Tuesday, January 8th: We took the morning ferry from Wellington to Picton. The weather continued to be soggy and foggy. We only managed to get a few glimpses of the Queen Charlotte sound as we made our way to the South Island, enough to tell that traveling through the sound would be spectacular if the weather were nice. From Picton, we drove to Kaikoura. Along the way, we stopped to admire the New Zealand fur seals we saw lazing around on the rocks. We got to enjoy them up close for a half hour or so before getting back in the car.
We stayed in another Top 10 Holiday Park in Kaikoura. Initially, the kids complained: the pool is too small, the jumping pillow isn’t adequately inflated, there are too many people, etc. Very soon after, they made friends and started to enjoy the facilities. In fact, Annick said that she liked it so much that she could live there.
Wednesday, January 9th: Another grey day, but there was no wind. When we checked in for our whale watch, we were delighted to see that the sea conditions were listed as “ideal”, in other words, the “sea sickness” meter was on the “even suitable for landlubbers” setting. Apparently, this rarely happens in Kaikoura. In fact, the whale watch boats in Kaikoura have a reputation for making even those with the most cast iron stomachs turn green, which is probably why they have a full stack of vomit bags at every seat. Needless to say, Gerard and Annick were quite happy about this piece of good luck.
Sperm whales can be seen around Kaikoura because there is a really deep sea trench just off shore and sperm whales only hang out in really deep water. But you still need to find them, which is why the captain frequently dipped a plunger-like contraption in the water to listen for their sounds, or at least that’s what they said he was doing. Fortunately, it worked and they found two different whales. Each time as the boat pulled up to where the whale was hanging out on the surface we were instructed to rush out of the cabin to the viewing decks because sperm whales only stay on the surface for very short periods of time (5-10 min) before taking a huge breath and descending for up to 2 ¼ hours. They are enormous creatures, the biggest toothed whales on the planet, but we could only see a small fraction of their bodies. We enjoyed seeing them spout and then take a dive with a big wave of their flukes. Total time viewing the whales – no more than 10 minutes. After glimpsing the whales, we spent some time with a pod of dusky dolphins and viewed some more New Zealand fur seals on the rocks.
After lunch, we went to the Kaikoura Peninsula to take a walk. At the carpark, we saw more seals at close range and then we began the walk by climbing to the top of the cliff. We walked along the cliff together for a while but at the halfway point, Gerard took Quentin, Annick and Isaac back down to the beach for the return trip along the water’s edge. Xavier and Beth continued to finish the cliff top portion of the walk before descending to the beach for their return. They had the more adventurous experience. In one instance, they came upon a very narrow section of beach (about 15 feet wide) wedged between a sheer cliff and the water. Right smack in the middle was a bull seal who barked at them every time they tried to quietly pass. Although most of the seals were completely unconcerned with their presence, this one was not happy about letting them walk by. The thought of being bitten crossed their minds, so Xavier managed to find an alternate route up and over the cliff face. Soon after their encounter with the grumpy bull seal, they were attacked by some aggressive seagulls who were screaming over something. Xavier took aim with several small rocks hoping to dissuade them. They survived the dive bombing sea gulls and eventually met up with Gerard and the others along a stretch of beach. Just as they were meeting, Quentin pointed out a very large stingray patrolling the shallows.
Thursday, January 10th: We were scheduled to swim with the seals but there was a lot of wind and it felt practically like winter – the low temperature that evening was 9C (about 49F). The tour director was afraid the children would not enjoy themselves, so the swim was scrubbed. (It was rescheduled for 8 a.m. the next morning, but that got scrubbed too because of stormy seas.) We did some errands instead and made plans to hike into the Sawcut Gorge in the afternoon.
The drive up to the gorge was long, twisted and strewn with boulders. The trail was well-marked but included about a dozen stream crossings. Given that we had on hiking shoes and not water shoes, we kept taking off our shoes and putting them on until finally, Beth and Xavier gave up. They ended up fording the stream with boots on, while carrying across the three other children. Gerard kept crossing in bare feet and when he carried a child, the extra weight really made the trip across painful. The stream was shallow but loaded with rocks.
