It didn’t rain today, dog walking in the morning and then to the SPCA to change a dressing on the paw of a dog. Silly dog tries to climb out of its compound. In Nelson we stopped for lunch and managed to pick up a parking fine. The parking meter was not working, but apparently that is no excuse.
A walk with the dogs up the hill which is designated as the geographical centre of New Zealand. The views of Nelson and the coast were very good.
Rained in the morning. There was a brief spell of sunshine which Peter took advantage of to take the dogs for a walk. The rain came back with a vengeance. (But, after lunch the rain disappeared, and the sun came out.)
We visited the local SPCA (like the UK’s RSPCA), where Nic was hard at work, to admire the rescued cats and dogs.
On to Nelson town centre for lunch at Comida, an Italian deli specialising in European foods and wines. Pete bought a ginormous jar of pickled artichoke hearts.
After lunch, we viewed the exhibition of 50 iconic National Geographic photographs at the Nelson Museum. Did remember having seen some of them.
Dogs taken for a walk, along with Casper, the Rag Doll cat.
Peter rushed out to collect friend Rob from Nelson airport.
BBQed vegetables & trimmings for a convivial supper.
Up really early to catch the Bus to Nelson. We were worried as to whether there would be an Uber taxi, so factored in walking to the bus station. Should never have worried, the taxi was with us in a minute. A long wait at the bus station, and predictably the bus was 20 minutes late. A replacement bus had to be found as the original Intercity apparently would not start.
The bus took us along the East coast which had only recently been opened for traffic. There were several long single-track sections in places where the road was having to be rebuilt after the 2016 earthquake. In sections there were long rows of shipping containers protecting the traffic from further slips.
We stopped at Kaikoura for 30 minutes. This is the location for whaling and dolphin trips. We should have visited this location on our trip.
We continued on the Blenhein to transfer to the Nelson bus. Again this bus was late. The bus stop is on the rail line where there is a station. This Station was called the wine tasting station where I had a few sample wines before buying my favourites.
Arrived at Nelson where Katy picked us up and took us to Peter and Nic’s house. Peter & Nic were soon back after attending a funeral in Golden Bay. We renewed our acquaintanceships with all the family pets, but this time there were an additional three orphan kittens for Rosemary to coo over. Obviously, they were a perk of Nic’s job with the SPCA, and had to be syringe fed special pet milk at intervals. Once on solids, they will be found homes. R decided she could not stuff them all in her suitcase.
An excellent supper of Pete’s vegetarian lasagne & salad.
During the evening and night, it poured with rain.
Walked across the park again but on a different route, ending up at a restaurant called Strawberry Fare. Here I had eggs Benedict and a delicious Avocado Salsa. Rosemary ate Pancakes & berries.
Walked back to town and caught the tram at stop 13 on the corner of Armagh Street and Rolleston Avenue. The tram is well worth it for the commentary. We went around totally once and a bit more stopping off at the Oxford Terrace again to have lunch at the Craft Embassy there were 21 beers on tap, and another 6 hand pulled flat, warm, English-style beers.
Back on the tram again for a final tour getting off at the DX postbox to post a final three Post Cards, for which we had DX stamps. (Strange postal system here.)
Enjoyed our repeat visit to the Canterbury Museum where this time we viewed the Antarctica exhibition.
Walked across Hagley Park through the rose garden again and a good section which has native New Zealand plants. R spotted a California Quail in the undergrowth.
Stopped at the Hagley NightnDay to pick up pies to eat for supper.
Today the van was going back. So a bit of cleaning and repacking our belongings. Left all our excess food and beer in the kitchen. It soon disappeared. Next, we went to the dump station and cleaned out the sink tank and then left for Tui Campers out near the airport. Handed over the van which was inspected. Used Google Maps to call an Uber cab which was with us in 3 minutes and headed off to the Towers in the Park hotel. Obviously as was early we just dumped the bags before walking across Hagley Park to what we assumed would be the main city centre. Despite it being Friday, the city was a ghost town. Hardly anyone around.
We visited the old cathedral and the cardboard cathedral. At the old cathedral there was a man singing. He was still there in the afternoon and was there the next day. Talking with my bro later, it appears he is a permanent feature. Cathedral Square had a food market running which is there every Friday.
We admired the new car parks and the new buildings which had gone up. There though were large blocks which were empty, and unsafe buildings boarded up.
