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  • The Little One
    2
    Day 64

    Queenstown

    March 13, 2023 in New Zealand

    We drove around the huge Lake Wakatipu to our last destination in New Zealand, Queenstown. Known for its extreme sports and outdoor activities it's the place to be if you want to Paraglide, bungee jump, sky dive, jet ski, parsail and a lot lot more. We are pretty knackered at this point having been on the road for a few months now so opted to just take in the scenary, enjoy some good food and few beers.

    The town is quite touristy with a well defined pedestrian centre full of backpacker hostels and trendy coffee shops. We went a bit more upmarket and stayed in a hotel and we're definitely enjoying the fact that we are not staying in a dorm.

    We had a wander around the gardens and took the cable car up the hill to take in the vista, but we really didn't do much at all in Queenstown, enjoyed the sun and the nice bars and restaurants that are in town and reflected on our New Zealand trip.

    We very much enjoyed as a whole our time in New Zealand. It was really easy to travel everywhere, no hassle and we always found good food and the friendliest locals. Of course, as we're spoiled with a lot of travelling this past year we also compared it with some of our past experiences. We did miss the enjoyment of visiting temples of ancient civilisations and we could also have done with maybe some more exotic animals. Yes, we are very demanding, flightless birds, dolphins and fur seals were not enough! What we liked though is how alone we could find ourselves in some beautiful spot of nature. We will never forget our helicopter ride above glaciers, the crazy rock formations in Coromandel, enjoying a natural hot springs on the beach and pretending to be Hobbit for a day! New Zealand definitely has a lot of gems that ought to be seen and experienced! We are very sad to be leaving New Zealand, given how far away it is from home it's unlikely that we'll be back anytime soon, but never say never😁    Read more

  • The Little One
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    12111
    Day 61

    Milford Sound

    March 10, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C

    Milford Sound has the reputation to be the best tourist attraction of New Zealand. We're happy that we did save the best till last as we are very close to the end of our New Zealand tour.

    So what is the Milford Sound? If I had to guess I'd say its the sound of crashing water and waterfalls 🤭. A Sound is actually a geological term for an area of flooded valleys similar to a Fjord.
    The difference being that a Fjord is created by glacier and Sound is carved out by a river. It turns out that Milford Sound is technically a Fjord and not a Sound at all. When the first European explorers arrived the glaciers had all but disappeared so they assumed, incorrectly that the area was formed by rivers, hence the name. By the time they discovered their mistake they had already advertised it as a sound and no one wanted to change the name, so it stuck, confusing tourists and annoying geologists for generations.

    Milford Sound is the only Sound in the region that is accessible by road, so we took our wheels and off we went. Just out of town we saw a guy hitch-hiking. We saw quite a lot of hitch hikers while we were in the van, but we didn't have an extra seat so this time we didn't hesitate to pick him up ! There is only one road to go up Milford Sound so we were definitely on the same path. After a brief chat we found out that he is on his way to do a 5 days hike in the region and that he works as a ranger for the DOC (Department Of Conservation). Lucky for us, he has worked in the region for a few months so he was super knowledgeable on which roadside stops are worth doing along the road.

    We started by the Eglinton flats. Quite impressive to see the mountains coming up from the flat. It was also a very nice light with clouds in the distance. Second stop is the mirror lake. Less luck on this one as it started raining so not so much of mirror and we had a good gauge of how touristy this bit of road is. A lot of buses coming in from as far as Queenstown, an almost 5h drive! A bit further down the road and we stop to drop our hitch-hiker and on we go to our stop for our little walk, only 3hours. It was a very nice walk, very steep and rocky and muddy but fun! The reward at the top is Marian lake. A glacier lake nestled between high mountains. Very good spot for a picnic even if the bees kept flying around us!

