Hi dear readers of our blog!
It’s been a while since our last blog, sorry about that :). The last 3 months we’ve been
travelling around the South Island. We started our journey in the lovely little village
of Picton. From here we decided to do a 4-day hiking trip, called the Queen Charlotte
track. This track is only accessible by boat and started of at a beautiful little beach
called Ship Cove. It was this beach where Captain James Cook decided to land his
ship the Endeavour and get in touch with the natives. The track was amazing through
real native bush which you don’t get to see that often anymore here in NZ, because
a lot of the bush has been converted into farmland. The great thing about the native
bush is that when it regenerates the NZ birds come back! Such as the Weka (a
very curious and inquisitive bird who likes to steal shiny stuff), the Tui (which can
make electronic sounds) and the Bell bird who will wake you up in the morning with
beautiful songs. We had a good rainy day, but this made the forest come alive even
more. And it was a good test for our new light weight tent.
Since we really liked the walk we decided to do a bit more tramping (NZ word for
hiking/walking). So we drove to an area called Nelson Lakes. Here we got introduced
to the well know terror of NZ, the sandflies. These are killer fruit flies that very much
like to eat you alive. To prevent getting bitten you have to keep moving which often
results in sandfly repelling dance moves on the campground (very entertaining to
watch :)). At Nelson Lakes we decided to do a 2-day walk which was the toughest
walk we have done so far, because there wasn’t really a track. It was more like a quest
climbing over rocks trying to find the little orange indicators which we had to follow
between the trees. The forest was so dense it was almost claustrophobic, but it could
have been used as a fairy tale forest. Also we sunk knee high into a pool of mud and
had to cross a (small) river. When we look back it was pretty cool, but at that moment we felt miserable. Luckily the climb ended in a beautiful hut on top of the mountain next to some old glacier lakes. The weather turned bad so we decided to stay in the hut instead of camping outside. Luckily there were 2 places left in the bunk rooms. Unfortunately we slept next to a guy who snored
like a dysfunctional car, gurgling sink and chainsaw all at the same time...The next day the weather cleared and we had the most amazing views of the lakes and surrounding forest from the mountain ridge on which we walked/climbed back down.
After this great adventure we decided to do a more relaxed tramp and so The General (Sir, yes sir!) got us to the very famous Abel Tasman area. Here we went freedom kayaking to the most
amazing desolate white sandy beaches and surrounding islands. We saw a lot of baby seals and the little blue penguins from our kayak. The weather was great so we got to relax at the beach a bit and turn into a pair of lobsters, and swim in the clearest water you can imagine. After two days of kayaking we switched the kayak for our walking boots and walked back to The General the next two days.
The next part to explore was the West Coast which is covered in rain forest! Not tropical though, but wet enough :). This is where the clouds from the Tasman Sea hit NZ and get pushed up against the Southern Alps and release their water on the west side. So there is very large difference in weather and especially rainfall between the West and the East Coast. And while you’re driving from West to East or the other way around you can really see how the weather affects the landscape. In a few miles you drive from very dry pasture lands into a rainforest! The West coast is also quite rough because of
the sea hitting the island, which results in a spectacular coast line. Here we visited the pancake rocks, a bunch of rocks which look like stacked pancakes. Obviously, we also did some small day hikes in the rain forest, saw some seals and enjoyed the scenery and the drive along the coast.
