Christchurch

It was late when we got to Christchurch. An evening flight plus a two-hour time difference meant it was gone midnight when we landed. We stayed at the airport hotel. A soulless Novotel, ideal for this sort of thing and literally a two-minute walk from the terminal. In the morning, we stayed in bed as long as possible. Made breakfast with minutes to spare and just caught last orders for omelettes.

A short taxi ride into Christchurch brought us to our apartment for the next week. A compact but quite sufficient sixth floor flat. Diane was delighted to find a washing machine and I was happy with the kitchen. Sometimes when an oven is specified, what you actually find is just a microwave oven. Even I cannot make good roast potatoes by microwave and we had the New Year to celebrate.

We spent the next few days looking around Christchurch. It is pleasant, clean, modern and not too crowded. Close to the flat was a park with a large botanical garden. We were very impressed with this and spent many hours wandering around. A large area of different plants and trees. All neat and tidy and labelled. There were numerous ponds, an area that felt like a jungle and a rose garden that Diane particularly enjoyed. The town centre was less captivating but still very clean and tidy. Tram lines ran all round the main shopping centre. The trams evoked an earlier age which lent a comfortable tourist vibe to the place.

New Years eve there was a free music event in the park. We considered this but eventually concluded it was aimed at a much younger audience. Instead, we retired to our comfortable abode, cooked a great meal, with roast potatoes, and, when the time came, watched fireworks from the balcony.

We like cable cars. Christchurch has a little gondola system about 15 minutes drive towards the coast. We hopped on a tourist coach to get there and were pleasantly surprised by the views. There was not really much to do at the top of the hill except take in the scenery and have a coffee. We wandered round the viewing platform. Found a short path to another viewpoint. Came back and ended up in the café – so we had a coffee.

Next day we set off to explore New Zealand properly. We collected a motorhome from Britz NZ. I had booked this via the internet months ago. At the time, I was not sure which company to use so I followed some recommendations. Turns out the company behind Britz, called Tourism Holdings Ltd, is the same company behind Maui, Apollo, Britz, Cheapa Campa, Mighty and Hippie Campers. I think this list covers most of the hire companies in NZ. Anyhow, we got a Ford van with a four-berth body. Not very big. Not very well equipped. The beds are fine for two people. The bathroom is usable. There is a fridge, a gas hob and an oven (for roast potatoes). I think the batteries would struggle to do more than one night of wild camping. There is no generator. Not even an inverter, so it is 12v only once you unplug from the mains. No complaints however, it is fine for our purposes. NZ appears to be an easy place for motorhomes. There are campsites everywhere.

We stocked up at the local supermarket then parked up at the local campsite. By the following day everything was sorted, packed into the motorhome and ready to go. We had bought far too much food. We always do. Hopefully, we can use it up over the next four weeks. The weather was hot and sunny. We were cheerful and optimistic. The only plan we had was to drive round South Island. We set off in an anti-clockwise direction.

Kaikoura is the place to go whale watching. However, as we discovered, you really need to book this in advance and be set up to stay there for a couple of days. We noted this as a future possibility and drove inland to make a loop around Nelson Lakes National Park. At Maruia Springs we stopped at a very basic campsite. By basic, I mean it had no facilities at all other than a box to put money in. It was cool up in the hills which I enjoyed. We had a short walk and found a scientific experiment. This was a short, low wall. It extends much further into the ground. It is designed to measure tectonic plate movement and sits right across an important fault line. So far, nothing has happened. I think, one day, there will be an earthquake and then the wall will crack and the two parts will be offset from each other.

After the excitement of the wall, we settled into the van and then discovered the sand flies. These are nasty little bastards. They have nothing to do with sand. Small, black and numerous. The females like to feed on blood so that they can lay more eggs. Our van has mosquito screens on all the vents and windows but these are not particularly effective against the small sand flies. They bite. Not like mosquitos that stick you with a sharp mouthpart, but by sawing at your skin until the blood flows. Then they give you a good dose of anti-coagulants and drink the blood. This is messy and painful. There will be bleeding and soreness. Swelling and discomfort that can last for days. Diane seemed particularly vulnerable and started swelling up all over the place.  

By morning, we were quite clear that we wanted to avoid sandflies. We pressed on north and found a lovely campsite by a river. We asked and were told that there were only a few sandflies around. This proved to be mostly true, although there were still more than I would have liked. Instead, in the morning, we got attacked by bumble bees. Maybe not actually attacked but an awful lot of great big bees decided that they really, really liked hovering around our van. I quite like bees but even so, that many little buzzers was a bit disconcerting. Fortunately, our mesh was quite adequate to keep bees out so we only had to deal with the persistent humming and strange presence of a swarm of bees.

Northeast took us through the vineyards of Marlborough. This is where 75% of New Zealand’s wine is made. Rich green rows of vines lined the road for mile after mile. It is an impressive sight.

Further on we came to the port of Picton where the ferry to North Island leaves from. Moving on, we followed the coast road to Nelson and then right up to the north. Here the road makes a dramatic detour up into the mountains. A lookout close to the highest point gave us some splendid views.

We dropped back down to the coast and eventually arrived at the interestingly named Farewell Spit. A spit of land, predominantly a sandbank and the most northerly part of South Island. For some reason, some whales have a problem with this spit and end up stranded on it. Keeps happening. Often, they can get themselves back into the ocean. Sometimes they need help and occasionally they die there. A few days earlier some fifteen pilot whales had been stranded. A couple of them died and the carcasses were still on the mud flats. This was all a bit sad.

That evening, on a very small campsite, we got attacked by mosquitoes. It was our own fault. Having asserted that there were no sandflies around, we relaxed and left the van door open. An hour later, just after dusk, the van filled up with mosquitoes while we were busy watching a film on my laptop. Never even noticed the little buggers sneaking in. We had a fly swatter and it did the job. The downside was all the blood and mosquito splats on the wall.