Our Expectations Are Exceeded in NZ's South Island
Trip Start
May 11, 2003
1
18
19
Trip End
May 10, 2004
Christchurch and Nelson, South Island, New Zealand
Tuesday, March 9, 2004
Fri 20th Feb - Arrive in Christchurch at 7.30am and spend the next three hours finding the best deal for a car and, more importantly, finding somewhere to sleep. Get a shuttle bus to the "Designer Cottage" and meet Chet, the landlord, a Chinese-Malaysian from Penang. Have a sandwich at Subway and then crash out for the rest of the afternoon. Wander out for pizza and wine at 7.30pm but end up with fish & chips. Chat to a Dutch couple staying at the cottage, who are aiming to get round the South and a bit of the North island in 14 days. Unlucky for some!! Bed at 10pm.
Sat 21st Feb - Have breakfast at 8.30am and meet an English guy, Ivan, who has moved to Christchurch to work. Walk the 2km into the city, L looking at some warm, long pants in the shops on the way! Go to the new-ish Art Gallery, M looks at the main exhibitions while L concentrates on the "Japonism in Fashion" exhibition. Go to the Arts Centre market, have a bite to eat and buy some fudge and the new Norah Jones album before walking back. In the evening, we watch the (free) "Starry Nights" concert, which combines a few of the West End musicals together, while thinking of everyone at home at the Dancing Concert.
Sun 22nd Feb - After breakfast, Ivan burns our photos to CD and then copies the NJ CD for himself. Good deal! Buy a couple of Pac-a-Macs for our trip around the South Island and L's zip-off trousers. Ring L's M&D and Les after the concert and then go on the internet to finish the traavelpod from Oz. Walk back to the cottage and then get ready to get the bus into the city for our treat night for L's 26.5 birthday! Have oysters, mezze, lamb and pork before heading home stuffed!
Mon 23rd Feb - Pack up and go to pick up our hire car at 11am. Drive the 80km or so to Akaroa, check into the campsite and go to book on a swimming with dolphins trip in the morning. Have fish & chips and then L buys some Merino wool and knitting needles to knit her and Poli a scarf each. I keep telling her it's not that cold! Put the tent up, nip to the supermarket, cook sausages on the BBQ and have a few glasses of wine and a game of cards before bad light stops play!
Tue 24th Feb - Up at 5.45am to go on the dolphin trip. See a white flippered penguin on the way. Once we jump into the water, M is instantly passed by a Hectors Dolphin, one of the rarest and smallest in the world. We keep looking out for them and after one and a half hours we are surrounded by 12-15 of them swimming back and forth. Incredible! After we get back, we pack up and head back to Christchurch, picking up supplies at Pak n Save along the way. L buys a fleece (!) and we buy some pans before we drive to Timaru, cook a chicken curry for tea and head to bed at 9.30pm.
Wed 25th Feb - After breakfast, we go to the DB brewery, where we end up with some free samples to take away with us. L buys a long sleeve hooded top (!!!!) and M a "Tui" t-shirt. Drive on to Oamaru, pitch our tent and do some washing. Drive to a beach where you are likely to see the rare Yellow Eyed Penguins which we eventually see three of from a distance. Cook lamb and potatoes for tea before going to see the Blue Penguins and then chatting back at the campsite under torch light.
Thu 26th Feb - Fried egg butties fro brekky before setting off for our long 400km drive to Invercargill. See the Moeraki Boulders, Shag Point and Dunedin on the way. Stop late in the afternoon at a place where Porpoise Bay is on one side of the mainland, where Dusky Dolphins swim, and Curio Bay, where Yellow Eyed Penguins breed, on the other side. Some of NZ's oldest beach fossils are also here. Arrive at Invercargill, the city that is furthest South in the world, at 6.30pm, pitch the tent and have chilli for tea.
Fri 27th Feb - Leave at 10am and take the scenic route to Te Anau. Stop on the way at Colac Bay, which is spectacular and then Monkey Island and Clifden Suspension Bridge. Pitch the tent at "Fjordland Holiday Park" at 4pm, have a late lunch, relax and book our trip to Milford Sound tomorrow. Spend the rest of the evening cooking a sumptuous beef stew, watching the film, "My Best Friend Wedding" on TV before dashing to the tent in the pouring rain and hoping the tent doesn't leak.
