New Zealand - South Island

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After having successfully push-started "Smelly Nelly", we found ourselves on the ferry from Wellington through the wonderful Marlborough Sounds to Picton, a place which turned out to be one of our favourites. Although Picton has a high volume of people travelling through it, it maintains a really peaceful atmosphere and we ended up spending a number of days here at the beginning and end of our 4 week trip around the South Island.

Our first evening in Picton was spent with a couple called John and Katie who were our neighbours on the campsite. We started chatting and a few hours and a few bottles of wine later, we were the best of friends! They had recently got engaged in Christchurch and were heading back to the North Island so we were able to get lots of tips on what to do and where to go on the South Island. One of these suggestions was to go on a fishing trip in Marlborough Sounds with an eccentric old couple from Picton, which we duly did. Phil threw himself into the fishing with his usual enthusiasm whilst Laura hid in the cabin as far away from the fish as she could possibly get! It was a successful morning's fishing but not so successful in the afternoon, despite having fish-finding technology on board. However, Phil caught enough sea perch to have for dinner that night so he was able to satisfy his "hunter-gatherer" needs for at least a little while. Our highlight of the trip was seeing 2 dolphins in the harbour as we arrived back, such amazing creatures.

We left Picton and headed West along the narrow and winding Queen Charlotte drive that provided beautiful views of the Sounds. A cruise ship 'Statendam' was gracefully entering the harbour so we stood and watched for a while with quite a crowd of onlookers. Soon we were on our way again and travelled through Havelock, Nelson and Richmond to Moutueka. We stopped off for lunch at 'The Smoke House' in Mapua, which was well worth the stop - the fish was really fresh and tasty.

Moutueka would be our base for exploring Abel Tasman National Park. We did a kayaking day trip with Kiwi Kayaks and thoroughly enjoyed it. We were taken by water taxi to Onethauti beach where we started kayaking. It was a very gentle trip to Tonga Island to watch the seals playing in the sea and on to Mosquito Bay for lunch and a swim in the lagoon. The conditions were very calm so we enjoyed seeing more seals and another island in the afternoon before finishing at Anchorage and getting a water taxi back.

Before arriving at our next stop Greymouth, we stopped to walk across the longest swingbridge in New Zealand, which goes across the Buller river. We took the forest walk on the other side at quite a fast pace due to the awful sand flies - one of the downsides of New Zealand. We have never had so many bites and with mosquitoes at night and sand flies during the day, it makes being outside quite a challenge! We didn't find much to do in Greymouth itself but we did visit the famous Pancake Rocks and do the Fox Caves walk. This turned into quite an adventure as we managed to take a slight detour (i.e. went the wrong way!) and had to take our shoes and socks off on a number of occasions to walk across rivers.

One of the advantages of having a lot of friends who have previously visited New Zealand is that you are told about places that you may have bypassed otherwise. One of these was Arthur's Pass village. It is in the middle of a stunning scenic drive across the South Island which takes in winding roads, mountains, lakes, viaducts, villages and Castle Rock - a series of limestone formations, which are sacred to the Maori people. We managed to complete the scenic drive and return to Arthur's Pass village before the heaven's opened. Fortunately we were campervanning outside a chalet motel, which provided us with an open fire, restaurant and pool table to keep us amused for the rest of the day and evening.

We headed next to Franz Josef where we admired the glacier from a safe distance. It was quite busy there so we decided to opt for climbing Fox Glacier instead. We went on a guided walk through rainforest and up quite a steep climb before spending an hour on the glacier itself. The colours were stunning and the formations on the ice quite spectacular. We had a short-lived drama when we managed to lock the keys in the car, so anyone needing to break into a campervan, please ask Phil. I think the offer by the campsite manager to open the car door with a crowbar was enough to help Phil find a slightly less drastic solution!

Another of our favourite places was Wanaka, which is very close to the popular town of Queenstown but is much quieter and prettier. Unfortunately we had wet and windy weather to begin with so we weren't tempted to stop at the various lookouts and waterfalls we passed in Mount Aspiring National Park. We enjoyed the local brewery in town though and met a lone American woman called Beth who was cycling around New Zealand. Crazy as it seems, there were plenty of people doing New Zealand by bike, including families with young children. However, possibly the most bizarre sight was seeing unicyclists travelling along the mountain passes - unbelievable! Going to the cinema was a popular pastime for us when we were travelling, but Wanaka was the best experience. The cinema is called Cinema Paradiso and is basically a room filled with old sofas (and the front half of a Morris Minor) where you can order dinner to be served during the interval - it was a fantastic evening and we would recommend a visit if you're ever in that part of the world. As the weather improved, we enjoyed the lovely views of the lake and mountains and took a day out to see Puzzling World with it's outdoor maze, illusion rooms and puzzles and the Fighter Pilot museum.