The stream was lined thick with butterfly bushes which made the scene look and smell heavenly. The children enjoyed the rock hopping and stream jumping. As we progressed down the trail, the cliff faces got increasingly higher and narrower, making it more dramatic with every step. We ended our hike in a skinny slot canyon where we waded up the stream and looked at the slice of sunlight that finally broke through the clouds high over our heads. In the end, it was a very successful day, despite getting cancelled out of the seal swim.
Friday, January 11th: Without a swim with the seals, we decided to pile into the car and head south to Christchurch. Xavier spotted a HUGE pod of dusky dolphins off the coast, so we pulled over the car, grabbed the binoculars and admired them for awhile. They were so entertaining! Back flips, spinning leaps, twists and crashes---they were putting on quite a show.
Before checking into the Holiday Park, we went to the Antarctic Center. There were many interesting displays on Antarctica. Highlights included the blue penguin display (a breed that lives in New Zealand, but, ironically, not in Antarctica), the room where you could live through a simulated Antarctic storm and a ride in the Hagglund vehicle (the ones with the large treads that they use to move around Antarctica). Funny enough, the weather that day was cold and blustery. We felt like we were in Antarctica while moving from our car to the museum.
Saturday, January 12th: We woke and noticed immediately that it was warmer. We hung around the Holiday Park in the morning and then ventured to Christchurch in the afternoon. By then, it was starting to feel really warm. We crawled along the Avon River towards the Botanical Garden, and the kids complained at every step. They were melting, they were thirsty, they were downright miserable. The wind was blowing, and it was a hot, dry wind. We felt like we were in a hair dryer. And something in the air was making Gerard sneeze. (Zertex seemed to cure that problem, at $56 for 30 pills.) We did manage to see some very impressive trees and some very colorful flowers in the garden, but it was hard to enjoy it considering the circumstances. We got in the car and drove up to a high vantage point outside the city. It was still hot and the wind was still blowing like crazy. We attempted a short walk, which turned out to be longer than we expected, and the kids responded with yet more groaning. We later discovered that evening that the high temperature that day was 34C (about 95F), which was about 40F higher than the high yesterday when we were freezing at the Antarctic Center! No wonder the kids were complaining!
Sunday, January 13th: We woke up to sun in Christchurch, but the weather grew worse as we drove west into Arthur’s Pass. After settling into our cabin, we ventured out to hike to two waterfalls, Devil’s Punchbowl and Bridal Veil Falls, in a drizzly rain. Our plan was to climb Avalanche Peak on Monday, but heavy rains were predicted. Once again, we had to come up with Plan B because of the weather. After dark, we took a short walk in the woods (in the light rain) to look for glow worms and kiwi. Quentin found the glow worms, but the kiwi were quiet that night.
Monday, January, 14th: As predicted, the weather looked grim in the morning. The ranger advised us to drive south and east and assured us that we would find better weather on that side of the park. So, instead of tackling Avalanche Peak as planned, we opted to hike up Bealey’s Spur. We walked uphill through a mossy beech forest, passed through a grove of manuka trees before ending up high on a peak covered with tussock grass. There were abundant clouds and some raindrops, but the worst weather was to the north and west of us and we were rewarded with some stunning alpine views. We made it back safely to our cabin before the heavy rains and gusty winds arrived in full force – sheets and sheets of rain fell all afternoon and evening.
Tuesday, January 15th: The rains stopped and the morning was clear and sunny. So we headed to the Scott’s Track for a climb up to Avalanche Peak. The climb was unrelenting and because of the rain the day before, the first half of the trail was practically a mountain stream. We had excellent views of the Punchbowl Falls across the valley and the beech forest was full of moss. After one and a half hours, we broke the tree line but still kept climbing. After three hours, we reached as far as we were going to go – we were probably 30-60 minutes from the summit but the remaining trail was quite steep and looked too dangerous to bring the kids. We could see at least three keas hanging out at the summit, and our view of the glacier on Rolleston Peak was spectacular. We made it down the mountain in less than two hours. Xavier was hungry, so we stepped into the Wobbly Kea for three huge baskets of hot chips (French fries). To the amazement of Beth and Gerard, the kids finished them all--with a little help. By the way, they sell Wobbly Kea hats, shirts and even g-strings, if you are interested.
