New Zealand Part Two - South Island

Day 7 – Christchurch to Oamaru 03.05.07

We headed for the car hire company and picked up another Diahatsu Sirion as it suited us perfectly, a small car that was big enough for our two cases and was extremely economical on petrol. In essence, all you need for a road trip.
We didn’t see much of Christchurch but that was ok as we were heading back there to fly back to Sydney, we’d be back.
The drive from Christchurch to Oamaru was the most uninspiring of our journey. Maybe it is because the European Settlers decided to turn most of the natural landscape into agrable land on the South Island, but it was very boring. The trip to Oamaru was approximately 3 hours and I fell in love with the place as soon as we reached the town.
Oamaru is a town that has some lovely sandstone buildings and I was pleased to find the one and only motel that we were stopping in for the entire trip was extremely nice. Our host at the motel was very friendly and asked if we were here to see the Penguins. Penguins? We were actually stopping at Oamaru to go and see the Moreaki Boulders but Penguins are good! She showed us on the town map where we could watch the Blue Penguin colony which you had to pay to enter as well as where the rare Yellow Eyed Penguins were which we could watch for free. I still don’t understand why there is a reserve which does its best to look after the preservation of the Blue penguins and yet the Yellow Eyed, which is dying out has nothing. Hey ho.
We decided to head for the Moreaki Boulders first as that was the main thing we wanted to see and when we arrived Mr M was not impressed! You see the Moreaki Boulders are exactly that, Boulders. They are all spherical and the majority of them are in the sea, gracefully poking out. I loved it but the weather could have done with being a bit warmer and brighter. I took quite a few photos of the boulders but it was a struggle as my hands were absolutely freezing! I found the whole experience of seeing the Boulders quite spiritual but all Mr M could say was that I took him to see some rocks. However, he was quite intrigued that they were all round.
After literally freezing certain body parts off, we headed back into town to book in for the Blue Penguin colony watching before heading to the beach to watch the Yellow Eyed Penguins come in at dusk. We waited and watched the sea along with many others to see if we would be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the rare Yellow Eyed. I had my camera primed ready and took a few pictures of the beach from the cliff top we were waiting on. Then I turned the lens to the 300mm max and looked at the beach in closer detail. Sure enough I spotted something. There camofalaged in amongst the seaweed and driftwood was a seal! I excitedly tapped Mr M’s arm and showed him, then I scanned some more of the beach and saw another! I love seals.
We stood shivering from the cold when suddenly someone said that they could see a Yellow Eyed in the sea about to come in. We watched patiently and scanned with our cameras, sure enough, there it was. After a little bit of time swimming around it came onto the beach and headed for its nest. It was so cool to see such a beautiful and now rare species of penguin. Happy that we had seen one we decided to head back and warm up before the early evening event of watching the Blue Penguins.
I was so cold that I called into a shop in the town to buy gloves and a beanie and a beanie as well for Mr M. After making our purchase we headed to the colony and drank warm tea while we waited for the penguins to arrive. I looked out to the rocky shore that the penguins would climb up and saw…. another seal! We sat down in the seated area while the guide told us about the penguins and that they will be unsure about climbing up as the seal was there. Fortunately for them, the seal was a fur seal and not the leopard seal that will kill them in the wild. We waited for the night sky to come over and then I saw what would have been the most amazing shot, the moon was out and full, we had the rocks to the left and the sea lapping onto them. It was so gorgeous and I would have loved to have captured that scene. It wasn’t to be. The penguin colony asks you not to use cameras, so we left ours in the motel. Gutted!
Never mind, we were here to witness the penguins coming home. Our first sighting of a Blue Penguin though wasn’t coming home but heading down to the sea. It was clearly unsure what to do with the seal there but soon hopped down the rocks, tentatively passed the seal and happily hopped on down to the sea. With that we saw some more penguins come from the sea. A group of them looked up the rocks and saw the seal and then it looked like they were talking to each other, trying to work out if it was safe or not and who should go first. More penguins arrived and also stopped, then two decided that they wanted to get home and ventured up the rocks. They got closer to the seal and then stopped, almost as if to have a chat. “How was your day?” “ Awful, I was stuck in a meeting most of the day. Yours?” “Not as bad as yours by the sound of it. Well, best get on home. The missus will have a fit if I’m late again. Fancy catching up for a beer later?” “I’ll let you know. See you.” And with that off the one waddles up the rocks, slowly past the seal and then across the road to head for its nest.
The group by this time had decided to give it a go. The started up the rocks and then stopped before one braved it and carried on going. When I was watching them I had the tune to Mission Impossible in my head LOL It really was like that. In the end all the group managed to get up past the seal and head home. After seeing one group get back we decided that we too would head back as even though we had beanies and I also had gloves, we were still freezing and my backside was going numb from the cold.
That evening we headed to Fat Sally’s in town for food. It was recommended by our host at the motel so we thought we would give it a go. It was a pub/restaurant that had a great atmosphere that you could feel as soon as you entered. Everyone was happy and friendly and it was nice and warm! We were seated at a table and given the menu. The one thing both of wanted to have while in NZ was lamb. We ordered two lamb dishes as our mains and I had a starter of oven baked Camembert and Plum jam. The starter was sooo good and I hoped the main would be equally as nice. The dishes came out and my eyes nearly popped from my head, the plates were huge! We had been told that the servings were generous and that it was good hearty food and the lady at the Motel was spot on. We tucked in and the first mouthful was enough. It was absolutely stunning! The lamb had been done in a sort of mint breadcrumb and the mash was so creamy. If that wasn’t made with NZ butter I’ll be very surprised. I’ve since had cravings for Anchor Butter LOL
Even though the starter was very good, it was the best choice that I made as it meant that I couldn’t finish my main meal but Mr M made sure it didn’t go to waste J
With our stomachs full with delicious food (which was the best value and best tasting NZ tucker of the whole trip) we headed back for bed.


