Our South Island Expedition

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WEDNESDAY -Taxi picked us up from Airport Lodge as organised at 7.30am. Apollo was only a short ride away $16 taxi fare. We arrived before the store was open but that was a good thing because we wanted to get out on the road with our camper as early as possible.

After signing all the necessary paperwork we left Apollo before 9am and headed into Christchurch and the surrounding suburbs to check out the earthquake damage. Christchurch is like a ghost town these days - lots of construction happening and lots of road closures. The street of the city are basically empty - it certainly is a very sad sight to see. More than 1000 buildings have been demolished in the city centre and construction is full on.

The weather in the morning was overcast and cold but by lunch the cloud had lifted, the sun was shining and it was a perfect day for road trekking.

Next we stopped by the grocery store and picked up $130 worth of food stuff. Prices here are definitely much higher than in Australia. We have enough groceries to see us through the entire week of our travels around the South Island.

We had a quick stop by the Harley Davidson store in the city centre. It is a much smaller dealership than the stores back home but it was good to have a look around and pick up some clothing to take back home with us.

The afternoon saw us drive out towards Hamner Springs - stopping off for lunch in the town of Waikari. We enjoyed a picnic in the park and admired the relaxed attitude of the locals in the area.

Our drive to Hamner Springs reminded us of why we chose to do this road trip - the scenery, wilderness and plenty of fresh air is just what we needed on this trip and NZ will never let you down. This country is so beautiful and reminded us of our journeys through Alaska as we passed over numerous braided rivers and crystal clear mountain fed streams - simply magnificent countryside.

We arrived at Hamner around 4pm - our purpose here was to visit the thermal pools. General admission into the pools is $20 or $25. We paid $30 each which gave us the advantage of having a 1/2 hour access to a private pool and let me tell you these pools are well worth the visit. There are numerous pools which are all different. There are "adult only" pools and "family pools" as well as water slides and a lap pool as well. We spent 2 hours here and left feeling totally relaxed and refreshed. A must do if you are visiting the area.

This evening we drove to Lewis Pass - our aim was to drive as close to Springs Junction (80km) trip from Hamner. We drove till around 9pm - then pulled over into a rest area for the night.

We made up the bed in the camper - although this is the smallest camper we have ever had it is surprisingly comfortable. We slept well and woke up at 7.30am for a new day.



THURSDAY - One of the great things you can do in a camper is - jump in the front seat in your pj's and drive till you find a nice spot to pull over for breakfast - in this case it was inangahua swing bridge picnic area - a delightfully isolated spot to have all to ourselves.

After breakfast we took a walk over the suspension bridge and took a 1/2 hour hike through one of the tracks before heading off to Greymouth.

On the way to Greymouth we passed through Reefton (the first down in NZ to have electric lights turned on)in 1888. This is a lovely town to stroll around, grab a coffee from one of the local cafés and check out the visitor centre.

We took another stop at Nelson's Creek which is a historic mining town. They have camping, bbq's, toilets and fresh water available. Camping is by donation and the grounds are maintained by the community. You can grab a shower at the pub across the road for $3.

We filled up with fresh water then took a hike through the property where it was once used for gold mining.

Finally we arrived at Greymouth around lunch. Had a leisurely picnic by the beach and refuelled ($2.14 per litre) before heading off to Arthur's Pass. We stopped by the local McDonald's for a coffee and hoped to upload photos etc with the free wi-fi - no such luck..the coffee was ordinary, the hot cross bun stale and the wifi didn't work!

The drive to Arthur's pass was well worth the effort. The weather was not the best - heavy cloud and light rain but the experience of going through the pass will never be forgotten.

After stopping at the viaduct we drove into the Arthur's Pass Village to settle in for the night. The village is small with a couple of cafés, a backpackers place, motel and a department of conservation camp site - Avalanche Creek camp. The camp site is basic with a couple of toilets,a communal kitchen and fresh water. Cost is $6 per person per night and it served the purpose for us.

We both slept well with the sound of the gentle rain of the roof of the van and when we woke the rain was gone and we knew it was going to be another perfect day in paradise.



FRIDAY - up early and organised for a hike by 8am. Drive a short distance to the Arthur's Pass Walking Tracks and spent the next 3.5 hours hiking some of the most beautiful tracks we have ever seen. First stop was a hike up to Devils Punchbowl - the steps were quite a challenge but the view at the end was worth all the pain. Next stop was Bridal Falls lookout, followed by Jacks Hut and our last stop was Beasley Chasm Walk.

