Last New Zealand post.

One thing i forgot to mention in my last post was that when we arrived at Dunedin camp site, Colin decided the walls weren't quite where he wanted them so he reversed our campervan into one of them. Most unlike him to be so clumsy! Surely he wasn't trying to damage Lucy, so we could stay in a nice hotel instead?

The penguin place in Dunedin on the Otago peninsula was good as we got to see the very rare and extremely shy yellow-eyed penguin (only 5000 of them are left) We viewed them sitting in their nests from hidden trenches. It was great, but in my opinion the best thing about penguins is the way they walk and, as they were protecting their nests, they didn't move at all. This just wasn't good enough so we drove on to Oamaru, where every evening around dusk the penguins return from their fishing expedition, waddle up the beach and return to their nests in the coast cliffs rising from the beach. Straight away we saw 3 of them comically making their way towards the hillside and patiently waited to see more. Then about 20 mins later we realised their nests were only a few feet in front of where we were standing. The inquisitive little fellows then popped right up to check us out. So much for being shy!! It was amazing, they were so close to us. We also saw the about 400 little blue penguins too. Very cool.

On leaving Oamaru campsite the next morning Colin had another moment and wrapped the van around a big wooden post (as it was in the way!). As with the previous sabotage attempt no serious damage was done. This meant that we still had one night of camping left in Christchurch, so, if it was a cunning ploy to get in a hotel earlier, it failed. Obviously realising this he didn't create any further 'accidents'.

We didn't spend much time in Christchurch as we were staying out of town and had to fly out the next day back to Auckland. This is where we spent our final night in NZ in a heavenly bed as planned and, much as I had enjoyed the camping, it was really nice to have a big comfortable bed that doesn't let in a draft every time one of us rolled over and your own bathroom that was as big as the whole van. Back to civilisation. It was good.

We both loved NZ and can't wait to go back at some point. Now we have started planning our Australia leg of the trip as we arrived in Sydney yesterday. Yes, I did accidently pick up a saftey card from the seat pocket in front of me. (See previous photo exhibit). Think it got stuck in a magazine which I packed in my bag. Oopsy-daisy!!!

We've picked up some interesting souvenirs on this trip...

...but this is the strangest. Kim decided (by accident) that we needed to have a memento from one of our flights... the safety card!

Just arrived in Sydney

Lovely weather, here are the obligatory shots of the bridge and opera house.

Guess where we're going tomorrow!

Oamaru photos

Click on the Penguin to see... lots more Penguins.

Photos from Dunedin

Mostly Penguins and boulders...

Just got back to Auckland so time for some more pictures

Here're the photos from the Catlins - click on the seaweed for the rest - saw some nice waterfalls that day.

Te Anau - Dunedin

Wow, Milford Sound!! This place is gorgeous. Anyone who has been will know what i'm talking about. Those who haven't should go. I'm not sure the photos can do it justice, no matter how good they are.

The day we arrived in Te Anau we had a whole afternoon to fill, so what better way than take a helicopter ride? After Queenstown, life on the open road seemed quite boring! Only joking. Every time we hop in the van we see something new and exciting and more beautiful. As we'd already booked a coach trip and boat cruise to Milford the next day we managed to get ourselves on a trip out to Dusky and Doubtful Sounds. The flight was incredible. Stunning scenery. The mountains just come straight up out of the fiords. We landed a couple of times for photos, champagne and snowball fights (I never thought i'd be doing that when i woke that morning). It was one of the highlights for sure.

Later we went to a pitch-black cave full of glowworms. Never seen a glowworm before. I have to say i was a little underwhelmed by their size. The light that shines from their tail is not big, but the overall effect when you see them all above you is like looking at a starry sky.

Our trip out to Milford Sound the next day was as awe-inspiring as the helicopter trip had been. On a boat you just see it from a totally different perspective, and instead of champagne you get a picnic lunch! Can't really say any more. Just look at the photos.

