BLOG NUMBER 6    WANAKA      SOUTH ISLAND       FEB 10

Rained all night at Greymouth but we were in a Kiwi campground that had a nice lounge with TV. Campground was saturated the next morning but the day cleared and we decided to go east of the mountains rather than do a run down the west coast where the weather is always a bit dodgy. 

Arthur`s Pass and the Otira Gorge were beautiful (and a very slow) drive. It turned out to be a good choice as the weather cleared once we got east of the coastal mountains. The sandflies are quite nasty, they look like blackflies but, unlike blackfies, you can feel them biting. The local cure for sandflies is to rub exposed parts with whiskey then rub on finely divided sand. The sandflies get pissed on the whiskey and then kill each other by throwing boulders at each other. We have found a local prep that works better and then we take the whiskey internally.

The areas that we have travelled thru are reminiscent of BC, Kicking Horse Pass, Rodgers Pass, Okanagan valley, farms and vineyards, lavender fields, etc. However, the mountain passes are much steeper (16%+ grades) and much curvier. Have to shift Ol`Nell down to 2^nd gear to get up the passes. Lots of ``Slow Traffic “ pull out bays which is a boon to traffic flow.

Spent one night is Ashley Gorge kiwi park just north of Oxford did a hike up the canyon then one nite at Twizel just outside Mt. Cook National Park.  The whole area around Christchurch is called Canterbury and it was the dream of an Archbishop of Canterbury about 150 years ago to re-create the area in the likeness of the Canterbury area of jolly old England. All place names (towns streets, schools, parks, clubs, and domains) are copies, it is said the Archbishop even tried to teach school children to speak with British accents.

Haven’t tried an RSA club yet but it is on our list of things to do;

Drove up to Mt. Cook and hiked to the base of the glacier at Mount Sefton. 




Spectacular scenery… Mt. Cook below is the highest point in NZ at over 13,000 feet. 


Sir Edmund Hilary and his sherpas, Tensing Norgay among them, practiced here before their successful attempt on climb Mt. Everest. There is an alpine center in the Park named in their honour. The glacial lake is like Lake Louise but more of an azure color and stretches about 50 km down the glacial plain.

Interesting to watch a team of border collies herd sheep across a road from one pasture to another. Did not appear to be any commands issued to dogs from handlers… the dogs just seemed to know what to do and how to work together. When done, the shepherdess just whistled and all dogs jumped into the back of her backie… job well done!

Lindas Pass on the way to Wanaka was a real climb, red tufted grasses and red head at the top of the pass were beautiful. 

Hard to imagine that the travel thru this country 150 years ago was by horse drawn coach and bullocks pulling wagons on the way to the goldfields.

Drove to Wanaka and spent two nights here. Lake Wanaka below.


Wanaka is like Banff, very crowded, very touristy and the hub of testosterone-fueled adrenalin rushes/sports; bungee jumping, skydiving, snow skiing, jet boating thru narrow canyons, hangliding, parachuting, paragliding, mountain climbing, motorcar racing, helicopter and biplane rides, flying lessons, and the like catering mostly to omnipresent  wealthy Chinese and Japanese tourists. Lots of hiking and biking paths to get us out of town. The streets and outdoor cafes are immensely overcrowded just like Banff on a summer weekend. It will be nice to get out of here to a quieter place. Dylan and Ashley (Grand nephew and girlfriend) joined us for dinner. They have been on a working holiday in Aussie and now New Zealand. Dylan just got his “pilots” licence for parasailing at Arrowtown and they are off travelling for a couple of weeks before house sitting on the North Island. Apple didn’t fall far from the tree eh? Garn and Les.

Stopped at Cardrona 

a gold mining town in the 1860s. Oldest hotel (still in existence in NZ).

and Arrowtown (two sleepy little villages) on the way to Queenstown. Descent into Arrowtown is a 10 km downhill run hairpin turn after hairpin turn.





 Arrrowtown is beautiful and quiet, Queenstown is beautiful and very busy. Drive to Te Anau was very scenic south of Queenstown below but very windy, almost got blown off the road at times. 




Roadside lunch gives the driver a much needed break.


Scheduled to see Milford Sound tomorrow by via coach and boat. Two more nites are booked in Te Anau before heading to Invercargill. The BBQ pit at the campground in Te Anau has a herb garden beside the BBQ… chives, mint, parsley, basil… help yourself!

We have been enjoying lattes and sharing a danish at the plentiful coffee and bakeshops along the route; we estimate that we need a 5 km hike to wear off each bake shop and coffee stop.

Heather has already started her exercises.

Had a video call with Jacquie and the boys this afternoon (Friday Feb 9?).  The boys didn’t want any souvenirs… they just wanted us to come home and give them a hug!

We were not able to extend our camper van rental but they have offered us a car and so we will probably use the chalets available in the campgrounds.