Kathryn & Rick's Blog

We went out for breakfast this morning and decided that rather than explore Queenstown we would go to Te Anua. It was a relatively short drive, just over 2 hours. There were lots of sheep, lamps, and cows along our route.

We stopped in one rest area to take a picture and shortly thereafter they closed the road for a bike race.

Most of the way we could see snow capped mountains. It looks like Switzerland (I know I keep saying that).

We arrived in Te Anau and did a little grocery shopping. The town’s backdrop are snow covered mountains.

After we stocked up we went to the campground, got settled and had some lunch. Then we went for a walk along the lake. It was beautiful. We walked most of the way with a couple from Canada and talked about travel adventures. Here are some pictures.

We didn’t get back to the campground until about 6:30. Rick worked on dinner while I researched the next phase of our trip. We have two choices—go to Mount Cook, the highest mountain in New Zealand, or drive along the coast. We are watching the weather closely because if it is raining or overcast we probably wouldn’t be able to see Mount Cook. We had chicken parmesan for dinner.

We were up early because we’re scheduled to go on the heli hike today. It was forecast to rain last night but I think we just got some sprinkles. This morning it was overcast and we really didn’t think we were going, but we went to the climbing center anyway. Guess what . . . it was on!. During our briefing it got more and more cloudy and I kept thinking they would cancel, but they didn’t. They gave us socks, boots and rain pants. Then we drove over to the helicopter pad. Rick and I were in the third group to head up. The helicopter was vibrating a lot during the 10 minute ride to the glacier.  I didn’t like it , but obviously we made it. Once up there we met our guide Flo and she showed us how to put on our crampons and how to walk in them. There were only six of us in the group. We grabbed a walking stick and were off.

Flo lead the way with her ice axe. Often there were steps up the ice and she would chip away at them to make them flatter. Other times she used the axe to break off ice that could have broken away as we walked. We went quite a way up the glacier. She showed us crevices and moulins, vertical shafts in the glacier which were formed by surface water percolating through a crack in the ice. There were quite a few stream flowing because it was pretty warm, right above freezing.  We went into several ice caves. It was beautiful and amazing. We both really enjoyed it and were so glad we’d made it up. We walked around the ice for about three hours. Once we were used to the crampons it was pretty easy to move about. Of course we couldn’t wander on our own because we could fall into a crevice or a moulin. Here are some interesting facts

• It takes a snow flake that lands on the top of the glacier 50 years to reach the bottom.
• The glacier is moving 3-5 meters per year.
• Hiking on the glacier does not damage it but the helicopter does
• 32% of the land in New Zealand is designated as a national park

After exploring the ice we returned to the heli pad, but the clouds/fog had come in and the helicopter couldn’t fly up to get us. The company stores tents, sleeping bags, and food on the glacier in case people get stuck there. I believe last year people got stuck on the ice overnight five times. I was hoping we would get stuck but other people in our group had flights to catch so it was just as well that the helicopter arrived after a 15 minute wait.

Once back at the climbing center we had some lunch in the camper and then started our journey to Queenstown. It was raining by then and the road was very windy. Most of the views were obscured by clouds and fog. There were a lot of waterfalls along the way.   Also there were a lot more sheep and lambs as we got closer to Queenstown. There were very few sheep and cattle on the west coast which is actually classified as a rain forest. We managed to get a couple of good pictures.

We spent the night in Queenstown.  We didn’t get there until about 6:30, so when we pulled into our favorite company’s campground and it was full.  We headed down the street (literally about 3 miles ) and found a spot at another campground. It made us appreciate our favorite company because this campground is wall to wall campers. Not very nice. We had dinner in the camper. That evening we did a little the planning for the next several days and booked a day cruise through Doubtful Sound.

Not the most exciting day. We left Greymouth and as usual we hit the grocery store on the way out of town.  We had booked the 2:30 heli hike tour on Franz Josef Glacier yesterday so we needed to be in Franz Josef by about noon.

We drove down the coast.  The next town down from Greymouth is Hokitika so we stopped there for breakfast.  Rick had coffee in a small town restaurant. Across the street was the Carnegie Library.  We asked who Carnegie was and, somewhat surprisingly, it turned out to be Andrew Carnegie.  In his time he funded libraries all over the world, including in New Zealand.

After breakfast we went to a pounamu shop.  Pounamu or New Zealand greenstone is found in this area.  It was highly valued by the Maori people for making tools.  They had a lot of beautiful pieces including a 4 inch statue that we really liked.  We asked the price and it was about $3,500.  Needless to say,  it won’t be coming home with us.