Lunch was at Original Sin, on the Oxford Terrace overlooking the Avon River. There are a series of new buildings along this stretch which are all restaurants and bars. New ones were still being fitted out on the ground level.
Afterwards we walked around a bit more and then visited the Canterbury Museum to look at the stuffed birds. A cup of coffee in the restaurant where we bought a couple of sandwiches after they had been removed from the cabinets at closing time. This was to be our supper back at the hotel.
Long walk back to hotel across the park and through the rose garden. Did spot an interesting moving statue at a water fountain.
The hotel room was large, with a kitchenette and electric blankets on the bed. Despite being out opposite the park, the city still sounded noisy at night.
We drove North towards Christchurch. The road was becoming steadily busier as we progressed. Long straight sections, fairly easy to overtake. I have noticed a reluctance amongst NZ drivers to overtake, even when they can see the road is clear for a mile or so. I also see some drivers still treating major highways as a country lane and pulling straight onto the road right in front of traffic driving along it a 100kph.
We turned off and drove to Birdlings Flat, where we expected to see birds. Not sure why as Jonno very explicitly says the beach is all pebble and has semi-precious stones. We then tried the road along the spit. This is a wide spit and seems fairly impossible to get to the sea or inland lake and mud flats. Both sides had sheep rearing. We did stop and photograph of some Australasian Harrier Hawks fighting over a bone. While we were parked on the verge a farm lorry drove at us to intimidate us.
The grass areas were covered with flocks of Goldfinches, who also sat on the road but kept their distance no matter how slowly we drove up to them. Now, to find a camp site. This proved harder than expected. The first place we found was on a gorgeous position on Lake Ellesmere, but the clouds of mozzies put us off. We headed for some more inland sites, marked on the atlas, but these did not seem to exist. We ended up driving into Christchurch for the night, staying at a Top-Ten. Was expecting it to be expensive because it was a Superior site, but no. The facilities in our area were not particularly plush.
Drive to Lake Tekapo and the Church of the Good Shepherd. During the night there were seemingly heavy rain showers, and two trains passed close by the campsite waking both of us. Luckily, we fell back to sleep quickly. The morning was cold. The good news was the sun was shining. Not sure what to do, we headed North until we almost reached Timaru and then headed inland towards Lake Tekapo. The drive was non-stop until we reached Tekapo. Loo break required, but the only toilets were surrounded by a coachload of Chinese tourists. Only option was to stop and wait cross legged.
The first tourist attraction was the Church of the Good Shepherd. Lots of people of all nationalities taking selfies, but managed to snap a few pictures without people. There is also a statue erected to the “runholders of the MacKenzie county and those who appreciate the value of the Collie dog, without the help of which the grazing of this mountain country would be impossible”.
While I was taking these pictures I overheard a conversation about other places to go. The recommendation was to go up to the University of Canterbury Mt John Observatory where there was a café. Good advice this was. The day was clear, though some clouds to make the landscape interesting. Even managed to get a picture of Mt Cook as it peeped through the clouds. At the café they were selling coffee and food along with stamps and postcards all bearing the Observatory pictures. You could also post the cards there, they stated this was the highest postbox in the Southern Hemisphere. I find that a little surprising at only 1,029 metres. You would have thought somewhere in South America (Peru, Chile?) would have higher postboxes.
Back down, we headed off to Geraldine for a night. Decided to camp in the Top-Ten cos it was right in the middle of the town which would allow us a walk around. Must have been early closing though, most places firmly closed. At least we found a bar where we could sit and drink in peace.
Campervan bed made up with the blanket on top of the duvet. It’s forecast to go below zero tonight. Also done (well, Rosemary insisted we did it) our final wash because we have only one more day of camping left. Tomorrow we head to Christchurch and plan to camp near Birdling flats. Weather looks a bit iffy though.
The rain hammered on the roof of the van throughout the night. We waited in anticipation for the quietness of the forecast snow but it didn’t come. The morning was cold, the car thermometer read 3C. Sleet was in the air in the morning when I walked over to the 4 Square to purchase some yoghurt for breakfast.
