Tuesday
29th May 2012
It's
cold and it's rainy, but the great thing about a road trip is that
you are always setting off somewhere else and the weather is bound to
change, or even improve, as it does for us as we start climbing up to
the high passes and look back on Lake Wakapitu and aim for Lake
Wanaka.
This is
probably one of the most stupendous of our trips here in the South
Island as we stop to take in windswept, sunny and very cold snow
views, but the ice has cleared and it is safe to drive. The colours
of autumn are upon us and it is all gold, red and green and the
Remarkable Mountains fade as we head out of the pass towards
Cromwell.
Lake
Dunstan sparkles in the sun and then we follow the Clutha River all
the way to the pretty lake side town of Wanaka, constantly wondering
at the space and emptiness of this country.
Lake
Hawea appeared on our right and it was backed by snowy mountains that
were perfectly reflected in it's calm waters along it's whole length
– a memory to be cherished.On through Mount Aspiring National Park on the Haast Pass Highway. When we say highway we mean a fairly narrow two lane road, that has interesting adverse camber in places but virtually no other traffic, even the non-Jucy campers wave at us now.
We come
out on the flat coastal plain around the small town of Haast,
seemingly deserted and surrounded by distant mountains. Two hotels,
two camp sites and one shop called Grumpy Cow Supermarket, and the
proprietor exactly fitted the title. We realised too late that you
need to bring your own food supply for this part of the journey if
you want to cook for yourself. 
Booked into the Top 10 campsite where everything was brand new with very friendly staff, one of whom, Brian, discovered that we had a flat tyre and helped us to put on the spare. We found out later that he and his mate had been contracted to rebuild the site and were just about finished.
We
tried the “Famous Whitebait Patties” at the Heritage Hotel –
very disappointing. Basically, its small omelettes made with
translucent, minuscule fish with no flavour whatsoever. John made a
note to himself – avoid in future.
Detail
of the Day: Next morning we duly went to local garage where we
found a wizard mechanic called Eamon – lots of family in Northern
Ireland – who, amid jokes and stories, fixed the damaged tyre and
showed us the possum bone he had picked out of it. His advice was
“Run over the live ones, they're a pest, but don't run over dead
ones as the bones become dry and sharp very quickly and will wreck
your tyres”.
Haast
to Franz Joseph (via Fox Glacier)
Wednesday
30th May 2012
After
the garage adventure we set off north at noon. Now we are approaching
the Tasman Sea and drive through lush, dense forests filled with
giant tree ferns, through winding misty hill roads, glimpsing the sea
all the while. A completely different flora and fauna from the
previous day.
The
track to the Fox Glacier from the car park can be a treacherous walk
through the wide valley floor as the glacier moves and the river and
rain alter the paths to the mouth on a daily basis. A decision on
whether it is safe for the public to enter and marking of a safe
route is made on a daily basis by the Park Rangers.
We
were lucky, as Caspar the Park Ranger on duty said it had been shut
for a couple of days previously as it had become too unstable. He
goes up the valley each morning to check for rock falls, paths washed
out, and so on and makes it safe for walkers and sets the flags for
you to follow that day's path. He is a geologist from Bruton in
Somerset and said it was the best job he had ever had.
It
was a fantastic walk, although misty and cold, and very exciting to
see a real life glacier!
Chilly
and tired, the small town of Franz Joseph offered us the perfect
antidote – a couple of hours in hot glacier pools. They offered
the usual three choices of hot, hotter and very hot – gorgeous!
This was followed by a gourmet tea of fish fingers, potatoes and peas
(with tomato sauce) in the van whilst watching a rental video of 'The
A Team', with a red wine accompaniment. That definitely qualified as
a day that went from the sublime to the ridiculous and was absolutely
FANTASTIC!
Franz
Joseph to Hokitika
Thursday
31st May 2012
In
contrast to yesterday it is a dazzlingly fine morning and we take the
3 kilometre walk across the galacial valley in the early sun past
rainbow waterfalls to the stunning vista of the Franz Joseph Glacier
in crisp mountain air. It is wonderful. Apart from a family and a
pair of hikers we have the whole valley to ourselves, both there and
back.
When we got back to the car park we became confused as there had been an infestation of Jucy Campers and it took a little time to work out which one of these empty vehicles was ours.
A
small, steep and winding road off the highway took us to our next
stop; the small beach village of Okarito. Sitting on the beach in
the sun eating fruit cake and enjoying the view out to sea was all
brilliant and then we turned round to walk back to the van and
remembered why we had been recommended to visit this place. 
We were looking at Mount Cook from the other side from where we had been the other day. The mountains stood tall and majestic in the distance. Then Celia got bitten by a sand fly and that was our signal to move on.
Coming
out of the hills we arrived at the flat coastal town of Hokitika at
the mouth of a river. We were very tired but had to go shopping and
there we ran into our Danish friends from Twizel, Hendrik and Jorgen,
who were staying at the same camp site as us. We shared wine and
dinner in the camp kitchen as the temperature plummeted and they
showed us their film of bungee jumping – scary!