We left Hokitika and continued on our way.  We had not made specific plan for the North Island portion of our trip.  We like the campervan life so much we tried to find one for our time on the North Island, but at this late date we couldn’t seem to find a thing.  Over the past couple of days we had sent out a couple of emails to van brokers.  One of them called while we were driving.  She had a van just like the one we have now available for pickup in Auckland!  We told her we would take it!

We arrived in Franz Josef around noon and checked in at the heli hike company.  They monitor the weather very closely and cancel the flight if the weather doesn’t look good.  As of noon we were still on so we had some lunch and went back to the checkin site.  We were given a number and sent into the “boot room”.  About a half hour before we were scheduled to take off the flight was canceled.  We weren’t surprised because other companies in the area were also canceling flights.  We were disappointed.  The heli hike was going to be one of the highlights of our trip. They were willing to reschedule us for following day, but the weather didn’t look much better.  We decided we would spend the night a little further south so we got back in the camper and drove south.  We have been consistently staying at Top10 Holiday Parks and the next park was in Fox Glacier.

I asked about heli hikes on Fox Glacier and they had two openings on the 7:50am flights, so we figured we’d take them.  If we get to go up fantastic, if it’s raining as forecasted nothing lost.  We will see what happens tomorrow.

We started our day by stopping at a great European bakery and going to the grocery store.  We hit the road and stopped several times to take pictures.

Around 1:00 PM we arrived in Punakaiki, the location of the pancake rocks. Our guide book states that “The huge swells that batter this coast have eroded the limestone cliffs, carving them into fantastical shapes.” According to the park signs scientists have theories about how the layered rocks were formed, but have not proven them. Rather than try to describe them a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

After exploring the pancake rocks we continued on to Greymouth where we planned to spend the night. We found our campground and got situated. I made reservations for tomorrow’s heli Hike on a glacier while Rick made hamburgers for dinner.

We spent the evening getting caught up on the blog.

Today we’re going to Abel Tasman National Park which is in the middle of the northern coast. Abel Tasman National Park only has a couple of roads through the center of it. It is know for its spectacular golden beaches which can only be reached by boat. The beaches are golden in color because they are high in iron which leeches out of the rock and turns to rust.

We were picked up at the campground at 8:20 and driven to Kaiteriteri where we boarded a catamaran. We sat on the top deck for most of the ride until it got too cold. We motored along the coast and our first “stop” (you can’t get off the boat here so we just motored around) was Split Apple Rock which looks like . . . wait for it . . . a split apple.

Then we continued up the coast stopping a various bays to let people off. Along the way we stopped at Adele Island to see the seals sunbathing.

We went all the way to the last bay in the park, Totaranui, where we turned around and headed back the way we came. On the way we stopped at the Tonga Arches, natural rock arches which you can kayak through in high tide or stand on a sandy beach in low tide.

We were dropped at Medlands Beach at 11:30 and started our hike.  This is our boat dropping us off.

We expected to be walking along the beach but actually walked uphill to a dense forested path. Initially we were going up and down but eventually it was mostly flat. We were talking to people along the way. It was very beautiful.

We stopped for our box lunches (provided by the boat) overlooking an amazing bay.

We ate with people we met on the trail who were from southern California. After lunch we came to a sign saying we had two more hours of hiking to get to the bay where we were to be picked up.  It was exactly two hours before our pick up time. We weren’t sure what would happen if we weren’t there on time and we sure didn’t want to find out, so we started hustling. We bypassed a short walk to Cleopatra’s Pool and made it to the designated stop in Anchorage Bay about a half hour before the boat was scheduled to arrive. Phew! All told it took us 3 ¾ hr to walk 8 miles.  Here are some of our best pictures from the boat ride and the walk.

The boat was on time and it seemed that everyone was there. It was a short ride back to Kaiteriteri where we caught the bus that took us back to the campground. On the bus we passed many fields of kiwis and hopps. The kiwis were behind wind breaks to protect their delicate leaves. We’ve seen a lot of hedges that were groomed into wind breaks. The hopps vines were coaxed to grow up a line and grow very fast this time of year.  In the past tobacco was a popular crop, but locals stopped growing it because of the harmful effects of tobacco. In fact New Zealand is trying to outlaw all smoking by 2025.

That evening Rick cooked ginger pork on our outside grill. We were very tired after our walk and slept well.

This morning we emptied our sewage tank for the first time. It was quite easy and not smelly at all. Then we headed out. We had a fairly long drive from Kaikoura to Motueka, about 4 hours, however, with construction we anticipated it would take significantly longer. Before leaving we drove by a lavender farm. It wasn’t open yet but I walked up the driveway and took a couple of pictures.

