Monday 6th September 2010 (Just Days after earthquake)
Flew with Emirates, Sydney to Christchurch. One stressful day, had to prove ongoing flight before i could arrive in New Zealand, but i did not have a booking confirmation printed off. Got a print off from Air New Zealand but Mirka only had a booking no ticket so he refused to print off the booking details. Rang travel agent on the plane and they updated Mirkas details with an e-ticket, but when we arrived in Christchurch didnt need it in the end. Instead they were more interested in me! Whatever agreement New Zealand immigration have with Australia, once my passport was scanned immigration were alerted. Had a chat with immigration official which was no problem but still am sick of these interviews! Sorted out Jucy Crib van to pick up the next day so got a free pick up to stay in North-South holiday park for the night, our own cabin for 85 dollars. Few aftershocks that night abrupted my sleep :-)
Tuesday 7th September
Picked up crib the next morning, 1400 dollars for four weeks, that included full snow insurance, gps and ferry over. Sweet deal with vouchers for excursions and free ski pass for Treble Cone which is 90 dollars a day. Headed down south west to McKenzie country, stopped in Fairlie for food supplies and visited Lake Tekapo. Beautiful views of snowy peaks and turquoise blue colour of water. Here you can visit the Church of Good Sheperd and Mt John Observatory at night. Stayed in campsite for free at Lake McGregor for the night, first sleep in the new Crib!
Wednesday 8th September
Battery failure first thing in the morning, not a good start! Called out AA which were pretty efficient, had a mechanic out in less than an hour. Turned out i drained the battery using the radio night before, the battery was pretty small for size of the vehicle, and thats coming from the mechanic! So had to be carfeul of battery usage when the van was turned off from then on. Scenic drive to Mt Cook past Lake Pukaki. Walked the Kea Point trail from Mt Cook village, view point of the highest peak in Australasia. Then drove back down to Wanaka, arrived here late in the evening, seems really nice. Stayed in Aspiring Campervan park, 39 dollars which included free wifi, spa and sauna. Oh and had a road kill on the way too, bird picked up a dead rabbit on the road and boom hit the windscreen and flew over the top, lucky it didnt leave a scratch! Just hoping it wasnt a NZ falcon as theyre endangered, testing times on the road!
Thursday 9th September
Drove up to Treble Cone to check out the resort, amazing view especially the last 7km gravel road to the base, bit scary too! Booked snowboarding lesson and gear for 150 dollars, lets see how it goes. Took a walk around town of Wanaka, really nice here and weather sunny too.
Friday 10th September
First lesson snowboarding on Treble Cone, great fun really enjoyed it, feel really comfortable on the board and lesson went well. Mirka went skiing instead, she had fun too. Treated myself to sauna, spa and cold beer after, Monteiths golden lager pretty good.
Saturday 11th September
Took another snowboarding lesson, only one in the morning so good tutoring by same guy. Definitely getting better, lots of practice on the easy platter on my own. Stayed for lunch on Treble Cone and more practice on the slopes practicing my turns. Tired after that so hit the sauna again and had a few cold ones watching the Tri Nations. Kitchen and tv room in Campervan park is snug.
Sunday 12th September
Left in the morning and drove down to Queenstown, only one hour away from Wanaka but a windy route via Crown Range road. Stayed in Lakeside holiday park 36 dollars per night. Took a walk around the town, lots of restuarants and bars to choose from. Booked combo tour, heli, rafting, Shotover Jet and the famous Nevis for 575 dollars, see how it goes! Went out to japanese restuarant for dinner, Hikari Ikayaza on beach street. Ordered beef Teryiaki and glass of Pinot Noir, phenonemal!
Monday 13th September
D-day Nevis time! Was meant to be leaving at 9:30 but due to mechanical problems had to wait til 1:30 to leave, the suspense was killing me. Once we arrived, grabbed the harness and straight out to the platform via cable car, trying not to look down! Everybody in front of me jumped without pausing so the pressure was on not to delay. Once it was my turn, nerves kicked in and was holding onto crew for dear life when i got to the ledge; once he counted down, something in me just pushed me off, worst dive ever! The feeling of falling was an incredible rush, well worth the money.Got movies/photos on cool usb stick for 110 dollars. Went for dinner again in Queenstown, french restuarant this time called Lenovo, 20 dollars special on lamb/salmon really good and celebrated jump with drinks in Buffalo, Winnies, Bardot and cocktail tea pot in World bar.
Tuesday 14th September
Went on trio today, shotover jet boat, heli and rafting. Jet boat was good fun, powering down the Shot over river, serious brain freeze if you have no beanie on from cold water. Changed out of that and got helicopter ride to rafting start point which was a first. Rafting i was looking forward to and didnt disappoint, near the end went through a dark tunnel that aussies in the past had built when searching for gold in the river and last rapid was really good, two fell out from my side but still not me! Free sauna after to warm back up, water was freezing. Hit Sombreros mexican restuarant at night, pretty tasty.
