New Zealand - the South Island

After a short flight from Melbourne, we touched down at Christchurch Airport. We had to declare all of our camping gear and walking boots and they all had to be checked for contamination from Australia. This took ages but Kiwis are so friendly it was hard to mind!

As we headed into the centre of Christchurch on the bus, we began to see the devastation left by the earthquake and aftershocks three years ago. It was sad to see that there are whole areas that have been bulldozed or are completely out of bounds, but also really positive to see some of the projects that are now there as a result. One of my favourites was the Re:start Mall which comprised of shipping containers full of shops and cafés right in the centre of the CBD. It was also interesting to see the Cardboard Cathedral that is a stand-in for the current cathedral which is only halfstanding. There were lots of art installations and pieces of street art everywhere you looked which I really liked.

Christchurch has got the Sunshine

Re:Start Mall

Kiwi at the Christchurch Flower Festival

Christchurch Cathedral

An unsafe, out of bounds shopping centre

We had some really nice coffee and some brilliant cheese sandwiches from the Canterbury Cheesemongers. Their room of cheese was quite special!

We stayed in a traditional tram builders cottage that survived the earthquakes that we found through Airbnb. It was really peaceful and we slept really well, which was a good start to our camping trip.

 

After a couple of nights we picked up our car and hit the road. Our first stop was Oamaru, the Steam Punk capital and home to lots of little blue penguins. We camped down the road in a village called Kakanui but went back to Oamaru to see the penguins in the evening at the sanctuary. They were so cute! We weren't allowed to take any photos but this is what they look like:

Blue Colony Penguins (picture courtesy of Jasons.co.nz)

The next day was Andy's birthday so we started with coffee and a breakfast pie. We then drove to Mount Cook National Park with a quick detour to the Moeraki Boulders.

Moeraki Boulders

The drive along Lake Pukanaki was really beautiful and it was quite breathtaking when we got our first glimpse of Mount Cook, though it was a bit cloudy!

Lake Pukanani

Mount Cook

The view from our campsite

We did quite a bit of walking as there are so many trails to choose from. Andy made me do a walk that consisted of 2200 steps up to a tarn. I thought I was going to die as it was so hot and steep! It took a week for my legs to feel better! We also wondered around Mount Cook village and we went to see the Tasman Glacier. But it was really just nice to be there surrounded by the beautiful mountains.

Obligatory point at Mount Cook.

Tasman Glacier and Mount Cook

Our second and last night there was quite eventful due to some happy campers called Troy and Victoria. I don't know what they'd been drinking but they proceeded to have a massive fallout and keep everyone awake for hours. I think half the camp was either involved in trying to calm Troy down or they just drove away in their camper vans (a luxury we didn't have)! In the end the police came and took Troy away. Then in the morning it was incredibly windy so we were awake early so just packed up and got on the road.

After a quick breakfast in Twizel we drove to Queenstown for a lovely lunch. We had a quick look round the town, but as we weren't planning to partake in any extreme sports, we drove onto Te Anau. Our campsite wasn't much more than a car park but there was good kitchen facilities and a nice warm lounge where we could shelter from the rain. And warm showers!

 

We set off early for Milford Sound. There were lots of places to stop on the way and we did a couple of short walks.

The weather was a bit miserable but it was nice to break up the drive and stretch my aching legs. However, Andy decided that we needed another workout so we did a three hour walk up to Lake Marion. I have since seen photos of how it's supposed to look, which is like this:

Lake Marion (picture courtesy of www.shorttraveltips.org)

However, it was so cloudy we could barely see each other! Andy still went for a paddle though.

Our Lake Marion

When we arrived at the Milford Sound Lodge we learned that Andy had booked for us to camp there on 18th March, not 18th February. Luckily they had an emergency site that we could use so we weren't siteless for the night. We then realised that he'd done the same for the ferry trip the next day so we quickly went to the ferry terminal to swap dates for that as well. I needed a coffee after all of this, Andy needed a beer!

Our emergency campsite!

The ferry trip was beautiful. We traveled out to the Tasman Sea and saw seals and waterfalls. The weather was better than the day before so we were lucky in that respect. The pictures will describe it better than I can!

After the cruise we drove back to Te Anau and stopped for a Miles Better Pie, which we have both agreed was the best pie in NZ. We enjoyed driving by Lake Wakatipu on the way back to Queenstown. The photos don't really do the colours justice though!

Lake Wakatipu

We drove onto Wanaka where we had a night in a hotel to break up the camping and do some washing and eat a non-Trangia based meal. Luxury! We finished off this stay with a tasty breakfast burrito in the morning.

The view from Lake Wanaka

We set off up the west coast and stopped at Fox Glacier. We didn't get especially close and decided that it was more impressive to see it from a distance!

The view from Lake Wanaka

Fox Glacier

We carried on driving and stopped in Hokitika to have a look at the beach. After stocking up on supplies in Greymouth, we headed inland to a place called Nelson's Creek where we camped for the night. Andy had fun swimming in the creek.

Hokitika Beach

The next day we drove to Nelson. We camped in the garden of a hostel called Accents in the Park which was really nice, if not a bit cramped. But again, I was just happy to have a hot shower! We explored Nelson and had some tasty beer and a curry.

Nelson Cathedral

After a nice afternoon exploring Blenheim, drinking local wine and eating yummy NZ cheese, we camped next to a river with some friendly ducks. The next day we drove to Picton to catch the ferry to Wellington.

The ducks wanted some of my cheese!

All of the scenery in the South Island was breathtaking and although we were quite tired from all of the driving and camping, it was worth it to see all of the blue lakes, lovely mountains and the sea.

The ducks wanted some of my cheese!