Blogs from Westport, South Island, New Zealand, Oceania - page 4

Motorhome News from New Zealand 5 10th November 2008 Stewart Island - Milford Sound - Wanaka - Franz Josef Glacier - Lake Matheson Beyond South Island and back, out along the Fiords in the west. There's a signpost at Bluff, that small point of land at the very southerly tip of South Island, New Zealand. The sign reads: Bluff. 46 degrees South, 168 degrees East. It is 18,958 Km from here to London as the fly crows - but only 35 km to Stewart Island, our next destination. We're taking a short holiday from motorhoming, an overnight away, to do a spot of birding. Meanwhile, our Australian travelling companions, Brian and Kathryn, will be heading 'somewhere north' in their own motorhome. If we can find our mobile phone we'll be able to catch up with them ... read more

We moved on up the coast today headed for the town of Westport. En route we stopped at the town of Hokitaka , famous for its Jade. Though the place is a bit overrun with tour buses, it was interesting to visit the workshops and see Jade been cut and then carved as well as to find out about the history of Jade in the area going back to the discoveries in the 1960s and the first New Zealand Helicopters to haul it out. Our second stop was at the Pancake rocks and Blow holes in Punakaiki. The rock formations are incredibly layered and form pillars rising of the ocean. In places tunnels have formed that channel the waves into blow holes where the sea spray shoots up into the air. Our lodging in Westport is ... read more

We hopped on Dan's bus when we left Nelson, and were due to stay on his bus all the way down to Queenstown since we were not planning to stay anywhere more than one night (apart from Franz Josef which was already in the schedule). On our way to Westport, we stopped off at Nelson Lakes National Park and did a gorgeous walk around the lake there and took some nice photos. On our arrival at Westport, we decided to do some quad-biking (well, Wayne encouraged me to!) so after getting kitted out, we hopped on our bikes and followed the instructor down the practice track. I was so scared - I didn't feel safe at all and kept thinking I was going to tip over. Ok, so I rode like a granny to start with, ... read more

We left Nelson and headed towards the Nelson Lakes Nationial Park stopping off in Richmond to get supplies for a picnic lunch. We arrived next to the stunning Lake Rotoiti, surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains. This has to be one of the most beautiful spots in the world! Nelson Lakes National Park is a rugged mountainous area well known for being home to a broad range of native New Zealand trees and birds. We took an hour long bush walk through native New Zealand beech forest which we didn't get to finish as we got caught up taking photos and had to rush back to the coach when we realised everyone had already had their picnics and we had to eat ours on the coach! An hour further south we stopped at Murchison and the ... read more

Attached are a few pictures of on our trip to the South Island. The trip went well and we are set up in a nice motel in Westport on the NW end of the South Island. We came through the Marlborough wine growing area, probably 60 k of grape vines outside of Blenheim following the Wairau River valley. Kiwi word for the day is POME. This is used to identify people from England or people who identify with England. Example might be, that’s what a POME would say. It stands for Prisoner of Mother England. There is also a bar on the Kapiti Coast called the Flaming POME. ... read more