Reset search
New Zealand AdventureNew Zealand Adventure
SatelliteEdit route

New Zealand Adventure

December 2017 - January 2018
A 27-day adventure by Jodie Read more
  • 27footprints
  • 1countries
  • 27days
  • 156photos
  • 0videos
  • 2.4kkilometers
Follow Calendar Share Bucket list
Date ascending
  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 1

    Christchurch Central

    December 16, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Well, the Ryan's are off on another adventure so feel free to read along or delete the emails if you wish!
    After a very rushed last day of school, we headed to the airport and had a bit of time in the American Express lounge, eating up and having a glass of wine ready for our non-food and drink Jetstar flight! With a plane delay and a drunk passenger next to Michael, we finally arrived at Christchurch, climbed into bed in our airport motel at 2am! Woke the next morning and Michael headed off to get the motorhome, brought it back to our motel and then we were off to the Woolworths equivalent - "Countdown" had us all singing "the final countdown...doo-doo-doo-DOO" and we had a laugh for new words - "trundle" for trolley and the "judder bars" for speed humps and we certainly juddered with our tins and bottles clinking every time we turned a corner!
    After finding our caravan park and putting all our food away, we headed into the city centre and had a look at the earthquake devastation. Great to see all the art work around the city keeping the spirits of the city up during this time of rebuild. The Botanical Gardens were lovely, especially the rose garden (fitting for the English town along with the names Oxford and Durham etc) and we were treated to a free operatic treat as "Sole Mio" (a NZ trio of two tenors and a baritone) were performing in the Botanic Gardens so could hear the solo tenor arias and the orchestra performing as we wandered through the gardens. Headed back to the caravan park (it's RV city here!) for an early night. Lots of decisions as to who was going to sleep where, so a roster has been worked out and we're all set!    Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 2

    Christchurch Airport

    December 17, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Had a bit of a sleep in and woke to a beautiful summer’s day. Apparently they haven’t had this amount of hot weather for years and we enjoyed a balmy 26 degress! Until we arrived at the International Antarctic Centre! We experienced snow storms, wind storms, 4D experiences of an Antarctic expedition adventure with water spraying in our faces, wind blowing under our seats and fake snow falling! Hamish absolutely hated it – he was so scared – the 4D had him thinking it was real and he screamed throughout the whole film! Amayah and Celeste loved the penguin feeding and learning about all the injured penguins and their stories of how they were saved. Michael enjoyed the scientific research and reading EVERY bit of information he could and I enjoyed the film with aerial footage and composed music compiled by a film maker who has been 27 times. We spent most of the day and the highlight was the bumpy ride on the Huggland snow transportation machine over rough terrain simulating a ride in the Antarctic! After hours and hours of information about the coldest place on earth, we headed east to the coast and drove down to the “Spit” in New Brighton., walked along the pier and enjoyed the sunshine! We then headed back into the city and looked at the Transitional Cathedral. This Anglican cathedral took 11 months to build after the devastation of the 2011 earthquake and it is made almost entirely of cardboard! It was amazing. Back to our caravan park for a last jump on the trampoline, dinner and bed!Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 3

    Lake Takepo

    December 18, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Woke up early and paced up our motorhome and headed southwest to Lake Takepo, via Fairlie. The drive was absolutely spectacular with the Mackenzie Country farms for so many kilometres and the mountains in the distance. As we headed closer to the mountains, the size and the grandeur became more obvious. There was snow on the peaks of the mountains and glaciers in the distance. We then turned a corner and the aqua-blue Lake Takepo was stunning. The colour of the water is just stunning and the different hues of greens and blues is like a painting. Taking photos as much as we could but they really don’t due the scenery justice. After checking into the Lake Takepo park, we walked up Mount John, it wasn’t a long walk but quite steep so there was a lot of bribing with lollies and treats along the way. At the top the lookout was stunning with the two lakes in view – Lake Takepo and Lake Alexandrina. The top of the mountain is the Mt John Observatory, one of the best locations to see the milky way in the world. Unfortunately, the sun isn’t setting until after 10pm at night so we decided not to book and the cloud cover is also very unpredictable. Headed back down the mountain and the kids and I treated ourselves to a swim in the Takepo Springs – several pools of various temperatures – 27, 35, 36 and 37 degrees! Our favourite was about 35 degrees but Hamish loved the aqua play pool the most. Michael was too hot for thermal springs so headed for the lake and dived in! After a couple of hours of swimming, we headed back to the motorhome, cooked up some dinner and watched the view of the lake while the kids jumped to their hearts content on the trampoline! Exhausted.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 4

