Saving some coin...

A few things in New Zealand have been a little more expensive than we anticipated and to stay on budget we have had to compromise.  Some of our more genius ideas:

Peanut butter sandwiches make great breakfasts, lunches and dinners

If you can't afford the steep entry cost of a museum, a tour of the gift shop will give you a pretty good idea of what's inside

Where there is an expensive Gondola ride there is usually some sort of goat trail that leads to the same lookout

Scars make inexpensive souvenirs

If you can share a bottle of wine why not a bottle of beer

Libraries often have free internet, magazines and toilets (the fancy flush kind)

If craving an adrenalin rush but can't afford to skydive, accidentally leaving your camera (complete with full memory card) in an internet cafe over night and seeing if it's still there in the morning will get you similar results

A haircut can cost $30 but a pair of scissors only cost $3

Back on the North Island....

Our bug free campground in Motueka treated us well and we ended up staying three nights.  The one day we drove around the Abel Tasman area to Golden Bay and got some great views and beach time.  The next day was gloriously sunny and we headed to the Abel Tasman park to rent kayaks.  My heart sank a bit when we found out that they only rented out two-seater kayaks.  Colin and I are both stubborn and like to be in control, I didn't know if trying to coordinate a kayak together was a good idea picturing a disastrous day of us paddling in circles trying to agree on where to go.  My worries disappeared quickly though and we managed just fine.  We spent 5 hours out on the clear turquoise water and visited the parks many beaches and islands where schools of silver fish swam beneath us. We had great weather and loved every minute of it, arriving back a shore sun kissed and completely exhausted.

After our sunny kayak trip the weather became a little less favorable with lots of wind and rain. We made a stop in Nelson to treat our selves to some warm pub food before heading to Picton where we escaped the rain in a 'cabin' (small room with bunk beds and a table).  Checking the forecast and seeing the weather would not improve we decided to head back to the North Island.  In Wellington we took advantage of some larger city amenities before heading to Cape Palliser on the South East tip of the island.  the Cape was a lot of fun as there were few tourists and we saw large seal colonies up close with pups that rough housed in the tidal waters and a lighthouse that offered a really nice view of the road we had just driven.  We stayed in an almost empty campground and managed to stay dry through the night before heading north to a small town where we visited the Tui Brewery for a beer before setting up camp under the biggest tree we could find to keep us dry.

R 

Glaciers and Coast

From Wanaka we headed West again into Mt. Aspring National Park. Beautifuly located in the middle if of a very lush, mountainous forest. In order for a forest to be lush – it must rain....which it did all day. In addition to the rain, our friendly associates (smarms of sandflies) also paid us a visit. We survived and carried on to the Fox Glacier on the west coast. It was pouring rain with low clouds, so nothing to see. We then carried on to Franz Joseph Glacier and splurged on a Hostel Dorm room for the night. In the morning it was perfect sunny weather. We made the 3 km hike up to the glacier and got some amazing photos.

For our next stop we wanted to stay in Kahorongi, but the campground was 8 km from the shorline in the mountains where it was raining, so we moved up the coast to Greymouth where we could litterally camp right on the beach, under blue sky and sunshine. We have found a very predictible trend on the South Island:

Coast = Warm & Sunshine

Mountains = Rain & Sandflies

The trip from Greymouth to Westport was an amazing drive weaving up the shoreline visiting large limestone formations looking like pancakes carved by the waves. From the piers at Westport we could see dozens of dolphins playing and jumping in the water.

The road then took us inland to get to our next destination near Nelson on the North Shore. We stopped at a campground partway across the mountain range after a long day of travelling. At the entrance to the campground three tourists were hitch-hiking along the highway. As we drove past them pulling into the campground we noticed their faces looked very desperate and angry. We parked and jumped out of the car quickly finding out why they looked the way they did...SANDFLIES!!! Millions of the little creatures. Within one minute it felt like we had just visited a blood donation clinic. Back in the car. Pulled out the map looking for the nearest coastline with a campground. We ended up driving 1.5 hours north to Motueka, finding a great sunny campground with no sandflies – good decision.

Queenstown and Wanaka!

From Te Anau we made our way to the bustling hub of Queenstown.  Queenstown is small and the equivalent to our Banff all though it feels more geared towards the backpacker crowd (lucky us!).  We had three amazing days of sun and after taking advantage of one of their many laundry services spent a few lazy days reading by the lake, perusing farmers and artisan markets and admiring the stunning surroundings.    

  

Our second night we stayed at a campground in a valley that was also being used as a film location and I didn’t see much of Colin as he attempted to get in the background of shots, considering he was 400 m away I doubt he was successful.  

Our last day in Queenstown we dove a very steep and bumpy road to the Remarkable’s Ski Hill for a hike.  Colin’s knee was sore from the Kepler so I went on the hike on my own; I was told you could climb to the top by following the path under the lift and the first part of the hike was steep but easy to follow and then the trail ended. I could see where I wanted to go and was told there was a path.  Not being able to find anything that resembled a path I stated up negotiating large boulders and loose shale rock. The view from the top was amazing and I could see all of the Queenstown area; on the steep descent back down I found the path which was a thousand times easier than the route I had chosen, but my way was a lot funner.

