Once again, these notes give a very brief review of our fantastic visit to New Zealand.

We left Wellington on Nov 2 on the Santa Regina, a ship on the Bluebridge line, bound for Picton on the South Island. Four hours of smooth motoring later, we were on the narrow and winding (and scenic) route to Havelock. This one even had a sign – no vehicles longer than 12.5 m – and for good reason since there were some very tight turns!
We visited McCassins Brew Pub, did some laundry and spent a lovely day visiting wineries in the Nelson area – Neudorf with it’s gorgeous patio area, and Woolaston, a gravity fed system atop a hill with great views, and the charming little Harakeke wine shop in the old post office building in Upper Moutere where we tasted local sheep cheeses along with the wines. The wines in all three places were delicious and we discovered that the chalky soil here is especially good for chardonnays and pinot noirs. The Moutere pub down the road offered a chance for some more local brews.
At Abel Tasman park, we camped in the Marahau beach campground – right where we picked up the water taxi to take us to our drop off point for some hiking. I should say, the taxi picked US up because a couple of tractors towing boats on trailers roared into the yard; we all hopped on before the tractors drove up the road a few hundred metres, backed to the waters edge and released the boats into the water. Smooth operation.
Because of our short time here, we are sampling activities rather than spending the time we might like really getting into places and activities. So – we had one day for Abel Tasman and we filled it! The water taxi dropped us off at Bark Bay and we hiked the 24 km back to the campsite – taking about 7 hours. We stopped for numerous snacks and lunch, and loved the beautiful scenery along the way, and bed that night felt WONDERFUL.
Next highlight was the wild western shore where we strolled the beach near Westport – with me wishing I could bring home some of the amazing pieces of driftwood that lined the beach; we explored the gorgeous pathway through Pancake Rocks and Blowholes, oohing and aahing at the power of the water, and spent a night right beside a beach near Greymouth. I ended the evening with a walk on the beach and we all started the next morning with another one. Pure bliss.
On the Arthur’s Pass crossing to Christchurch, we stopped to climb and scramble among the incredible boulders at Castle Hill Conservation Area before arriving in Christchurch for a quick visit to the shopping mall ingeniously made of beautifully painted and arranged shipping containers, and the Quake City exhibition about the earthquakes of 2011.
Onward and downward to our first DoC campsite (Department of Conservation) with pit toilets and trees and a tap and nothing else – and costing just $6 per person instead of the average 20 per person at the holiday parks – before arriving at Lake Takapo and then Lake Pukaki with its gorgeous views of Mount Cook. The lupins are just starting to bloom, the hillsides are covered with brilliant yellow broom, the lakes are glacier blue and the sun is warm.

Queenstown turned out to have much the same feel to us as Banff – but with a huge lake along with the mountains – a real resort town. We sampled gigantic Fergburgers and booked our tickets for a kayaking excursion at Milford Sound.
Liam stayed in Queenstown while we went off for a couple of days on our own – yes, he trusted us to take care of ourselves!
Milford Sound was extraordinary. The Milford Sound Lodge, where we parked our little van had nothing much for vehicle campsites except a parking lot, but their lodge, kitchen and dining area were wonderful places to spend time away from the sandflies. We were on the water by 6:30 the next morning with Mark, from Roscoe’s kayaks – just two double kayaks on mirror flat water. It was probably the highlight of the trip – difficult to pick the highest highlight among so many – because of the combination of exercise, beauty, wildlife experiences and beauty – did I say how beautiful it is?? We encountered some dolphins shortly after setting off and kayaked among them as they swam over to us and put on a magnificent display of leaps and twists. How thrilling to be right at their level. Jim spotted a couple of penguins swimming off to our right, and farther along we saw numerous seals lounging on the rocks.
One of those small world encounters happened after we passed back through the tunnel to the Te Anau side of the mountain. At an isolated campsite, Jim and the guy from the only other campervan had a chat outside the toilet in the morning. They went through the “Where are you from?” routine for just about a minute before they discovered that Jim’s dad had been his guidance counselor, and Mary Jean taught all his children. Never fails to amaze me, yet it happens again and again.
Back in Queenstown, we took the gondola up to Bob’s Peak for the buffet lunch – highly recommended – and enjoyed another day with Liam and Christine before we had to fly off to Auckland.
For our last day in New Zealand, we chose to drive to Piha Beach on the Western shore – to get in one last bit of beautiful scenery before flying north again.
There is so much more to say about both islands, and we have lots of recommendations about places to visit, eat and do, and one day I will get it written down and post a link to it all. In the meantime, if you have questions, please feel free to ask. I have good notes.
We had a reasonable flight to LA and spent 2 enjoyable days in Santa Monica, biking and walking along the beach before we boarded yet another plane for the flight to Guatemala.
And now, I can start to catch up on this part of our winter travels!