New Zealand (part one)

Time out

We flew into Auckland at the end of January. As it was peak tourist season still, we had to wait for our modestly -sized and priced campervan to be available. We spent the waiting period enjoying the sights and museums of Auckland and touring the Coromandel Peninsula in a car. We stayed in a variety of places overnight, including the Miranda Naturalists Trust Centre, where we lay on the shingle bank in the early morning as the incoming tide brought in flocks of godwits and wrybills right over us.

On the Coromandel Peninsula

(North Island)

For a map of New Zealand Journey Click here

Once in possession of our motorhome we joined the New Zealand Motor Caravan Association and stuck our red wings sign on the front window. This means we get a cheery wave from fellow members as well as discounts at commercial campgrounds plus a list of low cost and free sites. We now pride ourselves on finding spots where we claim "the presidential suite" with an uninterrupted view of the local scene, be it beach, lake, mountain or glacier. Top view so far was the Mueller Glacier near Mt. Cook early morning with a rainbow over (and us tucked up in our cosy double duvet!)

We have travelled as the fancy has taken us, with no particular plan. Early on we visited Rotorua, centre of the geothermal activity, and in addition to soaking in the hot springs, we zoomed up in the cable car in order to whiz down again on a luge. From our previous visit, around 30 years ago, we remembered the hot springs, but not the many tourist attractions, like the cable-car, which have since appeared. Our campsite there also introduced us to the gas-fired outdoor barbecue where we fired up some of the excellent steak available here.

Taupo was another high spot, we were entertained by Heather and Brett on their smallholding, and next day witnessed hundreds of bikers on their Harley Davidsons traveling through to their annual rally in Wellington. We followed on there at slower pace and in due course visited Te Papa, the National Museum, and took the cable car up to the Botanic Gardens. There was so much to see in the museum we traveled in from our campsite by tram the next day to go again. We were fascinated by the "Lord of the Rings" exhibition. Having seen the costumes, jewelry and weapons, along with videos concerning computer graphics, building sets and so on, we were able to fully appreciate the vast amount of work which went into the designs and fabrications for the film.

The ferry crossing from Wellington to Picton (about three and half hours) was quite smooth, and the scenery was lovely as we approached the South Island through the Marlborough Sound, reminiscent of Scottish sea lochs. Our 5 weeks since then have passed travelling down the east coast, then west over the Southern Alps to Fiordland, then back east to our current location at Purakaunus Bay in the Catlins region.

Some stunning scenery

Once again we are in the "Presidential suite" with an uninterrupted coastal view of high cliffs over a wide sweep of sand, dotted with gulls, black oyster catchers, and paradise shelduck where the river flows into the sea. Mitre Peak - ht. 1695 metres. Rising sheer from the deep waters of Milford Sound, this is one of the many spectacular features of the South Island. We have thoroughly enjoyed our time here so far (at 17th March 2003 = 7 weeks). Everything is so easy - no language problems, the people are friendly and only too ready to chat about their links with the UK and interested in our travels; cost of living cheaper than UK; way of life familiar; and scenery magnificent.

We haven't availed ourselves of most of the outdoor activities available (bungee jumping, skygliding etc). However we did go white water rafting on the Rangitata River with rapids up to Grade V (highest grade commercially raftable). That was an amazing experience. It was a beautiful day, snow-capped mountains in the distance, as we drifted in our raft under instruction from "Biks" (=Rebecca) our raft leader. Only too soon we were being swirled and bumped as we descended the rapids, culminating in what seemed to be passing through a washing machine! We also jumped into the river from cliffs (Jim rather higher than I) to float down and experience the currents and eddies. Jim suffered a stiff neck and I wrenched my hip and thought I would have to go into hospital! A couple of days later though, we had recovered!

For more images of the rafting adventure Click here.
The page may be slow to download so be patient - it's worth it

We went on a jet-boating trip 35 Km up the Dart River from Glenorchy, with the Humboldt Mountains one side and Forbes Mountains the other. Another exciting ride, with the driver threading his way initially amongst the braided river to find the right channel, then at the upper level with just one rushing stream avoiding the rocks by inches.

The scenery throughout the southern Alps is wonderful. We camped very close to Mt. Cook (3755 m) and awoke to an amazing view of a rainbow over the Mueller Glacier. Later we walked to view the terminal moraine of the Tasman Glacier and saw icebergs floating on the lake. Though summer is fading there were still alpine flowers to be seen and we were entertained at dusk by 2 keas (mountain parrots).

Our main extravagance has been an overnight cruise in Doubtful Sound in Fiordland. We managed to meet up in Queenstown with four yachting pals, Maggie and Philip of "Dreamtime" and Mary and Mike of "Meriva" and with Mary and Mike arranged to take a "quad share" cabin on the "Fiordland Navigator" a few days later. To reach the sound, our trip started with a cruise over Lake Manapouri, then a coach trip over the Wilmot Pass to our boarding place at Deep Cove. Unusually for this area it was lovely sunny weather (parts of the Fiordland National Park get up to 7 m of rain a year), and we were able to see fur seals on the Shelter Islands where the sound meets the Tasman Sea. Later, where we neared our overnight anchorage in "Crooked Arm" we saw bottle nosed dolphins. The food onboard was superb, and traveling companions and crew very congenial Fiordland, incidentally, is the largest national park in NZ (Wales would fit inside with room to spare) but, unlike the UK national parks, it is a real wilderness mostly not accessible even by walking tracks.

Walking the tracks of NZ is one of the main outdoor activities. The main tracks typically involve four or five days walking. We confined ourselves to shorter walks of up to five hours, but even so were able to sample parts of the Roureburn, Greenstone and Caples Tracks. Most rewarding for us perhaps was the walk up to Lake Marian in the Darran Mountains: after a stiff one and a half hour climb up we reached the lake set in a hanging valley. Jim, notwithstanding his lack of swimming gear, stripped off and plunged into the clear icy waters. Another walk we enjoyed was a loop from Arrowtown (a picturesque restored goldmining town) following the river valleys, where we collected wild gooseberries and blackberries.

We still have 3 weeks before we leave NZ but we already know that it won't be long enough to experience all the delights of this country.

Editor's Note:- towards the end of March I received another postcard from Jim and Rosemary in which they describe the West Coast which has "mile upon mile of scenes such as this one of Knight's Point, where the lush rainforest goes right down to the beaches the only drawback is the clouds of sandflies, like black aphids but with a vicious bite". They have also sent some adventure photos taken on a visit to the Buller Gorge near Murchison on the South Island. I am including the pictures on a separate page ( Click here ) as they take a while to download.

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