Road Trip

For Evelynes last week in NZ we planned a week long road trip taking in as much of the south island as possible, and after a lovely Reclette (a traditional Swiss meal involving lots of melted cheese) put on by Nic and Manu, followed by lots of alcohol ( including a Swiss kirsch) and not much sleep we set off on the trip.  I was still a bit hung over but fortunately I had put Evelyne on the car insurance, so we shared the driving.

Our first stop was the small coastal town of Punakaiki and the Te Nikau Retreat.  The dorm room was full so we were offered a twin room for only a few dollars more (creak rating:0*).  The hostel is spread out over a few buildings dotted around the forest with little paths winding through the forest to each building and is only a 10 minute walk to the beach.  We arrived not long before dusk, so we unloaded our gear and headed towards the beach.  There was a storm coming in from the Tasman Sea and the sea was pretty rough.

The tide was coming in quite quickly so we did not have much time to spend on the beach, and by the time we got back to the hostel the storm had arrived and it started raining (which proved to be the only bad weather of the trip). After a simple meal of carrott and parsnip risotto and a customary bottle of beer we sat by the (not very warm) fire and talked to a (German....) girl called Cindy who was travelling around NZ sleeping in her car.  In the morning there was some freshly baked bread and muffins for sale, which i would have bought if Manu had not given us a loaf of Zopf (a Swiss 'sunday' bread) before we left (along with a couple of jars of her delicious Plum and Vanilla jam).  After breakfast we set off to look at the Pancake Rocks (looking at rocks soon became a theme of the trip), which is probably the main reason that Punakaiki exists.  The rocks were formed about 30 million years ago through some sort of geological process, which I am sure wikipedia will tell you about if you are interested.  Luckily for you I took some photos so you can see what they look like.

We were a few hours early for high tide, which is the best time to visit as there are some blow holes in the rocks but due to our tight schedule and 250km drive to the next stop (Fox Glacier) we set off after a (mediocre) coffee at the gift shop.  On the way we stopped off at Greymouth.  Greymouth is the largest town on the west coast and certainly lives up to the 'grey' part of the name, so after stopping at a supermarket and gas station we were soon back on the road.  Lunch stop was in a lovely town called Hokitika

After lunch, a (better) coffee and a photo of me standing on some rocks looking out to sea we were back on the road.  We stopped in Franz Josef to check if access to Fox Glacier was still open, as we had been told that the river at Fox had changed sides (not sure what this meant) and that access was only available by boat. (this information was from the same person who said, once finding out Evelyne is a primary school teacher, that between the ages of 5 and 12 is the most important time for children to develop their third, or solar plexus, chakra (chakras are metaphors as well as energy centers by the way)). so although it was easy to think she was talking bullshit about the river, we checked anyway, and it turned out she was right about needing a boat to cross the river, but wrong about the track being closed as the track did not cross the river.  Never trust a hippy.

we eventually arrived in Fox Glacier town and booked into the Fox Glacier Inn and got two beds in a 4 bed share room.  there was a bunk bed and two single beds, so we took the single beds and later a French guy and a Taiwanese guy took the bunk bed (creak rating:3).  this hostel was not as homely as the previous hostel, but the kitchen and bathrooms were pretty good.  After a walk around the town (it only has 1 street, so did not take long) we cooked a dinner (by we I mean Evelyne.  She cooked and i stood around pretending to help, after all she is a woman and I am right in thinking (if my mum brought me up correctly), she belongs in the kitchen**) of Spaghetti with Pumpkin, carrots and parsnip and a beer (of course).  It was really cold in the evening, and as with most buildings in New Zealand there was very little insulation, single glazed windows and no central heating, but there was a very small heater which took all night to get the room warm.  In the morning the car was frozen solid and after some scraping and hot water were set off to see Fox Glacier.

It was a short walk from the car park to the viewing point and there had recently been some rockfall onto the glacier, so it was looking a bit dirty.

It is hard to get a sense of scale from the photo, but to give you an idea of the size I would say it was 'quite big'.  You could pay about $50 and go on a guided tour which takes you to a similar point but on the other side of the river.
Next stop was Haast.  We were originally going to stay here the night but were advised to drive straight on to Wanaka, as the road was closed most of the day due to a landslide that was being cleared ( which turned out to be true ).  We were also told by someone in Hokitika that there had been a really big snowfall and that the road would be unpassable without snow chains (which turned out not to be true).

Haast Beach

We stopped at Haast beach for lunch and a walk on the beach and for a coffee, which was by far the best of the trip although we had to drink it quickly in order to get on to the road before a minibus, which took a long time to overtake before (due to the nature of the roads), got back on the road in front of us.  We stopped off a couple more times on the way to Wanaka, at a waterfall called Fantail Falls

Fantail Falls

And a bit further down the road was Blue Pools

..........the water was very blue, and i imagine in the summer quite nice to swim in and there was a big swing bridge over the water...........

Wanaka is a small town situated next to Lake Wanaka and is surrounded by mountains with quite a few ski fields.

