Day Forty Two Travel Day

30 degree heat changed early evening to quite chilly and the wind came up again. Both couldn't sleep as the van was rocking in the wind and we were talking about earthquakes, being caught under the trees, etc so got a bit spooked. 

Morning was cold, very cold - 8 degrees.  Packed up the van and went the long windy journey back to Christchurch. Picked up a very beat up black Toyota Yaris - as yet, unnamed - which I drove, following Howard. I've never driven an automatic car before so was a bit bamboozled with drive, park etc. 

It turns out there was an earthquake at 3am last night so it wasn't the wind that rocked the van after all. Thank goodness I didn't know that at the time. 

Said bye to 'the beast', loaded all our stuff in the small Yaris and then started heading north to catch the ferry to the north island tomorrow. All going well - planned to stop half way - about 180 km up the coast at a place called Kaikoura which is famous for whales, dolphins, seals etc. Got about 60 km away from Kaikoura and got stopped at a road block by police. A fatal accident had blocked Highway 1 and would be closed for about 6 hours (the second time in five days this has happened to us)  we'd have to do a detour. 

This took us over more frikkin mountain roads and added about an hour and a half to our journey. Arrived in Kaikoura and by this time it was about 6.30 and we started looking for a bed for the night. Everywhere was full. Eventually found a motel with two bedrooms. Paid the dosh, found a chipper and bedded down for the night. Not a satisfying day! Up early tomorrow as we're still 2 hours away from the ferry. 

Going to use the 100mb wifi we get to find a place to stay tomorrow. North Island here we come. 

Day Forty One Chillax at Akaroa (meant to be)

So, parked 'the beast' in the village and had a nice walk up to the lighthouse, through the graveyards (for early settlers, Catholic,  Anglicans and dissenters) and had a coffee break. The plan was to lie around the beach and then find a campsite round the crater!  I didn't realise I was sleeping last night in a frikkin volcano! Beautiful surroundings and a bit of retail therapy - but no swimming costumes to buy!

Drove for 11 km round scary roads to French Farm Bay! Not nice and the sand was mud so H decided we'd go across the mountains to the other side of the coast!  Pegasus Bay in the Pacific Ocan! Well, it was only 9 km across but a challenging drive for a car!!  

The poor beast was toiling and almost had a mishap with some crazy who couldn't cope with us going 20kph and overtook us on a bend!  Anyway, well worth the trip. Huge beach with almost no one about and a deserted campsite. 

Had a bit of a sunbathe and short swim (sea freezing)! 

Last nght dining in the 'beast' but here's a flavour of the evening

No internet so will be posting one day late! G'day! 

Day Forty Kurow to Akaroa

Travel day. Decided to do the bulk of the driving back to Christchurch today so that we could have a relaxing last day with 'the beast' tomorrow.  Wanted to go to the peninsula to the east of Christchurch which looks like a nice area. A French settlement originally. 

We tried to avoid most of the drive on State Highway 1 to make the journey a bit more interesting. Stopped off for a bite but otherwise just hammered on. The wind has died down so we weren't lurching about too much. Boiling hot, 32 degrees. The last third of e trip was back to the mountain roads. 7km of winding up then back down, two or three times. Anyway after about 5 hours travelling we came to the end do the road. 

We're camped at the bottom of this mountain!   

One photo taken today - both got van and camera fatigue! Dinner chez 'the beast' tonight but I did spot an Indian restaurant on the road back so am having hallucinations about curry tomorrow.  

Happy Saturday, folks! 

Day Thirty Nine Oamaru to Kurow

Spent the morning in Oamaru. Visited the Steampunk Crazy Museum. Lots of old junk welded together

Quirky geek fest place.   Weather very sunny and windy decided to do a short journey and head inland to the lakes. On the way stopped to see Maori rock drawings but they had been removed and only imminent rock fall left. Warnings everywhere telling you not to stand and look for them for too long.

Road extremely windy. Hard to keep 'the beast' travelling in a straight line. Came to a little place called Kurow. It had a small campsite with the Waikiki Creek running through it so we stopped. Old hat photo but gives you the idea. 

We're parked right next to a jetty, clear water, mountains in the distance, sun but lots of wind. 

Only mishap. I jumped into the water and my swimming costume got caught on a nail on the jetty.  I landed in the water and the cossie stayed on the jetty. Result - no backside in the costume!  Very funny. Luckily we're the only ones here! 

Cooking at home tonight - pasta and prawns. Quite remote so hopefully the stars will be out tonight (and the wind dies down!). Q'night possums! 

Day Thirty Eight Lake Tekapo to Oamaru via Fairlie

Headed south east aiming for the east coast. Saw online there was an alpaca farm en route so the alpaca hunt began. Past four little ones grazing in a field so stopped to say hi. They are so curious and seem to be tame. 

Unfortunately they wouldn't group together for me to take the best shot. But very cute!  Drove on to Fairlie and lo and behold there was an alpaca farm on the road. Stopped and chatted to the owners but they didn't offer to let us into the field. We could do 'alpaca petting and feeding' for 20 dollars a head but as we were the only ones there and didn't want to wait for the appointed hour that petting could begin, we left. I did buy a book and an alpaca hat though. (A hat made to look like an alpaca - thought it might be a good talking point for my stall!)  Howie not willing to model it!

