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Published: November 30th 2009
Golden Bay We woke up after an ok night sleep but have now realised we have a slow puncture in our air bed. Ok for Zo, but by the morning I am pretty much on the floor. Packed up our tent, becoming very efficient now at putting up and taking apart the tent. In the car we got and headed up to the southern most tip of Golden Bay at Takaka. Again it was a lovely drive but took us quite a while. When we got to Takaka we decided to stay at a beach front camp in Pohara. There isn’t much to do in Pohara but it was right on the beach. We set up our camp and headed off to see the Pupu springs. They are the clearest natural spring in the world and the largest in Australasia. They were not lying, the water was crystal clear and was amazing to see. We took a walk around them but they tell you not to touch them so not to contaminate them. This was too much for Zo to resist and she had to out her toe in. After that we drove up to Collingwood which is bang in
the centre of Golden Bay. Golden Bay is a huge bay and the scenes were what we expected. We wanted to go up to Farewell Spit which is further north, but a bit of a trek so we left it. Back to camp we went only to find a camper van had parked right next to us, when there was so much room!! We took a walk down the deserted beach, which was all of 5 metres behind us and sat around enjoying the view. Went back to sit next to our camp only to find the strange man in the camper sitting on his steps staring at us. We decided to go out for dinner at a small bar and café over the road. We managed to sit outside and have dinner, the first time in NZ, because the weather was beautiful. When we got back to camp the weird guy was still around so we went to sit on the beach and watch the sunset. It was lovely to sit on the beach, listening to the waves rolling in and watching the sun come down behind the mountains. When we walked back down the beach to camp, who
Bank in Town
the local bank at Takakawas standing at the edge of the walk way?? Charles ‘Weird guy’ Manson himself. This continued to happen the rest of the eve from when we sat in the TV room to the kitchen. Luckily he went to bed before us and we had a good night sleep.
Hanmer Springs We woke up to beautiful sunshine again, and we hadn’t been murdered in the night which was a result!! Back in the car we got for what we knew was going to be a marathon drive. 600km in total and would end up taking over 6 hours. The actual distance is only about 200km but NZ roads always seem to take you on a much longer route! What we didn’t realised though was what we were going to see on the way. The first couple of hours was the usual beautiful NZ countryside until we stopped at Murchison and the Buller Gorge. The reason for stopping was to walk across the worlds longest swing bridge. We arrived and I was still very worried about doing it. Purchased our tickets and then we saw the bridge. It was long and ran across the gorge and river. It was about
Over exposure!!
but quite a cool photo of the sunset on the beach 20 metres high and had a metal grate flooring, so you could see through - brilliant!! I set off first and it wasn’t as bad as I expected, even had a look down (whilst holding on for dear life). Zo followed me over and it started to swing - oh joy!! We made it across in one piece and did a short 15min walk around the island, where they used to mine for gold. On the way back we decided we were going to do a tandem flying fox (Zip line) instead of the bridge. Strapped in tightly and off we went. Due to my extra weight it meant that we flew down there even faster than normal, so much so we bounced back when we were supposed to stop, the only people to do it! It was good fun and nowhere near as scary as we thought. Back in the car and off we drove toward Hanmer Springs. We weren’t expecting what came next….. To get there you have to drive in between the Southern Alps and another set of mountain’s a bit further north and god was it impressive. It was endless beauty for about 3 hours. Amazing
rivers and snow capped mountains. Unfortunately my vocabulary isn’t good enough to describe how great it was. Lets just say it was super-dooper!! We arrived at Hanmer Springs, which is predominantly a ski resort, but as we were there in the summer there was no skiing to be done. We went there to go to the Thermal Springs Pools. Set up camp in the wind and off to the springs we went. We got to sit in natural sulphur pools, which stained Zo’s ring, and various hot pools. Was great and very relaxing. That night we walked into town to have some food and went to the Monteith’s Brewery bar. Turns out that there was quiz on. The Wanderers entered with not a lot of hope, but at the first drinks break we were in the lead - result!! 6 rounds in we were coming in 2nd - very impressed. One round to go and we were still holding 2nd. TV and Cinema to go… most of it was on Kiwi TV and we had a very poor round, resulting in 3rd place by one point and no prize money - gutted!! Back to camp and off to bed for
backpacking to the extreme
Not only carrying bags but me aswell, well not quite. the coldest night sleep ever as we were in the mountains!!