We must have walked up hundreds of steps today but it felt great to have accomplished these hikes. By the time we finished our hiking the sun was shining bright with not a cloud in sight.

Today we decided our end destination would be Lake Tekapo - so on with the driving we went. It is amazing how the scenery on the South Island is constantly changing. Every new destination brings even more spectacular sights - no wonder people travel from all over the world to visit this country.

We had lunch in the beautiful Rakaia Gorge area. The brilliant blue waters of the gorge are amazing. Jet boats do trips up and down the Gorge - looked like heaps of fun. The weather has remained perfect today at times even a bit on the warm side but very cool at night.

On our way through we drove into Ashburton and visited Geoff's parents and his brother. We haven't seen the family since 2007 so it was good to catch up for an hour or so before continuing our journey. Filled up with petrol in the town of Geraldine $2.17 per litre - camper took $99 to fill.

We arrived in Tekapo around 8pm - sunset on the lake. Grabbed photos of the Church of the Good Shepherd where they say the most weddings in NZ are held due to the magnificent views of the lake. Beautiful colours reflecting off the huge stunning lake and Mt Cook in the background. Right along the lakefront is the Lake Tekapo holiday park so we pulled in for the night. Cost for a powered site is $20 per person per night. Hot showers are $2 for 10 minutes.

Once we got hooked up we headed off to the showers only to find they were unisex bathrooms - something we have not seen before. It was a little different having a shower stall right next to hubby. Not sure I'm very comfortable with this idea - each time I needed the bathroom I dragged Geoff along so it worked ok for me.

SATURDAY - Had a sleep in this morning then had breakfast and headed off to Lake Pukaki and the surrounding areas. Great views of Mt. Cook from here on a clear day but today clouds were surrounding the mountain which is the tallest in NZ. The lakes here are glacial fed which contributes to the stunning colours you find in the waters. Drive along the Tekapo to Pukaki canal which had a number of people out fishing along the banks. This area has salmon farms along the canals and it was interesting place to stop and observe the the odd salmon swimming loose in the canal.

Took a trip into Twizel before heading back to Lake Tekapo for lunch. Mt John Observatory made a great stop for lunch. It was quite windy up there so we ate lunch in the camper before heading out to grab some photos of the views from up here.

The lake looked amazing - if it wasn't so windy we would have spent more time exploring the area but instead we headed down to the Tekapo township to look around the shops.

We were tossing up whether we should visit Lake Tekapo Hot Springs so we drove there and walked up to the entrance, then decided to can that idea. I had read quite a few negative reviews about the place and when we got to the entrance you could see the pools - which didn't impress us at all. Having been to Hamner and enjoying all it had to offer - these pools were nothing in comparison. Lake Tekapo has only 3 pools and they are not natural thermal pools. Admission is $20 to the pools which is certainly expensive for what you are getting.

Having a few hours of daylight left meant we could fit in a bit more exploring so we decided to head to Timaru on the coast. Stopped at a pub in Albury - a town between Fairlie and Timaru. Geoff wanted me to experience a true kiwi pub. We bought a Speights tallie and enjoyed a bit of people watching in this busy country pub.

Arrived in Timaru just on dark - had a drive through the town and found a free overnight park for camper vans down by Caroline Bay. There were quite a few other campers on the sight and public toilets also available. Geoff cooked up a nice meal in the camper and we settled in for the night. The weather this evening is overcast and quite cool. As the camper is compact it stays comfortably warm during the night without the need to use any heating...in any case I always bring my hot water bottle for those extra cold evenings...anybody who knows me well knows I don't leave home without my loyal hot water bottle in tow.

SUNDAY - Woke up to a wet, cold and slightly windy day here in Timaru. After a good hearty hot breakfast cooked up in the camper we checked out a few of the local shops and then took the coast road to Ashburton. It continued to rain during the drive but we enjoyed the relaxing drive. We arrived at Geoff's families home around 2pm. We settled the camper into the back yard ready for an overnight stay.

Some old school friends of Geoff's picked us up and took us to catch up with another couple who were also old time friends. We then all headed off to have dinner at the local MSA. We enjoyed a nice dinner and drinks. I found it quite intriguing how this bunch of old school mates were still in touch and happy to catch up. I guess that's the difference when you grow up in a small community compared to my childhood of the "big city". Looks like we will be Facebook friends forever now!



