Haere Ra New Zealand

We had a lovely few days with Andrew - in the main.
We thought we'd camp at the Palmerston North campground but ended up camping in his garden.  It meant we at least had access to his loo, shower and kitchen - and it was free (apart from filling his car with petrol and buying a load of food - what else are parents for?)

Andrew didn't have any ideas of what to do on Saturday 18th apart from driving to Napier for the Art Deco Weekend which we did.  We saw the parade (over 100 cars) of vintage cars and stayed on for the NZ Navy Band concert in the evening.  In between we went up Bluff Hill for the views and also played Mini Golf.  This was for nostalgic reasons only.  When Andrew was little he loved mini golf and we had to play at every available opportunity.  We played at the one in Napier on his 9th birthday!  He didn't show much enthusiasm to begin with but then reluctantly found himself enjoying it!  I must say his skill has improved no end in 13 years!  He easily beat his mother but was beaten by dad on the last couple of holes.
The time in Palmerston North was highlighted by Carol having to visit the doctor.  She was in a lot of pain in her hip so went to the out of hours surgery on the Sunday.  The doctor thought it was a trapped nerve (leg was numb too) but checked it out by having X rays done and also a blood test the next day.  At least he prescribed some strong painkillers.  We're hoping the insurance will pay out when we get home!  The blood test was done on the Monday in Marton at 9.15am, the blood was couriered to Palmerston North and Carol had the results (all normal) by 5pm that evening - take note NHS!
The next day she was still in a lot of pain so ended up with 2 sessions with the chiropractor.  Touch wood, apart from still having a numb leg, the pain has pretty well gone (Friday 25th).
We had a quiet few days in Marton, playing with the puppy and then Andrew joined us on the Wednesday evening.  He took us back to Palmerston North on Thursday morning for us to catch the bus to Auckland.
Nine and a half hours later we arrived in Auckland and caught the bus to Wendy and Mike's (daughter of Jill and Peter in Marton - Carol taught her in her days at Nga Tawa 31 years ago!)
As we walked down their drive in the pitch dark, Carol fell over a gap in the drive, hit the ground, twisted her ankle, skinned her knee and ripped her trousers!
Friday morning we went to the mall to buy new trousers!   Luckily the twisted ankle is OK - slightly swollen and bruised but not sore to walk on.
Anyway, we're off to Auckland airport tomorrow lunchtime to catch the 3.30pm flight to Melbourne and then a connection to Hobart.
The next post will be from the other side of the Tasman.
We've had the most fantastic time in New Zealand and really don't want to leave.  We've caught up with all our friends - some after 19 years - and have done some fantastic things.  We'll definitely be back but in the meantime we're looking forward to more adventures.
Many, many thanks to everyone who has put us up/put up with us.  You have all been so generous and hospitable.  Come and stay with us whenever you or yours are in England!
Haere Ra New Zealand!

Stop Press: Safe!

Just a quick update to say that we are OK following the devastating earthquake in Christchurch.
We were there a week before it struck, but left on the Thursday before and were in Marton on the North Island when it occurred.

Heading north

As we had gone as far south as we could and our time in New Zealand was fast coming to its end we had to begin our journey north.
The first leg was Sunday 13 February - a 9 hour bus trip to Christchurch via Dunedin.
As we are not known for too much forward planning Carol rang various backpacker hostels while on the bus.  They were all coming back as full - oh dear - maybe it was to be a park bench.  However, she finally struck gold when she phoned Drifters Backpackers.  We managed to get a double room and it was the cheapest she'd tried.  The guy who ran it was originally from Chelmsford!  He met us from the bus in the centre of town which saved a 15-20 minute walk loaded down with our packs.  The hostel was quite small but very homely and friendly and we immediately extended our 1 night to 4.  It seems that the earthquake in Christchurch had shut 3 backpacker hostels (they are often in very old buildings which were the ones most affected) and several hundred bed spaces had been lost in one fell swoop.  Not good for those hostels but good for business for those left who find they're full most nights.

Anyway, we had a good few days in Christchurch including one day catching the bus to the Gondola, going up it and walking around the crater rim (of an extinct volcano) and down into Lyttleton, and another day taking a bus trip out to Akaroa.  This place was originally settled by the French and lots of the street signs and shop signs etc are in French.

The weather in Christchurch was glorious but we had to continue our journey north.  This meant another long day - a 5 hour train journey to Picton and then the spectacular 3 hour (the first hour anyway) ferry crossing of the Cook Strait to Wellington.
After the lovely homely backpackers in Christchurch, the one in Wellington was a bit of a comedown, but we only used it as somewhere to sleep before catching the bus on 17th to Palmerston North to catch up with Andrew before leaving.

