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Published: April 18th 2008
Decisions!! Decisions!! Which direction next?
Do we retrace our steps back to Wanaka then head across to Franz Josef Glazier and up the longer West Coast or travel across the island towards Dunedin and up the East Coast.
If we had thought more about our route at the start we would've planned it differently.
Following another night at Te Anau holiday park our decision was to travel towards Balclutha then work our way north up the eastern side of NZ. We spent the night at Kaka Point after watching Yellow Eyed Penguins coming ashore at Roaring Bay on Nugget Point. This species is considered the rarest of all the penguins, we saw three of them. Nugget Point is significant for us. It is the furthest south on the planet we've ever been or likely to be. I reckon it is 46.4 degrees south.
Off to Dunedin next, the city established by Scots, the name is Gaelic for Edinburgh, didn't know that!!!. Visited the Otago Museum, shops, Art Gallery then took photos of Rabbie Burns. As if on cue, a visit to this city coincides with a turn in the weather, wet, windy and
freezing, just like home.
To escape the cold we rushed north stopping at Shag Point to see if we could spot any seals. We were not disappointed, everwhere you looked Fur Seals and Sea Lions were lazing about, swimming, or playing on the rocks.
Brilliant to see!!
A few miles north of here we also saw the strange Moeraki Boulders on the beach. These spherical rocks were formed around lime crystals and surrounding mud stone. They look like giant footballs, maybe that's why the next town north is called Hampden.
"BACK ON THE ROAD AGAIN"
We found a free campsite in a place called Glencoe Reserve near Herbert village, for once its Scottish namesake has much more dramatic scenery. Of all the fantastic locations in New Zealand, Why name this area Glencoe?
Another early start in order to cover a fair amount of miles, doesn't prevent us from taking a break at every opportunity. Oamaru, Timaru, then joined the inland scenic route from Geraldine past Rakaia Gorge. This is the place we stopped at on our first day.
Late on we found a campsite at Mt
Thomas Forest near Oxford. It was in the middle of nowhere and we were the only ones there, a bit scary, especially since the only person we saw when we were driving into the forest had a gun.
Checked into a good holiday park at Hanmer Springs, a spa town in the hills. Made a bee-line for the outdoor hot springs complex. The natural temperature of the mineral waters varies from about 36 to 41 degrees centigrade, Good Stuff!!!
Next stop was Kaikoura, famous for Whale & Dolphin watching. Due to the weather conditions no boats were heading out to sea, not only that, the cost per person was NZ$130, which I thought was "Awfy Dear" Maybe we'll see some on the ferry crossing.
Arrived at Picton early to catch the Inter Islander Ferry from the South to the North Island. This cost NZ$160 for the camper and two persons.
Spent a few hours wandering around this pretty little town. So far we've clocked up 2,400 Kilometres in our campa.
Kinda thought it was just a short hop across the Cook Strait so it came as a bit of a
Hanmer Springs
37 degree thermal poolsurprise to find out it takes 3 hours.
Noticed that the boat was actually a former English Channel ferry, it had the name Pride Of Cherbourg painted over white.
It was a smashing trip, a large proportion of which, sails along the Queen Charlotte Sound, this is where we got to see a large pod of dolphins swim past the vessel.
The ferry docked at Wellington, we stayed in this windy city for a couple of nights and expected the highlight of the capital to be TE PAPA, their showcase museum by the waterfront. Perhaps it was one museum too many, but we found this new complex quite dull. A large building with lots of exhibits which seemed similiar to other New Zealand museums. They had a small exhibit about the Scottish influence on these islands. It was pretty poor considering the massive contribution which the Scots actually made. Wherever you travel it's impossible to ignore the Scottish connection, so many place names and every town has a McIntyre Street, Cameron Road, or Aberfeldy Place, it also has lots of shops with names like McKenzies or McGregors. Constant reminders of home.
Our
Seal at Kiakoura
At the Seal Colony travels north from Wellington coincided with a change in the weather, Hot and Sunny!!!
GREAT!!!!
