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Mirror lakes
The mountains are reflected in the water...Day 1: The one where we left Auckland
Goodbye Auckland! We said our goodbye's to Auckland and went to collect Ruth and Anthony's van. After a fairly long drive we arrived in Taupo and introduced Helen's parents to freedom camping as we camped at the biggest freedom camping camp ground in the north island.
Day 2: The one where Helen jumped off a bridge
We had an early start as Helen did the highest water touch bungee jump in New Zealand. She didn't actually touch the water but managed to launch herself off a bridge and hurtle head (and feet at one point) first to the water. Respect!
After this rush of adrenalin we went to Huka Falls and did a short walk alongside this powerful waterfall with flourescant blue water. We then walked around 'Craters of the Moon' which was a reserve with bubbling mud and moonscape landscape carved out from the sulphuric activity underground. After a short spa trip where we sat in some natural geothermally heated pools, and seeing some more farting mud, we had a second night freedom camping down by the lake which was a very pretty, relaxing 'local' place.
Day 3:
The one where we saw Mt. Doom
It was my second visit to Tongariro National Park but this didn't make it any less interesting as you can do a number of walks in and around the park. We all did a 2 hour walk around a small section of the park and saw the 3 volcano's which dominate the landscape of this area. Mt. Doom (or Mt. Ngurahoe) is the conical shaped volcano that was used in Lord of the Rings. After this short walk we drove to Taihape and stayed in the Gravity Canyon car park as we wanted to be up early to do the flying fox- my first adrenalin fuelled activity in New Zealand.
Day 4: The one where we travelled horizontal through the air at 160kph (as opposed to travelling vertical through the air at 200kph *see next blog*
The Gravity Canyon Flying Fox is an activity where you get strapped in side to side and get released pretty high up and travel for 160 kph for 1kilometre. Pretty cool! After this not so cheap thrill we continued to drive to the capital, Wellington, and had our first stay in a Holiday Park.
We also had our first bout of bad weather with wind and rain in the legendary windy city. In the evening we went out for a few drinks and met a couple of people we know from travels/home.
Day 5: The one where we try to be cultural
Te Papa museum is the best museum in New Zealand and supposed to be one of the best museums in the world. It was huge and very interactive and after a few hours we were pretty mind boggled. They had everything from the biggest squid ever found in the world (it was damn huge and has put me off calamaris) to having a video strapped onto a sheep to monitor it's activities. Crazy Kiwi's! Wellington has more of a student atmosphere than Auckland and consequently has lots of funky cafe's and restaurants. After an exciting cable car ride Ruth and Anthony kindly treated us to an Italian before we all headed back and freedom camped in a car park ready for a very early start to catch the ferry to the south island in the morning.
Day 6 : The one where everyone turned green (apart from Anthony)
The ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton was not the best experience for any of us. We had to wake up at around 5am to get to the terminal and it was dark and pouring with rain. The actual crossing was extremely rocky and Ruth turned as white as a sheet while Helen was sick in a bag. I was sat in between them both. Lovely. On arrival to the south island the weather brightened up and we all felt as if we had arrived in a new country. It was quite exciting as we had heard so much about the south during our stay in the north and we were finally there. We drove to Abel Tasman National Park in the north west of the south island and stayed in a camping ground.
Day 7 The one where we did some excercise
Helen and I did a 4 hour walk in the Abel Tasman National Park which is part of the famous coastal walk that usually takes a few days. It was a clear, crisp, sunny day and the bays were beautiful and the water was azul blue. We followed the line of the coast and stopped
for our lunch on one of the deserted white sand bays. In the afternoon, we drove to Blenheim, salivating as we drove through the hundreds of vineyards. We freedom camped near a sewage disposal unit.
Day 8 The one where we were drunk on bikes
Blenheim itself is definately not particularly exciting but the reason to go to this part of New Zealand - the Marlborough region - is for the wine. Due to the climate with it being mostly sunny with relatively warm periods throughout the year, the grapes are in their ideal environment, thus, as you drive around Blenheim you see vineyard after vineyard for miles. These vineyards are open to anyone who wants to call in for a few tasters. Helen, Ruth and I were definately not going to pass up on the opportunity to drink free wine so we hired some bikes and dragged Anthony along with us. We went to about 4 or 5 vineyards and got rather tipsy but the hard bike ride back to town definately sobered us up! Poor Ruth when she got back to the shop looked like she was going to keel over! In the evening we drove
to Kaikoura along the rugged coast line which, as I am writing this after i've been travelling, was my favourite drive throughout the whole of New Zealand. Not only were the mountains shrouded in the mist as we drove along the coastline, with every corner causing Helen and I to gasp in new wonderment at the scenery, but we also saw our first wild seals chilling quite happily on the rocks alongside the road. We foregoed freedom camping for another night and stayed in a top 10 holiday park.
