Leaving Bali to fly to New Zealand was a good deal more challenging than I had planned intially. The over-zealous staff at the airport were not keen to check me in on to their flight without possession of a visa for New Zealand – not required for British nationals – and could not accept the fact that I didn’t need a piece of paper to prove that I didn’t need a visa. And so it went on.
Australia in comparison was easy, and after sleeping a few hours on some surprisingly comfortable airport chairs, I found my way onto an Auckland bound flight with a comical flight crew. Introducing the crew: "At the front we have Samarinda, who is also a body paint model for Chanel. If you ask her nicely she will take off her uniform and show you where she puts it. At the back we have Teresa, who is single, and her phone number is 0213385435. Then there's me - I am Brad Pitt and I am here today for your viewing pleasure. It's complimentary, so fill yer boots." At landing - "We have now started our descent into Auckland so please ensure you seat backs are upright, tray tables are fastened away and seatbelts are secured firmly around your neck." And as we stopped: "We would like to remind you that New Zealand has very strict quarantine rules, so if you are carrying any illegal items we strongly suggest you put them in someone else’s bag....."
I spent a night in a quiet but pleasant hostel in the suburbs of Auckland and feasted on all things Western (unlimited hot water, clean sheets, beef burgers, milk, proper bread) and left the following morning feeling rather satisfied but pretty cold.
It was a baltic 8 degrees and hailing when I landed in Queenstown the next day, the plane making an uncomfortable large amount of sideways sashaying in its final dance-approach to the runway in a strong sidewind. Jen and Fran were waiting at the gate as I walked through, and in no time I was settling into their house – that they were leaving in a weeks time.
It was Fran’s birthday, so to celebrate we headed up the Queenstown gondola. There we had a great time on a luge track before gorging on huge all-you-can-eat buffet meal - slightly wasted on me as I was most enthusiastic about the brown bread, butter and salad, not the seafood or 16 different main courses. I did have to eat a lot though, because I had weighed myself at Jens and found myself to be a paltry 79kg - I was about 92kg before I left. Both fat and muscle gone there!
After spending a day looking around Queenstown Jen and I headed down to the Catlins, at the southern end of New Zealand’s south island, whilst leaving Fran at his day job of tandem skydive instructor. We had a scenic drive south before stopping at Curio Bay, home of an unusual fossilised forest and the yellow-eyed penguin – the world’s rarest. We had great success in seeing the fossilised wood (not hard), the penguins (much more difficult) but failed to see any of the rare Hookers sealions or Hectors dolphins.
The following morning we met with more success, seeing both a sealion and a New Zealand fur seal at a nearby headland, as well as a probable whale sighting off the coast (it was large and it breathed through a blow hole….). We also visited Slope Point, South Island’s most southerly point – home to a sign that is just great for jumping off.
On the way back, Jen and I stopped at Fran’s place of work, Nzone. Here Fran had organised a discounted skydive for myself and Jen, and we found ourselves heading up to 15,000ft strapped to an man who assured me he had a parachute. For some reason I suffered from remarkably little fear as I dangled my legs out the edge of the plane. It was rather cold and very fast, but overall fantastic. There were clouds, snow capped mountains, and fantastic views.
The following day Pekwor arrived after a long flight from the UK, and showed a remarkable lack of jet-lag as she sampled the freshly baked brownies and caramel shortbread that I had prepared earlier. We settled in to a hostel – Jen and Fran were moving out in a couple of days in their move to Texas – then started planning our route for the next few weeks.
The first stop on our itinerary was a day trip to Milford Sound – a baptism of fire for the car that Jen and Fran have lent us to drive to Auckland. The 5 hour drive (each way) saw us passing through south down Lake Wakatipu then northwest – the Milford Sound roadhead is only about 80km from Queenstown as the crow flies. On the way the car began to overheat – before we had gone through the mountain passes. We topped the radiator up with cold lakewater and carried on, a little concerned about the amount of driving left to do.
The weather in Milford Sound is notoriously mixed, and our experience was no exception. In the space of a few hours we had torrential rain and sunshine in equal measure, whilst enjoying the magnificent glacial scenery of the Sound (more correctly named a fjord). It was well worth the 10 hour round trip – which the car completed admirably on the way back to Queenstown.
The next day Pekwor and I headed up to Glenorchy whilst the car paid a visit to the mechanic. Glenorchy was the backdrop for numerous Lord of the Rings scenes, albeit with a liberal use of CGI. Despite the absence of Isengaard and the Riders of Rohan (or maybe because of) it was gorgeous, especially in the blazing sunshine that appeared for us.