We left Wanaka and on our way to Queenstown stopped off at Arrowtown, an old gold-mining village which is now filled with lovely cafes and craft shops. After a saunter around, we headed off to the adventure-filled Queenstown. First stop was the Gondola and luge where Phil had a ball. The luge is a plastic, 3-wheeled cart which you travel down in on various concrete tracks. We then headed into town to see the marina and ended up at Winnie's bar for beer, pizza and pool. Queenstown is famous for it's jet-boating so we braved the Shotover river jet with stunning gorge scenery and the obligatory 360 degree spins. It was great fun and got the adrenalin going a little bit more than our previous jet-boating experience! The scenery in the area was amazing and we enjoyed a drive out to Glenorchy along the lake for even more stunning views.

Our final stop on the west coast was Te Anau. We spent a night in Milford Sound at a terrible, cramped campsite, which was more like a car park and tried to avoid the sand flies. We did enjoy the cruise through the Sounds though. We had great weather for it and really enjoyed the scenery and waterfalls but it wasn't quite as dramatic as we had expected. The drive through the valley to get to the Sounds was probably our highlight and some of the lookouts along the way were definitely worth stopping at. We decided against going to Doubtful Sound as it was booked up for several days and was quite expensive, so instead we spent a couple of days in Te Anau, hiring quadricycles to travel around the town and to the lake and seacycles out on the lake.

We took the Southern Scenic route down to Invercargill and quickly discovered that there wasn't much to see in town! We took a quick drive to Bluff to the lookout and lighthouse and then decided to take the ferry to Stewart Island for a couple of days. We stayed at South Seas Hotel and it was great to have a bed for the night. We explored some of the island by foot, walking to Golden Bay and back spotting many different types of birdlife en route. We did some more kayaking across from Golden Bay to Ulva Island, stopping at Sydney Cove beach to admire the Waka birds. The jellyfish were out in force and we enjoyed stopping to watch them until it started to pour with rain and we retreated back to a hot shower and drink in the pub. The locals didn't exactly welcome us with open arms so we soon retreated to our room after a hasty dinner. Phil was keen to go fishing again so we headed out with a couple of local fisherman for a few hours. Armed with nothing more than a length of nylon rope with metal hooks and weights on the end, Phil had a really successful time of it, catching over 20 cod. We met some really nice people and we were closely followed by an albatross and up to 40 mollymawks at any one time, which was an amazing sight.

Having finally reached the furthest point possible from home, we started to head back North up the Catlins coast drive to Dunedin. This took all day due to the various stops at Waipapa Point, Curio Bay and Porpoise Bay where we were lucky enough to see some Hector's Dolphins, Cathedral Caves and Nugget Point with it's lighthouse and colony of seals. In Dunedin itself, we went to Lanarch castle and the famous railway station from where we took a train ride out through the countryside and enjoyed great views of the gorge. Disappointingly we didn't get to see the famous yellow-eyed penguins because you had to pay to get into a reserve to see them but we did get out to the Otago peninsula to enjoy the birdlife and views.

Leaving Southland behind, we drove into Canterbury, stopping off to admire the Moreiki Boulders, perfectly smooth and rounded boulders in the middle of a beach on the East Coast. We travelled through Omarama along the lakes and finally decided to camp at Lake Pukaki where we had spectacular views of the mountains and turquoise lake. Phil was more excited by the proper wood burning braai on the campsite so Laura lost him for a few hours whilst he prepared the dinner! The next day was Laura's birthday so we hoped that the weather would be kind to us as we went to see Mount Cook. Luck was on our side and as we travelled towards Mount Cook village the clouds parted and we had a stunning view of the mountain. After having coffee and cake to celebrate, we headed for Lake Tekapa and enjoyed the views and the church there. The church is famous for having views out of it's windows of Mount Cook but unfortunately there was a wedding taking place in the church so we didn't get a chance to go in and look.

