Treve & Katrina Travel The World

Merry Christmas folks from Christchurch on the South Island of New Zealand!

We've just spent a fantastic 3 weeks touring New Zealand in our trusty campervan, Sandy. We've seen such diverse landscapes on these beautiful islands and can only attempt to give you a brief snapshot of our adventures here...

Our Kiwi adventure began on a chilly evening on the last day of November, where bartering for a taxi to take us to central Auckland reminded us very much of Bangkok. As we pulled up to the Auckland City Hotel we realised that once again we were staying in the red light district - Treve really should have paid closer attention to his cousin Steve's advice!

Giant Santa terrifies Xmas shoppers in Auckland

Feeling refreshed after a night of comparable luxury with hot showers (en-suite, no less!) and catching up on the latest Kiwi soap opera we explored the dizzy heights (in more ways than one) of central Auckland. This sophisticated waterfront city was in a similar vein to Sydney, but of course much smaller. We explored the coffee shops (very important!) and boutiques of the side streets, visited the excellent art gallery (complete with an interesting exhibition of Maori art) and enjoyed the sun in the central park, which was set on a hillside with views of the Auckland Tower.

The tallest structure in the southern hemisphere just had to be experienced. So we hopped on a lift to the 50-somthing floor and watched the ground dropping away from us at great speed through the glass-bottomed lift.

Scarey views at Auckland Tower

The city views over the skycrapers were stunning and the walk across the overhanging glass floor terrifying. Outside the crazy and brave plummeted towards the ground on bungies - rather them than us!

Bungy jumping off the Auckland Tower

The following day, the campervan was delivered and it was time to hit the road. Basically a transit van with mattress, coolbox and gas stove in the back, Sandy (as the owners had fondly named her) would be our house on wheels for the next three and a half weeks. After a few cautious laps around the car park we hit Highway 1 south to the eggy town of Rotorua.

It's true what people had warned us - the whole place stank of the sulphur spewed out by the many geysers (nothing to do with our London-based readers!) that litter Rotorua and the surrounding landscape. It was amazing to see and walk amongst the bubbling mud pools and hot springs - geography teachers would have a field day here! The Japanese tourists whipped themselves up into a frenzy as Rotorua's version of "Old Faithful" delivered like clockwork every hour. We were assured than unlike other places, this one was 100% natural and not artificially induced (some sights are reported to place powder inside to encourage an eruption).

A couple of geysers at Rotorua

It was a cultural experience to see Maoris perform traditional music and dance, including the famous Haka - this time no throat-slitting was included!

Traditional Maori dance

So with our noses full of the delicious aroma of rotten eggs, we headed south towards the "kingdom of Mordor" (for all of those Lord of the Rings fans out there!) near Tarangi, just south of Lake Taupo. We were soon overwhelmed in the kitchens by a large group of school kids who would be tackling the famous Tangariro Crossing the following day. This is a challenging full day's treck across the volcanic landscape that towered above us. We plodded up the lower flanks in the van the following day, only to be engulfed by the thick fog shrowding the peaks - we'll have to have another crack at it in the New Year.

The scenery as we raced southwards towards Wellington looked like a set for Hobbiton, with rounded Tellytubby inspired grassy knolls. These were terraced from top to bottom, created by the constant tramping of grazing sheep.

Yum!

"Windy Welly" certainly lived up to it's nickname, as we blew into the southernmost town of the North Island. Wellington, being the capital city of New Zealand, is a large and bustling place built around an active port.

Windy Welly

The recently opened Te Papa National Museum gave us an interesting insight into all aspects of New Zealand's history and culture. Treve was surprised to watch an account of the 60 townsfolk of Helston in Cornwall who had emmigrated in the mid-1800s following the demise of tin mining. Very strange to watch video footage of the Flora Dance in Helston's main street!

Whilst waiting for the 3am ferry across to the South Island, we snatched some sleep in the port-side carpark - our first experience of rough camping in the van and probably not our last. The rough crossing to Picton passed like a dream as we crashed out on the cafeteria seats. At 6am we awoke to amazing views of fjords set beside glassy water and knew that our true Kiwi adventure had just begun. We had heard so much about the South and knew that we wouldn't be disappointed.

Relaxing chez Sandy

We drove bleary-eyed through remote villages and rolling countryside until we found another kip-spot in a layby surrounded by hills and sheep. We were nearly suffocated a few hours later as the remarkably strong Kiwi sun burnt the roof of our tin-shed on wheels and we felt like a couple of roast chickens in an oven.

Treve's cousin Simon had emmigrated to New Zealand with his wife Soo and daughter Ella 3 years previously, so we were very keen to pop in and catch up with a few friendly faces.

The Kneebone Clan!