Wednesday 15th September
Got up next morning and drove to Te Anau for Milford cruise the day after. Crossover winds on road down made the drive interesting. Lots of sheep grazing on the fields. Stayed in Great lakes holiday park, 33 dollars for the night, nice park too. Reportedly snow for the next three days so cruise was cancelled.
Thursday 16th September
Drove down Milford highway for a while to see if we could get a view of Mitre peak but was too cloudy, so turned around and headed back for Wanaka via Queenstown. Stopped in for some lunch in the casino restaurant, 10 dollars fish and chips, money well spent. Went ice skating after in the local rink, Mirka looked like a pro compared to me! Drove back to Wanaka and stayed in same campervan park again. Read in local paper Otago daily news there is a storm the size of Australia off south coast of NZ, so in for some fine weather! Was going to watch a movie in Cinema Paradiso as it was recommended but nothing good to see.
Friday 17th September
Snow showers in the morning, interesting time through Haast Pass and so it was! The drive is very scenic hugging shore line of Lake Hawea and Lake Wanaka. Then pass through lush rainforest and this is when the ice and snow appeared on the road. Braking slightly, the van went out of control like bambi on ice! Once I got it under control a car tried to overtake me, and ended up sliding and staying on the wrong lane, comical! It ended up just above us there was snow ploughs, so they paved the way ahead thankfully, was not really in the humour of putting on the snow chains!
Rest of the journey went smoothly, arriving on the west coast with a view of Tasman sea. Eventually arrived at Fox Glacier and drove to Lake Matheson for reflective view of Mt Cook and Mt Tasman. It was quite clouded over but still a nice walk. Headed for our final destination Franz Josef Glacier, booked our glacier hike for the morning and stayed in Rainforest Retreat, 30 dollars for night, like a jungle site!
Saturday 18th September
Was meant to do the glacier half day hike in the morning, but decided not to, raining all night and visibility was poor. Instead did the glacier 30 min walk before midday and was clear and dry for a change!
Back in the van and headed north to Greymouth, biggest town on west coast, felt like a ghost town to me, succumb to McDonalds as everything else shut. Decided not to stay here and kept going as far as Reefton, old mining town. Stayed in the only motor park in town for 20 dollars. Lewis Pass was closed due to heavy snow and talking to locals that night, there would be snow tomorrow too. Took the decision after the last snow experience to head north instead to blank highway and the long drive to Bleinheim. NB:A lot of dead animals on the road, be CAREFUL!
Sunday 19th September
Headed north east to Marlborough region, famous for its wine produce, preferably Sauvignon Blanc. Highest we drove was at Saint Arnaud where there was lots of snow, but after that the sun was shining and clear blue skies; it is true what the say, it rains less on the east than west! So many vineyards around Bleinheim, town itself was quiet on a Sunday, grabbed lunch in Cornerstone, awesome steak sandwich for 15 dollars. Decided to keep driving to Kaikoura, the coastal drive is amazing, on one side south pacific ocean, on the other snow capped peaks.
Arrived in Kaikoura and immediately liked the place, the view and lots of pubs and cafes, seemed quite busy too. Booked our whale watching trip for tomorrow morning, keep Mirka happy! Gale force winds in the afternoon so im hoping early morning should be calm. Stayed in Alpine Pacific Holiday park for 30 dollars, nice view here, facilities are ok.
Monday 20th September
Up early in the morning for 7:30 debrief before going whale watching. Winds picked up and there was a warning for sea sickness. We hit south on boat to spot the sperm whale. Felt fine at the beginning but once we stopped for whale sighting, stomach started churning. Got sea sick twice on the journey, it was like a sick bay in the cabin! Guide on the boat Chris was very informative, got to see whale and albactross bird, worlds largest sea bird. After that did the scenic walk past seal colony, beautiful day for it. Crayfish is very popular here, stopped off at Kaikoura Seafood BBQ for crayfish dish, quite tasty. Drove back through Bleinheim to Picton, getting ferry next day to Wellington. Stayed in Waikawa bay holiday park, splashed out on ensuite cabin, 60 dollars for the night.
Tuesday 21st September
Took a walk around town of Picton, weather was nice and sunny compared to snowy Southland! Got the Interislander ferry across to Wellington, duration three hours.Ferry was very scenic passing through Marlborough sounds. When we embarked from the ferry, drove and checked in to YHA in Wellington for two nights, 54 dollars each for two nights. Hostel is really nice and very good facilities, not a party hostel if you want that! Got a bottle of wine and took it easy that night.