We decided to take the Lewis Pass back to the East coast to meet up with our German friends (Helena and Sophia) in Kaikoura. Here we had our most mind boggling experience, we swam with dolphins! And not just a few dolphins…about 300 to 400 of them! At Kaikoura there is an underwater canyon that stops just before the town. This creates a current that sweeps up nutrients from the sea floor and brings them to the surface. That is why there are a lot of dolphins, whales, seals, penguins and giant albatrosses that come to visit this area all year round. We had booked an early tour so we got up at 4 in the morning, got suited up with a nice thick wetsuit, flippers and snorkelling gear. The days before there had been a heavy storm so the waves were quite high. Nevertheless we set out to sea at
6am, so we had a wonderful sun rise with albatrosses searing over the waves. After 20 minutes the first dolphins were already spotted! We got a good look of them at the front of our little boat and they were happy to see us, making eye contact when looking up at us :D and jumping around in the water. Quickly we got our first signal that we could enter the water from the back of the boat. The trick with the dolphins was that WE were there to entertain THEM! So how do you entertain a dolphin? Well
you try to be one yourself. So you swim like one (hands beside your body and trying to outswim a dolphin circling around them trying to see who is faster…) and sound like one. This resulted in a group of tourist singing through there snorkels while (trying) to perform water acrobatics. It must have looked hilarious from the boat, but we felt like real dolphins while swimming with them. They came really close swimming around you and really making eye contact with you! Especially diving down into the water caught their attention showing how deep they could go. When the pod had passed us or lost their interest we all got out of the water and looked for them again, so in the end we went into the water 4 times. It was AMAZING! and no sorry we don’t have any underwater pictures ;)
Since our funds were running out we decided to go on the job hunt again in Christchurch. Here it looked like we had a job picking garlic, which is a real back killer! After working one day a big storm hit the city, flooding a part of it since most of the plumbing is still broken due to the 2011 earthquakes. Luckily we were in the higher part of the city. After 3 days we could work again, but after that our boss didn’t have enough work for us. So we decided to spend what we just earned by going to Banks Peninsula and a rugby match! The Crusaders versus the Stormers, whoohaaa! Rugby is like soccer at home. Everybody plays it! It was the first game these former champions won and it was a close one with just one point difference! :).
Because there wasn’t any work we decided to travel back to the West coast via the Arthurs Pass. At the Arthurs Pass we met the famous Kea, the world's only alpine parrot! They are very curious birds which like to tear up tents (just because they like the sound of it) and cars by ripping out the rubber seals around the windows or steal windscreen wipers. Nevertheless they are beautiful to watch with their green and red colours. Unfortunately we made the mistake by putting our herbs en lettuce outside of the van while we took a walk up to Avalanche Peak. When we came back they had eaten all our lettuce and cut down the basil without even eating it :(. The Bastards!
The good news was that we got a message that we had a job waiting for us at the Bakery/Café in Twizel! Since we would start in 4 days we did not have much time to see the West Coast. So we drove to the tourist highlights, which are the Franz Josef and Fox Glaciers. Unfortunately the weather was rainy and cloudy so we couldn’t see the full extent of the glaciers which end up into the rainforest, but still they were quite impressive. Via the Haast Pass we drove back towards the East side, passing some very nice waterfalls and through very dense bush ending up at Lake Wanaka. A day later we arrived in Twizel.
We worked just 2 weeks in Twizel, but we worked A LOT! Mien worked at the counter making coffee’s and selling pies (savoury ones especially) and Roger was in the back making the pies. Twizel is a very little town with 2000 inhabitants, but every second year there is a week-long rowing competition going on for high school kids. Apparently rowing is quite big here, because the population of Twizel exploded to around 12.000! And we were feeding them with nice breakfasts and lunches. We also did some catering for a rowing team of 45 people every evening with a buffet style
dinner and catered for a cocktail party of 300 rich parents.
Since we booked the Milford track at the end of March, which is claimed to be one of the most beautiful walks in the world, we had to drive straight down to Fiordland after we were finished with our bakery work. Fiordland is the biggest national park of NZ and it’s also the most remote and least accessible one. We had to take a boat to get to the start of the track across Lake Te Anau. The track took 4 days and it was very nice! It felt like walking in Jurrasic park but without the dinosaurs. We saw and heard a lot of birds and everything was covered in moss! The first two days we gradually climbed up to 700m. We also took a swim in one of the swim holes which was around 10 degrees (run in and scream out!). (Authors note: Roger went in first, hereby receiving cold water swimming diploma D) The third day we had to cross the Mackinnon Pass at 1100m. From here we would have had an amazing view towards the valley we came from (Clinton Valley) and the valley we were going to walk down into (Arthur Valley). Unfortunately the weather was not so good, so we couldn't see a thing...After a much needed break at the shelter on top of the pass the weather cleared a bit so we had amazing views while walking down into the Arthur Valley. On the way to our third hut there was a side trip towards Sutherland Falls, which are the highest waterfalls (580m) in Australasia! Roger also spotted a pair of Blue Ducks (Whio ducks) which are highly endangered! We told the ranger at the hut that we spotted them and he told us that the male was called Charlie, but that they didn't yet had a name for the female. So we had the honour to name here. Since she was a 'Jane Doe' we gave here the name 'Jane Duck'. The ranger was very content with this name :). On the fourth day we had to catch the little boat at the end of the track which would take us to Milford Sound. On this little boat we entered the Milford Sound which blew our minds away with it's beauty. Imagine huge mountains rising straight up out of the water with snow capped peaks...