Pulling into their dusty drive in the rolling hills just outside Nelson, we were greeting by more faces than we had bargained for as their troop of furry alpacas (very similar to lamas) came bounding towards the fence.

Furry-eared alpacas

Simon and the family seemed to have become great experts at all things alpaca-related and they were very excited to have just sent off their first batch of wool that they had hand-sheared - it would soon be returning as balls of the highest quality wool.

We took the chance to visit Nelson, an attractive town full of cafes (how convenient!). We also did an amazing coastal walk in the Abel Tasman National Park, watching sea kayakers glide in between the rainforest-clad islands that littered the bay.

Sand bar, Abel Tasman National Park

It would have been great to have been able to spend a few more days with Simon, Soo and Ella, but with so much to see down south with so little time, it was time to hit the road again.

We climbed southwest out of Nelson, up in the Nelson Lakes National Park, gingerly winding our way through forrested mountain passes, stopping all too briefly to enjoy the tranquil scene at Lake Rotoiti. We were soon chased away by the infamous nibbling sandfly. Pressing ever further southwest, we finally emerged on the west coast at Foulwind Bay (!!) near Westport.

After passing through wild west-style towns we arrived at Punakaiki where limestone and sandstone rocks are layered like a pile of pancakes. These stacks jut out into the sea and erosion from the battering waves has formed blow-holes. The conditions were against us that day and no errupting jets of water were to be seen. However the landscape was pretty amazing anyway.

Pancake Rocks

Further south, the coastal landscape became even more dramatic as the mountains sloped down sharply to meet the sea and stacks of rock jutted out from the craggy shoreline. We had been prepared for horrendously wet weather as we travelled down the west coast highway, created by the ridge of high mountains that hugs the shoreline all the way down the coast, but we were treated to gloriously blue skies as we passed through the (for once) badly named Greymouth.

We stopped off for some nostalgia and gold panning at Shantytown - a collection of building and artifacts brought together to show the life of gold prospectors in the 1800s. A very touristy affair, but we were pleased to strike gold as we tried our hand at a bit of panning.

Caught at last!

Another few hours of driving and we arrived in Hokitika, we New Zealand jade is mined. The town's only reason for being seems to be the peddling of jade, or "greenstone" as it's called here. The jade itself is owned by the local Maori tribe and has to be air-lifted out by helicopter from the inaccessible mountains just inland.

Jade capital, Hokitika

The long windswept beaches were mysteriously covered in driftwood and were just begging for a creative moment!

An arty moment in Hokitika

Sun sets over Hokitika

It was from here that we got our first glimpse of the snow-covered high mountains of the Southern Alps, quite bizarrely from the beach. It felt strange to wake up to the sound of the surf and then to find ourselves 100kms later staring at the face of the Franz Josef Glacier. As we climbed up away from the coastline, we crossed wide strangely turquoise-coloured rivers and lakes surrounded by high, often snow-capped mountain peaks.

Treve at Franz Josef Glacier

We arrived at the alpine-style township of Franz Josef, which had the real buzz of a European ski village in peak season (except for the lack of snow). In fact, the main tourist event was the treck to the Franz Josef Glacier - an hour's walk up the valley, carved out by the might glacier. This awe-inspiring feature dominated the wide, deep-sided valley, glistening at it's snow covered peak and snaking it's way further up the valley, ending in a blue-tinged craggy face, split with bottomless ravines. The photos of Victorian tourists messing about in rowing boats at the foot of the glacier illustrated how much the ice had receded during the last century - another sign of global warming. As we approached the face, an icy wind blew it's way down the valley, over the glacier and reminded us that we were looking at the power of nature in action!!

A 30 minute drive down the valley brought us to a village built at the foot of the Fox Glacier (anyone for a mint?!) We walked around the nearby Lake Mathieson and saw picture postcard reflections of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman in the mirror-like surface of the lake. Truly the "View of views"!!

View of views - Mt Tasman & Mt Cook from Lake Mathieson

The Fox Glacier was only a 30 minute walk from the alpine village. Equally as stunning, but this time with a huge, arching ice cave dominating it's face.

Ice cave at face of Fox Glacier

The river flowing from the foot of the glacier was strewn with boulders of ice, spewed forth when part of the cave had collapsed and exploded the day before - yet another incredible sight.

Iceberg antics at Fox Glacier

Passing prehistoric looking beaches and swamps on the way to the Haast Pass, we stopped off at Ship Creek and watched Hector dolphins (the world's smallest marine dolphin at 1 metre in length) surfing the waves and generally having a good time performing for the tourists! Dashing back to the van to escape the ever-present sandflys, we climbed the Haast Pass, where the scenery regained it's lofty stature.