Driving continued on long straight roads with sheep, cow and deer farms everywhere.  They seem to cram masses of animals into the one field. Howard (and the sat nav) took us off the main road and we took a detour over mountain roads. Weather wet and misty but we were able to see down into the steep gorges below. Scary!  Back onto main road south - very little dual carriageway - Route 1 - and very little signs of life. 

Came to our destination - Oamaru - and suddenly it's busy everywhere. Shops, motels, cafes, tourist attractions and two streets of Victorian buildings all being run as businesses, mostly by eccentric oldies.  Vintage clothes shops, bookshops etc with owners dressed in Victorian gear. Strange! 

Also a Steampunk Museum - art meets engineering- which we tried to get into but the owner told us to come back in the morning armed with camera and iPhones so we could film it all and put it on YouTube!  

No Wifi in the Campervan site but the reception told me to go to kids playground next to us to get a hotspot where reception is good. So hopefully I'm not treated as suspicious lurking around the playground trying to post the blog tonight. 

Four more nights in 'the beast' and we're officially backpackers. Tomorrow we need to sort out a car, accommodation etc for next two weeks! Eek, again! 

Day Thirty Seven Omerama to Mt Cook to Lake Tekapo

Journey to Mount Cook. 

Long straight road, weather sunny but very windy. 'The beast' gave us a bit of a fright when a gust of wind flung it over the road. Luckily nothing was coming in opposite direction and we're still here to tell the tale. 

Big mountains, big water, big valleys, big sky

Clouds never really lifted over Mt Cook so although we saw ice we never saw the summit! 

Did a few trails. One was a memorial to those who'd lost their lives on the mountain. 

Little plaques on the back saying who and where they'd died. 

Another trail round the Tasman glacier which said a 15 minute walk from the car park - yeah, if you were a mountain goat and could climb vertically! 

Back along the windy windy road and another 50 km heading east (again difficult keeping the van on the road) we reached Lake Tekapo. Howie's earned his beer tonight! 

Very busy campsite and most expensive so far AND you have to pay for shower, wifi etc. We're wondering if we've made the right decision. East coast and sunshine might come with commercialism and too many people in camper vans!!! (Also mozzies which are preferring Howie to me!) 

Going to east coast tomorrow via an alpaca farm, if we can find it. Cheers, a'body! 

Day Thirty Six Makarara to Omarama

Still heading for Mt Cook. Had a lovely lazy day. Left the rainforest and met the lakes. Stopped at Lake Wanaka. The photo will tell its own story. 

The sun was shining, the water was still (and cold) and no one seemed to want to swim in it apart from us!

Sat in the sun, had a 'brew', then a swim, followed by lunch!  Idyllic! 

The next part of the drive, about 100 km, was brown terrain. Brown mountains, brown valleys, brown everywhere - apart from blue sky. 

Stopped for the night in a little place called Omarama, about 80 km from Mt Cook!  Almost no steps done today and the feet are giving a sigh of relief. 

Short and sweet today! 

Day Thirty Five Fox Glacier to Makarora

So the sun shone today and this is what we'd been missing with the rain and clouds. 

Short blog tonight as we're becoming a bit blasé about the scenery. More mountains, snow, rainforest, glacier, waterfalls. We're heading for Mt Cook and although very close to it from Fox there's no road through so have to go round the glacier - 2 day's drive for us. 

Quite a long drive - from 11am till 5pm. The beast is not fast and a bit unstable on the roads so speed is not easy. However we ambled on stopping en route at any attraction we came to. Everything is amazingly signposted and tracks all well laid out. Stopped for first break a beach at Haast. 

Also stopped to look down on Seal colony where the seals were only really visible through camera lens. 

Then inland through Haast Pass, stopped to admire the waterfalls. 

and the blue rocks pools. Some crazies were jumping off the bridge but we resisted. 

Parked up in the middle of nowhere. A place called Makarora. Beautiful surroundings, very peaceful, hopefully no sand flies (they've been biting today every time we got out the van) and sunshine!

Night night folks. We're half way through our holiday. Eek!  

Day Thirty Four Franz Josef to Fox Glacier Township

So the rain dance worked! Pouring rain last night from about 5.30pm onwards. So heavy that the Happy Hour plan was abandoned! Stayed in and played cards! 

Dry morning and sun trying to come out. Clouds really low over the village and the glacier was visible briefly from our base. 

We wanted to go to see the next glacier, Fox glacier which is only a 30 minute drive south. Decided to use this as a kind of chill out day and not drive too far. After some domestic duties - emptying various storage tanks - we were on our way. Terrain still rainforest, up one mountain side and down the other with lots of scary hairpin bends for 'the beast' to cope with. Rain threatening and 14 degrees most of the way. Stopped for a walk round Lake Matheson, 6 km from the town. It's one of the top ten reflective lakes in the world. Used for chocolate box photos, according to tourist radio. Nice easy walk of about 4km. Unfortunately because of the wind and rain the water wasn't very still, so very little reflections and the low cloud meant Mt Cook and Mt Tasman weren't visible. However, photos taken in the opposite direction gave us the idea of what we were missing. 

