We landed in Auckland and then went through the same procedure as Oz, gave them our trekking shoes to be re-washed again. The thing was they were still in the Australian Quarantine bags from 3 days ago, but still they insisted on cleaning them. After about 2 hours we finally managed to get out of the airport and get to the car rentals and it was there that we picked up our limousine in the shape of a 1990 Nissan Sunny, cool.
The car had done about 3 million miles and the tracking was shot to bits, but it had character and we liked it. We headed off through Auckland to Remuera, a leafy suburb of the city and after just 5 minutes the rage started to return to me. Seriously I do not like driving one bit and we were about to start a 5000 km round trip.
Stayed the night at Sonia and John’s place, they are Mariana’s friend from University and made us most welcome. In fact they loaned us a complete set of camping gear which was a great help to us. Auckland seems so nice and we can see why so many people jump ship from the UK and head out here.
The next 3 days we travelled the North Island heading south towards Wellington. We stopped off at Lake Taupo and stayed in the most amazing camp site. Quiet, full of enormous trees set beside a fast flowing river towards waferfalls, whats more, it was free! Visited the craters of the moon and then set off for Palmerston North on our way to Wellington. Stayed in a Department of Conservation (DOC) campsite about 50km south of Palmerston to find that one of the tent poles had split in the trunk of the car, bugger. Made a temporary repair and camped in a strange little place with about just 3 or 4 other people. Early morning we packed up camp and headed off for Wellington. By 9am we were there a mere 4 ½ hours before our ferry left for Picton. It was Mariana’s 30th Birthday and we intended to take a sky dive in Taupo but were unsure of the costs so would wait until Christchurch. We wondered around town, got a new pole for the tent and had a terrible lunch since there did not seem to be anywhere that seriously catered for vegetarians. Wellington is a cool city, full of things to do but we had limited time so headed for the boat shortly after. We crossing was slow and Mariana was not in the best of moods and scoring just 7.8 on her floor exercises. Arrived in Picton then headed off towards White Sands Bay and camped for the night. Wonderful place on a secluded beach surrounded by cliffs. In the morning we went running before breakfast which was so nice since we hadn’t seriously exercised for some time now. I was half dead by the time we returned to the tent, but in good spirits.
We took an age to pack up and by 1pm we were off to Kaikoura, a small surfers village about 200km south. Didn’t stay there for long since it seemed a bit of a tourist trap so we headed a little further and camped at Omihi beach, where you could see seals lying below in the sun. It was quite noisey with the road beside you, but the background noise of the waves crashing outside the tent sent us to sleep, what a great place.
The following day we headed for Peel Forest via Christchurch. After panicking for the last 30km since we were running on fumes and not petrol we finally made it. Not sure why they called it Christhurch, maybe it’s an anagram for Let’s Copy Oxford!
Christchurch was really nice and we had plenty of time to chill and drink gallons of coffee. We reached Peel forest around 6pm so managed to set up camp in daylight. This campsite was like a palace with regards to it’s facilities, hot showers, Laundry room, kitchens the works. Had a lovely time getting clean and went running in the morning on one of the many tracks in the area. This campsite was expensive, a whole NZ$18 per night….
The following day was Queenstown via Lake Tekapo, where we had lunch. The drive as so boring since we were now inland with no sea in sight. Camped up in Lake Wakatipu about 12km south of town, had some food, got attacked (the first of many) by sand flies and crashed for the evening.
In the morning we started the epic journey to Milford Sound. Most normal people allow 2-3 days for this, but we did it in 6 hours via Te Anan for lunch. Found a campsite around 100km from Milford Sound and there we met some sand flies. The most enjoyable part of having dinner with sand flies is watching them go swimming in the pasta sauce, they must think it is their birthday and somebody has boiled up a large pan of fresh blood just so they don’t have cut through your skin. Our campsite was nice but too many people and we are glad in a way that we are camping in a tent and not in a camper van since life would be so simple and sand fly free!
The following morning we headed off to Milford Sound, stopping off at a view point and greated by 3 cheeky Alpine Parrots. Strange birds, beautiful colours and not shy at all. We gave them some nice oatmeal bread before continuing on the Sound to catch our boat. The boat trip was amazing, really empty since the main truck loads of Japonese do not arrive till 10am, so only about 20 on our boat. The views are quite something special with mist / fog everywhere and waterfalls, seals, etc. This was our first main activity of NZ since we were trying to stick to a reasonable budget, but it was worth every penny. We realised that they were serving free coffee on the boat, so I managed to chug away about 1 ½ litres before we pulled into the Quayside.
From Milford Sound we headed to Wanaka Lakes via Te Anan and Queenstown. We were meant to stay close to town but the campsite was full of gypsies so we moved on another 100km. Our campsite had many sand flies and Mariana decided to throw our lentil casserole dinner over the neighbouring campers (or very close to them) since she had not experienced the full force of the dark side to date. One thing to say about the south island is that it is beautiful, but the sand fly situation is bad, so I suggest a full chain mail suit if you visit in the near future.