Climbing the Haast Pass

Narrow, hair-raisingly sharp bends twisted and turned us past stunningly clear lakes and waterfalls, only parting when we arrived at Lake Wanaka.

Lake Wanaka

Wanaka is New Zealands top tourist destination, so we took full advantage of the camp site overlooking the lovely Lake Wanaka, which acts as an inland beach and from where the snow-capped peak of Mt Aspiring can be seen.

Delia knocks up another risotto al fresco

The following day we took on a gruelling 4 hour tramp in the the Mt Aspiring National Park, following the thick forest ever upwards, emerging directly opposite the Rob Roy Glacier at the top.

Hiking to the Rob Roy Glacier

Rob Roy Glacier

At times, we doubted we would even make it to the start, as we subjected the van to a 50km bone-shaking ride across gravel tracks and fjords (shh! don't tell anyone!)

Hungry Kea loves salami

Pressing on as ever (a real theme for this trip!) we headed south following turquoise blue rivers through deep gorges to Arrowtown, just outside of Queenstown.

The clearest mountain water

It was great to meet up with Joby & Karla once again - a couple we met in the Blue Mountains near Sydney and who have now emmigrated to New Zealand. Karla was a great tour guide and gave a full running commentary as she drove us all around the sights of Queenstown!

At Karla & Jobys' place in Arrowtown

Queenstown itself is the adrenaline capital of New Zealand and set in dramatic alpine scenery. Once again, this tourist town had a real ski feel to it and was even complete with a cable car. Being the gateway to the surrounding ski areas, all of the shops were geared towards the great outdoors.

Queenstown

It's not surprising that a lot of the Lord of the Rings was filmed here - "The Remarkables" mountain ranges were used as the backdrop to the main battle scene and were indeed remarkable! Of course, we also had to trot off to the flicks to watch "The Chronicles of Narnia" which was also filmed here.

The remarkable Remarkables

Only short distance west as the crow flies, but a surprisingly long drive south, then west is the town of Te Anau, the gateway to Fjordland and Milford Sound. Te Anau was again set around an idylic lake, the second largest in the whole of New Zealand and formed by a glacier. From here we took a late night boat trip to magical forgotten caves that were part of Maori legend and then re-discovered in the 1940s. The innermost caverns were dotted by the illuminations of glowworms looking to attract flies for their meals and ressembling the sky at night.

Here we go loopy lupin!

We thought the scenery couldn't get any better, until we drove along the dramatic Milford Highway towards the Sound. In the space of 30 minutes, after passing through a mountain tunnel, we dropped past glaciers down steep rock u-shaped valleys, tumbling with veins of water, down to the quays at Milford.

U-shaped valley on Milford Highway

During the 2 hour boat trip, we ventured out into the Sound (in fact a fjord) towards the Tasman Sea, passing incredibly steep cliff faces which seemed to tower above us, often cascading with waterfalls.

Milford Sound

Cruising through Milford Sound

Onwards then eastwards, across the flat plains of Central Otago to the kilt-wearing city of Dunedin (celtic for Edinburgh). This city felt so Scottish, there were even bag-pipe playing buskers in the streets, while woolshops shamelessly sold sweaters and tartan printed souvenirs to busloads of Japanese tourists.

Dunedin city centre

Otago Peninsula, Dunedin

Actually, the most interesting part of this city is it's claim to the steepest street in the world (1:1.1 for those interested) - slightly dubious about this one, as we're both sure we've climbed steeper streets in Mousehole!

Steepest street in the world?

On the way northwards towards Christchurch, we did a major swerve back westwards to try to get a glimpse of Mt Cook (New Zealand's tallest peak) from the eastern side, but alas this was not to be as all we saw was the Mt Cook visitor centre and the rain bouncing off our windscreen!

Our view this morning of Akaroa, near Christchurch

So here we are now in Christchurch, the most English of Kiwi towns. You can all heave a sigh of relief that we have almost finished this epic! We're sitting in a Chinese tat shop, cum internet cafe, listening to an electronic version of Jingle Bells and toy cats meowing all around us, finding it really difficult to concentrate!

Push Me - Pull Me VW Beetle, Christchurch

Tomorrow, we're heading northwards to Hamner Springs where Katrina will be enjoying a outdoor thermal bath - a real Christmas Eve treat. We'll be spending Christmas Day itself in Kaikora, hopefully watching the whales and dolphins swim by as we BBQ fish and New Zealand lamb chops (mmm... surf & turf!) on the beach! At some point we'll hopefully start feeling "Christmassy" as it is so bizarre to have hot weather in December!

Hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas & stuff yourselves full of turkey (or nutroast for the veggies out there!) and choccies in front of the Queen's Speech - we're not at all jealous! See you on the other side for some North Island antics! Ho! Ho! Ho!

Lots of love,
Treve & Katrina xxx