau Hut. Here we were treated to an incredible sunset and had fun talking to the other hikers. The final day was a 16km walk along the flat through the beech forests back to where we started. We finished about lunch time and headed back into Te Anau for another tasty pie from the same shop as on our last visit a month before. 

Kea

 Sunset over Lake Manapouri

We finished the trek just in time, as we woke up the next morning and the beautiful sunshine had given way to greyness and showers. We packed up all of our stuff and headed off along the 'Southern Scenic Route'. We stopped at several coves and beaches along the way (although never for too long given the weather) until we reached the town of Invercargill. The visitors centre gave us more than just useful local information as they had some resident Tuatauras which we visited. These pre-historic creatures look very lizard like but are actually closer relatives of dinosaurs. They live to over 100 years old! We only stayed one night here - giving us enough time to see the town's ornate water tower and the nearby small town of Bluff - before continuing east along the coast. 

We spent the next few days exploring the Catlins, the south east corner of the South Island, known for it's rugged natural beauty and wildlife. It is a little bit off the main tourist route meaning that it's a bit quieter, and there are far fewer paved roads (turning our lovely blue car a rather dusty sandy colour). Staying on a farm during sheep shearing season meant we were woken up at 7am by loud music when a car full of local young people showed up to work their way through the fields of sheep. The highlights of these few days were visiting the most southerly point of mainland New Zealand (closer to the south pole than the equator) and seeing a pod of dolphins playing in the shallows of the shore at Porpoise bay. 

Nugget Point Lighthouse in the Catlins

Leaving the Catlins we spent a night in Milton - there's nothing really to see in the town, but it was a convenient stop over. The owner of the hostel was an eccentric guy whose first question on our arrival was what our Chinese zodiac sign was and he spent part of the evening trying to teach us to juggle. We then crossed Otago and spent a couple of days staying in Alexandra from where we cycled a section of the Otago Central Rail Trail. This cuts through some stunning scenery and partly due to the old railway equipment had the feel of the Wild West gold rush areas. As a disused railway there aren't any steep hills, but in order to cross the one big hill it does go uphill continuously for 20km. This made for a very easy and speedy return to town after lunch at the half way point.

At the start of the Otago Central Rail Trail

Our friend Jake had flown out to New Zealand for a 3 week holiday and we met up with him for a few days in and around Queenstown. Our first day clashed with a huge Harley Davidson rally in the town. Whilst it was fun to wander along the rows of parked bikes it did mean accommodation in the town was hard to come by and we stayed in nearby Arrowtown again for one night. We did a hike up the imaginatively named 'Big Hill' overlooking Arrowtown, which involved crossing a stream several times by taking off our boots and wading through. Jake took this opportunity to go for a 'swim' in the freezing cold water that turned into a 5 second dip before trying to warm himself up again. In Queenstown itself we took the gondola cable car to the top of the mountain above the town and spent an afternoon on the luge. This involves riding a sledge crossed with a go-kart down a paved race track down a short section of the mountain as fast as possible. Fiona decided not to get involved with the closely fought duels between Ben and Jake. We also queued for an hour to try the famous Fergburger. It is a very tasty burger and maybe ten years ago when launched it was pretty special, but when gourmet burger joints are now commonplace it doesn't have the same wow-factor we expected. We left Jake to explore Fiordland on his own (we'd meet up with him again on the North Island) and made our way once again through Haast Pass and up the west coast.

Mmmm... burger

We drove the 800km from Queenstown to Blenheim in two long days driving. Having already driven up the west coast once we were keen just to get the driving done and begin exploring the last part of the South Island. We stayed a few days in Blenheim in the Malborough wine region enjoying some of the best wines New Zealand has to offer and visiting the brilliant Omaka Heritage Aviation Centre. This contains a large collection of WWI and WWII fighter planes displayed in exciting dioramas created by Weta Workshops (more on them when we get to Wellington). A significant number of the planes belong to director Peter Jackson of Lord Of The Rings fame. The museum included a fascinating exhibit on the war in Russia in WWII, something which is often only briefly mentioned in a British history education.

German WWI fighter plane

Finally we headed to Picton to catch our ferry through the Queen Charlotte Sounds and across the Cook Strait to the North Island.

