New Zealand South Island

M writes: Ready for more New Zealand love-in from the South Island this time?

We arrived in Picton after a windy and hot crossing from Wellington, through the stunning inslets, bays and basins of the Malborough Sounds, and drove straight to Blenheim: wine country. Although the campsite we decided to stop at for general sorting-out was next to the busy overpass, we had a site next to the Wairau river, surrounded by the usual ducks and birds. Next day involved 2 post-breakfast winery visits (Cloudy Bay and the boutique Huia), through fields of kiwis and cherries (yum!) and orchards, and a revelation, to us at least: Chardonnay can in fact be very nice and oaky. Then drove on to Nelson for lunch and beer in a weird microbrewery within a "founders" model village. Spooky mini buildings. Admired the art-deco cathedral before moving on: it is unique and was a controversial building.

As advised by locals and the Lonely Planet, we were heading to the Abel Tasman National park, in the far north of the Island. Our arrival in Kaiteriteri village was breathtaking: people swimming in high-tide crystalline waters. There is only 1 place to eat - everywhere still seems to close about 7.30 in this part of NZ, despite more numerous tourists. But nevermind, everyone is still so friendly and it rubs off on all us tourists too. Another campervan peril: it rained torrentially all night and M's sensation of damp was result of leaving door ajar. Bit uncomfortable. Too windy and rainy to go sea-kayaking as we'd hoped so we take a high-speed-hold-tight water-taxi into the National Park for a hike and the weather clears up. Walking from Bark Bay to Torrent Bay and across a fun swingbridge we come across shags nesting on the empty beaches and unidentified crested birds (see photo): Jo and Mark please avail us of your knowledge?! After an extremely wet-boarding, wading through the low tide, we returned back on the water-taxi via Pinnacle Island (seals!). Next day, weather is good and we sea-kayak out to split-apple rock enjoying the clear waters and desertedbeach with gorgeous forest backdrop. Oddly, we both get motion sickness on the kayak: has anyone else every experienced this? M had the constant vomiting on the Galapagos boat, but Lozz has never suffered; we felt like weaklings. When we get back to the mainland there is a stranded Albatross on the beach being tormented by the gulls - evil, and we report it. Apparently it happens occasionally. Can't fly off the flat you see.

Reluctantly, we leave Abel Tasman for Nelson Lakes National park and stop at Lake Rotoroa - quiet and stunning as ever but besieged by sandflies. M has to smoke ciggies to deter them, much to L's chagrin. Nevertheless, we brave a walk around the lakeside in thick woodland, accompanied by Tui song and possum traps :-( before the challenging task of cooking in cloud of sandflies. Next day we take the picturesque route out, and have to fjord several rivers to return to the Highway. We stop in Murchison - a tiny, old-school town with no chain stores, just "proper" shops n good coffee. The drive through stunning Buller Gorge brings us to a lunch stop indicated at Lyall: it's a tranquil Dept of Conservation site where you can still fossick for gold and is truly fascinating. There was a whole gold-rush village here, shown on signs: Bank of NZ etc, but now there is nothing: just a picnic site alongside the highway.

It's true: this scenery is perhaps more impressive than the North Island. Laurent is blown away by the long stretch of sweeping, rocky beaches down the west coast towards Hokitika, and in particular, is beguiled by the penguin-crossing signs! All we see though are wekas strutting about fearlessly and tern colonies at the Punakaiki "pancake rocks": strange stack-formations with blowholes we didn't witness coz of low-tide. We finish up at Hokitika: "greenstone" captial (jade and other types of Greenstone have much maori significance), and then we are just too ambitious and disaster strikes. To cut a hideously long story short, we drive on to find an idyllic beach spot, which doesn't materialise for about 30km: we're now officially in middle of nowhere. We drive to the end of a beach track, onto the beach, get stuck in sand and eventually give up trying to dig ourselves out as darkness descends and the rain comes. Spend night in tilted van fearing tides, rain and hook-handed psycho-killers in yellow sow'esters. Early morning we hike up to nearest village where it seems there is something of a community business in towing out unsuspecting tourists. We sheepishly knock at the first door with a 4WD, and it's like there's a rota for whose turn it is to tow out the tourists today! They are evasive about why there is no "soft sand" sign where the track ends and beach begins, like there is everywhere else..Anywa, we are reassured that it must be easily performed and indeed it is, leaving us only $20 poorer and still in possession of the hired van.

Exhausted, we only make it down the road to Okarito lagoon where there is a fantastic community campside bordering on the wild sea and lagoon. We gather driftwood to cook our fresh fish and appreciate the banded-dotterels with their tiny ghost-like chicks on the beach, Don't really appreciate the noisy Germans who come and camp on top of us, but haha - they are woken up surely by the loudly singing tuis in the trees early morning! We share some traveller tips with Dan and Hannah (English bods we met) and hit the road to experience Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. Love the Kea parrots in the carparks! Vistas were good though we couldn't get closer than 500m as the path to the terminal face was closed at Fox, but the stunning blue hues and sheer size of them was still incredible. As was the continuation of the road south with views of the Southern alps, lakes, sea and many rivers. The rainforest becomes denser and we stop at Monro Beach for a walk through it to the beach to see Fjordland crested penguins but sadly they are illusive buggers. Never mind, when we get to Jackson's Bay we are not disappointed. This is the very end of the road before NZ Fjordland and it feels remote and desolate. Only place to eat is the Craypot: a trailer selling local whitebait and fish. People are collecting fresh mussels off the beach and we chat to an old guy with a bucketful - they are huge. We park up mid-bay in an isolated spot with views of the alps and sea. Lovely.