Sadly the weather was not as cooperative for the skydive that Pekwor had booked with Fran. It was cancelled twice and the following day we were due to leave in a newly repaired car (a leaky head gasket had been diagnosed, but the mechanic thought it would probably get to Auckland), and we headed east out of Queenstown without the benefit of some gravity abuse for Pekwor.
The omens were not good – we stopped at the bungy jump just a few miles outside of Queenstown with the car already almost in the red of the heat gauge. We topped up with a bottle of “Stop Leak” and proceeded at a sedate rate towards the coast and the city of Dunedin.
After a picnic lunch in the tiny town of Lawrence the car seemed happier and by mid-afternoon we hit our first destination – the Otago Peninsula. We headed for Sandfly Bay where we hoped to find some rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins and some Hookers sea lions, as well as New Zealand fur seals. We were rewarded with up-close sightings of sealions – rather too close for comfort in a couple of cases – but had to wait in the cold before we were rewarded with the sight of a couple of the penguins coming ashore at dusk – much further away than in the Catlins too.
After a cold night in a seemingly uninsulated building (a habitual feature of Kiwi buildings it seems) we headed up to Taiaroa where you can find the only mainland colony of Royal Albatross anywhere in the world, plus Blue Pengiuns. Sadly the albatross were absent – it was just before the breeding season gets underway in earnest and none were home – but we waited for an hour in a bitingly cold wind (this would become a regular occurrence) in the hope of spotting one – the bst we saw were a few shags and a couple of mollymawks.
Our route for the next few weeks takes us on a whistle stop tour of all south island and some of north island, at pretty high speed. We left the Otago Peninsula to head north, first to the Moeraki boulders, a collection of giant egg-like stones formed by some obscure geological process in eons gone by. They were pretty impressive, and it was a lot of fun dodging the waves to try and take photos.
Later that afternoon we sped up the east coast of the south island to Oamaru, where we checked out a nesting colony of Blue Penguins before heading west inland to a farmstay outside of Omarama – roughly located in the middle of nowhere.
The car was coping admirably with the amount of driving, and the next day was no exception. After being bored almost to tears by our farmstay host and his geopolitical and environmental theories, we managed to escape in time to get to Mount Cook only a little after we had planned. Unfortunately the weather was not behaving as well as the car and we failed to see any mountains – just the Tasman Glacier through the sheets of rain.
After another few hundred kilometres we had gone south right to Wanaka, only a short distance from where we started in Queenstown. After a couple of hours amusing ourselves in Puzzling World – the maze was just at the point of getting frustrating when we finished it – we headed on, back northwest and our way to Haast, on the West Coast. We headed up the shore of Lake Wanaka in beautiful evening light, and as the sun went down we headed through the scenic Gates of Haast pass to drop down to the West Coast.
Haast was home to about 4 houses and 300 caravans full of people catching whitebait, all of whom were subjected to a storm that was passing through. It was raining hard and when it didn’t rain it hailed….. and there was more of the same the next day as we headed north up the West Coast to Fox Glacier.
We pulled into Fox Glacier town and did a quick scenic walk of Lake Matheson – although not so scenic in driving rain. We met Jen and Fran for lunch then set off with Jen on a walk that was probably a tad ambitious for the weather – a four hour trek to see a seal colony further up the coast. We forded several rivers, and inspected some old gold mining ruins before arriving on the beach and sighting the seals, who were notably reluctant to be observed.
The weather turned for the better overnight and at am the next morning I was scraping the frost from the car windscreen in an effort to return to Lake Matheson for sunrise. No picture book of New Zealand is complete without a picture of Lake Matheson at sunrise, with Mounts Cook and Tasman as framed by foothills and reflected in the perfectly calm lake. It did not fail to disappoint, even in the bitter cold that caught your breath and numbed your toes.
After breakfast we headed onto the Fox Glacier itself. The Fox Glacier – home of the mints – and neighbouring Franz Josef are nearly unique in the world, descending almost to the sea surrounded by temperate rainforest. The only place in the world with similar glaciers is the Northern Patagonian icecap in Chile – although our guide on the glacier thought they were in Argentina. Although our trip onto the ice was very limited, it was great fun – especially under a blue sky after a couple of days or rain.
That afternoon we headed up further north then back east to get to Arthurs Pass. Once again the car coped wonderfully with the hills – and the driving rain then snow the appeared as we came back east. We pulled into Arthurs Pass town and found a small hostel cottage with a roaring woodburner. It was a warm and welcome stop whilst we watched the snow fall.
I have another 2 weeks left in New Zealand before the final destination of my trip – Australia. If the car makes it all the way to Auckland it will probably be on the strength of Jen and Fran’s prayers, but so far, so good, and we have covered at least half of the distance. Fingers crossed for good weather, good speed and a solid head gasket.
