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Published: December 30th 2007
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We arrived at Christchurch airport in the afternoon of the 10th where we were met by Brendan who delivered our campervan, which compared to the van in Australia, felt like a palace on wheels. We actually had room to stand up and sit down inside, plus two gas hobs. Luxury indeed! We stocked up on supplies at the supermarket, thankfully food in New Zealand isn’t as extortionate as it is in Oz, and then stayed in a campsite just outside the city.
The next day we hit the road early heading for Aoraki/Mt. Cook National Park. Along the 5 hour journey we stopped at both Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki, which were our first introduction to the dramatic beauty of the landscape with its lush greenery dotted by white and purple flowers, deep blue water, and striking mountains looming in the distance. Once we arrived at the national park, we set off on the Hooker Valley walk, where we saw our first glaciers at a distance. Unfortunately we couldn’t see the top of Mt. Cook (3755m) due to some low cloud, however this is unsurprising when you consider its Maori name,
Aoraki, means “Cloud Piercer”. In the morning we awoke
to some finer weather, which made the drive along various lakes particularly nice due to the mirror-like stillness of the water. We reached the coast at a quaint little town called Oamaru which has a big penguin colony; unfortunately we arrived at the wrong time of day to see the birds. For the rest of the day we hugged the coastline as the weather gradually worsened on our way to Dundedin and the Otago Peninsula. We spent a while driving through the thick low cloud covering the sheep populated hills of the peninsula on a mission to find sea lions and penguins at various different beaches. We managed to spot a couple of sea lions playing in the surf but failed to see penguins due to pouring rain.
We began to realise why the south island’s climate is compared to that of Scotland, for we woke up to another cold, rain-filled day. We spent the day driving along the
Southern Scenic Route which runs through the forested
Catlins, lush green farmland full of thousands of sheep and the rugged south coastline. We stopped at the lovely Matai Falls for lunch and finished the day by driving through the imposing
scenery of the Fjiordland region on our way to Milford Sound. We managed to camp up in a very enchanting spot in the Eglinton Valley, among a carpet of purple flowers with a stream running alongside our van, surrounded by trees and hills. Although the weather had been dreary all day, it still failed to dampen the land’s natural beauty. In the morning we made the relatively short drive through the Homer Tunnel and down the winding valley into the remarkable features of Milford Sound. Unfortunately the weather was once again not on our side, there was so much low cloud that we could barely see the outline of the famous Mitre Peak. Feeling disappointed we left the way we came, making a couple of stops to take in the scenery, especially at the Mirror Lakes, before arriving in Queenstown in the late afternoon.
We had better luck with the weather the next day for our trip to Lake Wanaka followed by Mt Aspiring National Park. After stopping by the small town of Wanaka, we took the very bumpy unsealed road through streams and hordes of sheep to the beginning of the Rob Roy Valley Track in the national
park. The 3 and a half hour walk turned out to be one of the major highlights of the South Island for us. The valley was vivid green with mountains of blue-grey rock rising high on either side gleaming in the sun plus sheep and cows dotted everywhere. We then entered what can only be described as some kind of enchanted forest full of moss and ferns, which after a while opened up into a breathtaking panorama of mountains and the Rob Roy Glacier. Unbelievable! That night we ate our dinner camped up right on the bank of Lake Wanaka, the perfect end to a great day. Not much to report the next day, as it got really rained out, so much so that we could barely see any scenery as we were driving. We did stop at the impressive Fox Glacier on the West Coast, but we got soaked and frozen. Not good.
After making good ground the day before by driving through the rain, we got to Abel Tasman National Park in the North West corner of the island by the afternoon. Once there we took a walk along the coast in much appreciated sunshine. At times
the scenery and weather felt almost tropical, with brilliant blue sea washing up onto small golden beaches backed by fern dominated forest. After checking the weather forecast, we decided to head back to the Glacier region on our way back to Christchurch. We’re glad we did, as the weather remained fine and after plenty of early morning driving we managed to see the immense Fox Glacier glistening in all its ice-blue glory. The added bonus of re-covering this ground was that we actually got to see all the gorgeous scenery that we’d missed due to the rain. After a quick walk around tranquil Lake Matheson, we camped up at the stunningly beautiful Lake Mahinapua. It was here that we saw arguably the most amazing sunset of the trip, across the lake in the foreground and the panorama of the Southern Alps in the distance; it was as if a master artist was painting the sky in front of us.
We woke early to make the most of our final full day on the South Island, on our way back to Christchurch. Whilst paying for petrol in Hokitika, the friendly attendant kindly advised us to make a slight detour to
check out Hokitika Gorge, which turned out to be well worth it. Afterwards we turned off towards Christchurch through Arthur’s Pass National Park, and again the scenery surpassed our already high expectations of New Zealand. The perfect weather undoubtedly added to the experience, but Arthur’s Pass turned out to be truly mind-blowing. Around every turn there seemed to be vast views of scenery which could scarcely be imagined in your dreams. After stopping for photos a hundred times and picking our jaws up off the floor many more, we finally made it back to Christchurch. Once there we circled the rim of an extinct volcano which watches over the city, to get some great views, before having a wander around the city streets. Next morning we said a very sad goodbye to this amazing island after covering 3,585 kms, and got a flight up to the North Island in order to stay with Kirstie’s friends, Cashy and Gary, at Whakatane in the Bay of Plenty.
Throughout our trip we have been to some very special places, but nothing quite matches New Zealand. Although we have yet to see the North Island, we can say pretty much without doubt, that
the South Island exhausts every positive adjective in our vocabulary because it truly is the most beautiful place we’ve been to.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!
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Linden
non-member comment
Stunning!
I can't wait to come home from the UK next month, your pictures have made me so homesick! Looks like you've had an amazing time and I'm really glad to hear you've enjoyed our little slice of paradise. Peace!