    Back in the car for the last stretch of driving until our chalet for the night. We decided that we want to experience the scenery in the evening and morning so this was the best option, however off budget it was... This is the only accomodation available here so they have the monopoly! It was totally worth it though. After relaxing in our room with a view of 8 waterfall (yes we counted) we went for dinner at the lodge restaurant, a very good meal! After a busy day we fall asleep with to sound of rain.
    Next morning and we wake up with again this fantastic view, only this time 9 waterfalls! One waterfall probably got created by the rain at night. We get breakfast in our chalet and we're off for our cruise through the Fjord.

    Cruising down the Fjord is the most popular way to see the area as you can see all its beauty from within the valley. As we boarded our little boat we saw a huge cruise ship which had come up from the ocean to have a peak at the incredible scenary. The cruise ship really helped to put into perspective just how big some of the waterfalls really are. We sailed down one side of the Fjord, out to the open ocean and then back up the other side, taking in the amazing scenary and all the waterfalls along the way.

    One of the tour operators have also opened an Underwater viewing platform to see the odd fish and coral that live here. Because of the mud and grit rich fresh water which flows into the Fjord and sits on top of the sea water flowing in from the sea, it is able to sustain life that would normally need to live a lot deeper in the open ocean. At just 10m depth we could see coral and fish that usually live below 60m where its difficult for humans to go. It was nice to see all the underwater animals while staying dry.

    We came back on shore with the rain, a nudge for us to get going on our long drive to Queenstown. It was a magic place and we are glad that we kept it for the end!    Read more

  • The Little One
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    Day 58

    Te Anau

    March 7, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    We are near to completing our loop of the south island, we drove west out of Invercagil along the shore until we saw the mountains again and then kept them on our left as we headed north, back inland up to the lakeside town of Te Anau.

    The southern coastline has lots of cute little beaches and bluffs that are easily accessible, our first stop of the day was at Howells Point Reserve, a little rocky outcrop with a view over to Stewart Island, to our surprise a small pod of dolphins were playing in the waves just off shore so we sat and watched them for quite a while. Just along the coast we found our next stop, Gemstone Beach, so called for the numerous gems that can be found here. Those that are worth any money have already been found but we did gather up a bunch of interesting colourful stones that we liked. A few people were panning for gold and had some luck, but only small flakes.

    Onwards to the town of Te Anau, it is quite touristy here, at least compared to where we have been the last few days. A lot of people use it as a jumping off point to explore the Fjordland region or do some of the excellent multi day walks that start close by.

    For us the main attraction is the Glow Worm Caves. Glow worms are exclusive to New Zealand and Australia, and the species found here is native and only lives in a few locations. They live in dark humid places and like a constant temperature so caves and dells are where you find them most. Their life cycle is similar to that of a moth or butterfly, when they hatch they survive as a larvae for 6-10 months until they wrap up in a cocoon. They burst out as a fully formed fungus knat and live about a week, copulating as much as possible during that time. It's during the larvae stage that they glow, lighting up their rear end to attract small bugs and insects into their web like fishing lines they use to trap their prey. We walked into a cave and then hopped on a boat to be pulled around their little home in the pitch black, it was incredible to see how numerous they were and just how much light they gave off for such little creatures. Unfortunately we weren't able to take any pictures inside the cave but we have added a view from the tour website to give you an idea of what we could see.

    As we were not prepared for a multiday hike, and also you need to book in advance to stay in the huts, we settled for a shorter walk along the lake. On the way we stopped at a bird sanctuary with very little birds. The stars are the Tekahe they are a flightless bird which we talked about in our post on Wellington. This bird sanctuary has a pair that breeds a lot of baby that then go into the wild. Most of the birds there were found hurt or were pets that turned out aggressive. Continuing on the walk we started into the forest bordering the lake so it is quite cool. We hear, as usual, a lot of different bird and we even thought we heard a kiwi...but it may have been totally something else as kiwis are nocturnal 😆

    Finally we arrive to our picnic spot, dock bay. A very calm beach with actual sand instead of stones. The water is very very cold but Armelle dareed to go in for a little dip with the ducks passing by. We stayed there a few hours, reading and listening to the sound of the birds. That is the beauty of New Zealand, you can find beautiful natural spots and be almost on your own!    Read more

  • The Little One
    Day 56

    The Catlins

    March 5, 2023 in New Zealand

    We left the city to discover the Southland region of New Zealand called the catlins. There's no more motorway here and it is just narrow winding roads passing golden-sand bays and gnarly forest.