Australia in comparison was easy, and after sleeping a few hours on some surprisingly comfortable airport chairs, I found my way onto an Auckland bound flight with a comical flight crew. Introducing the crew: "At the front we have Samarinda, who is also a body paint model for Chanel. If you ask her nicely she will take off her uniform and show you where she puts it. At the back we have Teresa, who is single, and her phone number is 0213385435. Then there's me - I am Brad Pitt and I am here today for your viewing pleasure. It's complimentary, so fill yer boots." At landing - "We have now started our descent into Auckland so please ensure you seat backs are upright, tray tables are fastened away and seatbelts are secured firmly around your neck." And as we stopped: "We would like to remind you that New Zealand has very strict quarantine rules, so if you are carrying any illegal items we strongly suggest you put them in someone else’s bag....."
I spent a night in a quiet but pleasant hostel in the suburbs of Auckland and feasted on all things Western (unlimited hot water, clean sheets, beef burgers, milk, proper bread) and left the following morning feeling rather satisfied but pretty cold.
It was a baltic 8 degrees and hailing when I landed in Queenstown the next day, the plane making an uncomfortable large amount of sideways sashaying in its final dance-approach to the runway in a strong sidewind. Jen and Fran were waiting at the gate as I walked through, and in no time I was settling into their house – that they were leaving in a weeks time.
It was Fran’s birthday, so to celebrate we headed up the Queenstown gondola. There we had a great time on a luge track before gorging on huge all-you-can-eat buffet meal - slightly wasted on me as I was most enthusiastic about the brown bread, butter and salad, not the seafood or 16 different main courses. I did have to eat a lot though, because I had weighed myself at Jens and found myself to be a paltry 79kg - I was about 92kg before I left. Both fat and muscle gone there!
After spending a day looking around Queenstown Jen and I headed down to the Catlins, at the southern end of New Zealand’s south island, whilst leaving Fran at his day job of tandem skydive instructor. We had a scenic drive south before stopping at Curio Bay, home of an unusual fossilised forest and the yellow-eyed penguin – the world’s rarest. We had great success in seeing the fossilised wood (not hard), the penguins (much more difficult) but failed to see any of the rare Hookers sealions or Hectors dolphins.
The following morning we met with more success, seeing both a sealion and a New Zealand fur seal at a nearby headland, as well as a probable whale sighting off the coast (it was large and it breathed through a blow hole….). We also visited Slope Point, South Island’s most southerly point – home to a sign that is just great for jumping off.
On the way back, Jen and I stopped at Fran’s place of work, Nzone. Here Fran had organised a discounted skydive for myself and Jen, and we found ourselves heading up to 15,000ft strapped to an man who assured me he had a parachute. For some reason I suffered from remarkably little fear as I dangled my legs out the edge of the plane. It was rather cold and very fast, but overall fantastic. There were clouds, snow capped mountains, and fantastic views.
The following day Pekwor arrived after a long flight from the UK, and showed a remarkable lack of jet-lag as she sampled the freshly baked brownies and caramel shortbread that I had prepared earlier. We settled in to a hostel – Jen and Fran were moving out in a couple of days in their move to Texas – then started planning our route for the next few weeks.
The first stop on our itinerary was a day trip to Milford Sound – a baptism of fire for the car that Jen and Fran have lent us to drive to Auckland. The 5 hour drive (each way) saw us passing through south down Lake Wakatipu then northwest – the Milford Sound roadhead is only about 80km from Queenstown as the crow flies. On the way the car began to overheat – before we had gone through the mountain passes. We topped the radiator up with cold lakewater and carried on, a little concerned about the amount of driving left to do.
The weather in Milford Sound is notoriously mixed, and our experience was no exception. In the space of a few hours we had torrential rain and sunshine in equal measure, whilst enjoying the magnificent glacial scenery of the Sound (more correctly named a fjord). It was well worth the 10 hour round trip – which the car completed admirably on the way back to Queenstown.
The next day Pekwor and I headed up to Glenorchy whilst the car paid a visit to the mechanic. Glenorchy was the backdrop for numerous Lord of the Rings scenes, albeit with a liberal use of CGI. Despite the absence of Isengaard and the Riders of Rohan (or maybe because of) it was gorgeous, especially in the blazing sunshine that appeared for us.
Sadly the weather was not as cooperative for the skydive that Pekwor had booked with Fran. It was cancelled twice and the following day we were due to leave in a newly repaired car (a leaky head gasket had been diagnosed, but the mechanic thought it would probably get to Auckland), and we headed east out of Queenstown without the benefit of some gravity abuse for Pekwor.
