The South Island Revisited: Part II: We Need More Coffee!

Kia Ora,

Let's just jump straight back in to it shall we....

Me, Dannii and Ella drove up the East Coast to our first stop- the Moeraki Boulders. True, they're just some smoothed rocks on the beach, but if they're written as a tourist attraction then we may as well follow the Asian tour buses!

Cheeky photobomb

We covered a lot of miles on our drive and stopped also at some very faint Maori carvings on our inland route. But soon after we were approaching Omarama in the mountain ranges. This was quite possibly the best sunset I have ever seen and every minute it turned into a darker, richer colour. I don't think I possess the descriptive power for this one, I just know that after my year so far this view is a HUGE highlight!

And with that beautiful sight engrained in our heads, we soon found a place to set up camp. The $16 tent went up pretty quickly and then it was time to eat a salad dinner in the car. We had time to do a little exploring with a single head torch between us, but this night was cold and not for adventures. Dannii definitely though so and couldn't feel her feet. Though we solved this mystery when Dannii told us she was wearing 6 pairs of socks! Haha. When reduced to two pairs, her circulation was able to work again! Even so, this camping exercise was pretty brutal. At 2am we were all awake due to the cold and decided to move in to the car. It was actually warmer in the car...

We put the heaters on for ten minutes, through our sleeping bags in the car also and tried again to sleep. The camping trip really wasn't a camping trip so far.

I woke up first in the morning. It was going to be a big day, so I quickly folded the tent (folded as it had frosted over and it seemed the only way to pack it) and drove, allowing the girls to remain in their sleeping bags. We were 45 minutes away from Lake Pukaki, Mt Cook's massive neighbour!

Before going on our adventure, we had the most welcome cup of coffee of the trip so far. And this seemed to be enough to bring an energy burst amongst the three of us as we climbed up to Mueller Hut. It was amazing really. Snow covered mountains, 2000m above sea level and we were walking up in shorts and t-shirts. We were even throwing snowballs quite happily.

Our very own Ella also kept up her good form by winning yet another bet for free coffee, being the first to hit a rock on a frozen lake with a snowball at Sealy Tarns (the half way point on the climb). It felt like she was getting all of the home support back in the South Island!

Let the walking begin!

And now for the story of the trip. The element that defined this journey from the others. The memory which will never be forgotten and the story which I will never tire of telling. We reached the top. Yes, it was beautiful and a great accomplishment. But no, that's not the story. Dannii is the story. It seemed she pushed hard to get there and in the snow she jarred her hip. A very concerning scenario as we didn't have gear for the hut and the likelihood of getting Dannii back down with less than 3 hours of daylight was low.We were a bit stuck...

And so Ella and I made a few phone calls asking for advice and soon the conclusion was reached- a rescue helicopter was on its way. Poor Dannii, we were joking that she would have to be winced up, a thought she wasn't too keen on. It seems the jokes have been quite frequent since then, and we can't watch a helicopter go by without very publicly checking if Dannii is alright ;-)

In her defence and on the plus side, the rescue service took all of us down. All three of us had our very first helicopter experience thanks to this drama and if you can believe it, the helicopter ride across Mt Cook was pretty sweet. I wanted to take a few photo's, but it didn't really feel appropriate; this one lives in the memory only.

The rescue services were amazing though. We owe them a lot of thanks as they got us out of a hairy situation. Of course the local (individual) police officer was involved too and he was also very helpful. Dannii's hip got cross-examined and she was given some pain killers for now. A point worth mentioning, since then Dannii has made a couple of donations towards the rescue services haha.

Is this a suitable after-rescue-Helicopter reaction? I'm not sure

The extra good news was that we could go to Lake Tekapo earlier than planned and find ourselves a room for the night. After sleeping rough and being rescued, we were ready for a good shower and a chance to relax by the lake. That was the theory... First, lets say goodbye to Mt Cook properly.

