Tag Archives: New Zealand

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Journey’s End: Tekapo to Christchurch to Singapore

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Day 34-35  29-30th Nov 2024

All good things must come to an end. Our trip around the “Mainland” was nearing its end. We woke up to a wonderful view over Lake Tekapo.

After breakfast, it was time dump the waste water and empty the toilet cassette for the last time. Then it was off to Christchurch. The first part of the journey, over Burke’s pass to Fairlie, was reasonably pretty.

After Fairlie, we were back onto the Canterbury plains. So it became flat and boring, for the first time in a fortnight. We stopped in Geraldine, partly to get a cup of coffee, partly because we have a friend called Geraldine. We couldn’t find anywhere for a coffee. Nonetheless, we did manage to take a photo of the town sign to show that we had been there.

Target Practice?

The road from Geraldine back to Christchurch was very flat and more or less straight. Diane tried to stop herself from getting bored by taking pictures of railway crossing signs. The road and the railway run parallel most of the way.

We stopped for lunch in Ashburton at some place. I can’t remember its name, probably because it wasn’t a memorable meal. Then, it was back up SH1 to Christchurch and Maui Campers to return the van. That took a wee while. We had to wait for the branch manager to discuss the compensation for the water leaks. They needed to decide what level of compensation they were prepared to offer us. Compensation agreed we caught the Maui airport shuttle to our hotel.

The Sudima Hotel was the most boring of all the hotels that we stayed at on our trip. That said, it did its job. It gave us a bed for the night and fed us. You can’t really ask much more of an airport hotel. It did, though, lack a lift. Fortunately, they employed a retired second-row player to cart our bags up to the second floor.

The next day, we were up reasonably early for breakfast. We had a plane to catch at 12:00. Our brilliant time in Aotearoa was over. Next stop Singapore.

Checking in and going through security at Christchurch Airport was an absolute pleasure compared to Heathrow. Heathrow probably has more passengers to process in an hour than Christchurch has in a week, but never the less. Actually, landing in Singapore was similarly stress free. Everything was automated, and it worked. We hardly saw a single (official) person from leaving the plane until we were picked up by our car.

The flight to Singapore was pleasant. Because of the changes in time zones it was daylight all the way. We spent the flight watching Lord of the Rings films, trying to spot the places we had been.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

A Day Off in Te Anau: Van Repairs and Glow Worms

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Day 30   25th Nov 2024

We ended up spending an extra day in Te Anau. Our original plan had been to head back to the Queenstown area today. Maui Campers arranged for a garage in Te Anau to look at our van. So we booked an extra day at the campsite. It gave us an opportunity to catch up with our laundry. It also gave us a more relaxed day. It had been fairly full on most days. A day off, even though it was enforced, was pleasant.

I took the van along to the garage about lunchtime, left it with the garage owner. I went off to have a bite of lunch, when I came back it was fixed. He was disparaging about the quality of the repair that Maui had carried out in Queenstown. We were ready to roll again.

In the meantime Diane had found that there was a Glow worm Cave on the other side of the lake. She booked us tickets on the evening trip.

The first part of the trip was a cruise across the lake.

When we arrived at the other side, we entered the reception building. Then, they divided us into smaller groups for the tour of the caves.

The caves themselves are very spectacular with an underground river and a stunning waterfall. The caves are geologically speaking, quite young. They were formed about 12,000 years ago.

Having walked through the caves, past the waterfall, we boarded a punt, for the trip to see the glow worms. In the pitch darkness as our eyes gradually became accustomed to the lack of light, the glow worms appeared.

Glow worms.

The picture is borrowed from the cave’s website. Unfortunately You can’t just whip out your phone and take a quick snap. Any flash would cause the worms to turn off their glow. It is possible to take a picture, but it requires a very long exposure. I had neither the camera equipment nor the time to do it. Nor probably the patience.

I found it quite meditative looking at the glow worms. It was peaceful in the darkness and silence, drifting along on the punt.

As we were walking back through the caves we saw a rather large eel. I’m not sure what it lived on, glow worms seem the most obvious candidates.

After we left the caves, we waited for the boat to take us back to Te Anau. During this time, we received a presentation about the life of a glow worm.

