South Island : Milford Sound, Mount Cook & Akaroa

Stu : After the excitement of Fox Glacier and Queenstown Team Tui (as we will now henceforth be known! Just in case you were wondering we had a Tui campervan) headed down the country to Milford Sounds. As the crow flies this journey would probably be around 60kms but as always the Kiwis like to make things interesting so we had a 250kms trip down then backup to Milford Sounds through some pretty hairy country roads. The campervan looked like we’d done the Darkar rally in it by the time we arrived into Milford.

The Sounds are renowned for being the most scenic in New Zealand and they certainly didn’t disappoint. Even the drive there was spectacular. Once in Milford Team Tui disbanded for the day and Amy and I decided to do a scenic day walk. Unfortunately this turned out to be more like an Indiana Jones battle through thick bush so after 2 hours of ankle breaking terrain we decided to retire. Safety first people !

After Milford we headed North to Mount Cook (highest mountain in Oceania) National Park with a stopover for a spot of roadside campervan “free” camping. Once the horror \ ghost stories stopped we got to sleep for the best night’s kip I think any of us had. It was ridiculously dark and quiet and certainly made the mid-morning toilet trip from the top bunk interesting. Mount Cook itself was more spectacular than I had imagined. This was probably partly due to the fact that various avalanches on the side of the Mount had resulted in the Mount looking like Jabba the Hutt. So henceforth we would refer to the Mount as Jabba.

After a potter around the village we took a walk up to a viewpoint to the Mount and sat around for ages listening to the booming and cracking sounds of distant avalanches around the Mount. All good stuff….well at a safe distance anyway.

Then on to Akaroa and what has to be the most ridiculous hill drive attempted in a Hyundai Accent (we had luckily traded in the Tui Campervan for a high powered, shit off a shovel, 1.3l Hyundai Accent…..ahem). I say luckily because if we had attempted the hill drive in the campervan our blog certainly wouldn’t be getting updated any time soon ! We had booked into a holiday cottage the night before but didn’t realise quite how epic the journey would be. The windy country road soon turned into a 2.5 in 1 gradient, off road gravel track. The Lloyd superior driving gene soon kicked in though and after a 20minute ascent over the 3km hill road we finally made it to our cottage and the views of the bays and surrounding hills certainly made the effort worthwhile (see pic attached, our cottage was the one to the right of the photo nearest to the beach).

The following day Amy and I booked a fishing trip and headed out to the Pacific Ocean to see what we could catch. We were pretty lucky and our haul of 6 red cod (3 of which we kept), sea perch and rigg sharks certainly went down a treat on the BBQ that night. The highlight of the trip had to be when the skipper had a bite on his line and started reeling in. His face began to grow puzzled at the lack of success he was having getting his catch up. So much so he had to start reeling the line around his arm just to make head way. Finally though he managed to get the “sea monster” up. It was an 8ft long conger eel which he reckoned to be 70 year old. What a beast it was. He obviously had to let it go as there was no way he was going to get that fella on the boat. Cracking day all round apart from the first ever bout of sea sickness I had ever experienced. Certainly wasn’t pleasant and even though I tried to concentrate on the horizon it was so bloody choppy that all I got was sea, then sky, then sea then sky. Still…..I fought well and luckily the brekkie stayed down !