The Deep South

Journeying even further south we came to Invercargill where Carol spent a year of her life teaching. The school was dreadful and she didn't enjoy it at all, but it was here she joined Rover Scouts and so her social life made up for the work life. So many of the people we have visited are friends from those Scouting days - including our hosts in Invercargill, Jill and Allister. Southland weather was all we remembered it to be - very similar to that of an English summer, ie unpredictable!  We had warmish weather and torrential rain, but the company more than made up for the lack of heat in the sun. We visited Curio Bay which has petrified trees on the beach and windswept trees on the hillside. From Invercargill we caught the boat to Stewart Island for some more tramping.  The last time Carol had been it was on a really old 'tin tub' of a boat.  Now it's a much faster one, but the journey over was extremely rough - 3-4metre swell.  The 'driver' spent his time trying to outrun the waves and run along their crest.  Several people lost their breakfasts, though thankfully not us!

Once on Stewart Island we visited the Department of Conservation and booked our next 2 night's campsites and then set off to walk the Rakiura (Maori name for Stewart Island) Track, another of NZ's great walks.  Again we did it over 3 days and 2 nights.  The first day was along quite a few beaches and the campsite at the end of the day was right next to the beach.  The second day saw us head inland and it got very muddy and slippery (we came across a group of Search and Rescue people stretchering out a lady who'd broken her leg due to the slipperiness).  Day 2 campsite was not as picturesque, but luckily we were the first to arrive and got a really sheltered pitch as the wind really blew that night.  The third day was an easy stroll out to the only township on the island - Oban. We're pleased to say that the return ferry crossing to Invercargill was like a millpond.

The Central Otago Rail Trail

Judy lives on the outskirts of Wanaka - a town right on the edge of Lake Wanaka.
She was working quite a bit while we were there but was kind enough to loan us her car so we could 'tiki tour' on our own.  She finished work at 2pm one day so we walked up to the Diamond Lake lookout for spectacular views.  The next day she was off so we went off for a day's walk to the Rob Roy Glacier lookout.  The drive to the start was long - 50kms of unmade road and it was drizzling with rain.  As the day progressed, so did the rain.  We made it to the lookout and could just make out some dirty grey snow through the cloud - not a very spectacular view of a glacier!  By the time we returned to the car we were soaked to the skin!  As is often the way with New Zealand weather, the next day was glorious sunshine and we went swimming in the lake!
From Judy's we caught the bus to the start of the Central Otago Rail Trail.  Not having bikes with us we had to hire them and opted for the 'comfort' models.  They came complete with panniers and the compulsory cycle helmets and off we went.  Our remaining luggage was transported to the end of the trail for us.  As the trail follows the old railway line it was quite flat, but the headwinds made up for that!  There was a lot of information along the way in the old 'ganger' sheds so we had quite a leisurely 4 days in pretty good weather. 
At the end of the trail, having traded our bikes for our rucksacks we caught the Taieri Gorge railway in to Dunedin. This is a tourist line through a spectacular gorge - the train complete with observation decks in the open.
In Dunedin we caught up with Murray, one of Carol's friends from her days as a Rover Scout in Invercargill. We hadn't seen Murray and Liz for 19 years so we had a lot of catching up to do!

This is Baldwin Street in Dunedin -- The Steepest Street in the World!

And this is Tunnel Beach near Dunedin -- you have to go through a tunnel to get to it.

Our second Great Walk

Having spent a few days with Sandra and Barry (looking at houses!) we headed by bus out to the Abel Tasman area.  We camped for 2 nights at Takaka at the local camping ground.  The owner loaned us a couple of bikes and helmets so we spent a day cycling around (on bikes slightly too small for us!) and visiting Pupu Springs (it has a longer Maori name which we can't remember off hand).  This is a large area of freshwater springs with the clearest water in the world - allegedly. 
On January 13 we set off walking the Abel Tasman Coastal Track which is another of New Zealand's Great Walks.  We took 3 days and 2 nights, camping both nights at basic sites right by the beach.  The weather was really good and we took several dips in the sea to cool off.  The scenery was quite stunning and the hills were minimal!
The day after we finished the Walk we hired a sea kayak for 4 hours and paddled around Kaiteriteri area viewing Split Apple Rock and stopping at a beach for a picnic and a swim - very pleasant.
A couple more nights with Sandra and Barry and then it was time to head to Christchurch for a brief stop to say farewell to Carol's mum who was returning to England.  The journey to Christchurch involved 2 buses and then a train (!) - very rare in New Zealand.  The train took us from Blenheim to Christchurch along the Kaikoura coast.  The train has an open observation car and from that we were able to view the passing scenery including lots of seals.

From Christchurch we headed inland to Twizel near Mount Cook.  Most people here wonder why on earth we wanted to go to Twizel - we have a friend living there!  Peter works for the Department of Conservation and is working on eradicating 'wilding' pines - those trees that aren't native and are invading the countryside.  He took us around showing us what his job involves and how successful they have been so far.  One day he took us right up to the road end at Mount Cook village.  Sadly the cloud was down but it was spectacular nonetheless.
On 24 January we farewelled Peter and headed to Wanaka to visit Judy.  We left Pete in glorious sunshine and were able to see Mount Cook in all its glory from the centre of Twizel