Monday - first long drive

We woke this morning to the same annoying, but interesting bird call at dawn. Packed up the van ( we made a check list of everything to do before driving off) then set off on a longish drive towards Lake Tekapo. The first part of the drive was back over the old volcanic crater rim surrounding Akaroa, then a long stretch of very flat land south of Christchurch. Our friend from last night had recommended an app called Campersmate, and this now proved extremely useful for finding a grocery store along our route. Fully supplied with more food, wine and a teapot, we followed the road inland towards the Southern Alps.

Just before Fairlie we stopped at a suitable panoramic view for a quick photoshop, then continued driving on to Lake Tekapo. We were expecting temperatures to decrease as we drive south and gained altitude, but it actually got hotter. At one point it was 32.5 degrees! Bit cooler now, but still very pleasant.

Tekapo is a beautiful place on the edge of a glacial melt lake which is therefore a wonderful shade of blue. At the edge of the lake there is a small church with the unusual feature of a plain large window behind the altar, framing a view of the lake and the mountains beyond. Close by is a monument commemorating the contribution of the collie dog to the farmers ability to survive in this area. Sadly there were many tourists, coach parties and several new developments close by which stopped the full wow factor of the church.

 

 

 

Following the guide lent to us by the campervan company, we then drive along a side road round the lake until we came to a place where we could freedom camp. It's a lovely spot, and we're camped on the dried up mud right at the edge of the lake. Seen a couple of people since we arrived, but basically we are on our own.

There is a small section of water separated from the main lake by a gravel bar full of waders and black swans, and that is where our van is. The waves on the lake breaking on the gravel are quite loud, but we seem to be in a very sheltered spot.

Not sure what the birds are, but they like standing on one leg.

Tomorrow we drive up to Mount Cook, possibly with a detour to the Mount John Observatory on the way. We are hoping the clouds will clear for tonight as we are in a designated dark sky area, and if we can see the stars they should be very clear.

 

 

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Sunday, kayaking at Akaroa

Today has been a magical day. After a very comfortable night's sleep we woke to very strange bird song at dawn. After more sleep we got up, ate, made sandwiches and wandered down to Akaroa. A huge cruise ship had anchored in the bay and the town was full of happy tourists. We found the people we had booked our kayaking trip with, paid and then found a shop selling blue pearls - cultured pearls made within the beautiful local abalone shells (paua).

At noon we joined our kayaking party, led by Shireen (a fourth generation kiwi) and Ben (a french Basque) for the drive over the rim of the ex crater walls from Akaroa to Pohatu. It was a dramatic drive along rough roads with fabulous views!

Looking back at Akaroa we could see our campsite In the background.

As we drove, the road got smaller and the side drops more precipitous. The descent on the other side was even steeper, with more wonderful views. As we wound back down to sea level we could see the Pohatu bay where the marine reserve is, together with the house where Shireen lives.

Shireen and her husband run a farm over a huge area, mainly with sheep. Several came to meet us when we parked at the house on arrival. As we were quite a large party it took a while for everyone to get sorted out with a kayak, and to be taught some basic safety precautions. Then we launched the boats out into the bay and paddled towards the sea.

We saw several black shag, or pied cormorants, then spied a seal at the side on the rocks. A short distance on we saw a small penguin (a white flippered penguin) halfway through his moulting stage. As we continued to paddle a pod of Hector dolphins arrived! They are small pale grey dolphins, and we saw about 8 of them round our boats. As we neared the rocks on the other side of the bay we saw more seals, and passed a seal nursey where about 10 or 12 young seals had been left while their mothers were away hunting.

It was quite hard to get good photos of the seals as the canoes kept bobbing up and down with the waves, and I was terrified of getting the camera wet. By the time I had extracted it from it's waterproof bag we were often well past the seals!

Back on dry land we put the boats away and carried the lifejackets and canoe skirts back to be washed in the stream by Shireen's house.