The omens were not good – we stopped at the bungy jump just a few miles outside of Queenstown with the car already almost in the red of the heat gauge. We topped up with a bottle of “Stop Leak” and proceeded at a sedate rate towards the coast and the city of Dunedin.
After a picnic lunch in the tiny town of Lawrence the car seemed happier and by mid-afternoon we hit our first destination – the Otago Peninsula. We headed for Sandfly Bay where we hoped to find some rare Yellow-Eyed Penguins and some Hookers sea lions, as well as New Zealand fur seals. We were rewarded with up-close sightings of sealions – rather too close for comfort in a couple of cases – but had to wait in the cold before we were rewarded with the sight of a couple of the penguins coming ashore at dusk – much further away than in the Catlins too.
After a cold night in a seemingly uninsulated building (a habitual feature of Kiwi buildings it seems) we headed up to Taiaroa where you can find the only mainland colony of Royal Albatross anywhere in the world, plus Blue Pengiuns. Sadly the albatross were absent – it was just before the breeding season gets underway in earnest and none were home – but we waited for an hour in a bitingly cold wind (this would become a regular occurrence) in the hope of spotting one – the bst we saw were a few shags and a couple of mollymawks.
Our route for the next few weeks takes us on a whistle stop tour of all south island and some of north island, at pretty high speed. We left the Otago Peninsula to head north, first to the Moeraki boulders, a collection of giant egg-like stones formed by some obscure geological process in eons gone by. They were pretty impressive, and it was a lot of fun dodging the waves to try and take photos.
Later that afternoon we sped up the east coast of the south island to Oamaru, where we checked out a nesting colony of Blue Penguins before heading west inland to a farmstay outside of Omarama – roughly located in the middle of nowhere.
The car was coping admirably with the amount of driving, and the next day was no exception. After being bored almost to tears by our farmstay host and his geopolitical and environmental theories, we managed to escape in time to get to Mount Cook only a little after we had planned. Unfortunately the weather was not behaving as well as the car and we failed to see any mountains – just the Tasman Glacier through the sheets of rain.
After another few hundred kilometres we had gone south right to Wanaka, only a short distance from where we started in Queenstown. After a couple of hours amusing ourselves in Puzzling World – the maze was just at the point of getting frustrating when we finished it – we headed on, back northwest and our way to Haast, on the West Coast. We headed up the shore of Lake Wanaka in beautiful evening light, and as the sun went down we headed through the scenic Gates of Haast pass to drop down to the West Coast.
Haast was home to about 4 houses and 300 caravans full of people catching whitebait, all of whom were subjected to a storm that was passing through. It was raining hard and when it didn’t rain it hailed….. and there was more of the same the next day as we headed north up the West Coast to Fox Glacier.
We pulled into Fox Glacier town and did a quick scenic walk of Lake Matheson – although not so scenic in driving rain. We met Jen and Fran for lunch then set off with Jen on a walk that was probably a tad ambitious for the weather – a four hour trek to see a seal colony further up the coast. We forded several rivers, and inspected some old gold mining ruins before arriving on the beach and sighting the seals, who were notably reluctant to be observed.
The weather turned for the better overnight and at am the next morning I was scraping the frost from the car windscreen in an effort to return to Lake Matheson for sunrise. No picture book of New Zealand is complete without a picture of Lake Matheson at sunrise, with Mounts Cook and Tasman as framed by foothills and reflected in the perfectly calm lake. It did not fail to disappoint, even in the bitter cold that caught your breath and numbed your toes.
After breakfast we headed onto the Fox Glacier itself. The Fox Glacier – home of the mints – and neighbouring Franz Josef are nearly unique in the world, descending almost to the sea surrounded by temperate rainforest. The only place in the world with similar glaciers is the Northern Patagonian icecap in Chile – although our guide on the glacier thought they were in Argentina. Although our trip onto the ice was very limited, it was great fun – especially under a blue sky after a couple of days or rain.
That afternoon we headed up further north then back east to get to Arthurs Pass. Once again the car coped wonderfully with the hills – and the driving rain then snow the appeared as we came back east. We pulled into Arthurs Pass town and found a small hostel cottage with a roaring woodburner. It was a warm and welcome stop whilst we watched the snow fall.
I have another 2 weeks left in New Zealand before the final destination of my trip – Australia. If the car makes it all the way to Auckland it will probably be on the strength of Jen and Fran’s prayers, but so far, so good, and we have covered at least half of the distance. Fingers crossed for good weather, good speed and a solid head gasket.
