No visit to the Wakatipu would be complete for us without taking the time to enjoy a few of our favourite hiking trails. The trail network here is now better than ever with the Wakatipu Trails Trust doing an amazing job linking new biking/walking trails throughout the district.
Sadly we didn’t have enough time to do all of our old favourites, but we had fun biking in and out of Queenstown on the Frankton track, walking the Arrowtown River loop (more lupins – can’t have enough of a good thing!), and up Sawpit Gully. A Monday evening run out at Mount Creighton track with some of our old running buddies was just like old times.
Lupins in ArrowtownArrowtown River WalkSawpit Gully TrailViews from Mount Creighton trailMonday night running club
Spending time walking and swimming and relaxing at our old favourite Lake Hayes was special, as was a hike up to Lake Alta with Barry & Beth (poor little Jack wasn’t feeling well that day so stayed at home with Ruth). Borrowing Barry’s kayaks was another wonderful way to while away an hour or two in the deep blue water of the Wakatipu. So many special moments in a very special place. We are two very lucky people.
6 May 2001, Christchurch, South Island, New Zealand
We imagine that most of you will be very relieved to find that this is our last travelling update. No more long posts for you to plough through. And what’s worse is this is probably the most difficult one to write as we cannot find the right words to describe the beauty of the South Island, but we will give it a go.
After Nelson we drove south along the west coast under a little bit of drizzle, but certainly not anything close to the amount of rain that is so common in this area.
By the time we reached Franz Josef the sky was blue and perfect conditions for a heli-hike on the glacier. We had about a 10 minute ride in the helicopter before it landed on the glacier where we were met by a guide who took us hiking on the glacier for a couple of hours. It was a really strange, but good fun experience walking on the glacier going through huge crevices and even ice caves. It could have been a whole lot different if Dave had fallen any further into some broken ice – the bruises on his shin were pretty spectacular. Thankfully, the ice kept the swelling down.
We spent the next few days taking it easy by Lake Wanaka. We managed a few short hikes with some fantastic views of the lake. The town itself was a lovely little laid back kind of ski town and it was just full of beautiful trees all shedding their colourful leaves. Some of the autumn colours we have seen en route have just been glorious – loads of deep reds and golden yellows.
Nap time in Wanaka!Stunning views in the Wanaka area
Our next stop was the explosive town of Queenstown, probably the tourist (and adventure) capital of NZ, and of course home of the famous AJ Hackett bungy jump. Dave had jumped last time he was here 11 years ago and Shaz was not desperate for an adrenalin rush so we gave it a miss. We did really enjoy a trip on the Dart River on a jet boat – the thrills were minimal, but the scenery was outstanding.
Probably one of the best campsites we have stayed at was our next one at Te Anau, which was our base for exploring Fiordland. The standard of campsites throughout NZ is really high and far superior to those we stayed at in Australia.
The drive from Te Anau to Milford was spectacular to say the least. We had met another couple at the campsite who came with us, as the road was not an easy one for them to ride their bicycles on. We were all booked on the Milford Sound overnight cruise on the Wanderer which set sail at 4.30 in the afternoon. Our luck was in again as this time the boat was followed by a pod of bottlenose dolphins. Once the boat had anchored for the night, we both took out kayaks for a paddle.
It was while we were on the water that we felt so insignificant in this place – we were surrounded by steep sided mountains with huge waterfalls tumbling down and baby seals playing under our kayaks. It is impossible to capture the beauty and mystery of Milford Sound in words; it just has to be visited.
As if the cruise wasn’t enough to captivate us, we also flew over part of the Fiordland and Milford Sound. We had a 70-minute flight from Te Anau, and to date, this has been the best ‘tour dollar we have spent. It was just the pilot and us and the scenery – mountains, fiords, and glaciers – it was simply stunning.
Once we got back down to earth, we were off to Invercargill, NZ’s southernmost city and a very depressing one at that. It just looks like a city that is dying and is the root of many Kiwi jokes.
Needless to say we didn’t hang around, but headed off towards The Catlins where once again we had beautiful scenery and wildlife to admire. It was here that we ended up staying one night in a cabin instead of the tent – the rain was catching up with us.
We also managed to view a flock (?) of penguins, the quite rare yellow eyed variety – they were really comical to watch and we were fascinated. Since then we have visited Dunedin where we watched our first game of Super 12 Rugby in a local bar and that brings us to where we are now, Christchurch.