Sat 28th Feb - Up at 7am, make sandwiches and have breakfast before setting off for Milford at 7.45am. Walk around the Visitors Centre when we get there and then onto the trip at 10.30am. Pass Bowen Falls (which is three times the height of Niagara Falls), before stopping at the Underwater Observatory and seeing some Black Coral, which only 1 in a 5000 people see! Then pass some fantastic scenery on the way out to the Tasman Sea and see some NZ fur seals on the way back to the jetty. Drive back to Te Anau, doing the 3 and a half hour walk up to Lake Marian on the way back. M phones his Mum when we get back and we have chilli for tea. Hasn't stopped raining all day!!
Sun 29th Feb - Pack away a soggy tent, drive to Queenstown, past the (Lord of the Rings) Remarkables mountain range, go on the internet for an hour, and then drive on to Wanaka. Walk to Cinema Paradiso to watch "Love Actually" but there are no seats left. Walk back to the camp site and read in the car till it's dark.
Mon 1st Mar - First stop Puzzling World, NZ's 1st 2-storey maze which we crack in just over an hour. After checking out the other stuff there we go for a drive and pass "Lucy's Way". Check into a cabin, cook chicken chilli noodles for tea and then go to Cinema Paradiso to watch "Calendar Girls", which is a brilliant, funny and tear jerking film and reminds us of home. Pack at the campsite we read, write the diary and postcards with a few beers before bed at 10.30pm.
Tue 2nd Mar - After breakfast and packing up, L rings Les while M goes and gets a few provisions and washes the car. Drive to Franz Josef, a glacier town named after an Austrian Emperor. Get the tent up, relax in the sun and write the diary and postcards. For tea, we have steak, jackets and carrot/swede washed down with some red wine. Yummy!!
Wed 3rd Mar - Have breakfast then get kitted out at Franz Josef Glacier guides. Set off on our Glacier trip and reach the base at 12.30pm. Spend 1½ hrs climbing, taking photos and walking into caves and crevasses. Fantastic experience! Back at the campsite we have a steaming hot shower to warm us up. Have pasta for tea and watch US documentary "Extreme Makeovers" before bed!!
Thu 4th Mar - Pack up and go on the internet for an hour before driving on to Greymouth to pick up some supplies and then on to Hanmer Springs. Check into our "unpowered" cabin (which actually is just a hut with a bed and no light). L cooks macaroni, broccoli and cauliflower cheese bake surrounded by a school trip party, who offer us their apple crumble & custard leftovers so we're happy! Watch "The Resort" and a documentary on Iraq before bed at 10.30pm.
Fri 5th Mar - Have breakfast of "perfect" boiled eggs and soldiers (something simple!!) then drive on to the Thermal Reserve, spending a few hours in the hot sulphur pools. Set off for Kaikoura at 1pm and book on to a whale watching trip when we arrive. Visit the seal colony at the end of the town where the seals are basking only 5 metres away! Go back to the campsite, sit in the sun, have a few beers and then cook a curry before phoning M's Mum.
Sat 6th Mar - Go on the Whale Watching at 8.30am and see 4 separate Sperm Whales from varying distances. On the way back get some video footage of friendly pods of Dusky Dolphins! Leave Kaikoura at 12pm for Nelson, stopping for Hokey Pokey & Yummy Gummy ice creams on the way. Get the last cabin at Tahuna Beach Holiday Park and chill out for a couple of hours. Shower and change before having a meal out at "Amigos", having nachos, burritos, paella and wine and walking back in the light of the full moon.
Sun 7th Mar - Have a lie-in before doing some washing. Walk down to the beach in the afternoon, stopping at the Go-Karts and waterslides on the way. Have tea of chilli chicken noodles before catching up on the diary, sewing, our sums and writing Mother's Day cards.
Mon 8th Mar - Leave Nelson at 9.15am and arrive at Watson's Way backpackers in Renwick at 11am. Our friends from Sydney's car market, Henk & Angelina, arrive unexpectedly and we all set off on our own winery cycling tour! 30km's, 6hours and 4 wineries later we arrive back shattered. All have tea together, washed down with a bottle of bubbly before M&L go to the Cork & Keg (Run by an English expat) for a few pints!!