Even though the drive anywhere from her house was quite hazardous, and it was so extremely isolated, the views from the garden were so fantastic and the setting so dramatic, it seemed a fantastic place to live. After living there for so long, Shireen said she has still has not tired of the view, which was no surprise. After tea and home made cookies we sat around in the sun chatting with our fellow visitors. Then a real treat, it was time to feed the penguins which are rescued every season to give them a better chance of survival.

,This youngster was ready for release, and will probably be taken down to the sea this evening.

This was a younger bird still shedding it's baby down. Each penguin had a few small fish, and a drink, and was then put back into it's pen, scattered throughout Shireen's garden.

The last pen contained three youngsters, who immediately dashed to everyone close in the search for food.

It was a magical afternoon, dolphins and penguins in one trip, and a visit to a beautiful farm. Back at the campsite one of our new friends kindly gave us all his left over spices and food as he has to return his campervan tomorrow. A bottle of red wine, two steaks and some of the best sweet corn we have had since we left Canada finished off the day.

Tomorrow we head towards Mount Cook, with, hopefully, our first freedom camp of the trip on the way.

 

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Saturday - on the road

After a nice Italian meal last night, and a very early night, today was the big day - the day we got our home for the next month. The taxi arrived exactly as ordered and the people at Wilderness were very helpful. Having been given a tour of our van and all it's controls, we set off. First stop, a supermarket to stock up on food for the next couple of days (perhaps 4 bottles of wine and a case of beer might have been excessive). Then we drove on towards Akaroa. First part of the drive was very flat, then we started to climb.

The driver had to concentrate as we climbed, some of the bends were very sharp. Akaroa is a small peninsular formed from a couple of old volcanic craters. We climbed over the 'rim', then down to the sea in the 'cone'.

We had reserved places at the Akaroa Top 10 camp site for two nights, and it was nice and easy to find. Small plot, and there are a lot of people here, but very pleasant. Hooked up the electricity, then spent ages trying to work out how to store all our clothes and food in very few cupboards. The sun was shining throughout, and we needed a sit in the shade afterwards to recover.

Recovered, we walked down a steep path into the town. A very pretty, touristy place, with lots of shops and bars. We picked up some brochures in the information shop, then got an ice cream each and wandered down the small pier to where kids were jumping into the water (did I mention how nice the weather is at the moment, got up to about 28 today). A passing lady gave us a recommendation of a company to go kayaking with a tour guide in a marine reserve up the coast, then we had a beer/wine, as is our wont, before walking back to the campsite. It seemed a lot steeper on the way back! A nice meal of fish and pasta, and tomorrow we go kayaking with penguins and seals!

 

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We've arrived!!

We finally arrived at midnight last night, picked up a new SIM card at the airport then got a taxi to our hotel. The owner, Linda, had left us an envelope sellotaped to the front door with how to find our room, which turned out to be a lovely room with a super bathroom.

Up earlyish this morning, breakfast at the hotel, then a walking tour of Christchurch. It's four years since the major earthquake, and we were amazed at how much still needs to be demolished, let alone repaired. About 70% of the main downtown area in the centre of the city was either destroyed, or has had to be demolished, as a result of the quake. A lot of our tour was across great swathes of nothing, skirting around building sites.

 

There's still some of the original areas left, but generally it felt very sad walking around.

The trams are now running again, but with a quite limited route. Still lovely to see them, and there's been a lot of creative uses for containers, from the re:start mall, to some of the structure for the transitional cardboard cathedral.

 

 

 

We had a mid morning drink at a container cafe, bought PG Tips teabags and coffee, and generally wandered around before heading for the botanical gardens. There's a busker festival on at the moment, and we found someone singing the blues/rock in a one man skiffle band just outside the museum. Couldn't resist the change to have a quick dance, then carrried on to a small cafe for a healthy lunch.

We finished the afternoon with a trip to the main museum here, and learnt a lot about the Maori's arrival in New Zealand, followed relatively quickly by the European's. Best, though, was a film about a trans-Antarctica expedition in the late 50s. The first ever vehicle to reach the South Pole was a Ferguson tractor, powered by a Triumph engine, as found in the early TRs.