We booked into Mountain View Hostel which, just like the rest of Wanaka, has a view of mountains.  We got the last two beds in the hostel, in a 4 bed share room with 2 bunks (creak rating:1).  The Hostel was full of French snowboarders as the season had just started.  After a wander around the town and a short walk along the lake front we cooked dinner (pumpkin and potato mash) and had a beer (obviously).

We left in the morning heading towards Oamaru with a stop off at Moeraki Boulders for lunch.

The Moeraki Boulders were formed 50 million years ago by  some sort of  geological process.  They are pretty cool, but there is not much to do other than stand on them and have your photo taken.

Next stop was the town of Oamaru and we checked into a hostel called chillawhile, which was a pretty cool hostel, although it had more kitchens than toilets.  we got two beds in a dorm (creak rating:2) and headed off to see the Yellow Eyed Penguins, an endangered species of penguin native to NZ and considered one of the rarest penguins in the world.  The view point was a few hundred meters away from where the penguins were nesting, and as there were only twelve nesting pairs on this beach we were lucky to see three of them waddling up the beach.

In the evening Evelyne tried her hand at painting in the art studio in the hostel, i didnt want to show off my incredible art skills so i read in the lounge.  After quite a few games of Uno, in which Evelyne beat me about 90% of the time, it was off to bed.  In the morning we set off towards Lake Tekapo.
On the way we stopped at Elephant rocks

These are some rocks in field, formed some time ago by a geological process.  If you have a really good imagination they look just like elephants.  Unfortunately they were too big to climb up on and have my photo taken standing on top of them.  We also stopped off at some Maori cave art, which was okay.  Most of the best bits had been taken to museums and there were only a few examples left which were very faint.

The views on the way to Tekapo were amazing

Lake Pukaki (with traffic cone)

After checking in at the Tailor Made Hostel in a 3 bed share room (creak rating:0) we headed up to Mount John Observatory

After a (really bad) coffee and a walk around the town and lake front Evelyne thought it would be a good idea to go swimming in the glacial waters of the lake so i drove her down to the lake and i opted out of this choosing instead to watch from the warmth of the car.

Evelyne swimming in the lake

The hostel was the best hostel of the trip, although it was spoiled by meeting a very creepy english guy who made me ashamed to be English and i had to tell Evelyne that he was not a good representation of my country. After dinner and a beer we played quite a few more games of Uno, and Evelyne still beat me most of the time.  In the morning we left for Christchurch and checked into Kiwi Basecamp hostel, which turned out to be the worst (and most expensive) hostel of the trip.  we got the last two beds in a four bed share room (creak rating:2) and walked into town.  we walked around some of the quake damaged buildings including the Catherdral which was being rebuilt

There was not much to do in the city centre, so after an (average) coffee we walked to Hagley Park and to the Botanical Gardens which were quite nice, and i can imagine in Spring and Summer would be very nice.

After a quick look around the museum (it closed not long after we entered) we headed back to the hostel to cook dinner and have a beer.  Unfortunately there was no pack of Uno cards at this hostel, we had arranged to play with the (German) guy who was in our room.  His name was Daniel, but everyone called him Napoleon as he looked just like Napoleon Dynamite, but with blond hair.  There was also a creepy Swiss guy here, which made Evelyne ashamed to be Swiss and she told me he was not a good representation of her country.

The next day we left towards Reefton, the last stop of the trip.  The route took us over Authurs Pass and we stopped off at a cave river, but we didnt really have any suitable equipment to go walk through the 900m long cave.

Reefton was the first town in the southern hemisphere to get electricity, in 1888 and still is a gold mining town.  We checked in to the Old Bread Shop Hostel and got a twin room (creak rating:0).  This was a very basic hostel, with a cosy lounge and a tiny kitchen.  We went for a walk around town and had a (really nice) coffee and drove out of town for a walk to an old gold mine, but we took the wrong path and by the time we realised it had started to get dark.  After dinner and a beer we sat in the lounge and talked to a couple of guys who were working in the gold mine, one of them was from Papa New Guinea and it was interesting to here about his country.  Trevor (the owner) came in later with some beer and we talked for a while with him, he really likes to talk about Trout Fishing and this is the reason he moved here from Australia a few years ago.  Josh has also spent some time in reefton, and this hostel and talking to Trevor about Trout Fishing when he was possum hunting here. 

In the morning we set of back to the Playhouse Cafe, we stopped of for a (nice) coffee in Murchison and were soon back home.

Things i have learnt:

There are huge variations in the quality and price of coffee around NZ

There are lots of rocks to look at

People are helpful, but sometimes dont have incorrect or not up do date information

i am not very good at Uno

no bonus photos this time, i dont have time to upload them.  I am off to Kaikoura to work in a hostel today so will try and do another update soon.

* I just came up with the creak rating, it is a rating of the creakiness of beds in hostels.  I dont know how high the scale goes or what it is based on, but i am yet to experience a creek rating higher than 4

** i obviously don't mean this but it is an example of the sarcasm and humour that, as the trip went on, I discovered Evelyne would never understand or find funny (because she is Swiss (or perhaps more accurately not English), not because she is a woman).  This did not deter me from continuing to be sarcastic, even though i had to explain when i was being sarcastic so she would not take offence.