Jul 2006

We woke up and discovered the weather was apparently clearer towards the centre of the island so we decided to tackle Arthur's Pass and head to the western side.

We saw snow not long after reaching the mountain ranges and pulled over on the side of the road near Lake Pearson for a quick snowball fight.

Mum spent most of the trip through Arthur's Pass with her eyes shut, but the rest of us enjoyed the view of enough mountains to make us sick of them.

Finally we reached the other side. We stopped in a cute little town called 'Hokitka' for a bit of retail therapy and a look at the Jade Factory there. Also had some good old fashioned chips (wrapped in newspaper).

We decided to head as far south as we could before nightfall as we were unsure of the next days weather and ended up stopping alongside Lake Ianthe/Matahi for the night.

Did you ever notice that from a distance sheep look like maggots? Something I couldn't stop thinking as we began our drive this morning. Little maggotts in the hills...

Most of today's drive was along the eastern coast of the south island. I never knew before but they have black sand. I mean seriously black. I can't imagine swimming of the coast, everything would come out dirty.

As we drove, we were often able to see both snow-capped mountains and the ocean. Made for quite an interesting sight.

Passed a few seal colonies on our trip too, they are so cute. I think I like them more than dolphins.

Another interesting point, the towns on the south island have (for the most part) more English sounding names than the Maori ones on the north island.

As we passed through Rakautara (all 3 buildings of it) we bought a fresh (yet cooked) crayfish from a hut on the side of the road that was later eaten for lunch. Well by dad at least.

In Kaikoura (famous for its whale watching) we stopped at the chemist for a new supply of motion sickness tablets and a bit of souvenir shopping (and a bit of brekky). Its was the largest town we had seen for a while and is well-known because it is the part of NZ where the mountains are closest to the sea. Hard to explain, but the backdrop is awesome. The mountains had a dusting of snow (which apparently isn't too common) and the sun came out on occasion.

Lunch was eaten just near the "Hurunui River" crossing. Not much to say about the river but it was flowing very fast and looked very very cold.

Final stop of the day was in Christchurch. Which is where I am now. We have found a caravan park with an email kiosk (which is exactly where I am) and the NZ pay tv "sky". Which means, we should be able to watch the state of origin. We will be able to watch it live too (9:30 kickoff over here) which is a bonus.

So what's our plan now? If the weather clears up tomorrow we will head inland over Arthurs Pass to Greymouth on the west coast then head from there south to the glaciers and then Queenstown. If the weather remains nasty, we well head south from here to Dunedin and then over to Queenstown, possibly missing the glaciers all together, maybe driving up from Queenstown to see them.

Either way, we will be getting to Queenstown at some point over the next few days and from there I should be able to blog again. As far as specific plans go, everything depends on the weather but worst case, we will just ski instead. Which is a pretty good worst case

Hope all is well back in Australia and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Nanna who turns 70 tomorrow. Sorry we can't be there but we wich you all the best.

GO THE MAROONS!!!

Well the predicted storm did in fact arrive and marked the end of the great weather we had been seeing. For the first time since our arrival in Auckland, it was very cloudy and frequently raining.

Our only aim of the day was to make it to Wellington in time to catch the "cheap ferry" as we had seen everything mum's lonely planet guide told us was worth while.

The ferry we wanted to catch, leaves only two times a day, 1pm and 3am...obviously we were after the afternoon trip...

We made it to Wellington around 11am so we even had some time to spare. After purchasing our bording passes we had lunch in the car park while we waited to board.

The boat was huge. There were semi-trailers that turned aroud whilst inside the boat.

After driving on ourselves, we headed upstairs to prepare for the 3 hour trip. I took the chance to explore the boat (few loung areas, big screen for movies, cafes and dining area, bar) even venturing outside to the various observation decks. It was really cold out there. Wellington is famous for its winds and now I know why, I had to hang on to everything I was wearing so it didn't blow off.

The trip was interesting. The weather as we crossed Cook Strait was so bad it took 4 hours instead of 3. The waves were huge and despite the size of the boat there was a fair amount of movement. Luckily, Tiff and Dad had their sea sickness tablets before boarding and even put band aids behind their ears (thanks nan) which seemed to work. We watched a couple of movies to fill in the time.

