Dobster
Matt Simmons & Kirsten Johnson Joined: March 7th 2007
Logged in: September 7th 2011
Logged in: September 7th 2011
Leave 19th March
South Africa (2 weeks)(mainly the western cape)
Western Australia (10days)(Perth and the Margaret River)
New Zealand (3 Weeks) (Into Auckland and out of Christchurch)
Sydney (4 Days) Blue Mountains (2 Days)
Drive Coastal route to Melbourne and spend 2 weeks with family in Melbourne)
Great Barrier Reef and Whitsundays (1 Week)
Drive Ocean Road from Melbourne to Adelaide (1 Week)
2 night in both Singapore and Bangkok and then spend final week on Island Resort in Thailand.
Travel Home 25th June.
Really hope to keep this blog up to date to help our family and friends to stay in touch and see what we are up too.
NEW ROUTE MAPS
Our Map of Perth & the Margaret River
Best
Matt & Kirsten
Travel Blog Posts
Kayaking
url='/Videos/3355.html' onclick='dialog("/Videos/3355.html?popped=1","tbvideo",600,600);return false;' Kayaking with the Seal Pups 2 DONT FORGET TO VIEW THE VIDEO OF THIS BLOG ON THE VIDEO LINK After an uncomfortable night’s sleep with both of us scratching our Sand Fly bites, we wake early to drive to Kaiteriteri beach for our days Kayaking activity. We have been told this is the best way to take in the coastal beauty and sea life of the Abel Tasman. After our induction on the beach we load our kayaks on an Aqua Taxi and head north for Onetahuti Beach. We are paddling in tandem kayaks with Kirsten in the front and me in the back. After learning how to steer and raft up we head off around Tonga Island and the seal colony and view some mothers and their pups basking in the mid ... read more
Split Apple Rock
Today we have booked an Aqua taxi to drop us off and pick us up along the Abel Tasman Coastal Trail. We drive down to Marahau where we catch the 09.15 Aqua Taxi. As it’s low tide a tractor drags us out to the water. This area and the beaches in particular are absolutely unspoilt. Firstly we visit Split Apple Rocks an interesting rock formation (which amazingly looks like a split apple!) just of the coast. We continue further up the coast past Anchorage, Torrent Bay and Bark before stopping briefly at Tonga Island to view the seal colony. Finally we arrive at our drop off destination of Onetahuti Beach. We are walking a 20km section of the 65km Abel Tasman Track. Most visitors hike the track in 3 days, camping along the way. The ... read more
Nelson Cathedral
After packing the van and filling up with fresh water we headed for Nelson. After a lovely wander along Maitai River that snakes through the town we headed for the Cathedral one of the largest in NZ, The town was very quiet being a Sunday but had a nice feel to it. Nelson is both a busy port and the gateway to the Abel Tasmin. We headed out of town on R6 for our destination of Motueka at the southern most tip of the Abel Tasmin National Park. Abel Tasmin was a Dutch explorer who discovered Tasmania and also has Mount Tasmin after him. On route throught the Nelson winelands we stopped at a winery called Ruby Bay owned by a Scotsman from Perth. We sampled his very young wines and bought a couple of ... read more
On the Ferry
It was an early start this morning at 6.00am to travel to the ferry port in Wellington to catch the 7.30am Interisland Ferry to Picton. It’s another beautiful morning and the water is flat calm. It’s a 3 hour crossing to the south island but after 2 hours you enter the Marlborough sounds which are spectacular. You get the most wonderful view form the ferry. Here’s a question for you! What’s the difference between a Fjord and a sound? Answer to come shortly! We arrived at Picton a quaint little town and port that we wandered around for an hour before heading on for or final destination of Nelson 120km to the west. What a great drive along route 6. It starts out through a lovely flat valley of vineyards before rising into the Richmond ... read more
Matt at Huka Falls
