Kiwis, Fijis and Hawaiis

---

We've been back in the states for about a month now and I figured I would wrap up the trip by sending out a final blog entry of our times in New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii. As you know, we fried our laptop and didn't have much access to computers after that. So here you are...

New Zealand: Lord of the Rings was filmed here.

Days 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 9o4, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108 etc

Australia was pretty much by the hip. New Zealand was going to be much of the same. This was certainly the trip of the unexpected. We knew the islands were beautiful, and we needed to change our standard course. That meant no hotels…no dinners out…and no room tabs charged at the swimming pool. A complete change to our past experiences. We were ready.

We flew from Sydney to Christchurch on the south island of New Zealand. We started the trip by going directly to a campervan site. After a few hours waiting to find a van with automatic (Tim can’t drive a stick) we hit the road for a short drive on our first day. This being our first experience with a campervan, we got started on our journey of south island and tested out the campervan, learning road conditions, driving on the wrong side of the road (we haven’t driven on the right side of the road in four months!) and getting our stuff unloaded (no lugging suitcases for ten days - yea!),. We spent day one (Day 85 of the trip) in Timaru, our first camper park. We loaded the fridge after a grocery stop and had an enjoyable first night. We spent the evening working on our travel plans, and etched out a plan for the next 10 days. We left Timaru the next morning and went south visting Omaru, Dunedin and settled in a tiny point on the southeastern coast called Kaka Point. At this point we’re venturing into desolate land where the towns are small and the roads empty. We stopped in Kaka Point at a motorcamp (thank goodness the campervan company had a book full of campervan listings) that had, I think, four other vans total. The wind blew, but the sun was shining so we walked down to the point (the beach) then on to the local pub (one of two “town” buildings- the other one being a liquor store.) We walked back up the hill to the camp and retired for the evening. I believe we made butter chicken with capsicums (what new Zealanders call red peppers) (which, by the way, they call green peppers green peppers and yellow peppers, yellow peppers, so why a different name for the red ones?) and basmati rice for dinner. Fancy for an RV we thought.

About this time we start making jokes that two Americans died overnight by a crazy killer in remote new Zealand- the jokes continue as we get more and more remote and the weather starts turning on us… but more on that later.

In the morning we are off to the west coast. Today we pass through the townships of Gore and Clinton on the Presidential Highway. Pretty funny, wish we had gotten a picture of the sign! We are headed towards Fiordland on the west coast. This is supposed to be a stunning part of the southern islands with mountains, fiords and just beautiful scenery. The drive is indeed stunning, to a point that we get jealous. Everywhere you look there’s a new vista that is prettier then the one we just passed. We land at Te Anau a small town on a large lake that is the “gateway” to the Fiordlands. We have now been introduced to small-town new Zealand marketing. Every small town is a gateway to something else. Anyway, we get there and hit the information center. Turns out we can make it to Milford sound in two hours. We book a morning tour for the next day and a campervan site in Milford for tonight, and hit the road to make it before nightfall. The drive is even better towards the sound (fiord). The weather is beautiful and clear, we get views of all the mountains around us as we climb up the hills. This is pretty remote country. There is nothing around us but amazing scenery and the occasional campervan passing the other direction. Even the sheep are missing! The road is a little hairy, but Tim negotiates it fine and we arrive safe and sound before nightfall. We park in our site, and head towards the fiord, or sound as they call them, to get a view of what we’re in for tomorrow. As you can see from the pictures, it’s a beautiful area, like nothing we’ve ever seen before. We see the Milford pub (don’t remember its name, but it’s the only building in this area besides a hotel and our camp site) and head in for a beer. Its actually a pretty happening place. The only people that are in Milford are backpackers, campervan people, and the staff who work on the boats- so it’s a pretty lively scene. Tim kicks my butt at darts (both 301 and cricket), then we head home as the clouds seem to be arriving.

The clouds did arrive!! All night long the campervan shook and the rain pelted. It strarted to abate a bit in the morning as we were getting up. We had an 9 am boat ride out on the sound (we picked the first boat out as it was the smallest). We opened the door to hit the showers and were met with fog. Heavy fog, mist and spitting rain. We have met New Zealand’s west coast. We drive over to the port hoping the view won’t be obscured too much—nope, all that beautiful scenery is covered in clouds. Oh well. We go out on the boat and the captain does a good job of showing us the sides of the cliffs and the fantastic waterfalls that surround us. The crazy thing about New Zealand is that it is so remote and dramatic, that it changes in an instant. Yes, it rained and was foggy, but we saw these incredible waterfalls that apparently weren’t there the day before. The route of the trip is usually around one side of the sound, out into the Tasman sea, then back on the other side. Our captain tried to take us out to the sea, but the waves were huge!! (Two Americans died today as their boat tipped over in frigid waters in southern new Zealand) We were on the smallest boat by far in the sound, yet we made it further into the sea then much larger boats behind us. Vic thinking it would be fun, before realizing how tall the waves were, went to the front of the boat to ride it out. Besides sky diving, she said she's never been more petrified in her life.