We have a few more days left in the South Island, but must be back in Auckland in the North Island for Friday 11 May.
For those of you that haven’t heard the jungle drums yet, we will back in the UK for a quick trip, arriving on Tuesday 15 May and probably staying about a month. The time of course will be split equally between England and Ireland! We hope to catch up with as many of you as possible.
A few of you in the UK have asked us to bring some good weather back with us – not much chance of that as we would rather leave the drizzle and winter weather here and go back to some dry sunny days – some chance eh?
So as we say that’s your lot! It has been really lovely to hear from so many of you during this trip and hopefully you have enjoyed reading about it as much as we have enjoyed the experience.
New Zealand travel update 20 April 2001, Nelson, South Island
Kia ora (Maori greeting meaning hello, good luck, good health)
We are now in the South Island, but we better finish telling you about our adventures in the North Island first of all.
On our journey to the Coromandel we visited some distant relatives of the Brunts whose family had emigrated to NZ in the 1920’s. It was really fascinating to find out so much information and to be given such a warm welcome.
Sharon with Connie Brunt and family
We stayed so long with the family that day in Whangaparaoa it meant we ended up driving at night, something we have rarely done on this trip, but we arrived safely at Whangapoa and stayed at Marlisa’s beach house for a lovely, lazy weekend.
On our last day there the rain poured down and with gale force winds, followed us to the Bay of Plenty. Luckily we did not have to pitch the tent, but were hosted for two nights in Papamoa by a lovely couple, David & Sonya who were friends of friends.
From there we headed to Whakatane where again we experienced the warm hospitality of the Kiwis staying with Debbie & Brendan Davis. Actually it was the double whammy combination of Kiwi and Irish hospitality (it doesn’t get any better!) as Debbie is a friend from Tyrone. It was from Whakatane that we really wanted to go swimming with the dolphins and at last it happened.
About 15 minutes into the boat trip we spotted them – Shaz was just so excited – we were right in the middle of a pod of one to two hundred dolphins!! This certainly made up for all the previous times where we didn’t see any dolphins – it was just fantastic.
On this same trip we visited NZ’s most active marine volcano – Whakaari or White Island. Snorkelling there was like swimming in a giant glass of champagne as the bubbles continually rise from the volcanic rocks in the seabed.
Our next stop was a quick one night in Rotorua to experience a little bit of Maori culture at an evening concert and hangi (dinner cooked in the earth) – a bit over crowded, but was still a really enjoyable evening.
We were due a good walking day and were so lucky to have a perfect, clear day to complete the 17km/7.5 hours Tongariro Crossing. Another active volcano where we walked through the weird landscape of craters and had fantastic views over Lake Taupo. The following day we couldn’t even see the mountain!
On course to Wellington we stopped in at Palmerston North to visit the quaint, but interesting New Zealand Rugby Museum, followed by a lovely night at Paekākāriki with Prue Hyman, a Schindler family friend.
Dave catching up on the diary
We then spent a couple of nights in windy’ Wellington (we had to use the guy ropes on the tent for the first time) before taking the ferry to Picton in the South Island on Easter Sunday. The crossing was beautiful and we even managed to spot more dolphins en route!
We’ve arrived in the South Island
Our first night in the South Island was spent at, wait for it… Old McDonald’s Farm! This was in the Abel Tasman National Park where we then spent the next three days on a sea kayaking trip. We again had perfect weather for paddling around and enjoying the stunning scenery; we even had seals swimming alongside us! Dave braved the water at night and went for a paddle under the stars.
The mornings and evenings are getting really quite cold now in the tent so it is a real luxury to stay with friends. We are now in Nelson and yet again experiencing the Kiwi hospitality from Dave’s second cousin Rob De Winter (Marlisa’s dad).
Nelson is really a beautiful area and we have really enjoyed looking around, but tomorrow we move on again and head south, closer to winter. There may be times in the next few weeks where the tent will stay in the back seat and we stay in a cabin! Anyway we will keep you informed…
About Us
Hi, we're Sharon & Dave an active and adventurous Irish & English couple who've been travelling together for more than 20 years. These posts are our travel stories and personal journeys. Follow our adventures to see where we've been and where we're going next!
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