Lockers on the Loose World Trip

January 5^th – January 21st

Route

Christchurch – Akaroa – (Route 72) – Geraldine – Lake Tekapo – Lake Pukaki – Hunter Valley (Mt. Cook Village) – Oamaru – Dunedin – Otago Peninsula – Taiaroa Head – Milton – Balclutha – Nugget Point – Curio Bay – Invercargill – Bluff (the southernmost town on the South Island) – Riverton – Tautapere – Lake Mariapouri – Lake Te Anau – Milford Sound – Lake Wakatipu (Kingston) – Queenstown – Glenorchy – Arrowtown – Wanaka - Hawea – Fox Glacier – Franz Joseph Glacier - Hokitika – Punakaika (Pancake Rocks) – Nelson – Picton (via Charlotte Drive).

Km driven: Approximately 3000 km.

Mode of transport

Following our style in Australia, another “Wicked” campervan – 3 seats in the front, 3 narrow mattresses in the back where we slept head to toe. The words on the rear of our van read: “A girls legs are her best freinds, but even the best of freinds must part.” Yes, spelling and grammar inaccuracies to top off the deep and meaningful message we were to flaunt to the rest of New Zealand.

What time is it?

On landing, I couldn't work out why England was 13 hours behind New Zealand time. In Australia, the time difference had been ten hours and we put our watches two hours forward when landing in Kiwi country. I realised summer time came into play but if New Zealand had put the clocks forward an hour for the summer and England back an hour for the winter, why weren't we in fact 14 hours ahead in New Zealand? I got there in the end - England doesn't so much put the clocks back as return them to GMT hence the 13 hours difference. Doh! Time differences, like exchange rates, always seem to be baffling me on this trip.

First Impressions

Immediate feelings about New Zealand were ones of familiarity which surprised me when we had arrived in a country some 12,000 miles from home and where we were to visit the most southern places on our itinerary. As we drove around the South Island, the images accumulated: rolling hills, fields of sheep, flowers, parks, glaciers, lakes, mountains, wild coastlines and deserted beaches and I decided that New Zealand brings together the landscapes from the three countries I have lived in: England, Scotland and Austria. Consequently, time and again on the South Island, a stroll down a street hurled me back to a place in my memory – Oamaru, for example, built on hills with old stone buildings enclosing museums on the wool industry, could have been Bradford; walking down Princes Street in Dunedin made me think of Edinburgh, the city whose street names it is based on (it's funny that the end of its' name is even the start of its Scottish equivalent); and I have never been to Inverness but I bet it resembles Invercargill.

Overriding impression

Before coming to New Zealand, someone had told me that it's a country where you are constantly being knocked sideways by the scenery. How right they were. As we followed the coast south, we were blown away (sometimes literally), by what met our eyes. A typical few days might see us admiring a deep blue lake, then seals on a beach, then a glacier plummeting into a rain forest, then a quaint country village, then a dramatic coastline with penguins walking on the beach etc. etc. Day after day, corner after corner. I guess there has to be some pretty good compensation when your country lies beneath a hole in the ozone layer and you could be killed by volcanic eruptions, earthquakes or avalanches at any given moment!

Highlights

• The flight from Sydney to Christchurch. It's worth noting that with the “free” food, alcohol and our excitement about changing countries, sometimes continents, flights are always a highlight for us. This, however, was a particular good flight in terms of food as Robbie and I both managed to get two meals. Robbie's trick is now becoming standard practice – he pre-orders a “Special Meal” on-line (he started doing this not because of dietary concerns but because he discovered special meals get brought out quicker), eats this quickly, hides the tray under the seat in front and then gets a “normal meal” as the air hostess, seeing a bare table, never remembers he's already had a meal. As it made me feel hungry seeing him eat two meals, he then managed to get me a second one too. We did feel a little embarrassed about handing in four trays when the trolley came round for the empties.

• Flying over snow capped mountains and glacier lakes shortly before landing.

• “The Coachman” hostel in Christchurch. Oh to have a bed and access to a hot shower after 6 weeks of sleeping in a van in Australia!

• Christchurch: lovely river, beautiful botanic gardens, great food court in the shopping centre.

• Akaroa: pretty coastal town which we eventually got to after driving around, up and down several hills.

• Sleeping at Lake Pukaki and waking up with views of a snowy Mt. Cook rising above one of the most turquoise lakes I have ever seen. Reading a great book (“The Other Hand”) by the lake and alternating between immersing myself in the book and looking up and immersing myself in the landscape all around me.

• Driving through a herd of sheep just before Mt. Cook Village.

• Walking in Hunter Valley and reading the Memorial Statue dedicated to those who have died attempting to climb Mt. Cook. Inspiring.

