Parents, pies and Pukaki

 Well… haven’t we had quite the exciting few weeks! This might just be our longest blog post yet.

We finished our last post with our second visit to Hanmer Springs, which was just as lovely as the first. The town has such a great atmosphere and has quickly become one of our favourite places in NZ so far. We went out for a lovely early valentine’s meal and treated ourselves to lamb shoulder with duck fat potatoes for main and crème brûlée and chocolate fondant for desert. We also tried our hand at disc golf, where Nathan’s golfing experience helped him to remain cool, calm and collected, whilst Josie got far too competitive, as to be expected. We both really enjoyed it though and have sought out other courses on our travels since. It seems to be really popular here, with free to use courses set up in parks in most towns and cities.

From Hanmer, we headed south into the Waipara wine region and stopped off at a couple of vineyards - Graystone and Waipara Springs, for yet another round of wine tasting - we’re becoming quite the connoisseurs. We then made our way around the Inland Scenic Route, the next of our ‘themed highways’. This one hugs the edge of the Southern Alps as it loops around the Canterbury Plains, giving stunning views and the opportunity for some beautiful walks. It finished in Timaru, a port town south of Christchurch, where we were able to get our first sighting of Little Blue Penguins in the wild! We headed down to the beach after sunset to watch them return to their nests after a day out at sea - it was incredible!

Our original plan was to mooch around the outskirts of Christchurch ahead of meeting up with Nathan’s parents at the weekend. However, two spots opened up on their day trip to Milford Sound the next day, so we made the impulse decision to make the 6 hour drive down to Queenstown to surprise them. We had a lovely evening together, catching up and hearing all about their trip so far.

The next morning we woke up early and headed down into Queenstown town centre to board our coach to Milford Sound. The journey was around 5 hours each way, but broken up with a stop for coffee in Te Anau and a couple of sightseeing spots as we made our way through Fiordland National Park. Despite it being glorious sunshine when we left Queenstown, the clouds rolled in during our journey and by the time we arrived in Milford Sound it was torrential rain. This, however, turned out to be fortuitous as it meant there were thousands of waterfalls streaming down the cliffs of the glacier-carved fiords, making for a magical (if slightly soggy) sight. We headed out on a boat that took us around the sound, getting up close and even underneath some of the waterfalls. The views were spectacular and the low cloud and rain made it even more dramatic. We also managed to spot some NZ fur seals lounging on a rock. We know we say this a lot, but it really was one of our best experiences in NZ.

The next day we travelled in convoy up to Lake Pukaki, which gave us our first glimpse of Aoraki/Mount Cook - NZ tallest mountain. When we first arrived it’s snow capped peak was coated in a veil of cloud, but as the day wore on the clouds parted and we were able to see the whole mountain and more of the surrounding Southern Alps across the turquoise waters of the lake. We went for an afternoon walk along the lakeshore and couldn’t resist a swim in the lake after to cool off. We were able to freedom camp right next to the lake and so enjoyed the most gorgeous sunset before the stars came out - particularly spectacular here as it’s a dark sky reserve. We were glad to be able to show Briony and Alan some of the best views NZ has to offer.

The next day we continued in convoy north and stopped at Lake Tekapo to see the Church of the Good Shepherd - something Nathan’s Grandmother wouldn’t let his parents miss. Something Nathan wouldn’t let his parents miss was a NZ pie and as we were driving past one of the most famous pie shops in NZ we had to stop for lunch. With a queue out of the door we were not disappointed and definitely showed Nathan’s parents some of the best traditional NZ cuisine.

A final night of freedom camping in Canterbury and it was time to say goodbye to Briony and Alan. They’re continuing back up to explore more of the North Island whilst we’re heading into Christchurch.

Up and around the shoulder he goes

As planned, our journey along the west coast took us down to Greymouth. We stopped at Punakaiki on the way to take a look at the ‘Pancake Rocks’. Here, repetitive layers of limestone and mudstone have been eroded into rock features that resemble stacks of pancakes! One of the coolest parts was that geologists still don’t fully understand why this has occurred, giving Josie a chance to put her degree in bullshitting (*ahem* we mean geology degree from a reputable university) to good use and speculate some answers.

Once down in Greymouth, we explored the town before parking up along the seafront for what turned out to be a restless night. We were both woken at 4am to an incredibly loud crashing sound that shook the van and our minds were racing with what had just caused such a loud bang. Seconds later our questions were answered as the whole sky lit up with a deafening crack as another lightning bolt struck the sea just beside us. Whilst spectacular to watch, we were very aware that we were lying in a metal box out in the open - completely the opposite of safety guidance for thunderstorms. Luckily, in typical New Zealand fashion it blew through quickly and we were able to get back to sleep once our heart rates had slowed sufficiently.

From Greymouth we began our journey across to the east coast via Lewis Pass. Our first stop was Reefton, a small ex-gold prospecting settlement. As we arrived we noticed some fair ground rides and food stands, so parked up and wandered into our first New Zealand A&P show. Similar to both Chulmleigh and Ugborough fairs we felt as though we were back in Devon, albeit with slightly fewer cider tents. This was until we stumbled upon the grand final of the regional sheep shearing competition. We settled into our grandstand seats with a bag of warm doughnuts and were treated to a four man showdown, with each competitor having to shear his way through 20 hardy NZ ewes. Despite our country roots, we’d never witnessed anything like this before, and were both impressed by the speed at which they were able to get through the sheep. The real star of the show, however, was the commentator, who animatedly updated us on each competitor’s progress. “Up and around the shoulder he goes, under the final shoulder and down the brisket” were repeated over and over in a thick kiwi accent… alas, there are only so many parts of a sheep you can shear. These phrases have quickly become catchphrases for the trip and we’ve both concluded that the whole NZ sheep farmer stereotype is entirely accurate, and that’s coming from a Welsh girl!