Ferry through the Queen Charlotte Sounds

New Zealand Part II - The Campervan

Our campervan was a 6 berth model based on a VW sprinter van chassis from the appropriately named hire company Britz. We had the bed above the cab while Sally and Ian had the bed at the back of the van. The spare 2 berths meant that we didn't need to turn the dining area into a bed every night and back to a table again for breakfast. It would have been a cosy fit for 6 adults and we were glad of the extra space. Ian drove the first leg out of Christchurch and across the Canterbury plains to the south. The plains were very dry and all the vegetation was much browner that we had expected. Huge sprinklers were in place in every field to ensure the crops got enough water and the grass was green enough for all the sheep. It turns out that the Southern Alps running along the spine of the South Island cause huge amounts of rain to fall on the west coast leaving the east coast in a rain shadow. Droughts and wildfires are not uncommon.

Ready for our road trip!

That afternoon Ben drove us past the stunningly blue Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki to arrive at our first campsite in Mount Cook National Park. The site was over 50km from the nearest town and we were surrounded by views of the Southern Alps and of course Mount Cook itself. We stayed for 3 nights doing hikes up countless steep steps to Sealy Tarns and along Hooker Valley past several glaciers. Over the course of our 3 weeks in the campervan we would mostly stay at campsites in scenic locations run by the Department of Conservation (aka the DOC). We were very impressed by the facilities (often basic, but clean and functional) at each site and the locations themselves. The DOC manages all of the National Parks in the country including the tracks and visitor centres in each. The tracks were always very well marked and we found plenty of interesting information on boards at the start of each major walk. The visitor centre in Mount Cook National Park was particularly interesting with exhibits on local flora and fauna, Maori history, a history of climbing in the region, glaciology, geology and mountain rescue.

Lake Tekapo with Mt Cook

Sealy Tarns and Hooker Glacier

After a great start to our outdoor adventures in New Zealand, we eagerly headed further south through Queenstown and Glenorchy to the start of the Routeburn Track. Queenstown is the famed adrenalin sports capital of New Zealand, and although we did spend time their later, we just drove through on this occasion. The Routeburn Track is one of nine 'Great Walks' in New Zealand, which means it is particularly popular and advance bookings are required to stay in one of the huts along the way. It is 32km long and crosses the Southern Alps via the Harris Saddle. It is normally hiked in 2 or 3 days taking in all the scenery along the way, although it can be done in an ambitious one day hike for the fit and healthy. As keen we were to give this a go, to drive between the two ends is a 300km journey, meaning we'd be a long way from our van at the end of the day. Instead we hiked in from the Routeburn falls end up to the highest point at the Harris Saddle and back down the way we came. The lower slopes are covered in amazing native forest consisting of beech trees, ferns and more moss than we had ever seen. Everything was green and covered in moss. Once above the tree line it started to rain and then hail, but we carried on enjoying the challenge and views, safe in the knowledge we had a cosy dry campervan to go back to at the end of the day. Had it been a small 2 person tent, I'm not sure we would have been so enthusiastic!

Sally & Ian at the start of the walk

On the way back from the top. (Orange dots are people)

One of the highlights of the South Island was our trip to Doubtful Sound. Despite the name 'sound' it is actually a Fjord (a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea created by glacial erosion) and originally charted by Captain Cook as 'Doubtful Harbour' as he was doubtful he could navigate back out under sail if he were to sail the Endeavour into it. In Maori its name is Patea - 'The sound of silence'. Regardless of its name it is very remote and getting to it requires some effort. After a 1hr boat trip across Lake Manapouri followed by a 20km drive over Wilmot Pass we made it to the edge of the sound to embark on our 3hr cruise. Incidentally, Wilmot Pass is famed as being the most expensive road in New Zealand, having been built solely for the reason of getting construction equipment in to build the hydroelectric power station on the west arm of Lake Manapouri. Words and photos don't really do justice to the magnificence of Doubtful Sound. It is a huge expanse of water trapped between steep cliffs rising hundreds of metres above the water. The rainy, overcast day on which we experienced the sound only added to the atmosphere and created countless temporary waterfalls on the cliffs. 

