South Island - Glaciers, Gold, Queenstown, Dunedin & Christchurch

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Day 11 cont …



After departing the awesome ferry, we cracked on with the driving. Picton to Nelson was today’s aim. It wasn’t a long drive but with the early rise and ferry we decided to keep it easy. Having spent 4 nights parked in the Mawdesley’s driveway we decided tonight it was a pretty good idea to charge up Mighty Monty. We got to our campsite on the beach and went down to catch the sunset, which as everything else in New Zealand is, was beautiful. A quick scran (food to you non Scots subscribers) and we were ready for bed.



Day 12 - 295KM DRIVEN:



Big drive day today. And 12 days in, Samantha’s first day behind the wheel of Monty! This wasn’t due to Sam being lazy or scared, more due to timing. Every time we said Sam would take her first shot of driving (admittedly Monty was awful to drive) the weather would be pretty bad or something. Safety first and all that.



Anyway, she smashed it. 3 hours without batting an eye lid all the way to Greymouth all whilst looking like a lesbian trucker (see photographic evidence). Greymouth is famous for one thing, Monteith’s Brewery. Much like Cumbernauld is famous for a particular orange fizzy drink … Anyway, as we were in town, it would be rude not to sample the local delicacy. Sam was designated driver for this one (she was due one with the winery tours we did) and I was designated beer taster. The mass brewing that we expected is actually done in Auckland now and this site was for the craft beer efforts. The tour we did was good, however, there was only 3 people on it and this made the whole thing go rather quick. But the sampling was wonderful. Through the trusty app we found a great camp spot in a car park overlooking the beach, with what we were told was a great sunset. You can decide for yourself with the epic photo of Sam and I contained in this literary genius.



Day 13 - 202KM DRIVEN:



Today was another fairly big drive day to the Glaciers. Sam was again happy to jump behind the wheel and looked less like a lesbian trucker today. The drive from Greymouth to Fox Glacier was absolutely epic. We spent the whole day winding around mountain ranges going from crazy heights to sea level constantly.



Unfortunately when we arrived, we found out that the tour we wanted to do, which was essentially a big walk onto the glacier with crampons etc no longer existed. Due to safety reasons, you can now only access the glaciers by a helicopter tour. As you can imagine, helicopters are bloody expensive. We talked it over and decided for us to do other cool shit in New Zealand and also in Melbourne we couldn’t justify close to $800. Instead we joined a family of 11 Chinese tourists on a walk which finished up next to the ice. Although we could have done this walk for free, the $60 seemed worth it when we got the knowledge of an experienced guide, the banter of crazy Asians who had no interest in learning just taking selfies. I did manage to sneak in (photobomb) the family photo, so that was worth the money alone. With this glaciers being crazy touristy - we had to stay at a paid site, but to be honest the rain that hit us after the walk, we were glad to be somewhere cosy with a warm shower available. We had a couple of vouchers from our brewery tour for free beer, so we kind of had to go to the pub …



Day 14 - 307KM DRIVEN:



Fox Glacier to Wanaka was today's itinerary. A wee stop off in Haast as well, for fuel and food. Turns out Haast was a town full of conmen. It was the first petrol station for 176km and they charge accordingly. We decided to risk it and keep going to the next one because it really was taking the piss. We made it. The drive from Makarora to Wanaka was bloody sensational. A wander around Wanaka led us to hearing many, many Scottish accents. Much of the South Island is named after Scottish places due to the settlers but this was the first place we heard a significant amount of real life Scottish people. It was still raining - this was becoming a bit of a theme - and we stumbled across a chocolate cafe, so what else were we supposed to do? This place was so good, we went back to another branch 2 days later. Rather than staying in Wanaka we decided to drive on through to a free campsite we found on the app. The Cadrona Pass was another epic drive, making today one of our best drive days. The end destination easily topped all of our other campsites. We parked at the top of crown ranges and had amazing views of Queenstown and the surrounding mountain ranges. We decided to do a wee trek to get better views and even though it was freezing, it was totally worth it because I found $10, oh and the views were pretty decent as well! Luckily the view from the car park was so spectacular because it almost made the sub zero temperatures worth it!



Day 15 - 61KM Driven:



Sam decided it was a good idea to go back up the hill. It was good for a picturesque outdoor pee, but too cold for any other sort of enjoyment. Our first stop of the day was a bit random. A little gold village called Arrowtown, which Claire had told us about and it turned out to be one of Sam's favourite places in the South Island. Everything in the village is still as it would have been back in the gold mining days, even the new real estate office was designed in such a way. It was so small and just an awesome wee place. A short drive to Queenstown was ahead of us, where a friend of mine from school, Ross, was kind enough to let us park in his driveway for a couple of days. We went a wander around Queenstown and pretty quickly headed towards the world famous Ferg Burger. We decided that after the hype, the wait, the price - it is pretty over rated. But if you are around Queenstown, it is worth a visit. A couple of pints / cocktails in Queenstown and then a couple of drinks in Ross' house to finish off a cracking first night.



Day 16 - 0KM Driven:



We debated a bit as to whether or not we should walk or pay for the Gondola. Paying for the gondola was definitely the right choice. The views on the way up and the experience of it was awesome. We also debated how many luge rides we wanted to do, we went for 2 each. The weather was cracking which made a difference and meant staying up for the morning and afternoon was an easy choice. The luge rides were amazing, Sam was hilarious, screaming all the day down in the middle of laughing or generally making funny noises. If any of you ever do this, take Sam with you - it really adds to the experience. A wee afternoon nap sorted us right out. The budget was stretched and we grabbed dinner at the Fat Badger for pizza. They do two sizes, 12" or 20". Unfortunately 20" is too much for 2 people, especially when one of those people is Sam. Still amazing pizza though. The budget got really stretched to the chocolate cafe we went to in Wanaka for desert. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.