MONDAY - how a sleep can make such a difference to the weather in NZ! This morning we awoke to a beautiful warm and sunny day with maximum temperatures reaching the high 20's. After breakfast we went for a drive downtown Ashburton to visit the NZ sock company which has an outlet store attached to the manufacturing plant. We picked up some wool socks at bargain prices and they are something we will be needing for our upcoming white Christmas in Yellowstone at the end of the year.

Geoff and I both felt a little sad when saying goodbye to his family. It has been way too long since our last visit in 2007 and his parents health has deteriorated significantly during this time. We made a promise to come back and visit next year - I guess that means another road trip around the South Island 😊

We took advantage of the great weather and headed off for a visit to Akarora. Passing through many small townships along the Canterbury Plains you can't help but in in awe of the bountiful scenery which surrounds you. The winding narrow roads into Akarora consistently surprised us with awesome views around each turn. Arriving in the French inspired township we are surrounded by large amounts of tourists enjoying the township and the restaurants that line the towns harbour.

The Celebrity Cruise Ship "Soltice" was in port today and with the Soltice comes large amounts of tourists who are cashed up and happy to be spending packets of monies on tours and food at the harbour-side cafés. From up on the hillside the Soltice certainly looked majestic sitting in the huge pool of waters nestled by the extinct volcanic mountainside.

After enjoying a walk around the harbour we took a drive around the surrounding mountains and the Banks Peninsula. We enjoyed the sunset and are feeling totally relaxed - it's hard not to relaxed when you are surrounded by such natural beauty.

Overnight we camped in a rest area a few kilometres away from the small township of Little River which is only about an hour or so out of Christchurch. This is our last night in NZ so we started the tedious task of packing up our gear ready for our departure tomorrow.



TUESDAY - During the night the rain came back in and it was quite cold once again. We woke to the sound of several cocks who were proudly prancing around the rest area - they were well fed this morning as we cleaned out the contents of our camper fridge and food storage areas.

Once packed and the camper given a good sweep out we spent the last couple of hours driving around the hillsides of Christchurch still taking in the damage caused by the earthquakes.

Filled up the camper in Christchurch $2.15 per litre and then headed back to the Apollo headquarters to drop of the camper and make our way to the airport in preparation for our flight at 4pm. All went smoothly at Apollo who checked over the vehicle for any damages (and I must add they went over inch with a fine tooth comb) and refunded our deposit monies.

Apollo provided us with a complimentary drop off at Christchurch International airport and our plane boarded on time for our flight back to the Gold Coast.

We have certainly enjoyed our visit to NZ. We clicked up 1,650 kilometres in the camper and the total cost for our 8 day holiday is $2,500 which includes return air flights, 1 nights accommodation in Christchurch, 7 days camper hire (with full insurance), petrol, groceries and all incidentals.

Freedom camping is not allowed in the majority of NZ but if you are savvy like us and you don't mind roughing it you can easily avoid the hefty holiday park fees by searching out rest areas that are off the roadside and away from main attractions. Just understand that you won't have a flushing toilet to use or a hot shower available and you'll be right. We love the isolated feel of this type of camping and we also don't mind saving a few dollars at the same time.

We also didn't bother using a GPS - the South Island is very easy to navigate around. There are plenty of free tourists maps that you can pick up along the way but best of all just take your time and soak up the amazing scenery and friendly folk you will meet during your



Our next blog will be in December when we travel to Yellowstone for Xmas and thr over to Florida for a Caribbean cruise. See you all then 😊

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Photos

Containers in Christchurch - keeping rocks from sliding onto the roadway

Christchurch from the hills

Coffee shop made from a container

Earthquake affected houses at Ferrymead

Christchurch city

Canterbury plains

Hamner Springs entrance

Private pool at the springs

Family fun park at the springs

Such beauty around every corner

Nelson's Creek suspension bridge

Nelson's creek

Hiking at Nelson's creek - once a booming mining town

One of the many birds we saw along our hike

Canterbury plains

Moss along the hiking tracks

hiking at Nelsons Creek

Kea..cute but destructive birds

Devils Punchbowl Falls

Waterfalls along the Arthur's pass walkway

At Jacks Hut