    Mount Cook

    December 19, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    Today we headed an hour and half further west to Aoraki/Mt Cook. Again, the mountains even closer and the range even bigger. Lake Pukaiki is huge so Lake Takepo just wet the apetite for this massive pool of water! We headed to our caravan park which is situated in Glentanner right on the lake so the view is incredible. It is quite cloudy today and the rain has set in so we headed into the Mt Cook visitor centre and spent an hour reading the history of the mountaineers, the first female climber in 1910 who made it to the summit (in her skirt and blouse) and all the failed expeditions. The rain began to ease so we decide to do one of the walks to see the Tasman Glacier. The blue Lake and the Tasman Lake. The Blue lake is actually green as it’s mostly rain water, whereas the Tasman Lake is a grey-blue colour due to the powder from the rocks. We did the long version of the walk and got to feel the icy water and Amayah and Celeste reached out to touch some ice from the shore! Headed back to Glentanner for a movie (yes there is a TV in the motorhome) and a quiet night.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    1
    Day 5

    Aoraki/Mount Cook

    December 20, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 4 °C

    Today we were energized and ready to set off on a 4 hour walk at Aoraki/Mount Cook to Hooker Valley which has three suspension bridges and a rocky pathway to see the most amazing view of the huge Mount Cook. It is named after one of 4 Maori brothers and as the kids spotted, the snow had fallen in such a way that the brother, Aoraki had an angry look on his face! As we walked the view became more spectacular, more snow, more waterfalls, more glaciers until we finally got to the end of Hooker Valley with the lake filled with icebergs. As we were sitting resting and looking at an iceberg in the lake, there was a huge explosion and one tipped upside down right before our eyes. A NZ couple behind us had been on the same walk 15 times and had never seen anything like it! There was lots of bribing of lollies along the way and Hamish’s steptracker got a work out and totalled a huge 22,000 steps for the walk! His poor little legs! After such a long walk, we decided to hit the road as the free camping at Mount Cook was merely a car park with loads of RV’s so we drove to a town between Twyzel (where a few scenes from Lord of the Rings was filmed) and Oamaru, called Kurow. We tried the free camping site, which was by the Belmore River (the biggest dam in the Southern hemisphere), Michael backed the motorhome down this steep driveway, parked right by the river with picnic seat and BBQ only to see the sign that said “No Camping” – so much for the free camping app! Anyway, the girls and I were much happier to go to the local caravan park where we were met by a lovely NZ couple who gave the kids free candy canes, paddle pops and me, an apricot cookie! The play area got a real workout before dinner and we headed for bed pretty early after a huge day of walking.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 6

    Harington Point

    December 21, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Slept in a little this morning and the kids decided to try the free kayaking at the Kurow Caravan park, so off we went on a little river adventure! It was hilarious. Michael was rowing the little tugboat followed by Amayah (who didn’t want to get wet in a kayak!), me in a pink kayak, Celeste in a red kayak and Hamish was a natural in his little “nippers” yellow kayak. We had a great time in a place where we didn’t plan on staying, met the lovely Theo and Diane, who were so nice to us (didn’t charge us for the kids), so Celeste wrote a thank you note to them which they thought was lovely and now hangs with pride on their noticeboard! We boarded the motorhome and we were off again. Drove through Oamaru, with a short stop-off for morning tea where we found the most amazing cupcakes and not a bad “trim flat white”! We headed south down the coast, stopping off at the famous Moreaki boulders. Had to pay a fee to go on the beach to see some rocks that were in the shape of large circular domes. I thought they were interesting but Michael wasn’t so impressed – he thought the name “boulder” was very exaggerated! It began to rain so we drove on. Had a short look at Fleur’s restaurant (meant to have the most amazing seafood) but we really wanted to get to Otago Peninsula before dark so unfortunately, we didn’t stop. We headed into Dunedin and drove along the winding road along the coast up to a little town on the peninsula called “Portobello”. We had a bite to eat for dinner, the kids patted the local horses and sheep, and then we headed up to the tip of the peninsula to the Royal Albatross Centre to see the little blue penguins head into shore at 9:45pm! It was very cold and very windy but well worth staying up for. The noise they make was hilarious and there were almost 250 coming into shore to nest for the night. Headed back to Portobello after a long day.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    1
    Day 7

    Dunedin

    December 22, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    Left the little town of Portobello and headed into the city centre to Dunedin, stopping on the way to Lanarch Caste – New Zealand’s only castle. Some rich banker bought the land and built a castle to impress his first wife. Sounded like his plan didn’t work, however, as he ended up with three wives and some very strange family relationships. The story has it that the second wife is a ghost that now roams the castle! Anyway, the grounds were very beautiful – lovely gardens with different themes in each section. A family bought run-down castle in the 1960’s and have restored it over many years. After gardens and ballrooms, we headed to the Cadbury Factory – the girls had been waiting for this for a few months! We went on the tour and leant how the chocolate is made and tasted lots of chocolate and came out with a whole bag of goodies with the famous NZ chocolate fish and Pinkie bars! Headed into the centre and saw the lovely churches and architecture and the famous Railway Station. The place was alive with the Scottish themes in lots of shop windows, the pubs were busy with whisky-drinking students and we enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful city of Dunedin. Headed to a camping ground just 2kms from the city centre where the kids were happy to find a heated pool, a trampoline and a great play area!Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 8