We picked up a French hitchhiker called Pierre on our way. He was nice enough and grateful for the ride. Though we found ourselves apologising a little as our car couldn't reach 50km/h at this point; you know it's bad when buses and lorries are overtaking you.

The slow car prevented us from seeing the sunset at Tekapo. So we set to work finding a place to stay. And this went on for over three hours. Dannii was practically knocked out on pain killers, so me and Ella were making phone calls and asking around. There was nothing. Not even at good distances outside of Tekapo.

Eventually we found an option, nearly two hours East in Geraldine. It was late but we set off anyway, only to find the night was far to young for our adventures to finish. Our car was now struggling to reach 30km/h. Driving on a bendy, hilly highway with no power at night- oh no no no. We turned around after 10 minutes. And when we tried an hour later it ended the same. Hmm...

We had one choice again. We pulled the car up in Tekapos main car park and settled in for night 2. This was rough going, but we were all pretty tired and it just didn't seem to matter anymore. Thankfully though we did find our good Samaritan, a chap by the name Cristobal. He brought us blankets, a hot water bottle for Dannii and even tea before we crashed for the night. I guess this trip was definitely adventurous!

This night did have a high reward though. Come morning, the sun hit the mountains and we saw Lake Tekapo in its prime. I like to think we would have missed this sight if we had slept anywhere else.

The car got a quick service that morning. Whilst that was happening, we sat down in Cristobals cafe and had the most welcome cup of coffee of the trip so far.

The car was partially repaired and we were told it may make the rest of the journey to Christchurch. With those strong words of encouragement started on the road we couldn't finish the night before...

And made it!

Apart from a quick break in which me and Ella were doing handstands, nothing too eventful happened and the car survived. A good result! The three of us took wonderful showers and felt human once more. There really hadn't been too many April showers so far (pardon the pun). With failed camping trips and Taranki the week previously, not being able to shower was becoming a bad routine (and I can thankfully say not a routine we are now following).

We had just one night in Christchurch. We walked around the city centre, coming across earthquake damage, construction sights and artwork. It was surreal to see the extent of the damage even four years later. There were so many large, fenced off free spaces, the remains where buildings once stood. Many other buildings were severely damaged and a few looked repaired/untouched from the earthquake. A highlight was the ReStart program, a collection of businesses re-opening in shipping containers. It was incredibly well set up.

It was nice to see the city. I think one night was probably enough, though the disaster-tourism could have intrigued me a little longer. There were nice things amongst the redevelopment, controversial artwork and some redesigned buildings. The best-looking building around was definitely the casino- it's always nice to see the big dogs doing well regardless of recent events...

We saw the cathedral from the other side first and thought it was undamaged...

Going green artwork by the Cathedral

Up early, our last day began with a flight to Wellington. We would only be here for a couple of hours, but we got to remind ourselves of the city once more. We even met Ella's sister, Claire. She joined us for an Indian lunch on Cuba Street. She seemed like a nice girl, but our time here was short and sweet.

Group selfie!

With just one flight left back to Auckland, our trip was complete. The South Island can get a big tick. That's for approval and for completion. But before leaving we could see The Hobbit memorabilia around Wellington Airport one more time and even enjoy the Air NZ safety video in it's home arena.

Thanks for reading :-) My only regret is that I didn't eat enough whilst at FergBurger. All hail the Ferg!

Kia Ora,

Ben

The South Island Revisited: Part I: Coffee and Camping

Kia Ora,

We are lucky enough to have a very kind timetable in NZ and the two week Easter break gave us the best opportunity to polish off some bits we missed in the south island! This time we'd start in Queenstown, but head anti-clockwise around the island living in our tents until eventually reaching Christchurch. A modest journey of 1087km (excluding detours, beer runs etc.) meant we had a hectic week ahead of us with much to see and do!

Our route for the weeks trip!

A new journey needs a new team sheet. Dannii, Ella and Pauline were drafted in for the early start on Saturday in Queenstown.