After filling up on fries, we hit the road for Franz Joseph Town located in “Glacier Country”. This is a remote section of New Zealand with very few fuel or food stops. We loaded up on groceries in the one town with a proper grocery store and said a few prayers that our car would last on its remaining fuel until we reached Franz Joseph. Once there, we paid $1.97 NZD per liter for gas, the highest price we have paid yet in New Zealand. (At current exchange rates, that is about $6 per gallon in a vehicle that gets about 18 miles per gallon.)
Wednesday, January 16th: We woke up to a perfectly blue sky and mild temperatures. What an amazing day to visit the glaciers! This area of New Zealand gets about 22 feet of rain a year and so we felt incredibly lucky to have such a pristine day in which to see the details of the glacier. Luke, our guide, joked that we were blessed to pick one of the three days per year that they get full sunshine. Maybe he wasn’t joking…
We headed to Fox Glacier where we were scheduled to go on a half-day walk on the ice. They suited us up with heavy boots (Xavier called them “lead shoes”), woolen socks and crampons. After a short ride to the glacier, we started the climb up to the top of the ice. We trod over glacial moraine before crossing a few streams and then ascending steeply through a rain forest. It was an odd contrast to be standing in the midst of ferns and mosses while peeking at a massive sheet of ice through the trees. We had to scurry through a rock fall area and inch ourselves along a cliff side before reaching the ice.
Once at the ice, we had to affix our crampons and start the walk on top of the glacier. It was a very “cool” experience. With the bright light we had that day, you could really see the blue tones of the glacier. We had to really thin out our photos of the ice. Everywhere you looked, the ice made patterns that caught the eye: jagged edges, deep diagonal cuts, swirly moulins (roundish, drain-like holes in the ice). It was fun even though we didn’t get to go through one of those blue ice tunnels that they show in the brochure photo.
After the hike, we were starving and tired, but made a small detour on the way back to the holiday park. We drove down a road where there were jaw-dropping views of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. Again, we couldn’t have had a better day for viewing the peaks. They were stunning against the cloudless sky.
We took a few short hikes later that day to see the Franz Joseph Glacier. Our favorite was a viewpoint of the glacier from “Peter’s Pool” where the glacier and the mountains surrounding it were reflected in a small pond that had many dragonflies darting around it.
Thursday, January 17th: They predicted the heavy rains to come and they did! We drove from “Glacier Country” through Mount Aspiring National Park in massive downpours that created some magnificent scenery along the way. Everywhere you looked, there were roaring rivers and generous, pounding waterfalls. In fact, Mount Aspiring Park was just BLEEDING waterfalls. Volumes of water were pouring down the flanks of every mountain we passed. Clearly, they were prepared for this as there were a number of man-made draining systems to cope with the floods. There were a number of stopping points along the way to view waterfalls and pools, but given the intensity of the rain, we stayed in the car. Once we got over the mountains and reached the top of Lake Wanaka, the sky cleared and the temperatures rose rapidly.
We found our rental house in Wanaka after making a stop at the Mount Aspiring National Park Visitors Center. The kids stayed at the house enjoying the hot tub and sauna while Beth did some laundry and ran errands. The house was clean, comfortable and cheerfully decorated. The garden was full of lavender plants with views of the mountains. We felt very peaceful there.
Friday, January 18th: After a lazy morning at home, we drove an hour into Mount Aspiring National Park to get to the trail head for the Rob Roy Glacier Track. In order to reach our destination, we had to drive about 30 kms down an unsealed road and ford about six streams with the car. Some of the streams were clearly shallow and passable, but others gave us concern. We made it!
The setting was inspirational from the start. We began in a meadow full of purple and white clover flowers. There were cows and sheep. A turquoise-blue river cut down the middle of the meadow. The sky was clear and sunny. It was the postcard image of an alpine scene. We ambled along for a bit before crossing the river on a swing bridge. We continued through a beech forest until we reached a lookout where we met a very inquisitive kea looking for a handout. We admired the view (and the kea!) and moved on.
