South Island Trip

The next instalment!!

We had 3 days back on the boat before we left again to head to the south island. We did this trip with friends Chris and Dave who we met in the Caribbean and who had crossed the Pacific a year ahead of us. As our car was too small for the 4 of us plus baggage, CD borrowed a bigger car from a friend.

We drove over 800km to Wellington in one day. As there are no motorways and the roads are only partly dual carriageway the trip took us nearly 12 hours. We stayed the night with Jackie and Steve in Wellington and Steve cooked us a wonderful BBQ, very welcome after our long day. The following morning we left early to get the ferry to Picton on the south island. It's a 3 hour crossing and fortunately the sea was lovely and calm. We had great view of the Marlborough sound as we sailed in.

We started our drive down the east coast to Christchurch stopping at a number of vineyards in Blenheim including Cloudy Bay which we found a bit disappointing. We really like Peter Yealand wine and so a visit to that vineyard was top of the list! Our visit there was early morning and we had a drive round the estate which is organised on very eco-friendly lines including having 'Baby Doll' sheep with short legs to keep the grass short between the vines but without eating the grapes and vines!

Christchurch centre is still closed off due to the earthquake but it was interesting to see how the town is regenerating itself and to see the damage to some of the older buildings. The shopping centre in containers was a real example of Kiwi ingenuity. Many of the interesting places have been damaged but we had a pleasant visit to the museum and a lovely walk through the botanical gardens.

We had a long drive to Aoraki Mount Cook next. The views were absolutely stunning and we had a wonderful day walking with views of the glaciers and lakes and mountains. The drive back down the mountain to Dunedin was also wonderful with lots of lakes and hydro dams. We stopped for a visit to the Moreki boulders which look like giant pebbles on the sea shore.

Dunedin is the home of the Speights brewery which we toured. At the end of the tour we had 30 minutes to try the beers and to drink as much as we wanted! The following day we had a trip on the Taieri gorge railway through the gorge. The train is an old steam locomotive and takes about 3 hours to go through the gorge and back. More of the trip was through Dunedin itself than we realised but the gorge was pretty and it is amazing to think of the railway being built without the aid of modern machinery.

We had amazing weather for the whole trip with only half a day of rain though it did get colder as we headed further south. Our most southern stop was Invercargill and we drove along very rough and rugged coast line to get there. One of the stops recommended was a visit to a hardware store (!) to see the original 'Worlds Fastest Indian' motor bike (the Anthony Hopkins film of the same name is worth a look). It was amazing, the store was full of old bikes, cars, tools etc. It was a combination of a very well stocked hardware store and a museum. We spoke to the owner and his son and he took us to show us a car used in the film but not yet on display.

Once we could tear ourselves away from the hardware store, we headed to Milford Sound with another stunningly picturesque drive. We stayed at the lodge right on the sound so that we could kayak the sound the following day. It was a perfect day for kayaking and seeing the Sound, blue sky and no wind. The down side was that as it was so calm the wildlife stay in the outer sound (further away than we could kayak) to avoid the sandflies! The scenery is stunning and we were very lucky to see it without rain as usually it rains 50% of the time.

From Milford we headed to Queenstown which has become an urban sprawl around the lake it is on and is very commercial and touristy. We were glad to leave it behind and head to the west coast with another stunning drive. We spent the night near Fox glacier and planned to get up for sunrise for a walk around Lake Matheson for stunning views of Mount Tasman and Cook. Unfortunately, when we got up there was thick fog and we couldn't see anything! Change of plan!!

We went to see Fox Glacier where there was no fog. The road to the glacier has been extended but still the walk to the foot of the glacier took an hour. I (KB) found it very depressing as the glacier is a fraction of the size it was when I last saw it. If anyone wants evidence of global warming the shrinking of the glaciers is it. After seeing the glacier, we did then walk around Lake Matheson with the stunning views before heading to Franz Joseph Glacier. Again, this has receded so much that it is quite a distance from the lookout to its base and not very visible unless you walk for about 5 hours..

We continued our drive up the west coat with a stop at the Pancake rocks and a scenic drive along the Buller Gorge to Motueka. We stayed on a fruit farm with amazing views over Abel Tasman national park. Our trip into the park the following day was by boat. The boat took us to one beach and then we walked a track along the coast to our pick up point. It was a well marked track but rougher and steeper than we expected. Chrissy really suffered with her bad knees. There are lots of lovely bays and beaches in the park and we were looking out for good anchorages for next season!

The following day we drove west to the last place on the north west tip of the south island, Puponga. Here we did a 3 hour horse ride across Old Man ridge to see Farewell Spit. We rode up a steep hill across the ridge and back down the other side. It was great fun but we all suffered, Chris could hardly move, especially after the walk the day before, and I had saddle sores! Mike seemed to be the one who hurt least at the end!

After the ride we headed to Nelson where we met up with friends on Pacific Bliss who have based themselves there. We stayed on their boat too long as usual and drank too much home made beer! We then continued on to the Marlborough Sounds. On the way we took a detour up one of the sounds which turned out to be a very bad move. We had been having problems with the car over heating during the whole of the trip but Mike and Dave had nursed it round. However, when we were in the middle of nowhere it decided to have a major fit. We were stuck for half a day attempting various fixes and in the end, we managed to get to our next stop, Havelock, with a large water supply from some helpful locals.

We had stopped in Havelock to take a trip on the Pelorous Sound mail boat. The boat delivers mail to the people whose house have no road access. We had wonderful weather again and the day was lovely. We passed lots of mussel farms which is a big industry in the area, said Hi! To some locals and went for a short walk on one island..

Then it was time for us to head back to Picton for our ferry with a stop at a garage on the way to buy a new radiator reservoir for the car. Dave and Mike fitted the new part while we were at Jackie and Steve's in Wellington. We had another lovely evening with the family before we headed back to Whangarei.