Road Trip: Day 17 - Christchurch

Today, we went to a penguin colony. Because the penguins only come at night and leave at day, the whole place was free (until night broke in, of course), so we went and looked if we could spot some seals. We did: one on the rocks, and, — this is where the surprise is — on the grass inside the colony. It appeared to have come through an open gate, left open so the penguins could leave if they wanted. We spent the time watching as two employees tried to chase it away with a shovel and a stick. First it went onto a walkway, then behind a stage, then back out of the stage and onto it, then back onto the grass. Then the process repeated again. After a long pursuit of the seal, which we actually thought was a sea lion, the two people managed to get him out a side entrance.

After this, we hopped into the “truck” to drive to the start and end of our tour, Christchurch. There, we checked in to a campsite with a trampoline and a playground. 

Once it was time for dinner, we drove to an indian restaurant. There we ate butter chicken, tandoori and many other indian delicacies. Afterwards, Niklas and I went to a nearby playground to play.

Road Trip: Day 16 - Oamaru

Today, after another slight snowshower, we drove to a seaside village called Oamaru. There, we went to a campground right next to an awesome playground. The playground had a flying fox, a massive slide, swings, a balance course, a fireman’s pole, and, best of all, a hamsterwheel. Oamaru being a favourite breeding site for Fairy Penguins, at night, all the little penguins walked up from the beach to their nests. As some had their nests situated under or near the toilets or kitchen block, we were able to see how they waddled up the beach to the campsite. The only annoying thing was that it was still raining.

Road Trip: Day 15 - Lake Tekapo

This morning, Mum and Dad went on a pre-breakfast walk, but I was too tired to come along. Then, after breakfast, we walked to the lookout — or at least we wanted to. But the rain that hadn’t come yesterday came today, with extra force. It came down in sheets, drenching us to the bone. Grandma and Grandpa were the first to turn around, then Dad and I, and Mum and Niklas wanted to reach the end. When Dad and I reached the car (or the truck, as we now call it), Grandma and Grandpa had also only just reached it, even though they had turned around a good deal earlier than we had. Anyway, we made ourselves comfortable — got out some tea, took off the wet clothes, and turning on the heater. Then Mum and Niklas came. They had made it within 50 metres of the viewing station, then saw the big crowd there and turned around. There was also no Mount Cook to see, just dull grey clouds. Because of the bad weather, we also decided to drive a day early, so we drove to Lake Tekapo.

Lake Tekapo

The campground was quite good: a decent playground and good toilets — what more could you wish for? The only problem was that it was crowded with people and still a bit rainy. But then, in the afternoon, the rai turned into something else: snow. Snow! After waiting all this time, there’s snow!

Road Trip: Day 14 - Mount Cook

Today, we drove to Mount Cook, the tallest mountain in New Zealand, at 3754m. The weather, forecast for miserable, was proved wrong and the sky remained an impeccable blue.  We planned to stay there for a while to do some walks to see Mount Doom — as Mount Cook was the very mountain at which they filmed the movie Lord of the Rings. As soon as we arrived, all of us except Grandma and Grandpa walked to the first of three suspension bridges on the track to the Mount Cook lookout. We plan to walk the whole track tomorrow.

A panorama of the bridge and river, with the mountains in the background. No Mount Cook here.

Not Mount Cook, but still very high.

Road Trip: Day 13 - Rest Day No. 2 in Wanaka

Today, we decided to walk the Roys Peak Track. That was a steep track that wound up Roys Peak, through the sheep pastures. It was a serpentine, winding, 16km track. The rain was beginning to pull up and it was clear we weren’t going to make the peak, but we kept going. At one point, I thought I saw a shortcut, although steeper than the rest of the track and Mum, Niklas and I followed it. But only the start was an obvious “path” with the rest of it just green grass for the sheep. It was also steeper than the start, which meant that when we finished the “shortcut”, our thighs were seriously aching. After that, we picked a close spot for lunch and ate. Once we were finished with lunch, we went back to the car. There were dark clouds on the horizon and it was getting rainy, so we might as well return to the campground.

Two cute sheep

Road Trip: Day 12 - Rest Day No. 1 in Wanaka

Today, after jumping on the jumping pillow, we drove to a walking track, the Diamond Lake track. The track wound up toward Diamond Lake, then forked: one way there was a round track of the lake, the other way there was a loop to the summit of the nearest mountain, Rocky Mountain. What we did: we walked to the Diamond Lake lookout, then continued to the Lake Wanaka viewpoint. There we split and, while Mum and Dad continued to the summit, the rest of us went back to the campervan.