After the beauty of Te Anau and Fiordland, Invercargill was a bit of a let down, but we only stayed 1 night and moved on this morning. We had been told that the drive up from Invercargill through the Catlins region should not be missed. On the drive we found some stunning waterfalls which you'll see photos of soon, and we think we've finally discovered where New Zealand hide all there sheep. Don't get me wrong - we've seen many, but there are apparently 9 sheep for every human being out here and we felt we were starting to feel that this had been greatly exaggerated. Turns out Southland is where all the sheep go to hang out. It was a lovely drive. Now we are in Dunedin.

Tomorrow we are booked on a penguin tour, which will likely be another highlight for me. I love the way they shuffle. So graceful in the water, so utterly comical out of it!

Invercargill photos

Just a few pics from our drive from Te Anau to Ivercargill.

Wanaka photo album

Fiordland - Milford Sound

Photos from our boat trip along Milford Sound

Fiordland - Lake Te Anau

Click on the picture for the rest

Fiordland - Doubtful and Dusky Sounds

Lots of pictures from our helicopter flight over Doubtful and Dusky sounds in Fiordland

Queenstown

Photos from our adrenalin fuelled days in Queenstown, click on the picture to see the rest.

Catching up with the South Island photos

Just finished uploading the rest of our remaining photo albums. These are from the glaciers (click on the picture to see the rest). More to follow

We're a long way from home...

Fiordland

Took a helecopter ride...


To have a snowball fight!

Pancake rocks at Punakaiki

As always, click on the photos to see the rest of the album.

That's it so far from the South Island. I'll try to upload the rest of the pictures from Franz Josef, Wanaka, Queenstown and Te Anau over the next few days.

Kayaking in Abel Tasman

A few photos from Marlborough wine country

Photo album from Kaikoura

Going back in time slightly, these next few albums are from our first couple of weeks in the South Island.

The Glaciers - Queenstown.

From the glaciers we went inland a little to Lake Wanaka via the Haast pass, a lovely drive over the lowest part of the southern alps range, but still rather high. Wanaka is a small and pretty town. At this time of year it’s also a very cold town with ice cold winds.

We braved the winds and incessant rain and went walking up a mountain for 3 miles anyway. We must be suckers for punishment. We were soaked by the time we got back to the van, even with waterproof jackets. But as no other idiots had ventured out that day we were able to dry off and get changed in the van easily. There would’ve been no need for curtains – no cars were in the car park at the start or finish of our walk!

We travelled from Wanaka to Queenstown where we started to get some nice weather again. Queenstown is the adventure sports capital of NZ and before we had even arrived in town Colin had jumped off a 43m high bridge with just a big elastic band around his ankles. Of course I too could have done this but somebody had to take the photos! I did also persuade him to get the DVD so we can bore you all back home with something other than photos.

Yesterday we blew our budget a little and went on a jet boat (freeze your nose off and careful not to dribble speeds), followed by my first helicopter ride ever to higher up the Shotover river where we white-water rafted back down. Apparently in Queenstown it’s fine to do a grade 5 rapid when you’ve never rafted before. (Grade 1 is a tame float down a river, Grade 6 is classed as commercially unraftable!). Apart from some crazy rapids and a hairy moment where we accidently grounded our raft on a rock, everything went swimmingly, no, bad choice of words, we got very wet but the raft stayed upright and everyone apart from the experienced guy filming it managed to stay in the raft. We followed the active morning with one of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten in my life.

Today we worked off the calories by doing another tough walk 500m up a mountain. It was a very strenuous walk but totally worth it when you got to the top. The weather has been fantastic for the last 2 days so the views were stunning. Partly because of the gorgeous weather and partly because of the lack of sand flies and other bitey insects we both rate Queenstown very highly.

Tomorrow we are going to Te Anau where we have booked a coach trip into the Milford Sound, which promises to be beautiful and the weather looks like it’s going to be good for the whole weekend. Yay!

Only a week left now in NZ with our van, Lucy. After a particularly bad night’s sleep last night I think even I will look forward to staying in a hotel in Auckland (yes, we have already booked the one with the heavenly bed) although I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole campervan experience. Colin still rates it right up there with the worst kinds of torture including watching Riverdance and waiting for me to get ready to go out!!!

Look away now Mum! (Part III)

Last one, we promise... at least for the next few days :-)

Look away now Mum! (Part II)

Part III to follow shortly.

Look away now Mum!

