South Island, New Zealand, (29th January to 21st February) - Part 1 - ( to 7th Feb)

This post is still catching up with past events. In reality as we write this we have moved on from New Zealand, had a week in Fiji and are now back in the Northern hemisphere with our friends in Texas where we only have 2 weeks before returning to the UK. The following is a jointly composed description of part of our New Zealand tour:

Following our visit to Australia we had 3 weeks booked in a camper van to explore the South Island of New Zealand. We picked up the van in Christchurch. The van had a very familiar layout from our previous tour in the North Island in 2010 – table and seats in the back converting to a double bed and sink and gas cooker with electrics when used at a powered camp site.

We loaded up with food and then drove through the centre of Christchurch where there is much rubble and rebuilding still going on, more than 2 years after the earthquake. It was evident that much of the centre was destroyed and we learned that about 23,000 people have left the city in the aftermath.

We decided to go down south first, then back up the west coast to Nelson and the Marlborough area at the end. To get the weather talk out of the way, our choice of route turned out to be rather lucky, in that we ended up following the sun the whole way round. Although the nights were chilly at first it just got warmer and warmer. We had wonderfully clear days, even in the Milford Sound where it tends to rain most days.

First stop Banks Peninsula near Christchurch, once a French settlement, with rather attractive port  and colonial buildings at Akoroa. We camped near a river surrounded by rainforest and birds. Right from the beginning the scenery was spectacular, from our first sight of the Southern Alps as we flew in, it was far from the cosy English landscape and green pastures of Anchor butter, distances were vast, mountains high and snowcapped, the landscape at times dry and brown.

View over Akaroa bay

 Traditional wooden board house in Akaroa

After that we headed for Mt Cook, properly known as Aoraki in the indigenous language, drove right up to the end of Lake Pukaki and camped in the national park below Mount Sefton in the Mount Cook range. A beautiful site. Alpine plants, sweet herb smells and loud cracking noises like gunshots in the distance - the sound of ice on the glacier breaking in the warm sun. Then the glacier was revealed as the early morning mist lifted.

Dazzling light at Mt John observatory high above Lake Tekapo. The water was a spectacular blue colour due to rock sediment but not much can live in it.

On the way to Aoraki/ Mount Cook. 

Mt Sefton glacier revealed from the campsite in the morning

We then continued south and camped on the Otago peninsula near Dunedin where there is the Royal Albatross centre, the world’s only mainland royal albatross colony. We were there in time to see the adults fetching food for the young in the evening, many of them gliding across the cliff face right in front of us, and down at sea level we could get very close to the fur seals lazing on the rocks and lolling in the water. Dunedin itself is in a fantastic location built all around the water with lots of hills and inlets rather like Sydney with harbours and bays all around.

 The much photographed boulders at Moeraki, fossilized mud bubbles on the way to Dunedin.

 Royal Albatross – Otago peninsula

Sleeping fur seal – Otago peninsula

We moved on round the south coast through The Catlins and onto the Southern Scenic Route stopping at many lookouts, short walks and places of interest - Pretty port at Pounawea; Rainforest walks; A fossilised forest of fallen trees, 170 million years old, before birds and flowering plants, still visible in the rocks at low tide; Florence Lookout, only 4500 km from the South Pole. We ended up at Riverton on the south west coast in pretty camp site like a private garden where we met another couple from the UK for the third time. They were doing a similar trip round the world, but the opposite direction andd in a more upmarket fashion.

Friendly hungry curious(?) New Zealand robin - a lot like our UK robin in character but long legs and no red breast.

Now it was time to head north towards Milford Sound via Manapouri and Te Anau. The weather is warming up and we were heading into sand-fly territory. We stop at some very attractive sites with forest and lakeside walks, in one case catching a boat from Te Anau across the lake to the long distance Kepler Track and walked part of it back to Te Anau round the lake. Plenty of interesting tree ferns and indigenous trees that are becoming familiar and the birds as well: Tui; Bell Bird; Fantail; Silver Eye; NZ pigeon; NZ falcon; Tomtit, even the iconic Pukeko although that was in a fenced reserve.

Restored wetland walk on way to Manapouri

Tree ferns and many different ferns on the Kepler track, reached by boat across the lake from Te Anau.

The sand flies made themselves known, but were surprisingly small, so that we tended to ignore them at first and then realised we were getting bitten rather a lot and had to start taking preventive measures. From then on they were an ever-present annoyance, often causing us to stay in the van when were were not walking, which was a shame with the weather now warming up and some wonderful views from the camp sites.

We continued on to Milford sound with the scenery becoming more mountainous, more dramatic lakes and forests, eventually through the sheer mountain via the 1.5km Homer Tunnel, stopping briefly at a small beauty spot just before Milford Sound called The Chasm where a small river crashes down from the heights through more forest into a small but deep chasm with a dramatic roar. We returned to the car park to find another iconic NZ bird, the large Kea parrot, checking out the cars for any possible food. It is well known for wrecking window seals and tyres with its sharp hooked beak in its attempts to break into vehicles.

1.5km One way traffic Homer Tunnel under the mountain range, in a zone overdue for earthquake!! - the only road to Milford Sound.

Classic rainforest vegetation – The Chasm, Milford Sound

Kea in The Chasm car park looking for tyres to chew

We then moved on to Milford Sound itself where we had a boat tour booked, but this will have to wait for another posting, otherwise you might never read any of this before we are already back in he UK!