Diamond Lake panorama

When we came back to the resort, we ate a delicious dinner of pork, then went back onto the jumping pillow. Then we got some old bread and wanted to feed the chickens, but a lady from the reception handed us two bottles of warm milk and we were allowed to feed the lambs. Then we went to the chickens, went on the playground, but then the pillow started to deinflate and we couldn't jump anymore.

Road Trip: Day 11 - Wanaka

Today, we drove to Wanaka. On the way:

• A stop at Roaring Billy Falls, where I perfected my stone-skipping.

And…

• After driving past Lake Wanaka, with spectacular views of the water, and then past the spot where that lake and another lake, Lake Hawea, were only 100 metres away from each other, we then drove along the shores of Lake Hawea, with more spectacular views. Then we reconnected to Lake Wanaka to get to Wanaka, and to book in at Wanaka Lakeview Resort.

On the bridge

The resort was awesome. It had a jumping pillow, two lambs in  a pen and three chickens. (As Niklas would say, bok!)

Road Trip: Day 10 - Lake Paringa

This morning, we went back to the beach to see if we could finish our construction. In the end, it was too much to build, but we managed to get a bit of the front done and stuffed out with seaweed. Then, after a hurried breakfast, we broke off to Franz Josef Glacier to do some walks. At the glacier, we walked to 175 metres away from the glacier, past some waterfalls, that fed the river flowing from the glacier. Afterwards, we walked to a cool lookout and then to a kettle lake called Peters Pool. A kettle lake is a lake that is formed when an underground block of ice melts, the earth above it collapses and then water fills in the hole. Also, the name is derived from Peter Westland who, when he was nine years old, camped at the formerly unnamed pond in the early 19 hundreds.

In front of Franz Josef

After going to Peters Pool, we continued and went to another swingbridge, a shorter one though. Then we crossed it and continued along a tramping track with the aim to get to a longer, 1-person swingbridge. But the track got too steep and we turned around.

On the swingbridge

We drove to Lake Paringa, which isn’t even a town, its a lake. The only buildings there are the Lake Paringa Lodge — where we stayed —, and a DOC (Department of Conservation) campground. There were also some friendly campers riding bikes that, their destination being Fox Glacier, had to ask for a lift. We weren’t able to do that, since Fox Glacier was just past Franz Josef and about 200 kilometres away, but we were able to give them food, as they had thought that there was food at Lake Paringa.

Road Trip: Day 9 - Okarito

Today, we drove down south to Okarito, with stops in Greymouth for supplies, and, further down the coast, in Hokitika to use those supplies. At the beach in Hokitika, there was also a cool sculpture out of driftwood, tied together with natural fibres. I was surprised. I had expected concrete to glue the wood in place, but it was put into gaps into the rocks, and padded with seaweed. The artwork spelled: Hokitika. This seemed to be a large tourist attraction, which meant that it must have been sturdy and can't have been temporary. After eating, we wandered into Hokitika to check it out. Mum and Dad gave us some money and Grandma and Grandpa took us to get some ice-cream. After getting ice-cream, which was mango flavoured, cost 4.50$ and was about the size of three regular scoops but was advertised as one, we checked out the shops on the street, and found some very funny postcards, we decided to look for Mum and Dad. We found them, Mum gave us extra money, and then we went back to the ice-cream shop to get Grandma and Grandpa ice-creams. Then we settled down on a bench to eat our ice-creams. After we ate, Mum and Dad took us into a shop to buy Mum a warm jacket while we watched how the jade carvers in the large room behind the shop as they carved the rock to be sold. Me and Niklas actually got one for free, although it was just a "leftover", a piece that hadn't been large enough to carve.

In Hokitika

Once we were in Okarito, me and Niklas went onto the beach to skip rocks in the lagoon, but soon realised that because the shore was either steep, rocky or muddy, we couldn't skip well. Instead, we built a structure out of driftwood that resembled a teepee. The problem was, we didn't know how to build. There was plenty of driftwood, and in the end, we managed to build the framework, but couldn't find anything substantial to cover it. In the end, we had an empty framework, but hopefully that would change when we keep building tomorrow.

Our Sculpture at the beach

Road Trip: Day 8 - Rest Day in Punakaiki

Today, we stayed in Punakaiki for a day to enjoy the many walks. The first walk was the Truman Track. The start of the track went through lush rainforest, then emerged onto a path bordered by tall reeds, and then finally onto the beach.