South Island : Christchurch, Fox Glacier and Queenstown

Amy : We arrived in ChCh to be greeted by the start of the England qualifying match. So in true Annan fashion Stu made us sit in the airport until the match had finished. I think he’d been having withdrawal symptoms since we were traveling and without Sky!
Once we’d seen the final score we hopped on the bus to the city to the holiday flat we were renting. We were both surprised at how frequent and cheap the public transport services are in ChCh compare to other cities in NZ.
I must admit once we got off the bus it was a long hard struggle getting to the holiday flat. Carrying a 16kg backpack in 25 degrees for 15 minutes isn’t my idea of fun I can tell you! Another big surprise was that the lady we were renting the flat from was Scottish and her mother-in-law was from Annan of all places…what a small world. You Annan lot get about don’t you!?!
We really enjoyed our time around ChCh as it was great enjoying the weather and mulling around the city. There were so many places to visit and I think we took about most of them in including, Cathedral Square, River Avon, Art Museum, Botanic Gardens and many markets. It isn’t one of my favourite cities as it just reminded me of Manchester but there was so much to do in and around the area which made it memorable.
On the Sunday we picked up Jon and Lucy from the airport and enjoyed a walk along the river with them and a few cheeky shandies in the local before we headed off to watch Muse play. This was an awesome gig especially as I don’t like Muse that much. They were awesome live and the light show was out of this world.
Monday saw an early start for us all as Jon and Lucy were booked onto the Trans Alpine train and we were meeting them in Greymouth with the Campervan. The drive there was spectacular as we took Arthur’s Pass. Quite hairy in a Campervan but the views were spectacular.
We arrived late that evening in Fox and spent a night there and had another early start as we were all booked in for a half day helihike up Fox Glacier. This was an amazing experience. Walking on a glacier isn’t the easiest thing to do especially as you are contanstanly in awe with the sights but it was well worth it. Although I think my calf muscles may disagree. I still can’t believe that we walked on the glacier and slid through glacier caves. Anyone hitting the South Island should definitely try this out. It’s such a shame that our photo’s just wont do it justice.
The following few days we chilled out around Wanaka and Queenstown. Again we were lucky as the sun kept shining all through the trip.
We actually had one of our best nights out in Queenstown when we went to a lovely Seafood Restaurant. We supped a few Kiwi vinos, ate mussels, battered oysters (yes you heard that right) apparently it’s a very South Island thing to do and then ate some of the best fish I’ve had in a long time.
Stu will fill you in with the second half of our ‘Team Tui’ trip but I did thoroughly enjoy campervaning around the South Island. It was quite sad to leave NZ and come to Oz as we’d had such a great time but I am sure we’ll have an equally great time in Oz. Well providing those damn mossies and spiders leave me alone!
We’re now spending a few days in Sydney and the weather has been so changeable. It’s 27 degrees but quite humid and every day has seen storms! I just hope the weather improves for the rest of our trip. We’ve also so far managed to see some great wildlife whilst we’ve been here like seeing a wee Wallaby, Goana Lizard, Fruit Bats and of course some not so nice bugs. All a lot bigger and more evil looking than other bugs LOL. As most of you know I’m not a big bug fan and it’s taking some getting used to having cockroaches and the likes about in the evening!!
Anyways’ hope you are all doing well and set for Xmas. We’ll try to keep the blog up to date as much as possible.

North Island : Opotiki, Mt Maunganui, Raglan and Ruapehu

Amy: Since leaving Opotiki we moved West across to Mount Maunganui (pronounced Mong-a-noo-ee……hehe) for a night’s stay. The following day we climbed the Mount itself. This isn’t the highest or longest of walks but the incline is certainly steep. The views from the top are awesome including a cute little island which we didn’t know was there. The area is very picturesque but it isnt my favourite as it’s just so over priced for what’s on offer.

After a night in Maunganui we hit Raglan, 40minutes drive West from Hamilton. This is the most attractive looking and feeling place that we’ve stayed in a long time. The people are so friendly for it being a small surfing town. Everyone is so chilled out. Probably explains why a lot of hippies frequent there. Unfortunately we didnt get to surf like we’d planned to do but managed to spend a few hours on Manu and Whale Beach watching the locals soak in the sun and surf. We had booked up to do a horse trek round Bridal Viel Falls but I am sure Stu did a wee rain dance that evening as it poured down with rain in the morning when we were supposed to set off and due to the rain this was cancelled. I’ve never seen Stu look happier!!! Talking of Bridal Viel Falls this was a short walk we did do the day before the weather changed. This is an awesome Waterfall. It’s very romantic in surroundings and you can see by the way the waterfall flows why it got it’s apt name.

Unfortunately time was getting on otherwise we would have stayed another few nights in Raglan. So we continued our trip back to Wellington and stopped in Waitomo for two nights. This was another cute wee place with lots of friendly people. I cant believe how lucky we have been with the weather as apart from the rain on the horse tekking day we’ve been landed weather in the mid 20’s every day! Whilst in Waitomo we thought rather than doing another abesil and cave trek like we did last year we’d take the leisurley tour and did a walk through one of the caves followed by a boat trip through the glow worm caves. These were magnificent. The formations were amazing and you can see why locals hold their wedding ceremonies there. We also did a 3hr tramp above the caves which was pretty cool as well although very hot especially when we were both wearing black t-shirts!!

After Waitomo we hit Whakapapa Village. After having a snowball fight in our shorts (see photo) we got a campsite sorted out which gave us views of Mt Rhuapehu and Mt Tongariro. Man that night in the tent was possibly the coldest I’ve ever experienced. Dressed in Joggy Bottoms, T shirt, Dressing gown (yes I took this with me), bed socks, hat, sleeping bag and double duvet wrapped round me I was still freezing. Probably wasn’t the best of ideas camping at the bottom of a snow-peaked mountain…eh Stu?!? After our cold night’s experienced we thought we’d get the blood pumping again and did a 5 hr walk around the base of Rhuapehu to the “Lower Lake” which was used as Mordor in LOTR and also Taranaki Falls which was “Gollum’s Pool” cave in the film as well. This was a very strenuous walk but was worth it with the views over the area. None of the photos or videos do the views justice. I cant wait till next year when we can do the 3-4 day Tongariro Crossing and get to camp out looking over these views.

