New Zealand - South Island

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After a good night out, a bit of a hangover and Darth Vadar still going strong we headed to the ferry to make our way to the South Island. Having heard so much about it and having liked what we had seen of NZ so far we had high expectations as apparently the best was yet to come.

The ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton took us three very windy hours and even though it was a little overcast the view coming into Picton via the Marlborough sounds was pretty good! We had planned our route and first stop was to head towards Nelson to spend the night before heading out to Able Tasman National Park for a couple of days. We took a winding road along the coastline and decided to stay in a farm campsite as the rain was getting pretty bad and its amazing how doing nothing all day can make you all the more tired! The campsite was in a great location and we were looking forward to some hopefully better weather and going for a couple of walks into the Sounds the next day...however it was not to be.

On waking up in the morning we discovered with horror Darth had had enough. After turning the ignition key and praying a lot it was clear the AA would need to be called again (at least this time it definately wasn't our fault!). The choking noise Darth was making was not that of a healthy van and after being checked over Mr AA suggested we ask for a replacement as there was no way it was going to get us around the island. So with a new plan of action we headed in the opposite direction to Christchurch in search of the Wicked office...we wanted a new van! Now it would have been easy to get pis*ed off, but we kind of knew it would be likely that this was going to happen and so had subconsciously prepared ourselves. at the end of the day at least we might get a van minus the mouldy interior! So 6 hours later we arrived in Christchurch spent the night in a local campsite and by 8am we were waiting outside the office. With little hassle and two free extra days we got a new van. It was slightly smaller and from the slogan on the side we probably wouldn't be making many friends, but it was new, clean and worked!

From Christuchurch we spent the next couple of days heading down the east coast. the east coast itself was very flat (not what we were expecting as everyone kept talking about mountains) but it was nice nevertheless. We visited a small town called Oamaru a couple of hours south of Christchurch to see a penguin colony. Blue eyed penguins are tiny and very very cute! We watched 150 of them coming back from a days fishing to their nesting site at sunset, and the following day were lucky enough to see a couple of yellow eyed penguins close up nesting in a protected area near the Moeraki boulders.

Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worst and the next couple of days we spent a lot of time driving. We drive down to Dunedin and started heading west to Milford Sound Trying to make lunch was usually comical...I can say this as I sat inside the van making sandwiches whilst Seamus battled against the elements trying to boil a kettle on a camping stove in gale force winds...an irishman will do anything for a cuppa tea!

One thing we noticed on the way to Te Anu (our next stop) was just how clean everything is. There is no graffiti anywhere and the all the towns are perfectly manicured, even stopping at the public convienience was almost a pleasure as they were often cleaner than some of the hostels we stayed in! TO top it off we were also blessed with brilliant sunshine which meant we got to see Milford Sound in all its glory. Milford is on the west coast of the South Island and is possibly the most spectacular place we have been so far on our trip. This mountanous area is covered in lush forest and there are crystal clear lakes around every bend. The sheer size of the mountains makes you realise how insignificant we really are. We got to do some spectacular walks and the highlight was definately kayaking on the sound itself.

In a small group we headed out in dual kayaks (or 'divorce' boats as they are commonly known as) for a 4 hour tour of Milford Sound at water level. The experience was truly humbling and bloody hard work! Seamus still maintains he broke his wrist paddling....I however think it was an excuse not to paddle! 4 weeks in a campervan proved to be nothing of a strain on our relationship compared to this!!! Next time a single kayak please! Despite our little disagreements in the kayak however it was still one of the best things we have done and once out of the kayak our relationship was repaired!

One of the best things about Milford was the campsite. Despite getting bitten to pieces by sandflies and having to embark on nightly swatting sprees, we had one of the best views in the world...for free..

There is so much more to write about our time on the South Island, but time is passing by so I will continue another time.

For now Merry Christmas everyone, have a great time!!! x x

SO Happy New Year to everyone! I have finallly found the time to finish this entry...all seems a long time ago now so I will be brief!

After leaving Milford Sound, meeting the local Kea birds on the way at traffic lights that take 15mins to change we headed onto Queenstown. Queenstown iteslf is a nice city and the backdrop is spectacular. After driving for most of the day we finally found a cheap enough campsite on the outskirts of town. Sadly this one was not to be as pleasant a place as we had been used to so far. It would appear that the local campsite was actually full of permenant residents who had built actual houses onto their caravans. This in itself is not a bad thing, however a couple of residents particularly the local psycho who screamed at me to 'stop slamming my f*ing door' were a little intimidating. Deciding to lie low for the evening (and closing the door very quietly) we drove off early the next morning to do a bit of sightseeing around town. After toying with idea of a bungee jump I decided it was too windy (surely its not possible to do it in
the wind?!) we decided to have a go on the Luge instead. We got another cable car (reckon we must have the world record for these by now!) up to the top of one of the mountains, picked up a helmet and jumped in a little go cart to come racing back down again! Brilliant fun!!

Throughout the rest of our time in NZ we didnt stop, and although the weather turned pretty grim (it rained..a lot!) we still hd a great time. Captain Seamus got to take a plane over Lake Wanaka, we got a glimpse of the Frans Josef glacier and visited the pancake rocks in Punakiki National Park. Unfortunately our ideas of hiking on Arthurs pass were short lived. We persevered for an afternoon but after an hour and a half it was pretty clear unless we wanted to drown in a puddle and living in a wet camper, we were probably best heading back to the East Coast.

Arriving on the East Coast (again) we had 5 days left to explore. The sun, much to our relief, was out again and we spent a day relaxing at Hamner Springs and stayed in a great little campsite with a trampoline (think this was actually a highlight for me!). From Hamner we went to Kaikoura and then onto the beautiful volcanic peninsular next to Christchurch - home to the french settlement of Akaroa. Here we got to go swimming with some Hector Dolphins, before heading back to Christchurch for our final two days.

Returning the van was a sad sad day and I admit I suffered from a little separation anxiety...having the freedom to go where we wanted when we wanted without having to wait for a bus and share a sleeping space with 4 other people was great! We did however find a nice little guesthouse for our second to last night and the lovely owner even gave us our second night free, because she didnt reckon she would be able to let our room anyway and to call it a present from Christchurch, completely restoring our faith that there are some genuinely nice people left in the world!

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Photos

Station Cafe, Cheviot
Stopped here to get lunch on the way to Christchurch with the broken van...