Today is mainly a travel day to drive the 380km to Wellington to catch the ferry to the south island. (If you ever camp or hire a campervan in NZ get a “Top10 Holiday Park” members card as it save us over $100 on the crossing and only cost us $30). The first 100km of the drive was spectacular along the edge of Lake Taupo and up and over the Tongariro National Park. Our only planned stop today is at “Gravity Canyon” a place just east of Taihape which has the longest, fastest and highest flying fox in NZ. The flying fox is basically a harness connected to a wire. You basically fly down the 1km wire at 160kph over a really high canyon. After the 40 minutes walk up to the top we are ... read more
Kirsten Fishing
Waking up to another beautiful day in Taupo we get ready at a leisurely pace and head into town. We have chartered our own fishing boat and a skipper “Marty” to take us out on the lake to fish for trout. Lake Taupo is the biggest lake in NZ and was formed from the crater of a large volcano, which over the years filled with fresh water. Some parts of the lake are 400m deep. The trout (both brown and rainbow) we introduced into the lake and because they have no natural predators they have thrived We headed out south about 15km to an area called the white cliffs. In NZ trout has no value as it is illegal to sell it. You have a 3 fish limit per person per day and the fish ... read more
Before Rafting
It was bloody freezing last night, I swear my nose was frozen when I woke up this morning from the draft coming in the back of “Dolly”. It’s a beautiful day and the “Blue Lake” opposite our campsite looks beautiful. After a leisurely breakfast we setoff off for our daily excursions. I’m going white water rafting and Kirsten is getting a massage in a Spa called Hell’s gate. It’s never good to turn up to an adventure location to find an ambulance outside. Apparently a guy in the earlier group had broken his leg by getting it trapped between rocks going down a rapid! After getting kitted out in all the sexy kit (NOT!), we set out in a clapped out bus to the Kaituna River (a grade 4 rapid). I feel a little apprehensive; ... read more
Maori Village
Our destination today is Rotorua the volcanic hub of New Zealand. We drive approximately 120km due East of Waitomo on route 30 taking in some breathtaking scenery. Today is mainly a travel day and to catch up with the washing. We arrived at our “Top Ten” Holiday camp on the Blue Lake at about 3.00pm. The one thing you can say for Rotorua is that it stinks of sulphur (rotten eggs). Basically it reminds me of a smelly Las Vegas! The weather is pretty good today but we are expecting a cold night! Rotorua is the hub of Maori culture in New Zealand so we book on the Tamaki Maori Village toru which encompasses a twilight cultural tour to a “Morai” (Meeting House) and Maori village. After chilling out most of the afternoon and doing ... read more
Lynton & Kirsten
We had survived our first night in the Van otherwise known as “Dolly”. The bed is quite comfortable and we have one good pillow but the other pillow I swear is plastic! It’s got a cover on it to stop you from peeing on it; so it’s now referred to as the “Piss Pillow”! We setoff early 8.30 and head south along the M1 before joining the M3. Our first stop was at Lyntons parents place in Te Awamutu. Lyntons parents manage the local race track and his father was a jockey before he retired. Lyntons parents kindly gave us some money to put towards our next stop which was the “Kiwi House” in Otorhanga. We wandered around the enclosures for a while and watched the one Kiwi they had try to escape! It certainly ... read more
On the way up
Today we are heading South East to visit one of Kirstens friends Lynton in Hamilton. We head south via Waihi to Mount Maunganui a major surfing destination. Mount Manuganui is basically a large hill perched in the end of a natural harbour, which provides 360Degree views of the surrounding area. Unfortunately you have to walk up the hill to see them. After a really steep 40min walk we arrived at the summit welcomed by the spectacular views. It’s well worth the walk! The beaches along this coast seem to go on forever! Mount Maunganui is famous for its man made reef proving surfing whatever the weather. We continue east along R29 via the Kaimai-Makuku forest park and Cambridge to Hamilton. Cambridge is famous for it’s racehorse breeding and Hamilton it’s large University. We meet Lynton ... read more