    Our first stop was at the top of a hill. We had to walk down quite a steep path to join the beach and its famous tunnel. This walk gave us good views of the cliffs below and because it was windy and high tide the waves did an amazing show, crashing onto the rocks. We could see the coastline being carved in real time! After a long time looking at the waves, we finally got down to the small tunnel leading to the beach. It was a bit scary especially with the roaring sound of the waves but also quite fun! We couldn't go very far on the beach because of the tide so up the path we went back.

    Next stop is Nugget point. We didn't know what to expect with this name, but it was spectacular. After a short walkway where we could hear sea lions but not see them as the cliffs are so steep we arrive at the lighthouse. Here the wind that followed us along the path stops and we are left with a jaw-dropping view: toothy islets surrounded by sapphire water. Again we stared at this view for quite a while before getting on the road again.

    The weather changed along the road and it started raining. That fitted with our next stop which is a short walk into a rainforest to see waterfalls. We're starting to get familiar with the rainforest here now but the ferns always strike us with their beauty. The waterfalls are nice and very wild. We spent the night in a remote motel/campsite, one bar and restaurant and luckily they were open! Next day we walk to another waterfall, the highest waterfall in the catlins. We are struck by the lines in the stones, almost like someone carved them as stairs!

    After seeing live rainforest we stopped to see a dead one, an ancient petrified forest, it is a rare phenomenon of fossilised forest. Preserved by silica in the ashy floodwaters that submerged these Jurassic-era trees. We can still see the wood grain of stumps looking like rocks, at the touch they just feel like stone. It is a very strange site, probably more marvelous when you are passionate about fossils but still quite impressive to see something so rare.

    Enough of the past and after a good little lunch break we sat by a beach in currio bay famous for its dolpins. We see a few people going in the water and calling them by hitting two stones together underwater. We're not as brave, it is not very warm and the water looks freezing, our swim suits were also in the car (we have lots of excuses) . Some people were prepared though with full wetsuit and they did get rewarded with dolphins swimming up next to them! We just enjoyed the show of dolphins surfing the waves from the beach.

    Next stop and we are back in town. We checked in to a little motel in Invercargill, not the city best known for its tourism but a practical stop on our road. We still checked their botanical garden out which had a few interesting flowers and we stayed by the most iconic building in town, their water tower! We finish our evening with a delicious Thai restaurant.

    We liked a lot of the spots of the Catlins, with landscape that you don't see everyday but it was a lot of driving in between little spots. We're looking forward to give our car a rest for the next few days!    Read more

  • The Little One
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    Day 54

    Dunedin

    March 3, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Dunedin (pronounced Duh-nee-din) is a nice Scottish town, of course we haven't just physically moved across the globe to Scotland but we are there in spirit. It is refreshing to wander around a town with old looking buildings.

    On the road to Dunedin we first stopped to see the Moeraki boulders. The pictures don't do them justice but when we walked from one end of the beach to the other and stumbled upon those in the middle it felt utterly out of place. These boulders are massive and we still wonder how or why they're there. After having a good coffee while looking at them we continue along the road to see some fur seals. There is a whole colony living by a lighthouse. It was nice to see some more of them lazily enjoying the sunny day.

    The next day, we didn't mimic the lazy seals but instead we had a busy day in the town of Dunedin. Starting with a tasty breakfast we then follow by visiting the Chinese gardens. We weren't expecting much and we found ourselves within a very peaceful complex even if it was just by the main road. New Zealand and in particular the Otago region where we are have a big history with Chinese communities coming here to work on finding gold. They in fact sent out official invitations for groups to come and take up the pick axe. This gardens here are a reminder of this link.