Pit stop in the van then we drove on to the start of the walk up to the Fox glacier. Not such a long walk in this time but a steep climb at the end with signs all the way up saying 'No stopping'! 

Very impressive landscape. Big, big rocks (not the geological term) and fast water running down either side. 

First van in the photo on the right is 'the beast' - could be seen from the end of the valley! Also parked in the wrong place, where the buses should park!

Walk quite busy again. Took about 30 minutes to reach as far as you were allowed to go. 

Close ups of some of the ice. 

Hard to get an idea of the scale of it all especially as the mountain top is shrouded in cloud. 

Not much difference between last night's shot!  Rain held off all day, found a Campervan place in middle of town and settled in for the late afternoon and evening. The site has a laundry so will have clean clothes tomorrow. Woohoo! 

Now to find Happy Hour but maybe need to find a pub first! 12600 steps today!  Tired shins!

Good as, bro! 

Day Thirty Three Heading for Franz Josef Glacier

Heavy rain turned to continual drizzle which made it easier to sleep in 'the beast'. Not a long drive today as we'd gone further last night than we had originally planned.  Long flat roads with not many cars on them, just the odd single track bridge to keep Howard on his toes. 

Parked up the van in Franz Josef township. Very alpine feel about it and suddenly loads of people - not  unlike Aviemore. Howie excited that there were at least 4 pubs that had happy hours. 

Had a coffee and the biggest custard doughnut in the world to set us up for our walk to the glacier. We decided to walk from the town instead of driving up to the glacier car park. Had to cross the scary one way bridge which was worse on foot than driving. Very shaky! 

Lovely  lush rainforest and the sun was shining!  Woohoo! 

This walk was approx 4km and very quiet. The next part of the walk, after the car park, was mega busy. It was a short walk through rainforest and then all of a sudden the vegetation disappeared and the landscape turned into rocks, boulders and fast moving water. A landscape of grey! 

Lots of waterfalls which we tried to do something artistic with! 

The walk took about another hour to get to the glacier. You can't get right up to it because the glacier is unstable and has been melting fast since 2008. However, we got as far as we could. Worth the effort. Stunning seeing the jungle and ice so close together. 

On way home the rain started!  Message to self - buy a breathable waterproof - wet, hot and sweaty walk back. 21,600 steps today so back in walking mode. Fox Glacier tomorrow is the plan. Howie keen to do a helicopter ride over the glaciers, me less so. If the rain keeps up the helicopters don't fly! 

Me? Off to do a rain dance!  Howie? Off to look for Happy Hour!!

Day Thirty Two. Greytown to Pukekura

Wild night in the van with rain and wind - worse than at home for sure. In the morning things a bit brighter but still very wet. Had domestic stuff to do - buy fuel and food. Half a tank of the diesel used by 'the beast' already so we were thinking it was going to be mega expensive to keep her in fuel. Half a tank was 40 dollars - so, less than £20!!!  Happy Howie! 

Thought we'd head south but look at places of interest round about. (We're listening to tourist radio which plays 80s music and when you pass a place of interest it gives you the details.)   Went to Shantytown - a gold mining town. Turns out it was a replica town. So, we paid our money and took our chances. Very interesting and showed what a hard life it must have been in the 1890s but very commercialised. 

Decided after this we won't be lured into the tourist attractions but try to keep 'au naturel'.

Back to the coast road and arrived at Hokitika. Intermittent rain deluges with sunshine. Had a look at a few shops - jade is the biggest tourist attraction but you never buy it for yourself, apparently!   Howie did try to buy me something but I didn't see the perfect thing! (There's still time!). Went for a walk on the beach. Defo not pretty but interesting. Wild waves and driftwood everywhere. There was beach art in the form of driftwood sculptures - some cooler than others. 

Saw signs for Hokitka Gorge - although couldn't find it on map or sat nav - we decided to go there - 33 km away. Roads ok most of the way, apart from the single track bridges which are pretty daunting. Last 5 km was unsealed roads but totally worth the journey. Spectacular rainforest land. 

Scary swing bridge that would only hold 6 people 

And wild water underneath. 

By this time it was about 6pm and we hadn't really moved much in the southerly direction. Found a place about 60km away, Ross, that looked like it had Campervan facilities and made for there.  Arrived, couldn't find the campsite, drove around a bit then  went into ask in the only shop for directions.  You'd have thought the Martians had landed and I was asking directions to the moon. Worried I could become the next victim of the Chainsaw Massacre I made a swift exit and we drove on. 

Poor Howie, tired by now, and in dire need of a beer, had to go another 50 km before we found a suitable place to stop. Here is the evidence. 'The beast' ready to sleep for the night. 

Only one warning about the usually delicious fresh water: 

You were told!  Good night, folks, from Pukekura!