On the beach, there was a really big water fall that rained down from the overhanging cliff edge, and Mum found a massive cave. I had fun skidding in the slippery gravel that all New Zealand beaches seem to be made of.

The Truman Track Beach

After finishing Truman Track, we went to the Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. Those are rocks that have been made by "stylobedding" and look like stacks of thick pancakes. They are also the site of blowholes, the waves surging through arches in the rock and spraying up towards the sky. There were three blowholes:

•     The "Chimney Pot" - The waves are forced through a thin, but tall shaft in the rock, so tall that when the waves showed at the top, they were only sprays of water vapour and a few small drops.
•     The "Surge Pool" - The waves come through a large arch and then smash into the rock face opposite.
•     The "I forgot the name" - The waves come through a wide arch and then smash into the close rock wall on the other side (far closer than in the "Surge Pool") and smash up to create a much larger spray. This is the blowhole that is shown on most photos.

The blowhole where I forgot its name, but without spray.

After watching each blowhole successively give its best, we moved on to the next walk: the Punakaiki River walk. This walk started with a swingbridge (approx. 75 metres), and then, with the rains aftermath still showing, right onto a big muddy puddle. From there we kept going on the track, until we reached a waterfall. Dad and I stayed there to take photos, while Mum and Niklas went back to the car, where Grandma and Grandpa were holding the midday nap. On the way to the car, we saw a Kerero, a wood pigeon. Back at the car, we also saw another Weka (remember, those Wanna-be-Kiwis?)

Group Selfie on the swingbridge.

The waterfall.

The Kereru

Road Trip: Day 7 - Punakaiki

This morning, we went for another walk. This walk was a relatively long one in the direction of Whisky Falls. (And no, I’m not kidding about the name!) The distance to the falls was 5.4 km or 1:30 hours. Due to the recent rains, the most creeks had flooded and we had to jump over muddy puddles to continue on the track. At one point, we had to “bush bash” to get over a severely flooded creek that had burst its banks. After that, everything went as smooth as things can go when there are mud spots every 3 metres. The real trouble only came later: the path went right to the shores of the lake, and so inevitably it had been flooded. This meant that we had to go really off the track. There, we discovered more mud than ever, so much that Mum had an “accident”. This “accident” was a special type that only happens in muddy places: Mum lost her shoe in the mud! Luckily, after a long, hard battle with the mud, she was able to reclaim her rightful property, although not in the same condition as before. When we got to the flooded creek, Mum washed her shoe as best she could while Dad and I took photos. Then we had lunch at the creek, Dad and I took some more photos, and then we kept going to the car. As if Mum’s “accident” wasn’t enough, Niklas ran ahead, only to discover that wasn’t very smart: he ended up laid out on the ground — in the mud!

Once we got to the car, Niklas took my jeans, because his own pants were completely dirty. The only problem was that my pants were way too small for Niklas; it took him 2 minutes to get them on. We drove from there to Punakaiki on the West Coast, where we slept.

Road Trip: Day 6 - St Arnaud

Today, the morning was quite uneventful: I read a few comics that I had found in the Games/TV Room, ate breakfast, had a shower, and then up and away in the car, towards Nelson Lakes National Park, home to many mountains, including Mount Franklin (a trusted name in the household, but we aren’t thinking about the water brand), and glacial lakes.

When we got there, we took a long hike along the Honeydew track, then accidentally turned into the Lakehead track until we reached a flooded brook. Niklas attempted to find a crossing, but Mum said it wasn’t worth it, so we went back the way we came and decided to follow the much shorter Bluebird trail. After dinner, we took another walk, this time in search of Kiwis (real ones though). This took us along the Honeydew track, but we didn’t turn off into the Lakehead track but this time followed the Honeydew for its full length.

The lake and jetty

P.S. It was 10 o’clock when we got back; I’m lucky Mum let me still write!

