Two Poms and a Campervan - South Island
Trip Start
Oct 17, 2006
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26
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Trip End
Jun 23, 2007
Christchurch, New Zealand
Friday, March 23, 2007
Dad picked us up at the airport at Christchurch! It felt incredibly wealthy after travelling
through South America - on arrival at the airport we were impressed to find free drinks and phone calls and extremely posh toilets. And everyone is so friendly and helpful... people really go out of their way to help you here.
We spent the first week with Helen's dad Alan, in his campervan. New Zealand is larger than the UK but only has 4 million people (and 40 million sheep) so once you get out of the main cities the roads are empty (apart from the sheep). Our first stop was Akaroa on the beautiful Banks peninsula where we went on a boat trip to spot local wildlife. We were lucky enough to see a huge pod of rare Hectors dolphins which swam along with our boat, riding the bow and leaping out of the water.
Our next stop was Kaikoura where we stayed in luxury accommodation - an ancient caravan without power! Marine animals are abundant at Kaikoura because of the currents and continental-shelf location. The waters are full of nutrients which attract the whales, dolphins and seals, as well as many sea birds. Our first boat trip here was to see the bird life, and we saw some of the largest species we have ever seen, such as the Giant Northern Petrel and the Wandering Albatross, as well as the smaller petrels, shearwaters,albatross, gannets, terns and gulls. On the way back to shore we passed a huge pod of dusky dolphins, and it was incredible to to watch them glide through the water, effortlessly surfacing in unison.
The next day we went whale watching and we lucky enough to have four sightings of the sperm whale. Our boat had a hydrophones (underwater microphones) to pick up whale sounds, but as they can spend up to 2 hours below surface it's not guaranteed that you will actually see them. Luckily we timed it well and saw the whales as they were spending their ten minutes at the surface before returning to the ocean trench in a deep dive, with the much photographed tail fin disappearing into the waves. That afternoon we went for a walk along the peninsula where we came across a colony of seals basking in the afternoon sun. Walking beyond here became difficult as the grumpy seals frequently blocked the path, and we had to pick our way over rocks a couple of metres from them. All good for photo opportunities of course! That evening we enjoyed some delicious seafood chowder and garlic bread at the local cafe.
After a night in a posh hotel in Christchurch which Alan treated us to, we said farewell and ventured off in our own campervan, heading down south to Oamaru, which is famous for its colonies of penguins. At the yellow-eyed penguin colony the birds seemed unconcerned by the presence of humans, and came really close to the viewing platform. They were hilarious to watch as they shuffled along the sandy cliff paths with the gait of old men. Some preened each other in pairs, while others posed at the cliff edge, wings outstretched. We also visited the blue penguin colony where we watched groups of tiny penguins arriving back at shore after a days feeding out at sea, and waddling up to their nests.
We drove south to Dunedin via the beach at Moeraki, where there are large perfectly rounded boulders buried in the sand. Noone knows how they have eroded to be such perfect shapes but it is a surreal sight. That night we decided to "free camp" in the middle of nowhere on the Otago peninsula. The clear sky revealed a bright panorama of stars and we slept soundly, listening to the crashing of waves. We awoke to a beautiful view and walked down to the isolated beach. It was very atmospheric in the early morning sun, with mist rolling off the sea, and the white sand being pounded by the big Pacific breakers.
After a long drive we stopped in the uneventful town of Alexandra where we cooked our own dinner at the campsite. There was nowhere to eat in the site apart from in the TV room which was like walking into an old people's home day room. Three elderly 'residents' sat glued to the box, in old fashioned chairs facing into the room and noone spoke. We felt like we had gone forward in time and had suddenly become very old!
The next day started and ended badly. We drove off with the power cable dragging behind us, then took the wrong road for 30km! We drove to the lakeside town of Wanaka, gateway to Mount Aspiring national park, and decided to free camp again, this time in the car park (a local told us it was fine, despite the 'No camping' signs). We were woken in the middle of night by boy racers and again early in the morning by a sharp rap on the window and a shout of "Security for the Council"! Luckily he was a nice chap (he drove a campervan himself!) and informed us we were illegally parking and should move on before the police arrive and charge us $500- a close shave!
Next stop Queenstown, where Jon is planning to jump out of a plane... has he finally had enough of 24 hours a day with Helen?
Comments
Getting Close Now
Greetings from Australia. You're pretty close to us now and seeing all the whales which have left here until next season.
Just like to say that you've not done any long driving yet, wait until you're in a camper van in Australia's Vast Outback or even just on the coast, that's long.
C U
Si and Dom