We pulled back into the sound and saw more ridiculous waterfalls, followed by seal watching and discovering some yellow-eyed penquins hanging out. It was a beautiful, although a different beauty then the day before, and fun trip.

The issue with fiordland is the fiords, being fiords and all, are surrounded by mountains. So we had to drive back to Te Anau, and then halfway back east in order to get around them and continue our journey. That night we made it to Queenstown. We pull into Queenstown and after checking out two different campervan parks (we're now getting picky) we find a space and walk into town. According to a billboard we see later that week, Queenstown is the Switzerland of New Zealand-- and even though we haven't spent much time in Switzerland, we agree. It is a beautiful city, surrounded with mountains and and lakes. The town is pretty small, and on one street we discover an entire shop devoted to the lord of the rings. Did you know it was filmed here? 😊 This town is the center of all crazy adventures- you can take a jet boat up the rivers, bungee, sky dive etc. No, we did not do any of the above. Boring! We know. We take a gondala ride up to the top of a mountain for an overall view, it really is beautiful. Of course, we don't have any pictures as we didn't want to lug the camera around. Sorry! That night we hit dinner (dinner out and not in a campervan!), go to a wine bar, go to a bar that was called "minus 5" (it was negative 5 degrees celcius - not fereignheit - how do you spel that word?), and everything including the bar and the glasses was made out of ice, walls, ceilings, etc. They gave us big coats, gloves, hats, and boots to wear. It was neat, but afterwards we realized it was colder in Sioux Falls and yes, we had fallen for a gimmick. After that we walked to a sports bar and joined the crowd watching the New Zealand Kiwis take on the Australian Kangaroos in football. I don't think we ever figured out if this was Aussie rules football or a different type of football - apparently there are different types. Who knew? Anyways, although Australia almost always wins, New Zealand won and the crowd was excited! A huge victory over the Aussies!

After Queenstown we headed north, then west. We were off to Glacier country. New Zealand has a couple of glaciers still advancing on the land inch by inch. In Queenstown we had okay weather, it was cloudy, but we still had a good view and it was warmish. As we moved north, the clouds grew again. And as we headed back west, they grew significantly. On the way we stopped at "New Zealand's cutest small town," according to the guidebooks, Arrowtown. Indeed it was cute. Beautiful flowers and braided river, cute downtown, etc. Barf. We also had to make a short stop- the original site of Bungy jumping. AJ Hackett created this wacky “sport” with a friend of his on a bridge in the southern island. Now it is a mecca for many jumpers, and a lot of people’s first attempts. Tim curiousity was peaked. We stopped off and watched for a while, Tim contemplating making the jump. Finally he decided he wasn’t dressed correctly (nice excuse eh?) We took off and 2 minutes later pulled into a winery. We were passing through the central otago region of New Zealand. Apparently, they grow some good pinot noir grapes here. Who knew? So we decided to stop by and have lunch/sample some wines at one of the bigger wineries. It was pretty funny to go from bungy jumping to wine tasting, but that’s new Zealand for you! The wine was quite delicious. We buy a few bottles for the van and head north. (We should have shipped a bunch home as I can't find any under 100 bucks here in the states. Oh well) And then west. Then north-west, north, south, west, north, west west west, north, west, etc. We were on the Haast Pass, a pass getting over a mountain range to Glacier country. The road was awesome. At this point, we’re driving through a rainforest. And it was raining so the road had mist and waterfalls and tremendous curves. Oh, did I mention Lord of the Rings was filmed here? We have to head over the mountains through the rainforest back to the west coast. We could have taken a narrow road that apparently is beautiful, but not for the faint of heart. After driving for a few minutes on the "easier route" we are very happy that we did not take the shortcut. This road is crazy! Unfortunately it was raining and we couldn't see any of the crazy mountains surrounding us. Fortunately, it was raining, so we saw waterfall after waterfall and incredible mist filling in the valleys. That's the irritating thing about New Zealand. No matter what the weather, its always beautiful. Its just not fair. Two hours later we get to the end, with only seeing one other car the entire time, and absolutely no other sign of life. New Zealand really feels like the end of the world. We realize we cannot get to the Glaciers by nightfall since its getting pretty close, and now its pouring anyway, so we stop at the only "town" in between the pass and the Glaciers, Haast. This is a smallllll town. A grocery store about the size of Mr. Kims, or Neha's dad's store, or some other really tiny store for those of you who don't know those places, a restaurant, a few houses, and a parking lot labeled as a camp ground.