Spectacular Doubtful Sound

The next couple of days were spent eating a tasty venison pie in Te Anau, driving along the scenic Milford Road and a day hike up to Key Summit and Earland Falls - at the other end of the Routeburn Track to the walk we had previously done. We continued along the road, stopping at various points of interest along the way, finally arriving in Milford Sound itself in the late afternoon. All the day trippers from Queenstown and Te Anau were leaving, and the only accommodation was a small campsite so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves for the evening. The following morning we took a cruise out on Milford Sound under clear blue skies. Famously Milford Sound is one of the wettest places in New Zealand receiving over 7000mm of rain a year (more than 10 times that of London). It was great to be able to see it under such fair conditions and provided a different experience to Doubtful Sound. The highlight was to see a large pod of dolphins swimming towards and then right underneath our boat.

The view from Key Summit

Milford Sound

After a brief stop in the picturesque Arrowtown where we learnt a bit about the New Zealand's 19th century gold rush, we headed for the west coast. We drove via the Haast Pass which was only opened in 1965 to provide a link from the west coast to the south. It is a long, twisty road through lush beech forest and along steep mountain sides. A very small car park for a waterfall along the road provided an interesting parking challenge for a large camper van. Careful manoeuvring with the other 3 passengers outside watching each corner was required resulting in more time being spent parking and un-parking than actually looking at the waterfall. Once on the coast we visited the dunes, dune lakes and swamps of Ship Creek before spending the night next to the beautiful Lake Paringa. There was so much driftwood washed up on the beaches that it formed natural abstract sculptures along the high tide mark.

The west coast is famous for its rain and unfortunately it arrived just as we reach Franz Josef Glacier. The glacier has retreated rapidly in recent years resulting in difficulty getting to the face of it as it is so unstable. On the day we were there the visibility was pretty poor and we could only just make it out through the rain and mist. We spent the rest of the day sheltering in the camper playing scrabble (Fiona claims her victory was her first ever) and sitting in the hot pools opposite our campsite. 

The beach at Ship Creek

Further up the coast we visited the blue waters of Hokitika Gorge, walked through the bush along the shores of Lake Kaniere (Sally went for an early morning swim!) and saw the unusual pancake rock formations at Punakaiki Rocks. The countryside was lush and green due to so much rain and full of dairy farms. As we left the coast we headed along the powerful Buller River marvelling at the gorge along the way before stopping for the night at Lyell. This is the location of an old gold mine and walking through the forest we found the cemetery of the first inhabitants and remains of a huge rock crushing machine. A long distance mountain bike track called the Old Ghost Road starts here, but unfortunately we didn't have time for it on this trip. We also made friends with a South Island Robin who was very inquisitive hopping right up to us on the path and even trying to peck at our shoes to determine if they were edible.

Ripples in Lake Kaniere

Punakaiki Rocks

Next we headed to the beach town of Marahau on the north coast of the island. The tidal range here is huge and the sea is hundreds of metres away from the shore at low-tide. As the tide turns you can watch the water continuously crawling along the beach as it comes in. We spent a day walking along part of the Abel Tasman Great Walk in the national park of the same name. We caught a water taxi 15km along the coast and then spent the day walking back, exploring streams and beaches along the way. The water taxi itself was particularly exciting as we all got on board the boat at the taxi office whilst it was still on the back of it's trailer. A tractor then towed us to the waterfront and reversed us into the sea.

Ben with the tractor

Golden sands of Te Pukata beach

Whilst in the area we explored a different part of the coastline in a Maori waka (canoe). It was a great way to see the national park from the sea and to learn a bit more about Maori culture and history from our charismatic guide. 

Fiona with our waka

Ross (who we had stayed with in Christchurch) invited us to stay with him at his holiday home in Ruby Bay, which is very close to Abel Tasman National Park. The house is in a stunning location on a hilltop looking out over the bay towards Nelson with a beautiful garden. Ross treated us to a tour of the local area including vineyards, the trendy village of Mapua, the old fishing port of Motueka and the 'Resurgence'. Here a river just appears out of the ground in a deep pool and Sally once again went for a swim in the freezing water. Saying our goodbyes to Ross we headed south from Ruby Bay to return to Christchurch where our campervan adventure ended.

We had a great time on our 'South Island highlights tour' with Sally and Ian - and it was a real treat having the campervan with handy cups of tea at a moments notice whenever we stopped somewhere. It had also felt particularly luxurious to have not had to unpack and repack our bags for a whole 3 weeks (luckily everything still fitted in)! However, all good things must come to an end, and a smaller vehicle was calling us to explore the South Island further and fill in the gaps.