New Zealand Part B: Campervaning

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NZ South Island – Part B: The Campervan

Day 10 – Drive to Franz Joseph Glacier
Unfortunately we spent the next morning kicking around Wanaka waiting for the mechanic to repair our gas bottle. The only advantage we had was that I got to sneak in another visit to the Wanaka Beerworks and pick up a few travellers. After the morning pitstop we got back on the road and headed for the West Coast and the Franz Joseph Glacier. Once again we had some pretty terrible weather, and a long day (afternoon) of driving. We cut our way through the pass and came out on the other side into lush sub-tropical rain forest. It rains on the West Coast almost as much as in Milford Sound, so the scenery was pretty speco. The West Coast rates into Lonely Planet's top 10 drives in the world, and it's pretty easy to see why. After the amazing experience of driving the Milford Sound Highway, we were once again greeted with amazing scenery. Today it was raging rivers and waterfalls cascading over immense mountains which were draped in sub-tropical rain forest. Fiona summed it up best when she said it looked like Jurassic Park. As we neared our evening destination we drove past Fox Glacier which is visible from the road. It was amazing to see such a huge sheet of ice in amongst rainforest and waterfalls – just crazy!

Day 11 – Visiting the Glacier

Although the weather man had promised us relief, we awoke to yet another overcast and rainy day. When I talk about overcast, the clouds are so closed in it is amazing. They sit so low, so dark and so heavy, that it's like you can almost reach out and touch them. We got on the road early again and made our way to the Franz Joseph Glacier car park. We parked the van and sat in the back listening to the light rain falling on the roof and debating our plan. We decided that we'd come this far and really wanted to see the glacier so one of us would wait in the van with Paddy and the other would go check out the glacier and then we would swap over. Not ideal, but part of being a parent I guess. Fi decided she would go first and grabbed the Gortex Jacket and took off. I reckon she'd been gone about two minutes when the heavens opened and it just absolutely bucketed down. I sat in the back of the van half amused and half horrified just wondering what sort of mood Fi would be in on her return. The drowned rat returned about twenty minutes later after completing the walk, the wrong walk, and hadn't seen anything! Fortunately she still had her sense of humour and changed into some dry clothes in the back of the van. I grabbed the jacket and headed out as the rain had eased. After a short ten minute stroll I reached the top of the view point to see the turquoise colour of the glacier ice snaking out of the valley in front of me. As it had been the night before, it was quite a sight to see a massive sheet of ice with waterfalls and rainforest all around. I took in the view for a few minutes before returning to the van and doing another change over with Fi. Fortunately she did the right walk this time and was able to see the Glacier. The van had already proved to be an invaluable way to travel, it let us stop and eat, use the toilet, change, sleep wherever we wanted too, Although it was sometimes small with Patrick, it made it an immensely easier way to travel than using hotels.

We took off on the road again, passing along the battered beaches of the west coast. These are not like our beaches, they are dark sand (I'm assuming is volcanic) and which dark skies and angry surf, the water had an almost grey appearance. In our whole trip along the coast we didn't see a single person on the beach. The driving in the van was pretty slow – the road twists and turns its way up and down mountains, and in places the road has been hacked into the cliff face by hand, with just enough clearance for campervans and buses. It was pretty tiring driving as the van is pretty top heavy and with a lot of rain and wind about she swayed all over the road, but once you got used to it, she was pretty easy to drive. We wound our way up the coast with temporary waterfalls literally plunging onto the highway, with the fern covered forest providing beautiful scenery.

We stopped along the way at Punakaiki to see the 'Pancake Rocks' which have been weathered in a strange manner to look like towers of thin pancakes stacked on top of each other. It was really quite remarkable. After a long day of driving we arrived at Westport (the site of the recent mining incident) for our nights rest. Westport is a pretty unremarkable town other than being the location of Monteith's Brewery, founded in 1868. Whilst it's brews are pretty top notch, it's not the reason I'm writing about it. I wanted to quickly duck into the brewery and pick up a sampler six pack which quickly turned to disaster when our turn into the brewery was misjudged and we ended up ripping up half the bottom fender of he Campervan....lucky we had the full insurance option.

Day 12 – Fur Seals and the Nelson Lakes National Park.