Christchurch Left Hanmer Springs early morning for our trip to Christchurch. On The way into town we were lucky to see a sign to the Pegasus Bay winery. It was a winery I fondly remember from my last trip and was well worth a visit. It is in the most beautiful setting and one of the most spectacular wineries around. As usual we were the only people in there as it was only 10.30am. Zo had a taste of the Sauv. Blanc and Resiling and I at last got to taste a good Pinot Noir and Cabernet Merlot. Just as good as I remember so we purchased a few bottle for Christchurch. As all the major city camp sites tend to be out of town, we decided we’d look into getting a serviced apartment for a couple of nights. This way we would be able to cook for ourselves and save some money. We found a studio apartment right in the centre of town. Parked our car in a multi-storey car park round the corner, packed up our bags and put them on our back to get
in the lift. What happened next was one of the strangest things to happen so far… when the lift reached the ground floor, the doors opened…. And there we were, bags galore, in the middle of a shop!! It was like arriving in TK Maxx. We had to walk through this shop and out the doors with backpacks, wine etc… very funny!! Settled in our apartment and the walked around town to see what was about. It is a pretty city and was nice just to wander. We had decided that we weren’t going to do much this time round because we were coming back to Christchurch later to fly to Aus. We went to O’Sullivans for a drink and some pool and went back to get changed. Back out to His Lordship for some dinner, as we only had a microwave in the apartment, and back to O’Sullivans for some live music. Next morning we had a lie in until 11.30am, and it was bliss. You really start to miss the comfort of a lie in and not having to be up to check out by 10. Got some lunch and went to the International Antarctic Centre. Was quite
Pegasus Bay Winery
leaving with our supplies expensive to get in but had been promised good thing.. First step was to see the penguins being fed and they were tiny. NZ Blue penguins are the smallest in the world and it was just like watching pigeons being fed in Trafalgar Square. We then went into the Artic Storm Exhibition. It is a mock up of a storm and they give you coats and overshoes to wear so not to dirty the snow. Our problem was, I had shorts on and we both had flip flops. Asked the guy if we could still go in and he said if we could brave it. We put these plastic over shoes on our flip flops and into the snow room we went. A few looks of people thinking, who is this nutter in the shorts?? The air temp was -8 degree Celsius and felt ok. We then got the storm warning and the fans began to blow. The temp got to -30 degrees Celsius wind chill and it was bloody cold. By the time we got out our feet had gone a bit numb and so had my legs but all good fun. The final indoor attraction was a 20min
film on Antarctica on an huge screen and it was just amazing. It was all done to music and showed you how fascinating and unspoilt a place it is. Outside we headed to get on our Hagglund - this is a tracked military vehicle, first invented by the Swedish army for arctic terrain. It is also an aquatic vehicle and can go up 45 degree hill, side hills of 33 degrees and over gaps of 1.8m. The woman driving demonstrated this and it was awesome. Very very bumpy but can really motor as well. Was a good afternoon and we saw where all the scientist fly off on the US Hercules to Scott Base about twice a week. As we were by the airport we stopped off at the car rental place to get an extra day because we had miscalculated at the start. Good thing we did, it turns out they had overcharged us for insurance so we got a rebate of $65 -result!! Back to the apartments we went but stopped to get some food to eat in, to save some money. We had a beautiful meal of jacket potato (Micro waved) with cheese washed done with some
The Hagglund
at the International Antartic Centre beer and wine. We also decided we didn’t’ want to go out because it was just lovely to sit around watching TV and relaxing. A great way to spend 2 days for us but we have a lot more to see in Christchurch on our return.
Greymouth Packed up our bags after another nice night sleep in a bed and off to Greymouth we went. Greymouth is right on the west coast and we were travelling from the tip of the east coast. this meant driving across the south island and the Southern Alps again. Well, if we though the views were good last time. They were just the tip of the iceberg, or mountain, compared to this time. We drove along Arthur’s Pass, population 54, and right through the centre of the mountains. By far the best trip so far, it was snow capped mountains, followed by mountains top lakes, followed by more mountains. The most impressive views we have ever seen. After 5 hours of driving we arrived in Greymouth, the biggest town on the west coat. It was dead!! We set up in the top 10 holiday park on the beach and took a walk
Southern Alps
we passed over this bridge on the beach. Our first shingle beach, and therefore our first skimming contest so far. I managed 6 bounces and Zo was just about to win when the wave took her out!! Off to the Shantytown we went, as recommended by the Lonely Planet, or Lying Planet as it should be called. It was rubbish - it is a mock up of a 1800s gold rush town, with a working steam train. It was like going to the Wild West section of Thorpe Park but without any rides!! The only good part was the steam train ride but that only lasted 5 mins. We decided to up the ante and go to the Monteiths Brewery and that was good. Got a full tour and then the best bit. We got to sample all the beers!! They have one which is ready made Lager, Lemonade and Lime - what sort of Barry Gowland drinking beer is that!! The rest were really good though. We were there about and hour and a half so out for dinner at Speights Ale House and back to camp for some Uno, bouncy castle actions (which is surprisingly tiring ) and a rainy night sleep. Zo
was happy now she has bought ear plugs and a eye mask!!
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daddy Russ
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Love the Teletubby Impression Zo!!
Hi guys Good to see you survived the weirdo at the camp-site. Strange huh?! Scenery as spectacular as I've heard. Looks brill. Would love a go on the swing bridge. Did one in Wales once BUT not quite as high or as long. Nice to see that you can still get the essential supplies. Zo's impression of Po the Teletubby looks good. Good to see you're keeping up the family tradition of fancy dress!! Zo does Po, then we get Tom does Pooh. Toilet humour literally guys!! Made us laugh. Got your message today about the glacier hike. I hope it wasn't too cold or too tough to get photos. More adventures. All sounds brill. Keep njoying. xxxxDad