It poured that night. As we leave in the morning, a guy runs out to our van warning us that the Haast pass is closed if we are going north. Apparently it rained so much that lots of trees fell over onto the road and it would take a while to clean it up. (Apparently it took 3 days! Good thing we got through it as there is no other option!) It continued to pour all day, and the next night, and the next day. Then it slowed down. Finally. In between, we went to the Fox Glacier, everyone else who pulled in was wearing rain gear, galoshes, rain pants, thick jackets, hats, etc. Tim wore his beach trunks and flipflops. I mean, if we're going to get wet anyways, why not? We ran to the edge of the trail and saw the glacier- couldn't get to the front of it as the rain had washed out the trail and made it dangerous, so the pictures are pretty bad. But, hey, seeing a glacier in the middle of a rain forest? Pretty cool. On the way back to the campervan we passed another couple in shorts and flipflops, so now we didn't feel so bad. We're not the only ones who didn't pack appropriately. We head up to the next glacier, the Franz Joseph glacier and are told at the visitor center that we won't be able to see it since the weathers so bad. I ask when its supposed to stop raining over here and she tells me next week. Glaciers over! We head north to the pancake rocks. This is where the weather gets fun. Now we drive through more rainforests, dodging any fallen down trees, and then through plains, driving through flooded roads, listening to the van make weirder and weirder noises. Vic is driving at the time and slows down to get through the waters, and Tim's yelling go faster go faster worried that we might get stuck! Good times.

We arrive at the Pancake rocks, weird rock formations on the coast that get their name because they look like pancakes stacked on top of each other. No one quite knows why they were formed this way. Apparently there are lots of things in New Zealand that people have no explanation for. Spooky. While we're here we see two guys that were on our boat in the Milford Sound. Apparently they are going the same direction as we are. I wonder what kind of campervan they are in? After the pancake rocks, where it is freezing and Tim tries to run over a car trying to get out of our parking spot, we head further north. We crash that night in a town called Greymouth. Which, wait for it... sits on the mouth of the Grey river. Where do they get these names from?? 😊 According to the guidebooks, the Monteiths Brewing Company is located in Greymouth. So instead of parking in a normal campground, which may have been sketchy, as the ground is so soft from all this rain we may have not been able to get out of a grass field, we park in town so that we can walk to the brewing company and not worry about driving afterwards. Well, the campground turns out to be the back of a gas station. The directions to it were "turn into the Exxo station, drive towards the back" It actually turned out alright, as the rain and wind were so incredible, it was good to be in the middle of a city and not in some remote campground where a river could flood in, or trees fall down on us. We headed out to the brewing company and got a 6 pm tour. We had had Monteiths beer earlier in New Zealand, and Vic really liked it, so this was a great coincidence. Afterwards we walked into town and found an old tavern and had a little more of the different types we had tried.

The next day was a lot of driving. We headed north again, towards Marlborough, home of New Zealand's fantastic Savignon Blanc vinyards. We stayed in a beautiful inlet/estuary and hiked up a farm for a good view. By now we're realizing just how out of shape we are! It was one of the more beautiful places we had camped, probably because it wasn't raining and the sky was blue! Shocking! We left the next day and travelled along a crazy road to get to Picton, the port city to the Marlborough sounds. On this crazy road, Vic hit a fence, but didn't believe Tim when he yelled "you just hit a fence!" Later, we pulled over, and indeed a piece of fence was now stuck in the van. Good thing we got insurance. It started raining again, so we couldn't see much of the sounds, so we headed south towards the wine valley, figuring it has so be sunny in a wine valley. We were wrong. But we did manage to sign up for a wine tour the next day, visit a few wineries by ourselves, and went to the grocery store and bought some New Zealand green lip mussels. Cooked em up for dinner with some monteiths beer. Delish.

The next day we got picked up by our wine tour. Wine tours are always a gamble. You don't have much control over the wineries, people on the tour can be great or not-so-great, never sure how many wineries you go to, etc. This one was okay. We went to a lot of wineries which was good, but we didn't care for much of the wine we tasted, we had had much better the day before on our own. There was also a couple from Connecticut - the man I swear was my old colleague Jack's older brother. Jack, if you are reading this, your older brother has a twin in Conn. We weren't used to hearing american accents, so that was odd. That night, I'm not sure what we did for dinner- too much wine probably.