The glow lights are designed to attract prey. They catch their prey by dangling sticky strings from their bodies. Fairly akin to a spiders web. Glow worms are cannibalistic, they have no qualms about eating another glow worm if it gets too close. Strictly speaking they are actually maggots, rather than worms. On a positive note, they eat Sandflies.

It was a good day. We got our laundry done. The van was fixed. Te Anau is a lovely little town. Diane did some “mindful” knitting. We saw glow worms and finished off with an excellent dinner at the unfortunately named “Thai Anau”

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“Mindful knitting”
Australia New Zealand, Travel

Milford Sound

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Day 29 Nov 24th

One of the main reasons for coming to Te Anau was its convenience. It provided a good jumping off point for a day trip to Milford Sound. We had looked at various options. Trips from Queenstown meant spending about ten hours on a coach. Booking the trip from Te Anau saved about five hours of the boring bit (from Queenstown to Te Anau). We booked our tour with Fjordland Tours. We were picked up from our accommodation about 08:00. The transport was a sixteen seat mini-bus. There was plenty of legroom. I found it very comfortable. Our driver/guide was a local woman, who knew the area intimately.

Our route took us up the eastern edge of Lake Te Anau. We traveled as far as Te Anau Downs. This is where you catch a ferry to the start of the Milford Track. You can walk to Milford Sound from there, if you want to. Other tracks are available.

Te Anau Downs

From there the route carried on up the Eglington Valley. This valley is featured in the Lord of the Rings. It continued to the Mirror Lakes.

Eglington Valley
Mirror Lakes
Mirror lakes
Mirror Lakes

The road climbed and twisted its way up to the Homer Tunnel.

Inside the Homer Tunnel

The weather was blue skies and sunny when we stopped for tea and cake at The Mirror Lakes. When we emerged from the tunnel the rain started. This was not unexpected. Milford Sound receives a mean annual rainfall of 6,412 mm (252 in) each year. This is a high level even for the West Coast. It is known as the wettest inhabited place in New Zealand and one of the wettest in the world. Rainfall can reach 250 mm (10 in) during 24 hours.[14] The rainfall creates dozens of temporary waterfalls cascading down the cliff faces. It also results in several major, more permanent ones. Some waterfalls reach a thousand meters in length. Smaller falls from such heights never reach the bottom of the sound, drifting away in the wind.

We dropped down from the tunnel to Milford Sound, where our boat was waiting for us.

Our cruise was very scenic, very spectacular and very wet.

Waterfall
A Fjordland Crested Penguin

We saw a few Fjordland Crested Penguins. From a photographers point of view they are unfortunately rather small. The reach a maximum height of around 55 cm. Hence the not very clear photo.

Sometimes seals, dolphins and orcas are seen, but not today.

I should mention that Fjordland Tours provided an excellent packed lunch, which we ate while cruising the sound.

The cruise lasted about two hours, then it was time to head back to Te Anau. We were stopped, waiting to go through the tunnel. During this time, a Kea decided to try and take the rubber door seal of the van apart.

You didn’t really need that door seal
Kea

We stopped on the way for a walk up the first (easy) part of the Lake Marian Trail.

After that we drove back to Te Anau where we were dropped off back at the campsite.

Some people would have been disappointed that it was wet and misty. I think that it the rain and the cloud actually enhanced the experience. There are apparently only two permanent waterfalls at Milford Sound. The rest are only formed when it is raining.

It was a wonderful day out and one of the highlights of our trip.

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A Wasted Day

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Day 28 Nov 23 2024

We had been having a problem with the van. Water kept appearing on the floor. It wasn’t obvious where it was coming from. I called the Maui campers helpline and they suggested taking it to their Queenstown branch. As Queenstown was on the way to our destination Te Anau, we said that we would.

Lake Wānaka

We spent the night at a campsite in Wānaka. After having had breakfast and a look at the lake, we set off for Queenstown. We would have liked to take the Crown Range Road via Cardrona. But, Maui stated that we would not be insured on that road. So we went the long way round.

While the lowland route was not without its charms, it was not as attractive as the Crown Range.