We couldn't believe that the south island was also a winter-free zone! Blue skies, a slight nip in the air, but just another beautiful day in Queenstown. We partnered this beautiful morning with our personalised heavens of pancakes, coffees and hot chocolates before walking the Tiki Trail. From here we could relive the beauty of Queenstown from up high. Remarkably Ella had never been here, so it was an honour to show her some of her own country for the first time* ;-)
*Ella does have the excuse of living in Asia for 15 years...

And of course we visited my most favourite place in NZ: Fergburger! This time I had to try the biggest on the menu, the legend of the legend, the Big Al! A challenge also met by Pauline and Ella. Good on ya guys ;-) I've been treated so well by Fergburger and I suspect this may have been my last one. Long may it live in the memory... I hope our paths will one day cross again.

But this was not quite the end of the Ferg experience. The early risers of next morning were rewarded with coffee and breakfast from FergBakery! More happy taste buds, more happy memories. It was an essential meal before the longer-than-anticipated morning walk to collect our rental car. The rain clouds joined us for this part of the day, so by the time we returned with the car to pick up (a well-rested) Pauline we were all ready to go for (second) breakfast. But where to go? FergBakery! It seems saying goodbye was harder than I knew. Though it's probably for the best that I don't live in Queenstown- I'd be in there all the time! Ah Ferg...

Before finally leaving Queenstown the rainclouds gave way to a newly painted skyline. The storm had left the tips of the surrounding mountains with a distinctive white coat; we got to see a bit of Queenstown in the snow after all!

We drove south for the rest of the day towards the Catlins and the Antarctic driven storms. We were forced to throw on more clothes and were confined within the car for food and warmth. But we weren't deterred from visiting some points of interest. First on the tick-list, S(a)lope Point, the southern most tip of the south island. Amidst the selfies and watching gigantic waves tearing over cliff faces we met the cutest baby in NZ! He was being carried on his parents backpackers and we all initially felt sorry for him, but in the wind and rain he had the biggest smile- a true trooper!

That night we failed to find anywhere to camp, mainly due to the severe weather (on reflection I think the Gods were angry that PauPau had been playing One Direction throughout the day). Instead we stumbled upon a small cottage/hostel close in Waikawa. It was simple and cute and had heating. Plus our lucky Ella also got us a little discount for being Kiwi ;-)

However the problem with remote areas of NZ is that they're pretty damn remote. We discovered this on two levels on this night. First, a casual beer run took a good long drive to a neighboring village. Secondly, when a large storm passes over, power is not guaranteed so we were without for the majority of the night. Thankfully we had a log fire and some new friends for company we talked the night away in our own little horror film setting.

We woke up surprisingly warm the next morning. It wasn't the planned start to the camping trip across the south island, but I think we were all happy to have had a good nights sleep. Especially as our friendly neighborhood storm needed bracing once again.

We had a quick glance at the petrified forest in the morning. The forest was completely fossilised after being submerged by lava flow hundreds of years ago. Thousands of years later, tidal erosion has freed the trees to make them visible once more. I hear they're beautiful, but the storm certainly wouldn't allow us to find out for ourselves. The waves were thunderous against the cliff faces again and we could barely hear each other talk. It even took a bit of effort to stand straight- I feel a bit more of the forest may have been lost over these few days.

We stopped for more coffee before continuing (we drank far too much coffee!). But this place gets a very special mention as the cafe was owned by very proud parents. Their daughter, Laura Thompson, was a cycling pilot in the London 2012 Paralympic games. They had some of her memorabilia, including her three medals, on display and after asking nicely we were allowed a closer look. If we had been there just a few days later we would have seen her working in the family kitchen. Lots of respect here.

I soon found a rainy day activity to amuse myself though. I like to give it the really catchy name "dropping the girls off at the toilets whilst its raining then driving off before they've realised". Classic game. Though I think only I enjoyed it #Zycra

But enough dawdling, we were off to visit The Lost Gypsy. We didn't really know what to expect, only some weird art built by "The Mechanic". We wandered through the renovated train to look at the mad mechanics work. We were captivated. His little toys and trinkets were just incredibly clever and weird. We were even given free entry because our lucky token Ella was again offered a free pass (this girl couldn't keep getting all the good luck, right?) but then paid a donation with money found on the floor. A true unexpected highlight and another weather-beating adventure!