Day 9 The one where we swam with seals
Seal swimming was one of the highlights of the whole trip. Seeing these creatures in their natural habitat playing with each other with them being so close that they were brushing past us was truly amazing. We were advised not to touch them but they did sweep by us a few times which was scary and thrilling at the same time! After all, they are pretty big when you get up close to them in the water. Kaikoura is a pretty town with a quirky atmosphere and its where i bought my jade necklace which I had wanted for quite
at 'Craters of the Moon'
The sulphur has dissolved the mud.. some time. Jade, or greenstone (Pounamu in Maori) is really popular in New Zealand due to it being a commodity traded years ago by the Maori people. Depending on the shape of the greenstone, the meaning changes and you see many people wearing different types of greenstone when travelling in NZ. In the evening we drove towards Christchurch and freedom camped somewhere very random on the side of the road near a prison and airfield.
Day 10 The day we were Victorians
We continued the long drive passing the Moeraki boulders which are basically some huge unexplained boulders at the waters edge (depending on the tide i guess!) and arrived in Oamaru which was quite a pretty town in parts with some old buildings. We take it for granted living in Europe but because New Zealand has a relatively recent history, among the pakea (Maori for white Europeans) population anyway, ancient buildings tend to be hard to come by. Therefore this provided a good setting to go and dress up as a Victorian nd have a professional photo taken. Great fun! Helen said I could be the ward and wasn't allowed to be the other daughter. That jealous
girl!! Haha. In the afternoon we went penguin spotting and saw yellow eyed penguins (one of worlds rarest) from a distance and went to the blue penguin colony in the evening to watch them on their evening commute home. After spending the day catching fish in the sea, at 5pm exactly, we watched them begin their commute-waddle back home inland. They are so adorable. We stayed at a basic paid campsite just outside Oamaru.
Day 11 The day we dodged past sea lions and penguins
We arrived in Dunedin, which is a very Scottish city evident in its name as Dunedin actually means Edinburgh in Scottish Gaelic. It's a large, attractive city which has a good atmosphere and there is some antiquity about it which is nice to come by. In the afternoon we went to the Otago Peninsula and saw more wild yellow eyed penguins and wild sea lions just lazing on the beach. Incredible! It really is something else seeing these animals in their natural habitat just chilling on the beach. In the evening we all went out for a lovely meal together before testing the Dunedin nightlife. It was fairly lively but we did finish
Mt Doom in the distance..
at Tongariro National Park the night feeling like we still hadn't found the hotspot even though we went to about 10 different places. But then you don't come to NZ for the nightlife do you? We stumbled back to our holiday park at the end of the evening.
Day 12 The day with the first F1 of the season
While Ruth, Anthony and Helen went on a train ride around the surrounding area of Dunedin, I wandered around the city searching for a bar to play the F1. I finally found one and we all watched it together over a couple of beers and some pub grub in the evening. Well done Jenson Button!
Day 13 The one where we decided stuff at the last minute
In the morning we decided we were going to go to Milford Sound so we drove to Te Anau and booked our trek to do the Great Kepler Track which is one of the best treks to do in New Zealand. In the evening we freedom camped on the road towards Milford Sound. It was cold nights like these that we were glad to have Ruth and Anthony's van to warm up in before
being dismissed a couple of hours after dinner!! hehe.
Day 14 The one where we went to Milford Sound
Ruth & Anthony went on a tour up to Milford Sound while we did it on our tod. The road to Milford Sound is a one way road winding around mountains and across lakes and is one of the top attractions in the south island. It was absolutely stunning, and although very cold, we were so lucky with the weather. Mist formed on the flat ground between the mountains and all this was reflected with perfect clarity in the 'Mirror Lakes.' When we arrived at Milford Sound (a sound is an opening of water between vast mountain edges that leads out to the sea) we went on a boat trip along the sound. It was pretty but we would have liked to have seen it in the rain as it is appearantly more dramatic. In the evening we prepared for our 3 day trek the following day and to say goodbye to Ruth and Anthony 😞
Day 15
In the morning we waved goodbye to Ruth and Anthony and were very sad to see them leave not
just because they bought all the food and paid for our campsites!! I still miss you two lots and thank you for everything! We packed up and got ready to climb some mountains!!
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