Ultimately, we arrived at the crowning jewel of the hike: a massive glacier sitting atop a cliff, hugging the edges. The melting glacier created a dozen or so waterfalls that were flowing down the sides of the cliff. The waterfalls were feeding the river that we had crossed and walked along for most of the hike. Now it was clear why the river was thundering along with such force. We stayed in that spot for quite awhile soaking up the scene.
Saturday, January 19th: Gotta love Wanaka! We woke up to another sunny, warm day. We started the day by going to Puzzling World which ended up exceeding our expectations. There were several optical illusion rooms. One of them had the faces of some famous people like Van Gogh and Mandela. The faces were actually concave but as you walked around the room, they appeared convex and more interesting yet, the faces followed you around the room. It was really clever. There was an angled room where balls and water flowed uphill. Outside, there was a maze, which challenged us for a little while and Gerard for nearly two hours. Finally, there was a room designed to look like Roman toilets just outside the true toilet facilities. We had a lot of fun.
After lunch, we rented kayaks for an hour and paddled around Wanaka Lake. After kayaking, we spent some time at the beach, playing on the playground equipment, jumping off the pier into the refreshing water and finally, snorkeling around the shore looking at enormous trout. We tried to squeeze in some sailing, but couldn’t find an available sailboat. Oh well, another day.
Sunday, January 20th: Packed up in the morning to start our journey to Te Anau. We stopped to see some bungy jumpers on the way. Our rental house sat in the middle of a field of sheep with mountains in the background. We felt a part of a typical bucolic New Zealand setting.
Monday and Tuesday, January 21st and 22nd: We spent two days and three nights in Fiordland and experienced the many “moods” of the region. On Monday, we sprang out of bed early to hit the road for Milford Sound, a 2-2 ½ hour trip through windy mountain roads. It was early morning and so we met very little traffic. Our biggest obstacle was a herd of sheep that were being shepherded from one paddock to another via the highway. We began our day with a hike through a mossy temperate rainforest to Marian Lake. It was a sunny, pleasant day and our tramp through the woods ended at a pristine alpine lake that mirrored the surrounding mountains.
After our hike, we finished the trip to Milford Sound and boarded the boat for our tour of the fiord. It is against every adventurous bone in our bodies, but the only way to view the fiords is from a tour boat. It is a slick operation in Milford. Queues of tour buses line the carpark. Rows and rows of toilets await the tour bus passengers. A half dozen tour boats sit in the wharf and greedily drink up the visitors eager to see the magnificent scenery of New Zealand.
We took our tour with Real Journeys, the alpha company in Fiordland boat tours. We signed up for the “Nature and Wildlife” tour. We assumed that we would have ample opportunity for viewing the many dolphins, orcas, penguins and seals of the area, but we really didn’t spend any more time or make any more effort to see these things than any other tour. We did have the privilege of listening to a carefully scripted explanation of the evolution and demise of various animals and plants in New Zealand, but otherwise our wildlife viewing was limited to a seal or two and a small pod of dolphins.
There were two impressive features of the day. The first was the wind. As mentioned earlier, it was a fine, sunny day in Milford. We were soon warned by the skipper, however, that they were experiencing “day winds” that sometimes happen in the fiord during warm summer days. Essentially, a day wind is what happens in a narrow gorge when the air around the mountains heats up, causing the wind in the gorge to rush. During our day out, the winds were blowing at 50 kms an hour, but we were soon informed that the winds can reach as high as 200 kms an hour. Hum….never remembered seeing or reading that in the brochure. Oh yes—the skipper also mentioned that we were very lucky to see Milford in the sun because it rains 220 days a year. Hum…don’t remember ever reading about that in the brochure either. The pictures all showed the steep cliffs mirrored on a glass-like sea with a blue sky in the background. And another thing---there are often three meter swells at the entrance of the fiord where you need to go in order to see the seal colony and of course, the sea was too rough to venture there this day. Hum…did they mention anything about that in the pretty brochure!?!? We’re confused---what happened to the calm sound filled with penguins, dolphins, seals, orcas and abundant waterfalls? It was beautiful, but nonetheless, a little disappointing. Maybe Real Journeys doesn’t really expect any return customers. Yet one more thing: Fiordland has blackflies or sandflies, nasty little critters that pack quite a sting. We were lucky with respect to the flies as we got very few bites.