Motueka - Franz Josef Glacier

The North Island photo album has now been posted so we hope you enjoyed the pics. It’s all a bit out of sequence now, sorry.

We had gorgeous weather and a fabulous time kayaking up in Abel Tasman national park. It was hard work especially in the morning, battling the high seas. You may think I’m exaggerating but it was seriously choppy. We kayaked out to circle an island which had a lot of seals posing on rocks and playing in the sea not too far from our canoes. Then we had another hard slog around several coves before parking up on a beautiful (desert island style) beach for a lazy lunch/swim (if you’re brave enough). Then we did a more leisurely paddle in the afternoon. We were aching much more than the previous time, but it was definitely worth the pain.

From Motueka we headed down the west coast for a night in Greymouth, a convenient stopover place. The campsite was just off the beach but, as the weather was misbehaving, we only stayed on the beach long enough to skim some stones into the sea and then ran back to the van.

As we left Greymouth we discovered more van trouble. We got a radiator warning light. As the garage we were advised to go to was closed and the light had gone off we decided to drive on to the glaciers as planned. The light kept coming on (very disturbing when driving quiet roads through the mountains in the rain) but we made it. Finally, after much internet activity, we found the radiator tank hiding where you would least expect it to be and it was empty. A litre of water later and the problem was resolved.

The next couple of days were probably our biggest disappointment yet. The glaciers look amazing from a distance but this was all we got. We had booked a heli-hike for the following day. A helicopter was to take us up onto the top of the glacier where we would do some walking through the ice tunnels and seracs. We knew there was a risk it would not happen if it rained and, of course, it bucketed down all night and all morning. They had said we’d be able to swap onto a normal glacier hike if this happened but they were all booked up so we got to do neither. The weather improved enough in the afternoon for us to stop reading books in the van and head out to a track leading right up to Franz Josef glacier. The path was closed as the flood water had made the river bed too dangerous to walk on!!

So we decided to try a similar path out to Fox glacier about 20km away, knowing the path was also likely to be closed and it was....but we went a bit further anyway, like many others, just to get a closer look! Overall we achieved very little in the glacier area, but at least it’s a great reason to come back.

Wellington pictures

That's it for the North Island. South Island to follow shortly.

Pictures from Hawke's Bay

Lake Taupo photos

Wai-O-Tapu thermal pools photos

Photo album from Rotorua

I managed to get some of the pictures from New Zealand uploaded

These are from Auckland a couple of weeks ago, click on the picture to see the rest. More to follow from our travels round the North Island.

Kayaking in Abel Tasman

Fantastic scenery!

This one's for Julie and Mikko

Found you the perfect van... you just have to come and collect it :-)

Kim thinks I've gone native

South Island – Kaikoura to Motueka.

The whale trip was so good. We got to see 4 or 5 sperm whales and as you’ll have seen Colin got some good photos. Sorry we can’t post them all just yet. Luckily we woke that morning to find perfect blue skies, a gorgeous view of the mountains nearby and, what looked like, calm seas. There was no hint of the storms we’d driven through on the way down there. The day before we had not been at all confident it would happen. There was a sea-sickness warning in place, however, as the sea was still really choppy. A warning which many had not listened to as there were many little paper bags being used! Not by us luckily. As it was such gorgeous weather the new gloves we’d bought were completely redundant.

Today we drove back up north to Motueka, a town north-west of Nelson where we are staying on a fairly quiet campsite. This was perfect as it allowed me to have a quick go on the inflatable pillow near our site. I had never heard of these before I started camping in NZ. It’s like a huge bouncy castle but in the shape of a pillow and it has no walls. I’m sure it’s meant for the kids but as there were none around... It only took a few minutes of my bouncing (and giggling) before Colin couldn’t resist and came bouncing too. Who would have thought 2 fully grown adults could have so much fun on a giant airbag. Not 2 minutes after we went back to our site we heard similar giggling and realised we’d started an adult inflatable pillow craze!! Then we had an interesting meal of sausages, mushrooms and baked beans on toast, as we realised we hadn’t bothered to do any food shopping.