Day 8 – Oamaru to Lake Wanaka 04.05.07

Another early morning start to head off to our next destination. Fortunatley, the drive to Wanaka was much more pleasant than the one from Christchurch to Oamaru and we arrived in Wanaka for the early afternoon. The hotel we were staying in was on Mount Aspiring Road and looked like it was quite a new development. The room was spacious and very nice, with wood panelling on the one wall and ceiling. Plus it had the extra bonus of a radiator. Mmmm, snugly!
We headed down to the Lake to take some pictures before deciding to take a drive to Mount Aspiring. We headed off and got about half the way there when the road conditions changed and we saw the sign that pretty much said if you don’t have a 4x4 you’re screwed! Bugger! We had no choice but to turn back. I looked at one of the brochures I picked up and realised that we weren’t that far from Queenstown, which we had wanted to go and see but to have stayed there would have meant doubling back on ourselves to continue on with the rest of our trip. We considered driving to Queenstown and headed back to the room to get the touring atlas. We guesstimated that it would take probably 3 hours each way and while we had the time that we could have pushed it into we instead opted for a well deserved kip. It was about quarter to three in the afternoon and we were tucked up in bed fast asleep.
We awoke around six thirty and freshened ourselves up before heading to the hotel bar and restaurant. It was a combined room and it was all done out in wood panelling and has a lovely open wood fire. It was gorgeous and It was as good as the Swiss Chalet that I have had pictured in my head for many years. For some reason, I would love to do Christmas in a wood chalet with a real fire and snow outside, doesn’t necessarily have to be in Switzerland. This hotel bar and restaurant was the closest I had come to and all I needed was snow outside but you can’t have everything.