Instead of driving to Twizel and Mount Cook campsite, we decided to head East to Oamaru where it might be warmer and less rainy. The mountains around us were topped with snow showing a very definite freezing point line. Stopped at the dam on Lake Aviemore, then at the dam at Lake Waitaki. We reached Oamaru to take a look around the Victorian area. The old dock and railroad warehouses had been converted into shops and galleries. Rosemary went into a secondhand bookshop, Slightly Foxed, and quizzed the chap as to whether he was connected to the UK publishers of that name. He knew of the publisher & received their newsletter. He said Slightly Foxed had been the name of many a bookshop before the internet showed up all the duplicates. He packed R’s shell book purchase in brown paper & string, added the shop’s stamp & a bookmark. She hesitated over a newish book on the dragonflies of NZ, but the $150 price put her off.
We ate lunch at The Galley, a lovely piece of Blue Cod, chips and salad. The café building was unusual cos it was clad with thick, rusted steel-plate.
Back at the Victorian Area we took a look at the Steam Punk exhibition. This art is all made from old iron objects, TVs etc reused to build sculptures, often with a sci-fi theme.
We paid a visit to the penguin colony, not to go in but to vindicate our thoughts that the place was a very circus display of penguins. Instead we watched hundreds of shags sitting on a pier. They must use the place to rest and roost. There was a continual coming and going of birds.
We are now sitting in the interim sun having a beer, waiting for the next shower to roll in. Oh, and here it is…..
Bungy jump day! So we left Glenorchy. It was a promising day. The sky was blue when we rose, but soon clouded over. Drove on back to Queenstown, refuelled and bought 2 -3 days supply of food and headed on to our destination of Omarama.
Our first stop of the day was AJ Hackett, the original bungy jump centre. The set-up is impressive, with a huge hall with food, clothing and booking. Yet you can still walk across the suspension bridge because it is part of a DOC trail. Sorry, I didn’t jump. (I know I shall regret it, but Rosemary whinged and the price ($205) was more than I expected. Almost worst for the jumpers, was the walk back up hill from the river.)
Next it was on the road again to stop to take some photographs at the Roaring Meg power station. I’m sure there’s a beer called that. Next on the agenda was the Goldfields Mining Centre. This looked rather upmarket with jewellery and a wine merchant. We stopped and had a coffee served by a delectable French mademoiselle from Provence.
Next stop was for a 4K walk around the Bannockburn Sluicings Historic Reserve. Really interesting scenery caused by the gold mine works and the hydraulic workings which were used to flush all the worked spoils into the river. Naturalists would say this was a total destruction of the environment, but still it has its beauty and is well worth a visit. The land around here is pretty poor and worthless, until someone invented the grape. Yes grapes and crap soil go well together. Oh and the weather was still holding out. R claimed never to have seen so many thyme plants.
On we drove through some spectacular scenery, then we came to Lindis Pass, and the rain belted down. The intention for the night was to stay at a DOC site in Omarama. Instead it was to be a Top10 site, required for dry cooking and eating. The host of the site said it was due to snow tonight and tomorrow. Let’s see what happens.
Early rise for us, up, showered and ready for breakfast be 7.00am. The boat had moored for the night in Precipice Cove. Today it was wet and raining with low cloud. The waterfalls we had seen before were now larger. We revisited one on Crooked Arm, it was now spectacular. We then proceeded to Hall Arm where we stopped for a period of silence. Engines off, generators off. It was not at all silent, the sound of rain, the waves on the shore. The Naturalist for the trip said she heard a single bird. A far cry from the days of Captain Cook who said the Island of New Zealand was alive with the sound of bird song. The Naturalist was rooting for a tourist tax to visit Fjordland to help fun conservation.
We learnt of the rare Fiordland brotula fish, Fiordichthys slartibartfasti. The species name is after the Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy character Slartibartfast, who had been one of the designers of the supercomputer Earth and had won an award for his design of the Norwegian fjords. Neat!
We were now soon back moored at 10.0am and transferred back to Manapouri by two busses and the ferry. Still raining, we then headed off towards Queenstown and ultimately Glenorchy. There was some spectacular scenery on the way to Glenorchy along Lake Wakatipu.
The Glenorchy campsite, Mrs Woolly’s Campground, was slightly odd, empty when we arrived, but quite a few sleeper/campervans turned up. The buildings are all wood and look very rickety, but inside the facilities are pretty faultless. All young people in their 20s. We cooked a very basic meal in the very busy kitchen, feeling old amongst all the 20 year olds.