Now we are off to find somewhere to eat, then back here for an early night to catch up on sleep. Tomorrow we collect the camper van!

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Stage 4 - nearly there

Today we finished off our sightseeing in Sydney with a walking trip to the Sydney Tower where we could see the entire panorama of Sydney laid out before us. So many high rise buildings, and so much water, a sailor's paradise. After the tower we headed for Hyde Park, and a tasty pizza eaten as a picnic under the trees. We saw more of the strange long beaked birds we had seen the day before, which I still haven't identified. A moving trip to the Anzac Memorial followed, so many dead in so many wars! A slow leisurely walk back to the apartment, where we enjoyed a sit down in the cool, then it was time to go back to the airport.

We had allowed plenty of time, which turned out to be a good idea. We were not allowed to check in for our flight as we had no return ticket back from New Zealand! As we are still trying to find better flights out of NZ (we are currently booked to fly from Sydney to the UK in economy), possibly flying direct from Auckland to Singapore, we had decided not to book a flight out of Auckland until closer to our departure time. This turned out to be a bad idea, there was no way we could fly into NZ until we had a ticket to leave. After consultations with Qantas, we went to a travel agent in the airport, who helpfully found us a suitable flight out which we could book. There were no completely refundable tickets, so if we do find a better flight to the UK then this ticket might just have to be junked - an expensive option!! Clutching our return flight ticket we hurried back to the check in to drop our bags and get our boarding passes. Linda then managed to upset the machine, so that it took two Qantas assistants several attempts to get her bag accepted for the flight. I just hope it arrives safely in NZ!! Now relaxing with a beer (Linda) and an ice cream (Mick) waiting for our flight to start boarding in a few minutes. New Zealand here we come!

 

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Stage 3 - Sydney

Yesterday we arrived in Sydney, after another overnight flight. Two sleeps with virtually no day between them counteracted any jet lag we might have felt almost completely so we enjoyed a full day in Sydney. First step was to get to our friends house in the heart of the city, but the only problem with that was the instructions were in an email, and as soon as we left the airport I lost my connection to the net, and therefore access to my emails. Luckily the taxi driver understood our confused rememberings, and delivered us safely to the right address. After tea and a long chat with out friend's daughter it was time to start the sightseeing. A short walk took us to a quay where we chose a tour boat trip, and had an ice cream for lunch. 2 hours later we had seen most of Sydney harbour, and were very pink and tired.

 

Here's us on the boat with the opera house behind us, just starting to burn in the sunshine (everyone said we were so lucky to have a cold day for once). The opera house is amazing, and suffice it to say I took a lot more photos of it than this one.

And here's the outside of where we are staying! Magical location, which brought back so many memories of living in the heart of a city.

After the boat we walked round to see the opera house close up, then walked on through the botanical gardens which are right on the water's edge, close to the city centre. I fell in love with some of the trees there, here's one of my favourites.

 

With sore feet we trudged back to the apartment, and a welcome glass of water, and finally caught up with our host. The evening finished with a short guided tour of some parts of Sydney, followed by a great meal and lots of local beer and wine. Another hot and sunny day beckons us, as we eat breakfast on the balcony looking at the moored boats. A walk across the harbour bridge may be in order today, and possibly time for an open bus tour of the city, then it'll be back to the airport for stage 4 of our journey.

 

 

 

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Stage 2

So here we are in Hong Kong. An uneventful flight in business class, a luxury I could get used to! Splendid meal washed down with a wonderful Chilian red wine, followed by a good night's sleep in an actual flat bed. Congee for breakfast, then onto the transit lounge in HK. Strangest thing is seeing the sun set just after breakfast, it's was early evening here as we landed. About to board another long haul flight to Sydney, will just have time for another dinner before its bedtime again. Might not be quite so easy to sleep this time.

 

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