New Zealand - South Island - The Eastern Half

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Welcome (Kia - Ora) to Aotearoa - The Land of the Long White Cloud, the Maori name for New Zealand. As we appear to have done so much in our travelling here, rather than bore folks with a long blog we decided to split the South Island (The Main Land) into East and West (carving it in half down the middle). Most of what follows makes sense but we’ve used some creative licence to make it work. Enjoy the ride!

Christchurch

On our way back from the wedding, we get to the airport at about 4.45 pm - just in time for Linda (one of the bridesmaids) to catch her domestic flight home to the North Island. Matt (Lynley’s partner) has kindly agreed to pick us up from the airport to take us home to their place where we will spend the next 2 nights. They are a wonderful pair & have been amazingly generous. Lynley has also offered us her car to use for our tour (Tiki in Kiwi we are informed!) of the South Island. On our first night there they have organised a BBQ at home - fantastic with some booze we bought for all of us. Matt has a new toy - a boat he has bought to upgrade for fishing. It’s pretty impressive & he’s clearly good with his hands. They have a beautiful house that they rent, 3 bed for $260 per week which is good value. Matt works for a refrigeration engineering company & Lynley is a Surveyor for an interior fitting company. They are looking to buy somewhere soon.

Christchurch is the 3rd or 4th largest city in NZ depending on who you talk to. It’s claim to fame is the Botanical gardens - the first in NZ - hence it’s nick name the Garden city. Things to do here are visit the Museum which is quite good & informative about Maori history, European settlers & the Antarctic. There is also a lovely Arts Centre with cafes & various workshops in some attractive stone buildings. Going punting on the river Avon is a popular tourist activity as is going on a circular loop around the city centre in an old Tran Car. The centre of the city has the cathedral. As for the rest it has what any other city would have with loads of malls - though we notice a Denny’s diner which we haven’t seen outside the US before. The outer city is sprawling & goes out a long way.

Evonne & Greg are in town - they fly back to Brisbane tomorrow - so we all go out to dinner at the Yellow Cross bar & café in the regenerated part of town called His Lordships Lane. It’s a lovely area with heaps of bars & eateries, all very trendy. It’s our treat to thank Lynley & Matt. We have some fab local brews & pizzas ( Brazillian/Seafood/Indian which go down a treat)

So we throw our stuff into Lynley’s car - a 2 litre Ford Telstar GLEi, which is absolutely great even if it is slightly old - it has all the mod cons we need - speed, air con, power steering etc. & we set off at about 10.45 am (after quickly joining the NZ AA) on the 2nd leg of our trip around the South Island or as some would say the main land!!

Kaikoura coast to Marlborough

We take the scenic inland route north via Mount Lyford - a ski field in winter - rather than the coastal route (as we’ll do that on the train journey from Christchurch to Wellington), and it’s very scenic - lovely countryside and rolling hills once we’re out of the Canterbury Plains with amazing parched hills, some low lying cloudy over them & overhead a amazingly blue sky - typical of NZ only. There are very few other vehicles though we do see lots of cyclists powering up and down the hills - way too tough for us!

There are only short sections of Motorways in NZ, most are A roads which in part become “secondary roads” i.e not sealed as they refer to them here. Kiwis tend to drive to the speed limit (100 km max & 50 in townships) unlike us tourists - maybe the punishments are more severe here - as in Oz where, for example, on bank holiday they get double penalty points for an infringement - 12 points & it’s an automatic 3 month ban. The driving test provisions here are less onerous here than in Oz but still tougher than we have in the UK - we get away with it easy by comparison.

We get to Kaikoura along the coast in 2 hours & stop over for a fantastic fish & chip lunch in the sun by the sea. Kai means food in Maori & Koura is crayfish which is what the town is famous for but the prices are not cheap. We try Rig & Tarakihi instead which are fantastic for only $10 (£3 approx). NZ do have the most beautiful diversity of sea fish & all so cheap & tasty.