Yesterday we drove north to Wanaka, another tourist hotspot and visited Puzzlement World.  The attraction is a mixture of maze, optical illusions and puzzles.  Yes, I am a huge dork and was really excited to go.  We and our marriage survived their 3D maze which was a lot harder than we expected (took an hour to get out) and the optical illusions included hundreds of heads that followed you around the room, holograms and a crooked house.  It was all a lot of fun! 

Today we spend the day in Wanaka before heading further north to the Mt Aspring National Park.

ps: Happy Birthday Linda!    

SW Corner - South Island (New Pictures!)

From the Southern most tip of the South Island we started working our way North along the western portion of the island. First stop was Te Anau, the gateway to the world famous Milford Sound. We camped in a very crowed but very scenic campground along a glacial mountain lake. In the evening I enjoyed watching the Brown Trout endlessly rising and jumping along the edges of the calm waters. (1 guy was fishing – caught 6 all over 3 pounds). The campground had 5 sites....by nightfall there were 26 campers crammed in!!! In the morning we were ambushed and assaulted by Sand flies. Within 15 seconds of getting out of the car, Renee and I had 13 bites...not even fair, we didn’t even have a chance. 

We carried on to Milford Sound, where we boarded or tour boat. It was foggy, but thought it would burn up like most morning fog does. Within 10 minutes on the boat it got really foggy, couldn’t see anything. The Captain came on the speakers and said “Hey folks, I feel really bad for you all as this is the foggiest day I have seen in Milford in many years”....just great. We toured around the sound and out into the ocean, then returning to the dock. We were able to see up the slopes of the cliffs in a few places but it was too foggy. Upon return, the company offered us a free do-over in the afternoon providing the fog lifted. We had nowhere to go, so we took it! The afternoon was clear, so we were able to see everything. Gigantic mountains plunging straight down into the ocean, one of which is the largest sea cliff in the world at 1 mile high, nearly straight up above your head. The sound was created by glaciers, instead of rivers, so it made for interesting features and abnormally steep slopes. Upon docking we walked into the lounge and caught the second half of the Superbowl, and enjoyed a beer. Great Day!

We moved back to Te Anau where we set up camp at a free campsite. The rift raft that comes into these free campsites is very comical. Always drunk and stoned, usually 18-20 years old. When arriving right before dark, you would think priority would be set up a tent or something....nope priority is thrown the football and slam beers....the tent goes up when it gets dark and starts raining. Those that sleep in campers always seem to find the most uneven ground in the whole campsite....and park. Slope of 23 degrees – no problem.

The next day, on the advice from some friends back home; Nate Dog and Slamm’n Simon we embarked on the Kepler Track. We only did the first half as for day 2 the forecast was for heavy rain. We did 25 km roundtrip, up the mountain to the first hut above the tree-line. Perfectly maintained trail, with great views at the top. Very nice hike.

 
The next day, they were right about the rain, so we used the rain day as a travel day to Queenstown...the "Banff" of New Zealand. 

COLIN

Oamaru to Invercargill

After our blustery night at Mt Cook we decided to treat ourselves to some indoor accommodation in Oamaru.  It was a good choice as the wind continued to blow and the rain to fall.  Oamaru is known for it's penguin colonies and at night we went out to the wharf where we saw a handful of cute little blue penguins come in from their day of hunting.  They came real close and I had an overwhelming urge to pick up and squeeze them, luckily for the penguins there was a fence keeping me and my arms a good two feet away!

After a sound nights rest we spent the day exploring Oamaru's historic town and samlping it's famous cheese before heading south to Dunedin . On the way we stopped to see the Moeraki Boulders, very old,  very round, very big rocks on the beach.  In Dunedin we spent two days wondering through it's museums, exploring the Otago penisuala and sleeping under the shelter of a community halls overhang.  

And further south we go to a small campground run by an 81 year old women and her dog in Taieri Mouth, where we shared a kitchen with three local Kite Surfers who I believe must have some brain damage as despite the bitter cold water got up ealy the next day, put on their soaking wet wetsuites and headed back into the frezzing open ocean...I believe there is a fine line between being adventurous and stupid, in my opinion they crossed it.   

Yesterday we followed the coast to Nugget Point.  The spot is know for it's views which we did enjoy but we were far more entertained by the gail force winds that held us inplace as we leaned into them and threw twigs and grass from high and watched them fly away, we are an easily amused couple.  From there a quick stop to view the unfortumatly named Jack's Blowhole and some waterfalls before setting up camp in the Catlins Conservation Park.  The night was cold and we awoke to rain and the discovery that some large critter (we guess a rat) had found our bread and taken a single bite out of almost every slice, leaving us little food for breakfast.

We have driven our tired, wet and hungry selves to the town of Invercargill and will make the best of a rainy day by soaking in some pools before hitting up a comedy club to end the night.

R   (Pictures to come)