    Next, we visit the settlers museum. As its name suggests it is about all settlers in the Otago region. Starting with the Maori and finishing with the Scottish. It was interesting if a little repetitive given we have learnt a fair bit in the other New Zealand museums, but they had a couple historic features that where fun to take a picture of.

    That was our morning and now on to our afternoon! We start with the botanical gardens (Armelle can't miss any botanical garden) to see some flowers and some trees. Then onto the Otago peninsula with our little car. This is a little bit outside Dunedin and we a very much back into country side roads and villages even so close to town. We stop at New Zealand's only castle. We had to see it! We actually visited only the castle gardens and they were amazing. Full of native flora and a lot of explanations on them.

    Arriving at the end of the peninsula we stopped to try to see some albatrosses. There are tours to see them but they were fully booked so we thought we'd take our chances and have a glimpse from an observation deck. To our surprise the royal albatrosses did put on quite a show! They kept flying by quite close and then turning around so we could see them perfectly! It is impressive to see these big birds in the air. In photos it is difficult to understand the scale of it but we tried to give you a couple of hints. We tried again to see some penguins but it is not the season to see them and they were either very well hidden or not there. We managed to spot a couple of seals again though!

    After this eventful day we enjoyed a tasty Turkish dinner followed by an amazing ice cream, we didn't fancy any traditional scottish food 😝    Read more

  • The Little One
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    Day 52

    Oamaru

    March 1, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Back on the road and back towards the coast. Lake Tekapo was chilly at times, usually when the sun wasn't out, and we hoped to find warmth on the coast. Well, we haven't! It is a bit sunny but as soon as the sun's in it gets cold again!

    Our first stop was to see some natural clay cliffs. They were really impressive by their height! The rain water also created all sorts of patterns on the wall, it looked like we were in an open cave. Further down the road we learnt a bit more about New Zealand's energy production by stopping at 3 hydroelectric dams in a row. These dams were quite impressive and had all sorts of records. One was the biggest earth dam in New Zealand and another one was the biggest earth and concrete dam in New Zealand... Yes we saw all that in one day!

    After this dam good day 🤭 we had to sit down and get a drink. Arrived at our destination on the coast, Oamaru, we wandered around this little town looking for a local brewery. We were surprised to find a Belgium style bar and to our surprise, this bar served local beers but in a Belgium style. We had a very good time! This town is not particularly known for its brewing but more for being the Steam punk capital of New Zealand. We were reminded of that in every corner of the city center which is very juxtaposed to the old Victorian stone buildings which line the main street. It felt like a genuine artistic town with a very good vibe.

    The other main attraction of this town is its blue penguin colony nesting near by. Along the shore there is all sorts of signs and statues to remind you of them. They only come a sore at night so we didn't actually get to see them but we did see a few more Fur Seals lounging about in the sun.    Read more

  • The Little One
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    Day 50

    Lake tekapo

    February 27, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    After all the LotR emotions we headed to Lake Tekapo and settled there for a couple of days. We had actually driven by the lake on our way to Christchurch but we didn't have time to stop. There is meant to be some great walking trails up into the hills here and some amazing views across the lake up into the mountains so we thought we'd add it to the itinerary and finish off the Southern Alps.

    The town itself is quite small and very tourist orientated, there is good skiing here in winter along with the summer walking trails, so all year tourism for this little town, although they are also suffering with a lack or staff. They usually rely on young travellers with working visas but there haven't been as many this year apparently. With all the open restaurants fully booked we opted for some home cooking and a cheeky takeaway pizza to see us through.