From Milford Sound we headed to Wanaka Lakes via Te Anan and Queenstown. We were meant to stay close to town but the campsite was full of gypsies so we moved on another 100km. Our campsite had many sand flies and Mariana decided to throw our lentil casserole dinner over the neighbouring campers (or very close to them) since she had not experienced the full force of the dark side to date. One thing to say about the south island is that it is beautiful, but the sand fly situation is bad, so I suggest a full chain mail suit if you visit in the near future.
Our penultimate day in the South Island, we drove 1000km in a day. We left camp really early to avoid paying the fees, this was obviously Mariana’s idea since I am so honest and wanted to pay, but she insisted we drive off into the distance and spend the cash on cakes and coffee instead. We stopped for breakfast about 200km down the road and I was attacked (with what seemed like planned logistics of a full army) by sand flies. This was the final straw for me and I wanted out! Did intend to stay at Fox Glacier, but again this was a tourist trap and we wanted to save the cash so continued on after a coffee break. We headed for Lake Rotitti via Reefton Junction. Reefton Junction has one shop which happened to be a café and sold the best Chocolate Rough cake in the world. Seriously, the best slab of cake we have ever had. Similar to a chocolate brownie but with coconut and a biscuit base. To die for! Arrived at Lake Rotitti late and after setting up the tent went running. Cooked dinner in a little kitchen enclosure which gave us some much needed shelter from the sand flies, then went to bed quite early.
The ferry was leaving at 10am, so we had to be in Picton by 9am which was a squeeze. We drove endlessly down country roads, and watched a few hundred sheep being driven by 2 remarkable farm dogs. The farmer normally has 4 dogs, and alternates them since the drive is typically a few miles and dogs need rest periods. The dogs absolutely love it, really nice watching them in action.
The ferry was leaving at 10am, so we had to be in Picton by 9am which was a squeeze. We drove endlessly down country roads, and watched a few hundred sheep being driven by 2 remarkable farm dogs. The farmer normally has 4 dogs, and alternates them since the drive is typically a few miles and dogs need rest periods. The dogs absolutely love it, really nice watching them in action.
The ferry back was really nice but the weather in Wellington was terrible, full rain. We headed off to Napier in the Hawkes Bay area (East Coast) and stopped off for numerous Wild Bean Café refills. Napier is an art deco town rebuilt after the 1931 earthquake which more or less completely destroyed the town. The town is gorgeous but we could find anywhere to stay since there was a motown concert that weekend, so we headed about 40km north and stayed in an awful place for the night. We set up camp in the dark and had dinner at 10pm, not nice at all. In the morning we headed back to Napier for the day. Went swimming, had a fantastic lunch, visited the museum and had ice cream, really nice day. Around 5pm we headed towards Lake Taupo and stopped off at a campsite on a river. Cracked open a bottle of Hawkes Bay wine and ate grapes, cheese and crackers, chilled out for the evening.
The next day we were back in Lake Taupo, and headed straight for Reeds Farm campsite. Pitched right next to the river with our duck family. Headed into town and sat beside the lake for the afternoon. We were still unsure about the skydive since Mariana is both scared of flying and heights, so not sure if it was going ahead. I called a skydive com[any the following morning and they said the weather was looking doubtful and I should call back around 1pm. Mariana was not in the best of moods since I had put her under pressure telling people that we were going to do it. Called back at 2pm and it was on so we had to quickly jump in the car and speed off to the airport. Within 25 minutes we wear in jumpsuits heading for the plane having signed our lives away on the disclaimer forms. Mariana was a touch nervous and I was very excited having signed up for a 15,000 feet jump. Mariana was going to 12,000 with a film crew. We all ended up jumping at 12,000 feet as the weather was bad and wind speed at 55 knots so could not go any higher. The jump was awesome, one of the best things we have ever done. Mariana was ecstatic and so happy she had overcome her fears top do it. If we had the money, we would continue this crazy hobby, but for now it was more than enough adrenaline for one day. The rest of the day just drifted past without notice as we could not stop talking about the dive.
Our final day on the road we headed off towards Auckland hoping to catch a glimpse of Lady Knox Geyser en route. We somehow manage to take the wrong highway and ended up almost 100km away, but it was for the best since they wanted NZ$55 per person to watch a bit of steam, no chance as it was only NZ$245 for a skydive. Arrived in Auckland at 2pm and walked around the city before meeting Neil for a coffee. Neil shared a flat with Mariana in Dollis Hill before packing up and heading off to NZ for a break. It was good to catch up and learn a bit about his travels before we headed off back to Remuera to see Sonia and John.
Sonia had personally baked Mariana a birthday cake which was a really nice surprise and we chatted for hours about our trip.
The next day we repacked our things, and headed back to Auckland airport for our flight to Santiago, the last 5 month leg of our journey.
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