    Milford Sound

    December 23, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Left Dunedin this morning for a long drive to Milford Sound. We stopped off along the way to our favourite “Countdown” which had us all singing once again! Stocked up on lots of food as we know there is not much in Milford Sound except for water, cliffs and nature! Got some yummy bakery treats and were off again, via Gore. Whilst it was a long drive, the scenery was spectacular from farmland, sheep, cows and more sheep, with distant mountains, small, sleepy, country towns along the way. The drive along Milford Road was amazing, but a bit scary with all the winding roads, steep hills and thin bridges. Michael drove very safely (for once!) – I think he was also very cautious! We had a 10 minute wait at the tunnel but a great chance to jump out and take some quick photos. Arrived at the Milford Lodge campground at around 5:30. It is so quiet, surrounded by nature, an amazing cliff face above a rapid waterfall and river covered with rocks. Hired a couple of movies from the front desk and cooked up some dinner ready for a big Christmas eve tomorrow!Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 9

    Fiordland National Park

    December 24, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌫 21 °C

    Woke up in the middle of nature – trees surrounding us, the sound of the river, the waterfalls and the wind. Headed south down to the overbridge and went on a short walk to The Chasm – a natural carve out of huge rocks with a gushing waterfall running through the holes in the rocks. Then headed down to the wharf area of Milford Sound ready for our cruise. The day is a little windy but there is no rain, which is pretty fortunate as it rains here nearly every second day. The yearly rainfall is 7 – 9 metres so we were not going to complain about a little wind. Headed out on the boat and past amazing cliffs, rock formations, waterfalls, seals lazing on the rocks, past the huge Mitre Peak, the largest mountain here in the Fiordland. The kids loved going under the large waterfalls and got completely drenched! Learnt all about the misnaming of Milford Sound – it is not actually a sound, but a fiord, as it is the glaciers which have carved out the river system, not the actual river! Apparently the Dutch explorer (not James Cook who actually sailed right by it twice!) who discovered this area called it a “sound” not a “fiord” but so much of the area was already named, they have kept the error. We stopped off at the Underwater viewing centre which was really interesting. A large tower (10metres tall) was shipped in and they deposited it in the water. It has a viewing area 10m under the water where you can see the unusual fish, black coral (which is actually white!) and other sea creatures. Boarded the boat back to the shore and walked back to our motorhome. Had a look at the all the planes taking off from the tiny airstrip and then headed back to the camping area. It is very festive here tonight with decorated vans, people very happy.Read more

  • TravelerNew Zealand Adventure
    Day 10

    Te Anau

    December 25, 2017 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Merry Christmas everyone! Woke up to rain, rain and more rain this morning. Santa was up very late last night in the rain organising three sacks of presents that were delivered this morning. He magically delivered a bike to our house and took a photo of it next to Hamish bed and Hamish opened the photo excitedly! Girls were very happy with their new headphones, clothes and other bits and pieces. Thought the rain was a bit of a downer for Christmas, until we began driving out of Milford Sound. It was amazing. There were literally thousands of waterfalls streaming down every mountain cliff, the rivers were gushing with water over massive rocks and we kept stoopping and taking photos in the rain. This weather is more like the normal weather in the fiordland and we have been fortunate to have both sunshine and this torrential rain! Arrived in Te Anau a couple of hours later to beautiful sunshine. The kids and I decided at the last minute to go and see the glow worms so got the last seats on the 2pm boat and off we went. It was spectacular – the boat ride over Lake Te Anau (the largest body of water in NZ), then the walk through the rainforest but the highlight was definitely the pitch black darkness of the caves, on a very slow moving boat, turning a corner then hundreds of twinkling little stars above! Hamish was a bit scared – it was very dark and the boat would hit the edge of the cave walls unexpectedly! It was truly magical! Arrived back to a napping Michael, enjoyed the trampoline for a while, then headed into the main street for some dinner. The café was absolutely packed as so many restaurants aren’t opened, so the staff were run off their feet. Anyway, were had water views, so the long wait wasn’t so bad. Walked back to the caravan park after another huge day. Hope your Christmas day was joyful too!Read more

  • 2024© FindPenguins
  • Home
  • About us
  • Blog
  • Group Tracking
  • Press
  • Terms
  • Privacy Policy & Cookies
  • Support
  • Legal notice
  • English