After our Milford track experience we ran into a bit of bad luck by eating food that wasn't too good. This resulted in a 4 day stay at the Holiday Park while occupying the toilets and the couch in the common room. Luckily they had a non-stop movie channel :). After we regained our strength a bit we decided to cruise Doubtful Sound. Therefore we first had to cruise across Lake Manapouri which is the most beautiful lake we have seen so far. After that we shortly visited the hydro-power plant that is situated between Lake Manapouri and Doubtful Sound, which was quite impressive. And then we drove down to the sound where we had a 3hr cruise. The weather was amazingly sunny and we got up close to a group of seals and some waterfalls. Since the average rainfall in Fiordland is about 11m a year, we were very lucky with the weather!
Since we liked Milford sound so much we decided to go back and do a cruise there as well! The road towards Milford Sounds is probably the most beautiful road the General has ever driven upon. Towering steep mountains created by glaciers thousands of years ago. You really feel dwarfed when driving there. After our cruise we camped at Gunn's Camp on a small side road. This is an old workers camp from when the government tried to build a road between Haast and Milford. The road was however never finished, but the camp remained. It was here that we ran into a group of hunters. Or 5 friends on their yearly hunting holiday. Outside of their hut lay two deer heads. We started talking with them and before we knew it we were drinking beer and eating freshly killed deer. We also got to see the deer hanging in a shed...it was a very nice night with home brewed rum, good food and even better company! One of these men (Dave) also happened to be a merino sheep farmer on the road towards Mt. Cook. Merino sheep produce the finest wool there is and it's mostly used for fancy clothes or the famous Icebreaker brand. We decided to pay him a visit when we were passing through and engage in the famous art of sheep shagging.
Because we only had a few weeks left and we also had to sell The General we decided to drive to Queenstown, a very cosy city. We relaxed a view days at the lake, tried to find some gold in the river and did some shopping :). After 4 days and no one interested in our van, we decided to drive up towards Mt. Cook. On the way up we drove to Dave the merino sheep farmer and his wife Sue. We ended up staying the night and going along with Dave around his huge farm the next day! Did some sheep (8000!) and cattle herding and got a good look into the woolshed. His farm is on the east side of the Southern Alps and therefore has no forest because of a lack of rain. These plains are really open and as it had just snowed the night before we were treated on some spectacular views. This was an amazing experience, because you don't get to see the country beyond the main roads that easily here.
After this woolly experience we drove back towards Twizel and Mt. Cook. The weather had taken a turn for the worst with a lot of rain and low temperatures. The only highlight we still wanted to see before we left NZ was Mt. Cook, the tallest mountain of NZ. But since the weather was so bad we ended up seeing next to nothing of Mt. Cook and the surrounding mountains. We did go to the Edward Hillary museum. He is the famous kiwi who was the first man ever to climb Mt. Everest! After this rainy disappointment we decided it was time to go back to the North Island for some warmer weather, and to be in time for the car markets in Auckland.
So before we knew it we were back on the North Island. On our way up towards Auckland we decided to do a stroll down memory lane and visit our old friends and colleagues, Bev from the vineyards and Jan and Olga from the kiwifruit. Jan and Olga were in Hawkes Bay near the Art Deco Capital of the World, Napier, which we hadn't see yet :). It was lovely to meet all of them again and to say our final goodbyes. When we arrived in Auckland we were warmly welcomed by our great friend Luke! We could stay at his place until we sold The General. On Saturday and Sunday we went to car markets, showing of The General, which truly was the best van out there. Unfortunately there were more sellers than buyers. But on Sunday we had more luck! There was a French couple that fell in love with The General and we have sold it to them. We'll drop him off today, so that will be an emotional moment. It has served us well, we'll miss the big green monster so much! Copy that, over and out. We'll give her a last 5-2 on her niner and she'll be ready to leave the eagles nest.
Tomorrow (the first of May) we'll fly to Australia and then our time here in NZ will be up...that sounds really weird! But we're looking forward to our new adventures!
Loves from the Curly Couple and Cheers from The General to you all, may she live long and prosper.
Pictures are coming soon!