Day 9 – Lake Wanaka to Fox Glacier 05.05.07

The drive to Fox was very nice and I spotted something on our touring atlas that sounded very intriguing that we were going to travel through – The Gates of Hasst!
I’m not sure what I was expecting but what we got was an Iron bridge over some fast rapid water running over a lot of rocks. It was actually very impressive and we stopped to walk under the bridge to take some photos and then up onto the bridge to take more. It had started to rain and by the time we got back to the car both of us and our cameras were quite wet. We turned the heating up in the car to warm up and dry off and continued our journey on to Fox Glacier.
We were staying at the Fox Lodge and I was pleased to see that it was all timber. We were shown to our room and it was another wood chalet style – I loved it! We dropped the bags off before heading into town to take a look around. Fox is a very small township that is very quaint and the town is pretty much on the main road in a blink and you’ll miss it style. But the main reason we were there was to see the glacier.
We had already agreed that we were going to do a hike on the ice but it was a question of which one. I had never been in a helicopter before so we opted to do the Heli-Hike.
We called into the guiding lodge and asked about booking for the next day. The weather wasn’t very nice so I didn’t get my hopes too high as the weather could stop us in our tracks. We booked on the 9am Heli-Hike and provisionally booked on the 1pm in case the weather was bad for the morning. As a back up from that we considered doing the half day hike in the afternoon should the 1pm Heli-Hike get called off due to the weather.
Now all we could do was wait until morning to see what the weather would give us.
It was a nice day but we headed down to Lake Matheson for a look around. We didn’t get far when we realised that we could get very wet as the drizzle was threatening to turn into full blown rain. We headed back to town and bought some rain proof jackets. Now we were cooking with gas.
We decided that even though we had protection from the rain, we would give the Lake a skip as it was very over cast and instead would head to the Glacier for a look.
We parked the car in the car park provided and walked the track to the terminal face. We hadn’t long left the car park when we reached the top of a hill and there, in front of us, was the biggest piece of ice I have seen with my own eyes. I was aghast at the sheer enormity of it, there in the valley was what looked like a huge river of water that was heading straight for us but had been frozen in time.
When you drive up to the car park, you see signs that tell you that the ice was this far down in such a year. It’s incredible to see how far it has receded and then you learn that it is now advancing. The ice is always moving as there is running water underneath that is the Fox river. At the terminal face we could hear the ice cracking and breaking off which is why there is a barrier for peoples safety and warning signs to tell you not to go beyond unless you are with a guide.
We took more photos of yet another natural wonder and headed back to the car. We decided to drive to Franz Josef which is the next town over from Fox which also has a glacier. As we reached a twisty corner section of road we saw a crane winching a coach from the drop of the corner. We wondered if there had been anyone hurt, how it happened and what those poor people must have gone through. We carried on our journey and headed for the Franz glacier terminal face. You might think that once you’ve seen one, why go to another but the glaciers, though essentially the same are very unique. They have different forms and the terminal face of Franz is a lot further to walk to. As time was getting on we opted to head for the viewing platform instead as it was nearer. What I noticed about the town of Franz Josef and the glacier there, was that it is much more touristy than Fox. I was glad we opted for the latter.
We headed back to Fox and passed the steep twisty corner which was now clear. When we reached town we asked at the local store if they had any information and I was surprised to learn that the accident had happened several weeks ago. The reason the coach was only now being pulled up was because they had to get a crane from Christchurch. We also learned that fortunately, no one had been seriously injured.
We decided to go for another drive and this time drove past Lake Matheson to head for Gillespies Beach. It wasn’t really the right weather for the beach but when we got there we realised that it wasn’t a real beach. As in, not one you would go and sun bake on. The beach was covered in large pebbles and huge chunks of driftwood and the cloudy, windy weather was churning up the waves. It was actually very nice.
That evening we headed to the local bar for food and beer.


Day 10 – Fox Glacier 06.05.07

We headed down to the guiding lodge to hear if we would be flying. The clouds were low but it was a much nicer day. After much deliberation we finally heard that the pilot was happy with conditions and we were good to go.
We headed through the back to get waterproof trousers and jacket before heading on to the quaint old bus to be taken to the heli-pad. Once there we were given hiking boots and thick socks before being given a briefing on helicopter dos & don’ts. One last check with the pilot and we were confirmed for the final and last time that we would be taking off. We were split into two groups and the first group headed for the helicopter and then left for the glacier. In the meantime we were arranged in to a seating plan and I was given the one seat in the front because I’m short – woo hoo!
I was so excited to be in a helicopter and I had a grin from ear to ear that made me look like the Cheshire Cat. The ride to the ice was amazing and then came the really fun part, walking on the ice in hiking boots. I got out and walked across to where the first group was waiting and just as I got there I did my Bambi impression – legs everywhere! Fortunately one of the girls grabbed my arm and I didn’t fall. Once we were all grouped together again we were given crampons to attach to our hiking boots. I managed to get myself in a right knot with those but fortunately the guide could see I was struggling and gave me a hand. Once we had those on we all felt much better as we now had more grip on the ice. Then we grabbed a stick with a metal spike at the bottom to give us extra grip and stability when walking and off we went in single file following our expert guide.
Hiking on the ice was one hell of an experience and I did end up on my backside, it was inevitable really. It wasn’t too bad, just a small slip really. The guide had used his pick to make steps in the ice for us to get down this one small hill and I thought my crampon had gripped but it hadn’t. My foot slipped and I ended up sat on one of the steps. All I could do was laugh!
We were guided to two stunning ice caves that we went into. They had a spectacular blue colour to them and we were all in awe at their beauty. We then carried on our hike and Mr M out did me on the fall as he also didn’t get a sure footing with his crampon and slipped. Unfortunately, he fell on his side in a puddle of muddy water but was thankfully ok but slightly dirty. The next incident involved the girl who had saved me from my Bambi moment, she had got some ice in her eye from the pick and was suffering from blurred vision. It turned out that she was a nurse but her eye was still giving her trouble when we arrived back into town. I hope she recovered ok.
We changed and headed out to the local bar to drink and recount our experience before heading to a little restaurant not far from our lodge and then going to bed.