We finally awoke to a day with decent weather, which was such a relief after 7 straight days of overcast and rainy days. We decided to make the most of the weather and do a quick hike to a New Zealand Fur Seal colony. We pulled up the van, had a quick bight to eat and set off with Paddy leading the way and the baby-carrier back pack just in case. Paddy wandered along the path, getting caught up with other people doing the hike and chatting with them in his baby talk. He did quite well, leading us all the way (500m) to the colony viewing point. We checked out the seals, who thankfully were out of smelling range, and then after a brief wander up the kills headed back to the van. We hit the road again heading for Nelson Lakes National Park. The radio provided us with a great deal of entertainment along the way. It doesn't matter how many times you hear 'You're lustening to Classuc Huts FM', that shit is still funny. About halfway to the National Park we stopped in at Buller Gorge to walk NZ longest swing bridge at 114 meters. We crossing the bridge with Paddy leading the way once again, so it took quite some time. Although the bridge was about 10 meters above the gorge, Paddy was less perturbed than Fiona and I. After crossing the bridge we did a quick hike around a track which took us directly through a fault line which was the epicentre of an earthquake in the 1920's. It was quite an amazing experience as the one side of the fault had been instantly pushed up 4.5 meters. The hiking path actually ran directly along the fault, so you could see the effects of the quake up close. After completing the hike we crossed back along the bridge and hit the road again and arrived at Nelson Lakes National Park in the late afternoon. The camp site was on the banks of the beautiful Rotoiti Lake flanked by a mountain Range. With another beautiful day forecast we decided to take it nice and easy and enjoy a beer and dinner outside.....until the sandflies decided to put an end to that prospect. We chowed down and then returned to the jetty to watch a beautiful sunset in what was storybook surrounds.

Day 13 – Heading to Nelson (Christmas Eve)

We rose early the next morning to get out and explore the parks as soon as possible to find yet again another rainy New Zealand day. We were starting to think it's not the land of the long white cloud, but the land of the many grey and dark clouds. We killed breakfast and decided to sit hang out in the van to see if the weather would subside. Unfortunately it only closed in further and started to rain pretty heavily. After a bit of consideration we decided there was no point sitting around in the van at the Park, so we pulled up stumps and headed for Nelson without having had the opportunity to explore the National Park at all. Once again, we decided to take this as a sign that Mother Nature is telling us we need to come back again another time to explore what the park has to offer.

After an unremarkable drive we arrived at the bustling town of Nelson. We found our Campsite, gathered some brochures and checked in. After a quick read we found out that not only would be carols by candle light in the city, there was also an award winning certified organic microbrewery in town! So we grabbed all our gear and headed into town shortly after lunch. We trekked the 90 mins to the Brewery and were well and truly ready for a cold drink only to find it was closed for Christmas! We headed back into town and found the next best thing – an Ale House which specialised in local beers. The best thing about this place was that it was in an old church which had been restored with beautiful gardens. We sat on the grass in front of the church and enjoyed a couple of local ales before heading into town for din dins. After a hearty feed of Thai we made our way to the Nelson Cathedral (via an ice-cream shop) and set up for the Carols. We were blessed with a lovely evening and sat down to join in the festive singing, there were even a couple of Kiwi carols in there as well. Paddy had a whale of a time singing along, which by the way, was much better than Dad's singing. After the carols had ended we headed back to the van, enjoyed an episode of the Tudors (which we've been watching all trip).

Day 14 – Christmas Day

A very low key Christmas greeted us next morning with a very slow start. Santa had found us and left a present for the little bloke which he unwrapped with vigour. Looks like next Christmas will be interesting! We decided to have a quiet Christmas just hanging out in the van and park. Paddy fed the ducks, then threw stones, and them and chased them around the park until they flew away. We took Paddy to the park for a play, had a nice quite dinner and then called it a day. It was quite a relaxing way to spend Christmas, and I think it'll be our last quiet one for many years to come.

Day 15 – Kaikoura

Boxing Day was another quiet one for us. We had a bit of a drive in front of us so we wasted no time in getting on the road. We left Nelson and headed through Marlborough, New Zealand's premier wine growing region. The air was thick with irony as I drove my pregnant wife through what would have been her favourite playground if she was able to partake. It was a beautiful drive, the tasting rooms were elegantly set in amongst the vines with the mountain range offering a stunning backdrop (seems like I am saying that about everything on the South Island). We left the vineyards and hit the east coast which was a stark contrast from we had experienced on the west coast (it was sunny for starters). It was quite calm and the water was a beautiful clear blue rather than the dark grey water we had seen.

Kaikoura is a small town where the mountains meet the sea, although unlike Australia these mountains still had snow on them! We drove the last hundred or so km's along a road carved into the side of the cliffs right on the edge of the ocean. All along the coast fur seals called the rocky outcrops home, lazing in the sun only metres from the edge of the road. You could stop on the side of the road and almost be nose to nose with fur seals.

