Saturday 7^th October - Day 8

Another freezing cold night!  Again we had ice inside the van.  We got up at our usual time and enjoyed lovely hot showers.  That warmed us up a bit.

Sean wanted to try surfing at Lyall Bay so we made the long trek over to it by bus.  By the time we arrived it was 11:30.  The bay was incredible with a fantastic surf, great views and perfect weather.  Sadly the surfing companies listed in our Lonely Planet book had all gone out of business so our trip to Lyall Bay had been in vain.

Feeling slightly deflated we headed back to Wellington and on to the iSite.  Sean wanted to go to the National Tattoo museum and wanted to know where it was in Wellington.  Having got our map we paid a visit to the museum.  It’s not my sort of thing but I think Sean enjoyed the museum.  Afterwards, with the weather still glorious we decided o take the cable car to Wellington botanic gardens above the city.  We were treated to splendid views of the city and the Cook Straits behind it.

Afterwards we headed back to the campsite for tea.  We barbequed several types of meat and spent the evening talking to other travellers.  It has been a good break from the high mileage we did earlier on in the week.  Tomorrow will be another early start in preparation for our excursion into the south island.  Let’s hope the good weather holds!

Sunday 8^th October – Day 9

Sean and I had a fantastic sleep.  For a change it was quite warm last night and the van was even able to produce hot water!

Sadly the crack in our windscreen had grown even bigger overnight.  After breakfast we thought we would drive to Lyall Bay for a surf (trying to locate another company we had been told about) and also see how the windscreen would hold up.  As we headed south on state highway 2 towards Lyall Bay the crack split into several more cracks giving us the impression the windscreen was going to shatter.  We decided to pull off the highway at the Interislander ferry terminal and contact Backpacker to see if we could get the windscreen replaced.  After 45 minutes on my mobile (no doubt at an extortionate rate!) the upshot was that the windscreen would have to hang on until we reached Blenheim on the south island as no one in Wellington was able to fix it.

We pressed on to the beach and found a surfing company and hired ourselves surfboards and wetsuits.  We spent two superb hours surfing and enjoying the sun.  We dropped our equipment back at Real Surf and headed into Wellington for a late lunch and to pick up a present for Claire.

We did both but before long it was time to head back to our campsite.  After zorbing and surfing we had a lot of wet clothing to wash.  Whilst the clothes were in the laundrette we checked our emails and wrote home.  Whilst online we saw that Scotland had beaten France in the football at Hampden.  We started leaping with joy only to get looked at by everyone else in the room – we didn’t care!

With spirits still high, and after finishing our laundry, we had an early night in preparation for tomorrow.

Monday 9^th October – Day 10

The alarm went of at 05:30 and we made our way to the shower blocks.  Before we knew it it was time to move down to the Interislander ferry terminal.  The weather was bleak but we still got some good last glimpses of the north island.

Whilst queuing for the ferry another campervanner approached us and said he had seen our Rampant Lion flag (which was hanging up in the back of the van) in Whatananga and Wellington – our reputation was spreading throughout the New Zealand campsites.  Apparently quite a few people had been talking about the “van with the flag”!

The ferry journey itself passed by quickly enough and at lunchtime we disembarked at Picton ready for the next part of our trip.  The weather was improving and we were both in very high spirits.  The scenery was impressive and we kept stopping in laybys to take photos.

After lunch we stopped in Blenheim to organise a new windscreen for our van.  However it looks like Christchurch will be the first opportunity for us to get it fixed.  As was the case in Wellington no one was able to replace the windscreen.

We pressed on and reached Kaikoura at 16:00.  The mountain range, with its snow-capped peaks, was stunning and we immediately fell in love with the place.  We even met two Scottish girls with Scotland rugby tops on (who mentioned the France result just in case we didn’t already know!) who had spotted our flag in the north island.

We booked ourselves onto a whale watching tour and dolphin swimming tour tomorrow and have everything crossed that the weather won’t mean that the excursions are cancelled.  It has been known to happen quite frequently here!

Afterwards Sean and I headed for a nearby beach to look at a seal colony and enjoy the incredible views.  With the weather as well this was fast becoming the best day of the trip so far.

We decided to park the van in the whale watching company’s car park overnight as it was free and seemed to be where all the other campervanners where parking too.  After a beautiful tea in a local bar we headed back to the van for an early night at 21:30.  If everything goes to plan tomorrow will be a long day so we needed to get a good night’s sleep.

Tuesday 10^th October – Day 11

I didn’t actually sleep too well as I was concerned about the weather and kept waking up whenever I heard a noise.  Fortunately the weather was still and it looked like our whale watching would go ahead.

After breakfast in the freezing cold we headed to ‘Whale Watch’ at 07:00.  The good news was came that our watch was on, the first in six days, and before we knew it we had boarded Aoraki (Maori for Mount Cook) and were on our way.  We were incredibly lucky with the weather for a change!