After a nice scenic drive across the Canterbury Plains we arrived in Christchurch, a really pleasant city. We visited the Antarctic Centre where we enjoyed a snowmobile ride and stood in a storm! In the city itself, we spent some time on the tram which took us around the centre and watched the world go by in Cathedral Square. A couple of days of the city life was enough and we headed back to the quiet by driving across Port Hills to Banks Peninsula and camped at a site in Akaroa. This is a very picturesque, old French town and our campsite overlooked the harbour. Phil made some new friends 'Hop-a-long' and 'Crutch' - 2 amusing-looking ducks (of the feathered variety!) before we headed into the town to enjoy the craft shops, pier and a beer at the harbourside. Our poor luck with marine life continued with our 'swimming with dolphin's' trip being cancelled due to poor weather and also when we headed North to Kaikoura and were unable to go whale-watching due to 2 metre swells and a very strong sea sickness warning. This was enough to put us off! Kaikoura was a nice town though and we enjoyed another good evening at the community cinema - there were only 11 viewers and 3 of those were staff!

All too quickly we were heading back to Picton and coming to the end of our time on the South Island. Our car battery finally gave up completely so we were stuck on the campsite for a day waiting for a replacement battery. We were more than happy not to go anywhere for the day though as we were starting to get a little travel-weary. After a couple of days enjoying the town and waterfront, we were all set to have a quiet evening before catching the ferry back to the North Island. As we returned to the campsite, Laura spotted a couple of guys that we had done the Tour de Kruger with way back in July at the beginning of our trip. What are the chances?! Nico and Trevor are a father and son from South Africa who were over in New Zealand to do the Queen Charlotte walk and were only in the area for a few days. We had a beer with them and ended up joining them for dinner and a proper catch up. We met their partners Alice and Janet and had a great night out. How strange that we should meet them at the beginning and end of our world trip!

As we caught the early ferry from Picton to Wellington, we were standing out on deck when a pod of dolphins appeared. It was amazing to see so many of them leaping around enjoying themselves and it was a perfect end to our time there. We had a great drive from Wellington to Hastings on the East Coast of the North Island with it's green, rolling hills. After lunching at Te Awanga, we went on a Gannet safari to Cape Kidnappers. These birds are fascinating creatures with their crash landings, bonding dance and fluffy chicks - another real highlight.

With the weather having much improved from our last stint on the North Island, we enjoyed the drive through Napier with it's American-looking Art Deco buildings and a picnic lunch at Lake Taupo. Smelly Rotorua was our next stop and it really does stink like rotten eggs! We weren't sure how anyone could actually stand to live there. We wandered along the lake that attracts hundreds of ducks, black swans and geese. However, the highlight was finding out that Rotorua also had a Gondola and luge so up we went again! 5 times Phil went down the luge and he'd still be there if Laura hadn't dragged him away! It was great fun though and the course was better and longer than the one in Queenstown. We attended the obligatory Maori cultural evening and it was interesting, but difficult to keep a straight face at times. They re-enacted their welcome ceremony and we had to choose a chief who turned out to be a guy called Ade from the Midlands! We enjoyed the dances, songs (apart from when we had to sing!) and traditional crafts, but unfortunately tourists are no longer allowed to sample the traditional meals due to health and safety reasons.

We sampled a spa and hot pools the next morning before heading up North to the Coromandel Peninsula. Not before stopping off at 'Off road New Zealand' of course, where Phil was let loose on a race track for 12 laps with Laura in the car as a passenger - she quickly regretted this decision! Coromandel is a lovely old town and was a great last stop before returning to Auckland. We went on the Driving Creek railway with it's great views and sampled the local Fish 'n' Chips because all the restaurants (all 3 of them!) were full or closed due to weddings. We returned to our childhoods by going to the Waterworks and going on flying fox rides and spraying each other with water jets before paying a quick visit to Hot Water beach where the crowds were busy digging their own hot pools on a very narrow stretch of beach. We stopped off at Hakei for a very uncomfortable boat trip along the coastline and to Cathedral Cove.

Before we knew it, we were back in Devonport where we spent a few days enjoying a comfy bed and getting all our belongings out of the campervan before returning it. "Smelly Nelly" did a grand job getting us around New Zealand for 8 weeks, but we weren't too sad to return her! We packed up our stuff, went off to the airport and started the long journey home...

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