The caravan park was directly over the road from the train station, so Patrick nearly wet himself with excitement when the train pulled in. The park had a unique playground with a 'jumping pillow'. This thing was about 10m x 5m and a massive pillow full of air – sort of like a huge trampoline. Paddy had a great time prancing around on it, but Dad got into it as well. After a brief play we grabbed the back pack and headed into town for the Esplanade walk. After a couple of wrong turns we realised we weren't going to get all the way around the walking track so paused at a beach front playground to let Paddy have a trot before heading home for the night.

Day 16 – 18: Christchurch

The last three days of our trip were spent in Christchurch, the biggest town on the East Coast. Originally established as an upper class town for English gentry, Christchurch still has a very English feels. Unfortunately for us, we arrived only months after the earthquake, and the morning following a 4.5 level aftershock. As a result, most of the CBD had been closed down for safety reasons including many of the roads. It was quite strange walking through the CBD of what was (for the time being) a ghost town. There were still signs from the previous quake with buildings completely missing, and businesses still closed due to structural damage to buildings, but there were fresh signs from the recent shock. In some places bricks lay smashed on the footpath having fallen from three or four storeys above. Police had cordoned off many areas for safety and almost all businesses were closed. We found a nice bar right in the centre of town almost literally on the doorstep of Christchurch Cathedral and enjoyed a beer. Patrick screamed in delight at finally seeing buses again (there hadn't been too many on the rest of the trip). We then took a wander around town and found a nice Korean place for dinner before grabbing an icecream and heading home.

Next morning we woke to, you guessed it, rain! Fortunately Christchurch is a relatively compact city, and as we were staying in the CBD it was only a short walk to any of the attractions. We started off by hitting the art gallery which held an interesting collection which thankfully had very detailed descriptions. This ensured my attention span last beyond the usual 5 minutes when looking at art work.

After leaving the gallery we headed to the museum which was a hit for Patrick. Dan chased him around the building leaving Fi to actually look at some of the exhibits. Patrick was just on fire, running constantly from piece to piece, pointing, yelling and screaming. He was so excited we almost lost him a couple of times as he was able to barrel his way through the crowds and find gaps which only a 2 ft tall person could. Thankfully the museum had its anticipated affect and Paddy soon needed a big afternoon sleep. With the rain still falling we took the little man home for a nap which eventually evolved into ordering room service for dinner. A very civilised way to spend our last evening in NZ.

Our last day greeted us with sunshine, almost teasing us with what might have been, but rather than lament the weather we'd had, we decided to enjoy what was on offer on our final day. With a late flight, we packed and were free to spend the late morning and early afternoon as we saw fit. This found is sitting in a pedestrian only area enjoying lunch whilst soaking up some NZ sun. Paddy was happy as the Christchurch Tram path passed right next to our table (literally – we could reach out and touch it), so as each of the tourist trams trundled by they were met with much squeeling, yelling and waving. It certainly kept the little man happy.

And so our trip came to a close. It has certainly been very memorable both for it's natural beauty and also the challenges and fun that come with travelling with a toddler. Both Fiona and I hadn't really had any huge desire to make it to NZ previously, and for that we were the poorer. On many of our previous travels we have spread ourselves quite thin whilst trying to take in a lot, and in most cases we've done it quite well, leaving feeling we had seen what we wanted to do. But New Zealand is different. We've only just seen the surface and there's is so much more we'd love to see and do, including completing one of the great walks. We could easily follow our same itinerary and without doing any of the same things, fill it to the brim for another three weeks. New Zealand is certainly a place where we want to dig deeper and see more of it. In the words of the Governator.......”I'll be back!”

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Photos

The Campervan
This was the van we travel NZ in for a week.

The Franz Joseph Glacier
It was very strange to have a huge chunk of ice in the middle of rainforest surrounded by waterfalls.

Clouded In
This photo shows just how overcast it was the day we went to the glacer. It felt like we could almost reach up and touch the clouds.

The West Coast
Ruggedly beautiful - the west coast was a mix of subtropical rainforest and the angry Tasman Sea.

The Pancake Rocks
This photo shows the weathering effects of the pancake rocks.

Crossing the Swingbridge
Here's little man completely unworried about crossing the 114m long Swing Bridge.

Nelson Lakes National Park
Sunset over the lake....

Having some Thai
Little bloke wearing Dad's hat while having Dinner.

Carols by Candlelight
Here's us gearing up for the Carols just before dark.

Kaikoura
Where snow capped mountains meet the ocean

The Jumping Pillow
Here's Dad enjoying the kids play ground more than the kids!

Typical Van Antics
This was a typical scene when we stopped. The little bloke standing up on the seats screaming out the window at everyone and everything.

Play Time
Here's Paddy Having great fun throwing rocks around during a play stop.

Like Father like Son
What to do on a rainy day? Watch Cars on TV.

Sleepy Time
This was how the little bloke slept in the back of the van.