Our catamaran chopped through the waves in no time at all and we quickly caught sight of our first sperm whale.  What a graceful creature it was!  We even caught sight of its tail fin as it dived to the bottom of Kaikoura trench.

We managed to see two more whales before it was time to head back to shore.  The weather made the sailing very choppy but it was well worth it!

Back in Kaikoura we had a huge lunch and headed for ‘Dolphin Encounters’.  Sadly the weather had closed in and our afternoon swim with dolphins was off.  We should still get to do it near Christchurch or the Bay of Islands though.

Instead we decided to hire surfboards and wetsuits and surf the afternoon away.  Why not surf if we can’t swim?  We spent the whole afternoon enjoying the surf.

After handing over our boards back we bought some supplies and headed for Hanmer Springs.  The thermal baths there are supposed to be superb.  After quickly refuelling we arrived at the springs.  They consisted of outdoor natural springs with snow-capped mountains in the background.  What a setting it was and what a fantastic day it had turned out to be!

After a couple of hours in the spa enjoying the views and talking to the locals we hit the road again.  Eventually we pulled up at Balmoral Gardens, a free campsite, to spend the night.  With us only being 90kms from Christchurch we should arrive there early tomorrow morning.

We were jaded after such an eventful day and quickly made tea and went to be.  With there being so many trees at our campsite road noise was non-existent – always nice when trying to sleep…

Wednesday 11^th October – Day 12

We slept in until 09:30!  I vaguely recall waking up at 07:00 but must have fallen asleep again.  We jumped out of bed and were on the road within fifteen minutes.  Christchurch was only an hour away and we arrived in the late morning.

Having parked the van, not easy in Christchurch either, we spent a couple of hours taking in Cathedral Square, the Botanic Gardens, Remembrance Bridge and the Robert Scott statue.  With our time in Christchurch limited we headed for the Antarctic Museum.

I have always been interested in Antarctic expeditions and Scott and Amundsen both spent time in Christchurch before heading south.  The museum has an Antarctic chamber which allows visitors to experience what it would be like to get caught up in a herbie.  The museum was thoroughly enjoyable but all too soon it was time to move on.  We were due to have a hangi meal at 18:30.

We arrived at Te Kane for our Maori experience.  We spent an hour being introduced to the Maori tribe and learning how to do the Haka.  We then moved on to our hangi meal, which had every conceivable type of meat and then went out kiwi spotting.  After an hour or so we had managed to spot morepork, ferrets and several types of kiwi.

Afterwards we drove out to Akaroa in preparation for our swimming with dolphins.  We eventually parked up at 23:00 and went straight to bed.

Thursday 12^th October – Day 13

My mobile rang at 05:45.  The first time I leave the ringer on overnight and someone calls me!  Needless to say I let the phone go to voicemail.  Our alarm went off at 07:00 and we wearily got up out of bed.  Not only did the phone call wake us up but the incredible winds that rocked the van all over the place kept both me and Sean on edge for most of the night.

After breakfast we drove into Akaroa enjoying the views on the way.  We were surprised to see French flags flying but apparently it used to be a French colonial town and the residents still associate more with France than New Zealand.

We took in the very impressive war memorial gardens and had a locally made ice cream in the baking hot sun.

Just after 11:00 we headed for ‘Dolphin Experience’.  Soon enough we were wearing thermal wetsuits heading out to the Pacific.

We spent two fantastic hours playing and swimming with Hector dolphins.  What an experience – one never to be forgotten!  What superb weather too!

Back on dry land we had showers to warm ourselves up and hit the road.  Apart from a brief stop to refuel the van and have a coffee we pressed on to Dunedin, eventually arriving at 20:00.  After a quick tea we decided to have an early night so we could get up early tomorrow to make the most of our time in Dunedin.  What a fantastic day it had been – one never to forget!

Friday 13^th October – Day 14

Sean and I were both up before the alarm this morning.  It was going to be another scorching day and the heat woke us both up early.

After breakfast, which we had outside the van on picnic tables for a change, we left the campsite and headed into Dunedin.  We decided to catch up with our correspondence and sent out various emails and postcards whilst sheltering from the searing heat.

Having travelled half way around the globe we thought we would go to the world’s second Edinburgh (Dunedin being Gaelic for Edinburgh).  The architecture is outstanding and we are convinced it has the world’s best train station!

After lunch we hit the road bound for the southern tip of the island.  With the serious heat we also had gale force winds to contend with for the rest of the journey.  As we headed south the number of forest fires grew considerably.

Just after 17:00 we arrived at Bluff, the southernmost tip of mainland New Zealand –nearly 19,000kms from London.  We made the short trip back to Invercargill for tea and pressed on for Te Anau.  Along the way the heat eventually died down, although not the wind, and we were treated to spectacular views of the mountain range that leads up to the Doubtful and Milford Sounds.

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