    We didn't actually make it up any of the major hill walks, just standing down by the lake looking up at them made us feel tired so we opted for a little lake side walk instead, and a drive up the hill. The world is against us right now however, the road up to the view point is private as its owned by the University which runs the large telescopes up there and they apparently close it on Tuesdays. Never mind, we found a couple of smaller lakes and had a wander around them instead.

    The University figured out the other great thing about Lake Tekapo, it gets really dark at night, so it's amazing for star gazing. We also found out that it's possible to see the Aurora Australis, the southern hemisphere's answer to the Aurora Borealis. The colourful phenomenon is caused by solar storms on the surface of our sun creating electrically charged particles that enter the Earth's upper atmosphere at a very high speed. While technically it is happening 24/7, you need to be pretty lucky to be able to see them with the naked eye. Firstly it needs to be very dark, secondly you need a clear night, and thirdly you need a very powerful storm in exactly the right place. Scientists are able to predict the storms about half an hour in advanced so you never know what's going to happen. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time and we were rewarded with quite the show. Our phone cameras were able to pick up a lot more of the light than our naked eyes so some of the pictures look a lot more impressive than what we actually saw, but it was still an amazing and unique experience.

    It was a really nice way to finish off our time in the mountains, we won't be seeing them again this trip so nice to finish with a bang.    Read more

  • The Little One
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    Day 49

    Banks Peninsula and Methven

    February 26, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ 🌫 18 °C

    Back on the road and we picked up our new wheels, a slightly battered little Toyota. Pushing 15 years old she's clearly seen some road, but she was cheap and seems to work, apart from the odd rattle here and there. We headed out of Christchurch down to the Banks Peninsula, originally thought to be an Island by Cook and the initial explorers, but very much connected to the main land. There are a few little artsy towns, with some interesting galleries and gardens but the main attraction is the main bay which has a pod of hector dolphins, a colony of blue penguins and a clan of fur seals. We took a boat tour around the bay and was lucky enough to see all three, although not quite lucky enough to get many snaps, so you'll have to trust us when we say it was magical. We did manage to get some pictures of the art garden we visited that reminded us of Barcelona.

    Next day we head inland to get closer to the mountains again. We're taking the same road we came in on with the van, but this time we will go even further south. On the road we're surprised to see more snow on the mountains than we remember. Confirmed by someone local, they had some cold weather and a fresh dump up on top while we were in Christchurch, nice little touch on a already amazing landscape! We stopped for the night in the little ski town of Methven. Still not enough snow to ski but we heard of some hot pools nearby and we checked it out. It was an incredible experience. The hot pools is a series of swimming canals filled with perfectly warm water. Cherry on top, they have a swim up bar on the adults only side and a jumping platform on the kids side. We enjoyed both very much and felt very relaxed after.

    The real reason why we stayed in this remote little town in the middle of nowhere was to go on the Edoras tour. For those of you not acquainted with LotR, (seriously go watch the movies 😂) Edoras is the Capital of Rohan, home of the Rohirrim, the horse lords of Middle Earth. The spot we have come to see is the shooting location used in the Second and Third Movies. All of the Houses and the Great Golden Hall were temporary and have since been removed but the rocky out crop they sat upon is still very much here, rising up out of a great plain, flanked on all sides by the mountains and next to a great silver River, almost exactly how Tolkien described it. Our tour guide for the day was none other than Hammond Peek, I posit that none of you, even the most ardent LotRs fans, know who that is, and neither did we. It turns out he was the Sound Recordist for all three LotR movies and worked on set with all of the actors the entire time. He regaled us with very detailed and interesting stories and brought the whole thing to life with his inside knowledge of how the set looked and felt. He also brought along a few props for us to play with 🗡️🛡️⚔️

    It's nice to be back in the road and out in nature again, and back on the Hobbits trail!    Read more

  • The Little One
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    Day 44

    Christchurch

    February 21, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Time to return the van and sleep within 4 walls again. We haven't finished our New Zealand adventure quite yet but unfortunately we have to pack up our bags and say farewell to our four wheeled friend who has looked after us for the last 30 days. When we originally planned our trip we weren't sure how long we would need in the van so we opted for a 30 day rental, turns out we needed longer but by the time we had figured that out we were unable to extend the van. We will soon be getting a little car to finish off the South Island, but first we are exploring the bars, restaurants and maybe some museums in New Zealand's second 'biggest' town, big is not really the right word to use here though, as its only around 370,000 people, so a bit smaller than Liverpool, or a bit bigger than Lille.

