It was raining. We were at a quirky but pleasant campsite in the Nelson Lake national park. Particularly pleasant was the complete lack of sandflies and mosquitoes. Bliss. We stayed another day reasoning that driving in the rain was not ideal from a sight seeing perspective. Gave me a day to catch up the blog, answer emails and all that sort of housekeeping stuff.
Spot the seal
Next day it was still drizzling but we set off anyhow. Ended up at the coast near Westport. In the morning, we headed out to Cape Foulwind. True to the principles of nominative determinism, there was a stiff, rain laden and slightly unpleasant breeze. Captain Cook named the point after his ship, the Endeavour, was blown quite a distance offshore from here. Undeterred, we followed signs to the Cape Foulwind Seal Colony and found a load of wet rocks. Looking more closely from the viewing platform we could see that some of the rocks were New Zealand Fur Seals. And they had pups. Fur seals were hunted to near extinction by the end of the 19th century. Although protected now, they are still shot and occasionally culled, by fishermen. Possibly because they do not like the competition for a diminishing resource. I was happy watching the young pups. Some of them were only a few days old. There is a walkway along the cliffside high above the waves. This is a great way to stop people disturbing the seals while simultaneously affording a magnificent view. Bring your binoculars.
Further south we came across the West Coast Treetops in the Mahinapua Scenic Reserve. This is a high-level walkway in the forest. We were actually just looking for a cup of coffee but this seemed like a fun thing to do. Also, there was a café. The walkway is 20m above the ground, so you get a good chance to peer down into the forest. There is also a tower, 47m, by which stage you are looking out over the forest. All quite fun and gave me a chance to photograph some ferns.
New Zealand is stuffed with ferns. The climate here is ideal, if you are a fern. The country’s long geographical isolation has allowed for the evolution of unique species, with 40% of the 200+ fern species found nowhere else. Tree ferns are endemic and in places create a complete forest on their own. I find ferns lovely to contemplate. Something about the geometric properties is remarkably satisfying. Fractal recursive self-symmetry is all about how the shapes repeat at different scales and play tricks with your eyes. It is also mathematical and practical. As the frond unfurls, it forms a widening spiral that approximates the Fibonacci sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…). The ratio between consecutive segments of the spiral often nears 1.618, known as the aesthetically perfect Golden Ratio. This allows the plant to pack the maximum number of fronds into a tight coil while ensuring each has optimal access to light and space once opened. Snapping out of my recursive ruminations, we had a coffee and got back on the road.
Franz Josef and Fox Glacier are where many people come to access the glaciers. Depending on personal preference, you can walk, climb, cycle and fly up in a helicopter. The weather was not great but even so the place was absolutely heaving with people. We are part of a great cloud of white motorhomes that circulates New Zealand every summer. Here was one of the big focal points, a concentration of vans, trucks, cars and people. We just kept going.
Several hours later, we eventually found a campsite with some space. We were getting into the popular tourist areas, so it might be time to start booking ahead.
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.
Our apartment
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.
The wall
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.
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.