• Watching rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins plodding, one at a time, onto the beach at Oamaru.

• Exploring the back streets of Dunedin (town founded by Scottish settlers).

• Roast lamb dinner in Dunedin followed by a night out with some locals on a stag night. Robbie's karaoke performance of Madonna's “Like A Prayer” is coming on like a treat.

• Getting to stand next to and observe New Zealand fur seals at Taiaroa Head on the Otago Peninsula whilst albatrosses were flying over our heads.

• Views from Nugget Point – rocks, seals, lighthouse. The kind of thing that any tourist would be happy to see.

• Eating meat pies while looking out for Hector Dolphins at Curio Bay. I guess a glimpse of a back counts as seeing one.

• Swimming in Lake Te Anau first thing in the morning. Freezing but refreshing - although I did actually fear I may have a heart attack.

• Seeing Kea birds just before the Homer Tunnel. They were so tame – almost as if they there just for our convenience.

• Boat tour to Milford Sound with a stop at the Underwater Observatory (allowing us to watch sea life equivalent to diving 100m). With mountains towering above a very deep blue sea (Mitre Peak is said to be one of the world's highest mountains rising from the sea), our boat became just a speck on a spectacular stage of beauty.

  Eating our own-cooked lamb chops and potatoes at the lake front in Queenstown (nights when we didn't eat pasta made me happy).
  

• Walking up to the top of the gondola in Queenstown and looking down on Lake Wakatipu surrounded my mountains.

• Night out in Queenstown – Irish Bar, live music, dancing.

• Drive to Wanaka via Cardona and the Pisa Range. Stunning.

• Triathlon in Wanaka. We were unaware that our afternoon arrival in Wanaka coincided with the last stage of the town's annual triathlon event. The participants had been going since 7am and we stood at the finishing line, watching them cross over and fall into the arms of their families. It was heart-warming and there was such a touching community spirit in the air. In fact, at one point the crowd burst into the National Anthem and when the last runner - a 79 year old man – crossed the line at 12.20 am, fireworks exploded.

• Chatting with an elderly man at top of Mt. (it was more of a hill really) Iron in Wanaka. He told us how he was originally from England, recalled his memories of The Blitz in London and explained that he had sailed to NZ 40 years ago. I like these random conversations.

• Wanaka's cinema. I got to eat fish pie and a chocolate cookie on my lap. The chairs in the cinema are sofas and there is a Morris Minor to sit in too. Too cool for cats.

• Fox and Franz Jospeh Glaciers – the only glaciers in the world to descend into rain forest.

• Pancake Rocks, Punakaika. Layerd rock formations formed over thousands of years. You can't beat a bit of old nature.

• Night out in Nelson – we splashed out on pizzas, watched people who knew how to partner dance strut their stuff to a live band and then sneaked into a hostel and played table football and cards.

The not so good stuff

• After driving about 15 minutes out of Christchurch, just after picking up our campervan, I pulled in to fill up on petrol and realised I had left the petrol cap at the station in Christchurch where we had wanted to fill up but then discovered they only took credit cards. It was no longer there when we returned. I ended up getting one at another petrol station where the owner had a collection of them. Good to know I'm not the only one to have done this.

• Christchurch's art gallery. I couldn't fully appreciate the white plastic domestic containers (cleaning bottles, food tubs etc.) dangling from a roof illuminated by light bulbs inside. The deformed models of Disney characters was also a little freaky.

• The gas running out one evening just as we started to fry our chicken to go with the rice which had already been cooked (one gas canister, one pan). Luckily I managed to get a refill in the next town so the dinner did evemtually go ahead.

• Eva realising she had not put her Nike shoes inside the van once we were about half an hour down the road. They were nowhere to be seen when we drove back.

• Invercargill. We should have known when we read in the guidebook that one of Invercargill's tourist attractions is climbing a water tank, that it wasn't going to be the most happening place. There was hardly anyone around, the cinema was too expensive and the bowling alley was closed so we made do with a walk around the park before bed. It turned out to be a beautiful park (lamas, dear, ducks, wallabies, ponds, pavillion, rose garden) but one we were unfortunately kicked out of by security as we weren't allowed to park there for the night.

• Walking back in the pouring rain to the van after a night out in Queenstown and waking up just four hours later to the start of a new day with the realisation that I would have to put on wet jeans and shoes.

• Being asked to leave our wonderful parking spot by the lake in Wanaka “before I call the police”. We were already in bed at the time so it was somewhat disturbing. Another driving stretch in my pajamas.

• Being caught out in Nelson for sneaking in to a youth hostel and attempting to shower. We were marched out before we even had our clothes off. Shame on us.