After travelling along a scenic coastal road we stopped for a break in the pretty town of Wanganui before settling in the resort of Ohakune, this is on the Southern edge of Tongariro National Park, our intended destination. This national park is home to 3 large active volcanos, Mt Ruapehu, Mt Ngaurihoe, and Mt Tongariro, the former had a major eruption as recently as 1995. Mt Ngaurihoe, the youngest volcano has become famous for the part it played in the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, it was used as Mt Doom.
At the winter ski resort of Whakapapa we took a chairlift towards the summit of Mt Ruapehu. Surprise! Surprise! this was also used in "That Movie" as part of Mordor.
Continuing our journey we drove for Taupo on the shores of a volcanic lake named Lake Taupo. Looking back on our time in NZ, this would be the most likely place we would live permantly on these islands. It has everything we'd ever want, Beautiful setting, rivers, lakes, walks, volcanoes, golf courses, nice centre,
Mt Doom
Tongariro National Park outdoor activities, hot springs, and much more.
On our way into town I noticed a " Hole in One Golf Challenge" at the lake. Had to stop and have a go. It was a little square pontoon out on the lake with 3 golf holes of various sizes and you had to try and hole out from 110 yards on the shore. Never managed it, Of Course! but I did hit the platform with one of my shots. After 6 months without golf I did OK, had good grouping with my shots, always just missing, although I think my swing was a little slack.
This volcanic area of New Zealand is fascinating, Hot Springs, Geysers, Bubbling Mud Pools, Steam Vents and Smoking Craters. Rotorau has them in abundance, everywhere you walk you come across some geothermal activity, and the town has a constant smell of sulphur. This is also the centre of Maori Culture, never got round to seeing one of their shows.
We visited the "Craters Of The Moon" an active geothermal area near Taupo, it was amazing to discover so much happening in a relatively small area. The steam shooting out of the
Back of the Net
Moerake Boulder ground makes you very dry. We forgot to bring water.
After Rotorau we drove towards the Western Bay of Plenty and the town of Tauranga, on the way we passed through Te Puke, the self proclaimed Kiwi Fruit Capital of the World. They produce other fruits as well, we were surrounded by orchards. Tauranga was a bit built up so we moved to a place nearby called Mt Maunganui. A great little holiday resort on the shore directly beneath " The Mount" a steep round hill at the tip of a narrow peninsula. Our site at the camp site was right on the beach. On our first day we actually watched a wedding ceremony on the beach from our campervan. Not only that, their reception was in the Surf Club, which had large windows only 20 yards away from us, so we ended up practically being guests at the reception, sat drinking our own wine watching the cake being cut, just couldn't hear the speeches.
For the next few days the weather was awful, nothing much to do, so we just headed for Auckland to spend
our last days before flying to Fiji. On the way we stopped at Waihi, a gold mining town. Just yards from their main street is Martha Mine, a gigantic hole in the ground. This is where they extract tiny amounts of gold from tons of rocks. Must be worth it!.
In Auckland we found a camp site on the North Shore at Takapuna. It was blowing a gale during our first night and it never stopped raining the next day. It seemed like the best place to be was the Aquarium and Antartic Centre. We saw Gentoo and King Penguins along with Sharks and Large Stingrays, good for a few hours.
We ran out of time in New Zealand, too many places to visit and not enough time. Our Jucy Lucy Campervan covered 3,600 Kilometres and cost NZ$500 Dollars (200 pounds) in Diesel. Much better value than a similiar hire in the UK, except they stung us a bit at the end, we had to pay NZ$130 Diesel Tax for our campervan and at the airport they take NZ$25 each Departure Tax.
Looking forward to
Mt Ruapehu
Last erupted in 1995 our next destination.
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carol
non-member comment
here comes summer!!!
well what can we say - bad weather thats a shock!!! think of all us back here with the usual rain and wind witht a wee bit of sunshine thrown in with the usual freezing wind to go with it!! - at least you're heading for better weather - i always though that nz was like scotland. it looks beautiful just like eileen!! sorry john but pals stick together - have a great trip and looking forward to your next blog with your shorts on . take car and lol xxx carol+david