Day 17 - 133KM Driven:



Early rise to smash a 5 hour drive to Milford Sound. Didn't happen. We got 45km from Te Anau and our van broke down. Like really broke. To make matters worse, the weather had deteriorated dramatically. 160km/h winds in some places in the South Island and we were stuck in an old van on the side of the road. We were towed away and stuck on a campsite over 2 hours away from where we were meant to be. Luckily, the only road to Milford Sound was closed due to adverse weather and avalanche risks. The van company were pretty swift and gave us an upgraded van rather than making us wait for our one to be fixed. This van had 6 gears, cruise control and loads more amazing things. But it was big, like really big. We booked our night at the campsite anyway so got some beers and stayed the night.



Day 18 - 307KM Driven:



Our trip to Milford yesterday was obviously cancelled. However, rather than give up hope, we decided to re-book for today, get up really early and try again. Just before we set off, I checked the road and it was still closed due to fallen trees so that was that. New plan was to head 4 hours to Dunedin which was a doddle. Until we got there. It was much busier than everywhere else on the South Island and this new van wasn't exactly easy to park. Managed to find a space, grab some lunch and have a wander around the city centre. We parked up at our free campsite and walked to the Speights brewery tour, which was head and shoulders above the Monteiths one. The history and then the tasters were a great mix and definitely worth the cash. Most of our tour continued on to the bar for dinner, we were too cheap so went to the van for 2 minute noodles #winning.



Day 19 - 0KM Driven:



We planned on doing the Cadbury chocolate tour yesterday, however, our luck really seemed to be out with an ammonia leak closing the whole factory. We called first thing to make sure it was open and booked a morning tour. Not having breakfast was perhaps a small mistake. Free chocolate, empty stomach, more free chocolate resulted in a slightly sugar rushed, dizzy Scottish couple. Worth it though. The tour was great, some cool facts about how cadbury's has grown from a small UK company to pretty much the biggest chocolate company in the world. And the free samples were amazing. After our chocolate breakfast we ate our packed lunch outside the Dunedin railway station which is the 2nd most photographed building in the Southern Hemisphere (with the opera house in Sydney being the 1st) and enjoyed some sunshine. We also went along to the Settlers Museum which was fun to walk around and had some really cool Scottish history as well. Claire had recommended a wonder around the University which was pretty nice and meant crossing the water of leith!! After a chill in the Octagon gardens, we headed back to the van to grab a couple of drinks and sit on the grass to enjoy the sunshine. Drinking makes you need to pee. So we decided to pee in the pub across the road from the van and ended up signing up for a pub quiz raising money for the Dunedin special olympics. 16th out of 20 was a good effort since we were the only team of 2 and lets be honest, we aren't that bright.



Day 20 - 409KM Driven:



It was windy. Very windy. We drove to the only 'castle' in New Zealand, Larnach Castle. Turns out it was really just a big ass house. However, it was lovely all the same. A cracking breakfast and some great tips from one of the staff and we were ready to get on our way. Before leaving Dunedin we want to Baldwin Street - the worlds steepest street. It was pretty steep. Moeraki Boulders were next on the sight seeing hit list and they were pretty epic. Basically they are boulders which have been formed over time by the sea, sand and stones. The plan was a simple drive to Christchurch, which was about 4 hours away but all on state highway 1. Simple isn't something we're good at. Due to the crazy winds, there was a high risk of bush fires and in fact right next to state highway 1 about 50km from Christchurch a big fire started. So we were detoured for about 8km down a tiny dirt road, which wasn't fun. We managed to get back on the highway, find our campsite for the night and get some sleep.



Day 21 - 23KM Driven:



Pretty much everybody recommended Hanmer Springs if we had time when we got to Christchurch. So we decided to make time. They are a selection of hot springs and private pools with a spa and were pretty damn good. It was during the school holidays so there were a lot of kids, however, the private and adult pools were our main port of call anyway. Mornington Hot Springs in Melbourne were a bit fancier and relaxing, however, Hanmer was pretty ace as well. We managed to find a cheap campsite for the night before heading back to Christchurch in the morning.



Day 22 - 258KM Driven:



Today was our day to wander around Christchurch, which we heard mixed reviews about but were looking forward to all the same. The city is lovely, but the after effects of the earthquake are pretty clear to see and it does feel a bit like a big building site. However, the re-start mall is amazing, where the shops have used old shipping containers for a makeshift mall area, which has turned into a bit of a hub. The botanic gardens were something else we had heard was a must do, so we did it. The sun was out and we went a big walk around the gardens which was a nice way to finish our day in the city. We drove out to our last ever campsite for the night to get sorted for our flight the next day. It was a weird feeling packing up the van, but we would be kidding ourselves if we said we weren't looking forward to sleeping in a real bed and in a room with walls.



Day 23 - 25KM Driven:



Last tidy up, petrol filled, stuff packed. It was done. We dropped the van off, headed to airport and flew to Melbourne!! Our trip was almost over ...



Total KM Driven in New Zealand: 3,348KM (NZ is only about 2,000km long ...)



Enjoy this blog folks, there are only a couple left. What will fill the void when they are done? I really don't know.



Ciao x

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