We mentioned that there were two impressive features of the day. The second one was the Milford Underwater Observatory, a floating tube-like structure anchored in the sound where one can see all the fish and corals that live there. It was a fascinating experience. Given the conditions in the sound, there are plants/animals/corals that live in shallow waters there that normally can only thrive in much deeper and darker places in the ocean. In the observatory, we were able to see black corals (which are actually white) and a variety of sea creatures that make their homes in the sound. We all thoroughly enjoyed it.
Our second day in Fiordland was taking yet another excursion with Real Journeys - because we had no choice. We took a tour bus from Te Anau to Manapouri where we boarded a boat across a very large lake in the drenching rain. The commentator kept commentating about how we were so fortunate to be able to see Fiordland in its many “moods”. Like a middle-aged person, Fiordland was best viewed clothed in something. Therefore, we should be glad to see it in its splendor with the mist and clouds embracing it. Fortunately, as the day progressed, the clouds eased and so did the “BS”.
After the boat ride, we spent an hour in another “coach transfer” taking us across the Wilmot Pass. This was a narrow, dirt road lined with massive mossy trees and misty waterfalls. We then arrived at “Deep Cove” where we boarded a boat to take us on a roundtrip tour of Doubtful Sound.
As the commentator kept speaking in hushed tones to appease the “rock watchers”, our disgust grew deeper. Again, it is a stunning setting and we did feel in awe of the beauty that surrounded us; however, when you hear the same script two days in a row with the same plastic seal positioned on a rock, you get the feeling that this is no longer a “scenic” tour as much as a “seen it” tour (that was Xavier’s pun).
On the way back to Lake Manapouri, we made two interesting pit stops. One was a short photo opportunity overlooking the sound we had just toured. The other was at the hydroelectric plant where we traveled down two kilometers inside an unsealed tunnel 200 meters below the ground where we were able to view the electricity generation plant.
The sun finally set that night around 10:30 and then when we got to soak up the sight of a gorgeous full moon hanging over a field framed with mountains. That was Fiordland in all its splendor.
Wednesday, January 23 and Thursday, January 24: We drove to the Otago Peninsula, a trip that crossed the bottom of the South Island from west to east. Our big adventure of the day was setting up a picnic in brisk, blustery weather and then gobbling our lunch down at record speed while watching a very black cloud approach us. The wind got even more wicked. We threw all of our belongings into bags, ran for the car and the skies opened. What timing! After reaching our destination in Portobello, we let the kids play at a playground and then we headed in to Dunedin for the Cadbury Chocolate Factory Tour. Gerard and Beth tried a pure, unadorned chocolate bean for the first time in their lives. It was bitter, but good. We all left armed with bags of chocolate. The kids commented that it felt like Halloween. Unfortunately, they didn’t like the versions of chocolate bars they received.
The next day, we had an appointment in the morning to see the Royal Albatross Center and the colony that resides there, the only mainland-based albatross colony in the world. These are amazing birds with ten-foot wingspans who lock their wings and glide for miles and miles. They spend their first five years of life wandering around the seas, never touching land. The guide showed us how the birds fold up their impressively long wings while resting. We also learned about how the birds filter out the salt from the sea when they drink and emit it from their large nostrils.
We went up to view the birds and saw about a half dozen nesting birds with chicks. We also saw a large group of shags (another sea bird) and three moreporks, the small New Zealand owl. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t see any albatross flying but were delighted to see one soar past us later when we were standing outside the center on a walk near the cliffs. You have to see them to really appreciate the size of their wingspan – when we spotted the first one flying, Quentin simply said, “It’s huge!”
After lunch, we took a hike and enjoyed the rugged scenery on the Otago Peninsula. In the late afternoon, we had an appointment to view the yellow-eyed penguins. Again, in order to see the penguins, one needs to pay an entrance fee to a private organization that spends some time educating us and then some time guiding us through the reserve. We got to see some penguins who were home, mostly chicks. The yellow-eyed penguins are the third largest penguin species and have a yellow stripe across the crests of their heads as well as yellow eyes. It is amusing to see the chicks because at four weeks, they are much larger than their parents. They are fuzzy, grey and spend all their time hanging out at home waiting to be fed. No wonder they are big butterballs. We were lucky to see a couple penguins come out of the sea and start marching home across the beach.
