New Zealand - Abel Tasman to Wanaka

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New Zealand part 2

The drive from Abel Tasmin to Westport was a long and uneventful road, although the various things for sale by the side of the road kept Will in a constant state of excitement. We went to our first seal colony in Cape Foulwind (named, like many things on the coast, by Captain Cook) and stayed in an excellent campsite where we had the site and the beach to ourselves.

We drove via Hokitika (where we had our first NZ cooked breakfast) to Franz Josef glacier. The glacier is one of only a handful in the world that is still on the move (about 2cm a day - still beating Will in a foot race!) and we stayed in the Rainforest Campsite (which FYI was pretty shoddy). Will strapped on his crampons and spent a few hours hiking on the glacier (Tory stayed behind as she had done it before). The highlights of our stay in Franz were the hot spa we had after Will’s walk, and the beer (Speight’s Distinguished Ale) and lamb shank at the local pub.

The next day it chucked it down which was our cue to get going. We drove to Wanaka via the Haast Pass, stopping occasionally to make mad dashes to waterfalls, and for Tory to shout “Will take the f###ing photograph already!!!” We found a really awesome campsite in Wanaka with a fire, a friendly local handyman called Jason, great views and a cat called Brenda. We felt at home in Wanaka and stayed there for 3 days; highlights included horse riding in Cardroba and freshly baked cookies at intermission in Cinema Paradiso (Tory had 2, fatty!).

Travellers tips: Do not drain broccoli in your campervan sink, the smell will follow you round every corner! Always hold on to the saddle on your horse, you never know when it is going to buck!

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