Week 25 Tekapo to Picton, New Zealand

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At the beginning of the week I was still relaxing in Lake Tekapo and still being amazed at the vibrant turquoise waters. The wind had dropped and it was sunny and warm so I had a lovely time wandering the shores and sitting in the shade reading. I was the only person in the little cottage who was there for all 3 nights, so each day new people arrived. It was good fun chatting and also having our own TV, which we watched as we were entertained by the speedy little field mouse that had also decided to live in the cottage. We named him House Mouse and he got brave enough to run in front of the TV several times during the evening, We made sure we didn’t leave out any food and one couple put rolled up towels at the bottom of their bedroom door to make sure House Mouse didn’t join them in bed.

The short trip to Christchurch was interesting as the scenery changed a lot We started by passing through the sheep farming area of the Mackenzie country then crossed over Burkes Pass and drove through the foothills of the Southern Alps. As we neared Christchurch there was more arable land and fruit crops in evidence and we eventually drove through the very flat Canterbury Plains. My hostel was well placed near the centre of the city, so I dumped my stuff and headed out to explore.

I had picked up a leaflet about the tram that does a small loop around the centre but was pretty expensive and a bit of a limited experience. So I just walked the route following the tram lines and listened out to snippets of the commentary whenever a tram passed me. I got to see the Cathedral set in a large square, looking very out of place surrounded by office blocks. I stopped by the River Avon and watched the punter guys wearing straw hats and breeches while they punted the boats of tourists down a short run of river that really did look like England, with willow trees and ducks.

In the evening there was a Chinese Lantern Festival in one of the Squares to celebrate the end of the two week celebration of Chinese New Year. There were lots of stalls selling Asian food and of course there were lots of brightly coloured lanterns strung around the Square and in many of the trees. They also had some shaped like animals that were attached to sticks and carried by people in bright primary-coloured oriental costumes. Sadly I didn’t take my camera, so I went back the next day and took a few shots of the remaining lanterns.

The Christchurch hostel has the best free food shelf ever, as so many people depart from here and have cleared out all of their self-catering stuff prior to their flight. It also has the best book exchange for the same reason, so now I am trying to figure how I pack 7 books into my already overstuffed pack or how I can read 5 books in 2 days as well as go touring.

A lot of the scenes in LOTR were shot around Christchurch and there was a whole wall of leaflets in the hostel with various tours to go see them, mainly requiring all day in a 4 x 4 vehicle which indicates rough, bouncy rides to me. I was not interested enough in the EXACT film locations or seeing uber-geeks dressed as their favourite characters or being with fans who start quoting hobbit or elf lines from the films. We get to see most of the fantastic landscapes for free on the bus journey anyway.

The half day journey from Christchurch to Kaikoura was uneventful and the bus was half empty which made a pleasant change. When we reached the Kaikoura peninsular we went up to a great lookout point where we could see the views on either side of this large spur of land that is quite young, being made by volcanic activity only a couple of thousand years ago. The hostel I chose had an amazing setting at the top end of a horseshoe shaped bay with views across the sea to the town on the other side of the bay and the mountains in the background. It was right on the shoreside and you could constantly hear the crashing of the waves. The only downside was that it was 3 miles from town and the only way to get there was walking.

Kaikoura is a Maori name that means “meal of crayfish”, as the area is abundant in this particularly delicious crustacean - its on offer in every restaurant but is very expensive. This is also the nearest land and coastline to the deepsea Hikorangi Trench that is effectively a super highway for the migrating whales. The Trench is over 1,000 metres deep and is full of tidbits for the whole food chain, thereby attracting and sustaining all manner of sealife that in turn sustains the tourist trade here. It also provides great ingredients for very good menus at the local seafood restaurants.

There are loads of different trips either by boat or helicopter where you can view the whales and also huge pods of several hundred Dusky dolphins - some trips include a swim with the dolphins. The problem was that there was a short episode of freak weather while we were here. All over New Zealand they were experiencing huge waves and rough seas along the coast, although there was no storm. Many people thought it was from the aftershocks of the Chile earthquake, but whatever caused it, it meant that the sea was particularly rough and boat trips would either be cancelled or extremely uncomfortable and lumpy. We spoke to several people who returned from their boat trips where everyone on board had been seasick, which put me off going, although they said that being in the water with a coupe of hundred dolphins streaking past you and twirling around in front of you was something quite special.

One trip that really caught my imagination was one where you can swim and interact with seals, who apparently are really playful when you are in the water with them and its meant to be a great experience. However, the water was freezing, even though you wear a full wetsuit and I met on guy who did this trip and he said that the swells were so high in the sea that the only really good views you got where when you dove underwater. He also said that he was a really strong swimmer but he had swallowed lots of water and had felt queasy all day. I didn’t go, but will look out for something similar elsewhere on my travels when the seas are slightly calmer.