The success of sheltered activity inspired our next walk. McLean Waterfall was a much more peaceful location than it's coastal surroundings. It may have been the peace amongst the storm, it may have been the genuine, self-carved beauty or it may have been the sense of achievement taking a photo without one of the girls photobombing it (that was hard work), but McLean Waterfall certainly felt like a top ten waterfall in NZ.

More photobombing!

We drove a few more hours  towards Nugget Point. I swapped out from driving and was immediately pleading for mercy as the girls forced One Direction on me. They made it quite clear my driving away game hadn't impressed and for it I must pay the price.

Still, Nugget Point held a couple of presents for us even in the storm. A small walk down the coast led us to some Yellow Crested Penguins. Viewed from the hut we saw quite a few along the beach there. That was nice to check from the tick-list.

Poor quality, but Penguins!

We drove to Balclutha that evening to try and outrun the storm and commit to another tent-free night. We bought fish, chips and (the worst decision of the trip) milkshake. Though Pauline managed to drink it all and nobody else close, we all regretted drinking the portions that we did.

We had unknowingly set a course to a hostel which was a renovated hospital; a second night in the setting of horror films it seemed. We took a look around the corridors and kitchens to see what we could find, and Ella got the biggest scare when finding a large tangled doll in a cupboard in the hallway.

Luck would have it the owner was walking by and he gave us the grand tour of the entire hospital. We walked through new function rooms, soon-to-be cafes and apartments. The creepy hospital-feel wouldn't evaporate during the tour, but it certainly satisfied the Scooby Doo adventuring spirit.

The next day we drove on to Otago Penisula, the eastern finger of Dunedin. Weather status: still poor. We visited just one attraction because of this, Sandfly Bay. Not named after the terrible, blood sucking, Dannii-leg-loving insects which plague the south island, Sandfly Bay is actually a reference to the sand often caught in the high winds in the area. Though pretty to look at, it was like walking through sandpaper whilst wearing shorts. Perhaps I should have let summer go and wear trouser, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.

Anyway, through the flying sand we went for a high reward of Sealions. We saw at least 20 from the hut, and one up close as we were walking on the beach. It was worth losing a bit of leg hair for.

Sandfly Bay Selfie

It was pretty cold- group hug!

This half of the beach only seemed to have nice weather

Sealion!

It was cold, aye. But at least Dunedin was storm free during our overnight stay there. Dunedin itself has a large Scottish colony, probably because early settlers decided it rained here often enough to remind them of home. We found Dunedin to be a really nice city and we were envious to only spend a night there. The general architecture and use of space was refreshing compared to the high-built, tightly confined Auckland.

More importantly, we had 4 of the best pizzas in the world at RatBags. They were incredibly cheap- just $12 for half a meter.  The flavours weren't cheap and tacky either: Salmon and Mozzarella, Lamb Shank in Red Wine, Smoked Chicken Cranberry and Brie & Cheese and Pepperoni. We all ate until we felt disgusted with ourselves. Though Ella still had means to smile as her lucky streak earned her a free meal after rolling a Yahtzee at the hostel. This girl was on fire!

Casual hostel stretching

The morning gave us a chance to explore some more of the city centre through casual walks and shopping. We also explored the gift shop of Cadbury World as well, which as our last trip with PauPau :-( Even if she did like practicing torture through music, it was sad to split the group. She did some more traveling of her own, though I'm surprised she didn't return to Auckland to try and meet Ed Sheeran- she spoke about it often enough haha.

Dunedin train station

But this was only half of the one week adventure. And the second week just got absolutely crazy. Certainly there were plenty of unplanned elements, beautiful views and ridiculous camping arrangements. All summed up in Part II: We Need More Coffee!

Kia Ora,

Ben