Then aroun 5pm we docked in Picton and started our travels on the south island.

We had heard that the weather was really bad so we decided to change our plans. The initial plan was to travel south of Picton to Christchurch then across the island (via Arthurs Pass) to Greymouth then down to Queenstown. We decided instead to head to Greymouth via the top of the island...however...in our search for a rest area to spend the night, we headed south (knowing we had to head into town (Blenheim) the next day either way) instead of west...and passed around some very high mountains and very steep tracks (Black Birch Range) which mum decided she didn't want to have to venture across again...so we stuck to the original plan and decided that we would head south to Christchurch...we stayed the night near "Blind River"

First job of the morning was to do the washing, however dodgy driers meant we had to take wet clothes with us on the road [late note - these clothes were still wet days later]. Then we were all able to wash our hair (which hadn't been done since Friday - yuk).

First activity of the day was the ZORB. Tiffany, Courtney and I all had a go at the "wet" "zig-zag" Zorb. Basically a big plastic ball with a smaller plastic ball inside it, they put water (warm thankfully) inside the little one and you jump inside and roll down the hill. Courtney also had a go and the "dry" zorb, where you get strapped in and head straight down the hill. We ended up buying the photo CD from there so there are plently of photos to show when we get back home.

We then left Rotorua, driving out through the town we could see steam rising from various pools and ponds around the place.

Our first stop outside of Rotorua were the Blue and Green Lakes (officially called Lake Tikitapu and Rotokakahi) which are two almost adjoining lakes with distinctly different water colours. Big explanation as to why which I won't bore you with.

The next stop was the Waiotapu Thermal Wonderland, stepping out at this place I knew it smelt familiar, it took me a moment but I worked it out...it smells exactly like a wastewater treatment plant. It was gross. You walk around and look at all the sulphur and stuff thats bubbling in pools. Some interesting colours, but we hurried through due to the smell. The whole place would make and interesting backdrop for a film about the end of the world...lots of steam.

Just outside the thermal wonderland (which we had to pay for) was a large geothermal pool (bubbling hot mud). Mum loved this place and could have stayed all day. Tiff though some of the mud was cute...

Next stop was much closer to Taupo - the Huka Falls. Not really much to say about them, but they were big for falls and are slowly eroding and moving further upstream. Oh and the water was crystal blue.

At this point we began to hurry. We had heard that there was a storm blowing over from the south island and was looking to be rather nasty, and mum wanted to see these mountains (Mt Ruapehu, Mt Tongariro and Mt Ngauruhoe). We had the option of staying in Taupo for the night but the weather may have closed the road the next day...so we hurried...

And we made it. It was a race against the sun on Desert Road but we manages to see the mountains before the sun set completely.

Beyond the hilly sections of road we pulled over near a little town called Bulls for the night.

The day began with a stop into 'The Warehouse' for supplies. Those things are everywhere over here, almost like a cheap version of Big W but with concrete floors. Oh and the have chemists in them too, Eb needed car sickness tablets.

Breakfast was in Hamilton, in particular, Hamilton Gardens, before beginning our drive further south to the Waitomo Caves.

We reached the caves not long after lunch, visiting first the Waitomo Glowworm Cave which included a boat ride through the cave in the pitch black to see the glowworms, of course we learnt lots of facts about glowworms too :P

The other cave we visited was the Aranui Cave, this cave had a lot more stalactites and stalagmites (from the roof and floor respectively) and we were allowed to take photos there so we can show everyone when we get back.

After leaving the caves, we travelled through 'Hobbit land' basically more rolling green hills with the occasionally rocky outcrop until arriving at Rotorua.

Which is where I am now...

This evening we bathed in Thermal Mineral Pools before heading out to dinner at the "Fat Dog" a funky cafe that wouldn't have been out of place in the heart of West End.

Soon we will head back to the campervan for a night with TV (this is our first night with power), though we have missed any shows we might normally watch. And sadly will probably miss the state of origin too...

Hope to post again soon.

Oh and the weather is still rather perfect over here, a bit cold for us warm blooded Queenslanders, but we're surviving.