The next day we headed down the coast back towards Christ church. Today we were going whale watching! We went to a small town called Kaikoura, which is the gateway to whale watching. The weather in the morning was fine, calm, sunny. There were some beautiful mountains that surround Kaikoura. By the time our trip was to take place, there was now a sea sickness warning for the trip. So Vic takes her dramamine and off we go! There were some serious waves. It was a very bumpy ride, didn't help that the captain would stand on his chair, looking out the skylight and drive with his foot. Still, it was a very safe ride compared to the Miford sound ride, and anything we were on in Asia! Unfortunately a lot of people didn't take seasickness pills and got very ill. A lot couldn't even make it out to the deck to see the whales!! We saw 3 whales that day-- very cool. By the time we got back in, all the other trips had been cancelled. I guess it was just too rough to continue! We got lucky.

We headed inland a bit to Hamner Springs. This is an area of thermal hot springs. We got there at night, and now it is not only sunny, but warm! We camped that night, and hit a monteiths brew pub. In the morning, we threw on our bathing suits and hit the springs! By now it was hot- hot enough to go in the freshwater pools as well as the thermal pools. Ahh... did it feel good! We pampered ourselves, and got a tan (thank goodness) for a few hours, then we headed back to Christ church.

We dropped off the campervan (Bye Britzy!) and headed into town. Christ Church is a cute little town (much bigger then most of those we drove through the past 10 days) but still quaint. It has a good strip of restaurants along its canal, and a happening bar scene. We spend a couple days just walking the town, trying to get some exercise! Then we flew up to Auckland.

We weren't sure whether we would rent a campervan or a rental, but after 10 days in a campervan, we realized we needed a regular bed and shower. So we opted for the rental car. We had forgotten how fast a normal car can go, all of a sudden we realized we could go places- and get there fast! We had plans to visit two of our friends from the beginning of our trip in Greece at their house in Napier. So we headed south. Guess what we ran into? Rain. At this point I think we were getting quite tired of the New Zealand rain. We stopped overnight at a Lake called Te Anau. We had dinner out at an italian restaurant, and crashed early. We got up the next morning and drove through some interesting hills towards Napier. We have found the main logging area of New Zealand, and NZ's biggest man-made forest. We reach Napier and have a nice day with our friends. We had lunch at a winery (they are everywhere in this country!), a nice drive around the town of Napier which is known for its art-deco, and then dinner at their house. It was good to catch up on the rest of their travels. In the morning we headed to Rotarua. This is the volcano hot-spot of New Zealand with active geysers, steam rising from thermal pools and springs, and mud pools. We arrive, get out of the car and get hit with the smell. Whew rotten eggs. We visit one thermal wonderland (yes, they actually call them that) and see all the sights, it is very interesting once you get over the smell. At this point it is not raining anymore, and its actually quite warm, so we decide to go north and visit a coastal beach area. We arrive at Mt. Mangamamamaga (can't remember the name, and never was able to pronounce it anyway). This is a very popular beach destination, but since it is still spring it wasn't very busy. We found an apt to stay at (with its own kitchen so that was nice) and stayed here for two days. We were able to go for a tough walk up the main mountain (manganamamaga) and then lay out on the beach for a bit. Very relaxing.

On Friday we jumped in the car and headed to Auckland to visit Vic's relatives. Vic's relatives live everywhere but America, have you noticed? We arrived at her Aunt Trish's house and had a great evening visiting with her cousins. The next day we headed north with Trish and Pete to their vacation home. We hung out, hit another beach, had some great food and gins, and just had a very good time. On Sunday we parted ways as they needed to get back to work, and we were going to the Bay of Islands. The Bay of Islands is just that. A bay with tons of small rocks they call islands. We were lucky and had a fantastic day, so we booked tickets on a boat and headed out on the water. At one point a group (herd? flock? school?) of dolphins came and swam with the boat. We got dropped off across the bay at another small town and had a drink to watch the sunset, then took a ferry back. The next day we drove down the west coast back towards Auckland through a rainforest. Not surprisingly it rained again. Darn these rainforests! We still saw some pretty large trees, which was neat. We got back to Auckland, had a great dinner with Trish and Pete again and got ready to leave New Zealand!!

Which turned out to be a little difficult actually since we had missed our flight. Somehow both of us messed up the date, both in our excel spreadsheet and the iphone. We were supposed to have left the day before. The same day that we drove through pouring rain remember? Tough. We ended up being able to get on the flight, we just had to pay a change fee. Good thing its in New Zealand currency. And good thing we got to the airport early! We left and four hours later arrived in paradise. Ahhh... warm weather, white sand beaches, clear waters, blue skies, wait... I said blue skies... what's that gigantic cloud??? Shucks.