We enjoyed the coastal views for the beginning of the drive, then headed inland and Rick thought it looked like the Adirondacks. We drove into Marlborough which is the wine producing region. Grape vines replaced sheep and there were grape vines for as far as the eye could see. There were lots of vineyards that we could have stopped at for a tasting but it was only 10am and it seemed a little early for wine. We have done wine tastings in other parts of the world so we didn’t feel like we were missing much.

We continued on our journey and came to a one lane bridge which is quite common. They have a sign indicating which direction has priority. It was over a beautiful stream and it had a good place to park on the other side so we stopped to take a picture. We took our pictures and then noticed a sign indicating there was a suspension bridge that was only a 10 minute walk away. We walked to the bridge and took some more pictures.

We continued driving through mostly tree covered mountains. Every so often we would see a big area that had been clear cut. And when I say clear cut, I mean a bald mountain. Some areas had been clear cut several years ago and had been replanted. It looks like the clear cutting is well managed which doesn’t surprise us as New Zealand seems like a very environmentally friendly country.

We drove through Nelson which is a fairly large town and saw a sign to Hoglund Art Glass Gallery so we stopped there. They had beautiful glass items but not anything that we liked that would fit in our suitcase.

A little way further we arrived at our campground in Motueka which is near Abel Tasman National Park. We got to our assigned parking spot and just relaxed for a while. After some lunch I went to the office and asked about a local walk as well as walks in the park. After consulting them we booked a trip to the park for tomorrow and headed out for a walk along the bike trail next to the beach in Motueka. It was low tide as you can see in these pictures.

We walked for about 5 miles and when we arrived back at the camper it was time for dinner. We went to a little place in town. I tried to have a burger but it is a law in New Zealand that they have to cook hamburgers well done!   I chose something else. We talked to the owner and he said the well done hamburger law was passed last year and was somewhat controversial. He also said that New Zealanders don’t really make a big deal about eating and it is reflected in the restaurants which generally are OK but not great. He also said the food is so expensive because everything is taxed at 15%, even food. He told us some other interesting NZ facts:

• The total population is about 5 million and 4 million live on the north island.
• On the south island you are never more than 100 km from the ocean
• The south island is the same area as Great Britain

We went back to the campground and relaxed for awhile. The All Blacks were playing so at 10pm I went to the TV room expecting a lot of rowdy All Blacks fans. There was just a man and his son. It turns out to watch the game live you needed to pay so it was delayed by at least an hour on the campground’s TV. I went to bed. The All Blacks won without me cheering for them. They came in third in the Rugby World Cup. New Zealand is use to winning so this was a disappointing result.

Here’s our route from Kaikoura to Motueka.

Happy Halloween (They celebrate it here too.)

This morning we tried out the showers at the campground and they were hot and clean!  What more could you ask for? After getting organized we pulled our plug and drove into town for breakfast at a coffee shop. The coffee shop owner was trying to explain rugby to us. We are still trying to figure it out. He said the All Blacks are playing tomorrow night in the Rugby World Cup, so we plan to find a place to watch it.

We got on the road around 8:30. The scenery along our drive was beautiful. Grassy meadows,  hills with snow capped mountains, sheep and lambs, and cows. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of places to pull over to take a pictures so I will to bring most of it home in my memory. Here are a few pictures that we did manage to take.

We stopped along the way so I could have some cereal since I didn’t have anything to eat earlier. This van really is convenient.

About half way into our trip we drove along a coastal road. The sea was turquoise and there were snow cover mountains behind the bay—really amazing. There was an earthquake in this area in 2016 which damaged the road so there was a lot of road construction that slowed us down.  No problem, we have time…

It was supposed to take 2 hour to drive from Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura but because of the construction and our stops it took a little longer to arrive at the campground. Here is the view out our windows.

Rick took a little nap and I did research on things to do and see on the North Island. We haven’t make any Airbnb reservations, only a reservation for a car. We checked into canceling the car reservation and reserving a campervan but there aren’t any available from the company we are using. After Rick’s nap we went out to lunch. This area is famous for crayfish so the guy in the campground office suggested we go to a street vendor up the road.

We got there and they showed us a cooler with crayfish cut in half. They were expensive, the price was based on size but most were around US$50. They looked like lobsters without the claws. They were too big for Rick to eat and I wasn’t sharing it so he got a seafood stew. Yum!

After lunch we did the peninsula walk. We walked on the cliff in one direction and then went down some stairs and walked back on the rocks. The whole walk took about two hours. Along the way we met two young men who were walking too. One was from Australia and the other was from the Czech Republic. It was interesting to talk to them and learn about their lives.  We saw seals sleeping on the rocks.

We returned to the van and drove to the gas station to fill up and then went to the grocery store. Rick cooked New Zealand lamb chops for dinner and they were delicious. That evening I worked some more on our North Island itinerary and I think I have it figured out.