Awaken to lots of mozzies in the van: did they hatch in there? Gross. We walk on the beach and in the forest but still no damn crested penguins, On a whim, we drive around the corner to Allan's Beach and see Hector's Dolphins (endemic to NZ: rounded dorsal fin - see it?) porpoising just for us! Chillingly, there is in fact a skull & crossbones emblazoned trailer parked at the beach entrance complete with scarecrows clad in the very yellow sow'ester I had feared a couple of days previously, women's underwear and "I know what you did last summer" slogans. Only a seasonal whitebaiter with a sense of humour. Maybe. After a gorgeous drive through Mount Aspirinsg National Park - alipine views, lakes, sandflies...we arrive at Wanaka : a low-key traveller base then on to Queenstown, through heaps of colourful wildflowers and tons of deer (venison) in the fields. Queenstown was far more buzzy and commercialised than anywhere we'd been so far in NZ but fun; we shared beers and pizza with some Iritsh guys we met, and later more beers with a crazy Spaniard and her reserved German husband.

Loads of rain in Queenstown next day: bit of a theme on west coast, so we decide to leave a/ Laurent's hopes of paragliding and b/the long drive to Milford Sound. Instead, we head south to the Catlins, which we know we'll love. Stopping in supposedly non-descript Gore en route, we find a brilliant local history museum (whisky & prohibition, loads of vintage settlers' paraphernalia: this is true Scots settlers country) & a fine gallery with impressive african carvings and Ralph Hotere stuff. On arrival in Curio/Porpoise Bay, where we camp no the seafront cliff in an old whaling station, we can sit in our van and watch the yellow-eyed penguin chillin' out there! The incredible jurassic fossilised forest beach harbours several more of them and they come pretty close to us! In the morning, we watch dolphins whilst brushing our teeth and are sad to leave. We continue out of the Catlins via a walk to the the Punakaunui falls and a lunch in Owaka - little hicksville town! At Nugget Point in wildlife-saturated Otago region we spy elephant and fur seals, shags & shearwaters and just past there camp up on the beach edge outside Brighton - very pleasant seaside village. Deafening surf and wind kept us backgammoning in the van - cosy!

Bit more city life the next day in Dunedin where we have some exceptional coffee and admire the historic buidings. Afterwards, we take a sinuous unsealed road through hill, valley and inlets in the Otago Peninsula to Allan's Beach, spotting spoonbills and more yellow-eyed penguins. At Taroa Head there are albatrosses from the resident colony flying about above seals & sealions. No free camping allowed here so we end up in Portabello - red wine in the very friendly local bistro which lends us their laptop for entertainment. Next day we head north to Shag Point, where there are no shags but loads of black-headed and red-bills gulls with chicks. and more seals. On a whm, we stopped at Moeraki Boulders: huge, "mysterious" round boulders with a honeycomb effect - released from the cliffs eons ago. Made it to Oamaru in time to visit the local Whitestone Cheesery and gorge on cheese and wine, then visit Blue Penguin colony where you can sit on beachside bleachers for their nightly coming-ashore: incredible! Around 150 tiny beasts (1kg!) flipped and flopped onto shore and laboured to their nests and partners (guarding chicks), exhausted after swimming about 70km! The tourists and nest boxes are a little articifical but the colony is growing so the protection effort is working. Lots in the car park when we left. Oamaru town was also gorgeous - twee little preserved Victorian centre.

NZ is coming to an end. We spend night in Geraldine campsite to clean up the van and find out selves in a pub where we draw attention to ourselves by participating in the meat raffle and then laurent gets laid into for the world cup/Greenpeace Atoll Rainbow Warrior incident! Next day we were gutted to return our van in Christchurch. We find the many bland looking bars actually serve good food and our Hotel Windsor is hilarious: hot water bottles, 50s decor, Bultin's style tannoy announcements for breakfast (I thought the creamed corn and tinned Spaghetti beakfast options were a joke - oh no!). We have good food and see a decent dub band: Soulsystem, at Dux de Lux, where we end up next day too. "They" say Christchurch is like Cambridge: well there is punting on the Avon, and we did find it less friendly than everywhere else we'd visited. Lovely rose garden in the Botanical Gardens. I can't survive without singing at Christmas so we go to the 9 Lessons and Carols at the Cathedral, which is rather like an English service with a pretty good choir (trebles not sops though - tusk!), great repertoire and a message from the Bishop of Canterbury (NZ!) and Rowan Williams which even mentioned The Children's Society!

NZ has been most satisfying and as we fly to Auckland and on to Sydney for Christmas, we have high hopes for Australia!

---

---