Then it’s on again up the stunning coastline - rocky outcrops and clear blue water, to The Store at Kekerengu where we take a short break & have some lovely coffee with the most delicious moist carrot cake (the cream covering it isn’t too sweet & it’s crumbed with pumpkin & sunflowers seeds - simply divine! Good competition for the one we had in Saigon) while looking out over the coast.


Renwick/Blenheim - The Marlborough wine region

We then start to roll into wine country with vineyards far & wide. Not quite the French look though. We eventually get to Blenheim which is the main town in the Marlborough wine region. It’s bigger than we expected and pretty modern though very quiet at night we discover. The roads are bordered with vines and at the end of each is a rose bush - red or white - very similar to what we saw in South Africa.

A short drive away is Renwick where we have decided to hang out - at the Watsons Way Hostel which is lovely. Just off the main road with a mature garden full of fruit trees - apples, lemons, plums, apricots etc. After the recent extravagances it’s back to reality & home cooking after a quick supermarket trip to New World (the Tesco of NZ we think). They have a great BBQ so we use it to good effect to do some chicken in chilli & lime marinade washed down with a nice Pinot Noir (good wine is really expensive in NZ surprisingly). While Marlborough seems to get a lot of hype - it’s only been a wine region since the early 1970s whereas Central Otago which is famous for it’s Pinot has been growing wine for a lot longer. The wine from Hawkes Bay is also terrific. So it’s all in the marketing it seems!

It’s what we came here for - a bicycle tour of the wineries around Renwick - some of the best in the region & little risk of drinking driving (even though there is an offence of cycling while intoxicated). There are plenty of organised bicycle piss ups here but we took the chance & did it on our own; so much cheaper and our hosts at the hostel gave us tips on the best route (wind behind us on the final leg!) and the best wineries.

We visit quite a few places - Cloudy Bay, Alan Scott a family run winery, Hunters, Bouldevines at the Village No 1 Family estate - just bubbles - tried Domain George Michel Pinot there, Huia (family run & named after an exotic now extinct NZ bird), Nautilus, Te Whare Ra (family run which means The House in the Sun). They all provide 5 or so wines for tasting free. They are mainly whites - Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer and one red - Pinot Noir. Alan Scott is the only one that charges $2 each which is great value as they also have the best wines in our view. We manage to keep our heads & steer ourselves home without incident and finish off with another lovely BBQ. Thanks M!

Picton & the Marlborough sounds

We arrive in Picton in time for mid morning coffee. Picton is a lovely place with more to offer than we had expected. It’s largely known as the gateway to the North Island from where the inter island ferry crossings start/finish. The sun is out which makes the day & the place more agreeable. We stop over for some coffee at a place overlooking the sea, soaking up the sunshine & reading the local news. A great way to start a day. There are many families around by the sea front (with a smallish beach). The harbour area is full of smart boats/yachts & some of the sea side pads are dream homes. The residential area stretches up the hills overlooking the harbour & makes the town fun. The businesses are largely tourist centred - bars, eateries, estate agents, bead stores, souvenirs etc. We return to Picton in 2 weeks by train to catch the Ferry for our trip around the North Island.

We then make our way to Nelson on the top end & the west coast side of the S Island. We get on the Queens Charlotte Drive which is very scenic as it goes along the coast along the Marlborough sounds. The views are fabulous all the way along & we make many quick stops for pictures, till we get to Havelock which is about ½ way to Nelson.

This is where C’s skills at being a nosey git come into their own. She overhears a couple referring to an Inn by the harbour in Havelock which does great food, so Slip Inn here we come. The area is noted for it’s Green Lip Mussels, so with a couple of cold beers, we have a GL mussel pizza & Seafood Chowder - fantastic on a hot afternoon. Havelock is a small settlement with some quaint buildings. The Mussel Pot in the township is also famous for good food (it looks like a great place with Mussels structures on the top - but we can only eat so much!!! A shame really with all this yummy stuff around). We then continue to Nelson (a lot less spectacular drive).

