Heading back to Australia

We knew it was coming....the day we had to pack up and leave the campervan (!!) and New Zealand. Michael had counted us down throughout the trip ( '24 days to go and we will be in Christchurch' '6 more weeks and we will be home' 'We are half way through' )
The Maui campervan was duly handed back and the fine for an unpaid toll was collected then it was off to catch our flight to Sydney....

The Southern Alps from 35,000 feet

Farewell Spit, Golden Bay, SI

Mount Egmont, NI

Leaving NZ

Christchurch

We decided to visit Christchurch sooner than planned because we thought it important to be there for the National Memorial Service on March 18th. As we had been on South Island when the quake happened we felt it would be the least we could do to show our support (It had nothing to do with the news that Prince William was to attend!!)
Obviously we were unable to see anything of the 'old' Christchurch due to the cordon, but we saw damage in other areas and felt the emotion of the Cantabrians at the service in Hagley Park, along with our friends, Giles and Laura (from Clapham!) who we had met in Queenstown.
While we were there for the 2 nights it was advised to boil all drinking/washing up/brushing teeth water as the water supply had not been cleared of contamination. This really hit home to us about the reality of living in or even visiting a 'disaster zone'.

35,000 people attended the Memorial

The excitement of a Prince was too much for Bea

Drinkable water from the tankers

Willy Wales

A kite of encouragement

Damage on the outskirts of the cordon

Looking into the city centre through the cordon

The Campervan

We thought a post dedicated to our home on wheels for the last 7 weeks, would be fitting and possibly interesting,  to anyone like us who has not done this madcap type of adventure before.... so here goes....

We hired a BIG one, sleeping 4 with 2 double beds, one being over the drivers cab, and with ALL mod-cons (Air-con, DVD player, shower/toilet and gas hob), I preferred the  german make too.  When picking up the van at Auckland, it took around 2 hours to sort out the insurance and added extras (sat-nav, picnic tables/chairs etc) and to be shown how everything works ie. where to fill up water tanks/empty waste tanks/ where to turn off gas.
Michael and I took turns to drive it alternate days and quite enjoyed the 'bus- like' feeling it gave. We tended to drive no further than about 140 km in a day, mainly for the childrens sake. In-flight entertainment included story CD's, Audiobooks of the Famous Five on my I phone, colouring and sticker books, Leapsters and noughts & crosses. Bea and Hugo also had a  big wallet of maths workbooks / phonics and a diary to complete when we found the time or inclination.
 Campsites that we aimed for were mainly serviced ones, where facilities like a laundry, hot showers and a childrens playground were available. We managed to prove that we were not professional campers by always being the last campervan to leave the site each time ( being around 11:30 am by the time we had woken up, washed, breakfasted, packed away,emptied waste containers and filled up with fresh water!).

The 4 berth, VW home for 48 nights

Living/dining/sleeping area

The kitchen (huge fridge!)

The cockpit

Breakfast in the front dining area

Breakfast al fresco

In-flight entertainment

The Office

The loft space

The boudoir

Now that we have handed the van back in and we are lounging in a super duper Sydney waterfront apartment, its quite possible to look back with fondness and say that the whole 'camping' experience was really not that bad! Although we do not intend to do another one like it in the near future!

Mount Cook

Mount Cook

The highway near Twizel

Lake Tekapo

Original AJHacket Bungy

We couldn't leave Queenstown without a visit to the home of the Bungy jump, which is set on the Kawarau river about 15 km outside. Sadly as we arrived at 4:30 in the afternoon, the jump had just closed so we were unable to live the experience! (shame).We did enjoy looking at the gorge from the bridge though, it is  spectacular.

The next couple of days were spent driving through the remote hilly region of Northern Otago and Southern Canterbury, via Mount Cook, NZ's highest peak, and staying in towns such as Cromwell, Omarama and Fairlie until we reached the East coast at Timaru.

Queenstown

Our latest favourite place in New Zealand is .....

This place has got everything : Mountains, Lakes, Beaches, every outdoor activity you can think of plus more!
Needless to say it was really sad to leave Queenstown - we definitely have to return in the ski season!

The highest sealed road in NZ across the Crown Range to Queenstown

Another kiwi sanctuary

The day we arrived...

....the day after!

The Luge boys

The Luge girls

A speedy boat ride on Lake Wakatipu

Gondola ride up to the Luge (Bobs Peak)

Why?

Family Silcock and the Remarkables

Wanaka

We had no pre-conceptions of Wanaka, booked initially for 1 night at the campsite and ended up staying for 3 days and nights as we fell in love with the place .....Must come back sometime for the ski season...

The coldest pool in the southern hemishere

Puzzling World

Water fun

More suitable for Hugo

Lake Wanaka

Haast to Wanaka

Jumping for Joy

Thunder Creek Falls

Jolly good views

Aspiring National Park

The drive from Haast to Wanaka was quite spectacular. Stunning mountains, blue blue lakes and waterfalls galore.

Glacier country

Franz Josef

Fox glacier river bed

After spending 3 nights on the west coast our next stop was Franz Josef. Where, unbelievably on a South Pacific Island only a few kilometres in from the sea and at 300m above sea level there are several glaciers. Franz Josef is the first one we come across on our route south. It measures about 12km in length and can be seen from the car park at ground level. The day we arrived it was very cloudy and the top was not visible entirely.
We parked the camper and along with many other people walked for about 20 minutes along paths and the glacial river bed to get a better view, and as we did so, the clouds cleared and we were able to see the 'blue ice' at the top. Many visitors had taken helicopter trips to view the glacier from above, or hired guides to walk either up or down it. We are used to skiing on glaciers in europe, but this somehow, was different. Quite surreal. We spent 2 nights here, all the while trying to coax Hugo into doing a helicopter trip. Nothing would budge his refusal. For some reason on this trip, Hugo has become much more cautious than ever before. An example of this was on a visit to the Kiwi centre in FJ. The kiwi bird is nocturnal so viewing is in a darkened mock-up of a kiwi's habitat, with the help of infra-red lights. Hugo managed as far as the door leading to the kiwi house before  he turned and ran! It took a lot of coaching / bribing / scolding  before we made a return visit later in the day to view the 3 adorable birds. Kiwi's are now his favourite bird and 'glaciers are rather boring, mummy'

Franz Josef

To Greymouth and Hokitika

Wednesday March 2nd we travelled along the coast road to Greymouth. This area is well known for its mining of coal nowadays (and gold over a hundred years ago), and is where the sad event of last November, when those poor miners lost their lives down the Pike River mine.
We had not been prepared for the dramatic change in scenery as we drove along. Stunning views. Tropical rainforest meets the Tasman Sea.  Nicau ferns and the rocky coastline was staggering to see.
The 'Pancake Rocks' at Punakaiki were a great stop for a short walk and photos of limestone rock formations along with a blowhole.
This area is also a good place to buy Jade/Greenstone in New Zealand.
 The next day we visited 'Shanty Town' a replica gold mining village, where Hugo was thrilled to ride a steam train and Michael was thrilled to find 'Gold' when gold panning, Bea was thrilled to eat Icecream.
Thursday we visited Hokitika, a little town on the coast which thrives from tourists flocking in by the coach load to buy Jade.

Tasman Sea meeting rainforest north of  Greymouth

Artwork on Hokitika beach

Gold-panning

Pancake Rocks