We arrived in Queenstown round about lunchtime. Everyone there was very pleasant and helpful. So we left the van with them while we headed off and found lunch. After we came back they said that they had found a problem with the water pump. We assumed that they had fixed it. Said thank you and went on our way to Te Anau. We didn’t test it.

The route we took down the side of Lake Wakatipu was really attractive. At the southern end of the lake we found a small town called Kingston. Because we live in Kingston-upon-Thames, we felt we had to visit Kingston-upon-Lake Wakatipu.

We found an attractive village, a cafe and a stream train.

The train is called “The Kingston Flyer “. It runs every Sunday during the season from Kingston to Fairlight and back again.

Afterwards we headed to Te Anau.

We arrived at the Te Anau Top Ten Holiday Park. We parked up and connected the electricity. Then, we switched on the water pump……

They had managed to make the leak worse.

It probably wasn’t a completely wasted day. We got to Te Anau. We booked a trip to Milford Sound for the next day while we waited for the van to be “fixed”. I also bought myself a bottle of New Zealand whisky.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

Kiwis, Tuataras and Sand-fly’s

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Day 28 Nov 23 2024

We spent the night at the Franz Joseph Campervan Park, which is very centrally situated, but rather cramped. Still it provided everything we needed. Power, water and WiFi were included, and the showers and toilets worked and were clean. It was a short walk to restaurants, bars and a supermarket, so we had everything we needed. The only minus was the position of the dump station. If you wanted to use it you blocked any one else from entering or leaving the site.

The weather had cleared, compared to yesterday, but there was still some cloud around. The helicopters were flying. We debated whether or not to take a flight to the glacier. We decided in the end not to. Instead we visited the West Coast Wildlife Centre.

They have a breeding program for Kiwis and Tuataras. While it is possible to see Kiwis in the wild, it is not that easy. They are nocturnal, and you also have to know where to look for them. We decided that our best chance of seeing a live Kiwi was in the breeding centre. We have no photos of Kiwis, because trying to take a photo would disturb them.

The Kiwis are kept in an environment that tries to replicate their natural surroundings. Because they are nocturnal day and night are reversed, so that they are active during the centre’s opening hours. It takes a while for your eyes to adapt to the darkness. You can hear the Kiwis rooting around looking for food long before you can see them. When you do see one, they are surprisingly big. The size of a small chicken.

A video about Kiwis

The other endangered native species that the Wild Life Centre breeds and cares for are Tuataras.

Tuataras are the last surviving members of reptile group, the Rhynchocephalians that is older than the dinosaurs. Rhynchocephalians first appeared in the fossil record around 240 million years ago.

They very easy to take photos of, as they move very slowly. There metabolism is so slow that they can survive up to two years without eating. They prefer to eat once a week or so. Their diet is mainly invertebrates, although the will eat small birds and their own young. Because of this, while adult Tuataras are active mainly at night, the young Tuataras are active during the day.

They can grow up to 60 cm in length. They generally live for about 60 years. But, they can live to 100.

Learn more about Tuataras

We left feeling that we had learned more about Kiwis and Tuataras. We also learned about the efforts being made to help them survive and even thrive.

Just south of Franz Joseph we came across evidence of them in the wild. We kept an eye open for them, but didn’t see any. Which we wouldn’t have because it was daytime.

We also encountered a non-endangered species of native wildlife – the Sandfly. These are a particularly annoying type of biting insect which inhabit the West Coast. I think you can also find them in other areas of New Zealand. Like the West Highland Midgie, it is apparently only the females who bite. Like the Midgie the bite itches for days afterwards. We tried a few insect repellents, but none of them seemed to work 100%. We should have tried Avon Skin So Soft. It keeps the Midgies at bay.

When we stopped at Lake Paringa for lunch they came out in force.

The landslides that had closed SH6 have been cleared. The journey over the Haast Pass to Wānaka was uneventful—very scenic, very winding, but uneventful.

Australia New Zealand, Travel

The South Island (aka The Mainland)

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Day 21-23 Sat 16th to 19th Nov 2024

After we dropped the car off, we caught our flight to Christchurch to start the third phase of our adventure.