(We now jump to Mount Cook & Lake Tekapo, as all the western island stuff is in the next blog!)

Mount Cook (Aoraki)

We leave Queenstown mid morning and the sun is shining! Hopefully it will last until we get to Mt Cook for our second time around. And as we drive further towards Twizel, the views of Mt Cook & the Sothern Alps, as they are know, are coming closer & becoming more impressive on the horizon, which makes for a great drive. The view from the Lake Pukaki lookout (50 km from L T) off the main highway is picture post card stuff. The lake is azure & the landscape is awesome - with pine forest along the sides & Mount Cook & the rest covered in snow in the distance looking quite magnificent on a hot, bright, sunny afternoon. Driving to Mt Cook along Lake P, Peter’s Look out is even better with closer views. The drive to Mt C off the main road is about ½ hour (50 km) though with lots of single traffic bridges which provide good traffic control. (There are 1000s of creeks around the country with these types of bridges). We pop into the mountaineers café for a quick beer (a 12 as they refer to about a ¾ pint) - Speights, which isn’t quite as good as Monteiths in our view! The views from here so close up are great. One can get closer by driving down Hunter Valley but we decide to enjoy it from a distance.

Lake Tekapo

We arrive at Lake Tekapo late afternoon and 2nd time around it doesn’t disappoint either, especially on a clear day. We are booked into the Tailor Made Backpackers Hostel, off the main drag, which is lovely, clean, large rooms, with great garden & all the facilities. We go for a wander & decide to get a bottle of local Pinot & sit by the lake while we build up an appetite. We then go to Pepe’s for some lovely Pizza - Lamb & mint, Venison & roast Kumara (sweet potato), Mt Cook Smoked Salmon & Zucchini (courgette). All brill. One thing that’s good about the NZ Pizza is that you can do ½ & ½ on large ones using two different types of filling or combination of toppings.

There is an observatory here and we only now realise that this is the place to see the best night sky in NZ - fingers crossed as the cloud cover is breezing in literally & C is getting cold. Unfortunately we see very little by way of sky at night - ah well, next time maybe.

Christchurch second time around:

After 10 days of driving around the “Main Land” in an anticlockwise direction we return to Chch after a detour to Akaroa on the Banks Peninsula which is an hour’s drive away. It’s a beautiful Bay & is largely famous for it’s French antecedence. The area is surrounded by hills with vineyards & olive groves. The streets & neighbourhoods have French names & many of the buildings have retained the original design. So it’s quite quaint & picturesque on a hot summers day. Many families are out sunbathing on the tiny beach area & swimming in the sea which looks like a lake because it is so landlocked as a consequence of it’s formation when two volcanoes erupted. On the down side it is largely touristy & very expensive. After a short stay we speed back to Lynley & Matt’s to hand back the car & stay another two nights with them. It’s good to see them again & we treat them to a BBQ as a thank you. Matt is putting finishing touches to his boat so that they can go out fishing early the next day - it’s launch day!!! C & L spend time sandpapering a metal trim until 11-00pm so that Matt has a hope of getting to bed at all. We spend the whole of the day ourselves on catching up. We have to catch up with a lot of admin re the forward trip to South America etc. We take a short walk into town in the evening though. The International Buskers festival is on but we don’t get to see any performances as we have been so busy.

Kaikoura second time around:

It’s up early to catch the Tranz Scenic Train from Christchurch to Kaikoura - a 3 hour journey starting at 7am. Lynley drops us at the station and we say our goodbyes; hopefully we can repay her generosity if she & Matt come to the UK. We check in our bags and board - it’s a fairly standard train except for the observation carriage which has open sides and is where you go to take photo’s of the beautiful scenery we pass through. Initially it’s flat plains around Christchurch, which then becomes rolling farmland and valleys with mountains as a backdrop, and then we join the coast and trace along it, through several tunnels, until we reach Kaikoura. It’s a sunny day and the sea is azure blue and clear. A nice feature of the journey is the commentary from the train manager along the route pointing out places of interest including whales in the distance. K is famous for Whale, Dolphin & Albatross watching together with Crayfish to catch & eat.