We decided to end our North Island journeys by staying two nights in Ohakune town famous for the Snow Man and Carrot statues…dont ask but it is a lovely town a lot bigger than we expected and it’s been lovely and relaxing here.
Tomorrow we end back in Wellington where we’ll spend a night at Mark and Rachel’s before catching an 8am flight to Christchurch in the South Island.

Stu : Aye well Amy’s aboot covered everything I reckon. As she mentioned Raglan was a cracking wee place. It’s the surf capital of New Zealand so the town was full of surfy dudes strolling about. With all that shoulder-length blond hair flopping about it certainly made the balding, graying, slightly tubby 32 year old frae Annan look a bit out of place In true fashion we made the most of this excellent surfing town and made our way to the local drinking hole for a few beers the night we arrived. Turns out that the lass serving behind the bar was from Fife ! Small World. The local beer on tap, Raglan Red, has to be one of the best I’ve had in NZ as well so big bonus there !

Then onto the Snow fields of Whakapapa and Ohakune. This is a superb place and although it was quiet given that the ski slopes had closed a few weeks ago it was still well worth a visit. The day walk we done whilst we were there was probably the most scenic walk I’ve ever done. Basically the hike takes you between the two snow-capped mountains and back round via a volcanic lake. All pretty cool stuff. As we’ve been doing our various tramps around New Zealand we’ve encountered many different nationalities. It always makes me laugh though when you pass the Germans on a hike. Head down, concentrating, never breaking stride for a quick hello or cheery smile. It’s all about completing the walk in the most efficient manner…..”Ve shall complete zis route in ze quickest time possible and defeat this hike in ze name of ze Fatherland !!”……or something to that effect that anyway. Then again I wasn’t destined for getting on with the Germans too much on this trip. On one of the first nights we camped I had a German fella come up to me and ask what the time was……just so happened I was reading a Second World War book entitled “SS Hunters” at the time which had a great big Nazi badge on the front. Hehe. Gotta laugh.

We’re heading back down to Wellington tomorrow for our flight down to Christchurch the following day where we’ll be meeting up with Sir Jon Dangerous (or Jon Gerrard….whichever you prefer) and his missus for a few weeks camper-vanning nonsense around the South Island. Should be fun !

Carry On Car Troubles (North Island : Wairarapa, Napier & Gisborne)

Stu : We started our road trip proper last week. For the next 4 months we’ll be travelling around the North Island, South Island and then finally on to Australia. Things haven’t exactly gone according to plan but thems the breaks I suppose. On the way up the East Coast from Wellington to Napier the car broke down and we had to spend a day in a farming town in rural New Zealand while we got the car fixed. Not many garages to chose from but funnily enough plenty of banjo-repair shops

So back on the road it was and we finally made it up to Napier on Tuesday. We got booked into a cracking wee campsite on the beach 9kms North of Napier. After a relaxing night we got up early to set off on a days hike around one of the local National Parks. Amanda made the mistake of leaving me to back the car out of the campsite whilst she got showered. Needless to say it all ended in tears. As I reversed a tree jumped out of nowhere and I reversed straight into it. I was only doing about 5kms per hour but somehow managed to do over $2000 worth of damage to our car ! This unfortunately meant we had to hang around Napier for 3 days while it got fixed. Hmmm….not the best. We made the most of it though as we were fortunate enough to get a courtesy car from the Panel Beaters and were able to flee from Napier for every-ones safety. We camped a couple of nights in some superb, picturesque campsites before heading back to Napier to get our newly pieced together car back. As a wee bonus the panel beaters had given the car a full valet but I suppose it’s the least we could expect from $2000 worth of business.

Moral of the story…..don’t leave Stu alone with a motorised vehicle unless fully fed and watered !

Amy: It’s been a great week apart from the car problems. The weather has been awesome and only the odd nights where the rain hit us. The scenery on the way was amazing. Loads of new views for us as we’ve never driven up the East coast of the North Island. Did a few touristy stops like the Art Museum in Masterton (not much else to see there), NZ’s equivelant to Stonehenge, The longest place name in the world and Napiers version of the the mermaid who sits on the rock in Copenhagen. All in all it’s been totally terrific.

We’ve spent the last few days chilling in Opotiki with Manda, Willie and the kids. It’s been bliss getting a lie in, in a proper bed rather than the inflatable mattress I made Stu buy us for sleeping in a tent for the next 3 weeks!!

We’re heading off tomorrow to spend a few days back in Gisbourne and hopefully getting dunked in a cage in the sea with 3 metre Mako sharks…if not I’m sure there’s going to be something else we can experience over the next few weeks.

Lets hope the car problems are in the past and the rest of our road trip 2007/08 is a success.

I’m famous !

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Did you spot me ? Clue – I’m wearing my Man Utd shirt to the top right hand of the photo