Since I last visited Christchurch about thirty-five years ago, the city was devastated by a major earthquake in 2011. The results are still visible, most notably the cathedral, which is still sheathed in scaffolding. Surprisingly, the rugby stadium has still not been completed. I expected that in Canterbury, it would be the very first priority. Surely, even before they cleared the rubble.

We didn’t get any time in Christchurch, we arrived late and only had one night. The hotel we stayed at, The Observatory, was very good, but we didn’t have the time to appreciate it. That said, their breakfast arrangements were not great

After breakfast, we headed back out to the airport to pick up our Campervan. A fairly painless process. We told the guy doing our familiarisation tour that we were Campervan owners. So he skipped a couple of bits that might have been helpful later on.

Formalities completed, we headed off up SH1 towards Kaikoura.

The Van (at Kaikoura)

The first part of the trip was a wee bit flat and boring. Yet, as we approached Kaikoura, the road became more interesting. We enjoyed views of the mountains and the sea.

We planned to stay for two nights because we were going whale watching on Monday. On Monday, the wind got up, and just as we were heading to get the boat, history repeated itself. Diane received an e-mail saying that due to the weather, our trip was canceled. So we drove down to the seal colony and went seal watching instead.

The next day, we were planning to head to Marlborough and wine. Diane was not going to be defeated in her quest to see a whale. She had seen something advertising whale watching flights. So she booked one for herself, but not for me. I’m slightly reluctant to get into a 747, let alone something with one engine and half a wing.

She went off. She came back three-quarters of an hour later. There was a big smile on her face because she had seen a Sperm Whale.

A Sperm Whale

After that, it was onward and upwards towards Blenheim.

Diane had read about a place at Blenheim Station where you could sample about 100 different wines. Unfortunately,  it had closed. But,  we discovered a place at the station called Fidelio. It also did wine tasting. I was driving, so couldn’t indulge, Diane tried a few vintages and bought a bottle.

We turned west, not sure whether to head directly to the West Coast or go via Nelson.  We drove on through kilometer after kilometer of vines.

Vines
More vines

We eventually decided to head for Murchison. We were just coming into town. We saw a sign for Riverside Holiday Park. We decided to stay there for the night. We ignored the cemetery on the way in, in favour of the riverside setting.

As I was checking in, Diane was flicking through brochures for White Water Rafting …….

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A few thoughts on the Rugby World Cup

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I don’t usually post anything about rugby, but as the World Cup has just finished I will make an exception. As someone brought up in the Scottish Borders, rugby is part of my DNA. Obviously any direct interest I had in its outcome ended at the group stage when Scotland lost to England.
The final was a compelling game of rugby. From the moment that the French lined up in a ‘V’ to advance on the All Black Haka to the last, very relieved, kick to touch, the game had me gripped. At no point was either team on top. I think that The All Blacks just about deserved to win. They were the best team in the tournament. The best player both in the final and in the tournament overall was Thierry Dusautoir. He was named Man of the Match in the final and today was justly named the IRB Player of the Year.
Some would argue that low scoring and only two tries makes for an uninteresting game, I would argue that a seventy point try feast may be entertaining but has more to do with basketball than rugby. Some of the best games of rugby that I have seen were low scoring forward dominated games, usually played out in the mud at Mansfield Park between Hawick and Gala.

What Else did I learn from the World Cup?

  • ITV are keener to cut to an advert than to stay with the event.
  • Nick Mullins is not the new Bill McLaren (I already knew that)
  • The minor teams got a raw deal from the organisers.
  • The tournament goes on a bit too long , I can’t see an easy way of shortening it.
  • It would be good to have a “Bowl” competition in 2015 (similar to what happens in Seven-a-side tournaments..)
  • No game is ever lost if you are playing Scotland.
  • By the next World Cup Russia and Georgia could well be up with Scotland and Italy.
  • A Pacific Island team might not win the World Cup, but one of them will always produce an upset.
  • Hayley Westenra is very pretty and can also sing a bit.
  • Israel Dagg reminds me of Andy Irvine, without the worry about what is going to happen under a high ball.
  • Before he was crocked Dan Carter did enough to convince me, and possibly other Borderers of my generation, that he could be a better No 10 even than ‘Rud’.