Hokitika
to Hanmer Springs
Friday 1st June 2012
A
very frosty morning
and we know we have to push on as we have a long way to go. We hug
the coast north all the way to Greymouth, an old industrial port and
turn inland to Reefton (apparently the first place on the South
Island to have electric light) where we buy most excellent pies at
the bakery.
Detail
of the Day: have we mentioned how good the baking is in this
country? They really know what they are doing and everywhere we go
the cakes, pies and pastries are all marvellous. A boon to the weary
traveller and a living, breathing baking tradition that we applaud
with our constant purchases. Most of the goods we know the names of
but others are new, like Neemish Pie, a sort of delicious chocolate
and lemon cake made with condensed milk.
We
turn inland and we're going over the central spine of the country now
to get back to the east coast and decide to stop en route at Hanmer
Springs for the night.
It
is a pretty alpine town with natural hot springs, that we went and
wallowed in on arrival. As well as the glacier pools they also have
the natural hot sulphur springs that are even hotter and very, very
smelly, but apparently good for the joints and your skin. There are
warning everywhere not to put your head under the water though, as it
is full of weird microbes and stuff.
There
are also lots shops selling this and tat which we browse after our
bathe. Back at the camp we round the day off with Celia's chicken
curry, a DVD, and a drop of wine, and sleepy soundly through the
chilly night in our toasty Jucy camper.
Hanmer
Springs
Saturday
2nd June 2012
We
awoke to a dawn chorus that couldn't be beat, glad that we're booked
in here for two nights as it is a long weekend – the Queen's
Birthday is a national holiday here! Very cold nights but lovely
warm summery days to stroll around this tourist town.
Chatting with a fellow camper from Christchurch in the kitchen, he told us that he and his wife had been living with their daughter and her family since the earthquake and had come up to Hanmer to give themselves, and her, a break.
His story was typical of the sort of things they have to cope with. On the day of the quake, his house shook to pieces around his wife and two of his best friends from school were killed. They are still waiting to hear from the insurance company if they can rebuild, and even if they can, his wife doesn't want to live there any more. He has also been desperately ill with cancer through all this, although now in remission.
The
tale of these events was told to us without a trace of self pity or
any seeking of sympathy – they just get on with it. He applauded
our trip out of normal life and his advice to anyone was don't delay
doing what you want to do because you don't know what the future
holds. Suitably
buoyed up and humbled by this conversation we used the rest of our
time in planning the next leg of our trip after NZ, like hotels in
Fiji, Los Angeles, San Francisco and flights to Whitehorse in Canada.
Hanmer
Springs to Picton
Sunday
3rd June 2012
When
we set off east this morning our intention had been to stop in
Kaikoura for the night, but we made good time and when we got to the
coast it was only just lunchtime. So, after at look at the drab
little town, we decided to get straight on to Picton and have two
nights there before catching the ferry to the North Island.
North
of town there was a large bay with a surfing competition going on and
it was great viewing, sitting in the sun on the beach with dozens of
surfers, of all ages and experience, working hard out in the sea.
It was very warm and we were surprised to see several small groups of
watchers had fires going. 
However, about ½
hour later, in a matter of about 30 seconds, the weather suddenly
changed. A strong wind started to blow, the temperature fell by
several degrees, the sun disappeared and it started raining hard. We
had never experienced such a dramatic and fast change in the weather.
What
a fabulous journey up this rocky and dramatic coast, stopping to
watch seal colonies, with the weather changing each time we round a
corner or emerge from a tunnel.
Then
to Blenheim and enjoyed a little side trip to visit the Cloudy Bay
Winery and stock up. Gently rolling hills and valleys here with many
vineyards to choose from but we only had time to visit this one.
Getting
to Picton at dusk we found a camp site and settled in for a warmer
night by the sea with a gentle breeze blowing.
Picton
Monday 3rd June 2012
Picton is a ferryport and it is like a semi industrial seaside town in winter. Down by the sea it all visitor centre and gentrified touristy attractions, whilst up in the town it is definitely a working port with half empty pubs, fast food joints, and even edgy youth – who turn out to be very polite as this is New Zealand after all.
The
owners of the camp are a British man and his Javanese wife and their
two beautiful little girls. Turned out the lady was from Malang, so
she and Celia had a long chat about Indonesia and why she prefers New
Zealand on the whole as opposed to Britain because the weather in
Picton is generally warmer! 
However, she did say that it was such a
long way from both their families and they miss having that family
support network. That's the thing about New Zealand, you are a long
way from everyone and everything.
Decided
to watch a bit of TV in the camp kitchen and what was on but Lord Of
The Rings, so we had to watch it so that we could periodically shout
out, “been there!”, and “seen that!”. Pathetic but fun!