    Christchurch history is synonymous with earthquakes as the city is located reasonably close to one of the the bigger fault lines. The most recent one that did a lot of damage to the town and the nearby area was in 2011. There were actually a few earthquakes in a row at end of 2010 and beginning of 2011. In February 2011 a 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit just 10km southeast of the city and 5km deep. It did a lot of damage and the city is slowly rebuilding. We learnt all this in a busy little museum, it was mainly busy because it was raining almost the whole time we were here!

    Luckily our first morning was sunny so we managed to enjoy the beautiful botanical gardens with some big trees and a lot of dahlias. We walked around the city that has remodeled the riverside quite well with good walking pavements everywhere. They have a little tram here, only for tourists we think, but apart from this we didn't see much public transport. As we're staying in the center it wasn't a problem but we could see a lot of car parks for commuters.

    On our second and third day we were not so lucky with the weather but that allowed us to go to the museums, starting with Quake City and followed by the modern art gallery and to finish with the, Canterbury museum. Canterbury is the name of the region Christchurch resides in and we were expecting geological, historical or natural information, perhaps learning about animals like the Moa. To our surprise, at the entrance we found out that the museum was going through a major redesign and all the collections were in storage. However, for the last few months before the building is closed for renovations for at least 5 years, they have done an exhibition with local and international street artists. This was actually really good! They opened all the rooms of the building and let the artists loose to create whatever they wanted. There were 5 floors of different styles, from Graffiti, murals, sculptures and classic street art. We found it was a really interesting idea and a good use of a space for art that is in its definition temporary!

    Christchurch was a good little break in the journey for us. We felt that we needed some days off the road to recharge our batteries and have a bit of time to do nothing and eat some more good food cooked by someone else, not having to do the dishes has become a luxury!    Read more

  • The Little One
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    Day 41

    Mount Cook

    February 18, 2023 in New Zealand ⋅ ⛅ 10 °C

    We ventured further up the valley and closer to the mountains, staying right at the foot of Mount Cook, the tallest Mountain in New Zealand. Dwarfed by its size and the surrounding range, we are definitely feeling very small right now.
    Our campsite for the night is right by the glacial lake which flows down from the Mount Cook Glacier. We thought we would get our feet wet before dinner but to our surprise it wasn't too cold, we managed to go for a decent swim and we stayed in the water at least half an hour.

    After the sun went down we were treated to an amazing sky full of stars. This area is world renowned as one of the best places for star gazing and we were lucky enough to have a clear night with no moon. A few caravans had some pretty huge outdoor lights but we were able to escape their glare and look up at the Milky Way, always a nice treat for two city dwellers.

    Next day and its time to tackle the Mountain! It is quite a bit bigger than we had anticipated standing at 3724m, so we settled for a walk up the valley to see the glacier instead. It was a very windy but rewarding walk. The glacial lake right at the base of the mountain always has a few icebergs floating as the glacier breaks apart and retreats. We also stopped by to see some blue pools that have now turned green. Once fed by the glacier and its milky turquoise waters they were blue, but as the glacier retreated up the mountain the pools are now filled by rain water which has allowed plant life to flourish and changed their completion to a muddy green instead. Someone should really change the name.

    This feels very isolated place, despite the huge number of tramplers we saw on the walk (one of the busiest we have done), maybe it's just vastness of the mountains and the lakes here. A really great spot to spend the last few nights in our van.    Read more

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