Here’s our route from Hanmer Springs to Kaikoura.

 

We slept well on our first night in a camper (better than on the boat) and were able to sleep in because we have dark curtains on all of our camper windows. We sleep in the back which, during the day, is a sitting area with a small table. We have two tables that become the platform for the middle of the bed. Then we rearrange the cushions so they cover the whole area. The one hassle with it is we have to make and unmake the bed everyday, but we can live with that. Rick made coffee on our outside stove/grill. It pulls out from the side of the camper and runs off propane.

After we got organized we disconnected our power cord and drove off. We drove into Akaroa and found a bakery/café for breakfast. I took a few pictures of the town for the blog.

At a friend’s recommendation I tried to go to the Giant’s House which according to our guidebook has “a large garden crisscrossed by paths fantastic larger-than-life mosaics, and colorful, welded sculptures.” But it wasn’t open yet.

We saw a sign for a scenic drive so we took it and it was very scenic. We were going up and over hills which feels a little dicey to me because I am looking down these hill and we look very close to the edge. But Rick is a great driver so I  don’t need to worry. Here are some pictures from our drive.

We had to drive back through Christchurch to head north. We decided to go to Hanmer Springs which a number of locals recommended. It took us about 4 hours to get there. We stopped along the way at a picnic stop to have lunch.

We arrived at Hanmer Springs and went right to the campground. There were a couple of very nice ladies who checked us in,  They recommended an itinerary for the rest of the trip. These campgrounds are really nice. They have very clean bathrooms and showers as well as large kitchens and laundry facilities.

After we got parked and pulled in, we decided to walk up Conical Hill. We walked through town and then up through wooded switchbacks to the top of the hill. It probably took us about an hour to go from the campground to the top of the hill. The views were gorgeous.

As we walked back to the campground we checked out the restaurants in town.  None of them looked very interesting so we decided to eat in the camper. We also checked up the hot springs, but they didn’t look very inviting. Before dinner I worked on figuring out the rest of our itinerary on the south island. I have a rough idea which we can modify as we go.

Rick had a salad for dinner and I had cold cuts. We had a fancy dinner last night so that was just fine. After dinner it started raining and it was fun to be in our warm, cozy camper and hear the rain on the roof.

Here’s our route from Akaroa to Hanmer Springs.

We slept in this morning, mostly because of the time change.  After nice, long hot showers (still appreciating them after the navy showers on the boat and anticipating more navy showers in the camper), we walked to a coffee shop for some breakfast.  Today is Labour Day so most people are off.

Christchurch feels more like a town than a city.  The population in the city proper is about only 180K.  The downtown felt quite empty this morning.  We see evidence of the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes, specifically buildings with braces and the main cathedral is missing a section.

We talked to some locals and they said that the city was still recovering.  After the earthquake many businesses moved out of the city and signed 10 year leases so they haven’t come back.  Many of the people left with the business.  Neither have returned.  There are empty lots which use to be building sites everywhere . They expect it to take 15-20 years for the city to fully recover.  I question whether that will ever become a reality.

We decided to start the day by taking a gondola to the summit of the Port Hills.  We took a bus to the gondola and took the gondola up the hill.  There is a walkway at the top.  From there you can see Christchurch and Banks peninsula, both of which look pretty flat.  In the distance you can see the mountains which make up the southern alps.  Here are some pictures.

While at the top we talked to some nice people from Phoenix and compared notes on where were going.  I heard a lot of American accents today.

We took the bus back to Cathedral Square, the site of the Cathredal damaged in the earthquake that is pictured above.  There were a lot of food trucks in the square with food from all over the world so we found some food, sat at a small table and ate.  Rick had Egyptian food and I had fried chicken.  It was a beautiful spring day and there was a guy singing in the square.  Very festive and tasty!  We enjoyed the whole scene.

Christchurch is called the garden city and I can see why.  There are lots of parks and green areas.  Our next stop was the botanical garden.  Founded in 1863, the gardens sprawl over an area of 21 hectares and lie adjacent to the loop of the Avon River. It was very pretty and tranquil.  

After a relaxing walk through the park we walked over to the Canterbury Museum. It was primarily a natural history museum and told the story of the Moari people and the “British invasion.” It’s like most places during the British colonial period, they arrived, promised the world, stole everything and the indigenous population was banished to the least desirable locations.  Sound familiar?  We wandered around the museum for awhile and then walked back to the apartment.

That evening we ate at an Indian restaurant.  I haven’t mentioned it but our apartment is very convenient to town.  It’s about a block to the central business area.  Dinner was delicious.

We packed up because tomorrow we pick up our campervan.