Road Trip: Day 5 - Havelock

This morning, we were told that a barbecue had been held last night and the leftovers would be fed to the eels in the creek. The eels snapped after the bread, even slithering onto land a bit to get the food. Boy, they were long! The rainbow trout joined in and so did the ducks and mallards, so that all in all it was a general havoc. After that and the usual morning routine, we got in the car and went. We took a short drive to Rarangi, where we walked to Monkey Bay (10 min. return). There we found a cave that opened up again on the other side, which meant that the waves could travel through an almost came out the other side! At the start of the track there was also a cave, which had been formed by wave action but in this case had also been extended by human action. The entrance was impossibly small and steep, so I couldn’t possibly imagine somebody working here — which was what people were doing in a photo on an info sign. But when we went a bit further in, we saw that it got much larger. So much larger, in fact, that I could easily imagine living there (provided there was more light and less mud!) The cave also went much deeper into the rock than we had imagined: it could’ve been a full 20 metres long!

After leaving the caves and Monkey Bay behind, we in the direction of Picton to have lunch. But before we arrived, we had another walk to a lookout, although we didn’t even find the lookout. Anyway, on the way back from the somewhat disappointing “lookout”, I went ahead, so I completely missed when the others saw three Kiwis in the bush. Luckily, Dad told me about it, so I was able to run back before the Kiwis went away. Later, once we had gotten to our camp, Pinedale Motor Camp, we found a book about New Zealand wildlife, and discovered that what we thought was a Kiwi had actually been a Weka, a duck-like New Zealand bird.

The Weka

Road Trip: Day 4 - Spring Creek

This morning, we had an early wake-up call, which didn’t really register with my ears, and then the usual: breakfast, brushing teeth, folding up the beds, some sort of activity and then off we go. The “activity” was, on this morning, a walk along the lagoon with grandma and grandpa.  Tooth brushing in itself was an experience — it smelled so much in the toilet, I had to hold my breath! I ended up spitting into the bushes outside and probably broke a personal record in breath-holding. After successfully doing all those things, we broke off to Spring Creek, a small settlement north of Grovetown. That's almost right at the top of the South Island, the turnaround point for our trip.
On the way, we saw thousands of New Zealand Fur Seals basking on the warm rocks.
On the way, we had a stop in Kaikoura for lunch.

Road Trip: Day 3 - Hurunui River Mouth

This morning, after finding the dump station but deciding not to use it, we took a short visit of a private collection of Maori treasures in the Okains Bay Museum, although we only saw the outside exhibition. Also, in a nearby hut were two massive Waka, which were canoes carved out of one piece of wood. They were decorated with carved wooden figureheads and had tall, arching pieces of wood attached at the stern. It must have taken two big trees to make those boats!

After getting back into the car, we drove past paddocks with cows and sheep and enchanting woods. We were driving towards Hurunui River Mouth, with a stop in Christchurch. When we got there, there wasn’t much: a smelly toilet block, grassy campsites and that was pretty much it.

Road Trip: Day 2 - Okains Bay

After a hard morning of bush walking through the mountains near Akaroa — but with an awesome view over the harbour —, we drove from Akaroa to Okains Bay. There we had hoped to find electricity and a dump station in its only campground. But when we came, we were disappointed: the campground didn’t have electricity or water stations and the dump station was absent too. But the playground was awesome and it also had toilets and showers. In addition, it was situated right next to the ocean, so you could jump straight in — which is exactly what Mum  did.

There was also an awesome Flying Fox, which me and Niklas enjoyed at first, but then the adults joined in and we did tandem and so on. We were also able to race, because there were two different lines.

Me and Opa on the Flying Fox

Road Trip: Day 1 - Akaroa

Yesterday, we flew from Australia to New Zealand, where we landed in Christchurch. There, we were shocked by the array of local slang: “left” sounds like “lift” and “egg” sounds like “igg”. These are also some examples of stuff that is completely different: Woolworths is called Countdown, skim milk is “trim milk” and a shopping trolley is a “trundler”. Today, after we picked up our Britz Motorhome, we took a long stop at the Countdown to get supplies and off we went south towards Akaroa. Akaroa is a beautiful town located in the Akaroa Harbour. On the way there we drove past rolling meadows of green and white (the white being the sheep), and were astonished by how much snow we could see in the distant mountain ranges.

When we arrived, the first thing we did was make the beds. Then I had a fight with Niklas, and after that we ate butter chicken. When everybody was full, we went on a night stroll and a Daly’s Wharf we were lucky enough to experience Guyfawkes, which celebrates fireworks. On this night, people would send fireworks into the air — or into the water, as one person next to the wharf did. We watched him for a time, and then we walked back home. The man had really great fireworks!

Daly's Wharf

Almost in the Air

I am in front of the gate, almost about to board my flight.  We are flying in flight JQ 143, Australia to New Zealand, which will take 3 hours. We land in Christchurch.