After dinner, around 10 o’clock at night, we drove down to the beach where the little blue penguins come ashore every night after spending 18 hours out at sea fishing. It was pitch black and we were not allowed to use flashlights or flash photography because it upsets the penguins. We watched this big black patch come up on shore and soon after, admired a group of about 25 penguins who started waddling their way en masse across the beach. There wasn’t much more to see, given that it was pitch black, so we decided to head home. Once we got up the road a bit, we turned on our flashlights and to our surprise, Xavier discovered that there were two blue penguins standing on the hill in front of us! We took a quick peek and then turned off the lights and continued up to the car.
Friday, January 25: On our way to Omaru, we needed to fill some time. The main draw in Omaru is the evening blue penguin watch and that didn't happen until 9 o'clock. Along the way are the Moeraki bolders – circular rocks lying on the beach. They were formed by some odd sedimentary process, but more importantly, they are fun to climb on and they are indeed odd – worth a stop as long as you have time and are driving right next to them. Next, it was lunch time, so we headed to the nearby town of Moeraki to find a park to have a picnic. There were plenty of gulls in the park, so the kids attempted to catch one. Xavier learned the technique on one of his school picnics – (1) you lie down on the grass with a towel on you; (2) you put some bait on the towel (such as pieces of bread or crackers); (3) you wait for a gull to land on you and then you pounce. They came close twice but didn’t land “dinner”.
After lunch, we headed to the Katiki lighthouse because a woman from Portland, Oregon, whom we met at the Kaikoura Top 10 Holiday Park, told us that it is a neat place. Boy, was she right! At Katiki point, they have a yellow-eyed penguin reserve. You cannot go into the reserve but a viewing shed has been made that provides a good view of the penguins marching out of the sea, across the red colored beach and into the bush. Furthermore, you can walk around the edge of the reserve and there were a few vantage points that provided yet more good views of both mature yellow-eyes as well as some chicks.
The best chick was Gary, the name we gave to the adorable yellow-eye chick hanging out at the perimeter of the reserve. He was so cute and furry that we had to fight off the strong temptation to step a few feet closer to give him a big hug.
As if the yellow-eyes didn’t offer enough entertainment, we also enjoyed watching, from the top of a cliff above a peaceful cove, about five to ten fur seals frolicking in the kelp and a group of shags posing for some pictures. Finally, Isaac spotted, in what we thought was a rabbit burrow, a blue penguin chick. To summarize, in one small point, we watched fur seals, shags, yellow-eyed penguins and blue penguins, not to mention plenty of terns, red-eyed gulls and black-backed gulls. And we didn’t have to pay anyone for this wildlife – though, Xavier was so impressed that he dropped $2 of his own money in the donation box.
Leaving Katiki point, we had one problem – we were below empty on the gas gauge. Gerard estimated that we had enough reserve to make it to Omaru, but he wasn’t sufficiently confident to guarantee it, only a "90% chance", he said. So we backtracked 22 kms to reach a petrol station. On our way back to Omaru we discovered that had we chosen to go to Omaru directly, we would have encountered a petrol station only a few kilometers down the road - go figure, petrol stations are not common on the South Island and you usually need to be in a big town to find one.
The blue penguin watch in Omaru was interesting because we could see them waddling home for the night under some lights (which is what you get for the $55 family admission), but it was late for everyone. How do the penguins manage working from 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. every single day?
Saturday, January 26: Up early for our six-hour drive to Cheviot. Nothing really remarkable along the way. Once in Cheviot, we took a quick drive to the beach and spent an hour or so relaxing.
Sunday, January 27: Up early for a three-hour drive to Picton, a one-hour wait to load onto the ferry, a three-hour ferry ride to Wellington and a final three-hour drive to Wanganui. Interestingly, on our third visit to Wellington, it wasn’t actually pouring buckets of rain. We were exhausted, but the kids loved the pet bunnies at the Wanganui Top 10 Holiday Park.
Monday, January 28: Up early for the seven-hour drive back to Puhoi. Upon our arrival we were glad to be home and to see Denem.
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| South Island trip |