Day 11 – Fox to Greymouth 07.05.07

We headed back to the guiding lodge in the morning to buy a few souvenirs including some Fox’s Glacier Mints which were attached to a little poem to raise money for a local community centre. I just couldn’t resist them! As it was a nice morning we headed back to Lake Matheson and walked around the Lake. We had hoped to be able to see Mount Cook and Mount Tasman reflecting in the Lake but we still has cloud cover L We did manage to get some nice shots of the glacier from the Lake though. We were both a bit disappointed in Lake Matheson because for most of the walk around the lake you don’t actually see it, instead the pathway guides you through the rain forest and gives you sneak peaks at what you are missing. That aside, it was a pleasant mornings walk even though my left thigh was hurting from my slip on the ice.
We left the lake to make it to Greymouth in time for the early afternoon and soon set about heading for the attraction that was on our list to see – Pancake Rock Geysers!
It was a little drive out from the town of Greymouth but we eventually got there. The rocks were like ant hills and between the rocks you could see the sea. The sea waves would push it into the rocks and explode out of some of the holes and craters. Sometimes with a lot of force and other times just giving a slight spray. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon and we headed back to Greymouth to have food before turning in for the night.
We looked around the town at the restaurants trying to decide what we wanted to eat. We decided to go for Indian and went to Priya. I saw on the menu that they had shrimp as well as doing Korma curry. I asked if it would be possible to get a shrimp korma and after the waiter checked with the chef I was told it wouldn’t be a problem. My curry was totally stunning and Mr M thoroughly enjoyed his as well. We’ve never had such a good curry in Australia or during our time in New Zealand until this one. It turned out that they also had a restaurant in Franz Josef and they also have one in Timaru, a town before Oamaru. At least we managed to find one of their magnificent restaurants and had a curry that was good enough to rival back home in the UK. How I miss a good prawn korma!


Day 12 – Greymouth to Christchurch 08.05.07

Off we went on the last leg of our journey back to Christchurch. The drive took us through Arthurs Pass where we saw a cloud on the floor! It was a beautiful clear blue sky but there was a big, long, fluffy white cloud that looked like it was on the valley floor. It really isn’t surprising that the Maori call New Zealand Aotearoa as it means land of the long white cloud!
We got in to Christchurch around midday and checked in to the hotel before jumping back in the car to go to the gondola which was just out of town. We took the ride up to the top of the mountain and looked out over Christchurch before heading back down and checking out the city. We went on the tram and saw loads of different sculptures. I like art cities, probably why I also like Melbourne. There’s always so much to see, well there is if you like art.


Day 13 – Christchurch to Sydney 09.05.07

We had the morning to look around some more and buy a few essential purchases such as All Blacks tops and more importantly my birthday pressie. I had nothing in mind for a birthday present and was happy just to have my birthday in NZ but Mr M had other ideas when he saw my face light up at the sight of a NZ blue pearl necklace. Of course I liked it, it was blue but it had so many other colours also shimmering away and was set so lovely in a silver twisted pendant, I liked it because it was so different. We didn’t have much time and it wasn’t long before we had to go to the airport. Our holiday adventure in New Zealand was over, it was time to go back to Sydney.