We stayed on the main island called Nadi the first night since we couldn't make the ferry connection to our island of Matamanoa. We were lucky enough the next day to have some sun so we were able to lay around in the pool for a few hours soaking up the sun. We headed out to the ferry port and watched the huge rain clouds get bigger and bigger and bigger. We headed out on our ferry running away from the clouds. Unfortunately that night the rain clouds caught up with us. We were in the middle of a tropical depression. Now we're depressed too!! The resort is tiny, 33 rooms, one tiny bar, one restaurant, one small island. Which is great when its not raining. We spent the next day playing ping pong, updating the blog, reading and napping. Later Vic tries to back up all the photos on a USB drive and fries the laptop. Oops. At dinner they announce we are in the middle of this storm and they will have extra activities planned so we all have things to do while its raining.

The next morning we wake up to ... sun!!! The depression, while always around us - you can see largish clouds on the horizon and on the main island, has somehow skipped our little island. We ended up having sun for the rest of our time. So we spent it on the beach, at the pool, snorkling, playing beach games, reading, and generally just relaxing. Fiji is stunning. Too bad it is so far away. The snorkling was great too-- all the islands were surrounded by coral, so you can just put on your mask and flippers and walk into the water from your beach.

4 days later we are headed off to Hawaii. Back to the USA! It was nice that we scheduled in Hawaii as it would have been tough to come straight back to DC after paradise. We crossed the international date line (which Tim was obsessed with) and were rewarded with an extra day. Vic was still doped up from her nyquil so we relaxed in the room for most of the morning. Later that afternoon we were able to go out and catch sunday football live on TV! We are definitely back in the states. We also had to adjust to the American accents. There were no foreigners in Hawaii. It was a little depressing actually. Today we just ran errands, went to a grovery store to get snacks and figured out out plans for the rest of the trip. The next day we got up and drove to the other side of the island. Today we are going to take a helicopter to a volcano! We wanted to see the spewing lava from an active volcano, so we booked a helicopter flight. We were recommended a specific company, but they were sold out, so we booked with a company that only has no-doors helicopters. No doors on their helicopters! Scary. We jumped in, along with another couple, and headed off. The weather looked sketch, with lots of dark clouds looming above. We head into those clouds and it gets cold! We're flying through the clouds in a no-door helicopter. brrr. we come out of the clouds and see a pillar of steam rising from the coast. The lava is pouring into the sea- cool. We also fly around and get pictures of new lava coming out of the mountain. At this point, its nice and warm since the lava is heating us up. After 10 minutes or so of flying around the different lava spurts, we head back.

The next day we head to a hidden beach that Vic's friend Ally recommended from their many visits to Hawaii. The directions were drive one mile over a lava bed. Park, then walk north for one mile over a different lava bed. This is where a jeep probably would have come in handy as our convertible bottoms out every turn. Oops. We park, walk, walk, walk, and find this beach. It really is a hidden paradise. We are two of about 10 people there. The sand feels like powered sugar, and the water is clear. Very calm place. That night we head to Kona and the Kona brewing company for some great beer and even better pizza. Good call Ally. Thanks.

The next day we headed to a more typical Hawaiian beach for the day. No hiking over lava to get to this one. We spent the day chilling on the beach, Tim going jogging, and Vic reading. That night we signed up for a luau (sp?) near our hotel. We watched as they dug the pig out of the pit where they had buried it in palm leaves and roasted it for 8 hours, then feasted on it! Wow it was good. Then we sat back and watched the performance of polynesian dances. That was cool as it was kind of a wrap up of the past month with them performing dances from New Zealand, Fiji, and Hawaii. It was a good last night of our trip.

The next day ... which was our last day... we hung around the hotel's pool and beach for most of the morning, then packed up and headed south. We visited the royal grounds where all the chiefs lived, and the Place of Refuge. Sacred laws, kapu, were of utmost importance to Hawaiian culture and the breaking of them could mean death. A kapu-breaker's only chance for survival was to evade his pursuers and make it to a puuhonua, or a sacred place of refuge. Once there, a ceremony of absolution would take place and the law-breaker would be able to return to society. It was a very cool place.

After that we headed off to the airport. The airport!!! On to a redeye to Seattle, then a 4 hour flight to DC.

We had a fantastic time and hope you all get to visit some of the amazing places we did. Thanks for reading our blog. Now on to watch the inauguration!!

---

Photos

Weird stones
There is no explanation for these stones.

Deceptive beer
Lite beer is not low calorie, its low alcohol.

Waterfall after
This is the same waterfall

Comments

[travislyon]

Nice pics
hey random post. love the waterfall. be safe.