Penni meets us at the station and once more launches into her tour guide persona whisking us around the sights of Kaikoura, starting with a good coffee and meeting one of her sisters, Jacqui. As we have tomorrow here too she shows us places we may wish to visit including the seal colony, scenic points, coastal and hill walks. We visit the Kaikoura winery and have a shared tasting ($4 for 7 tastes), and Donegal Irish hotel for coffee, then meet Neil, who, if the weather is good tomorrow, will take us out Cray fishing. Having waxed lyrical about the houses with sea views we call in to her home to meet her Mum, Anne, and it’s a lovely house set up high above the town with great sea views! And a lovely garden filled with masses of flowers and fruit trees. We’re staying in a very comfy chalet room in the garden.

For lunch we head off to The Store at Kekerengu again, and have fab mussels and sea food chowder with a glass each of Two Rivers Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir - both lovely. We pass a couple of roadside stalls selling crayfish - Cays Crays and Nins Bin, but decide to wait and see what happens tomorrow. On the way back we stop at the Ohau waterfalls which is where the seal pups are born apparently (wrong time of year though when we visit) and then cross to the beach for pics of a very obliging posing seal.

As it’s a local speciality, Penni has arranged for Paua for dinner to be cooked at home. And oh wow - doesn’t it taste better than the stuff we had from Hokitika. Anne prepares the Paua (after C has bashed it with a hammer to tenderise it!) - slices coated in crumbs and fried, slices fried and served with lemon and fried patties of Paua blended with onion and bacon and bound with eggs - all delish. It was to go with some locally caught fish but as the delivery doesn‘t arrive Penni nips off to the fish shop for some. Jacqui and her husband Leo and daughter Laila come over and we have a lovely relaxing meal in the garden topped off with homemade rhubarb and apple crumble. Happiness!

The second day sees a complete change of scenery & temperature. It’s dull, overcast & rains most of the day. It’s also cold - just like being in the UK again. The crayfish trip Penni has arrange for us is called off as the sea is choppy & all whale/dolphin/albatross watching trips are off as well. So it’s catch up on loads at home with Anne & Laila who’s there for the day - she’s 6 years old & full of energy. We end up doing dinner for us & Mum as Penni has a Twilight golf session to oversee. It’s lovely steaks from the local butchers with a Stoneleigh Pinot. Penni turn up at 10 & we watch some of the Oz Tennis. It’s time to move on, so it‘s farewell to Penni, Anne, Laila & Jacqui who gives us a drop to the station for the 10 am Tranz scenic ride to Picton. The weather has transformed - it’s sunny & warmer.

The Tranz coastal to Picton

The Tranz coastal makes its way along the coast giving us beautiful sea views on a glorious day. We enter Marlborough county & the wine region again & stop in Blenheim before getting to Picton station at 12.15pm. It’s a beautiful way to travel this section of NZ & we’d recommend it to anyone - thanks to Penni it was her idea. We find a little bar/café nearby & have a couple of Monteith’s & one fish (2 Hoki fillets) & chips for lunch before getting the 1.15pm Interislander Ferry to the North Island. It’s all terribly efficient as our baggage has been booked through from Kaikoura to Wellington, our ticket was a combo through to Wellington as well for $89 each - good value we feel. The sailing out is on a large ship (ex Pride of Cherbourg) which is similar to the England/France Ferries which takes foot passengers & vehicles. The start out from Picton is lovely as one is cruising the Marlborough Sounds which are picturesque & the sea very blue. Then it’s the Cooks Straits where even on a clam day it’s slightly rolling. We eventually arrive at Wellington (the Capital city of NZ) and disembark for the next section of our NZ experience. …………. See you there.

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