Luckily there were two restaurants that were less than 15 minutes walk away from the hostel, so on the first night I treated myself to a nice dinner with a fabulous view of the wild ocean. It was a nice walk back too, with the dusk light changing the water to a whole range of different colours and the booming sound of the waves that were really close to the path being high tide.

I met up with several nice girls in the hostel and we spent quite a bit of time just chilling. We pooled our food supplies and cooked in the hostel for the last two nights. On the second day a couple of us walked up to the small quay which was being completely swamped with the unusually large waves. We stood well back but it was great fun to watch the power of the massive breakers coming over the buildings along the quayside and to hear the huge roar of hundreds of tons of water crashing onto the land. The big swells had brought the surfers out in droves and we also spent time watching them.

There was a lovely walk around the headland that passed by two colonies of fur seals. I found it incredibly relaxing just sitting on a rock watching these guys for hours. They still had some pups who were quite big and loved to mock-fight and play while the adults spent a great deal of time basking in the sun on the rocks. The best sight was when they were either hunting for fish or playing in the water, or just floating around looking cute. They used some of the rockpools as hot tubs where the water stayed after high tide and was heated by the sun and the pups continuously dove into these and then climbed up the sides. Very entertaining.

Each day we went up the road to a hotel that had a beergarden and stopped for a drink and a bar snack lunch with views across the bay and out to sea. On the first occasion a family of 3 generations, from child to elderly grandparent, had arrived and sadly the old boy had tripped up the step and hurt himself quite badly. I think a lot of it was shock and also perhaps blood-thinning medication he was on, but he had a whole load of blood pouring from a nasty graze on his leg and he was obviously badly shaken. Loads of people rushed to help so we stayed out of the way and he was eventually taken away in an ambulance. We hope he is OK but although we asked after him on the next two days, the restaurant manager had not heard any news - its a shame nobody bothered to get back to him as he and his wife had really put themselves out to help at the time of the accident.

On the short trip from Kaikoura to Picton we stopped twice. The first time was at a large seal colony and the second was at a lovely restaurant with a terrace that overlooked the ocean and had beautiful and well stocked gardens. I felt obliged to have a pot of tea as it felt so English with the roses out and bees buzzing around. We reached Picton by 11.30am in time for half of the bus to catch the Interislander ferry to Wellington. I had opted to stay in Picton for 2 nights and I am glad I did as this is a lovely pretty little town, in a great setting with fabulous scenery along the Queen Charlotte Sound.

As the hostel office was closed when we arrived I couldn’t check in, so stowed my case in the dining room and wandered down to the quay with the intention of chilling in the fabulous weather for a while and watching the Interislander ferries and the smaller yachts around the harbour. The day was glorious, with clear blue sky and almost no wind. I happened to walk past the Mail Boat office which does passenger tours, so decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather and signed up for their afternoon tour. The mail boat actually does deliver mail to all of the isolated dwellings around the Sound, with three different routes that are travelled on different days of the week, so most of the recipients only get their mail once or twice a week.

The boat is a catamaran with two levels. I opted to sit on the outside top deck for most of the trip, but had to beg some sunscreen lotion from one lady as the sun was pretty strong. I couldn’t have picked a better day to do this and it was interesting watching the locals come down their piers to meet the boat and exchange their mail sacks. They all brought their pets as the Captain had a stash of biscuits that he gave to the many different types of dog and also some pet pigs that were brought down to the stops. Most of the houses are holiday homes but some are occupied all year long.

The Sound is enormous and the Captain (who was also the tour guide and the Postman) gave us loads of facts and figures about the dimensions that I cant remember - just think huge. We were on the longest route and went into dozens of coves and inlets down both sides of the Sound and past many islands, including the enormous Arapawa Island that was the main Maori settlement in the 19th century. We passed several commercial mussel and salmon farms too. We had a brief 20 minute stop at Ships Cove that was Captain Cook's base when he was charting the Sound, where we walked around the pretty gardens and looked at the millions of blue mussel shells on the small beach.

The trip was interesting and comfortable, with free tea and coffee and some nice people on board to chat to. We did several extra stops to collect walkers from various jetties as there are dozens of scenic walks here that range from a few hours to the more demanding Queen Charlotte Track, a walk of just under 80 kilometres that takes between 3 and 5 days. Our voyage was pretty long too, leaving at 1pm and returning just after 6.30pm.

At the hostel I am in a fully equipped modern annex next to the main building which is an old house with a warren of tiny rooms and is strangely the first hostel that doesn’t have any TV’s at all which was quite nice. It has two lounge rooms are tiny and cosy. I chatted with a couple of girls and we exchanged travel tips as we were headed in opposite directions. One of them is just about to embark on the Queen Charlotte Track and is intending to camp, so will be carrying all of her camping and cooking gear as well as food on her back. Mad.

I have included an extra day in this weeks blog, so you have Tues 2 to Wed 10 March inclusive in this one. Enjoy.

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