The rest of the drive over Lewis Pass was spectacular, giving stunning views over the snow capped mountains of the Southern Alps. 

Eventually it brought us to Hanmer Springs, a spa town nestled amongst native forest and mountains. We arrived on Waitangi weekend, a NZ bank holiday celebrating the signing of the treaty with England, this meant the town was buzzing and made for a very fun few days. The main attraction of the town was the thermal pools, which turned out to be the closest thing NZ has to a water park. It had water slides, a lazy river and huge array of geothermally heated pools - we enjoyed it so much that we decided to come back two days later and do it all over again!

In between our trips to the pools we headed over to Kaikōura for a night, as we’d booked to go whale watching. The coastline here is famous for its huge array of marine mammals, but in particular it has a semi-resident pod of sperm whales which we were hoping to get a glimpse of. We woke up early and checked in for our trip, caught the bus to the harbour and boarded a large catamaran. Eyes peeled from the moment we set off, we managed to spot some seals, dolphins and albatross before the boat came to a stop so a hydrophone could be lowered into the water to try to locate the whales. No such luck, so the boat tried a different location… two, three, four stops later and still no sign of a whale. On top of this, it was incredibly rough out there so many of the passengers got sea sick, making for a delightful atmosphere on board. Finally the crew decided to cut their losses and take us closer to the shore to see some dusky dolphins. As soon as the boat slowed we were greeted by a large pod which came and rode on our bow wave, jumping and giving quite the acrobatic show. The dolphins really helped to lighten the mood on board but that was quickly outdone by the captain announcing everyone would be receiving an 80% refund for the trip as we hadn’t sighted a whale - result! So whilst we were disappointed to have to continue our search for whales in NZ, with nature you win some, you lose some. All in all, £15 each for a two hour speed boat ride and dolphin watching trip actually turned out to be a bargain!

Our whale woes were quickly forgotten as we returned to Hanmer Springs and took another ride on ‘Conical Thrill’ and ‘Super Bowl’ (no sign of Taylor Swift at this one though!). Nathan’s parents have arrived in NZ this week, so our plan for the next few days is to head south to meet up with them as they explore the country. NZ review from Alan and Briony to follow next week.

Whittling on the West Coast

So our time on the boysenberry farm finally came to an end last Thursday. We had an evening of celebratory drinks around a fire pit and said our goodbyes to Jeremy, Alena and the other couples. Whilst we were sad to be leaving, we’d certainly had enough of work for a while and were both excited to be getting back to adventuring! 

After looking at the best route to see as much of the South Island as possible, we decided to head over to the West Coast. We stopped off at Richmond on the way to stock up on supplies and fuel, then we were off! Our first night away from the farm was spent back at Lake Rotoiti in the Nelson Lakes National Park. We’d stayed here before and it was nice to have a familiar setting to find our feet in van life again. And find our feet we did, as we were soon back to needing to fix things!

One of the knobs on our gas cooker broke off on our first night away. This was especially annoying as had it happened during our time on the farm we would have had the resources, and access to shops if needed, to fix it. But alas, we were already over an hour from a Bunnings, so had to come up with a solution. This lead to Nathan spending the next day doing his best impression of a homo habilis as he used rocks to whittle a new knob out of a stick we found on a walk. Stubbornly refusing to use a knife, he had fashioned a working knob just in time for dinner.

You can check out his handy work below!

Gas cooker now fully operational, we continued our journey over to Westport, where we enjoyed a lovely walk along the coast to a NZ fur seal colony! This gave Josie the opportunity to try out her new binoculars (a Christmas present from Nathan)! As breeding season is just coming to an end, there were lots of cute seal pups who were just getting to grips with using their flippers to move over the rocks, making for some highly entertaining viewing for us.

From Westport we headed north as far as the road would take us into the Kahurangi National Park. We parked up at the DOC campsite and went for a walk along the beach to marvel at the huge waves (easily 10 ft high) crashing into the beach. The west coast is known for being wild and untamed and it was certainly living up to its name!

As spectacular as this campsite was, it was also plagued by sandflies, which managed to gnaw and nibble at any piece of skin we’d failed to cover. Itching, but undeterred (and covered from head to toe in deet) we went on an awesome hike along a section of the Heaphy Track to Scott’s Beach. This is a largely untouched part of the country with an almost impenetrable forest, unless you’re a DOC worker with a digger and a helicopter then you appear to be unstoppable. 

Before heading back down the coast, we decided to visit the Oparara Arches. These were some of the largest and most jaw dropping natural features we have seen yet. With our body clocks still firmly in boysenberry mode, we woke early to drive the 16km gravel logging track up the side of a mountain to be the first to see them that morning. After a short climb through a cave entrance, which gave Josie flashbacks to black water rafting, the chasm opened up to reveal incredible limestone arches with a river flowing through the bottom and stalactites hanging from the ceiling. They were truly other-worldly, like something out of a movie set and the experience left both of us reminded of why we chose to come to New Zealand.

We’ve now travelled south along the coast, through Westport, to Greymouth. From here we’re planning on traversing the country to Kaikōura on the east coast, for our long anticipated whale watching trip. Stay tuned to hear if we’re finally successful in spotting some!