Tomorrow we are off kayaking again. Buoyed by confidence after the last one, crazy fools that we are, we decided we could do a full day kayak tour. We’re ready to take on the challenge armed with our factor 30, new sun hats, (colin’s) new sunglasses – he lost a pair in Kyoto, new long sleeved t-shirts and a lot of enthusiasm (it makes up for the lack of skill!). The weather is supposed to remain good for a few days yet so it should be great.

Before you all get too jealous though, you can all rest assured that while we’re having gorgeous days, we’re also getting freezing nights. So when we’re paddling around the coastline we’ll spare a thought for you back home, if you’ll do the same for us when you’re tucked up in your comfy, warm, draught-free beds!!

Went for a quick trip round the bay today

Spotted a couple of Whales and the odd Albatros

Don't panic... the weather is back to normal (sunny that is)

You can all go back to being jealous now.

The rest of the North Island and a bit of the south.

Firstly, now that we’re not in hotels with great internet connections we are not able to post the photo albums you’ve surely become accustomed to. Never fear, many cool photos have been taken and will be posted as soon as we have a decent bandwidth (or something like that. Colin speak for “it ain’t gonna happen”). It feels like we’ve done so much since my last post that I don’t know where to start. Maybe I’ll go back to the old format:

Bug bites: amazingly still no more, although apparently I am completely obsessive about killing them all each evening.

Injuries: Poor Colin woke up with a poorly back after the 2^nd sleep, which he obviously blamed on the van. “It wouldn’t have happened if we’d been in a hotel!” – his opinion.

Van problems to date:

1) electric cable (you already know about that if you’ve been avidly reading the blog!)

2) missing chairs (again, already noted).

3) 1 gas hob ignition broken

4) Windscreen wiper broken – particularly noticeable over the last 2 days (see photo or our weather forecast).

5) Waste pipe connection leaks.

6) Windows (driver and passenger) wind down but not so well up. You have to wait until either you go round a bend the right way or you catch the right gust of wind to wind it up fully, otherwise you’re stuck with gales blowing in!

I’m sure there are more but all in all we think you get the general gist that we wouldn’t necessarily recommend the Jucy company to anyone that we actually liked. We’ve seen smarter, newer-looking Lucy’s but I still think she’s great.

After leaving Rotorua we drove down to Lake Taupo where we went kayaking. We did a tour out to a place where Maoris had carved some pictures into the rocks dated an amazing 16 years ago. Once again we were amazed by the history!! However, they did look pretty good. Photos to follow later. Then we had tea and cake – very civilised- then we paddled back. Each kayak was for 2 people. We were always leading the way. We don’t attribute this to our ultra fitness, more to our lack of knowing how to slow down after living in London too long. It also helped that there was a grandma in one boat who didn’t put much effort in and a young boy and his mum in another who seemed to spend far more time going round in circles than forwards. Our only competition was from our guide and he obviously had to bring up the rear. Colin made me go in the front of the kayak so he could keep an eye on me to make sure I was pulling my weight! Perhaps a wise move.

That afternoon we walked out to Huka falls which was a beautiful walk. The falls were not high but amazingly powerful. Apparently enough water flows through to fill 5 Olympic sized swimming pools every minute!

After Taupo we moved on to Napier and Hastings in the heart of the north island wine region. After a few obligatory tastings we selected some beauties to drink on evenings such as this one. Then we drove down to Wellington (hometown of my friend Susanne who has given me many tips on what to do during our stay in NZ. Many thanks, Susanne). We had time to explore the town and walk up Mount Victoria, which has stunning views over the city, before the weather started. Up until this point we’d been so lucky. It wasn’t to last. Rain drove us to the nearest pub. Honestly.

The following day we caught the ferry over to the south island and stayed the night in Picton and had some lovely fish and chips. It got really windy and poured with rain. We can no longer gloat that we’re having much better weather than you back home.

Today we battled the wind and rain (with dodgy windscreen wipers) to drive to Kaikoura on the east coast. On the way we managed to keep the campervan from tipping over in the gale force winds AND see some seals lazing on the shores. The plan for tomorrow is to take a boat and go whale watching, weather permitting. So we went shopping and bought gloves in preparation. Hopefully we’ll have a better day for it. Tomorrow is also my Grandma’s birthday so Happy Birthday Grandma! Hope you’re well and hope you have a lovely day.